Christine Duran and her friends received a restaurant check with a message that hurt more than the price. The diners were insulted as a message on their check called them "fat girls."
Duran was with her friends at Chilly D's Sports Lounge at the Cameo Club Casino in California when they received a bill that came with a nasty message. The check that they received said "Fat Girls" under the server's name. Duran and her friends were shocked when they noticed it.
"I got the bill, and I was like, why does the receipt say, 'fat girls?'" Duran told News 10.
Being that it was so unbelievable, Duran's friends thought she was joking until they saw the bill themselves.
"I was laughing at her, and she was like, 'I'm serious.' I'm like, 'No, it does not say fat girls, let me see it,'" said Christina Huerta, who was also at the table along with Isabel Robles.
"[Huerta] was like, 'You're lying,'" Duran said. "And I was like, 'No, I'm serious. Look at it.' She was like, 'fat girls?'"
"I was like, 'Give me that,' and I'm looking at it. I was like, 'Oh, heck no,'" Robles said.
The women confronted the server who said he didn't do it. He said a man named Jeff, whose name was on the receipt, must have typed the words into the payment system. They were told that Jeff left, so they asked to see a manager, but he wasn't so kind either.
"He had like a smirk on his face, like if it was funny, but he was trying not to laugh," Huerta told News 10 about the manager.
The manager offered a 25 percent discount, but the women weren't satisfied. He then offered 50 percent off, but that wasn't enough to make up for the pain that the message brought.
"It's not funny. I can just see it over and over again, and I still can't believe it. They labeled us 'fat girls.' It's just something we got to deal with," Robles told News 10.
Upon speaking to the manager, News 10 found that other staff were not pleased with the Jeff's cruel action.
"I was really appalled, obviously, at the behavior," Bar Manager Jimmy Seimers said. Seimers wasn't on duty the night of the incident. He spoke to Jeff who admitted to typing the words into the computer.
"I don't think he understood completely because he was busy last night, but that's just no excuse," Seimers told News 10.
Jeff is now facing the consequences of his thoughtless action. He is suspended and it is likely that he won't get his job back.
The restaurant is continuing to investigate the incident and Seimers offered an apology on behalf of the establishment.
"I just want to tell them that we're sincerely sorry for that, and that we'll do everything in our power to make sure that this never happens to anyone ever again," Seimers told News 10.
Chilly D's also wrote an apology on their Facebook page.
"What happened to those girls at our bar was unacceptable and is in no way a reflection of how we run our business. We are just as appalled at what happened to these ladies and this employee has been immediately terminated. We are a family run business and strive to make our customers feel welcomed and appreciated. My family is embarrassed and we are holding a full staff meeting to re-train all of our remaining employees so that this never happens again. In no manner do we want to be associated with this type of behavior and it is devastating that one persons behavior has reflected on our family's establishment. My hope is, that we can rectify the situation by taking immediate action with this employee and by extending our most sincere apologies to these ladies and anyone that has been affected by this situation. I completely understand why they were hurt by what was written on their receipt and that type of treatment isn't tolerated. Also there will be no tolerance in the future, guaranteed. Everyone is welcome in our establishment, my family built this business so that the community of Stockton would have a safe and fun place to hang out and come together. My hope is to heal our newly tarnished reputation so that everyone feels safe and welcome again. And if these ladies would like to meet with my family and I, so that we can personally apologize, we would really like to do that, because we do not want anyone to have an experience like this," the message reads.
However for the diners, an apology can't undo the emotional pain that they felt.
"I still can't believe it," Huerta told News 10 "I still can't get that out of my mind, what happened to us. I still can't believe that somebody would put that on a receipt."
"They can't change it," Robles said. "This is something that we got to live with, all three of us."
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
