Have you ever penned a harshly worded e-mail about someone and then panicked for a moment when after you hit “send” out of fear that you may have copied the target of your vitriol on the message? 99.9% of the time, you did not… but when it does happen — and when you represent a major fast food chain — the results make for good Internet.

Consumerist reader John and his co-workers often place group orders for pick-up at their local Five Guys. Recently there was a minor screw-up and the group was charged for fries that were not included. And so John filed a polite complaint online and received a nice e-mail in reply.

The Five Guys employee — a district manager for the local franchisee in Massachusetts — initially offered to issue a credit to the purchaser’s card and to send a gift card as an apology.

But when John wrote back to say that the gift card could not be used to order online, the Five Guys employee accidentally ripped off the veil of politeness when he copied John on an e-mail to another co-worker at the franchisee.

Reads the e-mail from the district manager to his colleague in reference to John’s complaint:

This is from the guy about the online order screwup. This guy is a perfect example of why this world is fucked. What a complete asshole. I’m speechless over this douche. All of this over missing fries. Fuck him and his tool office mates.

We were all set to contact Five Guys HQ on John’s behalf when someone at the corporate office caught wind of his post about the e-mail on Twitter.

“She has given me a couple of proposals to win back my group’s business,” John told Consumerist after speaking with the rep. “I told her I would be touch with all of my co-workers that usually order from them and get back to her with our decision.”

In spite of the nasty e-mail, John says he is willing to give Five Guys another shot.

“I believe in second chances(sometimes),” he writes, “and so far with the Five Guys response, I think they are close to earning that second chance.”

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