Group apologizes for leaving a string of bad reviews on Taytay cafe FB page after staying for over 4 hours

A group of customers has apologized to Taytay-based coffee shop The Fifth for leaving a string of bad reviews after staying in the establishment for over four hours.

In a statement released on their Facebook page, which is now inaccessible, Purpose Venture Young Professionals said they regret the impact of their reviews to The Fifth.

They also acknowledged that their actions were "not the most appropriate or constructive way" to air their concerns.

"As a Christian organization, we are held to a higher standard of conduct, and we recognize that our actions did not reflect the values of humility, respect, and kindness that we strive to uphold. We deeply regret any offense we have caused and take full responsibility for this misstep," their statement read.

"As a practical application of our sincere apology, we have agreed and directed everyone in our group to delete all the reviews posted on The FIFTH Coffee's page."

Purpose Ventures called what happened "an isolated incident," and apologized to their fellow Christian organizations and the community at large. They also expressed hope "to rebuild trust with The Fifth Coffee.

The Fifth took to Facebook to address the bad reviews left by the Purpose Venture members on their page, which included claims that they were asked to leave and not everything they ordered was served.

According to the coffee shop, they have a maximum capacity of 18 people. The group had 20 members and did not have a reservation.

"We were beyond generous to let you have all the place to yourselves for your 'meeting' for over 4 hours, during our peak hours on our busiest day, without any reservation beforehand," they said.

The Fifth said they did not ask the group to leave and they have CCTV footage that they served every order.

"We treat our customers with utmost respect. It is reasonable that after four hours, we needed to be informed of how long you were planning to stay for so we can make necessary arrangements for other customers," they said.

"If we knew initially that you were going to be such a big group, we would have informed you of our policies. But we were unaware because you showed up in small groups of 2-3 people at a time."

The Fifth said they welcome constructive feedback and that they will learn from the situation.

"There are always two sides to a story. It's truly heartbreaking that small businesses like us have to suffer the consequences of one-sided reviews like these simply because entitled customers refuse to see the kindness you've given them."

—MGP, GMA Integrated News