I got banned from a kava bar.
I live in a city with just one kava bar. When it first opened, I was thrilled! Before that, I’d either have to go to the next town over, 50 miles away, to get kava, or order it online. It started out really cool and really chill. A great place to hang out with decent kava. I say decent because it wasn’t as good as the kava from the bar 50 miles away, but hey, it was better than nothing, and their “premium” kava was *almost* as good…but twice the price. Anyway, once the place became more popular, the kava kept getting more expensive, and there was a new rule implemented that you can’t get kava to go anymore. You have to drink it in-store. I found that odd, and I’m not the only one. Someone decreased their Yelp review from five to four stars saying “Why does it matter…I’m paying for my kava and you’re still making money.” The owner’s response was that “we want to create a community” or something of the like.
I also wrote several Yelp reviews. I use Yelp a lot and used to be an “Elite” a few years ago. I just like to leave constructive feedback to help small businesses, as well as to help locals and tourists alike to find all the “hidden gems” in my town. So my first review was a five star review. Right around the same time the one guy complained about the “no takeout” policy (I think it was a bit after), I decreased my rating as well because one of the kavatenders was rude to me. I also mentioned that the prices had gone way up—this was way before the tariffs. I get inflation and all, but the whole takeout thing was because the prices had nearly doubled. People would come in during happy hour, fill up their tumbler, and take it home because that was the only economical thing to do. So due to those two things, I decreased my rating to three stars. I could tell the once seemingly “friendly” owner was not nearly as friendly.
Then a few months later, things got worse. He clearly did NOT want people taking advantage of happy hour, so he changed the schedule. They started opening at 8am (okay, seriously, who goes to a kava bar that early??) and having happy hour from opening until 2pm. Additionally, rather than half off drinks, it became 25% off. So basically, if you get up super early and go there, you can get kava for even more expensive than it was when they first opened…but it’s marketed as a “good deal” because it’s 25% off way overpriced kava. For about four shells of their kava OUTSIDE of happy hour, I could buy a kilo of ground kava root online and make myself four gallons of the stuff. That’s just ridiculous.
Anyway, I left a third review with these concerns. The owner responded and took it extremely personally. I had never personally attacked him. He said that his kava bar is “not the place for me” and then defended all of these changes…very defensively. “We’ve done our research before making these decisions!”
One of the many problems is that this kava bar isn’t in Florida…like I said earlier, it’s the only kava bar within 50 miles. So his whole defense that his place “isn’t right for me” is flawed. If I want to wind down with a few shells after work, his bar is kind of my only choice. I can go to the one 50 miles away on the weekends…which I usually do, but that’s a lot of driving. So he essentially has a monopoly on kava in my city, which I mentioned.
So he clearly doesn’t care about my business and doesn’t want my money. So I just took a break for a few months after he had his hissy fit over my three star review. I bought some Stone online for the weekdays and drove to the kava bar 50 miles away on weekends…if I was in the mood for a road trip. But the other day, I was really close to the one in my city and was just thinking, “I wonder what it’s like now? Does he have any customers left? Maybe he’s taken some suggestions to heart?” So I went in to check. Everything looked the same, and it was actually pretty crowded. There was actually a new kavatender, but that was the only thing new.
I sat down to order a drink, and then one of the old kavatenders (one I actually like TBH) came out from the kitchen and said, “Oh hey, the owner said you can’t come here anymore. Please leave.”
I was stunned. I should have asked him why, but I was speechless and just walked out.
I drove home, blood boiling, and told some friends about my experience. Then I went back to Yelp and left an ACTUAL negative review. The three star review I left previously was not “negative” as the wonder insisted; it was just critical at worst and mediocre at best. One star is negative. So I left a one star review stating that I had been banned. Of course, the owner had to respond AGAIN because he takes everything personally and can’t handle criticism or let things roll off him. His basic response was that “You weren’t banned because of criticism; we take criticism very seriously. You were banned because you personally attacked employees because of our refusal to hire you. Also, multiple customers have told us they aren’t comfortable around you. We take our customers’ safety seriously, so the decision still stands.”
What. In. The. Actual. Fuck.
I had completely forgotten that when the kava bar first opened, I had mentioned in passing that I might be willing to work there as a side hustle. Nobody said anything, so I just let it go. That was EARLY on, when it was still a very small business with a small customer base. If he hadn’t mentioned that, I would have forgotten about it.
Personal attacks? I’m assuming he was talking about the kavatender/cashier I said was rude to me? I would call that a criticism, not an attack. I don’t think it’s unreasonable to complain when you receive bad customer service. This had absolutely NOTHING to do with my mention of possibly working there, which was like a year ago, so I don’t know why he conflated the two.
But the REAL kicker is how he said “customers aren’t comfortable around you.” What the heck?! I really had two actual friends I would go to the bar with. One is my roommate, and we get along fine. We would go to karaoke night sometimes. The other is a regular whom I met at the kava bar. We aren’t real “friends” per se, more like acquaintances. But we would play chess together sometimes. We were cool with each other.
I don’t know what customer I could possibly have made uncomfortable. I’ve never picked a fight in my life. I don’t mean just at the kava bar. I mean EVER. I also don’t flirt, so it can’t be that. I don’t know if maybe people were just uncomfortable because they had read my Yelp reviews? Or maybe they didn’t like my karaoke songs (my go-to karaoke songs are Eminem songs, which have a lot of cussing). I just don’t know. No one has ever expressed discomfort with me. If they truly were uncomfortable, I wish they’d just told me instead of reporting me to the kava bar’s owner.
You know, I really wouldn’t be this upset if this kava bar wasn’t a monopoly in this city. I could have just said “whatever” and gone to the kava bar across the street instead. If I were in Orlando, the story would be completely different. But now that they won’t let me in, I’ll just have to start making that 50 mile drive every weekend again. But I guess it’s worth it because their kava is better quality and 25% the price anyway.
OR…maybe I’ll just open my own kava bar near his for some friendly (or not so friendly) competition. The ultimate revenge would be to take all his customers by serving superior kava with superior customer service and an owner/manager without his head up his ass.
I also wrote several Yelp reviews. I use Yelp a lot and used to be an “Elite” a few years ago. I just like to leave constructive feedback to help small businesses, as well as to help locals and tourists alike to find all the “hidden gems” in my town. So my first review was a five star review. Right around the same time the one guy complained about the “no takeout” policy (I think it was a bit after), I decreased my rating as well because one of the kavatenders was rude to me. I also mentioned that the prices had gone way up—this was way before the tariffs. I get inflation and all, but the whole takeout thing was because the prices had nearly doubled. People would come in during happy hour, fill up their tumbler, and take it home because that was the only economical thing to do. So due to those two things, I decreased my rating to three stars. I could tell the once seemingly “friendly” owner was not nearly as friendly.
Then a few months later, things got worse. He clearly did NOT want people taking advantage of happy hour, so he changed the schedule. They started opening at 8am (okay, seriously, who goes to a kava bar that early??) and having happy hour from opening until 2pm. Additionally, rather than half off drinks, it became 25% off. So basically, if you get up super early and go there, you can get kava for even more expensive than it was when they first opened…but it’s marketed as a “good deal” because it’s 25% off way overpriced kava. For about four shells of their kava OUTSIDE of happy hour, I could buy a kilo of ground kava root online and make myself four gallons of the stuff. That’s just ridiculous.
Anyway, I left a third review with these concerns. The owner responded and took it extremely personally. I had never personally attacked him. He said that his kava bar is “not the place for me” and then defended all of these changes…very defensively. “We’ve done our research before making these decisions!”
One of the many problems is that this kava bar isn’t in Florida…like I said earlier, it’s the only kava bar within 50 miles. So his whole defense that his place “isn’t right for me” is flawed. If I want to wind down with a few shells after work, his bar is kind of my only choice. I can go to the one 50 miles away on the weekends…which I usually do, but that’s a lot of driving. So he essentially has a monopoly on kava in my city, which I mentioned.
So he clearly doesn’t care about my business and doesn’t want my money. So I just took a break for a few months after he had his hissy fit over my three star review. I bought some Stone online for the weekdays and drove to the kava bar 50 miles away on weekends…if I was in the mood for a road trip. But the other day, I was really close to the one in my city and was just thinking, “I wonder what it’s like now? Does he have any customers left? Maybe he’s taken some suggestions to heart?” So I went in to check. Everything looked the same, and it was actually pretty crowded. There was actually a new kavatender, but that was the only thing new.
I sat down to order a drink, and then one of the old kavatenders (one I actually like TBH) came out from the kitchen and said, “Oh hey, the owner said you can’t come here anymore. Please leave.”
I was stunned. I should have asked him why, but I was speechless and just walked out.
I drove home, blood boiling, and told some friends about my experience. Then I went back to Yelp and left an ACTUAL negative review. The three star review I left previously was not “negative” as the wonder insisted; it was just critical at worst and mediocre at best. One star is negative. So I left a one star review stating that I had been banned. Of course, the owner had to respond AGAIN because he takes everything personally and can’t handle criticism or let things roll off him. His basic response was that “You weren’t banned because of criticism; we take criticism very seriously. You were banned because you personally attacked employees because of our refusal to hire you. Also, multiple customers have told us they aren’t comfortable around you. We take our customers’ safety seriously, so the decision still stands.”
What. In. The. Actual. Fuck.
I had completely forgotten that when the kava bar first opened, I had mentioned in passing that I might be willing to work there as a side hustle. Nobody said anything, so I just let it go. That was EARLY on, when it was still a very small business with a small customer base. If he hadn’t mentioned that, I would have forgotten about it.
Personal attacks? I’m assuming he was talking about the kavatender/cashier I said was rude to me? I would call that a criticism, not an attack. I don’t think it’s unreasonable to complain when you receive bad customer service. This had absolutely NOTHING to do with my mention of possibly working there, which was like a year ago, so I don’t know why he conflated the two.
But the REAL kicker is how he said “customers aren’t comfortable around you.” What the heck?! I really had two actual friends I would go to the bar with. One is my roommate, and we get along fine. We would go to karaoke night sometimes. The other is a regular whom I met at the kava bar. We aren’t real “friends” per se, more like acquaintances. But we would play chess together sometimes. We were cool with each other.
I don’t know what customer I could possibly have made uncomfortable. I’ve never picked a fight in my life. I don’t mean just at the kava bar. I mean EVER. I also don’t flirt, so it can’t be that. I don’t know if maybe people were just uncomfortable because they had read my Yelp reviews? Or maybe they didn’t like my karaoke songs (my go-to karaoke songs are Eminem songs, which have a lot of cussing). I just don’t know. No one has ever expressed discomfort with me. If they truly were uncomfortable, I wish they’d just told me instead of reporting me to the kava bar’s owner.
You know, I really wouldn’t be this upset if this kava bar wasn’t a monopoly in this city. I could have just said “whatever” and gone to the kava bar across the street instead. If I were in Orlando, the story would be completely different. But now that they won’t let me in, I’ll just have to start making that 50 mile drive every weekend again. But I guess it’s worth it because their kava is better quality and 25% the price anyway.
OR…maybe I’ll just open my own kava bar near his for some friendly (or not so friendly) competition. The ultimate revenge would be to take all his customers by serving superior kava with superior customer service and an owner/manager without his head up his ass.
36-40, M
