A row over a prawn curry resulted in a “hot-headed” Indian take-away worker sending abusive text messages to an unhappy customer.
Mohammed Jabbir Sabur was furious over a negative review about The Curry Pot, a hot food carry-out shop run by his family.
He warned the woman that he knew where she lived and called her a “dumb f***”.
A shocked sheriff told Sabur, “It’s a pretty remarkable way to behave when you’re trying to run a business.”
The rumpus began over a delivered meal which the woman claimed she could not eat because it was “too salty”.
The food had been ordered on-line via the app ‘Just Eat’. It was sent to her home and when the woman phoned to complain about it, the delivery driver returned to pick it up.
When she later posted the unfavourable comments, Sabur, whose father owns the business, quickly retaliated by texts, Dunfermline Sheriff Court heard.
Sabur, 31, of Bruce Gardens, Dunfermline, admitted that on May 28 at the take-away in Linburn Road, Dunfermline, he behaved in a threatening or abusive manner by repeatedly sending text messages to Rachael Luff, in which he repeatedly swore and made a threatening remark.
Depute fiscal Dev Kapadia said, “The customer complained that the meal was too salty.
“When a staff member went to get it they said most of it had been eaten but the woman said it had been thrown away.”
The unhappy customer was offered a voucher for a replacement meal but she went ahead and posted a negative review about the business.
“This upset him and he sent a number of messages,” added the depute.
These text messages to the woman included, “I know your address” and referred to her as “stupid” and a “dumb f***”.
The woman contacted the police and when they phoned the number the messages had been sent from, Sabur answered. However, he then hung up and phoned 101 to make a complaint about the woman.
Sabur later told police, “I’m sorry. I was a bit hot-headed.”
Defence solicitor Roshni Joshi said, “There has been an on-going issue between the customer and Mr Sabur. She became abusive with the member of staff when they went to pick up the food from her house.
“The review has now been removed because of its abusive nature.
“He accepts there is no excuse for the messages sent by him.”
Sheriff Chris Shead said, “It’s a pretty remarkable way to behave when you’re trying to run a business, reacting in this most inarticulate and offensive way.” He fined Sabur £500.