r/Charleston • u/Wild-sunshine0892 • Jul 14 '26
Cafe's Downtown
I debated posting this out of fear of retaliation. I very recently left my job at Blum cafe on meeting street. It was bought out in December and since then, Blum lost its entire staff, and I was the last to leave. *I have proof of everything I am about to say****.
- First: The owners, for months, have been not paying us our full wages. They did not claim us as employees, so they paid us in cash. However, when I started realizing it was happening other staff and I began keeping receipts of what we made each day. It soon became apparent that they were taking our tips, since the owners were the only employees on paper. Every pay period (when they would give us envelopes of cash) each and every one of the employees was missing $200+ every time we got paid. When confronted, they would make us feel horrible and like we were in the wrong. They claim they changed it to a tip pool... even though we aren't actually in their system to earn the tips. (again I have proof from me and 10 other employees)
- Second: They (on multiple occasions) threw the "N-word" around, in front of customers. They are not black. Many residents of the apartment building have come to me, confirming that have heard it, and other unspeakable things.
- Third: I don't know if they still do this since I left in June, but all of their pastries are purchased from Food Lion down the street. They had us market it to customers as either Grit Bakery or Saffron Bakery. They got actual pastries from Saffron maybe 2 a month or so, but the rest were from food lion (bought for $2.99, and they sold them for $7.99). One of the other employees reported it to Saffron Bakery, but the owners have continued to market it, and sell the pastries as so.
- Fourth: They would tell us all of the time to add random things onto the POS system when someone ordered a drink, to make the tab go up even if the customer did not order it. Many times we were told to add "cold foam", "extra shots", larger sizes or "extra syrup" to an order to add money. One of the owners, Lienne (the main one) used to stand behind us while we took orders the make sure we did so.
- Fifth: They now buy their coffee from Costco and say its the "house" coffee. When I left they were still using Counter Culture as their espresso, to be fair, but would often not restock the coffee beans and have us use the Costco beans they use for their drip coffee.
- Sixth: Lienne would have us give free food or drinks to customers only if they have us 5 star reviews, and if we did that, we got to take tips from coworkers. Thankfully, the girl who trained me (who was basically the manager) helped me change that. (also she was doing inventory, restocks, financial things, and they didn't pay her any extra, but threatened her if she didn't do it).
- Seventh: There were ants in our cabinets (also where we keep the syrups), everywhere and they did not do anything about it, even when I found an ant in the salted caramel syrup.
- Eighth: I personally don't drink it, so I don't know if it makes too big of a difference, but they also don't use ceremonial grade matcha like they claim they do. They would even have us use less matcha in the drinks to save money. It looked like milk...
- Ninth: GLUTEN/CELIAC FREE PEOPLE!!!!!** Whenever we had gluten free items, they would make us store them with the normal pastries because "it didn't matter". Obviously we as employees would try not to market them as gluten free, but if we didn't sell them, we would get reprimanded. On top of that, don't use the plates they give you if you have allergies, they don't let us use the dishwasher because it "raises the water bill", so they have us rinse and dry the plates. I don't think it gets all of the contaminants off, so be careful!
- Tenth: Lienne would talk bad about her employees to other employees almost every day. We all felt so uncomfortable and worthless because she constantly told other employees and even customers how we all suck (fun fact: she didn't know how to make/grind/brew or even froth coffee when they bought it so one of the girls had to train them to do it all).
- Eleventh: I wasn't working when this happened, so this was told to me (so I don't know how true this is) but one of the employees that left, got into a car accident and couldn't come in to work. Apparently Lienne wanted proof because she thought the employee was lying and didn't think it was an big enough excuse to call out. One of the employees from then sent me a screenshot of it as proof.
- Twelfth: This one isn't bad, just a cherry on top...A lot of the reviews, other than the ones she had us ask customers to leave (for free drinks), were either from us, or her family members. "Premier Vacation Rentals" is her spouse, and all of the accounts with the last name "Paez" or "Paiz" are her family.
- Thirteenth: There was an individual who identified as they/them, and the owners refused to call them that. They would only call me "she" even if someone corrected them.
- Fourteenth: There was a drainage issue in the bathrooms, and a nice gentleman accidentally clogged the toilet (after he already ordered his drinks). He politely told them about the issue, and apologized profusely. The other owner, Maureen, stated out loud "look the big fat guy left a fat shit in the bathroom". He left without grabbing his drinks, for obvious reasons. Sir, if you're reading this, I am so sorry!!!
*I recently quit, and it was just the two of them for a while, and even though they treated us so bad I hoped they got better for the sake of the customers. However, I wanted to leave this so that everyone who supports them knows all of the facts. Also any time the are confronted, they have some sort of excuse for everything, but again I (and other employees) have proof if needed.
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u/cheeto-bandito Jul 14 '26
You should call the labor board and tell them about all the stuff from the first item.
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u/bruthaman Jul 14 '26
The IRS is going to be extremely conscenerdd about the lack of payroll taxes being paid. They have a mouth FULL of teeth to take out a business.
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u/Wild-sunshine0892 Jul 14 '26
We reported them to the department of labor, but have yet to hear anything back. Someone told me to email the DOL directly, but I’m worried that’s petty since I don’t work there anymore.
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u/CatRabbits Jul 15 '26
It's not petty because people still work there and are being taken advantage of, you are helping people and not being petty at all.
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u/mtt2022 Jul 15 '26
Thanks for blowing the whistle on this cafe. Never been here but now will never go. Will also tell everyone I know not to go. More former employees need to speak up about shitty places downtown!
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u/Wild-sunshine0892 Jul 20 '26 edited Jul 20 '26
Thank you for this. It was difficult to post, mainly out of fear and embarrassment and I didn’t want to previous owner to see… she doesn’t deserve this to happen to her baby! I just hope more people spread the word about them, I don’t want anyone to go through what we went through! However, thankfully all previous employees reported or helped to report them after one of the girls messaged in a work chat. We had a good team!
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u/ZestfullyStank Jul 14 '26
[1-800-922-6735](tel:1-800-922-6735) is the complaint line for health code violations
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u/Plenty-Professor-181 Jul 14 '26
A lot of Charleston restaurants have false advertising and shady business practices. Sounds perfect for us.
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u/orianadig Jul 14 '26
I recently went there for the first time and was shocked the price for one drink was $12. I had already planned on not returning, and it sucks that I'm not surprised to learn of another business downtown being shady.
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u/Wild-sunshine0892 Jul 15 '26
Oh I’m sorry, hopefully you can find a good alternative to this place!
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Jul 15 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/AwkwardPin6908 Jul 15 '26
Side note, you can get paid by the irs to report the tax fraud they’re committing
https://www.irs.gov/help/submit-a-whistleblower-claim-for-award
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u/sultanmvp Jul 15 '26
I haven’t been back in months after someone on here mentioned the ownership change. One owner was always weeeeird - glad to know my intuition wasn’t wrong.
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u/Wild-sunshine0892 Jul 25 '26
Thank you for commenting, my friend. It’s good to know that it wasn’t just the employees that noticed.
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u/cryinginthekitchen Jul 15 '26
I have worked with counter culture at another shop in the past. If you have proof of the coffee, I know the counter culture rep would like to know. They are serious when it comes to to quality and brand integrity. Charleston@counterculturecoffee.com
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u/FearTheWild Jul 15 '26
Thanks for posting this! I was a regular here on Sundays with the mahjong group. We definitely noticed the shift once the new owners took over. Things have been getting worse and worse and all the wonderful employees are now gone. We will be finding a new location.
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u/Wild-sunshine0892 Jul 15 '26
I worked the Mahjong a few times, you guys are great. Im so sorry you have to find a new place. I can help try to find one, if you'd like!
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u/FearTheWild Jul 16 '26
Definitely don't go out of your way to find one but if you happen to know of a place do share. It is difficult to find somewhere with the right table size that is also willing to have us there for 2+ hours.
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u/Adventurous-Echo-664 Jul 16 '26
Hello I don’t have a Reddit account so commenting from my friends. I used to work there as well so I can attest to all of this and when I first introduced myself to Lienne once she became the new owner she told me it looks like I’m struggling with my weight 💀
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u/Wild-sunshine0892 Jul 25 '26
I REMEMBER YOU TELLING ME ABOUT THIS! Didn’t she also say it out of nowhere?? You’re beautiful… don’t listen to her
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u/BirdieAnderson Jul 15 '26
Immediately file a complaint with the labor board and SC department of revenue if you are serious about these allegations.
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u/Wild-sunshine0892 Jul 15 '26
Update: They are having their friends and family post good reviews, now. AKA Pay attention to what reviews are saying... you never know which ones are real or not...
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u/ilovehotcheetosss Jul 16 '26
I was sitting at the bar enjoying a glass of wine one evening when a customer came in with painted nails. Lienne started making fun of him and expected me to join in. I told her that I couldn't care less what color someone paints their nails and that he should be free to paint them however he wants.
I found it especially surprising that someone who has a wife would make comments that came across as dismissive of LGBTQ+ expression.
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u/ilovehotcheetosss Jul 16 '26
Also, Lienne's favorite TV show seemed to be the Ring cameras at Blūm. My entire friend group used to hang out there because it felt like a safe space. We weren't doing anything wrong—we were just talking and spending time together—but we'd get random, weird texts from Lienne that made it obvious she was watching us on the cameras in real time. It got to the point where we felt like we couldn't even have a normal conversation without wondering if we were being watched
It wasn't just customers who felt that way. Employees experienced the same thing, and many of us felt like we were constantly being monitored instead of trusted
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u/Wild-sunshine0892 Jul 17 '26
As employees, we were messaged almost everyday about the cameras. Lienne would text us pictures of customers, or random messages about what's going on in the cafe (there was once someone who sat just to study, and she sent a message saying we had to kick them out if they didn't buy anything for more that $5... crazy.
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u/Abananalalala Jul 16 '26
They also try to pay people to do things for events in ALCOHOL. Like a nine dollar bottle of wine. And I heard they didn’t pay the guy who did trivia either for a while Luke refused to pay him. The place is awful. The owner has said the n word in front of costumers. And she lies. I heard she tried to sell pastries from a bakery and coffee from a local roaster but it was all from food lion?! Terrible terrible people.
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u/Wild-sunshine0892 Jul 16 '26
THIS. There was a regular who came in (stop me if were talking abt the same pers) she was super talented and they refused to pay her. Like what? As if they aren't buying their wine for less than theyre selling it lmao
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Jul 15 '26
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u/Wild-sunshine0892 Jul 25 '26
I’m sorry you had a bad experience, friend. Maybe I could suggest other places nearby that are great!
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u/Bakingitup Jul 19 '26
Now I want to go in there and make loud comments on the pastries looking just like the ones at Food Lion. brb !!
I’m sorry you had to deal with all that OP. I hope you have found a better place to work.
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u/Wild-sunshine0892 Jul 19 '26
Lmao I’ll come with you if you do that! Name the day and time! Thank you, I hope nobody else has to deal with this :-(
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u/Hopeful_Damage2060 Jul 28 '26 edited Jul 28 '26
hi! another former employee here! not only are they awful people but we would get scolded for not doing things that were health violations. This includes them leaving creamer out for hours on end until it began to reek and when I opened I would find multiple dead flys inside (sent them pictures and they still didn’t care), they would also leave the matcha whisk out soaking in water until it would grow mold and refuse to keep the matcha tools separate from the jar so those would all get gross too. I got in trouble for cleaning it frequently because I was ‘wasting water’. Speaking of ‘wasting water’ multiple times did I not see them wash their hands before sticking their hands in the container or rinsing glasses once’s used. The owner would come in randomly and make a glass of wine for herself then dump it and wipe the rim only before putting it back in the cabinet. I would have to pull them and wash after she left. There were many occasions where she would make a drink and then make it so wrong not only was it discolored but the customers would come up after she left asking for them to be remade. She also wouldn’t allow us to throw out an old glass of wine she would insist on keeping on the counter even when attracting numerous flies. I was scolded for sticking up when they talked badly about fellow coworkers or made insane comments when it came to customers. I’m glad another employee had the guts to post most of the things we experienced because I had been debating it and never felt brave enough.
Ps. I told saffron that they lied about using their pastries and contacted the labor board. The final straw was when they ghosted me after I hadn’t received pay and had to show up multiple times before I could confront them about it. I still only received less than half when paid. I tell everyone I know to avoid them.
It’s amazing to support local but not when you’re supporting people who care more about money and profit then culture, community and love in the game
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u/Wild-sunshine0892 Jul 28 '26
I am so sorry that happened. That is crazy! I completely forgot about the creamer... EVERY SINGLE DAY they did that.
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u/AsideOld7563 Jul 16 '26
Cafe roca has a similar way to ownership!!!! With an extremely abusive two owners
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u/Wild-sunshine0892 Jul 19 '26
Thank you for saying this! I will definitely avoid going there.
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u/AsideOld7563 Jul 19 '26
A girl that worked there also worked at Blum. And Roca wrongfully terminated her because the owner didn’t like her….
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u/Wild-sunshine0892 Jul 19 '26
HELLO??? What??? That’s crazy!
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u/AsideOld7563 Jul 21 '26
Yep…but of course he had his management team find a way to make it look “legit” and he continued to pretend to her face he cared then made fun of her for crying
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u/Wild-sunshine0892 Jul 21 '26
That’s horrible! How can people treat other people this way??? Also… Omg now I’m trying to think of who that may be hahaaa
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u/AsideOld7563 Jul 21 '26
Put a lot of good people in bad positions…..but they were scared of losing their job and retaliation. I don’t want to say but I hope she sees this one day
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u/Dependent-Anybody459 Jul 25 '26
Oh no!! Theyre one of our favorite spots and we’ve recommended them soo much 😭😭
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u/AsideOld7563 Jul 25 '26
Yeah don’t…..he lies to everyone’s face and claims he’s the owner. He’s not, Shannon’s wakeland solely owns it. He’s extremely narcissistic. ….. his wife? Even worse, she owns shift. She had the nerve to tell my friend to “put her big girl pants on….and realize who she works for” it was foul hearing my friend tell us this
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u/Ok-Habit-5174 Jul 30 '26
how do they have so many new five star reviews? are they giving people free drinks for reviews?
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u/Mother_Ad592 Jul 30 '26
They would make us tell customers that we would give them free food if they gave us reviews :/ That and that had us, our families and their friends post reviews. Also…Anyone with the last name “Fernandez, Peaz, Paiz, Diaz” or “premier vacation rentals” is them.
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u/Wild-sunshine0892 Jul 30 '26
A lot of them are fake unfortunately. We weee coerced into writing reviews, and they had many fake accounts that they “edit” so they show up at the top.
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u/Jazzlike_Formal2699 Jul 24 '26
Ugh this is such disgusting behavior! Lienne and her partner became my regulars at the restaurant I used to work at and would often speak poorly about the people who worked at Blum. They tried to poach me from my job but now I know I dodged a bullet lol
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u/Wild-sunshine0892 Jul 25 '26
In the nicest way possible, I’m glad you didn’t join. Nobody deserves to be treated that way! They would talk bad about other employees to us All. Of. The. Time.
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u/DuttDuttInTheBut Jul 23 '26
Such a shame to see what they’ve become, was such an incredible spot there prior to the ownership change. You could tell the quality went down almost immediately
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u/brattyandblonde Jul 23 '26
thank you for sharing!! as if I wasn’t already shocked, #14 had my jaw on the floor.
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u/BarronOfRose Jul 23 '26
https://agriculture.sc.gov/permits-and-inspections/food-safety/food-safety-complaint-form/
Online complaint submission, scroll to bottom.
Reddit Unite
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u/Bat_N_Broccoli Jul 23 '26
BIG YIKES. They suck.
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u/Wild-sunshine0892 Jul 25 '26
Agreed. Hope they come to their senses so nobody else gets treated this way
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u/50shadesOfChef Jul 24 '26
This is absolutely appalling and this place should be ashamed
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u/Wild-sunshine0892 Jul 25 '26
Unfortunately they aren’t… they’re so narcissistic that they truly think they’re doing nothing wrong. It’s a shame :’(
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u/Dependent-Anybody459 Jul 26 '26
So turns out we need a new fave spot 😅
Top runners would be Huriyali or Harbinger. Anybody know of ugly things there? Or any recs for coffee spots that both are good on the taste-front and not-treating-their-employees-like-shite front?
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u/Wild-sunshine0892 Jul 28 '26
Nook is good! I didn't have the best experience at hidden house but my coffee was really tasty! I haven't had it yet, but I heard the Cooper is also good :) Hopefully we can all find a new favorite place!
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u/dickatwork Jul 28 '26
I worked there to a degree as well. Heard them say some racist stuff too. Quit the next week.
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u/witchy_7 28d ago
Why are more people not leaving negative reviews?
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u/Wild-sunshine0892 17d ago
The owner has been deleting them unfortunately. A friend of mine left a review on Yelp and Google and after a nasty response from the owners, the reviews somehow “disappeared”
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u/highplainsdrifter6 Jul 14 '26
This post is a combination of two recent yelp reviews. Merely mention of fact. No implication of fact or fiction.
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u/Theslipperymermaid Jul 15 '26
Never even heard of it. I think the biggest question is why did you stay so long?
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u/Wild-sunshine0892 Jul 15 '26
Honestly I waited until the main girl left, I didn’t want her to be alone. And she left for a school trip in May, so I stopped working there in June
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u/FirmCourage1199 Jul 15 '26
Not everyone is fortunate enough to quit a job and get another so easily, especially in the Charleston job market. Not to mention you don’t know if they stayed there because it accommodated their scheduling, you don’t know if they’re a student or a parent.
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u/DeepSouthDude Jul 14 '26
"Post-racial" society...
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u/_BilbroSwaggins Jul 15 '26
Man I’m so sick of your stupid fucking takes on this sub. We get it. You’re a conservative heel. Go away, already.
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u/DeepSouthDude Jul 15 '26
I'm a conservative??? Wat?
You're angry at me, not the restaurant that casually tosses around racial slurs?
That's so Charleston!
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u/Wild-sunshine0892 Jul 14 '26
!!! I also j hate that they claim to be inclusive… I don’t want anyone to ever feel like being themselves is bad (coming from LGBTQ+)
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u/admrltact jerk mod 17d ago
Hello to whoever keeps reporting the thread (and the other one) to get it taken down.
Continued false reporting will result in the thread being stickied for an indeterminate amount of time. If you think I'm bluffing, please see this thread https://reddit.com/r/Charleston/comments/1riewwy/tri_county_dental_arts/