TikTok user Kailee Marie (@kkaileemarie) didn’t expect anything unusual when she bought a second drink from a different bartender. However, she ended up being bamboozled by the discrepancy in the price.
In the TikTok, Marie is basking in the sun as she sips her drink with a straw. A remix of the famous “Anne with an E” line, “Oh, how I love being a woman!” plays in the background.
The video, which has garnered 203,500 views, is accompanied by on-screen text. It reads, “I got the same drink from the same bar but the male bartender charged me $11 and the female bartender charged me $13? Is this normal?”
In a statement via Instagram direct message, Kailee said, “[I] just thought it would be a funny TikTok and a coincidence that the man charged me less than the woman did.”
She continued, “The place itself was very nice and so were the workers so I never confronted them while they were working. They were very busy and I would have rather gone about my day than take away their time working.”
Do Female Bartenders Really Charge More?
In the comments, some viewers told Marie that this could be a discretionary move by the worker.
“As someone in the service industry, sometimes we are in a rush and accidentally undercharge someone or we decide to not ring up part of the order bc we felt like helping someone out and you happened to be there at the right time and you were polite,” one wrote.
“As a bartender, sometimes if I like your vibe or you’re extra nice I don’t uncharge,” a second agreed.
“The dude gave you a discount,” a third added. “Don’t get him in trouble.”
However, other commenters suggested that this was actually due to the alcohol that was used to mix the drink.
“Probably charged you for the cheaper alcohol and the other gave you a mid or top shelf,” a fourth explained.
And a fifth echoed, “Bartender here: They may have used different liquors. The first one might have used a well liquor and the girl used top shelf but that should have been communicated.”
@kkaileemarie bartenders chime in? i didn’t say anything bc they’re busy but what the heck? #bartender
Bartender Shares How She Tricks Customers
Undercharging customers for drinks isn’t the only trick bartenders have up their sleeves.
In fact, TikToker and bartender Chelsey Starr (@chelsey_starr) previously went viral after sharing how she deals with drunken customers who need to be cut off.
“Hey, I’m a server-bartender,” Starr says at the beginning of the video. “One of the things I do when someone is getting a little violent about getting cut off, I say, ‘Fine, one more. And I get to choose.'”
She then reveals that the drink she chooses for customers is something called a ‘Cherry Bomb.’
“‘Chelsey, why would you do that?'” she envisions someone asking her. “That’s alcohol.”
“Because I don’t put the alcohol in it,” she explained. “Sober up little buddy.”