A server recently went viral after claiming they were fired for forging a tip on a customer’s check. The only problem? She says she didn’t forge the tip, and the tip was approved by management at the time.
In the now-viral TikTok video, user Mar (@ughmar) says she was originally surprised by the large tip, which was over $100. As per restaurant policy, she took it to her manager, who approved the tip. The total on the bill also appeared to add up given the initial charge and the tip.
She then says the person called the restaurant and stated that they actually only left a tip of around $20 and that they were overcharged. Mar was suspected of changing the tip, and though she offered to pay the extra money back to correct what she claims was the customer’s mistake, she was consequently fired.
“I didn’t do anything, and that’s the crazy part,” she says in her initial video. “Had I done something, I’m like, ‘Alright, I guess I deserved it.’ But I literally did nothing wrong.”
The video has over 56,000 views as of Friday morning.
@ughmar fyi my beef is w the super higher up not anyone at my restauraunt, they had my back and tried to keep me #server ♬ original sound – Mar
In the video, she shows the receipt in question.
On the receipt, the initial bill is $109.78. The tip appears to be $102.78, though the initial digit is unclear. Finally, the total is $212.56, though the initial digit is unclear once again.
Mar claims the restaurant’s upper management fired her before even discussing the issue with her.
“Instead of sitting down and being like, ‘Hm, maybe the guest is the person that made the mistake,’ or something like that—no,” she says. “They had to point the finger at me, even though I literally did nothing wrong.”
Mar claims she did not alter the receipt, pointing to the fact that the man later claimed to have tipped only $20. Nothing on the receipt indicates that amount, as she points out in a later video.
@ughmar Reply to @jordynfairbank #greenscreen ♬ original sound – Mar
“He called and said that he only left $20 even,” she says. “Where on the check does it say $20?”
In another video, Mar responds to the question of why the tip of over $100 did not seem out of the question.
In short, she says the man paying was older and appeared to be eating with his granddaughter. While serving the table, Mar struck up a conversation, in which she said it felt like she had “chemistry” with the pair. She notes that she is planning to go to law school and the apparent granddaughter was attending law school, so the two discussed universities.
When she received the high tip, she assumed it was in part the older man’s good wishes for her eventual journey to law school.
Mar also notes that she begged the higher-ups to check the cameras that night. “There’s cameras everywhere in that fucking restaurant, so they would see if I did something,” she adds. “I didn’t touch it. I didn’t fucking touch that check.”
@ughmar Reply to @stefaniisalive ♬ original sound – Mar
Most viewers in the comments supported Mar, telling her that she should pursue legal action against the restaurant.
“Talk to a lawyer. It might seem extra but this is wrongful termination,” shared one commenter. “You clearly did everything right.”
“The manager literally approved it??? They can look up the security video too,” added a second.
“I’m so sorry, this feels like a set up,” a third wrote. “You deserve better.”
“The problem with ‘customer is always right,’” a fourth added.
However, some believed that the bill was actually altered.
“The 1 and 2 look added, and it sounds like he was saying he left a 20 bill,” one commenter alleged. “Looking at the check I can see why they didn’t believe you.”
“He was maybe too embarrassed to say he only left a $2.78 tip on a $109 bill but it does look like the rest was added after,” another claimed.
“The 2 on the total was definitely forged. not saying it was you, but if you look at how he wrote the other 2s, that looks like the 1 was [changed] to a 2,” a further user observed.
That said, some speculated that it’s possible both the customer and Mar are correct, and that someone else added the additional numbers.
“I 100% wouldn’t be surprised if his granddaughter changed it cuz he probably left 2.78 and she said F that and changed it explaining the diff,” one user suggested.
“Was he with someone? It looks like he wrote the $2 tip and someone must’ve felt bad and tried to change it,” a second agreed.
We’ve reached out to Mar via TikTok comment.
Update 2:25pm CT July 2: In a TikTok DM exchange, Mar told the Daily Dot that it was unlikely anyone changed the bill.
“I’m not sure it’s a possibility that someone could have changed it because when I went to grab the check no one was at the table, and I didn’t pick it up right away,” she said. “I honestly think the guy had messy handwriting, or maybe made a mistake and went over what he wrote. As for some info, the guy called the restaurant and said the whole check is not his handwriting, so thats why I’m so confused.”
She also made a video showing the difference between the handwriting on the bill and her own. Furthermore, Mar claims she has not had any additional contact with the restaurant.
“No, I have not had any contact with the restaurant, just some coworkers reaching out and expressing how the situation wasn’t right and how I shouldn’t have been fired,” she revealed. She noted that she is still considering legal action, but isn’t quite sure.
“Maybe?” she responded in regards to a wrongful termination lawsuit. “I wanted to start small with HR, but I couldn’t even find my HR’s information on Google for the company.”
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