A restaurant in Pennsylvania sued a customer who left a $3,000 tip for a waitress after ordering a $13 meal.
Alfredo’s Pizza Café pursued legal action after a customer ordered a Stromboli for $13.25, paid for it using his credit card alongside a tip of $3,000.
The patron also added a note: “Tips for Jesus.”
But a few weeks later, the man, who has been identified as Eric Smith, disputed the payment after the restaurant had already given the amount to the waitress.
Smith claimed that the eye-watering up was part of a social media movement called ‘Tips For Jesus.’
When the restaurant was informed that Smith was disputing the payment, they thought it was just a big misunderstanding but it wasn’t the case.
The management reportedly reached out to the customer via social media in an attempt to resolve the issue but when the man failed to respond, the restaurant got the Magistrate’s Office involved.
Speaking to WNEP News, restaurant manager Zachary Jacobson said that the situation was ‘aggravating.’
“We’re just out of money at this point and he told us to sue him so that is what we are going to end up doing, I guess. I hope that he owns up to his actions and comes forth and does pay this because you shouldn’t have done this if this was the end result,” he said.
The waitress said that when she noticed the tip for a $13 bill, she was “really touched.”
“It really meant a lot to me because everyone’s going through stuff,” she expressed.
Manager Jacobson now describes the incident as “a nice piece of PR for a small business.” The restaurant was also featured in season four of The Office during the episode titled ‘The Launch Party.’
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As far as I know putting the amount and signing, it is a legal contract to pay that money to the restaurant, the restaurant paid the tip to the waitress in good faith, and the bill should be paid
this is the issue with taking credit card payments…the customer can simply dispuite the charges, and most often, the card company reverses the charges and the business is SOL.
The restaurant should have contacted tve credit card company as well as the customer before paying the waitress the tip . You knew it was highly unusual and maybe it was a mistake.
So the restaurant and the waitress could have waited until it was verified! It doesn’t make good business sense that the restaurant immediately paid out that huge tip that’s ridiculous!
I hope you win your lawsuit, because what he did was way wrong- but a bit of patience seemed to be the order if the day !
The restraunt could be sued for withholding a tip from the waitress. The customer disputed the whole thing so the money had to be there.
If you look at the bill, the customer specifically put the comma in the $3,000 tip line and then added it to total $3013.25. That alone should determine that that was what he WANTED to do. Then the “Tips for Jesus” note sealed the deal. The restaurant had NO legal obligation to question the amount. This loser should just let it go and approve the tip with his credit card company. He’s gonna lose a lawsuit and then get stuck with court costs and attorneys’ fees (if any), too. So he’s better off just paying up now.