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.

Sorry I didn’t think it was relevant as it’s not my issue.

Trouble is, you now may get another 33 pages of 'why did you send him a picture of a RR'.

To me, it reads as coded racism. He's dog whistling to his friends that you are other and different, hence the washing korma pans. And yes, the shoe shining reference is to do with your husband doing a menial job and does reference shoe shine boys. And the trouble is, it works because your standard white person response will be 'how is that racist?' whilst the people he's dog whistling to will immediately read it and see several brown stereotypes in there.

He's nasty. I'd look into whether the hoax calls constitute some form of harassment. You could try reporting him for the racism but it depends on the officer you get as to what sort of response you get to that.

Looks like you'd agreed to it, but I would think that he would reach an agreement on payment before ordering anything.

It's sounds like he's trying it on. He also sounds like a complete dickhead.

What should he be reported to HMRC for?

HMRC aren't interested in whether someone is racist or an arsehole

You had a contract, you seem to be trying to back out of paying for the item you ordered, and as a result the trader got angry and nasty.

You should do the right thing and pay him. His rudeness does not give you the right to break your contract or refuse to pay the bill. He would not have been rude if you had paid as expected.

There are hundreds of them on the internet- hardly niche. Another horrible, tacky invention. Blossom trees are meant to grow outside, not be artificially made of tat, damaging the environment, and stuck in a restaurant. Was it going to stand on artificial lawn?

Clearly racist. I would also lean towards thinking the comments about yachts in Dubai and your dh’s range over are close to the line too - feels like he is sneering about the lifestyles of wealthy Indians to me. There are still plenty of openly racist people about, sadly.

We didn’t pretend to be on holiday, and couldn’t if we wanted to. Dh works every evening, 7 days a week. He’s not had a holiday since 2016, locals very much know this because he’s always there. It’s an absurd thing for us to say.

No deposit was mentioned when we first started communicating, he sprung it on me after saying he’d ordered the blossom, I didn’t know he was going to order it as he’d already told me he was doing it cheaper because it was leftover stock from his previous jobs

When I said 20% would be better he got nasty.

yes, he's racist, and clearly horrible and apparently a bit crazy. funny how he says 'Avoid' because that is what you should do not - block on everything and completely ignore. sorry you had to interact with such an arsehole! dont give him anymore thought OP

Because MN is full of racists too. Sad but true. Lots of conservative, upper middle class, brexit-voting people so it's exactly the demographic that happily sweep racial micro-aggressions as being too sensitive or woke under the rug. In their eyes, racism can't exist because brown people are not called slurs or attacked in the street anymore. So this is as good as it gets and references to shoe shining or korma pans is fully ok. Again, nobody will leave a bad review for a French restaurant saying they saw "the owner's wife is scrubbing their Le Creusets" in the back, but people here just don't seem to understand that.

OP why didn't you call his bluff and ask to see the photos?

My point was that even if you DO believe his post (which I don't), he's still showing himself up to be an idiot if he did lots of work and ordered masses of materials before receving a deposit. The comments about korma pans and yachts in Dubai are just the racist cherry on top of his pile of bullshit.

@Restaurantlover your husband’s name is in your OP on the screenshot you’ve attached… If that matters, then I’d ask to have the thread pulled

So you agreed to pay 20%?

Did you actually pay it in the end?

I've always thought that the best way to deal with silly or insulting posters is to give like for like, which is exactly what I have done in your case with this response.

Also, such a pity that you are not quite bright enough to realise that I was highlighting your user name to point out to you that almost anything can be seen as 'subtly racist'. In fact, so subtle, sometimes you really have to look for it.

You don't sound nut,s so I won't return your insult but you sound a little bit dim and I won't be engaging any more with someone operating at your level.

He didn’t agree to 20%, I offered 20% after he sprung 50% on me.

He then got nasty because he wanted 50%

Brown people are not known for polishing white people's shoes. Also, in recent times brown people are leading many global conglomerates, so if someone sees a brown person polishing shoes, most likely they are dreaming.

Also, there is nothing wrong with the person who does a so-called menial job.

I think wisdom has been chasing her but she was moving faster @LibertyFloral

OP this is harassment and I would get the police involved

Of course it’s racist. Very unpleasant. No way would I want him anywhere near my business. Sue for libel

If the police get involved they might actually investigate the matter....
One sm post does not constitute harassment though. It's very common for people and businesses to put up warnings.
Anything from non payments to booking 4 separate restaurants for 8ppl on sat night and deviding ladt minute which to go to...

Dh and I have had over 50 phone calls since yesterday, constant nasty messages and then prank calls and fake orders to the restaurant. But I very much doubt the police would be interested.

What are his reviews like on google?

Racism aside, I can’t believe that people are blindly believing someone who writes that kind of message (the writing style says everything about the kind of person he is), talking about range rovers, and people going on holiday to Dubai, as a strategy to warn people away from doing business with them. It’s childish and unprofessional and nobody should be engaging in business with a person like him.

People are questioning why the OP has a Range Rover and accusing her of breaking the contract when she has made it perfectly clear in her subsequent posts that the stuff about the photo’s were made up, and and the work was never agreed and neither was the deposit amount.

And no. OP doesn’t have to put everything in the OP, if she’ had there would have been cries of “I couldn’t read all of your OP because it was too long.” People are capable and should be reading the OP’s posts at least, and if they don’t, then that’s on them.

OP he’s clearly a racist but tbh he’s just a nasty cunt anyway and is probably a misogynist ablist bigot irrespective of all that.

And anyone who slags off potential customers on facebook should be given a wide birth.

OP this is terrible. You must report to the police to stop him doing this to anyone else. What a sicko

OP I am not only shocked and saddened by the level of racism on here (even from well known posters... whom I previously respected).

But the number of idiots who don't understand basic business. You do not start any work BEFORE a deposit is paid, so you saying 'great' is irrelevant. It's all on him for supposedly ordering the tree before money had changed hands.

AND those who believe the Dubai etc... which is clearly madness. As your later posts have showed.

Maybe people just want to kick you because you're Asian and/or a business owner. But I wouldn't be disheartened by the posts on here. You know you're right, he's a racist bully and I'd report for harassment.

Start asking for 50% deposits