A lorry driver has branded Costa Coffee staff ‘racist’ after they refused to accept his Scottish bank note. Jonathan Owens was left “extremely embarrassed” as he attempted to pay for two bottles of coke at a branch in Maidstone, Kent, on Thursday.
The 46-year-old, who had been delivering furniture to a nearby doctors’ surgery with three colleagues, ended up exchanging words with staff who refused to take the money. The driver, who has vowed to never go back to the hospitality chain, sent off a furious email to Costa’s head office, demanding an explanation for their staff’s behaviour.
He told KentLive : “Two of us went to Costa in the lorry to get coffees, rolls and bacon, rolls and sausage and two bottles of coke. I was only paying for the two bottles of Coke, my colleague bought everything else.
“He paid for the coffees and food, I paid for the two bottles of Coke, or at least I tried to. That's when they decided that despite it being Costa's policy to accept them, they would instead decide to give me unnecessary grief about it.
“The girl on the till refused and her colleague agreed and then when I asked for the manager she said she was the manager and it was Costa policy not to accept them. I contested it again, then other people from the queue who were being held up started googling it and chucking in their opinion.
“I stood my ground, before finally throwing an English £10 note at the cashier saying 'take an English one then, but give me the head office email address, I will be reporting your racist behaviour. They gave me the email address and we left."
Jonathan said the branch staff were “ostracising an entire country” by refusing the note and labelled their attitude as “racist”.
He added: “I was meant to feel like a piece of s***." It's not the first time it happened to me. It's the first time it happened in a while. I felt like a second-class citizen.
“I will never go back to Costa. I do not want to have to defend myself in the future. I called them out. I was correct to do so. I know a lot of my friends will boycott it now. And rightly so."
The chain has since apologised and confirmed they do accept Scottish banknotes. A spokesperson said: "We can confirm that we accept Scottish banknotes in our stores, including at the store at Langley Park in Maidstone which is owned and operated by one of our franchise partners.
“We are sorry that this did not happen on this occasion. We have been in contact with the customer directly to apologise for the mistake and their experience, and the store team has been reminded that they should accept Scottish banknotes."
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