A COFFEE SHOP in Penang has come under fire recently for allegedly shaming elderly customers who refused to order a drink with their meal following a price hike in their drinks menu due to the rising costs of goods.
The establishment went so far as to publicly post one of their elderly customers on their Facebook page, which invited the ire of netizens, according to a report by China Press.
“You want to be famous? We’ll make you famous. He already saw that our shop has a notice which states that despite our high sales, we only make small profits, so customers are expected to at least order one drink.
“But he refused to order any, and said that he doesn’t mind what we plan to do to him. So we’ll help him get famous online so that his family and friends can see his face,” the coffee shop said in their post of the elderly customer.
The establishment explained that customers must order a drink at the very least should they wish to sit there, due to their ‘small profit margins’ and limited seating.
“This uncle refused to order a drink and pay the minimum RM0.50 surcharge, rubbish customer. If he wants to get famous, we’ll make him famous,” the small business said in their post.
The picture circulated like wildfire online and received a barrage of criticism online from netizens who stood up for the humiliated elderly customer.
Another report by China Press stated that the public outrage against the eatery lead to the removal of the offensive posts before issuing a rather bland apology, triggering angry netizens.
“We’ve already apologised, what else do you want?” the coffee shop asked.
Following the backlash from furious netizens, the eatery eventually decided to delete their Facebook page but netizens were not ready to settle down as they had left abysmal ratings and nasty comments on their Google reviews.
Following the eatery’s demeaning post, it was reported that the business is still up and running despite public outcry.
In a recent update, the coffee shop posted on Facebook that they are shutting down due to the overwhelming negative ratings on Google, now having dropped to 1.2 stars.
“After looking at the votes from everyone, we have decided to close shop! But first, we need time to process compensation for the stall owners and issue a proper apology to the old man complete with an apology video and a gift.
“We will be having a lunch buffet from 11am to 5pm a day before the shop’s closure as an apology to everyone we have inconvenienced,” the coffee shop said in their post.
