In an American restaurant or taxi, it’s standard to tip 15-20%, even if the service isn’t outstanding. In many European countries, people are expected to round up to the nearest euro. Meanwhile, in South America, customers usually leave a 10% tip for their order.
And then there are those who leave servers nothing at all.
A waitress’ video has recently gone viral after she recounted an uncomfortable situation she experienced while working at a restaurant, as well as her strong reaction to the customer’s remark.
Highlights
- Waitress Syd went viral for asking non-tipping customers to order takeout instead.
- Her video reenacting a customer's upfront refusal to tip gained over half a million views.
- The video ignited an online debate on tipping etiquette and the expectation for service payment.
In the video, which received more than half a million views, a woman named Syd recreates the tense interaction, playing the part of the customer in question, who informed her after entering the establishment: “We wanna let you know up front we don’t tip. We’re not tipping. So you can just give us whatever service you need.”
Image Credits: poorandhungry
Instead of letting the customers sit in the dining area, Syd told them to return to the host stand and place a to-go order. She explained that there was a service charge for sitting in the restaurant.
Syd’s response didn’t exactly sit well with the customers, who asked her, “So because I don’t believe that I should have to pay your salary, I can’t even eat here?”
“If you don’t want the great service, if you don’t want to pay the service charge for it, that’s totally fine,” the waitress responded, before adding that the restaurant “could still feed” them, but it couldn’t “deliver free services.”
After hearing that she wouldn't be rewarded for her job, Syd told the customers that she couldn't let them sit in the dining area, indicating that they should instead order to-go
Image Credits: poorandhungry
Image Credits: poorandhungry
The video, captioned, “Saved us both so much time, but I am not sure what exactly they expected to come next,” sparked mixed reactions, with some social media users praising Syd for standing up for herself and asking to be recognized for her service, and others arguing that tips are not mandatory.
“Love this! No tip, no service,” one TikTok user wrote.
“This is a brilliant response -- tip is the service charge!” another person said.
A third user wrote: “Do I think restaurants should move away from tipping & pay their employees? Yes, 100%. Will I tip generously until that’s true? Yes, 100%.”
Syd's strong reaction became the subject of debate online, with some people praising her for standing up for herself and others arguing that tips are not mandatory
Image Credits: poorandhungry
Those who disagreed with Syd’s reaction pointed to the importance of customer service, saying that clients are not to blame for waitstaff receiving low salaries.
“Everyone who works for a restaurant has been brainwashed into thinking the tips [are] their actual pay, the real villain here are the restaurants who pay below,” someone wrote.
“There NO WAY any manager would ever be ok with that,” another TikTok user penned.
Somebody else said: "I don’t understand why is the customer’s problem that your boss is exploiting you. I always tip, but a tip isn’t obligatory."
Others suggested the tip should be based on whether or not the customer received quality service, writing, “Interesting, I always thought you tip someone when they do a good job. I was unaware it’s mandatory.”
Watch the viral video below
Last year, Syd shared a TikTok describing the time a Ben & Jerry’s cashier made their interaction really uncomfortable after noticing that she wasn’t going to give her a tip for the $2 cone she had ordered.
"I’m not tipping you $1 on a $2 cone that you just handed me. I’m not. So she hands me my cone, I put my card in, it gives me like how much you want to tip, I hit ‘no tip," the TikToker said before adding that the cashier hit the counter with her hands in disapproval at her decision.
A report released by Toast, a restaurant management software company, indicates that the average restaurant tips servers received across all 50 US states was 18.9% for the second quarter of 2023.
According to the Pew Research tipping report, Americans’ tipping behaviors vary widely by situation, with 92% of survey respondents saying they would always or often leave a tip at sit-down restaurants and 12% of people responding they would pay the server after eating at a fast-casual restaurant.
"This is a brilliant response," a social media user wrote
