Fist flying customer service at KFC i-City

An enraged Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) employee was captured hurling foul words and violently antagonizing a customer in full view of dozens of patrons on video at an outlet in Shah Alam.

The 28-second video has been viewed 214, 356 times since it was uploaded on the 6th of February 2012 and has received mixed reactions from viewers.

The video shows a group of staff clad in light blue uniform bulldozing through a swing door charging at the customer. One staff in particular tried to neutralize the situation by calming his colleague down.

But matters turn to battery when a particularly enraged KFC employee grabbed the customer from behind and hurled him towards the table. Two obviously terrified women tried to stop the employee from hitting the customer. However, the customer did not seem to be injured.

According to YouTube user Jess6366, who uploaded the video, the victimised customer waited an hour long for his fried chicken.

The user said that when it came to the customer’s turn, he was told that there was no chicken left.

Some exchange of grouses had one of the workers allegedly tell the customer: “Kalau mau makan, buat sendiri lah babi.” (If you want to eat, make it yourself, pig!)

The video turned viral over Facebook and received mixed reactions from the viewers roping in more than 7,300 comments.

Some see the incident from a purely customer-service point-of-view whereas many point out the obvious racism behind the ugly dispute.

Youtube user himynameisyumi wrote: “Shouldn’t the staff be apologizing for running out of stock and offer to give compensation instead? (free meal vouchers etc) after all, they did wait for over an hour. Why haven’t they been informed earlier? Can’t blame the customers for being irritable and rude because of all the standing around, hungry & time wasted getting nothing in return. They could have left quietly and politely to eat somewhere else if the staff had informed them immediately that they were out of stock.

125kitaro having had a similar experience wrote: “I was there last week, its the same group of workers who were very rude ……….. You people should be blacklisted from employment wherever you go.” (Comment edited: Obscenities removed)

The comments from users turned to a full-blown argument on racism, with some comments pointing out the flaws of each-other’s race straying away from the actual dispute.

Alan Tan blogger wrote in his blog :

“Even though customers are not always right. However, physically attacking a customer for being verbally abusive is an act of violence, totally wrong and must be avoided at all cost.  The staff  should not have taken matters into their own hands. The outlet manager should have immediately stepped in at the first sign of trouble to resolve the issue in a professional manner. I’m guessing even the manager was not properly trained by KFC!”

KFC Malaysia suspends employees 

Meanwhile, KFC Malaysia responded in their Facebook page that they are aware of the video and are currently investigating the issue. The staff involved also said to have been suspended, pending investigation.

Their post received over 1,200 comments from Facebookers, some in support of the customers and other for the employees.

This is a second incident casting KFC in a negative light in a span of six months.