Restaurant owner facing death threats after hunting down customer and calling him ‘pathetic’ in wild DM exchange over $250 cancellation fee he kept due to hospital visit – but still labels his illness claims ‘bogus’
A New York man was labeled “pathetic” by a Boston restaurant owner lunged at him after he disputed the high cancellation fees incurred when he canceled a reservation due to a hospital admission.
In a lengthy and now public social media back-and-forth, Trevor Chauvin-DeCaro was hunted down and contacted by Boston restauranteur Jen Royle, owner of the North End eatery. TABLE.
She found his account weeks after he canceled a booking and messaged him.
“Hi Trevor,” she wrote in a DM on Instagram. ‘I own the TABLE restaurant in Boston.
‘I wanted to personally thank you for messing up with my restaurant and my staff when you disputed the cancellation charges.
“I really hope that you will have more respect for restaurants in the future, especially small businesses like mine. Miserable.’
Jen Royle of Boston’s TABLE restaurant lashed out at a customer whose credit card company disputed his cancellation fee after he canceled due to a hospital stay
Last December, Chauvin-DeCaro made a reservation at TABLE for Jan. 6, when he planned a trip to Boston to see Madonna at TD Garden, the Herald reported.
Chauvin-DeCaro told the outlet that after his AmTrak train was significantly delayed, he ended up in the hospital.
“The delay was a blessing in disguise. Thank God we were still home,” he said. He then went to the ER, after which the entire trip was canceled.
The cancellation meant Chauvin-DeCaro and his husband had to call several hotels and businesses, including TABLE, to let them know they wouldn’t be coming.
Because the cancellation occurred within the 48 hours before the TABLE reservation, the staff told the couple they would have to pay the $250 cancellation fee – $125 per person.
Chauvin-DeCaro contacted Chase, his credit card company, to activate the card’s travel insurance, which provides coverage for cancellation due to a hospital stay, and “never thought about it again,” he said — until Royle DMed her.
Chauvin-DeCaro was surprised by the content of Royle’s message and sent a lengthy response explaining the situation and expressing his disappointment in the way she had responded.
He told the Herald her response was “simply inappropriate and wildly unprofessional.”
“Even if you don’t agree with the way a customer canceled a reservation, her response was outrageous and unhinged. There is no reason to ever do that to a potential customer,” he said.
After the original exchange, the pair went back and forth for a while. The posts were all shared online by Chauvin-DeCaro and have since been viewed some 23 million times on X.
At one point, Royle posted on her own Instagram and about the restaurant’s struggles:
‘BOOHOO. Then call and cancel and explain! DISPUTING CANCELLATION FEES IS WRONG!!!!
“I spoke with a dozen business owners today who shared their frustrations with people walking over them and disputing their credit card charges. THIS HAS TO STOP! The lack of respect and justice is gross,” she wrote.
She then told Chauvin-DeCaro that she had contacted her legal team.
“We messaged you privately and you chose to make this public,” she wrote via the company’s Instagram.
‘The amount of vilification the company receives is absolutely appalling. You will hear from our lawyers again.’
Trevor Chauvin-DeCaro said he was distraught over Royle’s “simply inappropriate… wildly unprofessional” and “unhinged” posts
TABLE is a family-style Italian restaurant where guests sit at a table with strangers and serve a multi-course meal without substitutions for $125 – whatever the cancellation fee per person
In previous profiles, Royle, who previously had a successful career as a sportscaster, was known for his aggressive online battles with clients
Since the dispute went viral, the restaurant’s social media accounts have gone dark.
After Chauvin-DeCaro posted the exchange and his response online, the chef now claims she is receiving death threats.
The restaurant’s legal team is threatening action against him as the backlash continues to pour in. Royle’s attorney, Michael Ford, told the Boston Herald last week that his client “doesn’t want to be hurt anymore” by the “false statements, the defamatory statements.” statements, the death threats, the insulting comments she allegedly received.
“She’s been dealing with attacks online, and now she’s being bombarded with death threats,” he said, adding that he believes Chauvin-DeCaro’s hospitalization story is “fake.”
The restaurant and its countless reviews – many of which are now negative – can no longer be found on Google or Google maps.
A 2021 profile of Royle describes the chef as having little regard for business etiquette or public perception when it comes to addressing customers with whom she disagrees.
“She’s also not shy about picking fights with rude customers in public,” Scott Kearnan wrote Boston Magazine several years ago.
“Maybe a diner sends an email complaining about its no-excuse cancellation policy, where truant guests are charged the full amount unless someone else takes their seat. Maybe someone leaves a nasty review online all because they told their party that they were getting too loud at dinner.
‘When a guest dispute arises (as in any restaurant) and Royle thinks she’s right (which she admits she almost always does), she has no problem making this clear to customers, both in the past as in the future.’