Do you review restaurants on TripAdvisor, Google or social media or do you provide feedback direct to a restaurant? And do you use review sites to decide where to eat out or when you are looking for the best restaurants in Jersey? Or do you rely on word-of-mouth or the old-fashioned approach? If a restaurant is busy it must be good!

At JPRestaurants we welcome all feedback from customers, good and bad, as without it we can’t improve or adapt to changing tastes. In the past we have encouraged guests to give feedback during their meal to our Duty Manager, via our website and on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. We track all feedback whether it’s communicated verbally at the restaurant, written in an email to us or posted on public review websites and social media. We always reply or make contact when we have contact details and we compile everything into a monthly report which we discuss with our team and use as means of improving our offer to customers and addressing any issues.

Each time you visit us, you will also receive an email from an independent review website that will allow you to quickly rate our food and service and highlight any issues of importance you want to bring to our attention. This doesn’t mean we won’t still respond to individual feedback from customers and work as hard as we do now to address any issues or complaints but it will make it even easier for you to provide thoughts on your experience. Your response will be anonymous unless you want to leave your name, in which case we will also follow up directly with you. You can also decide at any time to opt out of future emails but we’d be really happy if you could take two minutes to complete the quick survey each time you dine with us.

You can also access the feedback link from our websites and either leave a review at any time or enter the code on your receipt which, like the follow-up email,  will pre-populate the feedback form with the venue, date and time of your visit and even the dishes you ate – so it makes reviewing even easier.

We love to hear positive feedback, direct or which you share on TripAdvisor or social media, and always ensure we share it with our team but equally we want to know when it goes wrong or you’d like to see something different in the way we do things. We are human so will make mistakes and we can’t please everyone all of the time, but we can address specific issues and take on board feedback to ensure we are as far as possible providing what our customers want. Our aim is to provide the best service to the greatest number of people, so sometimes we can’t accede to every individual request, as they can impact on the service of other diners. It’s for this reason, for example, we restrict the number of large tables, the ability to ask for food to be cooked to order or sometimes can’t give you the table you request – although we did consider refurbishing the Oyster Box by making it one table deep and long so everyone can have a window seat 🙂

When things go wrong we understand that it can be a great disappointment, especially if you have come to our restaurants for a special occasion or celebration. You may feel like posting a negative review on TripAdvisor or social media but whilst that may make you feel better, we don’t think it helps you or us as much as contacting us directly. Sometimes posting unreasonable public comments also really upsets our staff. And the few customers who “blackmail” us with the threat of a poor review to try and resolve an issue, upset us and will find their posts taken down by TripAdvisor because it’s illegal.

We do try to contact everyone directly who posts  but sometimes we don’t have contact details or the post is anonymous. Even then we work hard to track them down so we can discuss it directly which sometimes those anonymous posters find a little embarrassing.

When we are in direct contact we can address the problem quickly often by explaining and/or apologising and if the complaint is justified, we will send a voucher to welcome you back to try us again. We also encourage you to raise any complaints about food, service, price or comfort when you are dining with us. Please just ask to see the Duty Manager who will always try to address any issues or complaints by offering an alternative dish, providing a refund or offering a free drink to say sorry. And if the Duty Manager can’t resolve your complaint or you are not satisfied, we have a dedicated customer service team you can contact via our website jprestaurants.com who will respond without delay. Contact details are on tent cards on every table and our websites.

We still think that the proof of the pudding is in the eating. The way to find the best restaurants in Jersey, Channel Islands is to look for a busy restaurant – and book early on busy nights. Or ask for recommendations from people whose opinion you value. There are plenty of great places to eat out  in the Island.