A Johannesburg content creator’s viral TikTok over a double card charge has plunged Tortellino D’Oro’s new Sandton Gate location into a review-bombing storm.
Tortellino D’Oro, an adored family-run Italian restaurant best known for its authentic tortellini, has found its new Sandton Gate branch at the centre of a social media storm after a customer’s dispute over a double payment escalated into a full-blown viral controversy.
The original Tortellino D’Oro has operated out of Oaklands for around four decades, having been founded by Bologna-born immigrants Dante and Valeria Bollini. The restaurant has built a loyal following over the years for its authentic Italian pasta dishes.
Its newer Sandton Gate branch, run by mother-and-son duo Caterina and Lorenzo Bollini, opened more recently with a launch event attended by The Citizen – but quickly ran into trouble after less than two months in business.
The double-payment drama
At the heart of the controversy is content creator Thandeka Hlongwa (TikTok: @tazhlongwa), who dined at the Sandton Gate branch in early June 2026. Her bill came to roughly R2 500, but a card machine error reportedly resulted in her having to make the payment twice to put the business at ease that she was not skipping out on her tab.
According to Hlongwa, she spent close to 10 days trying to resolve the issue privately, reaching out to both the restaurant and her bank – but says she was met with dismissiveness rather than a resolution.
The dispute boiled over when Hlongwa posted a detailed storytime video on TikTok, which included a recording of an exchange in which the owner allegedly spoke rudely to her and staff, accused her of being rude, and brushed off her double-charge complaint with the retort “You paid me once”.
The video racked up hundreds of thousands of views and ignited widespread debate online.
Backlash spreads
In the wake of Hlongwa’s video, other customers came forward with similar complaints about rude service and poor attitudes from ownership, along with gripes about the food itself – including criticism that dishes like the prawns were bland or overpriced.
The new branch’s Google rating dropped sharply as the story trended on X (formerly Twitter) and across different social media platforms. Some commentary went further, layering in accusations of other kinds of ill-treatment of local diners, intensifying an already heated conversation.
Meanwhile, the restaurant’s defenders argue that high ingredient costs – such as sourcing prawns in landlocked Johannesburg – justify some of the pricing, and suggest that certain complaints may be exaggerated or coordinated.
Notably, the original Oaklands location appears to have weathered the storm relatively unscathed, retaining its loyal customer base and stronger ratings, while the new Sandton Gate branch grapples with what is now being framed as a rocky launch.
Understanding ‘review bombing‘
The backlash has also reignited conversation around “review bombing” – when a business’s Google profile (or similar platform) is flooded with a sudden wave of mostly negative reviews following a viral incident.
In Tortellino D’Oro’s case, the new branch’s rating reportedly fell sharply as people piled on in the aftermath of Hlongwa’s video.
Review bombing can significantly hurt a business’s visibility and sales, since Google ratings heavily influence local search rankings and customer decision-making.
Even when many of the reviews are emotionally driven or based on a single experience, the average score can tank in a short space of time, which, in this case, is particularly damaging for a newer establishment still trying to build its reputation.
While the wave of reviews can bring legitimate grievances to light, it also risks oversimplifying a more nuanced picture, with pile-ons that don’t necessarily reflect the experience of regular or loyal customers.
Restaurants and small businesses tend to bear the brunt of this kind of backlash, facing not just reputational damage but also the time and effort required to recover – responding to reviews, disputing unfair ones and rebuilding customer trust.
By contrast, the individuals posting the reviews face little risk. Google’s policies generally protect genuine customer feedback, even when it’s harshly critical. It’s only coordinated fake reviews or extortion attempts – for instance, demanding payment to remove negative reviews – that breach platform policy and can lead to removal, though enforcement on borderline cases tends to be slow and inconsistent.
Dispute resolved
As of Monday evening, the dispute had been resolved, confirmed by Hlongwa, who updated everyone who had been following the saga since it began.
“The money was never the most frustrating part of this experience. The treatment was,” she wrote in her caption for a video, noting that the team at the restaurant had contacted her confirming that the additional amount she had paid had been found and “banked” by the business. She then had to send their written confirmation to her bank, which had subsequently released the funds back to her.
She concluded the saga by addressing a few frequently asked questions related to the dispute.
Meanwhile, both Tortellino D’Oro and the business’s owner have had to shut off their comments section on their business pages to avert the flood of negative comments that began coming in following this incident.
At the time of writing, the business had not addressed the matter in a public statement.