Is this incredibly racist or am I being sensitive

[Restaurantlover]

Have had to nc as incredibly outing.

I enquired about a blossom tree installation in my restaurant, someone got back to me with a quote and I said great what’s his timescales. He let me know a date and I told him it would be suitable but nothing yet agreed.
Next thing I know he says he requires a 50% deposit because he’s ordered the blossom for the tree.
I never asked him to order the blossom, never agreed that the work would actually be done and certainly didn’t agree to give him 50% upfront.

I’ve had to block him as he is continuously ringing and messaging me and is just being plain nasty, to both my husband and I.

I think he’s gone a step too far with this Facebook post though, the reference to scrubbing korma pans and polishing shoes just gets to me, I feel he’s being racist, we have an Indian restaurant but I don’t actually go/work there so he’s obviously made that up to be spiteful.

Im not sure if this whole thread can be true but if it is, I dont think referencing korma pans is racist, how can it be when presumably (and I get OP is saying he is making all these 'observations' up anyway) due to it being an Indian restaurant the pans are used for korma (and other dishes)?

What if this happened to a fish and chip business, or pizza restaurant and the comment was 'out the back scrubbing the pizza pans'/'out the back scrubbing the deep fat fryer'.

Personally I find dealing with tradesmen a lottery and hard work. DIY is overrated and so is getting someone in to do stuff. You cant win

He’s a nasty, lying racist, I’m sorry you’ve had to put up with him.X

I think you did in fact make a verbal contract with him and you do owe him the money for the artificial tree. You are being unreasonable by not paying.

The bit about the pictures is bizarre.

He says your husband sent photos flaunting your wealth, but then he had someone else take photos of a man and woman he presumed were you and your husband, doing work in the restaurant, cleaning shoes and washing pans. It is an Indian restaurant, so not racist to call them korma pans. You seem outraged that he would be claiming that you did menial work in your restaurant and that it is somehow racist?

I just don't get it.

Pay him in full. Put the tree up. Get him to take down the Facebook posts.

What's the racist bit?

I can't see it either

Sorry but I sort of believe him. However I also think he's nasty. Whether it's because he's racist or because he's twisted in any other way, it doesn't matter. His nastiness seeped through.

It's racist to write 'scrubbing korma pans.'

Oh come on, of course it’s racist. ‘Korma pans’ not just ‘dishes’, thereby signalling to everyone that these people are ‘brown’ and ‘lesser’. Absolutely no other reason to use such deliberate wording. I never fail to be surprised by the racist stuff that some people seem blind to.

I don’t mind paying him, that’s not the issue. He said the reason it was cheaper is because he had left over blossom from previous jobs so wouldn’t need to order any, he wanted me to give him 50% deposit, before doing any work and without having even met him, I didn’t say that here because it’s not my issue. But I wasn’t prepared to give some random bloke from London 4k

In an Indian restaurant?
How else are they going to get them clean?

But he wasn't 'some random bloke ' He's someone you had a verbal agreement with. If you don't mind paying him then why not just pay?

So you'd spoken about ordering anyway. He just said he wouldn't need to order but now claiming he did. I can see why you wouldn't want to pay him that then.

Random Facebook marketplace hire does come with its cons.

Why shouldn't you pay a deposit? Please explain that.

When you get time out from yachting/ range rover photographing, of course.

Would 'pesto pans' be equally offensive if the restaurant was an Italian?

But there's no such thing as a korma pan?

Nor is there a correlation between cleaning shoes and owning an Indian restaurant?

Nor being Indian and having a range rover or being on holiday in Dubai?

You’re missing the point, he was referring to me, I clearly want there. He’s made it up, what is the point of making something like that up if it’s not intended to racist.

He was being nasty before this Facebook post and I’d blocked him because of the stuff he was saying.

Slightly off topic but I hate the way some businesses now only have a facebook page, no details of their services, prices etc.

Disagree. Never order anything or start work without deposit first unless it is a long standing client.

Sounds like you asked for a quote and he went ahead and ordered it all? I had a guy like that , a painter , who was well creepy and nasty once and had to block him. And I do think he ia being racist with korma pans etc . Block him to hell and report him to the tax office. What a nasty piece of work. It amazes me that these operators think they can bully people into business. I'm sorry you had to experience this, OP.

Yeah

That's disingenuous. The reference to korma pans clearly says he thinks the owners are brown skinned. It's a racist, derogatory comment.

Sorry but if you said "yes great" to a date and the work then I get why he ordered the tree, and I get why he asked you for 50% up front. Who would do a load of expensive work for a random person they've never met before receiving any payment for it?

He's clearly trying to make it known that it's an Indian restaurant; he could have just said "scrubbing pans". It's got plausible deniability but I think it's pretty clear he wants people to know she and her husband are Indian because he thinks it's relevant.

But as disgusting as it is, OP, I wouldn't acknowledge it. I think it would be in your best interests just to address that the incidents he is alleging did not happen and there was no agreement. And then report to Facebook and HMRC.

It sounds like it is a microagression or at the least racially charged, Its hard to know, but he does sound like a nasty individual, you are probably better off not dealing with that type of person.

YANBU, it’s clearly racist and he’s an idiot to order anything before the deposit is paid.