The owners of a new pie and mash shop say a customer who “crucified” their fledgling business in a Facebook post should have raised his concerns face to face.

Lucy Chappell and Danny Sheehy, who run Lucy’s in Margate, were left horrified after the scathing review was shared with almost 60,000 members of a local residents’ group.

An unimpressed diner posted to say he had visited the shop in Canterbury Road, exclaiming: “Can’t think of anything nice about it.”

He also derided the quality of his meal and the service, writing: “20 mins to take your order, another to produce it. As for the food, poor. Seems the only thing they cook are the potatoes. Rest bought in.”

The review sparked an impassioned defence of the business, with many commenters criticising the disgruntled diner’s decision to post on Facebook, instead of airing his views in person or on a review site such as Tripadvisor.

Among them was Natalie Heard, who wrote: “I think that it can be extremely damaging to a newly opened, independent business to publicly slate them on social media.

“There could be many reasons today wasn’t up to scratch, however a word in person at the time may have been more appropriate.”

It is a view shared by Mrs Chappell and Mr Sheehy, who say at no point did their disgruntled guest raise any concerns directly.

“People just want to try and put new businesses down,” they told KentOnline.

“He didn’t say anything in person other than saying the food was nice.

“He didn’t have to wait, that was his choice - we don’t do microwave meals that are ready in two minutes.

“It’s also not just pie and mash we do; it’s afternoon teas, jacket potatoes, paninis – all of which are cooked fresh.

“We do bring the pies in - we are licensed sellers of Arments pies. That is the whole selling point of what we do because if we made our own, we wouldn’t be as popular.”

The couple also responded to the complainant’s concerns that staff twice had to go to a nearby Tesco to stock up on supplies.

Mrs Chappell, 35, said: “We went through 19 pints of milk - we wouldn’t use that much normally across three days. Why wouldn’t we buy more when we need it?”

The pair acknowledge it was busy at the time of the reviewer’s visit, with four out of five tables reserved and a mixture of food being ordered, but say it was not beyond their capabilities.

And while frustrated to be on the end of such stinging criticism, they say the outpouring of support they have received has actually improved trade.

“It started off negative but has turned into a positive,” said mum-of-one Mrs Chappell.

“The amount of people who have stood by us is such a shock.

“We didn’t think the shop would be anywhere near as popular as it is.

“We’ve had people call us since [the review] looking to make bookings, and we’re looking quite busy, which is nice.

“So actually it might be worth thanking him as his post turned a bad situation into a good one.”

Before venturing into the food industry, Mrs Chappell worked at The White Stag pub in Monkton and Mr Sheehy, 41, ran his own waste firm in London.

The idea to move into pie and mash came from Londoner Mr Sheehy, who described the support of individual pie vendors as “like a cult”.

“Wherever you’re from in London, the local pie and mash shop is what people like – I was a Manze’s pie lover back home,” he explained.

“It’s really taken off; there’s so many DFLs down here and that’s what they miss, like proper London food - pie, mash and liquor.

“Everyone keeps saying ‘ you need a bigger place, you need a bigger place’, but we don’t want to run before we can walk.”

The man who posted the review was contacted for further comment.