An Applebee's waitress was fired Wednesday after posting a receipt online from a customer who denied a fellow server gratuity.
The server, Chelsea, was fired after the popular restaurant chain was contacted by the upset customer while the image of the bill went viral online--according to Consumerist.
"I Give God 10% Why do you Get 18?" the customer jotted down on the receipt, also writing "pastor" abover her signature at the bottom.
Chelsea told Consumerist that she posted the photo because she thought it was funny.
"I originally posted the note as a lighthearted joke," Chelsea said. "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."
The customer, who is reportedly a pastor, was actually from a different server's table, according to Consumerist. And when the server from that table showed Chelsea the note, she took a photograph of it later in the night.
But the problem is that the receipt had the customer's full signature inscribed at the bottom and the thought of editing that part out slipped Chelsea's mind because it appeared illegible.
And that certainly did not stop people from trying to decode the handwriting.
"All throughout the comment thread on the Reddit post, I withheld any identifying information," Chelsea said.
The former Applebee's server even said that she purposely provided a false account of what the customer looked like and then later edited the photo, removing the signature.
But by the time she cropped the pic, site users were already posting their guesses as to the customer's name.
"I had already started receiving messages containing Facebook profile links and blogs and websites, asking me to confirm the identity of the customer," Chelsea said. "I refused to confirm any of them, and all of them were incorrect. I worked with the website 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. I just wanted to share a picture I found interesting."
But the customer did not find her post amusing and proceeded to call the Applebee's location and requested that everyone in the restaurant be fired.
And now the waitress, who claims she has never stepped out of line at the restaurant before, is without a job that was helping her save for college.
The Smoking Gun caught up with the St. Louis pastor, Alois Bell, who referenced god in the tip line of the receipt, telling the site that she is taken back with the whole situation and that her note was a "lapse in my character and judgment."
"My heart is really broken," Bell said. "I've brought embarrassment to my church and ministry."
Bell also claims that she did leave a $6 tip in cash and saw that 18 percent gratuity was already charged to her credit card.
Consumerist posted a statement from Applebee's in response to the matter.
"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," the statement read. "Our franchisee has apologized to the Guest and has taken disciplinary action with the Team Member for violating their Guest's right to privacy. The individual is no longer employed by the franchisee.