Something unusual happened at Denny's in Memphis, where Shakira Edwards works as a waitress. One fateful day after she attended to a customer, he gave her a generous tip of about $4k. However, she now claims that her employers have refused to release the money to her. Because of the amount, Denny's refused to believe it was intentional.
And as such, they couldn't release it to the waitress. They also revealed that they had conducted a detailed investigation to confirm the tip. According to their report, they discovered it was made in error. However, eyebrows have been raised regarding the details surrounding the tip in question. What really happened?
An Unusual Tip
It happened in February 2020. Shakira Edwards heard the news from her manager that she had been tipped by a generous customer. The exact amount was $4,451.61. The manager simply disclosed the information and left the restaurant without explaining further.
It was at the end of her shift that Edwards was informed about the hefty sum. However, she didn't even know much about the woman who tipped her with such an amount. She did learn that the customer was very grateful for her service and wanted to show her appreciation. But why was the manager being so tight-lipped about it?
Being Kept In The Dark
Edwards had very little information. But she knew that the customer appreciated her smile. At least, she had been told that much. And she also knew that the customer was a woman. Other than that, she remained in the dark about the entire situation.
Edwards felt that her prayers had been answered when she heard how much the tip was. She had been a part-time waitress at Denny's for some time now. She took the job to pay off some of her student loan debt, and the timing couldn't be more perfect. It was nothing short of a miracle as far as she knew.
A Timely Blessing
It's rare to see people who would sacrifice things for anyone these days, much less when it's for a stranger. If her smile was able to touch the heart of her customer so much that she gifted her about $4k, then she had to believe that she had earned it.
According to her, it was just God's way of letting her know that good people still exist in the world. She was sure God understood her situation and had sent her a helper because she had been going through a lot financially. She felt it was a huge blessing to her.
Withholding The Tip
She was excited and felt blessed by the news. However, the manager had not yet talked about releasing the money. He had only informed her about it, but she is yet to receive it. Since he was the one who told her about the tip, she expected he would also handle its release.
However, the amount was yet to be released to her. And she felt terrible that she had to keep asking for something she believed she deserved and was entitled to. After all, the tip was left for her. But when the manager decided to talk about it, they made a very unexpected request.
An Unreasonable Request
Instead of releasing the tip to Edwards, the manager claimed they had to confirm the legitimacy of such a tip. They even instructed her to track down the customer who left her the sum before they could release it to her.
Edwards felt hurt by this instruction and considered it unreasonable. She has no idea who the anonymous customer is. How could they make it her fault that she didn't put down the contact information of one of her customers after they left her a tip? There was no way for her to track down someone she didn't know.
Growing Suspicions
At this time, Edwards began to grow suspicious of the true intentions of the manager. It had taken three weeks for the manager to give her any response about the tip. And when he did, he asked her to do something as strange as track down the customer before she could get the tip.
She began to suspect that perhaps someone at the restaurant had plotted to keep the tip for themselves. There was no other plausible explanation she could think of. In fact, it began to make sense to her. There was information she was privy to that would confirm her fears.
A Struggling Business
Edwards was hardly surprised. She could understand why Denny's would be trying to keep such an amount for themselves. She knows that the establishment has been going through a rough time recently. She even admitted that they most likely need the tip more than she does.
For some time now, the business has been struggling to pay its staff, so they didn't have enough people working. In addition to being short-staffed, they were also low on supplies, and the morale among the staff was low. All these things contributed to her fears that they were not planning to release the money to her.
Was It A Ploy?
Even though Edwards was aware of the situation of the diner, it did not invalidate her claim. Whatever the business is going through doesn't give them a right to refuse their staff a tip that is rightfully hers. But, of course, they knew this.
Perhaps that's why they did not directly tell her she wouldn't receive the tip. Edwards wondered if that was why they gave her the impossible task of finding the woman who left the tip. If that was the condition for receiving it, then it's not strange to assume they were looking for a reason to keep it to themselves.
Plans For The Money
Edwards already had a lot riding on the tip. Even if Denny's may need some financial help to get things running smoothly once again, it doesn't invalidate her own needs or makes them any less important. Apart from wanting the tip to sort out some of her student bills, she also had other plans.
She had intended that a part of the $4k tip would be used to set up a mentorship program for teenagers. In particular, the mentorship program would focus on helping teenagers who are living with depression to find a way to deal with it. Edwards has always had a good heart.
A Good Employee
Everyone at Denny's also knows that Edwards is a good woman who is also great at her job. No matter the amount of the tip, anyone would agree that she deserves whatever good thing the customer was trying to do for her. That being said, she still made plans to help others with whatever she had.
Even the manager confessed that Edwards is indispensable as an employee because she is very good at her job. But as the situation dragged on, news outlets began to hear about the case at Denny's. And even more, people were eager to see the outcome. But what did this publicity mean for Edwards?
Becoming A Public Issue
From the beginning, the restaurant had only divulged very little information about the tip and the woman who gave it. Edwards also believed that they were withholding some information deliberately. According to her, it was just part of a ploy by the management to keep the tip for themselves.
However, with the media on the issue, they would have to be more transparent about it. Throughout the time the manager communicated with Edwards, there hadn't been any concrete reason why the tip wasn't handed over to her. But soon enough, an explanation came to light while speaking to the media.
Questioning The Legitimacy Of The Tip
According to the management at Denny's, the establishment was willing to give the tip to Edwards. They only had a little problem regarding its legitimacy. They claimed that they needed to do their due diligence to confirm that the customer intended to leave a tip as large as that.
They believed it was their responsibility to protect the interest of their customer. If the customer did intend to give such a large tip, then they would release it as soon as they had confirmed it. But why was it taking so long, and was it really necessary to do that?
Was It So Unusual?
People familiar with the situation were of the opinion that there was nothing for Denny's to worry about as regards the customer. If she did not intend to leave that amount, she would notice when it was charged to her account and reach out to the diner.
Also, the amount seemed way too specific to be a mistake. It's not like such things have never happened before. Some customers don't mind making such generous tips if they can afford it. The question on everyone's mind remained, what was it to the management at Denny's if the amount was deducted from the customer?
Investigating The Tip
However, Denny's went ahead with their investigations. They claimed it was their duty to ensure that their customers were correctly charged for their meals. Although they had asked Edwards to track down the customer, they were also doing their part to reach out to the customer themselves.
They reported that they were working alongside their department of Banking/Credit Card to track down the customer who made the tip. As soon as they found the customer, they would verify the tip's legitimacy and take the right action. Denny's claimed they would never withhold their staff's tips or wages, but Edwards didn't seem to share those sentiments.
Confirming With The Customer
Eventually, after Denny’s carried out their investigations, it was time to let everyone know the results that the investigations yielded. According to the management, they were able to reach the person who left the tip. Edwards surely wasn’t going to be happy to learn what they claim to have discovered.
After reaching out to the person, they claim to have confirmed that the tip was in fact left in error. Could that really be true? Edwards was not yet aware of the result of their investigation. They knew she would feel so disappointed, but they never suspected she would react the way she did.
A Tip Error?
The management at Denny's said their investigation confirmed that the tip was made in error. They claimed that it was an elderly customer who was unfamiliar with their debit system and entered the wrong tip amount when they wanted to tip the waitress $4.
But no one seems to be buying that story. It didn't seem plausible that someone entered up to four digits when they only wanted to tip a single-digit amount like $4. The conclusion that it was made in error meant that Edwards wasn't entitled to the tip, but she wasn't giving up on it without a fight.
Taking Action
Edwards had been trying to remain calm about the situation. She has been working at the diner for the past three years, and she didn't expect they would withhold something rightfully hers. Everyone was struggling in one way or another, and the establishment knew she was trying to fund herself through dental school.
She had hoped the diner would do the right thing and turn the tip amount over to her. She didn't think that the issue would be as drawn out as it has been. Convinced that there was no other option, she decided to take a drastic step.
Lawyer Up
Those who heard about the case had suggested that Edwards should not leave things to chance. It was clear that the diner had no plans of releasing the tip. They had managed to beat it down to $4 from $4k, and everything that Edwards had hoped to achieve with the initial amount was about to go down the drain.
In light of this, Edwards felt there was only one way she could fight for her rights. She threatened that she would most likely take legal action if the tip wasn't released to her. It didn't seem like a battle she could win herself, though, so she needed an attorney.
A Difficult Situation
With legal assistance, she may be able to verify if the diner was just trying to keep the tip for themselves. As it stands, she has no choice but to accept their claims that the customer left the tip in error, especially since she doesn't know the customer and cannot verify it herself.
The only problem with involving a lawyer is that she may end up being the one to bear the legal costs. And if her claim happens to be wrong, there's no telling what the consequences would be regarding her employment. She had to tread carefully even though she felt wronged.
Not The Best Outcome For Edwards
Meanwhile, the management at Denny's disclosed to the media that they had already advised Edwards about the outcome of their investigations. They said they understood how disappointed she must feel after receiving the news but were obligated to handle it the way they did.
Denny's says they have also learned from this incident. They have since taken some steps to ensure that their employees know how to better handle situations like this in the future. Ultimately, the establishment emphasized its commitment to both its customers and staff. They assured everyone they would always look for the fairest resolutions to future issues.