Customer writes ‘mask’ on receipt instead of tip amount after being asked to wear a face covering

A waitress has said that a customer who was asked to put on a face covering while dining at a restaurant decided not to leave a tip, writing “mask” on the receipt instead of adding a tip amount.

Earlier this week, John Henry’s Pub of Ardmore, a pub in Pennsylvania, US, shared a Facebook post about an incident a server had with a “disrespectful” customer.

The post included a photograph of a receipt, which had the word “MASK” written in the space left for gratuity.

“When your staff politely asks a customer to wear a mask until seated, this is how they are disrespected,” the post said.

“Totally unacceptable. ‘YOU’ should be ashamed of yourself!!”

Jamie Ledwith, who had been the server in question, spoke to NBC10 about the incident, explaining that she asked the customer to put their mask on when they were walking through the bar of the restaurant.

“They were kind of like, they brushed it off their shoulder and they said, 'Well, you know it’s no big deal, we’re going to sit down anyway,’” she said.

The waitress said that she didn’t “care about the money”, but the customer’s decision to not leave a tip, and instead write “mask” on the receipt, was a sign of “disrespect” and “like a slap in the face”.

“I really don’t want to tell any other adult what to do. But you know, I do have to abide by her rules,” she said.

The pub's owner, Kathy Kearney, told NBC News that the customer was asked to put on a mask when he stood up from his table and began walking around the establishment without a face covering.

"As we do with a lot of different customers, as they walk in we ask them to put their masks on or while they're in and they stand up, we kindly remind them to put their mask back on when they're moving about," Ms Kearney said.

"If you didn't like our policies or if you were annoyed by us asking you to put on a mask then just leave a zero or leave it blank. But to write in the word 'mask' just seemed disrespectful."

Several people responded with messages of support underneath the Facebook post for the pub and its staff over the incident.

“Shameful. Stay home if you don’t want to wear a mask and leave these poor servers out of it. Pathetic,” one person commented.

“I have visited multiple times since reopening and have found the staff more than respectful and accommodating,” another said.

“So wrong of the customer! Staff is complying with state requirements and protecting all customers and themselves.”

Several people also requested that a fundraiser be set up in support of Ms Ledwith.