Sanctimonious tip

I am so happy I am no longer in the biz. Had she returned her slip to me with that note I would have told her " MAYBE if Moses gave god 18% they would not have had to wander around in the wilderness and sustain themselves on manna, but sister, cocktails and entrees gets at least 18%"

Will, do I understand this right. You have confronted customers about not leaving a big enough tip? I think this is incredibly rude, tips are optional. It is not the customers fault that American servers get a couple of bucks an hour. The fact that the majority of people understand this and do tip is a plus. To confront a customer on their behalf makes me squirm with embarrassment. If an owner of a restaurant did that to me, i would A) tell them where they could go, and B) never darken their door again. So, if people feel like I do, then the very fact that you confronted them means you lost a customer not the opposite.

It makes me extremely angry. I cannot stand it when servers get the shaft. I have, at times, confronted bad tippers on behalf of my servers. Never a pleasurable experience but I always felt it is better to stand up for your own than loose a customer.

Putting herself above the norm is no way to lead people. Pastor Bell needs some bible study.

Will, do I understand this right. You have confronted customers about not leaving a big enough tip? I think this is incredibly rude, tips are optional. It is not the customers fault that American servers get a couple of bucks an hour. The fact that the majority of people understand this and do tip is a plus. To confront a customer on their behalf makes me squirm with embarrassment. If an owner of a restaurant did that to me, i would A) tell them where they could go, and B) never darken their door again. So, if people feel like I do, then the very fact that you confronted them means you lost a customer not the opposite.

It makes me extremely angry. I cannot stand it when servers get the shaft. I have, at times, confronted bad tippers on behalf of my servers. Never a pleasurable experience but I always felt it is better to stand up for your own than loose a customer.

Putting herself above the norm is no way to lead people. Pastor Bell needs some bible study.

If handled correctly, I wouldn't have a problem with this...

When I leave less than 15-20% it's for a reason. I have no problem explaining that reason to a manager... Defending good employees who get under tipped and figuring out when you have problems with bad service is going to help promote good customers and good waitstaff.

I don't think a customer who tips 5% is good for a restaurant... I assume they aren't going to spend much money on the meal itself, and they are a burden on the waitstaff... but I've never run a restaurant (and I tip well as long as service is decent)

I don't really think the original problem was a 10% tip vs. a 15% tip. I think it was the indication that the server was somehow being greedy because the usually acceptable 15% tip was more than the pastors 10% tithe. And the whole bringing god into the argument was just crass and distasteful.

Will, do I understand this right. You have confronted customers about not leaving a big enough tip? I think this is incredibly rude, tips are optional. It is not the customers fault that American servers get a couple of bucks an hour. The fact that the majority of people understand this and do tip is a plus. To confront a customer on their behalf makes me squirm with embarrassment. If an owner of a restaurant did that to me, i would A) tell them where they could go, and B) never darken their door again. So, if people feel like I do, then the very fact that you confronted them means you lost a customer not the opposite.

It makes me extremely angry. I cannot stand it when servers get the shaft. I have, at times, confronted bad tippers on behalf of my servers. Never a pleasurable experience but I always felt it is better to stand up for your own than loose a customer.

Putting herself above the norm is no way to lead people. Pastor Bell needs some bible study.

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Yes Allison. You understood it correctly. I did not do it on tips in the range but if one of my hard working staff got nothing or they got close to nothing, I wanted to know why and I would ask the customer. Most of the times it was an oversight and the customer would fall over themselves to make it right. Sometimes it was just some a-hole being a dick. And I was happy to see them go and never come back. So squirm on.

send a note to Applebee's and let them know that they have lost a customer for firing the waitress under these circumstances. I am sure the "pastor" knows all about forgiveness....or maybe she is just a wolf in sheep's clothing?

send a note to Applebee's and let them know that they have lost a customer for firing the waitress under these circumstances. I am sure the "pastor" knows all about forgiveness....or maybe she is just a wolf in sheep's clothing?

I'll bet ya something nice she's already retained an attorney...

send a note to Applebee's and let them know that they have lost a customer for firing the waitress under these circumstances. I am sure the "pastor" knows all about forgiveness....or maybe she is just a wolf in sheep's clothing?

A few problems with this:

1. This is a food forum so it is unlikely that there is a single regular Applebee's customer lurking here.

2. As someone pointed out earlier, I think most of us would have fired an employee for posting a client's/customer's personal information on the internet with the intention of shaming and humiliating them.

3. This server has become somewhat of a folk hero so i'm sure she'll find something. Chances are it will be a better gig than Applebee's.

"Nothing more to see here. Move along please. "

I thought I saw somewhere that the server fired was not the one who received the "tip", but the one who posted it, which wasnt the same one.

Ron-
You are right. The server who posted the receipt and was fired was a different server than the one who handled Pastor Alois Bell's party.
Deb

. This is a food forum so it is unlikely that there is a single regular Applebee's customer lurking here.

I lurk, here. I visit Applebee's once or twice a month.

I am torn about this issue, though. The "pastor" was clearly in the wrong - Applebee's has had the 18% tip for large parties policy for years. Anyone who goes there on a regular basis should know better. That pastor should be banned from Applebee's.

But I also believe that the server who posted the receipt was wrong. That employee's actions escalated a hostile situation between a customer and the company. Although I have not seen Applebee's employee guidelines, I would bet that they have strict policies about doing that without management permission.

. This is a food forum so it is unlikely that there is a single regular Applebee's customer lurking here.

I lurk, here. I visit Applebee's once or twice a month.

I am torn about this issue, though. The "pastor" was clearly in the wrong - Applebee's has had the 18% tip for large parties policy for years. Anyone who goes there on a regular basis should know better. That pastor should be banned from Applebee's.

But I also believe that the server who posted the receipt was wrong. That employee's actions escalated a hostile situation between a customer and the company. Although I have not seen Applebee's employee guidelines, I would bet that they have strict policies about doing that without management permission.

I dont see anything to be torn about. Its common for both sides of an issue to be in the wrong. It happens all the time in congress.

That pretty much sums up my feelings. The pastor was totally wrong. The employee was wrong to knowingly violate company policy (and post something that didn't belong to them) (and next time, be more careful and crop the photo better to avoid this mess). And I'm still not convinced that this was a fire-able offense in the first place. Who knows, though, perhaps the employee was already on report for other misconducts. What is looks like is Applebee's bowed to the pressure from the pastor's insane demand for the entire staff to be removed. If that is true, the Applebee's, too, is wrong.

I would have fired the server as she is quite obviously a moron. If you hate your employer so much that you'd invite a viral shitstorm to come their way, then just go work somewhere else. I'd probably also try to find a way to sue her for criminal mischief.

It wasn't her tab. This is clearly a case where you get your manager involved asap because that's what they're there for. Mandatory gratuities are not always cut and dried legally (although they seem to be in Missouri). Theoretically the patron "might" have had a legitimate reason to dispute the tip (even though I doubt it). In any case that would be something for the MANAGER to sort out.

Fact is, you can't have people at the bottom of the food chain in your organization inviting that kind of liability. It could have just as easily been a local indie restaurant getting internet-lynched instead of a chain.