Terrible look for the restaurant owner. He was contacted many times. He ignored them all. The family never asked for the fundraiser... while I'm sorry the man is having money problems, it does not excuse his behavior. He had every chance to make it right and make this go.away before the story got picked up and chose time after time to not deal.with it. Then more excuses as to why he won't release the money... bad deal, bad look.

The owner of the restaurant made a public comment about this on Facebook, BTW, if you want to get another side of the story.

He posted this on 12/28 in the same FB group people have already mentioned:

> Any referrals for defamation lawyers that could meet today?

> Thanks in advance!

I would hope he isn't thinking of suing the family.

Edit: Just to be clear, this was a PUBLIC comment in a PUBLIC group, I linked it down below.

This subreddit and the Welcome to Springfield Facebook group have been too busy eating this dude's ass to see the questionable marketing moves he's been making. A lot of companies do great things for employees, but having to put all that shit on social media wreaks so much of wanting attention. Maybe he paid for an employee's car, but it's really just an inexpensive advertisement. Same with cross-promotion of other businesses. People keep falling for this shit, because "he's a good guy."

Well, look at him now. Not surprised at this latest development at all.

I might have sympathy for Patrick (as I too am a chronic procrastinator) if not for him allowing his 'supporters' to publicly bash/drag/question the motives of the grieving parents in his own post.

Wanna use your large platform for good - set a good example for our community? Then start by condemning those comments and take full responsibility without mitigation or excuse.

From the sound of it all it seems like this alleged scheme is based off of Scotts tots.

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I mean, after reading all accounts, I think Patrick is just a decent guy trying to to the best he can, but he's flawed like anyone is. And this one sounds like a pretty decent fuckup.

Here's one thing I'd like to hear from the side of the family: DID they try and reach out to Nett? Exactly what efforts were made for both parties to contact each other? Nett and the attorneys admit to playing phone tag for a couple weeks.

With what we know, assuming we take each side's story at face value, then it sounds like Patrick honestly fucked up. He admits as such, and this is one that he'll just have to take on the chin. He's clearly a guy trying to navigate his business to success, and I believe him in his efforts to do good for his community. But he got in over his head, struggled to manage these kinds of things on top of running the business, and who the hell knows what else is going on in that guy's life behind the scenes.

What I DON'T think is happening is that he's trying to scam the family out of charity. I don't believe this was a grift where Nett is trying to take advantage of a grieving family for personal gain. It doesn't make sense to risk your personal reputation for less than two grand.

Hopefully this gets sorted out soon and this ends up being a learning experience.

Here's the person in question (they claim) posting here in response to this topic, giving their side of events. Take it for what you will, I don't know much about it but with every news story there's multiple aspects, and it's worth knowing what everyone is claiming.

Regardless of who is in the wrong here and how wrong they are, this is the potential downside of being extremely online like Patrick Nett has been for the last 3 years.

Here is the statement from Patrick Nett to the Welcome to Springfield MO Facebook group. Sounds to me like it got blown out of proportion and was a simple mistake. *edit: Linked above but for those without Facebook.

> Hi everyone, > Patrick, owner of Thai Express here, the guy that’s been on the KY3 news recently. I’m here to share with you my side of the story. Warning, I am going to post every little detail I can remember or think of, so this is going to be quite a long post. By the time I finish writing it, it will probably be airing on KY3 (10pm tonight). The reason I am posting this is because I’m not particularly satisfied with how KY3 is building up the story. While I admit fault, I feel like the previews are making some people think of it a lot worse than I believe it to really be. I was contacted and interviewed by Ashley Reynolds, and she was nothing but nice and friendly to me when I arrived. I had full faith that the full story would be released as truthfully and as unbiased as possible. I still hope that will remain true, but I am posting here today, right now, just in case it isn’t.

> On May 16, 2022 I helped promote a fundraising campaign as well as promised a 5% sales donation for financial assistance in support of the death of Mackenzie Huynh. Please keep in mind, I did not create the gofundme campaign. I shared the link, but also allowed customers to donate at our store if they wished to avoid fees. For that week, we collected $39 in cash donations, $0 in credit card donations, and 5% of our weekly sales for that week equates to exactly $1,810.51. This brings us to a grand total of $1,849.51. I pledge that those funds will be sent to wherever Tim and Nancy’s attorney instructs.

> Now, let's get to the full story. > This is where I take and accept full responsibility, because I did not take priority into reaching out to the family about these funds. It sounds really bad, and I’m not denying that it sounds bad at all, but it is the god's honest truth. I kept forgetting and kept procrastinating as I was dealing with a lot at the business around this time. The restaurant had a lot of struggles around this time that nearly put us out of business, all while I was having to physically work at the restaurant all day 7 days a week. I was served a legal document via certified mail after a couple of months, even though it only felt like a couple of days with how busy I was. I immediately made several attempts to contact their attorney, and we kept playing phone tag with voicemails left for each other. After not hearing back from their attorney, I thought the case was dropped. In my final attempt to contact their attorney, I left my email address to the office assistant, stating that reaching me that way is going to be the best way, and that we could set up a time to meet through that. I believe I sent the exact same message to his direct line via voicemail as well. In my thoughts, I would just put this aside and continue working on my business, and I would get back to it once they make another attempt to reach out to me, hopefully setting a date to meet by email. It was just completely forgotten about ever since, until just recently when KY3 reached out to me. I was hit by surprise, but I opted to accept the interview so I could share my story. >
I have their donations and I am willing to do whatever the family is asking me to do with it. I am just waiting for a green light from their attorney. And yes, I have finally been able to contact their attorney. I went straight to their office the day KY3 reached out which helped me get a response. Right before the interview, I had a phone call with their attorney and he told me to go ahead and share my story with KY3 and then wait until the story airs. Afterwards, he will be in touch and let me know how the family wants to proceed with the money. If I don’t hear from him by Wednesday, I’ll reach out.

> I had no bad intentions, and I accept full responsibility for my lack of communication. In simple words, it was an honest mistake. I procrastinated and I will make it right by the family, should they allow me. A lesson was learned, and I will never make the same mistake again. I can only ask for forgiveness, and promise that I will continue to only do good by my friends, family, customers, and this loving community of Springfield that I have been so proud to be a part of. Although I may be receiving some negative responses from this, it will not prevent me from continuing to do what I do best. I will just be more careful going forward and making sure that I am not overloading myself with work. One of the biggest points I wanted to make was that none of this was a publicity stunt. The one thing KY3 is displaying that I strongly disagree with, is that I used their family name for personal gain. That is not true in the slightest. > My heart goes out to Tim and Nancy and I am here should they want my help for anything. I am truly sorry for this. I am always trying to contribute to the community when people are in need. It’s unfortunate that this time around I have let Tim and Nancy down. I made a mistake and I will make it right. I am truly sorry for their loss, something that I cannot personally fathom. I promise to everyone that there was only good intentions behind all of this and please know that my heart was in the right place.

> I will answer questions in the comments, but I will avoid anyone that’s rude. I have nothing to hide, but I just don’t feel like “getting into it” with anyone being hostile. > Thank you for hearing me out

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Patrick Sr. (OG owner) would have never done something like this. I know the move to the south side and merge with another business was to set him up to retire but after visiting that location everything seemed so generic and gentrified. No more photos of Patricks family, no photos of Thai legends and royalty, the new location looked more like the inside of a Freddy’s. Kinda sad. This just really puts a bad taste in my mouth

I feel like this is a lesson (a tragic one) on intent and impact. I believe Patrick had the best intentions in setting up the fundraiser. He is a good man who has shown that he loves his community and cares about spreading kindness. But he messed up. Big time. And he’s acknowledged that. BUT I feel like his explanations have been to try and explain his intentions instead of just acknowledging the impact it had on the family. Whether or not he meant to exploit them, that is how it impacted them, and all of this would have gone better if he had just acknowledged the hurt he caused instead of trying to explain that he had pure intentions. I understand wanting to clear your name, but I think at this point, that would have been the better statement to make. I think that Patrick has learned from this, but I do really feel for the family. I hope that he does get a chance to talk with the family and apologize.

Seems like nobody acted with malice or ill intent. Restaurant owner did wrong, but not out of ill will, he did so unintentionally (if we take him at his word, which I see no reason not to). The parents were right to be mad, but nobody here is a villain. Mea Culpa has been issued and amends have been made.

Seems to me like that's as far as the story needs to go.

Everyday Thai is better anyway

I may drop by the restaurant and dine and dash for now, I'm just forgetful, but don't worry I can pay in 8 months.

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If only $39 was raised, I highly doubt anyone visited this restaurant in the hopes of making Nett donate 5% of their bill lol. Family is lucky they’re making $1800 off the promotion.

Horrible by Patrick Nett. Should also be stripped of "Captain Springfield" title immediately, this guy doesn't represent our town.