Five Guys Calls Customer ‘Douche’ in Email, Accidentally CC’s Said Customer

Unintentional reply alls, accidental cc’s, we’ve all had our share of email snafus. Happens to the best of us. But one rule of email etiquette that bears repeating: when you are insulting someone via email, be ABSOLUTELY certain you don’t include that person on the email. Double check. Triple check. Lest you wind up like this Five Guys manager from Massachusetts. Via Consumerist:

Consumerist reader John and his co-workers often place group orders for pick-up at their local Five Guys. Recently there was a minor screw-up and the group was charged for fries that were not included. And so John filed a polite complaint online and received a nice e-mail in reply. The Five Guys employee — a district manager for the local franchisee in Massachusetts — initially offered to issue a credit to the purchaser’s card and to send a gift card as an apology.

Oh man, that’s good business practice. Good for you, Five Guys! But wait…

When John wrote back to say that the gift card could not be used to order online, the Five Guys employee accidentally ripped off the veil of politeness when he copied John on an e-mail to another co-worker at the franchisee.

Oops. What did the manager have to say?

This is from the guy about the online order screwup. This guy is a perfect example of why this world is fucked. What a complete asshole. I’m speechless over this douche. All of this over missing fries. Fuck him and his tool office mates.

Strong take there. Blaming everything on this guy. Even the Israeli-Palestine conflict? Seems implausible.

Five Guys higher-ups contacted John and he said he accepted their apology. Accidents happen. There’s no word on what happened to the manager, but he’s most certainly a cautionary tale. Always double check that “To” field.

[Hamburger via Shutterstock]