We’ve seen it all before, chaotic kitchens, abusive managers and incompetent waiting staff and there’s not much else Gordon Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares could show to shock us when it comes to bad service.
But an Italian restaurant in Staffordshire seems to have done the trick and has taken things further than even the worst scenario we’ve watched on TV. For after a group of diners complained about poor service, the staff at Joe Delucci’s restaurant in Lichfield left an unbelievably abusive and sexually-explicit message on their bill.
Needless to say the diners were horrified and demanded an apology from restaurant owner Nigel Langsdon, who did say sorry and even offered to donate the bill for their meal to charity.
But, and this is quite disturbing, he also told the BBC that the rude message on the bill had been “meant to be seen only by kitchen staff” and he had no idea how it ended up as an item on the receipt.
Is it just me or does this statement indicate that this type of message isn’t a one-off? Could it be that the restaurant staff at Joe Delucci’s write each other rude letters to amuse each other every time a customer complains? And if so, should Langsdon really be surprised that a message of this sort has finally made its way onto a bill?
Perhaps the real issue isn’t the message-writing at all but just a general lack of service.