Hurb CEO resigns after offending customers on the internet – 04/24/2023 – Market

The CEO of Hurb (former Hotel Urbano), João Ricardo Mendes, resigned this Monday (24) after cursing and threatening consumers on the internet.

In a letter released to the press, the executive said that Otávio Brissant, the company’s current general council, will take over the role on an interim basis. According to Mendes, the decision takes effect from 11:59 pm tonight.

The executive stated, however, that he continues as the company’s legal guardian and main shareholder. “If the leadership deems it necessary, I will be available full time 7/24 in areas that I believe add more, such as a ‘founder without an executive role,'” he wrote.

The resignation request comes amid an image crisis that Hurb has been going through, and which was boosted by the executive’s aggressive behavior with customers.

In a recent episode, Mendes cursed consumers, leaked personal data and made threats. “It’s risky for someone to hit your shitty house,” he told a customer who did not have airline tickets issued by Hurb, according to a video posted on Instagram.

The company has been facing a series of reports of defaults in hotels and inns, which end up canceling reservations, jeopardizing the travel of thousands of people.

The customer who was threatened by Mendes, for example, said he was in a WhatsApp group with more than 1,000 people who did not have airline tickets issued by Hurb.

In the resignation letter, the CEO admitted mistakes and tried to disassociate his attitudes from the company’s image. “These recent events, in fact, were the mistakes of ‘João Ricardo Mendes’ and not of an entire company that is much bigger than me.”

“This is the first time I am willing to admit that I need to separate João ‘Individual’ from João ‘Corporate’, because I am hurting many people, in the same way that I do my best, making many deliveries, attitudes like that end up making it a ‘zero sum game’ [jogo de soma zero]”, he wrote.

Mendes closes the letter by quoting an excerpt from “Till I Colapse”, a song by American rapper Eminem, which talks about overcoming obstacles and willpower.

“Because sometimes you feel tired. You feel weak. And when you feel weak, you feel like giving up. But you have to look inside yourself. You have to find that inner strength and just get that shit out of you. you. And find the motivation to not give up and not be a quitter. No matter how much you want to, just fall headlong and collapse”, says the excerpt from the song quoted by the CEO, in English.