An Olympic swimmer has expressed her outrage after being charged to remove toppings from a pizza while dining out at a popular holiday destination.
Elena Di Liddo, 31, who has represented Italy on the athletic world stage by competing in the 2020 Tokyo summer Olympics and numerous other professional swimming contests, took to Instagram to lament her frustrations earlier this week.
The swimmer had been dining out at a pizzeria in Bisceglie, an Italian town located in the popular tourist destination, Puglia, when she discovered an additional charge on her bill that left her seething.
Elena, who is from Bisceglie, had ordered a tricolore pizza – which typically features pesto, mozzarella, and tomatoes – but had asked the serve to change two ingredients.
She was horrified when the bill then arrived and revealed that she had been charged €1.50 for each ingredient removed, equating to an additional charge of €3.
The receipt noted ‘no cherry tomatoes’ and no ‘lactose’ – translated from ‘lattosio’ in Italian.
Outraged by the additional charge, the aquatic athlete took to Instagram, where she has 33,000 followers, to express her fury at the unforeseen charge.
Attached to a picture of her bill, she wrote: ‘Anywhere north of Naples they will make you pay for a glass of water with coffee. Anybody born in the South is shaken by this, as it goes without saying that we shouldn’t pay for it (we’re talking about water).
Elena Di Liddo, 31, who has represented Italy on the athletic world stage by competing in the 2020 Tokyo summer Olympics and numerous other professional swimming contests, took to Instagram to lament her frustrations earlier this week (pictured)
The swimmer had been dining out at a pizzeria in Bisceglie, an Italian town located in the popular tourist destination, Puglia, when she discovered an additional charge on her bill that left her seething
‘But to sit down in a pizza restaurant in Bisceglie and be asked to pay €1.50 for something that I didn’t even eat (in this case, the tomatoes removed from my pizza), is incredibly SAD and embarrassing. Almost illegal?’
The extra charges brought the cost of Elena’s pizza to €17, with the original price being €14.
Elena, who has also competed at the World Aquatics Swimming Championships and the European Aquatics Championships among other competitions, also used to post to express her concern at other venues adding unforeseen costs.
She said other venues in northern Italy had gone as far as to charge for water used to top up a mug of coffee.
Responding to her social media post, most users agreed that it is common for customers to face extra charges.
However, some argued that removing ingredients was justified since it could take staff additional time to extract from prepared dishes.
Elena, now a professional swimmer, first began her international career in 2009 with the junior national team, achieving important placings already at the 2010 Youth Olympic Games, where she won a silver medal in the 50-meter butterfly.
Over the years, she has won medals at the European Championships, the Mediterranean Games, and the University Games, as well as setting Italian records in the 100-meter butterfly. In 2021, she competed in her first Olympic Games in Tokyo.
Elena, who is from Bisceglie, had ordered a tricolore pizza – which typically features pesto, mozzarella, and tomatoes – but had asked the serve to change two ingredients
She said other venues in northern Italy had gone as far as to charge for water used to top up a mug of coffee
It comes after another food related incident in which an influencer provoked outrage among social media users after she left a review on a sandwich while bragging that she ‘didn’t even have to pay for it’.
Tracy Cahill, from Glasgow, has amassed a large TikTok following by rating meals and restaurants across the city before declaring whether they’re ’10/10 banging’ or ’10/10 stinking’.
However, a recent clip did not go down well with Tracy’s 45,000 followers after she filmed herself critiquing the food that was served at a local soup kitchen.
In the since-deleted video, Tracy was reportedly seen ‘laughing and sniggering’ while holding up a container of food as she bragged ‘I didn’t even have to f***ing pay for it’.
According to the Daily Record, the blogger declared the ‘scran’ was ’10/10 banging’ in the contentious video that sparked fierce criticism from the Homeless Project Scotland that runs programmes to feed those most in need.
A spokesperson for the charity said Tracy’s TikTok was ‘deeply disappointing’ and ‘undermined’ their work, adding: ‘Homelessness is not a trend.’
Fellow TikTokers, meanwhile, questioned how Tracy could ‘take a meal from someone in need’ and ‘folk with nothing’ – before the foodfluencer responded to the backlash in a rebuttal video.
Reacting to the food review, one social media user noted: ‘She has walked into a soup kitchen and thought she was funny taking food from people who haven’t had a hot meal in days.
‘I don’t know how you can take a meal from someone in need.’
Another said: ‘You have gone into a space for vulnerable people that is supposed to be safe. This is food being given to folk with nothing and you are treating like content.’
Addressing the outrage, Tracy took to Tiktok to clarify that she had, in fact, donated money to the homeless shelter ‘because I am a TikToker and people know me’ – despite earlier insinuating that she ate for free.
She also told her followers that she was accompanied by her sister, who stays in a ‘homeless centre’, and explained that she began making content to earn a ‘wee bit of money’ having experienced similar hardships in her own life.
Tracy began: ‘I went with my sister who is homeless and stays in a homeless centre. I sat with her and had food but I donated money because I am a TikToker and people know me.
She suggested the only reason people were criticising her is because ‘I’m a big TikToker’, adding there are many other influencers that ‘video homeless people’ without concern for their wellbeing.
‘Take some time out of your lives from criticising people,’ Tracy continued. ‘All because I’m a big TikToker you are criticising me.
‘I have had to do a lot of homeless stuff. That’s why I started TikTok – to make a wee bit of money and make a better life for me. So, me sitting and having some food with the homeless in a shelter is not disgusting and I’m not mocking them.’
Dining and Cooking