Gainesville2Go, a local food delivery service, delivered insults via email to about 8,000 Gainesville residents Thursday at about 6 a.m.
It read: “HEY A--HOLE: HERE’S A COUPON FOR FREE DELIVERY FOR THE NEXT ORDER THAT YOU TAKE TO YOURSELF! THIS IS ONLY A TEST. I LOVE D---S!!!
A post on the company’s Facebook page appeared at about 9 a.m., apologizing for the email and saying it was a test. Another post written shortly after passed it off as a delayed April Fools’ Day prank. As of press time, the posts had been removed.
“I could lie to you and say that we were hacked but we weren’t. It was a mistake,” the second post said.
Michael Tatum, a Gainesville2Go manager, said the messages were revenge sent by a disgruntled former employee who was fired Monday. Tatum, 21, said the ex-employee logged into the company’s Facebook, email and Twitter accounts and posted the first two apologies on Facebook.
“He managed to cover all his bases,” Tatum said. The hack was possible because the entire Gainesville2Go staff shares the passwords to the company’s online accounts, he said.
“We let him go, and we never would have thought he would use that against us,” Tatum said.
Brandon Scott, a 20-year-old UF political science and economics sophomore, said the email was inappropriate. But because it was a group email, he said people shouldn’t feel offended, as it wasn’t directed at them.
“I feel like people are too sensitive when it comes to things like this,” he said. “It’s not like it was attacking anyone personally.”
But Rob Bailey, a 25-year-old Gainesville graphics and web designer, disagreed. Because of the email, Bailey unsubscribed from the company’s email feed and blocked future messages from his inbox. He said he won’t do business with the company in the future because ordering requires keying in payment information.
“That speaks to incredible lack of security on their part,” he said.
To make up for the mistake, the company announced Thursday it would offer free delivery for all orders until Sunday. The company also sent an apology email that went straight to recipients’ spam folders, according to another post.
“It’s just not our day,” the post said.
Contact Kelcee Griffis at kgriffis@alligator.org.
