Waitress fired for griping about tip on Facebook

[Liberal_in_LA]

Waitress fired for griping about tip on Facebook

Monday, May 17, 2010

(05-17) 09:49 PDT Charlotte, N.C. (AP) --

A North Carolina waitress is out of a job after griping on her Facebook page about the $5 tip she got from a couple who sat at their table for three hours. The waitress says the customers kept her at work an hour after she was supposed to clock out.

The Charlotte Observer reported Monday that 22-year-old Ashley Johnson felt slighted after waiting on the couple at Brixx Pizza.

So she blasted the couple on Facebook, calling them cheap and mentioning the restaurant by name.

Brixx officials told Johnson a couple of days later that she was being fired because she violated a company policy banning workers from speaking disparagingly about customers and casting the restaurant in a bad light on a social network.


Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2010/05/17/financial/f094917D92.DTL&tsp=1#ixzz0oDbYw9IC

[Blue-Jay]

1. Here's a tip: Don't complain about stuff on Facebook.

[NRaleighLiberal]

3. I just left Facebook and it feels GREAT.

[WinkyDink]

7. Never on it.

[NRaleighLiberal]

2. If we can post about bad food, why not about bad people?

Another example of how we've not really figured out the information age we live in, with all of its risks, transparency, and pitfalls!

[Blue-Jay]

6. I just posted bad stuff about YOU on Facebook.

Was that wrong?

[NRaleighLiberal]

10. If I deserved it, then it was not wrong. all about accountability.

[Blue-Jay]

13. ;-)

:rofl:

[NRaleighLiberal]

14. something funny about accountability? Oh yeah, something that doesn't happen anymore these days!

[Blue-Jay]

31. When's the last time you had a nice chuckle?

Fuck, I'd hate to be you.

[NRaleighLiberal]

33. I've had lots of nice chuckles today. I guarantee you...being me is much for fun than being you.

Why are you such an a hole?

[Blue-Jay]

34. You can say asshole on DU.

Durty words are allowed.

Honestly, I'm a pretty nice guy. If we met in person, you'd probably not hate me.

[NRaleighLiberal]

41. Vice versa. It makes my point - electronic communication is fraught with difficulties.

Which is back to my original comment - I left Facebook due to such things.

Well, off to have a beer. Can't say I enjoyed jousting with you because I tend to be a peacenik and don't like conflict much. So, no harm, no foul....have a good evening.

[Blue-Jay]

42. You have a good evening too.

Have a nice beer and pretend like I paid for it, OK?

[Renew Deal]

17. Who decides if you deserve it?

Or if it's even true?

[NRaleighLiberal]

23. If we are at all self reflective, we know if we crossed lines.

But you get into the fascinating world of the electronic info age, where anything goes and anyone can be anything and say anything without boundaries (well, not totally, as we saw with the waitress). It is no substitute for personal relationships and direct interactions!

[LanternWaste]

45. I imagine you may post anything you want

I imagine you may post anything you want. However, should your employer witness your violation of a contractual agreement regardless of medium, I would think consequences are soon to follow...

[Rex]

4. A lesson to all, you are replaceable commodities and nothing more.

The company you slave your life away to, will replace you with a smile and a 'get the fuck out' without a second thought. Love your company, don't just like it as a job...maybe your company will start to love you back and even decide not to fire you over a fiver.

[BeyondGeography]

5. Ridiculous all around

They overreacted and she should have just gone home and poured herself her favorite drink. Posting every itty bitty thing about your life...I don't get it.

[walldude]

8. She should have gone here:

www.bitterwaitress.com

Great place for wait staff to post their grips. Fun to read the "lousy tipper database" too.

[FSogol]

18. Cool site. Thanks. n/t

[madrchsod]

24. cool site...my wife has been a waitress and bartender on and off for 35 years

she has some great stories.

[Blue_Tires]

35. also, "Customers Suck" and similar sites have been around for years

I'm surprised she didn't gripe there instead (no one has to know names)

[tridim]

9. Sucks that she got fired, but good for her.

I hope the customers see the post, and I hope she finds a new job quickly.

[Ishoutandscream2]

11. Never heard of Brixx pizza

But if I ever encounter one, I will never eat there.

[Greyhound]

12. First comment on how it is acceptable for a person to be deprived of their livelihood over

something so minor and done on her own time.

[Llewlladdwr]

15. I'll bite.

Would you really wanna eat at a restaraunt that allows it's staff to talk shit about customers on the Internet? Especially when customers have no mechanism to respond?

[dflprincess]

26. I doubt if there's a server at any restaurant that couldn't bitch about the same thing

She didn't call the cheapskates out by name only mentioned where she works. If the customers recognized themselves, too bad for them maybe they'll learn something.

[superduperfarleft]

32. If I give staff a reason for to talk shit, absolutely. n/t

[Greyhound]

47. I can't imagine why you wouldn't. Why would you even care?

I think Oscar Wilde (IIRC) summed it up with this; "People wouldn't care nearly so much what other people thought of them if they only realized how little they do".

[AndyA]

16. She should have never posted details on Facebook.

She could have perhaps been vague about it, but if people know where she works and what she does, it probably should have never been mentioned there.

When I waited tables, if my shift ended and I was down to one or two tables with stragglers, I just made arrangements with another wait person to take care of them, and told the customers my shift was over and I was leaving and that whoever would be taking care of them.

I always try to be considerate of people who wait tables and work retail. Those are tough jobs, and a lot of people aren't very nice.

[Lil Missy]

19. Yep, she deserved to be fired. Very unprofessional.

[RaleighNCDUer]

20. Wait staff complaining about anonymous customers does not cast a

bad light on a restaurant nearly so much as that restaurant firing her for doing so does.

[Rex]

21. They'll get more negative press for firing her over a fiver than

she will get imo.

[Llewlladdwr]

25. I disagree.

Talking shit about your customers is never a good idea.

Let me give you a hypothetical. Let's say a system administrator for a large company has a bad day and goes home and posts a rant about how their users are all idiots and none of them should be allowed anywhere near a computer. I fully expect the sysadmin in question is going to have quite a bit of explaining to do once his manager runs across that post, don't you?

[stray cat]

29. Agreed. I know a make up artist who laughs at how she tells ugly brides how pretty they are.

and how stupid they are for believing it. Would you want to hire her to do make up for your wedding?

[Rex]

30. I don't think comparing a system administrator to a waitress is fair.

She should have every right to post whatever she wants to, just like the company has the right to fire her over a fiver. Good idea? If you are in the market for a new job then yes.

[REP]

46. Yeah. That guy is Scott Adams and it made him rich.

I worked at the same company and I know that in the early days, at least, Dilbert wasn't a cartoon ... it was a documentary.

[NeedleCast]

22. I'm mixed on this

While I think it's a pretty draconian decision by the restaurant, anyone who's been waiting tables more than a few days should know better. I hope that there's a special part of hell for poor tippers, but at the same time, it's part of the industry and you just have to cope sometimes. It sucks to get camped for three hours and get a five spot (although article doesnt mention what the bill was), but you roll with it.

[coyote]

27. Karma is a bitch...

Brixx Pizza's own facebook page is getting slaughtered with negative comments. Welcome to web 2.0 Brixx idiots.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Brixx-Wood-Fired-Pizza/84618206631?v=wall&ref=search

[stray cat]

28. if she mentioned the restaurant she gave it a bad name

Depending on the size of the bill relative to a $5 tip - I may not want to go to a restaurant where they will bitch about me on line.

[Rex]

36. If you hang out an hour after closing and then give a fiver

expect a bad review on facebook...that is if anyone cares, I can't believe the hype over twitterless news.

[npk]

37. Shit when I worked at The Mellow Mushroom

When I worked at The Mellow Mushroom, another pizza joint, it was common for people to hang around for multiple hours at the same table. Two or three hours sometimes longer. And if it happened to be Wednesday night, Trivia night, you could forget about busing tables quickly. People would stay there all night playing trivia, and you were lucky if they tipped you a dollar. I feel bad for the waitress if she had to work an hour after she should have been off. She really should have alerted the manager on duty if that was the case.

[proteus_lives]

38. Meh, not mentioning work on FB should be common sense.

[proteus_lives]

39. Dupe.

[gmoney]

40. The tipping system is so strange...

It reminds me of the haggling for the beard scene in "Life of Brian" -- If I'm supposed to pay 15% or 20% more than it says on the bill, just put that price on the menu and pay the waitstaff. Don't tell me the entree is $20 when I'm expected to pay $23 or $24.

Despite complaining about bad tippers, I think on average servers make more from this system than they'd be likely to be paid on an hourly basis, if the place is busy -- with the tip system, if it's a slow night, the restaurant isn't paying staff who are just standing around. Their fortunes rise and fall with the restaurant's.

Cash tips are probably under-reported, which works for both the staff (tax-free income) and management (less employer taxes). Wages would be subject to taxes.

The prospect of a tip is supposed to motivate the server to be attentive and provide prompt service. But it's come to be expected, and if you are a regular patron and get poor service one night and dare to tip accordingly, there's no way of telling if the server will accept that they didn't do a good job, or if they'll feel slighted and give your meal the "Fight Club" treatment next time you dare show your face. So it becomes like protection money... "that's a nice entree you ordered... it would be a shame if something happened to it."

I do tip 20% for adequate service, and generally even tip on the tax, because I know it's a difficult job and they rely on tips. I just don't like the system. It's like commission sales -- the person's job is not to sell you what you need, but whatever the most expensive thing you're willing to buy. I'd rather deal with someone who makes the same amount no matter how much, or how little I spend.

Maybe it works because, in general, servers are rewarded for good performance, while with a wage system, if the server is going to make the same amount if they do a great job or if they do just enough to not be fired, then wouldn't most people slack and do just enough to get by? And would that give patrons any reason to come back?

[Obamanaut]

44. What you said! We don't go to many different places, but the places

we do go to, we go fairly often.

Most of the staff in these places know us by now, and they are without exception friendly and cheerful. They also know that we never tip less than 20%, and we use the total including tax as you mentioned.

We don't always get the same server each time, but two or three of the ones who are not assigned to the section we are in stop by to say hello and ask about our health. I think that is very pleasant.

[slackmaster]

43. That was a dumb thing to do. I hope she learned something from the experience.

:shrug: