Well, Alois didn't like that word of God at all. She huffed and puffed and did a little bit of speaking in tongues and she called Applebee's to complain about it. She also wanted to to tell them that she left six dollars in cash on the table and of course everyone believes that, right? Sure you did, Alois. Everyone who bitches about added gratuity always leaves cash instead. Applebee's looked into the matter and consequently fired Chelsea for violating their social media policy.
What can we learn from this? We can learn one thing that so many of us already know: serving the after-church crowd is very seldom worth it. In the early 90's,when I worked at Bennigan's which is the second cousin, once removed of Applebee's, every Sunday night we got a crowd of Pentecostals who came in. They would fill the restaurant and everyone wanted to get half orders and separate checks. Every single person wanted a cherry in their water or extra something. They would swoop in like a swarm of locusts and leave us with crap tips and the restaurant totally rearranged. We didn't call them "The Pennies" for nothing.
We also can confirm that working at Applebee's sucks. Not only does it bring in clientele like Pastor Alois Bell, but they also make you sign a social media policy that makes it wrong to post a photo of the stupid shit you have to deal with. Our hearts go out to Chelsea who is now back on the streets looking for work. Meanwhile, Pastor Alois Bell is looking around to see who else she can get fired. Her dry cleaner gave her the stink eye a couple of days so she is probably about to call the corporate office and get that bitch fired too. Alois also did not like that when she went to the Piggly Wiggly last week, the butter that was supposed to be on sale was sold out and they didn't give her a rain check coupon or nothing. Alois has plans to get Piggly Wiggly fired and then fry his ass up and drop him into a pot of beans that she will serve at her next church social. (Spoiler alert #1: Piggly Wiggly already has another job lined up as the new spokespig for Porky Food Service Products. Spoiler alert #2: Nobody likes to go to Alois' church socials because it's too hard to find a parking spot at the strip mall since Sundays are the days that Supercuts has their "buy one haircut get a blow out for free" sale. Spoiler alert #3: beans at a church social are never a good idea.)
Thank you to everyone who sent this in to me. And Alois? If you're reading this (because you know she is getting a lady boner over all this free publicity), I promise to never go to your church if you promise to never come to my restaurant. Thanks, honey. And in the future, let's let God do the talking about tipping. I have a feeling He has bigger concerns.
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48 comments:
Except God asks for 10% of your income. I would be more than happy if someone wanted to leave me that instead of 20% of their check :)
Is the 10% referring to some sort of tithe? Cos otherwise I would say she is slacking in her devotion if she only gives '10%' to god. I'm not religious so I don't know about these sort of things.
Let's be clear, "Pastor" Bell didn't get Chelsea fired ... Chelsea got herself fired by breaking the rules of her employer (and not strking the woman's signature). Alois Bell is an ignorant twit and should be ashamed of herself.
Social Media policies will soon be in place by all employers. They have reputations to uphold and, as a paid representative, we as employees have a limited responsibility to them.
We all hate automatic gratuities but it's *ssh*les like Alois Bell that make them necessary. I hope she can sleep at night.
I'm not sure if we should feel too sorry for our server friend, she didn't cross out names, location, transaction # etc. All easily accomplished before posting!
Nevertheless, I'm grateful this is getting so much attention. At Chili's we had a regular contingent of religious folk, who cheaped and stiffed me on their bills in the name of god often (inspiration messages and pamphlets would be left on the table instead). Does god want me to be homeless?? I don't get it.
Oh yes. I too, worked at Bennigan's. Only, it was in the late 90's. It was my first waitressing job and we got those Pentecostals too!!! Every single Sunday afternoon and evening. What did they do, get together as a religious gathering and say, "Okay folks, here's what we're gonna do: We're gonna go to church on Sunday morning so we can feel good about ourselves. Then we will all disperse and spread to every Bennigan's in the country, THEN run the servers ragged and not tip them because we are so full of the Holy Spirit and proud of ourselves for going to church that we are entititled to do so!!! Repeat the process on Sunday night."
It's people like that, that give other Christians a bad name...
Aaaaand this is exactly why I *always* add the grat. I also would like to point out that this lady tithes 10% to her church, where she is pastor -- thus, this tithing is merely symbolic, as tithes go to pay her salary and the running of the church. It's all circular and she ain't giving up nothin'. So, I wouldn't crow about that one too much, Alois.
Ugh. I hate serving the after-church Sunday crowd. It's like they turned off their ability to be Christian as soon as they walked out the church doors. Sad.
I twice served a pastor who told me that he preaches tipping 20% from the pulpit. Thankfully he actually practiced what he preached!
She is a horrible pastor, what kind of person tells her congregation it is O.k. to treat servers this way? If it was not HER church, I would be demanding she get fired.
Have you seen all the anti-Alois groups on FB? The titles alone are a hoot to read through...
Actually, I think that God does give a crap about your tips. It's a matter of justice (which the pastor ignored in her myopic screed). People of faith really should be doing better...and as a minister, I know that anything I do in public is a public act of faith. Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgh!
and yes, I tip 20+%, unless the service is ridiculously bad.
Im just sad that a person gets called out for being wrong and dissrepectful but its the other person who gets hurt. Why is stuff that that ok?
I can say that God probably doesn't appreciate Alois Bell's actions. And you know what I bet the server is glad she's fired from Crapplebee's because A: She isn't working for that hellhole anymore that normally attracts this kind of clientele. B: She can now go work at a better restaurant! But here's the point everyone is missing... Including Alois Bell... If you look at the picture of the receipt above you'll see that the pastor wrote 0 in the ADDITIONAL tip margin. The total 34.93 is the total INCLUDING the gratuity. I've been in this business long enough to know that. If the restaurant were to set it up to where the guest would have to do the math in order
for the server to receive the added gratuity then it would not only leave too much room for error, but also defy the point of even adding the gratuity in the first place. So by the looks of the picture she still got tipped the gratuity. It's just the principle of the pastor wanting to be a cheap bitch. But you all have to admit that this was a pretty good point eh?
The article I read said that another server took that. Pic and that was the server who got fired.
Someone is REALLY missing the boat here.....
Whoever hires the waitress is in a a SHITLOAD of free publicity.
Wake up StL restaurants !
It's in the Old Testament that God requires 10% of people's earnings as a tithe. The key here is OLD Testament. Often I think modern day churches manipulate the heck out of that in order to justify their own demands for funds. the majority of the detailed laws that were part of the Old Testament are what Jesus died to free us from. And Jesus never asked for anything but hospitality and respect.
So called 'Christians' who treat other people with such judgement, superiority and lack of consideration, respect and compassion give Christianity a bad name - there is nothing Christian in that pastor's actions and she needs to have a good long look at herself. She's been a hypocrite.
I hope Chelsea finds a new job (at a better place)and that next time the Pastor is hungry she stays at home.
I cant believe she is a pastor. Did you hear how she was talking. I wouldnt be able to tell her from a ghetto 18 yr old
She gets 18% because that is HER JOB and that is how she gets payed. Every profession gets a paycheck weekly, biweekly, monthly, salary, etc. except servers. Servers make their earnings on mostly tips alone and when someone doesn't tip the way they should, it pales into comparison with someone docking your paycheck. This lady is a fraud and a disgrace. I am not a religious person but I am pretty sure if there were a GOD he would not excuse this. This was all an excuse for her to be cheap. End of story.
First off, let me say, I LOVE your blog, I'm not a waiter but your blog amused me in many ways (Especially your opinion on children).
Second, I just found that bitch on FB, she just made an account 7 hours ago. Apparently she "works" for God, and the first thing she does is post a dumb link from Applebees, less than a day after her stiffing bitch ass made the news... ah the irony is kicking in.
I will be looking forward to your hilarious stories in the future.
~Tariq
P.S. here is the link to her stupidity: https://www.facebook.com/alois.bell.3?ref=ts&fref=ts
The waitress did get a tip. Too funny that pastor didnt realize that at first. The tip line says adt`l tip which she put zero. Lol
So has anyone else noticed that the $6 that she supposedly left as tip is only 29 CENTS LESS than the grat??? So then what's her point? She pretty much tipped the same anyways?
the pic shows before grat then what the grat is, then addl tip making the guest have to add up all three. the Pastor did not tip at all.
i have worked the Sunday church crowd but I found that while there were many many cheap guests, the Rabbis, Priests and Reverends I came across always tipped at least 18% but I have gotten a $5 tip on a $180 tab, large party, no auto grat. while it sucks you gotta take the good with the bad cuz in the end it pretty much all evens out.
@ Peace, I heard that both the server and the server that took and posted the picture got fired. If this is the case I dont think it is fair to fire the server, because she might not have even been around when her coworker took the picture. i have worked at restaurants in the past where slips are left in the open.
Amen, Bitchy!
We get the Pentacostal crowd too. Some of them aren't that bad, like the guy who actually fixed my car for cheap and is working on fixing my boyfriend's moped. But there's a few that are total pains in the ass, particularly one woman and her family. She will run her server to death, wants to get everything she can for free, and generally leaves less than 10%. And she loves to come in right before close and sit in the restaurant forever. She once kept a friend of mine, who she knew had a sick mother and sick baby to get home to, there until almost 2am, which was a full three hours after closing time. There are a few family members that can talk her into leaving more, but they don't come in with her too often. This family has been banned from pretty much every other restaurant in the area for their behavior combined with not tipping. One of our managers did tell her something once. And lo and behold, this past week they hired her daughter. She's nice, and I think she will do well, but we are all walking on eggshells because her mother is infamous with the servers. Someone is always bitching about her. No one ever ever wants to wait on her, and it's common to casually ask a brand new server to take her if she gets sat in your section because they are the only ones who will, since they haven't put a face to the name. Ugh, tomorrow I'm going to just sit her down in private and warn her before someone says something that really upsets her.
Oh, and I've been stiffed by pastors before, too. I guess they thought their stupid prayer card was tip enough.
Oh (same anon as above, here) do have a priest who comes in almost every Sunday, and although he is a bit picky about how he likes his eggs, the grill knows who he is and all we have to say is that they are for the priest and they come out perfect. We all bend over backwards to make sure he and his friend get everything just as they like it because they are really nice, laid back, and they joke around with us even if something comes out a bit wrong. And they tip at least 18% every time. It's not all that much considering their bill isn't usually more than $20, but it's better than the dollar or two lots of other people leave on checks that size.
She's just embarrassed that the world now knows shes she's not as kindred as people thought she was. I understand the bible talks about giving God 10 percent. However, it is no excuse to leave her an insensitive note. And the fact that she put it online, well its called freedom of expression! I am just in disbelief that Applebees fired her over this nonsense, but you know what? Good riddance, she's better off.
I hate to correct you, but the 34.93 does not include the tip. The gratuity is posted below the amount, and then there is an additional tip line, for those rare angels that leave extra, and the customer is expected to total the bill.
I'm a day late and...u know the rest.
Just saw the viral vid this AM and of course was going to send you the link but you are already on it. Funny stuff and your post makes it all the more so.
Shocking that a)she is a bible thumping "sunday christian" b)she's black c)she's now embarrassed everyone knows she is a fraud
Shocking.
The 34.93 is not including tip...18% of 34.93 is exactly 6.29
Yes the 34.93 does include the tip. In every restaurant I've worked in when the grat is included the total that appears is the total INCLUDING THE GRAT. otherwise what's the point?? Wake up haven't you ever worked in a restaurant before I have 10+ years in this. If for whatever reason this particular restaurants total doesn't include the grat then that just defies the point of even adding the gratuity. The fact of the matter is the guest should only have to sign off on the total that appears when a GRAT is added not have to still do the math! That would just be stupid! So therefore the server DID get the GRAT if that makes sense now
@Paul, I have also worked as a server for 10 years or so and every computer system is different. In this case, if you look at the receipt that is in the picture, it CLEARLY says 34.93 then TIP 18%: 6.29 (which is 18% of 34.93, do the math) then Additional tip. The system I work for does the same thing. On the itemized receipt, it does the math for you. On the credit card receipt, it makes you add the 3 together (subtotal, plus tip, plus additional tip). So YOU wake up and do the math.
Let's be clear, diatribesandovations.com, Applebee's has NO policy regarding posting photos of receipts online.
Gee, Diablo, how would you know that, you may ask?
Because I worked there for over three years and have a copy of the employee handbook. She signed no such agreement.
While it may have behooved her to have crossed out the pastor's name, she did think it was illegible, and didn't see anything wrong with posting the receipt, as it wasn't hers to begin with, but rather, another waitress'.
and on ALL the sites talking about this, i keep hearing "why put a gratuity on there? you already make enough, i shouldn't have to give you a required 18%..."
The reason a gratuity exists is because of cheap bitches like this so-called woman of God. you made a choice to go out to eat. you made a choice to be part of a big group. You have to pay for the fucking gratuity. i've had people cross out the gratuity and put a big fat ZERO instead, and i STILL charged them the gratuity, because my manager (the good one) told me to. It's the fucking POLICY! if you don't like it, go somewhere else, like McDonald's. I'm sure they've got your usual deep fried shit ready and waiting for you.
i should also add...
i got so tired of serving the church crowd i asked off for sundays. it was a must. when i was asked if it was due to church i said "yes." i didn't add, "because the church crowd are hypocritical assholes who say they follow Jesus Christ, but refuse to help the poor and the needy."
Wow... I managed to hold my tongue on this one longer tha BW. First of all, I agree that this woman is a truly horrible person, and is only upset that the rest of the world knows it. And, Applebee's sucks (that's not exactly news).
That being said, I have been working restaurants for just short of 20 years, and the one thing that has ALWAYS been part of the business is that the guest is always right, even if they are wrong. You cannot call them out on what they tip.
Does it suck for Chelsea(?) that she got fired for posting a picture of the charge slip? Yeah, kind of (for her anyways. I understand that social media is the new way of communicating for the 20-somethings that have overrun the restaurant business, but why is a social network policy necessary for a server to understand that her behavior is unacceptable?
It is no different than having a table tell you to keep the change, which amounts to a crappy tip, bringing it back to them, and telling them that they obviously need the money more than you do. Wait, it is different... Instead of just calling them out in the restaurant, she called them out for the entire internet to see. How stupid does one have to be to do that?
Anonymous, I wouldn't call people who know how to manipulate social media "stupid". The server knew getting fired was a real possibility, and getting people on the internet worked up about her losing her job is probably just the icing on her revenge cake.
She made a conscious choice between her crappy job, and starting an internet sensation to get poetic justice on a hypocritical pastor who wrote a nasty and self-righteous note justifying her wrong behaviour (how Christian!). Burying her head in the sand at a community leader's atrocious behaviour and whimpering "The customer is always right" would have been the stupid choice here. Sure, the server got fired from Applebee's (oh noes), but given her fifteen minutes of fame, the fact she can sell her story, and the fact that the wrath of the entire internet will haunt Alois for months? Not only worth it, but downright smart.
Fool Critic, I don't think that the server thought that far ahead. And, what I was referring to as stupid was throwing away a job, regardless of how much it sucks, presumably without another job lined up.
I never suggested burying her head in the sand and whimpering that the guest is always right was the way to go. My point is that during interactions with the guests, which this would definitely count as, this is not acceptable behavior. Be angry about someone else's getting screwed, that's fine. Badmouth them to the other members of the staff and to your friends, whatever, but this is not some high and mighty moral stance. It is a tantrum that got out of control.
And, who is she going to sell her story to exactly? It's 15 minutes of fame that has expired. And this hasn't made her anything other than unemployable. Think about it objectively - what manager or owner would take the chance on her doing this in their establishment?
Everybody is going to have to take care of guests that they don't like, or that don't tip what they should, but there are plenty of guests that tip more than they reasonably should. It evens out. It is the SERVICE industry, not the SERVER industry.
This has popped up in Facebook group "Working in hospitality made me hate people":
Chelsea Welch
I was a waitress at Applebee's restaurant in Saint Louis. I was fired Wednesday for posting a picture on Reddit.com of a note a customer left on a bill. I posted it on the web as a light-hearted joke.
This didn't even happen at my table. The note was left for another server, who allowed me to take a picture of it at the end of the night.
Someone had scribbled on the receipt, "I give God 10%. Why do you get 18?"
I assumed the customer's signature was illegible, but I quickly started receiving messages containing Facebook profile links and websites, asking me to confirm the identity of the customer. I refused to confirm any of them, and all were incorrect.
I worked with the Reddit moderators to remove any personal information. I wanted to protect the identity of both my fellow server and the customer. I had no intention of starting a witch-hunt or hurting anyone.
Now I've been fired.
The person who wrote the note came across an article about it, called the Applebee's location, and demanded everyone be fired -- me, the server who allowed me to take the picture, the manager on duty at the time, the manager not on duty at the time, everyone. It seems I was fired not because Applebee's was represented poorly, not because I did anything illegal or against company policy, but because I embarrassed this person.
In light of the situation, I would like to make a statement on behalf of wait staff everywhere: 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.
After sharing my tips with hosts, bussers, and bartenders, I make less than $9 an hour on average, before taxes. I am expected to skip bathroom breaks if we are busy. I go hungry all day if I have several busy tables to work. I am expected to work until 1:30am and then come in again at 10:30am to open the restaurant.
I have worked 12-hour double shifts without a chance to even sit down. I am expected to portray a canned personality that has been found to be least offensive to the greatest amount of people. And I am expected to do all of this, every day, and receive change, or even nothing, in return. After all that, I can be fired for "embarrassing" someone, who directly insults his or her server on religious grounds.
(cont in next post)
(Chelsea Welch continued...)
In this economy, $3.50 an hour doesn't cut it. I can't pay half my bills. Like many, I would love to see a reasonable, non-tip-dependent wage system for service workers like they have in other countries. But the system being flawed is not an excuse for not paying for services rendered.
I need tips to pay my bills. All waiters do. We spend an hour or more of our time befriending you, making you laugh, getting to know you, and making your dining experience the best it can be. We work hard. We care. We deserve to be paid for that.
I am trying to stand up for all of us who work for just a few dollars an hour at places like Applebee's. Whether a chain steakhouse or a black-tie establishment, tipping is not optional. It is how we get paid.
I posted a picture to make people laugh, but now I want to make a serious point: Things like this happen to servers all the time. People seem to think that the easiest way to save money on a night out is to skip the tip.
I can't understand why I was fired over this. I was well liked and respected at Applebee's. My sales were high, my managers had no problems with me, and I was even hoping to move up to management soon. When I posted this, I didn't represent Applebee's in a bad light. In fact, I didn't represent them at all.
I did my best to protect the identity of all parties involved. I didn't break any specific guidelines in the company handbook – I checked. But because this person got embarrassed that their selfishness was made public, Applebee's has made it clear that they would rather lose a dedicated employee than an angry customer. That's a policy I can't understand.
I am equally baffled about how a religious tithe is in any way related to paying for services at a restaurant. I can understand why someone could be upset with an automatic gratuity. However, it's a plainly stated Applebee's policy that a tip is added automatically for parties over eight like the one this customer was part of. I cannot control that kind of tip; it's done by the computer that the orders are put into. I've been stiffed on tips before, but this is the first time I've seen the "Big Man" used as reasoning.
Obviously the person who wrote this note wanted it seen by someone. It's strange that now that the audience is wider than just the server, the person is ashamed.
I have no agenda here. I seek no revenge against the note writer. I have no interest in exposing their identity, and, at this point, I'm not even sure I want my job back. I was just trying to make a joke, but I came home unemployed.
I've been waiting tables to save up some money so I could finally go to college, so I could get an education that would qualify me for a job that doesn't force me to sell my personality for pocket change.
While this story has garnered immense media attention, my story is not uncommon. Bad tips and harsh notes are all part of the job. People get fired to keep customers happy every day.
As this story has gotten popular, I've received inquiries as to where people can send money to support me. As a broke kid trying to get into college, it's certainly appealing, but I'd really rather you make a difference to your next server. I'd rather you keep that money and that generosity for the next time you eat out.
Editor's note: Chelsea added the final two paragraphs at 2:30pm EST on Friday.
@Paul, I'm English, so our checks work like this: "itemised list; subtotal; service charge; total amount due." If you wish to have the service charge removed, you may. From what I can see of this receipt, which is how I've always read it when dining in the States, the check goes "Total, gratuity (calculated for you so that you know how much tip to leave - I have seen checks that list 'Gratuity 15%, 18% AND 20%' with the respective amounts for your convenience), tip ____ (blank space for you to fill in specifically how much you'd like to leave), Total (again, a blank space for you to total the two to confirm that you intended to pay exactly what you've written above). The Pastor specified that she wanted to pay the amount as written above ALL the tip notes. Therefore she did NOT tip the waitress.
Acceptable behaviour between customers and servers goes both ways, which is entirely what this blog (SERVER’s blog, not SERVICE blog) is about, Anonymous. The only difference is that people get so much more threatened when a server finds their voice. Nobody likes power dynamics to shift.
Perhaps I was giving this particular person too much credit, but to clarify the whole "who exactly" thing: by selling her story (maybe it's different in the US, I'm in Australia) I meant there are any number of trashy TV programs/magazines/papers/online news sites that will gobble up a story about the poor-underdog-unfairly-dismissed, if Chelsea can frame her "tantrum" in a way that sells. And judging by the angry horde of internet fans: this story sells.
Also, judging by her statements as copied and pasted by other Anonymous (come on people, take the time to name yourself), Chelsea is intelligent and insightful, as well as pursuing higher education. Sure, she might bitch about not being able to pay off bills and student loans, and will hopefully learn to modify her behaviour after her mistake. But let’s not pretend an intelligent (if impulsive) young white woman is “unemployable” by anyone but crappy US restaurant chains that might Google her. She’s got options. Her life ain’t over.
Paul, in my restaurant the guest has to do the math for an auto-grat. Much like the slip here, ours has the total bill, the gratuity, a line for an additional tip and then a blank total line. Its just one of the little joys of the Aloha POS system.
I have zero respect for clergy of any sort. If they don't pull in tithes, they don't get paid, so the are in the same position as Chelsea.
My ex was a minister. Our church believed in baptism by immersion. He taught this for 6 years from the pulpit, insisted others be immersed, lied to me that he had been baptized, and to the college he attended and received degree and ordination from. He asked me to baptize him after six years of marriage and keep it a secret. After our divorce he says I lie. Nope. Ministers lie.
He said that he worked for god, so tipping was not something he needed to do. He always tried to tell servers he was a minister in hopes of being absolved of tipping.
I hate ministers with a passion.
it is a very nice post. I like the post very much.
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Perfect timing to link to this wonderful tumblr regarding the trials and tribulations of hospitality -
http://howmayiserviceyou.tumblr.com/
Check the most recent post!!!
I won't write a book, all i have. To say is AMEN BITCHY FOR POPE!
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