HE’S used to being showered with accolades – which must make falling foul of the curse of TripAdvisor all the more painful for superstar DJ Fatboy Slim.
The multi-millionaire – real name Norman Cook – owns a popular beachside cafe which has become the target of some particularly scathing reviews on the travel website.
Cook, 53, took over the Big Beach Cafe near his home in Hove, East Sussex, from Paul McCartney’s ex-wife Heather Mills in 2013, installing a licensed bar. It has swiftly become a popular local hangout. But recent postings on TripAdvisor have suggested the business is chaotic and unhygienic.
Cook vehemently denies the complaints, blaming them on disgruntled former members of staff he has previously sacked.
The Praise You star tells me: ‘We’re trying to get TripAdvisor to take down the comments on the grounds that they’re a vendetta.’
These are difficult times for the Big Beach Cafe. Some former members of staff have taken to Facebook to brag about stealing alcohol from the bar and share photos of themselves drinking at a party referred to as ‘The Big Beach Booze Up’.
There have been frequent concerns about the validity of reviews on sites such as TripAdvisor, with suggestions that some businesses have been ruined by fake negative feedback.
One TripAdvisor Big Beach Cafe review moans: ‘This greasy cafe is dirty, messy, and in serious need of an update. The staff are seriously overworked.’
But elsewhere on the site, the cafe wins plaudits, with one person commenting: ‘We all love it. It has a real community feel.’