The customer is always right — unless they’re famous, it seems
Over the last week, the internet has been ablaze after Millie Bobby Brown admitted to leaving anonymous reviews for businesses if she had a negative experience while using their services.
Many employees in the hospitality industry slammed the actress for being ‘tone deaf’ about her privilege and the gaps between their earnings and hers.
However, the thing is, if this comparison means a high-profile person has to put up and shut up, then it also means a person’s experience can be invalidated purely by their wealth or their fame.
“I have a fake name”
Following the confession on a recent episode of Table Manners, hosted by Jessie Ware and her mother, Millie is facing criticism for her honest but incognito reviews.
“I have a fake name. Because I think it’s important, you know. Here’s the thing, my whole life is people criticising me. So I’m gonna give it back to you sometimes,” the Stranger Things star explained.
She went on to recount an incident where she and her fiancé, Jake Bongiovi, were guests at a hotel and a member of staff asked them to settle their bill before they were ready to.
“I was just like, ‘Yeah, we will, but at the end of our stay – like, we’re still staying here’,” Millie said.
“And she was like, ‘Well you could settle it now’ and I was like, ‘But I don’t want to’.”
This led to the actress leaving a negative review for the hotel under a fake name.
“It was just like, ‘I really think that you should encourage guests to complete the transaction of payment at the end of their stay’.”
Another review was inspired by an ‘unhelpful’ employee who was ‘unhelpful’ when Millie was trying to assist an elderly lady in finding some socks.
“I said, ‘Excuse me, I need this pattern, but I need it in this size, can you help me?’” she said.
“She was so unhelpful. And I was just like, ‘Please, this isn’t even for me!’ So, I left a review.”
Of course, once the actress then labelled herself as a ‘Karen’ for doing so, the world treated her as such.
Are celebrities not allowed to be annoyed by bad service?
Look, I get it, staff working in the hospitality industry don’t earn nearly as much as they deserve to, meanwhile, celebrities rake in millions every year.
It’s absolutely an injustice — it’s just an injustice that was decided upon by Millie Bobby Brown.
It begs the question: If staff are unwilling to be helpful to a world-renowned actress, how do they treat the average consumer?
That’s not me saying that celebrities deserve better treatment, it’s just a question.
Just like with anyone else, famous or not, if Millie walked into my place of work, I would want to make sure she felt comfortable, relaxed, and left with a good impression.
It’s not about celebrity, it’s about common decency.
The fact her reviews are incognito allows businesses to rectify the behaviour without ruining their reputations
Being a high-profile celebrity means having untapped power when it comes to influencing others.
Had the Enola Holmes actress posted her negative experience under her real name, it’s likely the reputations of the businesses in question would never have recovered from such a stain.
Choosing to post anonymously seems like a kind deed, which also gives the establishments the knowledge and time to do better.
Reviews also give a heads-up to future consumers about what they might expect before they hand over their hard-earned cash.
At the end of the day, a customer is a customer, no matter who you are.
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