ZUS Coffee M’sia defends staff who threw cup at customer after she splashed coffee over her

Customer splashes coffee on ZUS Coffee staff, she throws cup back at her

Malaysian coffee chain ZUS Coffee has defended its staff member who was seen in a heated exchange with a customer, saying “working in retail isn’t always easy”.

In a viral TikTok video, the barista was seen throwing a plastic cup at the customer after the customer appeared to splash coffee on her.

Customer splashes coffee on ZUS Coffee staff

The clip starts when the verbal altercation is already in progress, with the staff member seen waving her hand and telling the female customer to “get out” in Mandarin.

The unseen customer responds by loudly asking:

Why should I leave? I’m spending money here, I bought coffee!

She then knocks over a cup of coffee, spilling its contents all over the counter and onto the staff member’s right hand.

After that, the customer appears to splash the coffee towards the staff member, causing her to be drenched.

Barista throws cup at customer, customer throws something back

At this point, the staff member responds by picking up the near-empty cup and throwing it at the customer.

This elicits a vulgar tirade from the customer, who forcefully throws something back at the staff while spewing vulgarity.

Undeterred, the staff member tosses what appears to be a plastic bag at the woman.

The video ends after a man’s voice can be heard saying, “Let’s go”.

Netizens overwhelmingly criticise customer

The clip has been watched 2.3 million times, with more than 85,000 reactions and close to 5,500 comments.

The user who posted it claimed in the caption that the customer had complained about slow service but was met with a rude response from the staff, including a “middle finger” gesture and a vulgarity.

However, netizens overwhelmingly criticised the customer in the comments, with many assuming she was from mainland China due to her accent.

One did not believe that the staff had displayed the middle finger, saying Malaysian F&B workers were “not like that”.

Some called for the full video, though they also slammed the customer for throwing things and screaming.

ZUS Coffee stands with its staff

In a statement posted on Facebook on Monday (10 Nov) afternoon, ZUS Coffee said it was aware of the viral video depicting the “interaction”.

After a thorough investigation, it has decided to stand with its “Zurista”, saying:

Working in retail isn’t always easy, and things should never have escalated the way they did.

Proclaiming that “we’re all only humans doing our best”, the chain said it does not tolerate disrespectful attitude and behaviour towards its “communities” and would handle the matter with “care and fairness”.

It asked the public to allow their Zurista “space” as she’s “recovering” from the incident.

The company also urged netizens to respect her privacy by not sharing videos that show her identity and refraining from spreading false statements.

Also read: Nail spa owner in M’sia rebukes customer who insulted manicurist by calling her job ‘lowly’

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Featured image adapted from @iml3x7 on TikTok.