DURBAN: A video of three customers, and a child, stealing the waiters' tip jar at the Pavilion Shopping Centre’s Wimpy outlet sparked outrage on social media this week.
In the video, the trio are seen standing near the counter talking. Then one of them walks away with the tip jar while the others start giggling.
Store franchise owner Michelle Taylor posted the video on her Facebook page with the caption: “Thieves! Stealing my kitchen staff’s tip tin on July 1.
“These tips have been collected for the last six months. This group of despicable humans can be seen planning and laughing at their deed. Great example these four adults are teaching the child. Karma will deal with you all.”
She said the video had more than 50000 views in a day, but she was contacted by the head office to remove the post.
“I uploaded it solely to raise awareness of the people and the incident because they could do this at other places.
“These people came in with a group of five and placed a takeaway order. My staff and I were heartbroken because we save the tips for six months and were about to give them out at the end of the month.
“We have always had a spirit of giving among us and to have someone steal from us is really hurtful,” said Taylor.
A racial spat developed when one commentator referred to people “doing anything and everything with no hesitation to take the money out of your pockets”.
The comment provoked hostility, with some Facebook users highly offended by the remark.
Taylor said she would not lay a criminal charge against the customers involved, but hoped that the buzz generated on social media would make others more cautious to prevent such incidents.