{"id":1607,"date":"2026-02-17T14:39:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-17T14:39:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/helvilux.lu\/?p=1607"},"modified":"2026-02-21T23:59:37","modified_gmt":"2026-02-21T23:59:37","slug":"family-outraged-after-cafe-labels-grieving-guests-with-offensive-message","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/helvilux.lu\/index.php\/2026\/02\/17\/family-outraged-after-cafe-labels-grieving-guests-with-offensive-message\/","title":{"rendered":"Family Outraged After Caf\u00e9 Labels Grieving Guests with Offensive Message"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

United Kingdom (HELVULUX) –<\/strong> A Dorset family has been left shocked and appalled after a local caf\u00e9 allegedly labelled them \u201cdepressed f***s\u201d on their receipt during a wake for their late father.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hannah Pharoah, 34, and her family had gathered at Crossroads Caf\u00e9<\/strong> in Poundbury, the model village developed by King Charles, to mark the funeral of her father, Steve Pharoah, who passed away in January at the age of 67. The gathering included around 30 mourners, tapas, drinks, and lasted two hours, costing over \u00a3200.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The offensive label was only discovered the following day when Hannah examined the receipt her mother had tucked away in her purse. Ms Pharoah branded the act as \u201cdisgusting\u201d and described the receipt message as a \u201csick joke.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cWe were a grieving family at a wake for our father and this sick joke has made things even worse. We are beyond angry,\u201d Ms Pharoah said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

According to the family, staff at the caf\u00e9 appeared keen to rush them out. Glasses were removed while still in use, and plates were cleared before guests had finished eating. Ms Pharoah said the staff were \u201crude, disinterested and visibly eager to hurry us along, as though our gathering was an inconvenience.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cThere was no warmth, no professionalism and certainly no compassion, something you would expect as a bare minimum when hosting a wake,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Initial attempts to resolve the issue were met with dismissive responses. Co-owner Matthew McCaurtie reportedly attributed the offensive message to a staff member and described it as a \u201cjoke.\u201d The situation escalated when the family shared their experience online, prompting further offensive messages from someone connected to the business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After an internal review, co-owner Sahil Dalvi confirmed that the complaint was valid. He said:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cI want to offer my sincere apologies to the family affected. The circumstances in which this occurred make it even more upsetting, and I\u2019m truly sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The employee responsible has been suspended, and the family has received a full refund.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite these measures, the incident has left the Pharoah family shaken. Many are questioning the professionalism and compassion of a caf\u00e9 that would allegedly treat grieving customers with such cruelty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This incident raises serious concerns about customer service standards, workplace culture, and the respect shown to grieving families in public venues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Helvilux does not receive any subsidies or financial assistance from the governments of Luxembourg or Switzerland to support its journalism work.<\/strong> HELVILUX<\/a> Media is an independent media outlet run by the non-profit organization Helvilux asbl<\/a> in Luxembourg. To support our work with a donation, click here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

United Kingdom (HELVULUX) – A Dorset family has been left shocked and appalled after a local caf\u00e9 allegedly labelled them \u201cdepressed f***s\u201d on their receipt during a wake for their late father. Hannah Pharoah, 34, and her family had gathered at Crossroads Caf\u00e9 in Poundbury, the model village developed by King Charles, to mark the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1608,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[60],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1607","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uk"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/helvilux.lu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1607","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/helvilux.lu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/helvilux.lu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helvilux.lu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helvilux.lu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1607"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/helvilux.lu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1607\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helvilux.lu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1608"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/helvilux.lu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1607"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helvilux.lu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1607"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helvilux.lu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1607"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}