A Kansas City restaurant is warning against violence after a customer threatened to kill staff, including a teen, over a refund.
On their social media page, Paul’s Drive In wrote the incident occurred Wednesday Jan. 7, at its location., 10424 Blue Ridge Blvd, Kansas City,
"To our customers and community—this is an important post."
"Last night, our team experienced a situation that crossed a line no service worker should ever have to face. A customer became verbally aggressive during a routine refund and escalated to making explicit threats of violence, including threats to kill our staff. One of the employees involved is 16 years old."
To be clear:
"The customer’s concern was already being handled. A refund was actively in progress. There was never any refusal to resolve the issue."
"We train our team to prioritize safety above all else. When the threats began, the refund was completed and the individual was removed from the property. The entire incident was captured on our security system, and a police report is being filed."
Let us be absolutely clear:
"Threatening violence over a food order is not acceptable. Ever."
'It is not “passion.” It is not “frustration.” It is assault under Missouri law."
"We go out of our way to take care of our customers, but we will not tolerate threats, intimidation, or abuse of our staff, especially our minors. The service industry is experiencing an alarming rise in behavior like this, and it has to stop."
'To the individual involved: you are no longer welcome at Paul’s Drive In."
"To everyone else: thank you for continuing to treat our team with kindness, respect, and basic human decency. We stand with our employees. Always."