Restaurant forced to apologise after employee calls bride-to-be a ‘cow’ in email

‘The customer service we have received is awful disgusting and disrespectful’

(Getty Images/iStockphoto)

A restaurant has been forced to offer a grovelling apology to a bride-to-be after she mistakenly received an email that described her as a “cow”.

When Jade Sharp initially visited The Mulberry Tree in Kent with her partner, she had high hopes that this was the venue that they would choose for their wedding ceremony and reception.

However, things went downhill when Ms Sharp arranged to review the restaurant one more time.

Despite having previously emailed the manager of the restaurant to arrange a time and date for the second appraisal, employees of The Mulberry Tree were completely unaware of the appointment when the couple arrived.

The pair were then given a tour of the restaurant by a manager who failed to answer a number of their questions about the venue.

“The tour was done quite reluctantly with very little enthusiasm or passion or even a smile,” Ms Sharp wrote in a one-star TripAdvisor review.

“So I emailed when we returned home to express the disappointment that the lady (manager in charge) wasn’t able to discuss much as she didn’t know.”

The review left by Ms Sharp after her visit to The Mulberry Tree in Kent (TripAdvisor)

The response the owner of the restaurant gave following the offensive email (TripAdvisor)

However, Ms Sharp was not expecting the blunt response that followed. In an email clearly meant for a fellow employee of the restaurant, the manager who had given Ms Sharp and her fiancé the tour described the bride-to-be as a “cow”, stating that the whole encounter “pissed me off”.

Ms Sharp felt horrified upon receiving the offensive email, sharing a screenshot of the unfortunate exchange on Facebook.

“I cannot express how hurt and upset I was reading the email,” she continued in her review. “How rude and unprofessional the way in which she spoke about us!

“For a potential wedding booking the customer service we have received first hand is awful disgusting and disrespectful.”

Karen Williams, owner of the restaurant in question, has responded to Ms Sharp’s online review offering her a sincere apology.

“I am absolutely mortified, horrified and completely embarrassed that you had sight of such an email,” she wrote. “It is completely unprofessional and indefensible.”

However, Ms Williams went on to defend the fact that the restaurant hadn’t made further attempts to make amends with the couple.

“You were adamant that you did not want to get married at The Mulberry Tree, completely understandably so after the email you were sent so I did not wish to insult you by attempting to make amends after such a catastrophic mistake on our part, especially when it is your wedding day involved.”

The Independent has reached out to both parties for comment.