Tipping and the Lord -- Hallelujah!

[kybearfuzz]

I'm surprised I've not seen more comments about this situation on LJ, but it's been burning up Facebook left and right. The story is here:

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/tipping-pastor-apologizes-687234

In a nutshell, a church group goes to Applebee's and eats. The female pastor apparently is disgusted by the automatic 18% gratuity added to her check, crosses it out, and puts a message on it saying that she gives 10% to God, why does she [the server] deserve 18%? She then puts her total on the bill and signs her bill as "Pastor" and her name. Another server takes a photo of the bill and posts it on the web. As the story goes, she excluded the signature and name of the customer, but the pastor was notified by other members of her "church" and recognized her handiwork on the receipt. She calls Applebee's and supposedly demands they fire the whole staff, but only the one server who posted the image gets canned by Applebee's for "policy violations." Eventually, the name of the pastor comes out as well as her poor attitude. She apologizes for her "lapse in judgment," but nothing else.

Having waited tables before, I can tell you -- it's hard work. And sometimes customers are not the nicest people and putting up with it while smiling is a chore. The pastor is a bitch and I'm not sad she got called out on this. She exhibits everything I find wrong with those who call themselves "Christians."

However, I'm a bit torn when it comes to Applebee's and the firing of the server. As a customer, I wouldn't want my receipt posted on the net, though I have never given them a reason to do that. I think firing the server was extreme. It's bad PR for the company as evident on their Facebook page, the big bad restaurant ganging up on the server and siding with the bad customer.

Any thoughts on the situation? I'm curious.

Comments

[barak.livejournal.com]

I've been thinking about this one ever since I originally heard the story.

Apparently, it was a large group that sat down for the meal, and from several accounts, they asked for separate checks to avoid the "mandatory gratuity". That was a major first red flag for me. Why would they want to not pay their server? This left me wondering if there were issues with their service. But you don't stiff the waitress, you call the manager and explain the problem and let them take care of things.

Since there have been absolutely no reports of bad service, I think the group was being douche-bag cheap and stiffing the waitress.

The "pastor", in one interview, claims she left a cash tip on the table. From all other reports, that contradicts what both the waitress and the server who was fired said- that no tip was left at all. I would tend to believe the other women first, because the "pastor" sounds like she's saving face for being caught being a douch ebag.

I've been in customer service for years and anybody who has ever worked with customers collects horror stories. This was an example of one- where the waitress shared this with her coworkers to let off steam. The server who took the photo, for whatever reason, shared it. When she posted the receipt - blurred or not- she also did the wrong thing. I understand she wanted to let off steam, perhaps to elicit a dialogue, whatever, but she did break her company's rules and she should be punished.

However, the Applebee's franchise also overreacted. They shouldn't have fired the server, they should have put her on corrective action or penalized her somehow. I suspect they were just embarrassed, like the Pastor was, about the notoriety. I suspect Applebee's corporate will likely overrule the firing, but then again, they may just roll with it and uphold it.

Granted the server shouldn't have posted the photo, but in doing so, she inspired debate about how restaurant staff are underpaid and reliant on tips from an often ungrateful customer. Neither should Applebee's have fired her, but they may have to follow certain rules.

The person who acted the worst, in my opinion, was the Pastor. She deliberately set out to stiff her waitress for whatever reason she felt like, and chose to make it about her "god". That was low. Then to call the restaurant and demand everybody be fired for making her look bad... No, she made her self look bad. Is that how she treats Her "church", her "religion" and her "other job" should be ashamed of her.

[kybearfuzz.livejournal.com]

At this point Applebee's is bearing the largest brunt of the backlash, in my opinion. If you go to their FB page, they're being slammed with negative comments. I read an article where many screen prints were listed. The author even showed an example where Applebee's posted a receipt with a positive comment in the past, the exact violation that they used to can the server.

I doubt the server would want to go back to the restaurant. It's all going to boil down to some horrid PR decisions.

As for the pastor, she's cheap trash in my book.

[barak.livejournal.com]

Have you seen the waitress' comments on the story?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/feb/01/fired-applebees-waitress-needs-tips

[kybearfuzz.livejournal.com]

It's good to hear her side of it. :)