Applebee's waitress dilemma

I wrote a note to Applebee's when the waitress was fired regarding the receipt posted on face-book. Here is the reply I received....


Dear xxxxx,

Thank you for contacting us. As a company that relies on literally hundreds of thousands of incredibly hard working team members, I can assure you that we and our franchisees value and support them and their efforts. However this unfortunate situation has nothing to do with work. The employee involved did not wait on the guest or party. Regrettably, and without the restaurant's knowledge, she took it upon herself to take a customer's receipt, with the name clearly visible, and posted it online with her own commentary. That is a clear violation of our guests’ privacy and against the franchisee's company policy that the team member was provided when hired. We simply cannot accept behavior that compromises the safety and privacy our guests have every right to expect and deserve.

Please note that we are also not excusing the guest's behavior in this matter and the unacceptable comment she wrote on the receipt, which is offensive to us and all our hard working team members. To be clear, the 18% gratuity added to large party tickets was paid by the guests party. This is a regrettable situation and we wish it had never happened. I hope this provides you with some additional insight. Thanks again for the chance to explain.


Sincerely,

Adam L.
Sr. Guest Relations Specialist

Case #

While I am at....here is a note left for a relative of mine that works part-time locally as a waitress/bartender. Very touching.

As I said on the thread where we discussed it, I understand Applebee's privacy policy even though I think a lecture to the waitress on customer privacy, rather than firing her, would have been appropriate.

But...you also have to consider the legal ramifications that a company like Applebees might face when it comes to customer privacy issues....

She should not have posted the customer's personal info...that was dumb. She should have addressed her concerns to management. I do wonder how much of that 18% gratuity she receives. I also wonder why Applebee's on 9th and Bayou tore down their building and built a new one in its' place. I haven't been in the new building, but it looks basically the same as the old one from the outside. I do recall the food there as mediocre.

Floridatexan wrote:
She should not have posted the customer's personal info...that was dumb. She should have addressed her concerns to management. I do wonder how much of that 18% gratuity she receives. I also wonder why Applebee's on 9th and Bayou tore down their building and built a new one in its' place. I haven't been in the new building, but it looks basically the same as the old one from the outside. I do recall the food there as mediocre.

Hopefully, the place is a little larger and it has more parking. I'm with you the food was mediocre at best.

Floridatexan wrote:
She should not have posted the customer's personal info...that was dumb. She should have addressed her concerns to management. I do wonder how much of that 18% gratuity she receives. I also wonder why Applebee's on 9th and Bayou tore down their building and built a new one in its' place. I haven't been in the new building, but it looks basically the same as the old one from the outside. I do recall the food there as mediocre.

According to the email that Joani received from Applebee's she probably would not have gotten any of the 18% unless that particular restaurant has tip sharing. The email states that she did not wait on that party and she took it upon herself to post the customers receipt.