Summary
The Drogbruk Google reviews collapse is a masterclass in how fast trust evaporates online. Szczerek spent 25 years building a business, and ten seconds dismantling its reputation. The hat was returned, the apology was made, but the one-star reviews remain. In today's world, a smartphone camera is always rolling, and the public always has somewhere to respond. For any business leader, the takeaway is simple: your personal conduct is your brand. Character is not a PR strategy; it is the only strategy that actually holds.
When a single video clip can drop a company’s Google rating from respectable to 1.2 stars overnight, you know the internet means business. That is exactly what happened to Drogbruk, a Polish paving and landscaping company, after its CEO was caught on live television grabbing a signed tennis hat away from a young boy at the 2025 US Open. Within hours, the Drogbruk Google reviews section turned into a digital courtroom, and the verdict was not kind.
Who Is Drogbruk?
Before the controversy, most people outside Poland had never heard of Drogbruk. Founded in 1999 by Piotr Szczerek and his wife Anna, the company is based in Błaszki, Poland, and specializes in paving stones, concrete slabs, fencing systems, and decorative landscaping. Over more than two decades, Szczerek built a genuinely successful business. The company even sponsored local sports programs, including tennis tournaments and Poland’s Davis Cup team. Szczerek himself owned a private tennis court at his luxury home and co-owned the Calisia tennis pro club. By all outward appearances, this was a thriving family business with deep community roots.
Then came the US Open.
The Moment That Changed Everything
On a Thursday afternoon in late August 2025, Polish tennis star Kamil Majchrzak, ranked 76th in the world, had just pulled off a stunning second-round victory over ninth-seeded Karen Khachanov at Flushing Meadows. Riding the wave of excitement after the win, Majchrzak was greeting fans courtside, signing autographs, and handing out keepsakes. He reached out to give his signed match cap to a young boy in the crowd named Brock.
What happened next was captured on broadcast television and seen by millions. Szczerek, standing right beside the boy, quickly reached over and grabbed the hat before Brock could get it. He handed it off to a woman accompanying him, who tucked it into a bag. Brock, confused and visibly upset, could be heard asking, “What are you doing?”
The clip spread across social media at lightning speed. Internet users did what the internet does best: they started digging, and within hours, the man in the video was identified as Piotr Szczerek, CEO and co-founder of Drogbruk.
The Review-Bombing Begins
Once Szczerek’s identity became public knowledge, the backlash migrated swiftly from social media to review platforms. The Drogbruk Google reviews page was hit first and hardest. The company’s rating collapsed to 1.2 stars based on hundreds of one-star reviews posted within hours, a phenomenon widely described as “Google-bombing.” Most reviews had nothing to do with paving services. They were there to send a message.
One Google reviewer wrote: “You’re a millionaire, one who could buy anything he wanted, whenever he wanted. Yet you chose to steal from a child.”
Another said, “I booked these guys to do my driveway, and their boss stole my son’s hat. Absolutely diabolical. Be warned.”
Trustpilot told a similar story. The platform was flooded with nearly 1,200 negative reviews in a matter of days, branding Szczerek a “terrible CEO” and demanding the company fire its leadership. Trustpilot eventually closed the Drogbruk page to new reviews entirely, citing “media attention.” The Polish job forum GoWork, where employees rate employers, also saw a surge of one-star submissions pulling Drogbruk’s score down to 1.4 out of 5.
Szczerek’s Response Made It Worse
A crisis communications team would tell you there is one golden rule when a viral moment turns your company into a punching bag: apologize quickly, sincerely, and without qualifications. Szczerek initially did the opposite.
His first public statement, posted on the Polish job forum GoWork, was defensive. He described the online outrage as “disproportionate” and implied the whole situation was being blown out of proportion. He even used a phrase that became instantly infamous, essentially framing it as a “first-come, first-served” situation at a sporting event. The comment triggered a second, even more intense wave of backlash, and the Drogbruk Google reviews flood intensified.
Szczerek deleted his social media accounts, but fake accounts began appearing in his name, forcing him to release statements clarifying which communications were genuine.
The Apology and the Hat’s Return
After several days of sustained international pressure, Szczerek finally issued a full apology on Facebook. He wrote: “I would like to unequivocally apologize to the young boy, his family, all the fans, and the player himself. I take full responsibility for my extremely poor judgment and hurtful actions.”
He also confirmed that the signed hat had been returned to Brock. In a statement to the BBC, Szczerek called the incident a “huge mistake“ and acknowledged that “a single moment of inattention can undo years of work and support.”
Majchrzak himself was measured in response, telling the New York Post he believed the man was acting on impulse in the heat of the moment and did not necessarily mean harm.
What the Drogbruk Situation Teaches Us About Online Reputation
The Drogbruk Google reviews story is not just a cautionary tale about personal conduct at a tennis match. It is a masterclass in how fast online reputation can unravel in the social media era, and how a CEO’s behavior is inseparable from the brand they lead.
A few hard lessons stand out:
Personal and professional reputations are one. Executives are their companies in the court of public opinion. When Szczerek was identified, people did not target him personally; they targeted the business behind him.
Review platforms are now accountability tools. Consumers are using Google reviews, Trustpilot, and similar platforms for more than product feedback. They are using them to punish perceived moral failures. Whether that is appropriate is a debate, but the trend is real and accelerating.
The first response sets the tone. Szczerek’s dismissive initial statement added fuel to a fire that a timely, genuine apology might have partially contained. Crisis communication in the Internet age is measured in hours, not days.
Sponsorships and community goodwill do not insulate companies. Drogbruk had years of community investment in tennis and local sports. None of that was mentioned in the wave of negative reviews. Context collapsed. The hat video was the only frame people needed.
The Drogbruk Google reviews saga will likely be studied in business schools as one of the starkest examples of how quickly a well-established company can be destabilized by a single viral moment. In an era where a smartphone camera is always rolling, every public action carries corporate consequences, especially when you are the person at the top.
