Chinese takeaway goes viral for savage responses to customers

2023-07-20 22:50

The owner of a Chinese takeaway has become an internet icon for her fiery responses to disgruntled customers. Alice Cheung, the boss of Oriental Express restaurant in Pudsey, West Yorkshire has garnered 149 reviews on Just Eat – and she’s made a point of personally replying to every negative one. While most customers award the eatery five or six stars, Cheung refuses to pander to the complaints of some of the “sillier” reviews, she told Leeds Live. So when one woman complained that the food was “terrible”, she was having none of it. Sign up to our new free Indy100 weekly newsletter “You ordered a Vegetarian Munch Box and then called the shop to complain there was no MEAT in it,” Cheung wrote back. “We sent what you ordered and there was nothing wrong with it. The bad review is to cover your error,” she continued, before ending the response: “Please do not call again.” Another reviewer moaned that her meal was “not good, soggy and old” and that she “threw most of it away,” before condemning it for being much more expensive than her regular takeaway. Cheung, or rather Oriental Express, replied: “I suggest you stay with the other takeaway and take your false review with you.” Responding to a one-star reviewer, whose full comment has been deleted, Cheung wrote: “What sort of idiot orders ‘Salt & Pepper Chicken’ and then complains it has salt in it, our delivery record shows it was NOT late and it was NOT cold. “A fake review and derogatory too. Take your foul mouth and business somewhere else.” Another critic – who offered the restaurant a similarly measly two stars out of six – said her meal had been “totally ruined” by “small pieces of battered dry chicken mixed in with battered prawns.” The furious response read: “Will you please open your eyes and read the descriptions, you ordered the ‘Special sweet and sour’ which contains king prawns. You got what you ordered so how is this our fault? “The food was fresh and perfectly cooked. We are good but mind reading the stupid is not one of our skills.” Another two-star reviewer failed to write a justification for his low score. So Cheung replied sardonically: “Thank you Kyle, whay? Too much food, too hot, too tasty, delivered too quickly?” Speaking to Leeds Live, Cheung defended her tough tactics: “If you’re writing a review just be honest about the situation,” she said. "If we messed up, we’ll reply seriously. If not, expect some banter.” Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

The owner of a Chinese takeaway has become an internet icon for her fiery responses to disgruntled customers.

Alice Cheung, the boss of Oriental Express restaurant in Pudsey, West Yorkshire has garnered 149 reviews on Just Eat – and she’s made a point of personally replying to every negative one.

While most customers award the eatery five or six stars, Cheung refuses to pander to the complaints of some of the “sillier” reviews, she told Leeds Live.

So when one woman complained that the food was “terrible”, she was having none of it.

Sign up to our new free Indy100 weekly newsletter

“You ordered a Vegetarian Munch Box and then called the shop to complain there was no MEAT in it,” Cheung wrote back.

“We sent what you ordered and there was nothing wrong with it. The bad review is to cover your error,” she continued, before ending the response: “Please do not call again.”

Another reviewer moaned that her meal was “not good, soggy and old” and that she “threw most of it away,” before condemning it for being much more expensive than her regular takeaway.

Cheung, or rather Oriental Express, replied: “I suggest you stay with the other takeaway and take your false review with you.”

Responding to a one-star reviewer, whose full comment has been deleted, Cheung wrote: “What sort of idiot orders ‘Salt & Pepper Chicken’ and then complains it has salt in it, our delivery record shows it was NOT late and it was NOT cold.

“A fake review and derogatory too. Take your foul mouth and business somewhere else.”

Another critic – who offered the restaurant a similarly measly two stars out of six – said her meal had been “totally ruined” by “small pieces of battered dry chicken mixed in with battered prawns.”

The furious response read: “Will you please open your eyes and read the descriptions, you ordered the ‘Special sweet and sour’ which contains king prawns. You got what you ordered so how is this our fault?

“The food was fresh and perfectly cooked. We are good but mind reading the stupid is not one of our skills.”

Another two-star reviewer failed to write a justification for his low score. So Cheung replied sardonically: “Thank you Kyle, whay? Too much food, too hot, too tasty, delivered too quickly?”

Speaking to Leeds Live, Cheung defended her tough tactics: “If you’re writing a review just be honest about the situation,” she said.

"If we messed up, we’ll reply seriously. If not, expect some banter.”

Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.