Local Dunedin bar Woof has faced some backlash for continuing to use vaccine passes, despite the government dropping vaccine mandates on April 4. Owner Dudley Benson spoke to Critic Te Arohi about what it’s been like, and how vital the community’s support has been in this time.
Already difficult for frontline hospo staff to enforce, most hospo businesses opted to drop vaccine passes when the Government announced they would become optional from April 4. However, Dudley says that keeping vaccine passes was best for his business. “We have a large space, and a lot of people in, and they’re drinking, so their inhibitions and mask use can be forgotten about. In our situation, [the vaccine passes] are the best thing for us.”
Dudley said that he “knew that we would receive some criticism online” after Woof decided to continue using vaccine passes, but “we had no idea of the extent of it, and the vile nature of that feedback.” Most surprising for him, he said, were the personal attacks, targeting his sexuality and those of his staff. “Nor did we expect [the criticism] would come [from] as far as the UK, Australia and the US.”
In response to the hurtful criticism and one-star reviews, though, many locals flooded Woof’s pages with great reviews and promoting the bar on social media. “I can’t thank those people enough,” said Dudley. “We haven’t had to respond to much of the [negativity]... because our community is responding, and our patrons are defending us.” While Dudley said he doesn’t like thinking about people having to spend their time or energy on this issue, he said he remains grateful for the massive community support they’ve received. In fact, in the week following the backlash, Woof had their “busiest week of the year”. Dudley says that: “I’m grateful to our Woof whānau for all their ongoing support, and the messages of aroha. For every horrible email we receive, we get 10 of real support and it makes it so much easier.”
While Covid has been causing turmoil for hospo businesses across Aotearoa, Dudley says “Covid has been a part of our business model this whole time.” Woof opened in March 2020, just one week before the first lockdown. “The challenges we’re now facing, this disinformation peddling and [the] one star reviews, we are just seeing it as another challenge in that lineage we have already faced, and we’re totally going to get through it,” he said.