Heri Sisworo
Not every tourist is perfect. Most of them want to travel the world to enjoy the new place while helping the local economy. However, few troublesome tourists have caused problems for the business owners in the tourist spots. The most recent case involves an influencer named Kalee Hewlett that refused to pay her coffee bills in Ubud, Bali.
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This case of restaurant runaways was not the first, and probably will not be the last too. However, this time, it caused quite a huge ruckus in Indonesia because of the anger of netizens here. Ms. Hewlett apparently was having a coffee in a café in Ubud but failed to pay the bills twice.
It began with a tweet
The news became viral after Twitter user @coraliabali showed a screenshot of Ms. Hewlett’s Instagram account covered in captions. The caption reads:
“Hello Ms. Hewlett, we have blacklisted you as our guest, I don’t know whether you’ll come back to our place or not. But you have to know one thing with what have you done to our staff [sic]. It’s been twice you didn’t want to pay your bills, last time with respectfully, we still consider your reason, but today when you visit us after 2 days ago and do the same thing to us, we knew what’s your real reason avoiding pay the second bill too. And making so many excuses”.
Small amount for an influencer
This case becomes more and more confusing as the bill was only IDR95K, less than USD8. The caption continues: “I believe you must know how treated others right? ..But the facts so far away from reality. Your total bills is only 95k Indonesian Rupiah, but with this amount, you have lowered yourself in front of us.”
Taking from small businesses
The café owner seems to be annoyed with the tourists leeching from their business. She hopes that other small businesses won’t be the victim of the same dine-and-dash tourists. “Hopefully what we experience today didn’t happen to other small local business here. And when you buy from local business, you’re helping a lil girl to go to school, moms and dads put food on the table, the staff can make a living,” the caption concludes.
No response from Ms. Hewlett the influencer
After the tweet became viral, all social media account of Ms. Hewlett has been deactivated. She is yet to provide clarification from her side. A self-pronounced fashion and lifestyle expert, Ms. Hewlett claims to be an influencer even though her Instagram and Twitter account followers are still low in number. Based on Instagram and Twitter tracking, she actually has been involved in many high-profile events.
After this case became viral, the owner of the restaurant that Ms. Hewlett visited, giving a formal apology through Facebook. It turns out that there was some misunderstanding. Ms. Hewlett did not eat anything from the restaurant nor refuse to pay her bill.
May there will be no further misunderstanding regarding this case. Also, Ms. Hewlett’s work will not be affected by this. Next
