A restaurant in Pennsylvania - famous for being mentioned on the comedy series The Office US - is suing a customer who left one of their waiting staff a $3,000 tip.
Mariana Lambert, a waitress at Alfredo's Pizza Cafe located in Scranton, was overjoyed when a customer left the staggering amount as a tip for her service.
Lambert felt like she had just won the lottery - that was, until the generous donor, now identified as Eric Smith, decided he wanted the money back. As a result, the restaurant is taking legal action.
Smith had ordered a stromboli that cost just $13.25 - which he was charged for on his credit card - and then added the potentially life-changing bonus with the note, writing: "Tips For Jesus."
Check out the waitress' initial reaction to the tip below:The male patron claimed that the staggering tip was part of a social media movement called Tips for Jesus. Smith explained that he likes to surprise servers like Lambert with a big-hearted gesture.
Initially, the restaurant thought that the generous amount was too good to be true, but Lambert recounted to the local news station WNEP that they "ran his card and everything went through properly".
"They took his I.D. and took pictures of everything, so they waited a little bit to make sure it was legit and went through, and it ended up being real," she added.
Lambert who was "in shock," said it was a gracious gesture that "really touched [her] heart," during a time when many businesses were getting back on their feet after the pandemic.
"It really meant a lot to me because everyone's going through stuff," the waitress said. However, Lambert soon learned that the patron wasn't so generous after all.
Despite offering the lavish tip, Smith would later go on to dispute the amount with his credit card company, the Daily Mail reports. But the restaurant had already paid Lambert the $3,000
When the restaurant reached out to Smith about the charge he was disputing, they had hoped it was a misunderstanding and wanted to resolve the matter right away.
However, after many of the management's messages went unanswered, the restaurant had to get the magistrate's office involved and file charges against Smith.
"It’s just a little aggravating right now," Zachary Jacobson, the manager of Alfredo’s Pizza Cafe, said about the ordeal to WNEP. "It’s been causing a lot of nonsense and drama."
"Unfortunately, we had to file charges through the magistrate’s office because now we’re just out of this money, at this point," Jacobson added, before alleging: "And [Smith] told us to sue him, so that’s what we’re going to end up doing, I guess."
In the meantime, the manager described the waitress as "hardworking" and said she was worthy of the money. He also described the incident as "a nice piece of PR for a small business".
"I hope that he owns up to his actions and comes forth and does pay this because you shouldn't have done this if this was the end result," Jacobson said.
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