Barber calls out Optus CEO Kelly Bayer Rosmarin on the promise she never kept – after criticizing him with a sharp remark and then quitting as telecoms boss

EXCLUSIVE

A hairdresser on the receiving end of a cutting comment from Optus’ CEO has revealed she planned to meet him at the store but then failed to show up without explanation.

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

Mr. Azar was forced to turn away customers and close his business by lunchtime, a decision that cost him hundreds of dollars. Some customers even promised to pay, but then did not return.

Mr Azar spoke to a Channel Nine news reporter about the impact of the outage on his shop, after which Ms Bayer Rosmarin joked: ‘I’m disappointed that a hairdresser couldn’t get a haircut 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 Ms Bayer Rosmarin would visit his company twice – first on Friday and later on Saturday.

However, she didn’t show up.

Mr. Azar claims that he was approached by the people of Ms. Bayer Rosmarin to make an appointment with him at his barbershop last Friday.

One of her aides then contacted him last Friday to reschedule the appointment for Saturday, when Ms Bayer Rosmarin traveled to Canberra to face a grueling Senate inquiry into the outage.

“She said she would come to the store and apologise,” Mr Azar told Daily Mail Australia.

Mr. Azar said he was thrilled that she planned to visit in person — but she “never kept her promises.”

He was disappointed, but not surprised that he stood up.

The visit was organized in response to her comments about his company, which Mr. Azar described as “a bit rich considering she can’t even do her job.”

“She’s incapable of doing her own job and keeping her word,” he grumbled.

“It would have been fine if she had come in as promised, shook my hand and apologized, 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 in whatever you do. You’ve lost my trust, you’ve lost my faith… and good luck in whatever you do.”

‘Be a lot more honest and learn from your mistakes.’

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Optus for comment on the hairdresser’s claims.

Mr Azar vowed to switch to Telstra following Ms Bayer Rosmarin’s comments about his company.

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

“Telstra has been good so far, I can’t complain.”

“I think I should be Telstra’s spokesperson. Telstra: Australia’s choice’.

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

Mr. Azar has been flooded with overwhelming support after being thrust into the public spotlight.

“All of Australia is on my side,” he said.

‘I’m known as the Optus man. I feel like a superstar!’

Mr. Azar estimates that he lost thousands of dollars the day of the outage and had to close his store at lunch because customers could only pay in cash.

“The Commonwealth ATM around the corner was being renovated and the other nearby was out of order due to the outage,” he said.

‘I had to direct 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 new 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 on Monday morning regarding her dismissal.

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

‘Having had time for some personal reflection, I have concluded that my resignation is in the best interests of Optus.

“It has been an honor and privilege to lead the Optus team and serve our customers. I wish everyone and the company every success in the future.’

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

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

He ignored journalists’ questions and drove loudly down the road in a gray Lexus.