Share
A coffee shop has apologised to a grieving family after a junior staff member called them “depressed f***s" on a receipt at their father's wake.
Hannah Pharoah, 34, blasted staff at Crossroads café, in Poundbury, Dorset, as "disgusting," while calling it a “sick joke”.
Her mother Sue invited 30 mourners to the two-hour wake for her husband Steve, 67, who died last month, spending more than £200 at the venue throughout the day.
But from the outset, the staff were allegedly “rude”, “disinterested” and eager to move them on so they could go back to business as usual. the family claim.
“There was no warmth, no professionalism, and certainly no compassion, something you would expect as a bare minimum when hosting a wake,” Ms Pharoah claimed.
"We noticed early on that the staff seemed eager to move us on. They were clearing half-drunk glasses and plates with food on,” she added.
"When she asked for a printed receipt at the end of the event so they could invoice wake expenses, a staff member “stood there with his arms crossed and smirked at a colleague”.
She then placed the receipt in her mother's purse without looking at its contents. The next day, she was shocked to discover the name on the ticket was written out as “depressed f***s”.
Ms Pharoah went back to Crossroads to complain after showing the “sick joke” to her widowed mother. The coffee shop has since apologised and confirmed that a 17-year-old junior member of staff wrote out the insulting message.
It wrote in a Facebook post: “For a final time, and with complete transparency, I regrettably confirm that an offensive message was entered into our till system by a 17-year-old junior member of staff.
“It was completely inappropriate and deeply upsetting, particularly given the circumstances of the family’s visit.
“While the staff member’s age does not excuse the behaviour, it does provide context. As an employer of young people, I believe accountability must go hand in hand with education and guidance.
“Appropriate disciplinary action has been taken, the staff member was suspended immediately, and formal procedures have followed.”
The coffee shop added that the family was issued a full refund without delay, while the staff member has written directly to the family to apologise.
The coffee shop added: “We fully accept responsibility for what happened within our business and have acted swiftly, transparently and decisively. We are deeply sorry, we are accountable, and we are committed to rebuilding the trust our community has placed in us over the years.
“At the same time, we would like to stress that efforts to turn this into a broader hate campaign against the business risk causing further harm to staff and community members who were not involved.”
Ms Pharoah shared her contempt for the coffee spot in a furious Facebook post.
She wrote: “This was my father’s funeral. We were a grieving family and a room full of friends paying our respects. To mock our grief and my father's death in that way is beyond unprofessional, it is cruel, arrogant and heartless.”
“I would strongly urge anyone considering this venue for anything other than to spit at. On one of the worst days of my life to be topped off with mockery and contempt. You should be ashamed of yourself.”