Adelaide's Bombay Bicycle Club speaks out after public backlash over public holiday penalty rates
AN Adelaide pub which earned a stinging rebuke on social media over public holiday wage rates says "bitter" Facebook trolls blew it out of proportion.
THE owner of an Adelaide pub, which earned a stinging rebuke on social media for its views on public holiday wage rates, has spoken out for the first time since the incident, saying it was "blown out of proportion" by "bitter" Facebook trolls.
Earlier this month, the Bombay Bicycle Club at Ovingham, set off a major backlash on social media after erecting a sign at its entrance, complaining about a hike in public holiday wage rates of 2.75 times the average rate.
The sign featured a mock menu showing what dishes on its bar food menu would cost if the normal price was inflated by nearly three times.
The sign prompted dozens of negative reviews on the pub's Facebook page and hundreds more when the business attempted to defend its stance in a post which labelled supporters of the higher wages "idiots" and telling them "by all means don't come back".
Several hours after posting the message, the pub posted further messages to announce that the sign had been taken down and to apologise for the "wording" of its original response.
Speaking out for the first time since the incident, pub manager Tom Hannah told advertiser.com.au business was "good" and "hasn't been affected" by the backlash.
Mr Hannah said he understood the public reaction but the sign was never meant to cause offence or disrespect workers.
Instead, it was a "tongue-in-cheek" way of "demonstrating what a multiple of 2.75 does to something."
He said his staff had not taken offence at the sign.
"All my workers thought it was funny and thought it was yeah, wow, look at that (the impact of a 2.75 increase).
"We weren't having a crack at anybody".
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He said the business had a good team of employees and had never had a problem with paying penalty rates, which had been standard for years.
"We aren't bad people, we work really hard to look after people.
"2.75 is just over the top in our opinion and in the industry's opinion."
On the social media fallout, Mr Hannah said the reaction was "blown out of proportion" and that he "had no idea" how bitter many people could be.
He said he posted his initial message on Facebook to address a number of falsehoods on the issue but admitted it was the first time he had used the social network.
"That was the first posting I've ever done on Facebook.
"I did it in a clumsy manner. We withdrew it and we apologised".
This week, photos of a second sign at the business, listing more than 60 fees and charges associated with the cost of running the business were being shared on social media sites, such as Reddit and Twitter.
The sign lists a range of costs, including bank fees, "interest on our overdraft", insurance, ambulance cover, workers compensation and superannuation fees, GST, carbon tax and a Murray River flood levy.
Mr Hannah said the sign had been up for months and "has now been latched on to by the same movement that blew the last one out of proportion".
He said the sign was aimed at "people who think we make thousands and thousands of dollars - here's where it goes.
"There's 63 taxes and charges we have to pay, just to open our doors.
"Why are we paying a Murray River levy; I mean really?"
Mr Hannah said the signage had had nothing but "positive" feedback from patrons.
"Until this whole Facebook troll thing started, we haven't had one negative comment.
"This has been a group of people who got on board this and spread it through this network."
"There's a lot of bitter people out there."
Mr Hannah said the whole episode had taught him a lot about social media.
"Yes, stay away from it".