Fish and chip shop owner’s brilliant response to bizarre review sparks frenzy

A fish and chip shop owner’s brilliant response to a bizarre five-star review has sparked a frenzy.

Robinson’s Traditional Fish and Chips in Trowbridge, Wiltshire, got a JustEat review from a customer who praised the looks of the female delivery driver.

It read: “Really hot food always great from Robinsons also hot delivery girl.” The review was reposted onto Facebook, which is when the restaurant became aware.

The chip shop, not wanting to encourage such behaviour, said in response: “Thanks for the kind review of the food, we will make sure a male delivers your food from now on.”

The owner, Philip Robinson, told BBC Wiltshire that while comments like this “can seem harmless”, the restaurant has “to set boundaries”.

Mr Robinson said that he has a partner and sister and “would want their employers to act the same”. “I wouldn’t want them to feel uncomfortable,” he added.

He said he felt compelled to respond, saying: “I feel like that should be normal. The staff, they need to come into work feeling safe and know that they’re not going to be subject to any harassment.”

“As a small business owner we need our customers to return and I hope that hasn’t put him off ordering from us again, but… that’s just the person I am, if I see something that is making someone uncomfortable, I’ll always call it out. Staff safety is paramount to us.”

Mr Robinson said he was confident the incident would not be repeated, but added: “If that does happen again, we do have the logs and either myself or the manager of the shop will make sure that is delivered to them without any fuss.”

Fiona Oliver, joint chief executive at Wiltshire Community Foundation, which this year launched a Women and Girls Fund, said: “We applaud the response from Robinson’s for standing up for their employee.

“Harassment, stereotyping, and discrimination targeted towards women and girls happens far too often and is frequently referred to as harmless banter.

“The impact of such behaviour can really affect victims. We must not shy away from talking about these matters and calling out inappropriate behaviour.”