A café owner has sparked a divisive debate after blasting a mother with a young child on social media.
Corby’s Tea Rooms is a family-run business that hit the headlines after accusing a mother of an 11-month-old child of leaving a mess at their restaurant without apologizing or attempting to clean up.
Taking to Facebook to share pictures of the mess left behind by the mom and her child, the café wrote:
“Whilst we welcome mums and toddlers, what we don’t welcome is a mess left like this with no attempt to help tidy or offer of apology and then when challenged to say weakly, ‘I left a tip last time.’”
Soon enough, the post went viral, leaving people divided in their opinions.
While some parents suggested the mother should have cleaned the mess that her child made at the café, others insisted the restaurant was in the wrong for taking the time to rant about it online rather than picking up a broom and cleaning the place.
Amid the heated debate, the post was also seen by the sister of the 11-month-old’s mother who suggested the business was displaying “absolutely disgusting behavior.”
“Absolutely disgusting behavior from a so-called business,” the woman wrote as she shared a screenshot of the café’s controversial post.
“As if young mothers don’t have it hard enough without your sad attempt to publicly shame them not only online but in your tearoom.
“Didn’t seem to have a problem until after they had paid and tipped you. Personally, I think by the fact you deleted your post you are admitting perhaps getting a dustpan and brush isn’t such a hard task.
“But don’t worry, even though you told my sister and her 11-month-old baby they were never allowed in your tearoom again, I doubt they’d want to after such a disgusting display of unprofessional behavior.”
While the café appeared to back down by taking down their viral post, viewers couldn’t help but share their opinion on the matter.
“Would have taken 30 seconds for the mum to pick that up. Hardly rude of the staff is it,” someone wrote.
“That is a mess. Would you leave a friend’s place like that? Highly doubt it,” another added.
“That mess genuinely isn’t bad for a young child eating? I’m astounded they’d publicly shame like this,” the third argued.
The fourth said: “I worked in a cafe years ago. Always had mess like this but what else do they expect? Next they will be moaning people didn’t wash up their plate. Seriously, what a joke.”
Following the viral discussion, Paul Crush, the owner of Corby’s Tea Rooms, spoke out to clarify his stance and defend his business against “untruths.”
“The ladies – and let’s be clear, I would have posted a similar message regardless of who left such a mess and contrary to what is being said, this was not aimed at just young mums – did not even attempt a simple, ‘sorry for the mess,’” Mr. Crush says.
“Nor did they, as they claim, tip but were happy to just walk out and leave it.
“We firmly believe hospitality is there to serve all customers and yes, we understand we have to clean up after them, but a simple recognition would be nice. Also, for the record, I did not name or shame anyone specifically – my photos did not identify anyone, but were there to demonstrate the mess left by two adults.”
Crush went on to insist that the café is children-friendly and that their reviews speak for themselves.
“I would like to emphasize that since taking over Corby’s three years ago we have actively introduced more child-friendly menus and facilities, including a baby-changing station,” he added.
“In what continues to be a very challenging time to own and run a small independent business, this unnecessary and unfair distraction doesn’t help.”
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