A couple in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, went on a date night to Sparrow, an upscale restaurant and cocktail bar. However, they believe their server tried to sneakily add charges from a table that walked out on their bill to their check.
TikToker Jo (@theycallme_jo_) sits in her car as she recounts the recent incident and calls out Sparrow’s management and staff.
“I need for you guys to check the integrity of your staff, because they literally tried to get us last night,” she says in the clip that garnered over 31,000 views.
Jo says she enjoyed great food and the restaurant’s atmosphere with her husband. However, the night took a quick turn when they received the bill.
“We don’t really look at the bill sometimes. We’ll just pay and then go to put the tip,” she explains. Despite not checking the itemized receipt, her husband noticed that the recommended tip was almost double what they expected.
So she says he double-checked the receipt and was shocked when he realized another table’s bill was tacked onto theirs.
“He says something to the waitress, and she’s like, ‘Oh, I’m so sorry about that. Someone left. They didn’t pay their bill, so the computer accidentally joined the two tables,'” she recounts. “No, you’re trying to be slick.”
Jo suspects that the unpaid table’s tab would come out of the server’s pay, so she tried to trick their table to cover it.
“You’re lucky my husband left you a tip, ’cause he shouldn’t have,” the TikToker remarks at the end of the clip.
Do Servers Have To Pay If A Table Walks Out On The Tab?
While many restaurants tell their waitstaff to watch for tables that may try to dine and dash, it may be illegal to require servers to cover the loss if a customer walks out.
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, restaurants can’t ask servers to cover walk-outs because it would cause their total pay to dip below the federal minimum wage of $2.13 an hour for tipped workers. If restaurants pay servers the non-tipped minimum wage of $7.25, they may be able to use tips to cover the loss in some states.
However, servers say many restaurants still find sneaky ways to hold them responsible for customers who walk out on their bills. According to a post on the r/ServerLife subreddit, restaurants may threaten to write up the waiter, charge a percentage of the bill, or take other disciplinary action that the server can avoid by offering to cover the bill.
“My first restaurant had a policy like this! I was set up by scammers to go get dessert, and then when I came back, they were both gone. Management wanted me to pay, but thankfully, all of my serving colleagues told me to take the write-up and never pay for it,” one shares.
“Us Service Industry folks call it the Pay to Play. Yes, it’s illegal. No, you do not HAVE to pay for walk-outs. But a restaurant can ask you to. [They] will simply write you up three times for other mistakes so they can fire you ‘legally,'” a second server explains. “One minute late? Write up. Missing an entree or bar drink? Write up. Forgot to clock out? Write up. Bam. Now you’re fired.”
How Did Viewers Respond?
In the comments, servers debate whether Jo’s waitress actually tried to have her cover another table’s bill.
“I’m a server, this can happen, if you open a tab on a certain table and toast allows to open another tab on the same table number . It could have been that kind of situation,” one offers.
“Our computer system is weird, so i could’ve seen if she rang something on the wrong tab and tried to fix it that happening. or if it was the same table and she started ringing on it and same thing went to fix it and they combined. but not just on its own,” another says.
“I’m a server ain’t no POS system ‘accidentally’ combining tables !!” a third exclaims.
Others suggest Jo and her husband double-check their bill before paying after the incident.
A commenter writes, “Always, always have a general idea of the total bill … it’s only on you if you over pay.” Jo responds, “Very true. Can’t be so relaxed.”
“With a mindset of ‘we don’t look at the bill’ I will do the same thing too!” a second jokes.
@theycallme_jo_ You thought!
BroBible reached out to Jo and Sparrow via email for further comment.