A restaurant received bad reviews online after a waitress’s $16,000 tip was split between all staff.
A kindhearted diner had been enjoying his meal at Stumble Inn Barr & Grill in Londonderry, New Hampshire when he left a waitress dumbfounded.
The bar’s owner, Michael Zarella, told TODAY Food: “A gentlemen came in at the bar and ordered a beer and a couple of chili cheese dogs, and then he ordered pickle chips and a Patron (tequila) drink.”
“At around 3:30, he asked the bartender for the cheque. She gave it to him and walked away, and then he said to her, ‘Don’t spend it all in one place.’”
The waitress, Michelle McCudden, refused the tip at first, but the generous diner told her to keep it.
Zarella revealed that the tip was split between eight bartenders working that day and also kitchen staff.
However, many people disagreed with the decision to split the tip and left negative reviews on the bar’s website.
One person wrote: “I just want to know if she was forced to split that tip. $16,000 is a lot of money and I don’t see anyone who would split it twelve ways if they don’t have to. ESPECIALLY since servers are paid less than $7.50 an hour.”
Another said: “I think you should give the waiter or waitress THE FULL AMOUNT, her or she did what they needed to for that tip, I don’t believe it would be right to split the tip among twelve when only one person waited for that table.”
A third added: “She should have been able to keep it all. No one should force wait staff to split tips. Now, she apparently wanted to split, so that should be fine, too. North of $1000 is still a lot for a bartender and it was what she wanted. Bad reviews would be unfair and, come to it, she indeed didn’t spend it all in one place.”
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