08/13/2026
We normally do not bring customer situations to social media. We believe that disagreements, complaints, and concerns should be handled privately and professionally whenever possible. However, after what has taken place over the last 24 hours, we feel that it is important to speak from the heart—not to argue, attack anyone, or create drama, but to protect something that we have poured our blood, sweat, tears, time, money, and hearts into building.
Yesterday, a customer placed an order through DoorDash. Approximately an hour after placing the order, she contacted us and expressed that she was unhappy with her food.
This was not our first experience with this particular customer. In the beginning, she was actually one of our very supportive customers. She purchased our food, told us how much she enjoyed it, made videos, posted positive reviews, and showed support for our business. We appreciated that support then, and we still appreciate every person who has ever supported us.
However, over time, the experiences changed. It began to seem that nearly every time this customer ordered, there was a complaint about something. Because we genuinely care about our customers and want people to be happy with what they spend their hard-earned money on, we repeatedly tried to accommodate those concerns, including replacing food and providing additional food at no charge.
But eventually, as business owners, we have to recognize when something has become a pattern.
Yesterday, when the customer called and complained about food that one of the owners personally prepared, we did not argue with her. We advised her to dispute the order through DoorDash and request a refund. If someone is truly unhappy with their meal, we do not believe they should have to spend their hard-earned money on something they did not enjoy.
Afterward, messages were sent to our business page containing profanity and disrespectful language. We responded and explained our position. When the customer stated that she would no longer patronize our restaurant, we explained that perhaps that was the best decision moving forward.
That was not said to be cruel or disrespectful.
Sometimes a business simply may not be the right fit for a particular customer. If someone repeatedly orders from us and repeatedly leaves unhappy despite our efforts to make things right, at some point we have to acknowledge that we may simply be unable to satisfy that person.
And that is okay.
What is not okay, however, is what happened afterward.
After we made the decision to end the conversation and block further communication because of the profanity and disrespect, multiple negative reviews began appearing from multiple Facebook profiles and Google accounts. We believe several of these reviews were connected to the same dispute and were intended to damage our business after we decided we could no longer continue providing free replacements.
And that is the part that hurts.
Not because we cannot handle a bad review.
We can.
Not because we believe every customer has to love our food.
They don’t.
Not because we believe we are above criticism.
We aren’t.
It hurts because there is a difference between leaving an honest review about your personal experience and intentionally attempting to damage the reputation of a small business because of a disagreement.
Behind International Soule Seafood are real people.
There are two owners who wake up every single day thinking about how we can make this restaurant better than it was yesterday. There are nights we go home exhausted. There are mornings we wake up thinking about food costs, employees, bills, inventory, customer satisfaction, recipes, portions, pricing, marketing, and a hundred other things that come with operating a small business.
This restaurant is our investment. It is our dream. It is something we have sacrificed for.
And we are STILL learning.
We have listened when customers told us our prices were too high. We made adjustments.
We listened when customers told us they wanted larger portions. We increased portions.
We listen when customers tell us something needs improvement. We discuss it, evaluate it, and when we believe a change will make International Soule Seafood better, we make the change.
We have NEVER claimed to be perfect.
We are human beings running a business, and there will occasionally be mistakes. There may be an order that doesn’t meet someone’s expectations. There may be something one customer loves that another customer doesn’t like. That is the reality of the restaurant industry.
But there is a major difference between constructive criticism and an attempt to tear down a business.
If we make a mistake, tell us.
If something isn’t right, give us the opportunity to address it.
If you don’t like something, you are absolutely entitled to say that.
And if, after multiple experiences, you decide that our restaurant simply isn’t for you, we respect that decision too.
What we cannot continue doing is repeatedly replacing meals, repeatedly providing free food, and repeatedly trying to satisfy someone when nothing we do seems capable of making that person happy.
At some point, we have to protect our business too.
Being a small-business owner does not mean we have to accept profanity, harassment, disrespect, or repeated demands simply because someone is a customer.
We can love and appreciate our customers while still having boundaries.
And we DO love our customers. 💙
The overwhelming majority of you have supported us, encouraged us, recommended us, defended us, shared our posts, ordered repeatedly, brought your families to us, told your friends about us, and watched this business grow.
Some of you have been here since DAY ONE.
Some of you have given us constructive criticism that genuinely helped us become better.
And some of you have had an issue with an order, contacted us respectfully, allowed us to fix it, and continued supporting us afterward.
THAT is how a business and a community grow together.
To every customer who spends even $1 with International Soule Seafood, please understand that we appreciate the fact that you chose us. We know you have other restaurants you could spend your money with, and we never take that for granted.
But we also ask for the same basic respect that we give to our customers.
If we cannot satisfy you after repeatedly trying, we sincerely wish you well. There is no hatred. There is no grudge. There is no need for an internet war.
Sometimes it is simply best for a customer and a business to respectfully part ways.
What we will NOT do is allow anyone to bully us into continuously providing free food because we are afraid of receiving a negative review.
We will not allow social media intimidation to determine how we operate our business.
And we will not allow one situation to erase everything we have worked so hard to build.
Our reputation will be built by our actions, our food, our consistency, our growth, and the experiences of the thousands of people who walk through our doors—not by one disagreement.
We will continue waking up every morning.
We will continue improving.
We will continue listening.
We will continue correcting our mistakes.
We will continue serving our community.
We will continue supporting Freeport.
And we will continue building International Soule Seafood into the business we know it can become. 💙
To our loyal customers and everyone who continues to support us: THANK YOU.
Thank you for understanding that small businesses are operated by human beings.
Thank you for giving us grace while we grow.
Thank you for giving us feedback that helps us improve.
Thank you for sharing our posts.
Thank you for recommending us.
Thank you for walking through our doors.
Thank you for choosing International Soule Seafood.
We refuse to allow negativity to overshadow the tremendous amount of LOVE we receive from this community every day.
We aren’t perfect—but we care. We listen. We learn. We improve. And we genuinely want every customer who spends their money with us to leave satisfied.
And when we cannot satisfy someone despite repeatedly trying, sometimes the healthiest and most professional thing we can do is simply say:
Maybe we aren’t the restaurant for you—and we sincerely wish you the best. 💙
With love and appreciation,
The Owners of International Soule Seafood 💙🦀🦐
Built with sacrifice. Growing through feedback. Supported by our community. And still standing. 💙
