Applebee's waitress fired for posting customer comment online

AP Graphics

ST. LOUIS The note at the top of the restaurant receipt read simply, "I give God 10%, why do you get 18?"

The snarky comment has created a furor online after a waitress posted it on the website Reddit. She has been fired, while the customer who scribbled the note has been vilified. And the controversy has forced the president of the restaurant chain to explain its privacy policies.

It began Jan. 25 when a customer who described herself on the receipt as a pastor shared appetizers with eight or nine friends at an Applebee's in south St. Louis. Applebee's spokesman Dan Smith said Friday that the group was large enough that an automatic 18 percent tip was added to the bill.

The full cost for the table was $34.93, including the tip, which Smith said the customer paid despite the comment.

If the waitress for the table was bothered, she didn't show it. But another waitress took a picture of the receipt and posted it Tuesday on Reddit, adding her own response: "I'm sure Jesus will pay for my rent and groceries."

Missouri's minimum wage is $7.35 per hour, a dime more than the federal standard. For employees like waitresses, bartenders and pizza delivery drivers who receive tips, the state minimum wage is $3.63, though employers must make up the difference for those who do not earn the state minimum in any given hour.

By Wednesday, the posting went viral. The customer who wrote on the receipt was hearing about it. She contacted the restaurant. The waitress was fired.

Applebee's President Mike Archer said in a phone interview Friday that the company stands behind its workers. But he said there was no choice but to fire the waitress for violating the customer's privacy rights and the company's social media policy.

"We have to protect our guests' privacy," Archer said. "There's a lot of private information on those receipts."

The backlash persists. Thousands have posted critical comments about the customer on Reddit, Facebook and at the bottom of news accounts. Applebee caught heat for firing the waitress and at least two Facebook pages were set up in support of her.

Kansas City, Mo.-based Applebee's has roughly 2,000 restaurants in every state except Hawaii and 15 other countries. Archer himself once worked as a waiter and understands how difficult the job can be.

But he said violation of a customer's privacy simply cannot be tolerated.

"It's not favoring the guest over the employee," Archer said. "It's really a simple rule that we have that was violated."

The waitress did not have a listed phone number. Messages sent to her through Reddit were not returned. The customer did not return phone and Facebook messages seeking comment.

[412_horses]

This happened to me dining once at an Applebee's in Michigan. We had a great waitress who was alot of fun so naturally we tipped her quite well. Then later we all felt like chumps because we paid our very generous tip PLUS their surcharge.

In today's economy a restaurant should be excited to be making the money a "big" group (in our case 6 constituted a big group) brings in, not putting a surcharge on it.

I know other restaurants do this too, but it soured me on Applebee's and I haven't been back since.

[Sunta123]

Applebees has also been erasing social media comments right and left: http://haddon.patch.com/blog_posts/applebees-fires-waitress-for-exposing-tip-skipper-then-tries-to-silence-public-on-social-media.

[jgisme]

I live in North Attleboro, MA., and a friend invited me to the local Applebee's. Foolishly I accepted.

I ordered an entree and spent the next day or two in bed, very! sick from food poisoning. I'm amazed that such companies thrive, we seem to be a nation, sorry, of fools...

And speaking of fools, what that "pastor" did is why people decide to hate God. I look at America and hate that I am one of the people who've made it this way. (I'm 66, I've lived here, I'm responsible too.)

This is why Jesus told us to forgive each other, to not hold grudges, to be kind, to love others, and yes, to pay 18% without complaint. (And no, it's not smart to mention God when complaining, how do you think that makes God feel? Because he loves that waitress too!)

And by the way, my wife and I used to eat out quite a bit -- and wait staff people work very hard.

[mzlovie]

this is all a bunch of crap... the waitress who posted the receipt had every right to post it..maybe not the whole receipt but the part that had the comment on it...the pastor in this is a fool, why was the info about her being a pastor on the receipt to begin with? lots of 'important' people do that to try to get a deal on the bill...

[TullyMars63]

Duh, maybe the pastor's info was on their credit card info. A lot of people have their professional info listed as they carry a corp. card.

And if it violated company policy the wait staff had no right to disclose or post it in public.

[hi_dutengin]

If you can not afford to tip your server at least %15 do not go to eat in a restaurant. Get back your ass to your own kitchen. Cook your own food and serve yourself.

[aldosr59]

If I want to take my ass out to eat and spend $50.00 on my night out with friends and don't have tip money why should I be obligated, to pay the waitress or waiter for the job they apply for, and cook in my own kitchen. Should I pay for all services like, teachers, porters, receptionists, department store employees, mailmen, car salesman, car mechanics, and so on, ect,ect!!! You see to me all these people provide a service just like the waitress and waiters do, and yet we don't pay then any extra. Why?? do we feel that it is a must to tip, I know if I don't tip I feel really awful, I guess, We Are Program to....

[EozS]

Aldosr59 - I agree with you in theory but it is socially expected and required that you tip people who make a tipped wage. The people you describe (receptionists etc) make a regular wage (minimum wage or more) whereas waiters make much less, which is complemented by tips. It's a crock, really, but we should be blaming restaurant owners who have somehow convinced us all to pay most of the wages for them! But don't blame the waitress. If you get bad service, do not feel the need to tip much or anything at all. But good service should get a fair tip.

[upnorth7]

If you can't afford to tip...don't go out to eat!

[peacefulperson]

I don't think it had anything to do with not affording to tip, it had to do with being told the tip had to be added to the bill. I've seen a lot of people get mad at having the tip added to the bill, without any choice about the amount. Restaurants should just start charging enough to cover the full cost of paying the staff, and stop letting the customer decide how much to pay the staff. It's an 19th century custom dragged into the 21st century world.

[Scimajor]

Automatic tips .... dumb.

The comment on the receipt ..... even dumber.

[THGdriver2]

Went out to eat recently. Waited too long for a table. When I got a table it was not cleared yet from the previous diners. I was eating my appetizer when, without asking, it was removed from my table. My stake was bleeding when I had requested it be well done. I was still eating when they began to sweep the floor near my table. BTW, it was not closing time.

The place is near a collage and it seemed to me that most of the waiters/waitresses were students from the collage.

I still left a 15% tip but I never went back.

By not going back did I take my displeasure out on the owners? Yes, they did not train their employees properly, it's the owners fault.

[cntrygirl3]

Other than the appetizer being removed none of the above was the fault of the waitress. This was all the fault of management and you were right not to go back.

[bobnjersey]

[By not going back did I take my displeasure out on the owners? Yes, they did not train their employees properly, it's the owners fault.]
--------------------------------------------
by not letting the owners know of the issues w/ the service you received that day ... did you contribute to all those issues re-curring for other patrons of the establishment? yes ... they likely would have done something to correct the problems if they had known they existed.

[john92021]

maybe she would get better service if she upped God's tip to 18%.

[peacefulperson]

So droll, in your own imagination.

[netjunkie1]

I read this story elsewhere, and guess what?
This story fails to mention the fact that the receipt posted was on a site dedicated to atheists....
I believe the waitress was fired for that, and the excuse to fire her was the fact it was online.
Applebees' has posted many receipts with customer comments and probably without customer knowledge, which is what made the receipt in question a comedy.
Whatever she was fired for, this is a fact, religious bigotry likely had it's hand.
We know the pastor, but what about the actual manager who fired the waitress?
I'm sure it wasn't the president Mike Archer.

[JTTOH2]

Are you talking of the r/atheism on Reddit ?
I have to take sage bathes after I read a lot of comments on there, it's pure nasty.
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