Kilroys Bar & Grill - Social Media Fight

Many businesses these days tend to flip over and die when it comes to a complaint coming from a social media source; They comp meals and apologize up the wall for something that they may not have had any control over. That is why I loved reading about how Kilroy's Bar n' Grill manager, Chris Burton.

For those who have not heard of this story as I had not until a couple of days ago. A distraught customer went into Kilroy's Bar n' Grill located in downtown Indianapolis, for a fun New Years Eve get together with friends. Unfortunately, it did not end the way it began. According to the distraught customer, Holly Jones, it was a horrible experience and will never be back.  Read her exact words below.




To me is sounds like she started out by bragging how much her meal was costing. I don't know the prices of the items there, or how many people were with her but considering it is a bar I'm wondering if she is describing the wrong party when she mentions the overdose and the cussing.
Every time I read Holly's post I get a little angry because of how she reacted to such a life changing event. Her night may have been ruined, but the 70 year old women life could have been ruined. It makes me realize how often i might find myself being judgmental even though I don't know what the situation is.

I applaud Chris Burton, the manager of Kilroy's Bar n' Grill for the way he handled the situation. You can read his reply to Holly's post below:




This teaches me to think before I speak and always remember that what goes on the Internet, stays on the Internet. Not long after Chris posted he reply these messages went 'viral' in layman terms it spread like a wildfire with a strong wind. Holly deleted her Facebook profile but it was too late, the damage had been done. Her post had been copied and shared so many times there was no stopping it. According to a report Holly has now lost her job at a local hair solon and is being ridiculed all over the Internet. Why, because of one simple post that she wrote when she was in a bad mood. Its a lesson to us all, when we are angry or upset we need to remember to keep our cool and to calm down before we make a life changing mistake.

Chris is what I and many others that I have read articles from consider him to be somewhat of a hero. Not backing down when you know something needs to be done, especially when you know the situation at hand. Chris was very polite even though his message was strong. I like how Chris backed up his server in his reply " I especially appreciate you making your server (who doesn't curse) cry as well. I'm sure she really enjoyed working on New Year's Eve just to deal with people such as yourself." Chris does feel "slightly bad" for Holly now as he explained to a reporter "If I had any idea it was going to go viral, I wouldn't have mentioned her name. When something like that goes viral, people on the Internet get a little mob mentality and start sending death threats, calling her employer trying to get her fired. That is completely unnecessary. But you know you've got to be careful what you post online. I can come back and bite you."

What an inspiration to us all, keep calm in the face of ridicule and remember your values. To show even more how great of a guy Chris is, he started a GoFundMe account to help pay the medical bills for the lady who had the heart attack. Chris' message now, " Just be nice.... People in the service industry are people. We all are humans that need to get along with each other. And everything will get handled a lot better if you are polite and nice." May we all take a piece of this advice and apply it to ourselves so we remember that next time we are angry or upset that the people around us are human too, and that we must respect them just as we wish to be respected.



http://www.eater.com/2016/1/4/10709706/kilroys-bar-indiana-social-media-fight-heart-attack

http://www.wtsp.com/story/life/2016/01/05/manager-pleased-his-facebook-reply-angry-customer-well-received/78295300/

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/indiana-bar-manager-responds-customer-nasty-complaint-article-1.2484982