Restaurant wants to sue customer for $3,000 waitress tip

A $3,000 tip left for a waitress in Scranton, Pennsylvania, initially seemed like a dream come true, but things quickly turned sour.

Last year, Alfredo's Cafe waitress Mariana Lambert was bowled over when she saw that thousands of dollars in service had been added to a $13 bill, but things quickly turned sour when the tipper asked for the dosh back.

After a heated back and forth between the restaurant and the customer on social media, Alfredo's decided to take the diner to court.

According to Best Life, managers were initially suspicious when Eric Smith tipped like there’s no tomorrow, despite only ordering a stromboli.

But Smith’s payment went through, and Smith allegedly said he was leaving the payment as part of a social media movement called Tips for Jesus.

Lambert explained: "It really meant a lot to me because everyone's going through stuff. It really touched my heart. I still can't believe it. I'm still in shock."

However, the situation took a turn for the worse a few weeks later, according to Alfredo's Cafe manager Zachary Jacobson, who explained at the time: “A little over a month ago, we received something in the mail that Eric was disputing the charge for the tip that he left.”

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He added: "We thought somebody was actually trying to do a good thing. And then now we are, what, three months later? Not even, and there's nothing. There's nothing to show for it at this point."

Alfredo's staff had hoped it was all just a big misunderstanding when they first reached out to Smith, having already paid Lambert the $3,000, which the restaurant ended up losing.

Although Alfredo's started communicating with Smith on Facebook, the restaurant said it had stopped returning messages, and planned to take him to court.

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"It's just a little aggravating right now. It's been causing a lot of nonsense and drama," said Jacobson.

"Unfortunately, we had to file charges through the magistrate's office because now we're just out of this money at this point. And he told us to sue him. so that's what we're going to end up doing, I guess."

He added that he hopes Alfredo's will come out on top in court, but noted that whatever happens, the situation has been tarnished for good.

"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," he said.

At the time of writing, there has been no update on the lawsuit Alfredo's filed.

UNILAD has contacted Alfredo's Cafe for comment.

Topics: Food and Drink, US News, Money

Aisha Nozari

@aishanozari