Restaurateurs know that certain problems come with the business.
Common obstacles include everything from paying rent to dealing with the occasional dissatisfied customer. However, Alpana Singh—who owns the Gold Coast restaurant Alpana—has recently encountered a couple of unique problems, although one is becoming increasingly commonplace.
The first situation Singh endured was one that has involved more and more restaurants: an online attack that Singh said was the result of ignoring an attempt at blackmail.
“I was in Palm Springs and I was all relaxed—but I got a text after I got home,” Singh told me. “It turned out that we had gotten 15 one-star reviews. But I knew exactly what it was because it happened to a friend of mine who also has a restaurant. I know what those Google reviews mean for a restaurant.”
Singh added that her friend said that “it was an extortion attempt. She had posted screenshots so I went on ours—and it was the exact same names and verbiage. So one would think that they’re all working from the same playbook or it’s the exact same person.
“Then you hope Google takes it down because there’s this feeling of helplessness,” Singh said. “But there’s no tech support whatsoever.”
However, Singh wanted to make something clear: “I’m not opposed to criticism. We don’t always get it right. But where I get frustrated is when I report something that’s not true to Google and they say that [the complaint] doesn’t violate the terms and conditions.”
And a restaurant’s rating on the search engine is certainly important, surpassing what used to be the standard-bearer: Yelp. “What some people don’t realize is that Google ratings are becoming the Rotten Tomatoes for restaurants and other businesses,” Singh said. “Ninety to 92% of searches are done on Google—and the first thing that pops up is the storefront that Google has set for you.”
Then Singh brought up a description of her restaurant that describes it as a “trendy restaurant featuring Italian-inspired cuisine in a cavernous, industrial setting.” Singh then looked around and asked, “What about this is cavernous?,” adding that she’s been trying to have the description changed. (While the spot certainly isn’t claustrophobic, it’s not massive, either.)
And in making her point, Singh relayed several stats, including this fact: “For every one-star review, it takes out 10 to 25 stars because of the math,” she said. “So our score went from a 4.5—which we worked really hard for—to a 4.1. There are people who won’t see a movie if it gets a 67% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. It makes you wonder if there’s this slow slide into a social credit score.
“So there are actors who know how important your digital reputation is so they’ll create these bot accounts and they’ll purposely tank the score. Then, they’ll leave a note for the business to contact them via WhatsApp. I didn’t contact the person, and even Google says not to engage with them. So a pharmacy owner in New York contacted them [in an unrelated case] and they wanted $200 to remove a one-star review. And in another case, they said, ‘Pay me or I will bomb your business every day with 15 [one-star] reviews.’
“The situation has gotten so bad that Google [Help] now has a merchant extortion report form.”
Singh was able to recover from her online situation, thanks to Google—and support from the community. “Google removed the reviews within 24 hours but people kept flagging it because I put it on social media,” she said, adding that some individuals wrote additional five-star reviews. However, Singh added that she’s still unsure exactly why the bad reviews were removed.
And Singh wanted to state that ratings affect service workers as well, citing a Fast Company article that focused on servers who put up with abuse simply to help a restaurant maintain lofty ratings. “They use a person’s name in the review and less compassionate business owners look at that and may punish the worker,” Singh said. “And I capitulate to a certain extent. You pick and choose your battles.”
According to Consumer Affairs, industry watchdog Fake Review Watch has tracked more than 150 businesses worldwide targeted in the way Alpana was. “Businesses are being extorted and Google isn’t doing enough about it,” said founder and former federal criminal investigator Kay Dean in a New York Times report.
Print stolen
But then there was a second incident that Singh had to deal with: theft—specifically, of a print that was in the women’s restroom.
However, Singh’s reaction to the incident might surprise some. “I thought it was amazing,” she said. “I was just giggling. You have to have a sense of humor about this.” Taking this writer to the “scene of the crime,” you have to “sit on the toilet and notice the print. What’s hilarious is that the person actually took the time to tab it back in and hang [the frame] back up. I’m replacing [the stolen print] with one of my dog.”
But Singh has questions for the thief: “I’m wondering if you’ll tell people how you found the print—and I wonder if you will think of us every time you look at it.”
On Instagram, Singh posted, “Someone stole the print of a lady blowing bubble gum from the women’s stall @alpanasrestaurant. They were at least kind enough to leave the frame. It’s a fairly large print so I am assuming it was smuggled away in some ludicrously capacious handbag (yes, deliberate Succession reference here). Anyhoo, I hope the thief gives the print a good home. It’s a very special piece having witnessed so many bathroom breaks over the last four years. Enjoy and please think of us when you do.”
She definitely takes pride in the art that decorates Alpana. And Singh is a staunch queer ally who also talked about the late Chicago drag icon Chilli Pepper, who has a photo at the restaurant. “I picked a photo of Chilli [out of several given to Singh]. She came in and said, ‘No, no, no.’ Later, [Pepper] came in during the Friends and Family night and swapped out the picture; she got a woman who was having dinner and had her replace the photo!”
However, regarding the print theft, Singh had to assuage people’s fears about one other art item: “People asked me about the Keanu [print at the entrance to the restrooms],” said “That one’s fine—it has better security than the Louvre.”
NOTE: To report a fake Google review, business owners can locate the review on their Google Business Profile, click the three dots or flag icon, select “Report review” and choose the most appropriate reason from the options provided. Be sure to check Google’s policies before proceeding.