On New Year’s, Holly Jones wrote via Facebook that she would never return to Kilroy’s after “the way we were treated when we spent $700+ and having our meal ruined by watching a dead person being wheeled out from an overdose.”
Kilroy’s managing partner Chris Burton replied that the person was actually an older woman who had a heart attack and fortunately survived.
“But honestly, I’m glad to hear you won’t be coming back to Kilroy’s because we wouldn’t want anyone as cold hearted and nasty as you returning,” Burton wrote on Facebook.
“I appreciate anyone who chooses to spend their money at Kilroy’s until they act like you. You can take your money anywhere else after that, and I won’t lose a second of sleep over it.”
In the days that followed, Tohnna Wymer, the daughter of the older woman, created a GoFundMe page to help cover the medical bills from Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis.
Wymer’s GoFundMe nearly tripled its original goal of $5,000 for bills and any additional therapy in seven days.
Support from Hoosiers who had seen the story flooded in — mainly in five, 10 and 25 dollar increments.
Wymer and the rest of the woman’s family could not be reached, and Burton did not respond to Indiana Daily Student requests for a comment.
Kilroy’s on Kirkwood declined to comment on the story as well.
But Carmel, Indiana, resident Brian Johnson, who visited the Bloomington Kirkwood location Sunday morning, said he thought the restaurant handled the situation appropriately.
“Someone older, like myself, looks at this young woman like, ‘Stop being a little spoiled brat,’” Johnson said.
He added that “blasting them on social media when they were trying to do the right thing” could be millennial entitlement on Jones’ part.
“I think there’s this thing that the customer’s always right,” Johnson said. But sometimes losing a customer is in the best interest of the business, he said.
Shortly after New Year’s, Jones deleted the message and her Facebook account.
Unfortunately for Jones, screenshots of the post and reply were captured and shared, and the backlash that followed was immense.
Kilroy’s later asked the public to stop sending “hateful messages” to women named Holly Jones on Facebook, as those remaining were just “innocent locals who happen to share the same name.”
One Hoosier changed her profile picture on Facebook to an image of text on a white background: “Not the Holly Jones who went to Kilroy’s on NYE.”
Serenity Salon, where Jones worked as a booth rental stylist, also received its share of blowback from the story.
The salon directed press to Maverick Public Relations, whose spokesperson Sharon Smith said Jones was “no longer affiliated” with Serenity Salon, but there was no further comment about her employment status.
The salon posted a link to the GoFundMe on its Facebook page and made a $500 donation, wishing the family “a full and speedy recovery.”
Smith said in the past few days, the business saw “an equal amount of negative and, actually, positive reviews.”
“Local hair salons have defended Serenity,” Smith said. “Understanding that as a contract employee, Jones handles her own clients and business.”
Smith reiterated that there was no company function at Kilroy’s on New Year’s and the opinions expressed in the Facebook post did not reflect the views of the salon as a whole.
Kilroy’s downtown Indianapolis and the location in Broad Ripple both donated $700 to Wymer’s GoFundMe.
Britton Tavern, an affiliate restaurant which Burton also manages, also donated $700.
On Sunday afternoon, the total was $14,735.
More than 580 people and organizations had contributed.
Burton posted to Facebook again Tuesday night, thanking Facebook users for their support.
“The family members of the lady who survived the heart attack came by yesterday evening to get dinner to take back to the hospital,” Burton wrote.
“They hugged me and cried due to the support and donations being made to the GoFundMe page.”
