Well-known burger joint apologizes for a racist comment left on a customer’s receipt

A popular burger restaurant has been forced to apologise after a customer found a racist message on their receipt – and an employee has been sacked.

Fergburger, a popular restaurant in Queenstown, New Zealand, known for attracting celebrities like Ed Sheeran, is now gaining attention for negative reasons.

A customer dined at the restaurant on Sunday afternoon but didn’t give their name to the server.

They were then shocked to see they’d been labelled ‘ching chang’ on their receipt in the section where their name was supposed to go.

A photo of the receipt was shared by the customer’s friend to social media, prompting Fergburger to issue a public apology. 

The restaurant, which has a menu in Chinese on its website, recently admitted to an issue where a customer’s order was labeled inappropriately and insensitively.

The company addressed the matter by stating that the employee responsible for this incident has been fired for their unwarranted actions, as mentioned in a statement released on Tuesday.

‘While this cannot undo the incident or lessen the harm caused, we remain committed to addressing the situation thoroughly. 

A receipt (pictured) named a Fergburger customer ‘ching chang’ last Sunday afternoon

‘This incident has been caused by a single individual whose actions are entirely inconsistent with Ferg’s values. 

The statement added that ‘We have expressed our gratitude for their feedback, extended a sincere apology for the distress caused, and reaffirmed our commitment to ensuring that no customer experiences a similar situation at Fergburger.’

The restaurant added the employee identified on the receipt was not the person responsible for the racial slur.

It said it would hold cultural sensitivity and inclusivity training for all of its staff and carry out a review of internal policies and procedures.

‘We take this matter extremely seriously and are committed to ensuring that no customer experiences such behaviour again,’ the business said.

‘We sincerely apologise again to the customer involved and to our wider community.’

Fergburger said in its ’24 years of operation and through the employment of 3,500 staff, we have never (before) experienced an incident of this nature’. 

Fergburger, in the New Zealand tourist hotspot Queenstown, has apologised after a customer was given a receipt containing a racial slur (the restaurant is pictured)

It comes after a New York restaurant fired a waiter after an Asian customer was given a receipt on which an offensive racial term was also printed.

Cornerstone Cafe on Avenue B in Manhattan’s East Village posted an apology on its Facebook page in 2017 after an employee referred to a customer as ‘Ching Chong.’

‘This situation leaves me no choice than to terminate this employee for this unjustified act. It definitely does not reflect the way the Cornerstone staff or I think because of one individual’s stupidity,’ the restaurant’s manager said. 

In another similar incident, an employee at a restaurant was fired after writing a racist slur on an African-American woman’s receipt. 

Alexia Washington and a friend visited Who Dat’s in Oxford, Mississippi in June 2019 and placed a meal order.

But they were horrified when they received a receipt from a male worker at the drive-through and saw a line reading: ‘Black b*****s in silver car.’

Ms Washington immediately reported the remark to the manager, who made the employee apologise. 

After she wrote online about what happened, Who Dat’s owner Wylie Coleman posted a message on Facebook saying that the employee’s contract had been terminated.

He said he sat down with Ms Washington for over an hour to discuss the matter.

‘Unexplainable to me were the words on the receipts,’ he said. 

‘The first step was taken by myself to the employee who was informed that they were terminated immediately.’