Barber calls out Optus CEO Kelly Bayer Rosmarin over promise she never kept - after she slammed him with a cutting remark and then quit as telco boss

EXCLUSIVE 

A barber on the receiving end of a cutting remark from the Optus CEO has revealed that she planned to meet with him at the store, but then failed to show up without explanation.

Kelly Bayer Rosmarin – who resigned suddenly on Monday – offended North Sydney barber Jake Azar with comments that she made during the Optus outage affecting 10 million Australians on November 8.

Mr Azar was forced to turn away customers and close his business by lunchtime, in a decision that cost him hundreds of dollars. Some customers even promised to pay but then failed to return.

Mr Azar spoke to a Channel Nine news reporter about how the outage had affected his shop, only for Ms Bayer Rosmarin to quip: 'I'm disappointed that a barber couldn't do haircuts today.

'That seems like one of the few things you can do without connectivity'.

Now Mr Azar has accused Optus of going back on its word after staff promised that Ms Bayer Rosmarin would visit his business twice - first on Friday, then later on Saturday. 

However, she did not show. 

Mr Azar claims he was contacted by Ms Bayer Rosmarin's people to arrange to meet him at his barbershop last Friday.

One of her staff then contacted him last Friday to reschedule to the Saturday, as Ms Bayer Rosmarin travelled to Canberra to face a gruelling Senate inquiry in relation to the outage. 

'She did say she was going to come to the shop to apologise,' Mr Azar told Daily Mail Australia. 

Mr Azar said he was very happy she was planning to personally visit – but then she 'never kept to her promises.'

He was disappointed but not surprised he was stood up. 

The visit had been organised in response to her comments about his business which Mr Azar described as 'a bit rich given she can’t even do her job.'

'She's incapable of doing her own job and sticking to her word,' he fumed.

'It would have be good had she come in as promised, shook my hand and apologised but she couldn't keep her own promises.'

'I would have accepted her apology and forgiven her.' 

When asked if he had a message for the outgoing boss he replied: 'Good luck with whatever you do. You've lost my trust, you've lost my faith … and good luck with whatever you do'.

'Be a lot more honest and learn from your mistakes.' 

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Optus for comment about the barber's claims.

Mr Azar vowed to switch to Telstra in the wake of Ms Bayer Rosmarin's comments about his business.

'I kept my promise and stayed true to my word,' he said.

'Telstra have been good so far, I can't complain.'

'I think I should be the spokesman for Telstra. Telstra: Australia's choice'.

He also jokingly threw his name into the ring to replace Ms Bayer Rosmarin.

Mr Azar has been inundated with overwhelming support in the wake of being thrown into the public spotlight.

'All of Australia is on my side,' he said.

'I'm known as the Optus guy. I feel like a superstar!'

Mr Azar estimates he lost thousands of dollars on the day of the outage and forced to shut up shop by lunchtime as customers could only pay by cash.

'The Commonwealth ATM around the corner was being renovated and the other one nearby was down because of the outage,' he said.

'I had to send customers to the nearest ATM which was an eight minute walk away. Some didn't come back to pay.' 

Mr Azar had this advice for the incoming Optus boss.

'Tell the truth and don't lie to people,' he said.

'People like honesty. After all, honesty is the best policy.' 

Ms Bayer Rosmarin issued a statement upon her resignation on Monday morning.

'On Friday I had the opportunity to appear before the Senate to expand on the cause of the network outage and how Optus recovered and responded,' she said in a statement.

'Having now had time for some personal reflection, I have come to the decision that my resignation is in the best interest of Optus going forward.

'It's been an honour and privilege to lead the team at Optus and serve our customers. I wish everyone and the company every success in the future.'

Ms Bayer Rosmarin was only appointed to the top job on April 1, 2020.

Her husband was seen leaving the family's $14million mansion in Vaucluse at about 12.20pm on Monday.

He ignored journalists' questions and accelerated loudly up the road in a grey Lexus.