Tasmanian owner of Waterfalls Cafe & Gallery issues plea to ‘horrible’ customers

The mum-of-three works in one of the most beautiful locations in Australia but has noticed a disturbing new trend that scares the “hell” out of her.

Bushfires threatened Rachel Power's home and hospitality business four years ago and then the pandemic heaped on “constant stress”, but it wasn’t these disasters that eventually pushed her into such a severe state of burnout that she couldn’t step foot inside her cafe for six months.

Instead it was a “horrible” customer that sent the Tasmanian cafe owner into a spin causing a panic attack and weeks of depression.

The 43-year-old said she has witnessed a change in customers’ attitudes with a pervasive “post pandemic aggression that is utterly deplorable”.

Ms Power owns the Waterfalls Cafe & Gallery in Mt Field National Park in Tasmania with her husband and has run it for the past decade.

They were one of Australia's first family travel bloggers who landed in Tasmania, and two days in, were so captivated by the island they were scouting out where they would set up permanently.

Rachel Power with the new accommodation pods under construction. Picture: Chris Kidd

When they found out the cafe was up for sale in their favourite park, they jumped at the opportunity.

“We love what we do and are just about to open our accommodation business on the doorstep to the park, so there is lots going on. Being inside a national park is very different to being in the middle of a city and anywhere else. We get to have a bit more fun and don’t take ourselves too seriously,” she told news.com.au.

“We get to put our heart and soul into it and it’s something I enjoy tremendously.”

But the mum-of-three said it had been a tough time in recent years with the bushfires threatening in 2019 when she was also an elected councillor and was fielding calls from the entire community.

“That was for three months and they crept ever closer and we were evacuated at least five times during that time,” she added.

“The bushfires were just 8km away for two months of that time.”

The cafe is located in one of the most picturesque areas in Mount Field National Park, Tasmania. Picture: iStock

She said the external stress – unrelated to her business – saw her identify serious mental health issues but she said by the time the pandemic hit, she felt she was in a good position to deal with it.

While lockdowns caused a strain particularly as a major employer in the region, Ms Powers said they were able to access a lot of funding due to being a part of the impacted hospitality industry.

“But I wasn’t prepared for the people that we would reopen to,” she said.

“I think that has been the biggest change since Covid – people are right and no longer listen to anyone else. It’s not the customer is always right, it’s ‘I am right and I don’t care what you say’. It’s so much more aggressive than it’s ever been.”

Ms Power said the bad behaviour first related to enforcing government mandates such as only allowing people who had been vaccinated into venues and density limits on how many could be inside.

Mount Field National Park Waterfalls Cafe owners Greg and Rachel Power when they first bought the place 10 years ago. Picture: News Corp

But since these have been dropped, the aggression has continued.

“There is this want to fight and I’ve never had that before,” she said.

“I’ve had nasty people before – don’t get me wrong – but it’s changed and people have changed.”

There was the woman who put in a formal complaint because staff wouldn’t heat up her half eaten salad wrap or the people that have gotten angry because they can’t accept keep cups due to hygiene rules.

But the customer that tipped her over the edge was part of a group of 20 that arrived on Mother's Day last year. The cafe didn’t have room to seat them all together so just six stayed for lunch.

Rachel Power has to manage her burnout daily. Picture: Supplied

Afterwards, as the group left, one man bailed her up and berated her.

“He said to me ‘Why are you letting money walk out of the door?’ After Covid there was a big ‘I’m here to help you and I’m bringing money to you’ and you had to bow down and take the money gratefully. It’s been really strange ideals we have noticed,” she said.

“He kept complaining and wouldn’t listen to reason, so I stood there and took it and I waited until they finished and thanked them for their feedback and wished them a lovely day.

“This guy wouldn’t leave and kept fighting and talking. It didn’t matter what I said and he was just being nasty. I had dealt with hundreds of customers like him but had worked six weeks non-stop as we were short staffed.

“It just put me in a place that after he left I think I made two coffees but my body was waiting for the next customer to abuse me – it was just waiting to happen again, it was muscle memory. I went to the toilet and I burst into tears.”

Crying, shaking and barely able to breathe, it took Ms Power half an hour to “calm down enough” to tell her husband what was wrong.

“I didn’t set foot back in the cafe for about six months and didn’t think I ever actually would,” she admitted.

“We discussed selling the cafe, which I’m glad we didn’t, but it was such a shift in mindset. Even with all of those other stressors I hadn’t had an experience like that and it scared the hell out of me.”

It took her six months to return to the cafe. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

Her husband had to do “everything” as she couldn't even get out of bed in the morning, she added.

Research out of the University of Melbourne’s The Future of Work Lab has shown that Australian workers are in poorer physical and mental health since the pandemic, with those aged 25 to 55 experiencing the greatest burnout.

Ms Power said she found it difficult to know where to turn for help as she said business owners are generally used to high stress situations and find it hard to ask for support.

She reached out to the helplines, spoke to a psychologist and put in a plan to recognise her limits, including taking regular breaks for her to survive in the industry. However, she said mindfulness was not for her.

In September last year, she returned to the cafe.

“I knew if I didn’t step in the business wouldn’t survive and if I couldn’t do it then we would have to sell,” she said.

“The sit back approach is not helpful and it’s not going to get you out of doldrums.

“I think there’s a lot of people that need to hear that. I think there’s a lot of people who are in the same situation where it takes one last straw and literally the last straw that breaks you and I needed that time out. ButI also now know that I need to have two days off as we went into the busiest weekend of the year.”

Despite the calming nature of Russell Falls in Mt Field National Park Tasmania, the cafe owners are still experiencing aggression. Picture: iStock

Ms Power said 99 per cent of her customers leave with a smile on their face but she has issued a plea to “horrible” customers who are sending her staff to breaking point.

“I think everyone has a choice. If you don’t like things then leave, that’s not a problem, that’s OK, I understand as a business owner. It’s OK for people to walk out the door – you can’t please everyone – but people need to realise that perhaps we can’t please them and they might like to visit someone else,” she said.

“Everyone expects now you have to do what I need but I can’t do everything vegan and I don’t accept keep cups because if any more of my staff get sick I won’t be able to open the doors – it’s something they will never understand as they don’t own a business.

“Everyone in the industry is just trying to do the best they can and Australia-wide the tourism and hospitality industry is short-staffed, so you are going to come across exhausted staff.

“They aren’t going to get it right all the time, there are going to be problems, it’s how we fix problems. So don’t get angry and in our face, just give us a chance, otherwise we won’t have a hospitality industry.”