Coffee shop boss apologises to grieving family after staff member described them as ‘depressed’ on receipt when they hired the venue for a wake
A coffee shop has apologized to grieving family after an employee described them as ‘depressed bastards’ on a receipt from their father’s funeral.
Hannah Pharoah has described staff at Crossroads cafe in the King Charles model town of Poundbury, Dorset, as ‘disgusting’ over a ‘sick joke’ made after her father Steve’s funeral.
His mother, Sue, chose to hold the two-hour funeral at her favorite café, paying more than £200 to hire the venue, which offered a selection of tapas snacks and drinks.
But 30 mourners were unimpressed with the service and claimed staff were rude and uncaring.
Ms Pharoah, 34, said she felt they viewed the funeral as an inconvenience and asked her to leave so they could reopen the shop to the public.
Finally, she asked for a printed receipt and put it in her mother’s bag without checking.
The next day he was shocked to see that the name on the ticket was ‘depressed fuckers’.
Ms. Pharoah showed her widowed mother the receipt before calling Crossroads to complain.
Staff at Crossroads coffee shop wrote ‘depressing fucks’ on receipt for Hannah Pharoah’s family who were present at her father’s funeral
Miss Pharoah’s family were at the Crossroads cafe in Poundbury, Dorset, for her father Steve’s funeral.
She said she spoke to co-owner Matthew McCaurtie, who served the family at the funeral, and he blamed another staff member, said it was a joke and apologized.
The business also issued a full refund to the family.
However, events escalated further when the family wrote about their ‘horrible’ experience on social media.
Someone connected to the business later messaged Ms Pharoah directly and called her out: ‘fuck you human being’.
Crossroads’ other co-owner Sahil Dalvi offered his sincere apologies on social media and said the staff involved had been suspended.
Ms Pharoah said: ‘I found the whole thing disgusting. We were a grieving family holding a funeral for our father and this sick joke made things worse. ‘We are very angry.’
‘There were about 30 people there dressed in black and serving orders around. They knew this was an awakening.
‘We were a grieving family and a room full of friends were paying their respects. To mock our pain and my father’s death in this way is unprofessional, cruel, arrogant and heartless.’
Former urban planner Steve Pharoah died last month at the age of 67.
His widow regularly goes to the Crossroads cafe with her friends and decides to hold a small funeral there because it is a beautiful place.
Personal trainer Miss Pharoah said: ‘We noticed at first that the staff seemed keen to keep us going.
‘They were half-drunk cleaning glasses and plates full of food.’
He said they felt they were a ‘burden’ on the staff and wanted to reopen the shop.
“They were rude, uncaring, and willing to rush us as if our gathering was an inconvenience,” Ms. Pharoah added.
The owner of the cafe apologized in a social media post and said the staff had been suspended.
Crossroads also refunded the full amount Ms. Pharoah’s family paid for the funeral
‘There was no warmth, no professionalism and certainly no compassion; It’s the bare minimum you’d expect when hosting a funeral.
‘Someone bought the wrong coffee and was treated as if it was their fault.’
When the family came to pay, they asked for the tax receipt so they could invoice the funeral expenses.
Ms Pharoah said the staff member ‘stood there with his arms crossed and grinned at a colleague’ as he paid the bill.
‘He gave my mother the receipt of the card, she didn’t look at it and put it in her bag.
‘The next day I looked at the bill and saw our party was labeled ‘Depressed assholes’.
‘I found this disgusting and my mother was very upset about it.’
In a social media post, Mr Dalvi said an internal review had been carried out and ‘unfortunately the complaint is valid’.
‘I would like to offer my sincere apologies to the family affected,’ he said.
‘The circumstances in which this occurred make it all the more distressing and I am truly sorry.
‘A full refund has already been issued. The staff member involved has been suspended pending further action and I have requested a formal, written apology from them.
As a small, family-run business, we pride ourselves on treating every customer with respect and compassion. ‘This behavior does not reflect our values or the standard of service we work hard to uphold.’
