An American freelance cricket journalist has decried the customer service as Preston’s Five Guys restaurant, calling it ‘hands down the most unfriendly’ he’s ever experienced in a post on X which has been viewed almost three million times.

Peter Della Penna, who describes himself as a ‘freelance cricket journalist, photographer, commentator and broadcaster’ on his Facebook page, took to X (formerly Twitter) last week to write: “England is hands down the most unfriendly customer service country I've been. Went to a @FiveGuysUK in Preston just before closing at 10. Got my food. Was chased out by manager at 1015 while still eating my food & told, ‘15 minutes is enough, you need to leave’. Never going back.

“If a place in the USA says they close at 10, that means last customer inside/order at 10 & eat your food at a normal pace,” he wrote in a subsequent post. “If a place in England says they close at 10, that means they want the lights out and door locked at 10 or else they don't want any part of your business.”

In response, plenty of people replied to Della Penna’s post, insisting that the staff were only on shift until 10 and had no duty to work beyond that time, with one writing: “If the staff only get paid to work until 10pm then why should they work beyond that?” and another adding: “If it closes at 10, you have to be out of the premises at 10. Or do you think that it’s fair for the whole staff to be home late just because you’re too precious? We are not entitled in the UK as you Americans seem to be.”

Some social media users were on Della Penna's side, however, with one commenting: “At every restaurant I worked at during college we would never tell people to leave if they stayed past close. UK customer service sounds like a whole different beast my god.”

placeholder image — Rated 5 on April 15. | Neil Cross

Della Penna went on to post: “Looks like I've found a bunch of English people who believe employees only get paid for customer facing hours. I guess you also think that a group of magical fairies come to Tesco from 11 pm to 8 am to restock shelves and none of them get paid because ‘the store is closed’.

“You could just, you know, say the kitchen is shut if you don't want me to order food that turns into revenue that goes toward paying your wage. Only a twisted mind invites and allows someone to order food and then does the below. No orders = no revenue = no restaurant = no job.

“Spoke to someone who works at a Five Guys in Manchester,” he went on to write. “Says AM shift staff arrive at 7 am to prep for 11 am opening. Last shift stays until 1230 or 1 am to clean after 11 pm close. They get paid for 4 hours prep before ‘open’ & 2 hours after ‘close’. Make of that what you will.”

Another user posted: “They still close to the public when stated. To give them time to clean. It’s the same as prep time. You’re also missing out licensing laws etc. We all expect a shop/restaurant etc to close at its closing time and not expect to stay after. Would you expect a shop to stay open?”

Not to be deterred, Della Penna also posted a tweet juxtaposing the customer service he received recently to the restaurant industry’s attitude during the ‘Eat Out to Help Out’ Covid-19 campaign, posting: “UK restaurants May 2020: ‘Please eat out to help out. If you stop eating in our restaurant, we'll all lose our jobs.’ UK restaurants May 2025: ‘WHY ARE YOU ORDERING FOOD NOW? I WILL SPIT IN YOUR FOOD TO SHOW YOU HOW MUCH I HATE YOU FOR BUYING FOOD THAT GIVES MY BUSINESS REVENUE!’”

Five Guys have been approached for comment.