Moffat’s Black Bull Inn owner Janie Seaton has told of her “unpleasant” ordeal whilst working at her “extremely busy” premises on Sunday evening.
Two female customers stared and made nasty comments towards Janie on several occasions, calling her “useless” after their drinks order was forgotten.
Janie said: “They were wrong-footed that their drink order was overlooked and were left in the beer garden which I can totally understand could set the evening off on a bad foot but we’ve dealt with that before, offered our apologies and seated the ladies in the bar area.”
When she realised they were staring and talking about her, she blocked the abuse out and continued to serve others.
Janie added: “I wouldn’t say she shouted but she raised her voice and made sure I could hear it. I went out to the beer garden to see if any customers out there had ordered the food and they followed me.
“They stood there as if they were watching a show with their arms folded and staring at me, shaking their heads. It was as if they were having a joke at my expense.
“I could feel myself crumbling but I couldn’t react to them as I had to get on with my job. I just wanted it to go away.”
The women left without paying for their food and drinks.
“I didn’t give it much energy at the time as we were extremely busy and we were two staff down so I didn’t let it affect me too much. After they left I went to the kitchen and had to take a couple of minutes as I felt shaken and humiliated.
“I’m long in the tooth and have had to deal with a lot of things in my life but this was an outright attack.”
Fed up, she posted her ordeal online and was contacted by others with similar experiences.
A poster has now been created and is on show at the pub warning that aggression, abusive behaviour and intolerance towards staff is not acceptable.
Janie added: “That experience was unsettling. I’m not going to tolerate that and certainly not having my staff treated like that. That’s not going to happen on my premises.
“I won’t be taking it anymore. I won’t accept it, we’re working hard and we’re under incredible pressure during a really stressful period.”
