A CUSTOMER was “taken aback” when he was sworn at after criticising the service.

Neil Masey was unimpressed by Marwood Bar and Coffeehouse during a recent visit and voiced his opinions on social media.

But he did not expect to receive a foul-mouthed response.

The Ovingdean resident was disappointed with his trip to the cafe in Brighton’s Ship Street.

He took a seat and decided to air his views on Facebook, stating he “didn’t like it here very much”.

He wrote: “I don’t know why I’m here.

“I’m not 21 anymore, I prefer sitting on a chair rather than a scaffolding plank.

“I don’t like zoning (laptop only areas, laptop-free zones etc), moody teenage servers are NOT cool and I prefer to not pay through the nose for anything (Greggs was busy).”

In response, the Marwood Facebook account replied: “You sir are a miserable c**t, stick to Greggs.”

Mr Masey, who used to own a restaurant in the city, said he believed cafes should never be “so miserable and mean to customers”.

The 54-year-old said: “I have never been called miserable ever before in my life. I have been called the other thing, but not miserable.

“I am neither of those two things. I was quite taken aback.

“I have been in business in Brighton for 20 years and had a restaurant for four or five years.

“You would never talk to a customer like that.”

Mr Masey said social media presented an “opportunity to turn the situation around” when mistakes were made.

He described how, when he had run a retail stall, he had made amends with a disgruntled customer and they had become a regular visitor - but this was not happening here.

He said that “if he had sent me a message saying ‘I’m really disappointed about this, what can we do to make it right?’” then perhaps the matter could have been resolved.

But Mr Masey now says he wants to meet the cafe’s owner face to face to ask “if that was an appropriate response”.

The Argus contacted the cafe and received a comment from the cafe’s director, Harry Petrakas.

He commended the publication for “continuing to only cover the most important Brighton news”.

Mr Petrakas then said: “Our team are not ‘moody teenagers’, they are talented, charming wonderful individuals. We can take negative feedback, but come after our team with snide online Facebook comments, and then we take it personally.”