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Well, it looks like there have been some major developments in that “I give God 10%” receipt story: The alleged “pastor” is real and the server who posted the photo has been fired.
A photo posted to Reddit on Tuesday by a user named “GateFlan,” who claims to be a St. Louis-area server, shows how an alleged “pastor” reacted to the restaurant’s automatic gratuity policy:
Courtesy KTVI
“I give God 10% — why do you get 18?” the customer wrote on the receipt, signing it “Pastor [redacted].”
“My mistake sir, I’m sure Jesus will pay for my rent and groceries,” the Reddit user posted along with the above photo.
The “pastor,” who had the server separate the bill for the group’s 20 members, was reportedly unhappy that the restaurant included an automatic gratuity of 18 percent on the party’s bill.
When we first reported this story, we cautioned that the photo might be part of a hoax designed to stir up some sort of anti-Christian, anti-religious sentiment (as people have pulled similar cons in the past). But it turns out the story is authentic. The pastor is very much a real person, she very much left a “snide” comment on her Applebee’s receipt, she very much complained to management about the Reddit photo, and the waitress is now very much unemployed.
Pastor Alois Bell (Smoking Gun)
“A pastor says when she left a snide comment on a receipt, she did use bad judgement, but she did leave a tip,” a Fox News affiliate in St. Louis reports
“My heart is really broken,” said Pastor Alois Bell. “I’ve brought embarrassment to my church and ministry.”
The 37-year-old pastor explains herself: “What [the photo] didn’t show is the money that I left and that we all left on the table.”
Pastor Bell claims she left $6.29 on the table and her credit card was also charged the tip amount. She also says everyone in the party left cash tips.
“I’ve actually been harassed because of this and it doesn’t tell the whole story,” said Pastor Bell, adding that although her comment may have been in poor taste, she and her ministry do good work in the community and “would never want to tarnish the light of Christianity.”
And what of the Reddit user who posted the photo?
Pastor Bell said she called up the Applebee’s to complain about the “dissemination of her receipt,” as the Smoking Gun puts it, and was told in a follow-up conversation that the waitress was “immediately terminated” by management.
UPDATE — The Reddit user, Chelsea, tells the Consumerist a little more about the situation:
“I originally posted the note as a lighthearted joke,” says Chelsea, who was dismissed from her job at Applebee’s on Wednesday, as the story began to spread across the Internet. “I thought the note was insulting, but it was also comical. I posted it to Reddit because I thought other users would find it entertaining.”
Chelsea tells Consumerist that the receipt was actually not even for her table. Rather, the server on the receiving end of the note showed it to Chelsea, who snapped a photo of it later that night.
But wait! There’s more [emphasis added]:
Some time on Wednesday, Chelsea says the customer who had left the receipt contacted her Applebee’s location, demanding that everyone be fired, from the servers involved to the managers.
Seriously?
“We make $3.50 an hour. Most of my paychecks are less than pocket change because I have to pay taxes on the tips I make,” Chelsea said, explaining why Pastor Bell’s note got her so hot under the collar. “After sharing my tips with hosts, bussers, and bartenders, I make less than $9/hr on average, before taxes.”
“I am expected to portray a canned personality that has been found to be least offensive to the greatest amount of people,” she adds. “I come home exhausted, sore, burnt, dirty, and blistered on a good day. And after all that, I can be fired for ‘embarrassing’ someone who directly insults their server on religious grounds.”
For its part, Applebee’s has released the following statement:
Our Guests’ personal information – including their meal check – is private, and neither Applebee’s nor its franchisees have a right to share this information publicly. We value our Guests’ trust above all else. Our franchisee has apologized to the Guest and has taken disciplinary action with the Team Member for violating their Guest’s right to privacy. This individual is no longer employed by the franchisee.
Here's a new story. Pastor writes an unpleasant note on her receipt at an Applebee's(and doesn't do tip in credit, claims to have tipped in cash). Receipt gets posted on Reddit. Server now fired.
Heard about this, yes she should have been fired, good to see it was for posting the receipt and not for the comment attached. That's sharing what the customer would have assumed was private information between them and the retailer, and not to have that privacy disturbed without reasonable cause.
Being a waiter in America must really suck donkey schlong.
Saw this earlier. Pastor's actions are pretty typical of how I perceive most church leaders to be. Although I do find it quite funny that as the leader of her own church, she only gives 10% to the Lord. That seems a little low. I'm pretty sure most sports team captains will uniformly tell you they give 110% to their teams.
I suspect that the Internet will deliver blissful and cathartic retribution within the month.
EDIT: @Ratbard > do you really feel like someone's reprehensible and dickish moves ought to be carried out without fear of being shamed publicly for their wanton and knowingly-bad actions?
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2013/02/01 02:46:04
Yes if there is an implied contract between the service provider and its customer's, and the employees of the provider break said contract.
I mean, if someone posted your receipt from the stag shop you'ld be pretty pissed, regardless of whether or not you did anything jerk-offish. There is the expectation that all financial transactions will remain private between the purchaser and provider. She broke that expectation, it was unprofessional, and likely strictly against company policy.
Ratbarf wrote:Yes if there is an implied contract between the service provider and its customer's, and the employees of the provider break said contract.
I mean, if someone posted your receipt from the stag shop you'ld be pretty pissed, regardless of whether or not you did anything jerk-offish. There is the expectation that all financial transactions will remain private between the purchaser and provider. She broke that expectation, it was unprofessional, and likely strictly against company policy.
I don't think there is a reasonable expectation of privacy such as you are implying. That's why credit card info is blanked-out on receipts.
Additionally, according to the story, it was a party of 20+ which carried with it an automatic gratuity charge of 18%, as per Applebee's policy. The article states that the Pastor tried to avoid paying that fee by splitting up the bill, despite there being a single-payer. That means the Pastor has perpetrated a dine-and-dash, of which a typical in-house punishment is to post a photo of the perpetrator in the restaurant with a warning not to serve them anymore as a result of their offense. This is done to bring light to the offender's bad action, and no different than posting evidence of such on a social media site.
The implied contract that you speak of is more of the social contract that we all tacitly agree to. The Pastor broke this contract first when she refused to tip her waitress. Once one party has broken the social contract, there is no need nor reason for the other party to continue to uphold their end. I've said it before, and I will say it again:
Once the social contract has been broken, only Thunderdome remains.
And using the single most powerful communication tool the world has ever seen to publicly shame a community figurehead seems like a perfectly reasonable action to take, given that she could have been tackled and pinned to the ground until the police arrived, given that the Pastor had dined-and-dashed.
EDIT: Also, the fact that you are comparing the apparent shame of purchasing goods from a stag shop to the shame at having eaten at Applebee's is not lost on me. However, I'll even continue with your example (despite my strict don't-buy-stuff-you'd-be-ashamed-off policy). I don't have a RIGHT to privacy in my transaction beyond my credit card info. A business may protect my privacy and as such I'll continue to do business with them, just as much as I may choose not to do business with someone that does not protect my privacy.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2013/02/01 03:26:32
The Pastor has not perpitrated a dine and dash, nor have I seen anyone alleging they did. In addition, if it had been an official response it would have been done by the manager or higher up. The employee committed several actions which would be grounds to fire her from any regular restaurant or service position such as cashier or bus boy.
And the blanked out credit card info is because they aren't stupid, it doesn't mean the implied contract is not understood.
Ratbarf wrote:The Pastor has not perpitrated a dine and dash, nor have I seen anyone alleging they did. In addition, if it had been an official response it would have been done by the manager or higher up. The employee committed several actions which would be grounds to fire her from any regular restaurant or service position such as cashier or bus boy.
And the blanked out credit card info is because they aren't stupid, it doesn't mean the implied contract is not understood.
Did we read different articles, then?
The policy is that a party of 20 has an automatic service charge of 18% added to the menu prices. The picture of the receipt shows that the pastor refused to pay for the 18% service charge.
If my meal is $20 and I only pay $15, I have dined-and-dashed.
Ratbarf wrote:The Pastor has not perpitrated a dine and dash, nor have I seen anyone alleging they did. In addition, if it had been an official response it would have been done by the manager or higher up. The employee committed several actions which would be grounds to fire her from any regular restaurant or service position such as cashier or bus boy.
And the blanked out credit card info is because they aren't stupid, it doesn't mean the implied contract is not understood.
Did we read different articles, then?
The policy is that a party of 20 has an automatic service charge of 18% added to the menu prices. The picture of the receipt shows that the pastor refused to pay for the 18% service charge.
If my meal is $20 and I only pay $15, I have dined-and-dashed.
Yeah... that was a gakky thing (pastor) to do...
People forget that you're not only paying for the food, but the service as well.
Food service people work very hard and get paid less than minimum wage. They're expected to make up for that in tips. As far as I know, social etiquette requests that you leave a 15-20% percent tip. At least the pastor didn't leave those god-awful bible tracts.
This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2013/02/01 03:54:25
2013/02/01 03:51:07
Subject: Re:"I give God 10%" story/Discussion thread
The pastor in question was allegedly very sorry about this once it came out, as I read on a site I'm not going to google because you can look it up if you want (Consumerist probably).
The pastor wasnt't sorry about their rude behavior, and she wasn't sorry about marching in and demanding the whole staff be fired, but she WAS sorry when her name was discovered and she was outed as the shatwizard she is.
That being said, no one's really covered in glory on this. I agree the waitress should have been fired for posting the receipt with the name visible and legible on it. Out yourself in corporate's shoes - if you don't fire her, you tacitly endorse her behavior. Maybe they could have just disciplined her instead, I dunno. But she definitely is not innocent of the consequences she suffered. if you don't like getting crappy tips or no tips, well, that's the service industry.
That doesn't make the pastor any less of a totally awful human being.
PS: the "church" she runs is out of a storefront and owned by her, so she's tithing to herself.
Automatically Appended Next Post:
Blacksails wrote: Both parties did something stupid, now people are going to get angry and polarized about something excessively trivial.
Oh look how above the fray you are. Thank you for diving into the poo-pile just to let us know how little you care about this. Always valuable to hear that.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2013/02/01 03:56:18
lord_blackfang wrote: Respect to the guy who subscribed just to post a massive ASCII dong in the chat and immediately get banned.
Flinty wrote: The benefit of slate is that its.actually a.rock with rock like properties. The downside is that it's a rock
I disagree about the waitress needing to be fired. The story states that there was no misconduct on her part per Applebees' own regs. I'd have simply given her a day or two off to think about it, but not fire her.
Man, you guys are vindictive.
Oh, and waiters/waitresses, and the like are pretty much treated like dirt by a lot of customers. Depending on the state, a group that stiffs on the tip can actually wind up costing the server money. Talk to your bartender and they'll fill you in.
2013/02/01 04:07:17
Subject: Re:"I give God 10%" story/Discussion thread
I doubt Applebees own regulationss cover every single theoretical situation. Is there, for example, a page outlining that a member of the waitstaff may not casually put their ass into a customer's face and pass wind? Lacking that, are they then free to do so without consequence? I'm confident there is some vague, catchall phrase that allows them to fire her.
The only real issue if she worked in an at-will state. Statistically, she probably did, so they can fire her for any reason or no reason that's not discriminatory.
I'm not vindictive (ok, actually, I totally am, but not in this case) but I'm sympathetic to the fact that Applebees Corporation doesn't want to be known as "that place where if you tip poorly, the waitstaff will post your name so you can be publicly ridiculed".
Come to think of it, though, maybe they should? Because that's actually a great policy.
This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2013/02/01 04:08:47
lord_blackfang wrote: Respect to the guy who subscribed just to post a massive ASCII dong in the chat and immediately get banned.
Flinty wrote: The benefit of slate is that its.actually a.rock with rock like properties. The downside is that it's a rock
I used to work the graveyard shift at the Clarion hotel in New Orleans and I can tell you as well as anyone else that has worked these jobs that it can be a bitch.
The pastor was a total ass going in and demanding everyone's job. I 've seen her type time and again when I worked in the service industry and they tend to treat workers like they are personal slaves.
What we used to do with her type was to politly take their direction, then leave them standing or waiting in their room while we tended to other, more civil guests.
Word travels fast about this type of person between shifts and their stay at a hotel can be less pleasant than it otherwise could have been.
On the other hand, restaurant and hotel staff will often jump through hoops to make you happy if you treat them like people, even if your tips aren't that much.
2013/02/01 04:44:09
Subject: Re:"I give God 10%" story/Discussion thread
Tipping is the funniest thing. It is by no means mandatory that anyone ever tip at all, but more often than not, jobs that customarily should be tipped heavily depend on that tip. At an average wage of $2.16 per hour, servers really rely on the tips. For the party in question, a group that large is going to make a disproportionately large hassle for the staff. Instead of 5 tables of 4, its one table of 20, all ordering at the same time, probably requiring reorganization of the floor, and maybe even utilizing another server. Large parties like this usually take up a lot of resources.
As a former server and bartender, a printed policy of a mandatory tip was welcomed by me. There will always be one person who I couldn't get to in time, a refill I missed, whatever. The simple fact that I didn't blow the entire thing was cause enough to charge that tip. Also consider that many times parties just show up and demand a 20-top table without any warning, and often it is after some staff have been cut for the night, causing more stress.
The real kicker to this particular scenario is that someone had the gall to claim because he tithes 10% of his total income, he is not required to hand over more than 10% of his bill to the server. One has nothing to do with the other. If nothing else, he was just proving that he is a cheap prick who should never have gone out to eat somewhere nicer than McDs if money was so tight.
xole wrote:Here's a new story. Pastor writes an unpleasant note on her receipt at an Applebee's(and doesn't do tip in credit, claims to have tipped in cash). Receipt gets posted on Reddit. Server now fired.
Reading is essential, and if you pay for anything you'd already know that her reciept included the tip already as a part of the bill. That's how automatic gratuity works.
From your story (and you know reality)
her credit card was also charged the tip amount.
I'm not fond of automatic gratuity in general, not the concept the name, restaurants should call it something else because it's not gratuity it's a service charge for a group being a particular pain in the ass. 18% as an automatic gratuity is excessive. You want a near 20% tip take 8 in a service charge and earn the other 10. In my experience a group like that will all lay down individual tips well in excess of 20% of the total. If the "pastor" wanted to be a real bitch she should have told them to pick up thier money, quietly paid the bill, and let the server keep her 6.30 before taxes instead of her tax free unreported cash tips.
My wife and I typically leave well in excess of 20% on our food and drink bills. But when the automatic tip is above 10% I happily sign a 0 on the "additional" tip line unless we received exceptional service. I say this not from a large group but just my wife and I, in which case I find automatic gratuity asinine in the extreme.
Avatar 720 wrote: You see, to Auston, everyone is a Death Star; there's only one way you can take it and that's through a small gap at the back.
Powder Burns wrote:what they need to make is a fullsize leatherman, like 14" long folded, with a bone saw, notches for bowstring, signaling flare, electrical hand crank generator, bolt cutters..
Meh, I work in the food industry, people are jerks when it comes to their foods. The things I have had said to me fill me with rage(I got yelled at for not making the food like the women liked it, when she never specified how she liked it)
But really this is how i see religion now, They are all Holier then thou fat cats who care for nothing but their own souls.
xole wrote:Here's a new story. Pastor writes an unpleasant note on her receipt at an Applebee's(and doesn't do tip in credit, claims to have tipped in cash). Receipt gets posted on Reddit. Server now fired.
Reading is essential, and if you pay for anything you'd already know that her reciept included the tip already as a part of the bill. That's how automatic gratuity works.
From your story (and you know reality)
her credit card was also charged the tip amount.
I'm not fond of automatic gratuity in general, not the concept the name, restaurants should call it something else because it's not gratuity it's a service charge for a group being a particular pain in the ass. 18% as an automatic gratuity is excessive. You want a near 20% tip take 8 in a service charge and earn the other 10. In my experience a group like that will all lay down individual tips well in excess of 20% of the total. If the "pastor" wanted to be a real bitch she should have told them to pick up thier money, quietly paid the bill, and let the server keep her 6.30 before taxes instead of her tax free unreported cash tips.
My wife and I typically leave well in excess of 20% on our food and drink bills. But when the automatic tip is above 10% I happily sign a 0 on the "additional" tip line unless we received exceptional service. I say this not from a large group but just my wife and I, in which case I find automatic gratuity asinine in the extreme.
I would like you to please look at the photo in question, and then tell me if there is anything you would like to retract from your statement. Please note that the Pastor even scratched out the service charge and only authorized her card to pay the subtotal.
2013/02/01 05:20:40
Subject: Re:"I give God 10%" story/Discussion thread
Auston obviously never served in food service a single day in his life. No resraurant I have ever seen charges a gratuity on a 2-top. When a party exceeds 8 or so, it becomes a huge pain in the a$$, that is why most places notify you of this in the menu. As servers have not seen a raise in average pay for over 20 years, that tip is necessary. Should it be given for poor service? No. But I have seen far too many servers treated like dog*@ simply because they are serving food and "not doing something better" as one patron I overheard said. Servers who do a good job and are tipped poorly eventually take it as a comment that they are working too hard for too little kickback. Servers make their money direcrly from your pocket, remember that.
Long story short: if you don't have the money to tip, go somewhere rhat tipping is not customary.
2013/02/01 05:21:02
Subject: Re:"I give God 10%" story/Discussion thread
azazel the cat wrote: Saw this earlier. Pastor's actions are pretty typical of how I perceive most church leaders to be. Although I do find it quite funny that as the leader of her own church, she only gives 10% to the Lord. That seems a little low. I'm pretty sure most sports team captains will uniformly tell you they give 110% to their teams.
I suspect that the Internet will deliver blissful and cathartic retribution within the month.
xole wrote:Here's a new story. Pastor writes an unpleasant note on her receipt at an Applebee's(and doesn't do tip in credit, claims to have tipped in cash). Receipt gets posted on Reddit. Server now fired.
Reading is essential, and if you pay for anything you'd already know that her reciept included the tip already as a part of the bill. That's how automatic gratuity works.
From your story (and you know reality)
her credit card was also charged the tip amount.
I'm not fond of automatic gratuity in general, not the concept the name, restaurants should call it something else because it's not gratuity it's a service charge for a group being a particular pain in the ass. 18% as an automatic gratuity is excessive. You want a near 20% tip take 8 in a service charge and earn the other 10. In my experience a group like that will all lay down individual tips well in excess of 20% of the total. If the "pastor" wanted to be a real bitch she should have told them to pick up thier money, quietly paid the bill, and let the server keep her 6.30 before taxes instead of her tax free unreported cash tips.
My wife and I typically leave well in excess of 20% on our food and drink bills. But when the automatic tip is above 10% I happily sign a 0 on the "additional" tip line unless we received exceptional service. I say this not from a large group but just my wife and I, in which case I find automatic gratuity asinine in the extreme.
Pastor Bell claims she left $6.29 on the table and her credit card was also charged the tip amount.
Reading IS essential.
and if you pay for anything you'd already know that her reciept included the tip already as a part of the bill.
Really? That's funny. I went to Panda Express the other day and didn't know the tip was a part of the bill. I went to the gas station and got a hair cut as well, and didn't know the tip was part of the bill. Hell, I've been to restraunt's and paid with a party size of two and didn't see the tip as part of the bill.
That's how automatic gratuity works.
Is it now? You're legally obligated to pay the gratuity. Well, my friend Mr. Google says he isn'tsure about that, there's been cases gone both ways, and people have claimed to got out of it. These cases did end up going to court, but Perhaps you'd like to back yourself up with some facts?
EDIT:This edit is to everyone. The pastor's a she, for future reference. They...even have a picture of her. In the article.
This message was edited 3 times. Last update was at 2013/02/01 05:33:02
n'oublie jamais - It appears I now have to highlight this again.
It is by tea alone I set my mind in motion. By the juice of the brew my thoughts aquire speed, my mind becomes strained, the strain becomes a warning. It is by tea alone I set my mind in motion.
2013/02/01 05:38:41
Subject: Re:"I give God 10%" story/Discussion thread
I think that's about standard for large parties that I have seen in my wholly anecdotal evidence. My mother was a waitress for several years, and I did it briefly, and that's what I've seen on menus.
lord_blackfang wrote: Respect to the guy who subscribed just to post a massive ASCII dong in the chat and immediately get banned.
Flinty wrote: The benefit of slate is that its.actually a.rock with rock like properties. The downside is that it's a rock
While I don't agree with tipping, the social stigma applied to not tipping is enough to get me to toss a few bucks down.
GW Rules Interpretation Syndrom. GWRIS. Causes people to second guess a rule in a book because that's what they would have had to do in a GW system.
SilverMK2 wrote: "Well, I have epilepsy and was holding a knife when I had a seizure... I couldn't help it! I was just trying to chop the vegetables for dinner!"
Ratbarf wrote: The 18% tip would already be included. It's part of the 34 dollars, she still paid it.
You know, there's an image of the receipt in question like, halfway up the page showing this is not accurate.
I know, usually when there is a printed out tip it's already included in the bill. Or at least it has been the everytime I have come across it in a restaurant bill.
"He that oppresseth the poor reproacheth his Maker: but he that honoureth him hath mercy on the poor."
Proverbs 14:31
(Thanks to Boing Boing)
I don't know what the receipt shows. If the pastor went back in anger to have the waitress sacked, I think that is vindictive and unChristian. He should have turned the other cheek.
Should the waitress have been sacked? Once the pastor made a public fuss about it, that probably became inevitable. A more astute restaurant management could perhaps have resolved the situation to everyone's advantage.