Alex Trelinski
A JAPANESE restaurant in Ibiza has launched a libel action against a customer who said she was charged €12 for providing a hook to hang their handbags.
Wakame Ibiza is demanding €36,000 in compensation and that the post on the X platform be taken down as well as a retraction.
Lawyer, Marina Corral, acting for Wakame said the case opens a much-needed debate on the responsibility of viral fake news on social media.
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The diner had posted that the Wakame restaurant added the ‘bag hook’ fee without warning.
She claimed a waitress insisted on offering the small table hook for her handbag, and after repeated offers she reluctantly agreed – only to find a €12 charge for it on her bill.
Wakame described her postings as ‘false and defamatory statements’ which have caused ‘serious damage to the restaurant’s reputation and business activity’.
The restaurant said that on August 5, there was an ‘involuntary error’ in the bill which was corrected immediately before payment with no financial consequences to the diner.
Wakame claims that accusations of ‘deceptive practices accompanied by a document different from the real invoice’ were spread on social media.
The business says the post attracted over 591,000 views, generating a strong media impact, a decrease in restaurant reservations and a wave of offensive comments and harassment against the staff.
It also criticised the Facua consumer group for turning a denied accusation into news which it said had ‘contributed to increase the discredit of Wakame Ibiza and, by extension, to the island’s hospitality sector’.
The matter will not initially go to court as lawyer Marina Corral will firstly attempt to mediate some kind of settlement with the diner.
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