My cousin who is retired wants to sell her very successful restaurant in France. One of her acquaintances who is a  lady   Thai head chef is very interested in  buying. No problem there, just waiting for her loan to come through at the bank , she has her company set up and lawyers paid for,. Up to here , everything is ok. The cook is already working in the restaurant so as to get used to a new environment and also a huge clientele. This is where she turns into a monster. Screaming at everyone, upsetting the staff, Even being terribly rude and bad spoken to my cousin in front of everyone. It’s unbelievable. She definitely does not want to back out of the deal, and has no problem with the price as it’s a beautiful place in prime location. Having’witnessed this personally yesterday , it quite upset me. My cousin will not answer back as she s really keen on completely retiring soon,  and it’s  only a question of 1 to 2 months for it all to go  through. Of course my cousin can’t stay at home as´ the staff need her there, and until it’s officialy signed and paid ( she has the best lawyer) she must be present. My question, what on earth is she up to, why this awful behaviour so suddenly, we cannot for the life of us understand. Some background, she’s a single mother , boyfriend left her, and has full credentials/ papers etc.35 yrs old. Any insight ?thanks. 

First thought was prozac....

 

2nd was, make the sale & let the chef learn the hard way.....

Did Gordon Ramsey feature in the training syllabus? 

Edited April 16, 20188 yr by evadgib

IMO let the sale go through and when the business fails because all the staff leave, buy it back at a fire sale price, rehire the staff and find a better person to sell it to. Two bites of profit.

I would also suggest to keep the lips tightly closed till the sale is made and the cash is paid !!!!...then lay back and watch the fun as obviously nobody will want to deal with such a tyrant... !!!....don't get upset as the final winner will be your cousin, so don't meddle or jeopardize the sale.....

THank you all, that’s what I needed  to  hear, a lot of tongue biting tho.My cousin actually had another very interested buyer but  found the Thai lady so nice ! Nothing in the past gave her a hint.

 

I regard that as normal behaviour (and have come to expect it) from any Thai who thinks they have "risen".

 

Give them the slightest whiff of authority/seniority and that is what happens.

 

They do not appear to be a people that are wary of letting "success" spoil them.

 

 

Edited April 16, 20188 yr by Enoon

If the cow is treating the staff badly, cancel the sale and wait for a new buyer, she should show some loyalty to the staff who may need their jobs and inflicting a Thai woman with a bad attitude on them isn't fair.

2 hours ago, observer90210 said:

I would also suggest to keep the lips tightly closed till the sale is made and the cash is paid !!!!...then lay back and watch the fun as obviously nobody will want to deal with such a tyrant... !!!....don't get upset as the final winner will be your cousin, so don't meddle or jeopardize the sale.....

 

Do the other staff have any other work options?

 

Are some of them Thai and therefore difficult to move to other jobs?

 

Can the local staff fairly easily find jobs in other restaurants?

 

Why? Try to carefully calm her down to ensure the staff stay until the deal is totally finished, from there every man for himself.

 

 

Is the head chef the lady who wants to buy? Next time she shows up at work have security meet her outside with all her personal property. She should then be advised her she is fired, forthwith. Then cancel deal to buy and barred from the premises.

 

If you care about your employees find somebody else she will drive the business into the ground and all will lose their livelihood when it fails. France isn’t Thailand nobody should have to put up with her “face” and violent Napoleonic tirades.

 

 

 

 

5 hours ago, geisha said:

why this awful behaviour so suddenly

 

She's the queen bee now.

We're all on our own journey, leave her be.....

Well, she cannot just cancel the deal because the chef is acting up. There is such a thing as breach of contract.

Keep quiet, she will probably end up in the casserole, where maybe she will have tenderized somewhat.

if she is rude to the people working there, they are not slaves, they can go all at once and see what happens, but most people don't have the balls neither the financial freedom to act out

She is suffering stress... people are often their own worst enemy... she may also suffer the delusion that bosses are supposed to be mean. 

2 hours ago, Darcula said:

 

She's the queen bee now.

Hit the nail on the head. She can look down now. And treat the surffs as she likes .its a Thai thing.

I paid a family members to act with power of attorney to handle a home sale for me. Turned out to be 6 months of stress for them. I was on the beach relaxing. 

You say single 35 thriving restaurant owner me love her long time.

Well,  she taught you a good lesson of Thainess. 

So what? 

10 hours ago, geisha said:

My question, what on earth is she up to, why this awful behaviour so suddenly, we cannot for the life of us understand

Power crazed rendered irrationally by the possession of the impending power.

10 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

IMO let the sale go through and when the business fails because all the staff leave, buy it back at a fire sale price, rehire the staff and find a better person to sell it to. Two bites of profit.

Could damage the reputation. Bad for the staff and their families. Might not want to return.

 

If your staff is considered family and they have been loyal and good workers is it OK to inflict this pain on them for your profit? If no contract signed, move on. If a contract has been signed, what options do the attorneys give you?

7 hours ago, scorecard said:

 

Do the other staff have any other work options?

 

Are some of them Thai and therefore difficult to move to other jobs?

 

Can the local staff fairly easily find jobs in other restaurants?

 

Why? Try to carefully calm her down to ensure the staff stay until the deal is totally finished, from there every man for himself.

 

 

Do you really think such a dragon will care about this when she's the boss ?

Not until she's alone without staff !
SHE is the BOSS !!!

Most chefs I've worked with have screamed at their team at some point, sometimes frequently.   If someone can't handle being screamed at then they probably shouldn't work in a high pressure kitchen environment.   The only time I've known a chef not to scream is when the kitchen team have all worked together for a long time (or perhaps are all long time professionals) and the chef hasn't needed to say anything about what they are doing.  

And for other opinions check out - https://www.quora.com/Do-most-head-chefs-also-scream-and-shout-like-Gordon-Ramsay

Who knows, maybe if she drives the numbers down she will ask for a discount on the 

price of the restaurant. Things happen quickly in the food and beverage business. One

thing is for sure if she continues her Gordan Ramsey tirades she will be out of business

in six months. Staff will quit, customers have many options on places to eat.

Your cousin is Thai or French ?

 

 

Power and delusions of grandeur, that's what's wrong with her, or maybe she's just not a nice person, and / or has no idea how to treat staff / people.

 

Obviously too late now, but I would never let anyone into my business until they had bought it. I would simply include a handover period of say 1 month to show the new owners the ropes after payment in full.

11 hours ago, geisha said:

THank you all, that’s what I needed  to  hear, a lot of tongue biting tho.My cousin actually had another very interested buyer but  found the Thai lady so nice ! Nothing in the past gave her a hint.

 

Why do you care? She should sell to highest offer and walk away.

 

Someone else's problem.

 

Can't fix broken people.

I agree with a cpl previous replies.

1. HISO now so she will become as  a LOT think they should.

2.Let her buy it..run it down..Staff unhappy & Buy back at a greatly reduced price?

 

The staff will know when you buy it back & return (if they ever left) and it will be attractive to another buyer.

 

The world is NOT full of <deleted>...They are strategically placed so you come across one EVERY DAY....?

Edited April 17, 20188 yr by Tambs2020
Spelling

21 minutes ago, Tambs2020 said:

I agree with a cpl previous replies.

1. HISO now so she will become as  a LOT think they should.

2.Let her buy it..run it down..Staff unhappy & Buy back at a greatly reduced price?

 

The staff will know when you buy it back & return (if they ever left) and it will be attractive to another buyer.

 

The world is NOT full of <deleted>...They are strategically placed so you come across one EVERY DAY....?

She would never sell it back to the original owner ,( the) not losing Face culture kicks in.