The restaurant took to Facebook to publicly apologize and is now promising to review its policy.
The Waffle House apology came days after blistering backlash on social media. The chain got hundreds of posts on Facebook.
"I am waitress and I think your business is a disgrace," Brandy Wells posted. "I can't believe you govern tips...like we don't work hard enough!!!"
The story of Waffle House waitress Shaina Brown struck a nerve nationwide, after a grateful patron left her a $1,000 tip on his credit card receipt, following a late-night breakfast at the Hillsborough Street location.
Waffle House told Brown she couldn't keep the money because of company policy. The restaurant's policy is that extremely large tips have to be refunded in case the customer decides later to dispute the charge or ask for a refund.
While the determined customer tracked Brown down and wrote her a check for $1,000, the backlash forced Waffle House to respond.
"This has given us cause to review our procedures so we can get tips to our associates quicker in these unusual situations. It says a lot about this customer that he was willing to tip our associate this generous amount. Our intentions were for the associate to get her tip all along. We are sorry that our associate and the customer are having to go through this," Waffle House wrote on their Facebook page.
"I appreciate the apology- the effort that came forth with the apology. But I feel like the damage was done," Brown said. "I feel like if it didn't spiral the way it did in the media, then there wouldn't be an apology."
Waffle House declined an interview with ABC11 Wednesday.
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