Waitress Allegedly Altered Restaurant Patron’s Receipt, Doubled Her Tip After Patrons Left [Photo]

A waitress is in hot water after a family discovered they’d been overcharged for a meal at a restaurant. According to Opposing Views, the waitress allegedly altered the restaurant receipt to reflect a higher tip than the cardholder authorized.

On Thursday, Oct. 8, Whitney Anderson stopped by Abuelo’s in Roanoke, Virginia, with her three children. After finishing their meal, the waitress brought the receipt to the table and Anderson opted to cover the bill by paying with a card. As expected, the waitress took both the card and the receipt to close out the $45.40 tab.

When she returned, Anderson signed the receipt and left a $10 tip, which brought the bill to a total of $55.40. But, to Anderson’s shock and dismay, she noticed her bank account had been charged $65.40 for the meal they’d had the previous night. She immediately contacted the restaurant to inquire about the charge. When she arrived, she was reportedly given a customer copy of the receipt and that’s when she noticed the glaring error. Apparently, an additional $10 was added to the receipt and her signature had been forged.

During an interview with WSLS-10, Anderson explained that she originally filled in the transaction information on a merchant copy of the receipt, as opposed to the customer copy. In a Facebook post, Anderson also admitted that she failed to take the customer copy out of the receipt book. So, she speculates the waitress that served her family may have discarded of the original merchant copy with her signature and replaced it with the customer copy, which had the increased $20 tip and a forged signature. Needless to say, Anderson was livid. As expected, she voiced her concerns with the restaurant’s manager, explaining what happened.

The restaurant’s manager, Jason McKnight, reportedly apologized and initially offered to refund Anderson for the $10 charge, which would have taken up to ten business days. Anderson definitely wasn’t pleased with the lengthy amount of time it would take to be compensated for the grave inconvenience, so she took to Facebook to voice her frustrations. In a scathing review on the Abuelo’s Facebook page, she posted a photo of the customer copy of the receipt, which included the waitress’ allegedly forged signature.

Here’s an excerpt from the Facebook post:

“We tipped $10 on 45 and made it $55.40 and I signed my name. I didn’t take the blank customer copy out of the book. Today I checked my bank account and saw where we had been charged 65.40 so I called the manager and he said that’s what we wrote. I drove out there and demanded to see the receipt. So the waitress trashed my receipt (the merchant copy) and filled out the customer copy and forged a signature that doesn’t even look like my name. I mean seriously. She could have at least tried to sign my last name Anderson.”

“Customers be aware that this can happen to you,” Anderson wrote. “Even if you don’t leave a blank copy of the table the server can just reprint your receipt and fill out whatever they want and forge your name and clearly this establishment lets it fly with their employees.”

After explaining the series of events that led to the Facebook post, it began catching the attention of social media users and local news outlets. The posts led to the restaurant’s decision to resolve the issue expeditiously. The manager reportedly contacted Anderson by phone and revealed the restaurant would be covering the full price of the bill because of the inconvenience.

“You’re not satisfied with your restaurant experience and I apologize for that,” McKnight reportedly told Anderson over the phone. “I would like to refund the entire value of your check.”

Although the daunting ordeal was quite unfortunate for Anderson and her family, she insists there’s something much worse about the entire situation — the breach of trust between the waitress and patron. “It was almost a 25% tip and then they go behind you and fraudulently sign a name to a credit card receipt,” she told WSLS 10. “I don’t feel that’s any different than someone taking your debit card.”

[Image(s) via Facebook; Twitter]