When criticism is hard to swallow
American restaurateurs are raising a hue and cry over a feedback website called IWasPoisoned.com, which they claim gives people too much power.
It was intended as a bulletin board for individuals who had contracted a gastro bug to warn others to steer clear of suspect establishments.
But it has been labelled as fear-mongering by the industry, which claims that anonymous gripes carried on the site cannot be verified and may be just revenge-seeking by unhappy patrons or worse, mere mischief-making.
Do you think feedback sites offer a good public service? Would you post on one if you suspected you had fallen ill after eating out?
These so called 'review' sites must be viewed with a degree of healthy sceptism. You may look at a business with superlative reviews but you do not know if there is a relationship between the reviewers and the business. I would not put it past less than scrupulous businesses to organise their own reviews. My wife calls me a cynic when I put that point to her.