UPDATE: The restaurant has decided to give Emily the tip in addition to the customer's bill. She received $2,069.01 from them after this story went viral. The restaurant says they can't process a tip this large. Restaurant management said the owner called the credit card company, but it could not authorize the tip. She added they would not allow four different transactions of $500 to make $2,000. She said that unless the customer came back with the money or approved the transaction, Bauer would be unable to get it.

Owner John Cheng said he wanted to make the situation right. He decided to write a check to Bauer for $2,069.01, which is the tip amount plus the cost of the customer’s tab.  “It’s Christmas time, and everybody is struggling,” Cheng said. “I'm ready to give it to her as a Christmas gift.”

“The fact that the owner of my job is willing to give it to me, even though it wasn’t his mess-up, I can’t thank him enough for that,” said Bauer, in tears.The restaurant said that ever since Bauer’s initial interview, they have received backlash from the community, including verbal attacks and death threats to the owner. They added that people have placed to-go orders and never showed up to pay. They hope the community will not hold the incident against their restaurant.

ORIGINAL STORY: Imagine you finally get one of those ridiculous dream tips and your employer won't give you the money.

Over in San Antonio, Emily Bauer works at the Red Hook Seafood and Bar. This past Sunday, it was pretty busy in there. Emily was rushing around trying to serve all her tables the best she could, but one table was empathetic toward Emily. Looks like the food was taking awhile to come out to the table.

“I kept apologizing. I’m sorry. I’m being slow. He was just like, I understand. He also, mentioned he owned restaurants. So he knew how hard it was to be a server,” recalled Bauer. “He actually didn’t want the rest of his order. He was like just cancel everything. Cancel everything and give me the ticket. So, I said okay. I gave him the ticket.”

Emily didn't notice until later that the man left her a $2,000 tip with a note that said, "Merry Christmas, Keep Working Hard'. Emily started thinking about all the stuff she was going to get her two kids for Christmas with that money. Then, nothing. She actually hasn't received a single cent from that tip. The restaurant says they can only give a max of a $500 tip.

People have suggested that Emily then receive four payments of $500 to get to the $2,000. Nope, the restaurant's policy, is their policy. “I don’t think it’s our responsibility as a server to say: oh you can’t tip me that much I’m sorry. Oh no, there’s a limit I’m sorry. If that’s the case, there should be signs posted on the restaurants or the receipt to say there’s a limit of $500,” said Bauer. “Everybody I’ve talked to has been like I’ve never heard of that before. If it’s left to you and signed by that person, then you should be able to get it.”

The man who left the tip actually called the restaurant and spoke to the manager. He was disappointed Emily could not get the money. Emily wanted to thank the man for his generosity, but the manager did not take down his information when he called in. “Even though I can’t receive it, thank you. Thank you for having such a big heart. This world is filled of messed up people. It’s like, how did he know I needed that?” said Bauer.

I've never heard of any such policy like this. Shouldn't Emily at least get $500 then? Several outlets have reached out to the restaurant and they have declined to comment about their policy at this time. This could be a prank on this poor sever with someone not having enough money in their account. We will see what happens with this server who had her hopes up for a sweet payday.

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