A Pennsylvania restaurant has sued a customer for more than $3,000 after the patron failed to pay the generous tip he left his server.
Alfredo's Pizza Cafe located in Scranton, Pennsylvania, was forced to pay the tip that Eric Smith recently left his waitress, Mariana Lambert, after he decided he wanted his money back, according to WNEP.
Smith had ordered a stromboli that cost just $13.25, which he charged to his credit card, and left a $3,000 tip for Lambert. On the slip, he wrote "Tips For Jesus," which is a reference to a social media movement.
Lambert was in shock, previously telling WNEP that "it really means a lot to me," and that it "really touched my heart."
The restaurant had already handed the tip over to Lambert when, days later, Smith disputed the charge with his credit company. At first the restaurant tried to reach out to Smith via Facebook to resolve the matter but after he ignored the posts they had to get the magistrate's office involved and file charges.
"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," Zachary Jacobson, the manager at Alfredo's Cafe, told WNEP.
"It's just a little aggravating right now. It's been causing a lot of nonsense and drama," he added. "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."
Three months have passed and no resolution has been reached, the outlet noted. Jacobson is hoping the matter will be sorted in court, and that the restaurant will get back its $3,000. In the meantime, the incident has been a "nice piece of PR for a small business," Jacobson said.
"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 added of Smith.