What began as a simple dinner order led to harassment and disclosure of a customer’s personal information on the internet, a New Jersey man said.
On April 7, Joe Stephen, of Montclair, ordered a meal from the Union takeout and delivery restaurant Get Stuffed via Uber Eats. After 45 minutes, Stephen messaged the restaurant to check in on when his food would arrive.
But the text conversation with Get Stuffed owner Sandy Wallace quickly turned nasty, Stephen said.
In screenshots of the conversation provided to NJ Advance Media, Wallace mockingly asked Stephen if he would like them to send his food via helicopter before saying, “it’s rush hour and pouring outside and you ordered from Union, don’t be a d***** bag.”
The food arrived after about an hour, and when Stephen sarcastically told Wallace he would be giving his restaurant a rave review, Wallace threatened to post Stephen’s personal information online.
“We’ll be as unprofessional as you expect and include your address phone number and most importantly the fact that you were furious that a driver didn’t speed through flood water during rush hour,” Wallace texted Stephen, as shown in the screenshot.
Stephen said he never wrote a review, but he did post screenshots of the conversation to his Facebook page, which then went viral, being shared more than 3,500 times and accumulating more than 2,000 comments. The incident garnered enough attention that an Australian news outlet wrote about the situation last week. PIX 11 in New York also picked up the story.
Facebook users eventually migrated to the Get Stuffed Facebook page to comment about Stephen’s experience.
The restaurant’s Facebook account then followed through on Wallace’s threat, posting Stephen’s phone number and address in comments on negative reviews citing the controversy.
While Get Stuffed’s posts have been deleted, Stephen said he has received many harassing messages from random people on the internet. He said he has filed a police report and plans to meet with a lawyer this week to discuss legal action, specifically regarding Wallace releasing Stephen’s address and phone number.
The legality surrounding online publication of someone’s personal information, sometimes referred to as “doxxing,” is dependent upon several factors including whether the information is otherwise publicly available, or was obtained through legal means.
Either way, Stephen has been rattled by the ordeal.
“I’ve been having panic attacks because of the messages,” Stephen told NJ Advance Media on Monday. “It’s taxing, I’m exhausted. This is insane. I just don’t like that he continues to keep on bullying.”
When contacted by NJ Advance Media on Tuesday, Wallace said: “To be honest, we care more about the safety of a hard working driver than the feelings of an impatient customer that orders from a restaurant 15 miles away during a rainy rush hour. The customer, in this case, posted his public rant all over social media and he revealed the driver’s name and cell phone number. The innocent driver received hateful messages. From what we understand, the driver has yet to receive an apology.”
Stephen admits he accidentally posted the phone number of his driver when he first posted screenshots of the text exchange, as well as his own address, but that he quickly took them down.
The “helicopter pie” Get Stuffed offered after its controversy with Joe Stephen, in which owner Sandy Wallace asked if he wanted them to send his food via helicopter. (Photo courtesy of Joe Stephen)
Get Stuffed has made light of the incident on social media, posting about offering helicopter delivery, claiming Wallace apologized to Stephen (which Stephen says never happened) and that the shop would be selling a “helicopter” pizza in his honor in posts that have now been deleted.
When asked about sharing Stephen’s personal information without his consent, Wallace said: “The company didn’t reveal any information that he didn’t publish himself first.”
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Jeremy Schneider may be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter at @J_Schneider and on Instagram at @JeremyIsHungryAgain.
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