We received this email from Bimbos management late in the day on Friday and appended it to our post about various Capitol Hill-related Today Show appearances — including a segment with Victoria Liss. Here is an update from the E Pike restaurant and watering hole on the Andrew Meyer incident. Bimbos is a CHS advertiser.
We believe that every individual should be treated with respect. The recent incident at Bimbos is completely unfortunate. We have addressed the incident with our employees and have taken the necessary actions to protect them as well as our customers. Like many small business owners with limited resources we completely underestimated the impact of social media. We have read many of the responses and continue to address them internally. Bimbos has always been known as a place where individual expression is something we value, but this incident has forced us to take notice how actions can affect the community around us.
Thanks,
Jeff Ofelt
That sounds like a politician.
After appearing on national television slandering someone that had nothing to do with it, she should be let go. I’m just saying.
What a mushy, vague non-statement. How about this:
“Both employees and customers deserve mutual respect. However, what happened was completely unacceptable. We will never again post customer’s credit card information on the web. The person(s) responsible have been terminated. We apologize to the community for this episode – this is not appropriate behavior. My employees know this. And without you, the customer, we’d have no business.”
CapHillMax, that just makes too much sense for an estabilishment such as Bimbos.
As late as it came, it’s nice that they released a statement. It would’ve been even nicer if Ofelt had been able to use clear and direct language rather than one so obscured by vagueness that it says almost nothing.
They didn’t post credit card information. They posted *a name*. Names are public domain.
When I read Jeff’s err … apology(?) .. it sounded remarkable like the adults in Peanuts.
What a bunch of too little, too late hooey… the Bimbos guys are involved in a number of other successful businesses, they know about the impact of social media … lame apology.
As someone posted elsewhere….an employer can’t comment on a particular employee’s discipline. You can’t assume from this statement that the employee hasn’t been disciplined.
I can’t believe this story is still going around and around. Reading it again feels like looking at a car wreck on the freeway- you know you shouldn’t look but you can’t help it.
Sure you can. Donald Trump fires people on TV all the time.
@jims
as i commented in the previous post, i don’t think there’s any such law. i’m happy to be proven wrong if you can link to the statute that states that an employer can’t discuss disciplinary actions taken against an employee.
i think most companies have as an unstated policy that they won’t discuss disciplinary actions with the public. if you could cite the law that you reference, i’d like to see it.
Oh, my apologies. I didn’t want to give the impression that I give a shit. That’s something I might do if I did.
@jims
yeah, that’s what i thought. you comment without having a clue what the hell you’re talking about.
you sure are spending a lot of time commenting on blog posts for someone who doesn’t give a shit.
@reading @about @it @and @giving @a @shit @about @it @are @two @totally @different @things
@Commenting @about @it @means @you @give @more @than @shit @about @it. @Oh @wait @your @talking @out @of @your @ass.
@jims
reading about it, commenting about it four times and then arguing that you don’t give a shit is giving a shit. you shit.
Enough, boys and girls. Thanks
A mountain got mad out of a mole hill here. I’d be shocked if wait staff doesn’t have a gazillion stories about bad sad ass customers. I used to work as a bank teller and I can tell you about 99% of the public is fine and 1% are complete a-holes. Anyone who deals with the public in their jobs can likely tell you the same thing. Focus on the good 99% and forget the sad sacks out there. If they commonly treat people like that no good will come to them.
@CapHillMaxx
Exactly!
This is what I want to know Jeff O of Bimbos, did you think Liss’ actions were wrong or not? YES or NO, that’s all I need to know really.
Jeff – is Victoria Liss still an employee of Bimbos or ChaCha or not? That’s the only thing that matters about your response to this situation. Everything else is self serving doublespeak.
Everyone deserves respect, including all the people named Andrew Meyer that your server witch-hunted before she scrambled to her fifteen minutes of fame. If you condone her disclosure of customer information, I hope you are sued into oblivion.
It makes me sick that this opportunistic attention whore got herself onto Good Morning America as a representative of Seattle.
I agree on all points!
WTF? She was on GMA? WHY?!
Dear Jeff Ofelt,
You simply do not have the power to right this situation. However, it will right itself rather swiftly when you finally inspire others to cause Drew Meyer to man-up and come out of hiding to face his many new opponents.
The incident was entirely brought about by (hopefully “former”) customer Drew Meyer and his wholly inappropriate, written statement. Upon receiving that personal, written message to her, your employee was free to do as she chose with it.
It is entirely unfortunate that some innocent guy in Texas and your innocent business have been affected by the reverberations but it is extremely clear in which direction public opinion goes on the subject of Drew Meyer’s poor judgment.
Just get this idiot Meyer out in the open and I’m quite sure you won’t have to worry about hearing from or about him anymore…
That makes no sense. Victoria fired the first shot.
Now, get over it. This is last week’s news.
Whatever douchey thing the customer did, the response was wholly inappropriate and is a sign of very poor judgement.
This incident wasn’t just “unfortunate”. It was reckless and foolish, and innocent persons have had to live with the consequences of Ofelt and Liss’s bad choices.