Young south-west staff subject to 'diatribe' of insults from visitors

Timboon Fine Ice Cream's Tim Marwood and Caroline Simmons said they were extremely disappointed by the behaviour of a group of visitors from Melbourne on Sunday.

"A group of people from Melbourne weren't wearing masks," Ms Simmons said.

"Our staff and other customers asked them to put masks on.

"They then refused to show proof of their vaccination status and became aggressive to the staff."

Ms Simmons said the group delivered a "diatribe of insults" to staff members working, who range in age from 15 to 18.

She stepped in and once again asked the group to adhere to the mandated rules.

Ms Simmons said the customers once again became aggressive and began filming the exchange.

"The staff were very distressed by it," she said.

"It was very disappointing and unnecessary."

Ms Simmons asked the customers to stop filming and to leave the premises on several occasions.

She said 99 per cent of customers were very respectful of the mandated rules.

"I told them 'I don't have a problem with you disagreeing, but I do have a problem with your conduct'," she said.

"We're just trying to uphold the mandated standard and keep everyone safe," Ms Simmons said.

She said staff had been spoken to about how to deal with aggressive customers who disagreed with the state government rules.

"We expected something, but not something that bad," Ms Simmons said.

The group of visitors vented their frustration in a series of negative reviews of the business online.

Last month a number of south-west business owners expressed concerns about the new mandatory vaccination rules.

"I've just been having conversations with staff about it. It is going to create all sorts of angst," one business owner told The Standard.

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