In late September, we told you the story about A.S. Swanson (named changed) a so-called “Disney expert” and travel agency owner who ordered a pizza at the Italy pavilion at Epcot then refused to tip her server.
As people showed their anger about her inappropriate behavior, she kept changing her story about why she didn’t tip him, but the bottom line is that he got stiffed.
If you’re in the U.S., not tipping at a sit-down restaurant is a horrid thing to do, even under the best of circumstances. But to not do it at WDW in the age of COVID-19, when the employees don’t know whether or not they’re still going to have a job tomorrow (Disney was already in the midst of letting go of over 6,000 workers and just announced they’re going to fire close to 9,000 more)? Simply horrible.
Here’s what happened since
A.S., bless her heart, has certainly gone through the wringer since the event:
- She’s been called “rude,” “awful,” “inconsiderate,” “a loser,” “shameful and classless,” “trash,” “the C-word,” and the list goes on and on.
- When she started using God as a reason for not tipping (I think that was excuse #2), multiple Christians called her out on that.
- She had to shut down comments on her Instagram because of all the people telling her off.
- She hosts several dozen groups on Facebook, many of which suddenly changed their names to stop including her brand in their titles.
- She has a book on Amazon.com ($88.00 for a 266-page paperback???) that suddenly has many more ratings of 1 (it’s a 1 to 5 scale).
- Story after story has come out about how the ways she recommends people save money at Disney are shady to potentially illegal.
- Her bad behavior even made it into a couple of rag mag publications (here and here) in the U.K.!
So yeah, things don’t seem to be going well for A.S. What can I say? Karma can sometimes bite you in the butt, I guess.
But what about her server?
Welp, some internet sleuths discovered that his name is Valerio, and many people wanted to make sure that he got taken care of.
There’s a Facebook group called DisFoodies where members talk about, what else but, food at Disney parks. When the group owner, Sam C., heard about what A.S. had done to Valerio, he started a fund for him and asked his members to chip in if they’d like. The plan was that they’d give the money to Valerio when Sam and his family ate at the same restaurant, Via Napoli, on October 3rd. Thanks to DisFoodies’ members’ generosity, Valerio got a $250 gratuity on that $116 bill.
PC: Sam C.
PC: Sam C.
But that’s not all! As we mentioned in our original post about this story, another Disney fan, Kyle G., heard about what A.S. had done and started a Go Fund Me for Valerio. That link went far and wide.
On October 10, Kyle and his party also ate at Via Napoli and planned it so they could have Valerio as their server. The bill for Kyle and his family was $16.75, and they tipped him a whopping $1,430!
From Kyle’s Instagram:
Here’s the video Kyle posted from when they presented Valerio with their tip:
So overall, it was an appropriate ending for everyone involved. I’m thrilled that so many people chipped in to assist Valerio. And maybe A.S. Swanson has learned from her experience, as well. Hey a girl can hope, right? 😉
Feature Photo: Loren Javier / flickr
Want to comment on this post? Great! Read this first to help ensure it gets approved.
Like this post? Please share it! We have plenty more just like it and would love it if you decided to hang around and get emailed notifications of when we post. Or maybe you’d like to join our Facebook group – we have 15,000+ members and we talk and ask questions about travel (including Disney parks), creative ways to earn frequent flyer miles and hotel points, how to save money on or for your trips, get access to travel articles you may not see otherwise, etc. Whether you’ve read our posts before or this is the first time you’re stopping by, we’re really glad you’re here and hope you come back to visit again!
This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary
16 comments
“Good guys win in the end”. – Jimmy Buffett, noted philosopher
When they go low, we go high.
Doesn’t the original receipt clearly show an 18% tip of 20 dollars already included in the bill?
The receipt shown in this post was from Sam C. – they got an 18% auto tip because they used Disney’s Dining in Wonderland discount. A.S. Swanson did not use that discount (you can see her receipt in the link to my original post about her, via her “Lunch at Via Napoli” GoFundMe) so there was no auto tip included.
Was kinda hoping Disney would ban her
Yes!!
If anyone is curious, Disney etiquette suggests that an employee receiving a sizeable tip determine whether or not the tip was meant only for them, or for the other employees as well (as is often the case when employees are tipped during special events, etc). Various very likely shared his generous tips with his fellow employees meaning that, due to the generosity of everyone who donated, a lot of Disney employees were able to take home a decent chunk of change for the day.
I find it somewhat ironic people are in such a flap there if a tip isn’t left and call that “rude” when Americans don’t even have the manners to say “please” to the waiter when ordering – which costs nothing, by the way.
They’re paid an hourly wage in the first place and you’ve paid for a meal – I consider that quite adequate.
In advance of incoming “god help you if you’re a waiter”, sorry and all that jazz but I actually WAS a waiter in my 20’s. Yes it was nice if I got a tip but I didn’t have a nervous breakdown if I didn’t. Just one of those optional bonuses in life.
US servers don’t make minimum wage. They rely on tips to be able to pay their bills. The big issue with this was she made a post saying she didn’t realize she was ordering a $50 pizza. She wrote one the bill, sorry for no tip but this price is outrageous. Then she changed her story to the service was bad, then God told her it was right. That’s why so many people have been invested in this
I truly love the thought, I truly do. Unfortunately the banks will hold those funds for at least 30 days, if they ever release them. It looks like fraud, even though the intent was good. Remember, cash works best when tipping. It does warm my heart just to know that others are making people feel appreciated when they have been taken advantage of by shifty folks.
Erik, for the Go Fund Me, it needs to be done via credit card so that there is proof that the funds went where they were supposed to go. Cash just doesn’t work for that specific situation. On the whole, I do agree that cash is preferable for tipping.
Love the name change
😉
First being a server is hard work both mentally and physically. Yay! For Valerio, its nice to have people who care about you. What she did to you was wrong on so many levels. I always tip whether I order in or out someone gets tipped.. Please and thank you should always be used in situations from holding the door open for someone, to your hostess,waiter and to your flight attendants. Keep this in mind, one act of kindness with a smile will make that person’s day and they will do it for someone else. Maybe one day will have a tsunami of kindnes all around the world. That will make God cry tears of joy and happiness.
Peace love and happiness.
I guarantee every server at Disney gets stiffed at least once a day, so this is not a shock,nor anything unusual. Personally, yes its rude to not tip your server, and I tip at least 20% even when I get bad service, just because I know the serving world. However, Disney employees are not the only ones hurting due to covid and in fear of losing their jobs. And for the ones working now, Disney servers make a heck of a lot more money,even in this covid era, than the server in town at a regular restaurant who is also in fear of losing their job. While, its great that this server got overly compensated for this evil woman’s actions, I find the go fund me over the top, and it opens the doors for everyone to do it for CMs they may know, giving people just another reason to hate on Disney. Bottom line is Disney is a job, like everywhere else, and no matter where you work, you shouldnt be treated poorly.
yea this is stupid. Just get rid of tips in general. If you can’t NOT leave a tip. Its not really a TIP. Is it?