Ben and Naomi, owners of the Low Road Cafe in Windsor. Photo / Instagram
Ben and Naomi, owners of the Low Road Cafe in Windsor. Photo / Instagram
The saga surrounding a Brisbane cafe and a disgruntled customer is continuing to rumble on.
It all started when Kylie Lindsay left a one-star Google review about The Low Road Cafe for not having a high chair for her 15-month-old-son.
In the comments section, she explained how she was disappointed — which led to the cafe owner, Naomi, calling the Queensland mum an "arsehole" for her unfavourable review.
Lindsay shared the back-and-forth messages in an online parenting group, and it quickly went viral — causing the cafe to fire back.
Now the mum who originally sparked the furore has given her side of the story.
Naomi has given her unapologetic stance and now Lindsay has weighed in on the viral row and alleged online bullying — addressing the scandal in an essay for The Courier-Mail
"It's not about the highchair," Lindsay said. "Sure, it started when I left some feedback on a local cafe's Facebook page under their special of the day which said, 'Hey there. We would have loved to have tried this morning, but we were very disappointed when we arrived to find you don't have a high chair. It's the first cafe I've come across that doesn't. Appreciate it's your business and your choice, but it means that families like ours aren't able to enjoy your hospitality and support a local business. Cheers Kylie'.
"But that's where it stopped being about the high chair and became a shocking litany of abuse and bullying online," Lindsay said.
Low Road Cafe called the woman an arsehole via a Facebook thread. Photo / Facebook
"In response to my one-star review the cafe called me an arsehole and said that my Facebook profile tells them I'm a racist too."
She told the publication the whole saga was actually about standing up to online bullying and trolling.
Lindsay explained cafe supporters jumped on the post and told her she was being "a massive sh*tface to small business" to "Don't forget to go f**k yourself" and to "Go to Maccas".
"This story was whipped into a frenzy by the trolls, whose page views and comments made the story trend in the top place for a few days, resulting in international coverage of the spat," Lindsay said.
"It could have been much bigger if I'd said yes to the subsequent requests that flooded in."
Lindsay told The Courier-Mail she was also sent vile emails by "gutless wonders" who created fake accounts and sent messages to her work email and unsolicited messages on Messenger.
(Left) Ben and Naomi, owners of the Low Road Cafe in Windsor. Photo / Instagram. (Right) Kylie Lindsay with her partner Luke and their son Archie. Photo / Facebook
"I got called a slob, an entitled pig and told I made the world sick.
"And of course a special shout-out to Jody who told me 'My titties are drying up from the stress lol'."
Lindsay said she originally hit back at the cafe owner's comment after being branded an "arsehole" and wasn't going to take that "bullying lying down".
"But I wasn't expecting it to hit the media either. I guess when you respond to a cafe review by calling that person an arsehole and a racist, you're really opening yourself up to trouble."
Kylie Lindsay shared this post online about being called names. Photo / Facebook
The mother said she hadn't spoken out to try to make people feel sorry for her, but rather wanted people to think about what we are teaching our children "if this is the way conversations go?"
"Well, we need to set the right example by calling this behaviour out when we see it because if we don't, our lack of action provides silent approval to the perpetrators
"If this little storm in a teacup has taught me anything, it's that bullies and trolls are only tough till you take it right back up to them, and then they crumble and fall like a tonne of bricks."
In their response to the public interest surrounding the public feud, the cafe's owner Naomi took aim at negative customers who had complained about the business in the past.
"I want to talk about power, and the way it is wielded by people that don't like what you do and want you to GOD DAMN PAY FOR IT," she responded in a post last week.
"That kind of power can be so incredibly damaging and hurtful for a small business. It's unregulated and impossible to remove. You literally wait on the kindness of strangers to rectify your ratings."
