Horrific
The ambiance was great, the food tasted divine, and she was spending quality time with her family. What could be better?
Nights like this didn’t come around very often. But the morning after she took a look at her bank account and didn’t believe her eyes. The waitress was great, could she have done this
A Doting Mother
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In a small town inside the borders of Ohio, Whitney Anderson lived with her three children. She was raising them all by herself and worked hard to satisfy their needs.
With how hard she had to work she figured it would be nice to take her children out for a meal. But she didn’t know how a nice night out would take a drastic turn
Single Parent
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With all of the money that Whitney earned she would put it toward her kids to make sure they had what they needed. She would rarely treat herself when it came down to it.
After getting a bonus out of the blue from her employer she decided to treat the whole family. A meal would mean she didn’t have to cook dinner and everyone got a nice time out of the house. She would regret this decision soon enough.
Restaurant
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She decided to take her family out on a Friday night, she’d been to a Mexican restaurant a few times and thought it’d be nice for her children to be exposed to different foods early on.
The restaurant was around the corner so she decided it was the perfect place to go to. When she got there she could barely contain her excitement. But she’d learn that her generosity would be taken advantage of.
Surveying The Room
eBay
While waiting for a table Whitney spied the dining room. The town was relatively small so she’d hoped to see someone she knew.
Surprisingly, Whitney didn’t see anyone that she knew. It was a Friday night yet there weren’t any people that she knew. She noticed a waitress who had a certain quality about her…
Waitress In Need
Depositphotos
The waitress was picking up the bill from another table and looked at it in disappointment. She looked down at her feet and Whitney could tell she was upset.
Perhaps she got a small tip or maybe nothing at all? Maybe the patron had left a snarky comment on the bill? Soon enough Whitney would learn the truth.
Getting Seated
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Another waitress walked up to Whitney and her kids and showed them to a table that had just opened up. They eagerly sat down while the waitress gave them menus.
After telling them the specials the waitress left to attend to other diners. Whitney and her kids were hungry and it seemed like the upset waitress from earlier sensed that and came right over to get their order.
Friendly Waitress
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Whitney almost didn’t recognize the waitress from earlier because instead of a frown she beamed a bright smile. Whitney felt her mood lift the entire room.
If she hadn’t noticed her disappointment earlier she’d have thought she was the happiest person in the city. She quickly got along with her kids and asked what they’d like to order. Whitney hadn’t seen her around before and asked how long she’d worked there.
Honest
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She told Whitney that her name was Marcilla and that she’d recently moved to the town to study and support her son. Whitney appreciated her honesty and it caught her off guard.
She further explained that she had no support from the father of her child and that it was difficult to support him. Whitney instantly empathized with her. Little did she know she’d regret it.
She Understood
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After leaving with their order, Whitney kept thinking about the waitress and her struggle. She understood trying to raise a child on a waitresses salary.
She decided that she’d try to make the difference and give Marcilla a generous tip. But Whitney had no idea of how this would backfire.
Explanation
Credits
Soon, Marcilla returned to Whitney’s table with food for her and her kids. Marcilla left them to it but returned shortly after to ask if everything tasted okay. Whitney got talking with her again and asked her what had happened earlier, she admitted that she saw she was upset.
Marcilla seemed flustered but quickly recomposed herself to explain that they didn’t tip her. But that wasn’t what happened.
Disbelief
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Marcilla shrugged it off and said it happens all the time at this restaurant. But Whitney couldn’t believe someone wouldn’t tip her. After all, she was probably one of the friendliest waitresses she had ever come across.
She was constantly checking on her and even gave her kids coloring books and pencils while making sure their glasses were always full and their meals were satisfactory. But soon, she was about to find out that it was nothing but an elaborate plan.
Shocked And Upset
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Marcilla asked if they’d like any dessert to which the kids begged yes! With Whitney’s approval, Marcilla retrieved their order and cleared their table to make room for dessert. Then she disappeared into the back of the restaurant where the kitchen and bathrooms were.
Whitney left her oldest child in charge as she went to the bathroom. But while she was in her stall, she heard something as shocking and upsetting, from the woman in the stall next to her.
Unpleasant Surprise
Houston Chronicle
The woman in the stall next to her was on her phone. To Whitney’s shock, she was talking about her and her children. She couldn’t hear her very clearly but she could hear enough to understand that the “lonely, loud, over-talkative single mom and messy three kids were her and her kids. There was no one else that fits that description in the restaurant.
She washed her hands, and returned to her table with a stiff lip. But something else was bothering her.
Sneaking Suspicion
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Whitney returned to her seat, welcomed by her loving children. How could anyone give out about them? They were being so well-behaved. Sure, they’re a little messy but what kid isn’t? Whitney sat in quiet silence as she tried to put her finger on what was bothering her.
Did she know the woman in the bathroom? She didn’t see her but her voice felt familiar. She watched the bathroom door, hoping to see who walked out but wished she didn’t.
Culprit
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Whitney watched as two women came out at the same time. Surprisingly, one was Marcilla but there was no way that was her. The other girl, who was still on the phone, was someone who had been sitting a couple of tables down from her.
Since she was still on the phone, Whitney presumed it was her. She scoffed at her as she left the restaurant. Whitney knew people could surprise you, but she was about to learn just how much people can deceive you.
Dessert
Food & Wine Magazine
Whitney was woken from her reverie by the smell of delicious warm chocolate and coffee. Marcilla had arrived with their dessert just in time for a perk-me-up after her bathroom incident. Marcilla said that she asked the chef to add extra chocolate powder on top and told them to enjoy it.
It was probably one of the best desserts Whitney had ever tasted. She didn’t remember this restaurant being this good. As she finished she told herself she’d have to come back. But she’d never set foot in this restaurant again.
Asking For The Bill
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After Whitney and her kids finished their desserts, Whitney asked for the bill. Whitney put on everyone’s jackets and took a moment to take pictures of their outing.
Who knows when they could do this again! Although money was tight for Whitney, she was adamant to help Marcilla out with a generous tip. But once she learned the truth, she was going to seriously regret doing this.
A Smirk
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Whitney paid for her meal and left a $10 tip using her credit card. As she swiped it through the card machine, she saw a smirk creep across Marcilla’s face. “That’s for taking such good care of us this evening”, Whitney said. “I hope to see you around again”.
Marcilla thanked her as she continued to smirk. Whitney felt glad she made Marcilla smile, but that wasn’t what Marcilla was smiling about.
Payment Successful
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After her card payment had gone through successfully, Marcilla handed Whitney back her credit card, but she had ripped the customer’s receipt. Laughing at her clumsiness, she apologized to Whitney. While crumbling up the receipt, she asked Whitney if she really needed it.
Whitney laughed along and told her it was fine to toss and not to worry about it. As they parted ways, Whitney noted an odd, excited gleam in Marcilla’s eyes. If only she knew then what she knew now.
Creepy Smile
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As Whitney and her kids walked away, Whitney couldn’t help but notice that Marcilla’s big warm smile now looked a little eery and creepy. It was still bright as she made her way to her car.
Before driving home, she took a moment to savor the memory of the rare and beautiful, much-needed meal with her kids. But the next day, Whitney was going to wake up to a horrible surprise.
The Day After
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The following day, Whitney woke up ready for a day of relaxing. A day of Sunday chill if you will! She had a few errands to run but she was going to be chillin’ like a villain at home. One errand she could take care of right on the couch, however, was paying the electricity bill, so she checked her bank account and prepared to make a transfer. At first, nothing seemed amiss but then she looked closer.
Double-Checking
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At first, she went straight to making payments so she didn’t even realize something on her account was wrong. But as soon as she checked her statements, she gasped out in horror. Was this some kind of joke?
Alarmed and thinking it might be a fault with her device, she logged out and logged back in again. She held her breath as she hopped her eyes had played tricks on her but tey didn’t. What was wrong?
Money Missing
Youtube_ Jennifer Doering
Whitney looked at her diminished account, horrified to see that she had money missing from her bank. She took a closer look and realized that the missing amount was from the restaurant she went to the day before.
She thought back to the total amount she saw on the receipt before paying, and wondered if it could have been a simple mistake. But Whitney wasn’t a fool and she knew how waitress systems worked. This was no accident
Piecing Together
ABC News
Now, everything started to add up; Why she was so friendly it threw her off guard. Why she was flustered when Whitney admitted she saw her reaction about the previous bill, and most importantly, why she put the customer copy receipt in the bin.
It was just too obvious. It must have all been planned. Suddenly, she thought back to the woman in the bathroom. C0uld that have been her? Was that familiar voice she heard hers? Whitney felt completely dupped.
All Planned
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She remembered Marcilla’s creepy smile and gleam in her eye as she paid. It was so subtle, but Whitney couldn’t stop thinking about it. She knew exactly what she was doing. Was everything she told her all a lie?
That’s why Whitney tipped her so generously. But it obviously wasn’t enough for her. Although she didn’t have her own customer receipt, Whitney was sure she knew the total amount. But what she saw in front of her wasn’t it. She had well and truly conned
Ripped Off
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Whitney was 100% positive that the total meal cost came to $45.50, and then she tipped the waitress $10, bringing the total amount to $55.50. But that wasn’t the total Whitney saw on her bank account and statement.
No, what she saw on her bank account was much much more. She had to do something about this.
Disgusted
Facebook / Whitney Anderson
The total charge on Whitney’s bank account was not $55.50 but instead $65.50. The waitress had completely ripped her off, even after she had tipped generously. Whitney wasn’t going to stand for this. She posted the incident online but felt that it wasn’t enough.
Not even close. Full of anger and betrayal, she went back to the restaurant, ready for a showdown.
Gaining An Audience
Youtube _ Bryan Ramsdale
Whitney barged through the doors. She looked around as her anger seemed to radiate. The customers rose their heads from eating, sensing that something was about to go down. It’s not often that public displays of anger or tension are witnessed in this small, sleepy town.
But Whitney didn’t care about the onlookers. She had a bone to pick. One she felt was too important to not say anything.
Calling The Manager
Youtube _ CBS New York
The host greeted Whitney with a smile, asking her if she could help her. Whitney demanded to see her manager immediately.
The hostess was firm and repeated if she could help. This only made Whitney angrier as she said, “Ma’am, with all due respect, you can’t help me with this issue so please let me speak to your manager”. But things were about to go from bad to worse.
The Manager
Youtube _ CBS Boston
The manager soon approached Whitney, asking her if everything was okay. She was a polite woman. Her demeanor made Whitney calm down. Calmly, she asked if Marcilla was working today.
The manager replied that she wasn’t but told her that she could help with anything she needed. “I was hoping to say this to you with Marcilla here to demand an explanation but I guess I’ll just tell you”, Whitney said and continued to tell her what happened.
Speaking Out
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Whitney told the manager what her suspicions were about Marcilla. She went into detail about her convenient unfortunate story, the bathroom call, and the torn-up receipt.
As Whitney talked, the manager listened but Whitney could see that she didn’t believe her. Afterall, who would? She comes across so polite and friendly, who would think she’s so calculative and manipulative? Whitney had to prove it.
Drastic Measures
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Whitney needed proof to back her story, so she demanded to see the receipt. However, the manager refused to show it, because she had trashed it and ripped it up. But Whitney kept pushing until finally, the manager gave in.
She opened the case of the merchant’s copy receipts and found her receipt from the day before. Whitney couldn’t believe it as she saw a $20 tip instead of the $10 tip she offered. But that wasn’t all.
Jaw-Dropping
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Whitney’s Jaw dropped as she looked at her signature and realized it had been forged. She couldn’t believe the waitress forged her signature!
Who does that? How could she think she’d get away with this? Or most unnervingly, she was probably so confident because she knew she could. If she has done this before, Whitney was going to find out
Evidence
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Whitney rose her voice incredulously as she exclaimed to the manager that that wasn’t her signature. The manager grabbed a pen and paper and asked her to prove it. More customers watched as Whitney caused quite the stir!
She happily grabbed the piece of paper and pen from the manager and showed her the difference. The evidence was undeniable. She could feel a change in the air.
Request To Fire
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Whitney’s signature on the receipt was nothing like her own. Which meant that the waitress had forged it! Whitney was furious and adamant that the scheming waitress should be fired. The manager apologized but was still adamant that there must be some misunderstanding.
She asked Whitney to allow her some time to deal with this situation accordingly, before getting any police involved
Failed Deception
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Whitney agreed to let her deal with the situation privately and secretly hopped she was wrong and that there was some crazy big misunderstanding. She didn’t like to think people were capable of such deception.
But she couldn’t ignore the facts. She really felt like her compassion and kindness was taken advantage of. She wondered if Marcilla was speaking the truth at all about her son and college? The look on the manager’s face seemed to indicate a lot of confusion when she mentioned it earlier.
More Than Meets The Eye
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The following day, the manager called Whitney to let her know that she would be getting a refund of her extra $10 tip. She also admitted that she looked into Marcilla’s background more and found out that there was a lot more to Marcilla than meets the eye.
The following day, the manager called Whitney to let her know that she would be getting a refund of her extra $10 tip. She also admitted that she looked into Marcilla’s background more and found out that there was a lot more to Marcilla than meets the eye.
Con Artist
Credits
Marcilla had indeed made up her back story to gain compassion and in turn the generous tip-off Whitney. She didn’t have a son and she wasn’t in college.
But she did recently move to town. It also turns out that this wasn’t the first time she was fired from a restaurant for conning customers. Whitney had heard of this kind of thing happening but she never believed she’d fall victim to it. She was so convincing.
Lesson Learned
Evening Standard
The manager told Whitney that Marcilla was fired and that she should expect her refund within two weeks. Although Whitney didn’t know Marcilla, she felt sorry for her. She wondered why she would do such a thing.
Either way, Whitney learned the hard way to not be so trusting towards perfect strangers. Ultimately, she was just thankful she spotted it in time and could prove her case. She was also relieved that no one else would be scammed by her. Not in that restaurant anyway…