Hygiene or food-safety complaints: the right protocol

There's a type of review that deserves its own category: the ones mentioning hygiene, food safety, or food poisoning. A review that says 'I think this restaurant made me sick' isn't like the others. A rushed response can become legal evidence. A defensive response amplifies the problem. And a generic automated response can be interpreted as admission.

This guide walks through the right protocol — and why Westify automatically pauses this type of review on every plan, regardless of whether you pay $29 or $119 a month.

Why responding automatically here is dangerous

A response like 'We're sorry about what happened, we'll investigate internally' sounds fine in almost any other context. On a review mentioning food poisoning, that phrase can read as acknowledgment that something happened.

If the customer decides to pursue legal action — request a refund, sue for damages, report to health regulators — that response can be used against the restaurant. Not because the restaurant is guilty, but because the response publicly confirms an incident is being investigated.

Risky phrases in this kind of review include: 'we apologize for the incident,' 'we'll investigate,' 'the dish you mention...,' 'our chef reviewed...' All of these, in a normal context, are fine. On a food-poisoning review, they're statements that opposing counsel can use.

The solution isn't to not respond. It's to respond with a very different pattern.

The legally safe response pattern

When you receive a review mentioning hygiene or food safety, the correct response has four elements:

1. Neutral acknowledgment, without confirming the incident: 'Thank you for writing.'
2. Indication that the restaurant takes these issues seriously — without admitting anything: 'Food safety is a priority for us, and we comply with all required hygiene protocols.'
3. Contact channel for private discussion: 'If you'd like to go deeper, here's our email: management@examplerestaurant.com.'
4. Closing without emotional commitment: 'We hope to serve you better in the future.'

Notice what this response doesn't do: it doesn't admit an incident, doesn't apologize for something specific, doesn't mention the dish, doesn't mention the chef, doesn't promise a public investigation. And critically, it doesn't promise that the restaurant will contact the customer — the invitation goes the other way. The restaurant provides the email; the customer decides whether to use it.

This is the only response a lawyer is going to clear you to publish.

How Westify handles this automatically

Reviews with sensitive language — food poisoning, allergy, hair, blood, pest, injury, hospital, press, lawsuit — are detected automatically. When one comes in, two things happen:

First, the system does NOT publish a response. The pause is automatic, regardless of which approval preset you have set. Even with 'Hands off' enabled, this type of review doesn't auto-publish.

Second, you get an email and SMS alert immediately, with the review text and a note that it was paused. This gives you the time you need: talk to your team, consult with your lawyer if the situation warrants it, decide how to proceed.

Then you decide. If you want to use the legally safe pattern we suggest, you can do it from the panel. If you want to write something specific, also possible. If you want to not respond until the operational situation is resolved, also possible. The control is yours.

This feature is enabled on all three plans — Basic, Growth, and Enterprise. It's not a premium option; it's the foundation of a responsible system.

What to do in parallel on the operational side

The legal piece is just one part. In parallel, there are three things you should do when you receive this type of review.

1. Investigate internally what happened. Talk to the kitchen, the server who took the table, the host who seated them. Document what you find.
2. Review your hygiene protocol. Even if the review is unfounded, it's a good moment to audit internally. If you find something to improve, you've already gained something.
3. Consider whether there's a private conversation worth having with the customer. If you have their contact (from the reservation, for example), an empathetic message without admitting anything can de-escalate the situation: 'Hi [name], we saw your review. It matters to us that your experience was what it was. Can we talk?'

The public work of the review and the private work of resolution are two parallel paths. Westify handles the public side without legal risk. The private side you handle with your team.