A country pub has been praised for its response to a ‘pathetic keyboard warrior’ who left a vile review online.
Gerogery Hotel, in the rural NSW town of Gerogery, 20 minutes north of Albury, received a one-star review from a man named Robert who blasted the pub for serving a large meal to an “obese” customer last week.
The meal, which consisted of 1kg of steak, 500g of chips and four servings of salad was served to pubgoer James Steer as part of the pub’s popular meal “challenges”, where customers test themselves to see if they can eat a large meal in below an hour.
“Why the hell would you serve someone this obese that much food? Absolutely disgusting,” the troll wrote in the Google review alongside a photo of Mr Steer, which was later deleted and shared exclusively with news.com.au.
“Might as well put up a pic of an [alcoholic] drinking jugs. Be better.”
Gerogery Hotel publican Norm Carl told news.com.au he was shocked when he read Robert’s review.
“I was disgusted by that.”
“Normally with a troll, I’ll just ignore it … but because it’s not just my image on the line, it was [Mr Steer’s]I felt like I had to attack it somehow and shame Robert into removing it.”
In an attempt to offset the negativity. the pub shared the review on Facebook, calling out Robert’s “judgmental” comments towards Mr Steer.
“This is a Google review from a Robert who is not welcome at the G-Rodge,” the pub wrote in the post.
“He seems to be a pathetic, judgmental keyboard warrior hiding behind a restricted profile. We think Robert should take his own advice and be better.”
“We realize lots of Roberts are awesome. Robert Downey Jr., Robert De Niro, Robert Irwin. Tag a Robert who is a block top and isn’t an internet troll- who should visit the G-Rodge because they are welcome.”
The pub added they had reported the review to Google as it’s “completely against” what they believe in.
“Gerogery Hotel NSW is an inclusive welcoming environment where you come for a great meal and a good time.”
The pub’s response was applauded by many online, including one person who compared Robert to a ‘Karen’.
“This is hilarious Go G- Rodge! Great country pub,” one person wrote.
“Thank you for making such an inclusive safe space for all!” said another.
“Poor Robert, he’s upset that he’s not man enough to take on a kilo of steak,” another comment read.
“Robert is Karen’s brother,” said another.
“Sounds like Robert needs a beer or two and chill a bit,” another suggested.
Robert’s review has since been removed from Google.
Mr Carl said the pub regularly shares photos of patrons who attempt the meal challenges on social media and they are “overwhelmingly” met with a positive response.
“It’s meant to be a bit of fun and a one-off [challenge] where people come in and try. For the most part everyone’s supportive of that.”
“And then you’ve got the detractors like Robert who just want their voices heard.”
Mr Carl said he apologized to Mr Steer after Robert’s comment but Mr Steer was more concerned the incident had led to the pub receiving a negative review.
“I said ‘I’m so sorry that this has happened’. And he’s come back and apologized to me.”
“He’s just a really good down to earth guy, no one’s got the right to attack him.”
He said Mr Steer didn’t finish the challenge and the record for consuming the 1kg of steak remains unbeaten from two years ago.
At the time, a customer managed to polish off the plate of food in an impressive eight minutes and 34 seconds.