A customer was left in shock when a member of staff at a Chinese restaurant “whacked” him after he asked for a refund.

A 25-year-old man from Romford, who wishes to remain anonymous, went to Pearl Dragon, Victoria Road, Romford, last Sunday to get a £40 refund after his food was delivered cold and an hour-and-a-half late.

But after briefly speaking to someone at the restaurant and receiving his money, he was pushed, sworn at and hit around the head.

“I was beyond shocked that it happened”, he said.

“It took hours afterwards to sink in, thinking about what I did to provoke that kind of reaction but I know I didn’t deserve to be whacked.

“As a restaurant, they should be taking care of their customers not taking it out on them when they don’t like something.”

Before making his way to the restaurant with his friends and girlfriend, the customer phoned the premises asking for someone to come to his home so he could get his refund but this was refused.

Having seen Tripadvisor reviews describing its customer service as “terrible” and “very rude”, he decided to film the encounter.

He said: “I thought that if other people have complained about their customer service, then if anything did happen, it would be something that others should want to know.

“The same night, I called them up just asking for an apology and they apologised about the food being cold and everything but didn’t even acknowledge that it happened.

“It’s unbelievable they could treat their customers like this.”

Police have since closed the investigation after not being able to get in touch with the victim.

The Recorder approached Pearl Dragon for a response but did not wish to comment before going to press.

Since then, the restaurant has released a full statement on its Facebook page.

You can read their response here