Applebee's Waitress Canned After Posting Pastor's Receipt

[NotUrsula]

I'd be willing to bet that it wasn't the first time that this group stiffed that waitress.

Still, traceable public retaliation was stupid and reflected badly on the waitress, and getting fired was a VERY predicatable outcome of doing something like that.
If I had been the manager I'd have fired her as well, but I might not have ruled out re-hiring her after a few months if I knew her well, knew it was a straw that broke the camel's back situation and knew that these folks were habitual problem customers.

From my time working restaurants I also remember well the dreaded after-church crowd. Most of the time they were not only poor tippers, but tended to be just plain nasty to the staff and full of themselves about what big spenders they thought that they were, and how we needed to treat them accordingly. Really, when your standard order was a $3.99 lunch special and an iced tea?

 

[zurgswife]

Same here. I talked to a manager once when I saw a busboy take one of the two bills on a table and stick it in his pocket. I hope he was fired.

Sadly, the after church crowd has a horrible reputation. I was a hostess years ago at Shoneys and anyone would tell you that we had more rude, demanding, and low tipping people come in on Sundays and Wednesdays. Not only did they not tip even the average, but they were really rude. I guess they were seen at church so that's the important thing The morning crowd was not bad, it was the afternoon crowds. It makes the rest of us who are Christians look terrible.

I waited tables through college and my late twenties. This was 20 yrs ago and the same issues happened in my place of work on Sundays....As a server you dreaded the "Church" crowd. They were demanding, rude and guaranteed not to tip. This was prior to my company's instituting a automatic gratuity for large parties. Which was finally put into place because so many large party didn't tip at all. Which meant it cost the server money out of his/her own pocket to wait on the customers.

 

[EMHDad]

I waited tables through college and my late twenties. This was 20 yrs ago and the same issues happened in my place of work on Sundays....As a server you dreaded the "Church" crowd. They were demanding, rude and guaranteed not to tip. This was prior to my company's instituting a automatic gratuity for large parties. Which was finally put into place because so many large party didn't tip at all. Which meant it cost the server money out of his/her own pocket to wait on the customers.

This statement and the previous one really bothers me. Not that you said it, but that you had those experiences. I know I am just speaking for myself and those I run with, but please know that the 'church crowd' doesn't always act like that. My mom was once a waitress and I understand the importance tips represent. Jesus would never act in such a manner, and there are many Christians who do treat servers with respect and who do tip.

 

[DarthKTrava]

During financial sermons, our pastor used to get up and tell the congregation to properly tip their servers. He would tell them NOT to leave a religious tract. He also said that if someone felt they couldn't afford to leave a decent tip, then they shouldn't dine in a full service restaurant.

I really hope his message reached those who needed to hear it. My SIL who has been a server off and on for over 30 years still says that no one ever wants to work the Sunday "after Church" shifts. I can't say I blame them.

Not to mention they're usually the biggest jerks to deal with. Makes us in food service wonder if their pastor gave that sermon on tithing that day....

If this so-called "pastor" thinks later on that it was a mistake to write that note, she shouldn't have in the first place.

Funny thing is that her Sunday sermon is going to be about forgiveness.....

 

[Stitchfans]

rots to lose your job over poor judgement.

if this is really the pastor she seems like a real pistol..... hah!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1-bhKg7cvA

If that is the pastor.... Whew!

She was rude, ignorant and deserved to be embarrassed IMO

 

[mrsklamc]

What really bugs me is the pastor thinks she should have grace for her 'mistake' but not once has she asked for the same for the waitress.

I think it was Albort that commented there shouldn't be a mandatory gratuity- it's pretty much the industry standard for parties of that size.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

The "pastor" was rude and frankly I have no sympathy.

Having said that, there is one aspect of this that I haven't seen posted yet. The server should not have posted the receipt for a variety of reasons including confidentiality and all of that. IN ADDITION the receipt is the property of Applebee's, so it's not hers to do with as she pleases. And Applebee's has every right to fire her. As a former GM, I would've fired her too.

Not to mention the message it sends: Come to Applebees and we'll do our best to embarass you online! Not exactly a marketing campaign for the ages.

 

[DarthKTrava]

This statement and the previous one really bothers me. Not that you said it, but that you had those experiences. I know I am just speaking for myself and those I run with, but please know that the 'church crowd' doesn't always act like that. My mom was once a waitress and I understand the importance tips represent. Jesus would never act in such a manner, and there are many Christians who do treat servers with respect and who do tip.

However they are few and far between....

If I don't have enough money to leave a tip, no matter the day of the week, I'll either eat at home or go for fast food. And I don't act like a jerk when I do go out on Sundays. But, sadly, there are many that do.

 

[superme80]

This statement and the previous one really bothers me. Not that you said it, but that you had those experiences. I know I am just speaking for myself and those I run with, but please know that the 'church crowd' doesn't always act like that. My mom was once a waitress and I understand the importance tips represent. Jesus would never act in such a manner, and there are many Christians who do treat servers with respect and who do tip.

Well said! Stories like this bother me, because it gives Christians a bad name. We are not all like this, but sadly many are. This woman was way out of line and should not use tithing as an excuse not to tip. I understand why the waitress was fired, but sad she had to be.

 

[mrsklamc]

The waitress was wrong, but if as she claims she was well liked and had no issues prior to this, there could have been a punishment less drastic than firing- especially since Applebees had recently posted a receipt with a positive note on it w/ a complete signature, so the 'customer privacy' claim is out the window.

Applebees also could have said what companies normally do in these situations, say "We do not comment on personnel issues."

 

[DisneyATlast]

What really bugs me is the pastor thinks she should have grace for her 'mistake' but not once has she asked for the same for the waitress.

I think it was Albort that commented there shouldn't be a mandatory gratuity- it's pretty much the industry standard for parties of that size.

Gratuity is necessary because people don't know what an appropriate tip is. Some people think $5 is sufficient in every situation. $5 is a "good tip" if there are 2 people who are taking up one table and eating from an average menu. It's not a good tip when a party of 10 is taking up 3 of the 4 tables assigned to the waitress for the night. Most people don't like taking large parties because it's much easier to wait on 3 separate couples who leave $5 each and keep those tables rotating than it is to wait on one large party who will stay for hours and then thinks $5 is good enough.

On a more positive note, a friend of mine posted on Facebook that she got a $300 tip on a $700 bill yesterday. WOW!

 

[Becky2005]

While I agree 100% that the pastor was obnoxious here, I'm surprised that this is being viewed as a case f "embarassing" the pastor. I would hope that in the age of identity theft businesses would have very clear policies about employees copying of photographing credit cards and receipts.

Pastor was out of line but so was the server and whoever posted the receipt.

Haven't read the whole thing but yep...if the credit card # is visible and now they have a name AND it is posted on the internet...definitely NOT a smart move for whoever posted it.

It also makes the company look bad..who wants to take the chance that their cc # is going to be plastered all over the internet? I know the answer would be to not write something like that on the receipt but there is NOTHING stopping a disgruntled server from writing something like that themselves and posting it. No way to know if it would happen to you.

 

[Granny square]

I don't care for the standard gratuity. At Olive Garden the other night it was only 10%. But unless you paid attention you would just see the tip was covered and be done.

 

[Nancy]

The waitress was wrong, but if as she claims she was well liked and had no issues prior to this, there could have been a punishment less drastic than firing- especially since Applebees had recently posted a receipt with a positive note on it w/ a complete signature, so the 'customer privacy' claim is out the window.

Applebees also could have said what companies normally do in these situations, say "We do not comment on personnel issues."

That would have been the right thing to do.

Haven't read the whole thing but yep...if the credit card # is visible and now they have a name AND it is posted on the internet...definitely NOT a smart move for whoever posted it.

It also makes the company look bad..who wants to take the chance that their cc # is going to be plastered all over the internet? I know the answer would be to not write something like that on the receipt but there is NOTHING stopping a disgruntled server from writing something like that themselves and posting it. No way to know if it would happen to you.

I saw the original picture before it got edited, There were no cc numbers visible. Applebees does not print out the full number (does any place do that still today?) I also could not make out the person's first name at all. I could see the A for the start of the name but the rest of it just looked like big loopy not legible letters. You could clearly make out the word Pastor and the last name though. Pastor looked like it was added in as an afterthought since it was above the name. To me it looked like the person signed the receipt then decided to make a statement by adding the little blurb about what they give to god and added the Pastor to the signature.

 

[Mickey'snewestfan]

Haven't read the whole thing but yep...if the credit card # is visible and now they have a name AND it is posted on the internet...definitely NOT a smart move for whoever posted it.

It also makes the company look bad..who wants to take the chance that their cc # is going to be plastered all over the internet? I know the answer would be to not write something like that on the receipt but there is NOTHING stopping a disgruntled server from writing something like that themselves and posting it. No way to know if it would happen to you.

I don't think the CC # was ever visible in the post, but that doesn't mean it isn't visible in the photo which is presumably stored in the phone of the server who photographed it. It also doesn't mean that the receipt was the only thing she photographed.

Businesses that accept credit cards should have a blanket policy of not allowing employees to reproduce private information belonging to customers. I am amazed that Applebees doesn't.

 

[Nancy]

I don't think the CC # was ever visible in the post, but that doesn't mean it isn't visible in the photo which is presumably stored in the phone of the server who photographed it. It also doesn't mean that the receipt was the only thing she photographed.

Businesses that accept credit cards should have a blanket policy of not allowing employees to reproduce private information belonging to customers. I am amazed that Applebees doesn't.

I bet they'll be putting that in their policy now.

 

[cmwade77]

I think there is something major missing from this story:
Why did Applebee's add an automatic tip on to such a small bill?

Based on the dollar amount, it was probably a party of one or two, which should not have automatic gratuity added, unless they had a restaurant.com certificate or something like that, which would have had that a tip would be added printed on it, so that wouldn't have been a surprise.

If they didn't have that, then I would have crossed it out and not left a tip based on principle alone. You don't add automatic gratuity, unless there is a large party or a discount that clearly states it will cause automatic gratuity to be added.

Of course, I do agree with the Pastor that if God gets 10%, it should be good enough for a server. Of course, I also think that it should be good enough for the government to run off of a total of no more than 10% for all taxes combined.

Better still would be for all restaurants to pay a living wage and not accept tips at all. Many other countries do this and it works out quite well. I have seen a few restaurants out here in California starting to do this, not many, but a few and they are busier than many other similar restaurants, even though their food costs slightly more.

 

[Nancy]

I think there is something major missing from this story:
Why did Applebee's add an automatic tip on to such a small bill?

Based on the dollar amount, it was probably a party of one or two, which should not have automatic gratuity added, unless they had a restaurant.com certificate or something like that, which would have had that a tip would be added printed on it, so that wouldn't have been a surprise.

If they didn't have that, then I would have crossed it out and not left a tip based on principle alone. You don't add automatic gratuity, unless there is a large party or a discount that clearly states it will cause automatic gratuity to be added.

Of course, I agree with the Pastor that if God gets 10%, it should be good enough for a server. Of course, I also think that it should be good enough for the government to run off of a total of no more than 10% for all taxes combined.

Nothing missing from the story. This was a party of 15 people that split the check. Since it is Applebees policy that the automatic gratuity is added to large parties that is what happened.

If the server should get the same 10 % as god then you should be tipping your server 10 % of your income which is what God gets...not just 10 % of that bill.

 

[Mickey'snewestfan]

I think there is something major missing from this story:
Why did Applebee's add an automatic tip on to such a small bill?

Based on the dollar amount, it was probably a party of one or two, which should not have automatic gratuity added, unless they had a restaurant.com certificate or something like that, which would have had that a tip would be added printed on it, so that wouldn't have been a surprise.

If they didn't have that, then I would have crossed it out and not left a tip based on principle alone. You don't add automatic gratuity, unless there is a large party or a discount that clearly states it will cause automatic gratuity to be added.

Of course, I agree with the Pastor that if God gets 10%, it should be good enough for a server. Of course, I also think that it should be good enough for the government to run off of a total of no more than 10% for all taxes combined.

There were many people in the party. The pastor asked for the bill to be split into separate checks, thinking that it would get around the automatic gratuity, but since they were at the same table the computer added the gratuity to each check.

The 10% that someone tithes is 10% of one's total income, not 10% of one's dinner check so comparing the two is ridiculous.

 

[cmwade77]

Nothing missing from the story. This was a party of 15 people that split the check. Since it is Applebees policy that the automatic gratuity is added to large parties that is what happened.

If the server should get the same 10 % as god then you should be tipping your server 10 % of your income which is what God gets...not just 10 % of that bill.

I see, but if the check is split, then it is no longer a larger party. The whole point of the automatic tip for larger parties is to make sure tips are left because they often don't add enough when paying together on one check. When the checks are split, this problem is fixed.

I disagree there, 10% was the standard for a good tip not that overly long ago, I see no reason why the percentage should have increased. 10% of the larger costs will result in larger tips. Now, if the service is good of course I will leave more, but my point is we don't need to expect that more should be left. My point was that it was indeed a valid point.

As for Applebee's response, I think they didn't act properly, yes the server should have been fired, but this needed to e reported to the authorities as attempted identity theft and credit card fraud. Yes, the server belongs in jail for this. You do not post anything with someone's signature or any portion of a credit card on it. It is too easy for people to use this basic information to commit crimes. Since it had the type of card in it, the first 8 digits are easy enough to figure out, the last 4 are visible. Figuring out the rest wouldn't be hard. Since its a pastor, finding their address wouldn't be hard either. Needless to say, I hope she is changing her card number now. But it may be too little too late, as once someone has one credit card number belonging to you, they can easily obtain your SSN and apply for more cards in your name.

This is why this should be reported to the authorities and why it is important for restaurants to not keep credit card receipts on a clipboard.