In yet another instance of business/customer social media shenanigans, a Houston bar patron has recently found herself in the middle of a firestorm over a he said-she said controversy.
Allison Matsu (whom several news sources call Allison Hiromi, after her Twitter handle), was having a drink at Houston restaurant and bar Down House when she overheard a bartender mention Bobby Heugel, a "prominent Houston bartender and restaurateur." Customer Matsu then tweeted that the bartender was a "twerp" for quoting Heugel and also used the hashtag #jackoff.
Manager Forrest DeSpain, who was not at the restaurant that evening, saw the Tweet and phoned the restaurant, asking to speak with the tweeting customer. Matsu claims that DeSpain said, "You need to get your ass up and leave the establishment. Your time is done there." DeSpain has a milder version of the events.
The owner of Down House, Chris Cusack, rationalized the ejection by saying, "If you go to someone's house and start calling them names, I wouldn't really expect to stay too much longer after that."
While some have come to Matsu's defense, she is also hearing her share of criticism, tweeting in reaction, "Everyone has put this crap on their blogs, industry guys patting other industry guys on the back, yet I'm getting called B.... and C... Wow!"
Bobby Heugel, the restaurateur whose mention at the bar initially caused the dust-up, even weighed in, saying that "Social media can be a fickle bitch or your best friend," and that, "Some of ya'll need to chill." He also tweeted at Matsu, "You think Im saying this for media attention? You really dont get it. LEAVE ME ALONE. You dont have media power bc you tweet!"
For the painful entirety of the back-and-forth, if it wasn't already convoluted and silly enough, see the Twitter accounts of Bobby_Heugel, AllisonHiromi and DownHouseHTX.
So, who is ultimately at fault here? It seems like it might simultaneously be everyone and no one. Be careful what you tweet, be polite and let's all just have a drink...without tweeting about it.