Wild Honey restaurant slammed for favoring foreigners, and what we can learn from it

It was a bad day for Wild Honey, a popular all-breakfast restaurant in Mandarin Gallery, Singapore.

A customer named Gary Tan posted a complaint on the company’s Facebook Page alleging that he has been discriminated against.

Apparently, his request to get a corner table for three for himself and a guest was rejected. However, a foreigner that came in later was able to do the same. Think Rosa Parks, 21st Century version.

What really pissed people off, however, was the response from Guy Wachs, the restaurant’s founder. He said: “Dear sir, we have an international staff including many Singaporeans and respect all people. We deeply regret your remark (emphasis mine). Guy Wachs, Director.”

A screenshot was captured of the comments, which was apparently deleted. It caught fire on the forums (examples here and here) since yesterday:

Some of you may be shocked by the venom thrown at foreigners in these forums. It’s a political issue, which I’m not going to dwell on, but here’s the gist of it: Many Singaporeans have been rather peeved lately by the government’s liberal immigration policies, and they feel like they’re not being taken cared of enough.

In this context, the tepid reaction towards the restaurant’s actions wasn’t surprising.

Regardless of who’s right or wrong here, there are many lessons startups can learn from this incident. While I’m certainly no customer service expert, I intend this article to be the start of a fruitful discussion — a departure from the mindless raging you see in the forums.

1) When interacting with customers on social media, think twice before posting anything.

The Internet forgets easily, but it doesn’t forgive. Deleted articles and comments are easily captured and live on for perpetuity. While Internet users are generally fickle-minded and move quickly from controversy to controversy, rest assured that any online misdemeanor, real or perceived, can be easily dug out online.

With that in mind, it really pays to think carefully about how you respond to angry customers. As slighted as you feel — and that’s understandable since your business is your baby — a badly handled PR situation could boomerang on you, a hundred times.

In Guy Wach’s case, perhaps that terse comment wasn’t the best way to deal with the situation. Perhaps he did it in a moment of anger, and angry heads are not rational.

2) For God’s sake, read the news.