Server Asks For Advice After His Boss Refuses To Pay A $2500 Tip A Table Left Him Due To Corporate 'Policy'
The server claims that the money would have been "life-changing."
Drazen Zigic | Shutterstock One of the best shifts of a restaurant server’s life was squashed by their manager after she stripped him of a huge tip. According to the server, the tip amount was enough to change his life for the better and relieve him of their financial stresses.
However, the manager claimed that the tip amount was too high to process, arguing that corporate would likely void it instead of granting it to the server who earned it.
The restaurant server’s manager refused to let him have a $2,500 tip that one of his customers left him.
According to the server, who works at Firebirds in Tennessee, he expected his Saturday night shift to just be another usual one. The following day, however, he was left wondering if the job was even worth it.
The server took to Reddit to share the details of the shift that left him grateful for a group of customers and fuming at his manager.
“[They were] super chill people, didn’t ask for much, and we got along really well,” the server wrote. “One guy mentioned he used to be a server, so I made sure to give them the best service possible. They finished up, I dropped the check, and they stuck around for a bit before finally heading out.”
When the server went to grab the check after the group had left, he could not believe his eyes when he saw $2,500 written in the tip amount line. The bill was just $150.
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The restaurant manager refused to process the tip because she insisted it was likely a mistake.
“I had to double-check like five times. I even ran outside to try and catch them, just to make sure they didn’t make a mistake, but they were already gone,” the server shared. He admitted that the tip amount was “life-changing” for him. “Rent? Paid. Bills? Handled. Stress? Gone.”
When he excitedly showed his manager the generous tip, he was flabbergasted by her response. “She looks at it, smirks, and says, 'Yeah, we’re not processing that,'” the server wrote. “She tells me there’s a ‘policy’ that any tip over a certain percentage of the bill has to be reviewed, and that corporate will likely void it instead of giving it to me.”
When the server noted that the charge had already gone through and that he believed it was given intentionally by the customer, their manager just shrugged and said, “We don’t want to deal with chargebacks.”
Now, the server feels sick at the thought that his employer is stealing $2,500 from him. “I need this job for now, but I’m considering calling corporate, the labor board, or even seeing if I have legal options,” he shared.
The server asked if any other customer service employees experienced something similar.
Many people believed that the manager’s claims were bogus, and she wanted to keep the tip for herself. Others believed that since the tip amount was so high, she was truly concerned that the customers had made a mistake and the charge would be voided.
However, according to Tennessee state law, restaurants are obligated to follow federal regulations when it comes to customer tips. Federal regulations state that “an employer cannot keep employees’ tips under any circumstances; managers and supervisors also may not keep tips received by employees, including through tip pools.”
The server added that before leaving the restaurant, the customer had pulled him aside and told him to “take care of yourself” and had written the total as $2,650, making it hard to believe that it was an accident. The server also asked his manager if she would hold the tip until things got sorted out, but she refused.
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Living off a server’s wage is nearly impossible for many restaurant employees. They heavily rely on customer tips to meet their monthly bills. The federal minimum wage for tipped employees in the United States is $2.13 per hour, even though it can vary by state.
When customers are generous enough to leave a huge tip, they are entitled to it unless the customer says otherwise. Unless the manager takes care of the table, it is not their place to strip their employees of their hard-earned tips. Thankfully, the server called corporate to explain the situation, and they are looking into it.
Megan Quinn is a staff writer with a bachelor's degree in English and a minor in Creative Writing. She covers news and lifestyle topics that focus on justice in the workplace, personal relationships, parenting debates, and the human experience.