Cafe owner denies claims mother told she can’t feed baby at tables
CLAIMS workers at a cafe in Melbourne’s southeast told a mother she could not feed her eight-month-old baby have caused a social media storm.
South East
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CLAIMS workers at a cafe in Melbourne’s southeast told a mother she could not feed her eight-week-old baby have caused a social media storm.
A Facebook post by Tracey Palmer claimed that her daughter, Jessica, was discriminated against for wanting to feed her eight week-old-baby, Spencer, at Frankston Bayside Degani cafe.
But co-owner Steve Loupos has vehemently rejected the claims.
“My daughter was there and had bought a coffee and cake and was sitting down only to be told she was not allowed to bottle feed her hungry eight-week-old baby,” Ms Palmer wrote on Facebook.
In a separate post also written on May 25, Ms Palmer said she was appalled by the incident.
“Jessica ... ordered a coffee and cake and sat down with Spencer who decided he might be hungry,” she wrote.
“So asked if she could heat up a bottle. She was then told no and that she wasn’t allowed to feed her child at their tables.
“Jess thought the girl was mucking around but much to her disgust she was serious — so then spoke to a manager who also told her the same.
“So Jess asked for a refund ... they then refused her a refund as she had taken a sip out of her coffee and the untouched cake was sitting on table.”
Numerous people voiced their outrage on Facebook following Ms Palmer’s claims.
But Mr Loupos, who has received multiple abusive phone calls since the Facebook posts, was adamant the incident never occurred.
“I have been here for 11 years. I would never refuse to warm up a bottle for a mum,” he said.
Mr Loupos said the abusive calls had been extremely upsetting.
“The truth is going to come out.”
Pointing to his heart, he added: “In here now, it really hurts me. It’s something that did not happen.”
He said the business placed great emphasis on customer service and his cafe had won multiple awards recognising its efforts in this area.
Degani CEO Dan Gallo said the management team was endeavouring to contact the customer to discuss her recent visit to the Frankston store and learn from her experience.
“At Degani we want our service to be the very best,” Mr Gallo said.
“We take customer feedback very seriously and work with our teams to provide the highest level of customer service to all guests, including mums, dads and their children, every time, every shift.
“Degani aims to provide our guests with the best experience and is looking at innovative ways on how we can make our restaurants and cafes even more suited to families with young children.”
Mr Loupos said he was furious that Degani’s head office had posted an apology on Facebook.
The head office statement read: “We would like to take this opportunity to firstly acknowledge all of our valued customers’ feedback regarding the incident that occurred at our Degani Frankston Bayside store on May 25.”
“We apologise if this incident has caused offence to any of our customers.
“We value all of our customers — Mums, Dads and children — and sincerely hope that you will give us another chance to show the true Degani Service style.
“We welcome any further ideas and feedback and encourage you to contact our head office to get in touch.”
In other Facebook posts, some people have speculated the business didn’t heat the baby’s milk because it feared a law suit if the milk was too hot.
Hospitality staff have also posted comments defending the business.
Comment is being sought from Ms Palmer.