Paolo Martone responds to reviews of Qua

But the boss of an upmarket Italian eatery in Glasgow has raised eyebrows with his acerbic replies to critics.

Restaurateur Paolo Martone responds to negative comments on online review site TripAdvisor with his own scathing evaluations of them.

His family restaurant, Qua in the Merchant City, has an average score of 4.5 stars on the popular site.

But despite these glowing marks, some criticism has provoked Paolo’s ire.

The trained criminal lawyer posts lengthy comebacks whenever he receives what he thinks are unfair reviews.

His reviews have gained praise for hitting back at the whingers – with a “Paolo Martone for President” webpage springing up.

In one cutting evaluation posted earlier this month, Paolo described one customer who’d left a three-star review as “obnoxious” and their comments as “hideous vilifications”.

The 750-word rant explained how he felt sorry for the person dining with her, and how he refused to charge them because he would have felt “unclean”.

He wrote: “I could spend hours listing all the various ways you and the guy sitting opposite you were obnoxious, ignorant and incorrect on every single possible level imaginable – which while fun would interfere with my need to get home at a reasonable hour tonight.”

He continued: “I voided your entire bill and instructed all waiters to ignore you and not to go near your table until you had left. Making you feel uncomfortable was the aim. So you would leave.”

What is TripAdvisor?

TRIPADVISOR was founded 16 years ago and has gone on to become the world’s largest travel site. It has more than 250 million reviews covering more than five million hotels, restaurants and attractions.

In October the Sunday Post revealed how the site was being plagued by fake reviews, with some people being paid £3 for each piece of false praise they posted online.

In the USA some hotels have sued reviewers for libel after particularly scathing feedback.

One guest in Canada was sued for £50,000 after claiming to have been bitten by bedbugs, which the hotel said was false.

It’s the latest in a series of tirades by 33-year-old Paolo.

He admits he’s spent hours writing lengthy ripostes to diners’ feedback. In these, Paolo bites back with allegations that complainers actually cleared plates of food they later said they didn’t like. Or they had left large tips.

He has described customers as “tragic freeloaders” and has even gone as far as to describe a post as “written excrement masquerading as a review”.

In another review he wrote: “Losing the future custom of a vindictive group of sour-faced self-interested noisy vagrants who we had the misfortune of accommodating a few weeks in a row shall pose us no difficulty in the slightest.”

Paolo told The Sunday Post he can’t resist hitting out in his passionate defences.

“My wife shows me some of the reviews and some of the whinging makes me want to give them a taste of their own medicine,” he said.

“It hurts to have a bad review that’s exaggerated especially when, most of the time, the people won’t say it to your face.

“It’s all just my opinion but for the most part I’m defending my wonderful staff.

“Some of them have been working for my family for 20 years, and they’re wonderful people who are family to me.

“Of course we all make mistakes and anyone can go and read my arguments where I admit we’ve done something wrong.

“I will always admit it if we make a mistake, and try to make it up to the customer.

“Sometimes the lawyer comes out in me, though.”

When owners snap

Sometimes owners can’t help themselves when they receive a bad review on TripAdvisor. Here are some other examples.

Crags Hotel, Perthshire

CRAIG SCRIVENOR, the owner of the Crags Hotel in Perthshire, was dubbed a Basil Fawlty in 2014 after a bad TripAdvisor review by a group staying over Valentine’s Day.

Craig said: “From henceforth I will remember Valentine’s as the miserable day that I had the misfortune to meet you, your husband and your friends”.

Bennett’s Café and Bistro, York

A CUSTOMER was angry about having to pay £2 for some hot water and lemon in this café.

The irked owner replied by explaining it cost £12.50 per hour merely to employ a waiter to serve customers so was actually making a loss on the transaction.

The original reviewer quietly deleted their complaint.

Purnell’s, Birmingham

MICHELIN-starred chef Glynn Purnell’s restaurant manager wrote a lengthy response to a customer who had said her meal – costing £370 – was a “let-down” and the cost was “immoral”.

The response said if anyone else found the review helpful then to not visit – and that the reviewer would perhaps have been better off watching Man vs Food.

Rooting out the 5-star fakers: The growing problem of bogus reviews on our favourite sites