“I thought the vaad was supposed to help restaurants”
Um, actually a Vaad Kashrus is not there to help restaurants — its role is to ensure the Kashrus of the restaurant, and allow consumers to know that a specific restaurant is meeting certain Kashrus standards. And as midwesterner pointed out, like it or not, hashgacha is a business. Did this lady tell her other employees that she can’t afford to pay them their salaries now, but when business picks up she’ll pay them? Why is the mashgiach any different?