Server furious after family of three places $184 order right before closing, leaves only $2 tip

Working in the service business is really challenging. The hours are long, the pay is low, and you must deal with unhappy customers while maintaining calm. As a server, you frequently deal with clients with terrible attitudes. It's even worse when someone is nasty, disrespectful, or refuses to tip. Tipping is nearly universal in the United States. This issue becomes considerably more difficult if a group arrives soon before the restaurant closes when the staff is preoccupied with closing responsibilities. Waitress Gina (@whatsthatmeen) was furious after a family did exactly that and then failed to leave a proper tip.

On TikTok, Gina shared that a family of three placed a $184 order just minutes before the restaurant was about to close, which was a lot for the kitchen to handle. In her video, she said, "It was a mom, dad, and a kid. They were having full conversations with whoever they were talking to." Gina and her trainee kept approaching the table, asking, "Hey guys, are you ready?" But the family ignored them, which was almost very disrespectful.

"When they finally decided to order, it took them a full 10 minutes, and only two of them ordered," Gina said. "I was standing there like, 'Is this real life?'" Ultimately, the family paid in cash, using five twenty-dollar bills and 86 one-dollar bills.

Gina was upset that the family only tipped $2 on their $184 bill when a standard 20% tip would have been $36.80. Gina said, "I gave you bread to-go. I gave you drinks to go. You didn’t get bad service because my trainee and I didn’t show we were annoyed."

She added, "It always makes me so angry when this happens. Treating your server like that is just blatant disrespect for another person." "As you walked out of the restaurant, did it feel good to you? Did you feel OK doing that?"

People showed their support for Gina in the comments. One wrote, "I will die on this hill." Another added, "People who come in close to closing are the worst tippers."

"My favorite is when they pay cash and tell me to keep the change as my tip with a big ole smile and it’s like 36 cents. Like no you keep it dude, can’t even pay for a bus ride with this but thanks," said another user. 

On March 17, Addisha Williams, also known as Cow_ribbean Print-cess on TikTok, posted a viral video where she refused to tip when she felt it was unjustified. In the video, which has received over 775,000 views, she pays with her cow-print card and ignores the iPad's tipping feature. Many viewers praised her viewpoint, expressing similar feelings about not being compelled to tip without justification. The tipping process on iPads, particularly at businesses like Crumbl Cookies, has grown problematic.

Customers frequently are unclear about who they should tip when numerous workers are present but not actively servicing them. Williams described an incident at a coffee shop where the tip screen appeared even though she was just purchasing two pre-made drinks, showing the confusion surrounding tipping expectations.

Businesses are increasingly employing strategies to encourage tipping, such as adding sales tax to the total before recommending a tip or making tipping necessary by adding a fixed percentage to the bill. This trend has spread from restaurants to dry cleaners, hardware stores, and even websites and has resulted in increased ambiguity and unwillingness to tip as customers struggle to understand when and where it is appropriate.

You can follow Gina (@whatsthatmeen) for more such videos and content.