Pretty extreme headline, right? Note: I changed it because I realized it was actually too extreme, I was being sarcastic and it didn’t come off that way.
I’m sure it’s not that bad, but that sure is the image that the Hofbrauhaus Pittsburgh is portraying.
It’s just another example of how businesses don’t understand social media. Allow me to explain.
My friend Summer Tissue runs a non profit called Military Connections. It’s a wonderful organization that sends care packages to deployed troops. I believe she’s getting close to 3 Million packages, but that’s another story.
Last weekend she was taking some of her visiting troops around Pittsburgh and… Well I’ll let her tell it.
I just wanted to let people know that Hofbrauhaus Pittsburgh does not appreciate Military Veterans in the same manner that I do. While the 2/4 was in Pittsburgh we tried to take a group of Marines to this restaurant and they were refused service. I asked the bouncer why the men were not allowed to go in and he replied “He can refuse to let anyone in that he wants.” Nice attitude……The guys were not intoxicated, they weren’t acting up, I have no idea why they were not allowed in. I even explained that they were all Marines visiting from other states and the bouncer did not care. I always enjoyed hanging out here and thought it was a great spot in PGH for visitors. I will never step foot near it again.
She wrote this story on the Hofbrauhaus Pittsburgh’s facebook page and they promptly deleted it. I found out about it when I read it on Summer’s facebook page. I went to Hofbrauhaus Pittsburgh’s page asked them why they would do this. At least I got a reply – Hofbrauhaus Pittsburgh wrote: “I’ve spoken with management and no one has any record of any incidents like this happening.”
I’ve known Summer a long time and I know she doesn’t lie and especially not about something like this. I posted that for a reply and they deleted my entire post and barred me from their page. Oh good, that’ll make everything better.
I believe that the Hofbrauhaus Pittsburgh will be in for quite the shock when they discover the Streisand Effect. My friend Summer’s facebook post has almost 40 shares in a short time and I’ll bet it will skyrocket. I helped her out by putting her story on Yelp and in no time it will probably be a million other places (like here) where the Hofbrauhaus Pittsburgh has no control over what’s said. I’m sure most of it won’t be very nice.
Wouldn’t it have been much simpler to have left Summer’s original post up and said:
- “We are very sorry this happened to you”
- “How can we make it up to you?”
- “What do you think we can do to make sure this never happens again?”
I’ve said a million times, if you are going to use social media, you can’t hide from it or silence it.
Update 8-7-2013 – 1:30pm
Got a call from Hofbrauhaus Pittsburgh today and they told me that they had reviewed the video and that they were stopped from entering by a Police officer because they had an open container.
Summer replied “they pulled the wrong group on surveillance. We all were wearing Pirate Gear. They are going through the tapes again and trying to find out why the bouncer did not let the guys in.”
I’m still wondering why it took this long to get to this point. Why couldn’t they have just talked to Summer in the first place and worked this out?
They also threatened to sue me if I don’t take this post down, proving to me that they haven’t actually read it. I might remove their name if this gets worked out amicably. If they sue the publicity will go through the roof and they know it (or at lest they should). I wrote the truth and that’s not slander.
Update 8-7-2013 – 2:45pm
I thought that Hofbrauhaus had called me earlier, but I Googled the phone number and it belongs to someone named Matt Plapp from the Cincinatti area. Someone who I’m guessing doesn’t have the authority to sue me (although he may). He must have something to do with Hofbrauhaus social media because that’s the business he’s in. Shame on you Matt, you should know better.
Update 8-7-2013 – 3:41pm
Just spoke with Summer and they are now claiming she wasn’t there at all Saturday.
The hole keeps getting deeper. My advice STOP SHOVELING!