Busted! Scamwich Artist Unmasked by Local Restaurant Owners
On September 26, Johnson opened his newest venture, Sugarfire Smokehouse. On the evening of the 27th, as he was cleaning up after a bustling second day of business, his phone rang. On the other end of the line was an unsatisfied customer who said the restaurant had botched his order when he'd stopped in to pick up lunch.
Specifically, the caller said the sides he'd chosen to accompany his sandwiches had been "all messed up." He demanded compensation.
"This guy tells me, 'I was in there earlier and got a carry-out order,'" Johnson recounts. "It was busy, so I didn't remember him."
Johnson was also puzzled. The man said he'd ordered three grilled-chicken sandwiches. But there's no chicken sandwich on Sugarfire's menu.
"Are you sure you didn't have the turkey?" Johnson says he asked.
No, the caller insisted, he'd ordered grilled-chicken sandwiches.
"Are you sure you're calling the right place?" Johnson persisted. "I don't have chicken, and I don't have a grill here."
At this point, Johnson says, the caller corrected himself. "It was the turkey sandwich," he said.
In spite of the dubious details, Johnson agreed to compensate the man for the mixup and told him to come by after lunchtime the next day.
Later that same evening, Natasha Creel and Emily Matthes, owners of one of Johnson's previous projects, Roxane (12 North Meramec Avenue, Clayton; 314-721-7700), stopped in to have a look around their friend's new place. When they overheard Johnson telling his executive chef about the strange phone conversation, they couldn't help interrupting.
The scenario, you see, sounded uncannily familiar. A man had been alleging similar snafus and demanding compensation from other area restaurants -- including Roxane.
What's more, Creel and Matthes said, thanks to their phone's caller ID they knew the man's name: Was Johnson's unsatisfied customer by any chance a Mitchell Kerman?
Johnson checked his caller ID log. Sure enough, there was the name: Mitchell Kerman.
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