Customer Exposes Waitress For Giving Out Free Drinks And Then Asking For A Larger Tip As Payment
Things took a shady turn during her most recent visit.
Photo: BearFotos / Shutterstock Tipping culture as of late is out of hand — but rightly so, with so many service workers relying solely on customer’s gratitude to make a living. From restaurants to hairstylists to taxis, tips often make up the majority of their take-home pay.
So, it’s not uncommon for employees, like waiters and waitresses, to pull out unique tricks and tactics to try to maximize their tips by the end of the night. However, one woman’s experience quickly turned sour — revealing that her server’s “tactic” was plain old stealing.
In a recent TikTok from February 15, the woman, who goes by @sunnyjunnyy on TikTok, explained her past interactions with the waitress, and why she ultimately decided to “expose” her questionable behavior to her boss.
The customer recounted the seemingly innocent times her restaurant server ‘comped’ alcoholic drinks, just to ask for a larger tip.
“It was at an all-you-can-eat seafood boil buffet… I’ve been there three times,” she said. “All three times, I’ve gotten the same waitress. First time … the girl gave a speech. She tells us that she did not charge us for any of the alcoholic beverages we’d gotten… instead, she was asking for a larger tip.”
The woman admitted that she didn’t find this tactic to be shady at first, instead acknowledging that it’s fairly common for servers and bartenders to “comp” drinks in an effort to maximize their tips and bond with customers.
“This is a [typical] trick for a lot of servers. I’ve been in the industry for years. We’ve all done it and I've seen it,” she admitted. “It is super common, especially if you work at a bar if you want to comp a drink for somebody or get a round of shots for some people... that’s perfectly normal. That’s not what this [expletive] was doing.”
There are several common tricks for servers looking to make extra money, but this server’s tactic was just plain shady.
Most servers rely on tips for the majority of their take-home pay, with many admitting that almost 60% of their income comes from customer gratitude. It’s exactly why tactics for bonding with customers and increasing tips are so popular.
Many servers aren’t doing it to get social interaction or build relationships, but simply to survive. Of course, it’s justified.
One TikTok creator known as @maxwellcopy admitted to one specific tactic many servers use to increase their tips: create trust. When you suggest cheaper entrees, you build trust.
So much trust that when you recommend your best (and maybe, most expensive) wine, they won’t bat an eye. “The bill not only gets higher, but they like [the server],” he explained. “So, they get tipped more.”
Tactics like this are relatively innocent, purely the nature of the restaurant game — however, this server’s actions were borderline sketchy.
In her recent trip to the restaurant, the same server comped their drinks again, asking for a big tip in return. This time, the customer didn't give it.
The woman admitted that she’d been back to the restaurant several times since, each time getting the same waitress, with the same speech, and deciding to tip “more than normal.” However, her recent trip was different and she didn’t like the “entitlement” the server expressed over the woman’s money.
“She feels entitled to the money as if it’s already hers," the woman expressed. "I felt pressured to do it. I didn’t ask her to comp the alcohol.”
This time with her girlfriend, the woman decided to fill her in on her previous experiences, admitting it would be absolutely “absurd” if it happened again. Which, of course, it did.
“She only does it to young people,” she added. It's also not as though she was providing excellent service. "The waitress is very rude, she has an attitude, it's not like she's being friendly in any way."
When the bill came out and they paid for their meals, the woman's friend expressed that she found the waitress's energy and actions to be really "gross," noting that she was scamming the restaurant out "hundreds if not thousands of dollars."
Photo: Lysenko Andrii / Shutterstock
So, this time, after the woman comped all the alcohol, they decided to leave a “more normal tip.” “It was $60, we split the bill for the food. We both gave her $15 for a tip.”
Apparently, that wasn't good enough for the waitress, as the woman was soon notified by her bank that she had been charged a $25 tip. “This girl thought she was going to help herself to a hefty tip because we didn’t leave anything excessive… I don’t think so.”
Ultimately, the customer called the owner to expose the server, finally spilling her ‘shady tactics’ that stole thousands from the restaurant.
Immediately picking up the phone, this customer wasn’t shy in telling the restaurant owner the entire story — from the very beginning to the sour end. “I told them everything… For all I care, she could get fired."
"At this point, girl, just go be a scammer,” she added.
Although this woman acknowledged the “struggle” of being a server, especially in today’s tipping culture, she can’t help but wonder what other deceptive tactics are being used, especially on people not regularly checking their statements or being generally vulnerable.
Zayda Slabbekoorn is a news and entertainment writer at YourTango focusing on pop culture and human interest stories.