anyone catch this story?

[Pallycow]

Employee at Applebees fired for uploading copy of receipt of a turd pastor leaving a rude note on bill. I think its rude anyway. Having been a server, I always tip well when deserved...and I'm never rude to them, even if they suck.

Even though I said I have been a server, please note that I am in no way claiming to be a professional server or know all things related to serving. *disclaimer*

I don't see a violation of privacy here. There is nothing that says Applebees and nothing legible with customers name. I think Applebees jumped the gun and fired prematurely due to trying to please the customer. Might be a lawsuit here...who knows. Interesting anyway.


Person claiming to be pastor leaves waiter note: ?I give God 10%. Why do you get 18?? | The Sideshow - Yahoo! News

 

[runnah]

Big companies like that are giant pussies. They will fire low level employees like for even the smallest infraction.

On a side note, that pastor is a dick. What does that even mean "I give god 10%"? I would think a man in the service of God would be giving 100%. Sounds like he is slacking.

On another side note I hate it when places add the tip in automatically.

 

[Pallycow]

Certain religions follow a practice where they believe they are required to tithe 10% of their revenue to the church. So that is where that comment derives from.

I don't like the automatic tip as a patron, but loved it as a server, lol. If I get good service I tip around 20-25 depending. If I get mediocre I give them their 15% Terrible service they get nothing.

 

[runnah]

I used to deliver pizza in South Portland and had to deal with bad tippers. I was lucky to get 10% it was awful. But as it was a second job that I didn't really need I was able to enact swift justice to the non-tippers.

 

[sm4him]

It's gonna be nearly impossible for me to comment on this and not violate TPF's no religion talk protocol, but:

Yeah, I'd heard about this on the radio...the *Christian* radio station that I listen to...to their credit, they pretty much slammed the pastor for, among MANY things, an ungenerous, hateful attitude.

It saddens me that guys like that pastor do cr*p like this--he pretty clearly has missed THE. WHOLE. POINT. of his "religion"--and for him, I daresay, it is just that, just a religion, a nice set of *rules* to go by--well, at least you go by the rules you LIKE, the ones that make you feel better than everyone else. Ignore those other pesky little things like "love your neighbor as yourself" or "do unto others" or doing for "the least of these".

Okay...I better move away from that part of the topic QUICKLY.
I always leave at least 20% unless the service has been just extraordinarily bad--but sometimes, if I think it's been bad because the server is having a hard day, I leave an even bigger tip.
I don't personally LIKE having it added to my bill--it is no longer a TIP or GRATUITY at that point, it's a service charge. Non-negotiable. When the tire place charges me a "service fee" for putting on new tires, I don't give them even MORE than they are charging--and by the same token, when a restaurant puts the "tip" on the bill like it's a fee, then that's what I pay, nothing more and nothing less.

There IS one exception to that rule though--if I am out with a LARGE group of people (which happens to usually be church friends, often on Sunday nights), and the server has done a pretty exceptional job (particularly instances where we show up kind of unannounced and they manage to find a place for us and a server to take care of all of us)--then I tip MORE than the "fee" and more than my usual 20%, just to say "thank you."

 

[pixmedic]

we are all assuming of course, that the note on the receipt is completely legitimate, and wasn't just done by someone as a joke because they thought it would make a funny FB picture.

that being said...if it IS true, that guy is a total douche.

 

[Awiserbud]

As an Englishman i have never understood the concept of automatic or expected tipping, I understand it totally from the waiter/waitresses point of view, they should be tipped as their basic income barely covers the cost of living, but a fixed rate (18% or whatever it may be for different services) to me is crazy, In England we do tip, but we reserve the right to tip based on performance.
If we eat in a restaurant, and the service is poor, then it is generally accepted that a tip is not deserved, and nobody kicks up a fuss because we didn't leave one. On the other hand if the service is good then of course we tip accordingly and that is generally up to the consumer to decide how much.
We tip taxi drivers, again if they have provided a good service and delivered us in one piece, but nobody complains if we don't tip.
We hardly ever tip at bars, we may "buy the bartender a drink" and that may just be a tip to them, But on the whole tipping in England is a whole different concept to you guys Stateside. I have been to America numerous times and often felt depending where i was that i was tipping just about everyone and anyone.
There are a few restaurants here that automatically add a service charge to your bill, I sometimes make a point of asking where that service charge is going as i found out at one place It doesn't always go to the waiters/wattresses.

 

[ClickAddict]

The original picture the server sent to the website actually DID show the persons name on it. The restaurant is saying the employee broke guest privacy rules. I actually side on the restaurant on this. You dont go around talking about your customers. Had it been annonymous then I see a minor reprimand perhaps but not firing. (The local stations found the pastor. The pastor said she was embarrassed.... so this does not look like a fake posting for attention.)

 

[Pallycow]

we are all assuming of course, that the note on the receipt is completely legitimate, and wasn't just done by someone as a joke because they thought it would make a funny FB picture.

that being said...if it IS true, that guy is a total douche.

best I can tell it's legit. Pastor wrote an appology thingy later. Apparently his signature was recognized and someone notified him they saw it on facebook/yahoo or whatever social media. Must be a very commonly seen siggy..as it does not appear all that distinct to me. I think someone ran their mouth about it honestly and used the siggy recognition as excuse to say they noticed it. Who knows.

 

[pixmedic]

well, im sad that it WAS legit.
and the pastor SHOULD be embarrassed. (just my opinion, i tip on average 20-25%)
and im GLAD the pastor got recognized.
that being said, the waitress should have kept the signature out of the picture. in a customer service industry, you cant go around talking crap about and identifying customers that stiff you on a public forum. I can see the restaurants view on that.
a harsh lesson to learn on the waitresses end, but hopefully both sides learned something.

in the health care field, identifying patients is a major HIPPA violation. getting fired wouldn't even be the worse thing to come of it, though it would be the first.

 

[runnah]

well, im sad that it WAS legit.
and the pastor SHOULD be embarrassed. (just my opinion, i tip on average 20-25%)
and im GLAD the pastor got recognized.
that being said, the waitress should have kept the signature out of the picture. in a customer service industry, you cant go around talking crap about and identifying customers that stiff you on a public forum. I can see the restaurants view on that.
a harsh lesson to learn on the waitresses end, but hopefully both sides learned something.

in the health care field, identifying patients is a major HIPPA violation. getting fired wouldn't even be the worse thing to come of it, though it would be the first.

I glad it got out, people who act like douches need to get called out on it. I make it a habit to point out people who are being rude to me and others. Line cutters, parking spot takers etc... of course being 6'3'' 280 with a full beard does help me get my point across.

 

[terri35 6]

It's gonna be nearly impossible for me to comment on this and not violate TPF's no religion talk protocol, but:

Yeah, I'd heard about this on the radio...the *Christian* radio station that I listen to...to their credit, they pretty much slammed the pastor for, among MANY things, an ungenerous, hateful attitude.

It saddens me that guys like that pastor do cr*p like this--he pretty clearly has missed THE. WHOLE. POINT. of his "religion"--and for him, I daresay, it is just that, just a religion, a nice set of *rules* to go by--well, at least you go by the rules you LIKE, the ones that make you feel better than everyone else. Ignore those other pesky little things like "love your neighbor as yourself" or "do unto others" or doing for "the least of these".

Okay...I better move away from that part of the topic QUICKLY.
I always leave at least 20% unless the service has been just extraordinarily bad--but sometimes, if I think it's been bad because the server is having a hard day, I leave an even bigger tip.
I don't personally LIKE having it added to my bill--it is no longer a TIP or GRATUITY at that point, it's a service charge. Non-negotiable. When the tire place charges me a "service fee" for putting on new tires, I don't give them even MORE than they are charging--and by the same token, when a restaurant puts the "tip" on the bill like it's a fee, then that's what I pay, nothing more and nothing less.

There IS one exception to that rule though--if I am out with a LARGE group of people (which happens to usually be church friends, often on Sunday nights), and the server has done a pretty exceptional job (particularly instances where we show up kind of unannounced and they manage to find a place for us and a server to take care of all of us)--then I tip MORE than the "fee" and more than my usual 20%, just to say "thank you."

*audible gasp at mention of religion* THAT'S A POLICY VIOLATION! THAT'S A POLICY VIOLATION! YOU'RE FIRED!!!!

...oh, wait. You don't get fired from TPF. :mrgreen:

btw, I think the *pastor* in question is a woman. So, all the nasty comments above should be edited. Like, she's a dickette, not a dick. Thing like this matter; it's all subtext, you know?

And in the spirit of her religion, wouldn't it be nice if she went to bat for this now-unemployed waitress and spoke to management to reinstate her? She'd look a lot more holy and a lot less holier-than-thou to her parishioners, and the whole thing could turn out better - as in, lessons learned on both sides.

 

[Tee]

When I was in Europe, the servers loved when I tipped. And I scored a date and tour of London because of it. :mrgreen:

 

[Buckster]

According to news sources who've picked up on this:

The pastor is a she. Her church has about 15 members. The waitress who took the photo and posted it online is not the waitress who worked the table, but a coworker. There is now a "Boycott Applebees" campaign underway over it.

 

[Pallycow]

The original picture the server sent to the website actually DID show the persons name on it. The restaurant is saying the employee broke guest privacy rules. I actually side on the restaurant on this. You dont go around talking about your customers. Had it been annonymous then I see a minor reprimand perhaps but not firing. (The local stations found the pastor. The pastor said she was embarrassed.... so this does not look like a fake posting for attention.)

I didn't know the whole name showed, so that changes things a bit. That's what employee gets for being dumb then...had she kept the name out then it would be fine to me.