Waterloo Brasserie

I think it's good to have special offers and discounts, so please do keep up the good work James.

I know this one didn't go well (particularly the email thing, no wonder people are annoyed), but it's still a really good thing to do.

The spam has already started for me too. I've managed to keep my email amazingly spam free till now. If it gets out of hand I will be furious.

Being an SE1 resident, I have been following this thread for some time as well. I have also been to the brasserie several times. I have to say that although the PR competition was not handled well, and there was an obvious human error with the email to let us know about our membership cards, I think they had good intentions!
The staff there are so lovely and really make such an effort with all their customers- especially their regulars...

what a mess. yes the e mail had everyones adress on it . i have asked to be removed from all brasserie lists and not to recieve a 'friend of waterloo brasserie' card.
there is no way i will be visiting the place again...

my loss?? i will survive..

afterall we are a little spoilt in se1 for great restaurants the best survive and others resorting to cheap/ineffective tricks will faulter

Amy Scott wrote:

The email also outlined that those who were unfortunately unsuccessful would receive a ‘Friends of Waterloo' card in the post (which entitles the user to discounts and privileges in the restaurant and bar). As long as you sent us your postal address, you will receive this card this month. Please just bear with us, we are sending them out as fast as we can!

Well, despite this plain assurance in writing, the new month has started and I have not received a card. It's a fundamental error to make a commitment and then fail to keep it. They can't seem to get anything right!

I, like others, fully support James in bringing 'special offers' to the forum's attention, but it seems that both the PR company -- I'd be interested to know how much they charged for being so inefficient, and for doing so much damage to the Waterloo Brasserie's local reputation! -- and the Brasserie (with it's dumb email gaff) have done themselves no favours.

I'm also interested that [only] one person has written positively on this thread about the Brasserie: maybe the Brasserie is not as bad as most reviews suggest (who knows? -- but I won't take the risk to find out). I can't help thinking that they could try to undo some of the damage by offering some more free meals, and taking the cost out of the fee that was supposed to go to the PR firm.

I have spent the last week or so watching this tale unfold… what a palaver!!

If there were an award for the most miserable postcode… I think we would make a strong contender. So a local restaurant ran a promotion that resulted in a comedy of errors… It happens. I'm starting to think our incessant grumbling has left us looking worse than the place itself. They tried something different and we all bought into it… it was our choice. This forum is about supporting our local community, not instigating a witch hunt.

Lets keep it positive… its Friday!!

Wishing you all a great weekend (yes even you at the Waterloo Brasserie)

P

Uh-oh. Here we go.

OK. I would be the first to admit that this forum can sometimes come across as slightly miserable and unforgiving. It is an issue.

That's a shame, and I sometimes despair a little bit, but then someone will post or do something really positive and neighbourly and restore my faith in human nature.

That said - it makes me APOPLECTIC WITH RAGE when PR firms seek to pull the wool over people's eyes and exploit people's trust as DAVIES TANNER has just done.

PeterPiper's message above originates from the offices of Davies Tanner, the firm that has presided over this sorry saga.

For a professional communications firm to adopt this approach to reputation management is SHAMEFUL.

Not to mention the small matter of the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations which make it illegal to falsely represent oneself as a consumer.

I should also add that I am fairly confident that "Sarah Muthoni" who posted above has a closer link to the Brasserie than her message implies.

At this juncture I feel compelled to mention that WB's previous PR firm (not Davies Tanner) offered me a free meal there if I removed the unflattering reviews from this site. I declined.

I've never been to Waterloo Brasserie and don't have much interest in doing so.

James,

Thanks for highlighting this atrocious behaviour.

I actually think that London-SE1 keeps things balanced. If people are whingy, it's usually over something worth whinging about.

In general, if people post a negative review over a service or restaurant, it only takes a few positive reviews from /genuine/ customers to restore the balance. We've tussled over that 37 degrees gym, and an Indian restaurant that some people thing is good and others bad... We argue about whether tall buildings are good or bad, ugly or attractive. Surely that's part of the point of living in a democratic society? This SE1 community is more important considering how "natural" real-life communities have been disintegrated.

We know that people posting on this site has caused Southwark Councillors to jump to action over something that has been left undone, so it does act as a local watchdog, but then when people complain about the council or councillors, there are often many supportive messages that follow in their wake.

There is nothing that leaves a worse opinion of a firm than their PR site posting good things on their behalf in an attempt to "manage" their reputation. I seem to remember this happened recently re. some balloons being released from another local company. I will not be going to the Waterloo Brasserie as a result of this action.

I actually feel a bit sorry for the Waterloo Brasserie. They messed up themselves but nothing like davies tanner. I don't think Waterloo Brasserie deserve to be the vicitms of a witch hunt as PeterPiper of davies tanner points out. Nor do I think any of the clients of davies tanner should be a victim of a witch hunt. I do wonder what those clients would think about being represented by an amateur company that behaves as illegally as davies tanner.

oh dear! what a mess Waterloo Brasserie and Davies Tanner have got themselves into! Luckily we have lots of good restaurants around so we can choose where to go...