CHS talks to the wrong Andrew Meyer

The Texas man wrongly identified as the "yuppie scum" in the Victoria Liss and Bimbos Cantina receipt incident tells CHS that he hopes the situation can help everybody better understand the power -- and responsibility -- of using social media. He also says he can still laugh at what has happened to him over the past week. And, yes, he's considering legal action for defamation of character. But mostly he just wants an apology and some consequences for Victoria Liss.

"She kind of picked a lucky guy," Andrew Meyer told CHS by phone Friday afternoon. "I still laugh at it from day to day. I'm not the kind of guy to go after somebody unless they deserve it."

Laughs or no, the situation is plenty serious for Meyer. He tells CHS he has sought legal counsel but isn't sure where he'll go with it at this point. For him, it's important to protect the reputation he's earned in his profession. In Texas, Meyer is currently working in the private club industry, he said.

"I've been in the restaurant industry all my life," Meyer said. "For anything like this to come out is a striking blow."

Bimbos/Cha Cha has declined to comment on the incident and Liss. Bimbos, by the way, is a CHS advertiser. And the other Andrew Meyer -- the real(?) Andrew Meyer who allegedly left the zero tip and the nasty note -- nobody has yet heard from him.

But this Meyer -- the other Andrew Meyer -- he tells CHS he found out about the unfolding situation in a series of Saturday night texts from people in Seattle he used to manage at the Cheesecake Factory before he moved three years ago. "At first I brushed it off," Meyer said. By Sunday, it was all over the news.

Meyer said he has been able to laugh off the situation despite the torrent of hate mail and ugly messages that ended up directed at him, his wife Jennifer and even his mother.

"I got 68 hate messages in my inbox," Meyer said. "But only 3 apologies. It's a whole lot easier to say something mean when you can just type it, I guess."

CHS connected with the couple when Meyer's wife Jennifer sent us this mail about the impact the situation has had on their lives:

To Whom It May Concern:
I just finished reading your article - Another Andrew Meyer apology - and would like to make a response. I am absolutely sickened by the amount of press coverage Victoria Liss is receiving from the media regarding the public social media crusade she started against my husband, Andrew "Andy" Meyer. Andrew Meyer is a common name and I am not certain the number of different Andrew Meyer's she "attacked" before claiming my husband was THE customer who stiffed her from a tip and made a degrading comment about her weight. However, she decided to post my husband's picture which, in turn, led to others "digging up" information on him...some going as far to find his photo and college information from the Texas Tech Phi Kappa Psi website.

 I would like to clarify for the record that she has not personally apologized to Andy regarding the situation she created. She has apologized through those who write the articles about this situation and to those who read her facebook wall. My husband received disturbing messages, some as far as threatening to kill him, for days. And I received countless messages harassing me about marrying a "national joke".

 The mistake was discovered after my husband contacted Cha Cha Lounge to let them know that we had moved from Seattle to Dallas three years ago and have not been to visit since. They responded that they would take down the post but could not control those who had already re-posted his picture. Fortunately, they came out several hours later with an apology (both personally and publicly). It's unfortunate that an individual and business would react to a negative situation through the use of social media to bully/harass another individual rather than respond in an appropriate manner. 

 What does this say to our children who are bullied/harassed on a daily basis by their peers in school? Often times the end result is catastrophic - alcohol/drugs, dropouts, suicide, etc. It is my hope that all parties involved - Victoria, Cha Cha Seattle, and news sources - really use this opportunity to reflect on the consequences of how they attempted to resolve this particular manner and, in the future, THINK before they start a campaign to victimize somebody else.

 Sincerely,
Jennifer Meyer

Meyer said he is not sure where he'll go with the attention the situation has garnered. He has been called by a few television producers but he's been taking his time sorting out the options and letting things settle out after a manic few days. He'd like people to learn from the situation and take more responsibility for their actions online.

"What you do on on Facebook, as soon as it's linked and posted it spreads," Meyer said. "And sometimes it spreads very, very fast."

Meyer would also like to hear from Liss. 

"The ball's in her court. She knows she can send me a message on Facebook," Meyer said. "She's apologized publicly to the Andrew Meyers of the world. But I still haven't heard an apology from her."