Woman Gets Charged A $350 Tip—Without Her Consent: ‘A 35% Mandatory Tip?!’

Having someone charge a non-consensual tip can feel cheeky at the best of times. But $350 is a whole other story.

In a video that has amassed 294,300 views, TikTok user Nelly Venegas (@.nelly.venegas) shared how she got hoodwinked into the astonishing payment.

“It definitely feels a little bit shocking,” she tells viewers. The TikToker says she was “partially to blame” and that she wasn’t trying to “bash” the woman. “This just is getting into the tipping culture in general, and sometimes, I think we’re taking it too far,” she says.

Venegas provides the caveat that she believes tips are “necessary” and “deserved” in some cases, but not in others. She says the woman, whom she connected with through Facebook, provided a service for seven people at a party. There was no set deposit or prior fee, and a price list was set up at the TikToker’s house. With that in mind, she says she expected the price to be around $700. Because she expected this, Venegas says she didn’t feel the need to ask the woman the total. Although there was no discussion of tips or travel fees, the user says she would have “absolutely” tipped if asked.

But when she received the receipt some time later, she was in for a shock.

A $350 Tip Without Consent

Showing the receipt on-screen, it was broken down to $1,430. It was split into $1,000 for service, $80 sales tax, and a $350 tip. There was no mention of the tip being mandatory.

Explaining how she didn’t ask when running the card, Venegas reiterates that, if asked, she would’ve given a “reasonable tip.”

But the situation, she says, left her feeling “scammed.” She remarks that it’s “not OK” to have an automatic tip added.

Because the receipt came from the company, she says she called them directly. However, the woman who answered the phone had an unusual reaction. “Here’s the part where it kind of gets interesting,” she says.

‘Do I Fight It?’

According to her, the woman on the phone acted “kind of dodgy.” Venegas says she was told that the woman wasn’t in today and that it was better to talk to her directly. She says she was told that the woman from the party would be in tomorrow. Still, she says she didn’t have to wait. The woman, she adds, called her right away from her own number “within an hour.” The TikToker says she could tell the woman was “nervous.” Her explanation? It was a mandatory tip.

“So let me know, in situations like this, if there’s no mention of that, if you don’t sign a contract, and someone just charges your card for a mandatory tip, like, what would you do? Because I’m still trying to decide what to do in this situation. It’s been a week now since I had that conversation with her, and I just don’t know, do I fight it, do I let it go? I went through all of our messages leading up to this event, and there weren’t very many, to be honest,” Venegas says.

Another discrepancy the TikToker noticed was the fact that eight people were charged despite it being a party of seven. Venegas says the woman agreed to refund this right away and claimed she thought there was eight.

“Would you try to get that money back, or would you just let it go?” Venegas asks viewers.

‘I’d Request A Refund’

Venegas discussed the issue further in conversation with commenters.

“I’d request a 100% refund for the tip,” one wrote. “The service is already overpriced. $100 for a thin chain is wild. I bet some have already broken.”

In response, TikToker said, “One girls broke 2 weeks later. Just fell off.”

“If you were gonna tip I would leave it BUT you should leave a review based on your experience letting people know you were not made aware of the mandatory tip,” a second said.

“That’s a good idea!” Venegas replied.

A third remarked, “I kinda hate how often people run to the ‘chargeback with your bank’ immediately to something like this, but I think that would be appropriate here. No apology about not communicating a mandatory tip…and I think that is completely made up, AND you can’t have a 50% tip – that is ridiculous. Her being sweet is not an excuse for her to deserve that much without permission. Also – I thought you were expecting $700, not the higher amount charged. And charging for 8 instead of 7 is also shady. Maybe she’s used to people forgiving this stuff because she’s ‘sweet.’”

In response, Venegas commented, “I forgot to mention in this video that the card used was a company card (this was a work sponsored event for the wives at my husbands company). I’m wondering if since she knew this was a company card she thought we wouldn’t notice or care??”

A ‘Mandatory Tip’

In a follow-up video, the TikToker says she sent an email to the business addressing these concerns. She reads out the full email for viewers. In the email, she explained that the issue became more “concerning” when, after the phone call, she was sent a second receipt referencing a “mandatory tip” that wasn’t there before. In turn, Venegas said in the email that this was “extremely suspicious.” Especially because this kind of language wasn’t part of the original agreement. She emphasized that nothing was disclosed or agreed upon. The “particularly problematic” part, she continued, was the fact that this service was paid for on a company credit card.

Because she “cannot reasonably justify or substantiate that tip,” Venegas says that this puts her in an adverse personal and professional situation.

In response, she says she is “formally disputing” this payment.

The TikToker ended the email by requesting written confirmation of this refund, or they will dispute this with the credit card issuer.

What Was The Service?

For the rest of the 11-minute video, she addresses several questions raised by viewers. Venegas begins by saying that she “never expected” this amount of people to watch her TikTok. In response to claims she fabricated the story, the TikToker points out that her husband was there too and that the woman told him that she would send an itemized receipt when she was back at the office.

She also satisfies viewer curiosity by confirming that the service in question was permanent jewelry.

Of the “handful of people” blaming her, Venegas takes a measured approach. While she notes she could have handled it differently, she says that doesn’t change the fact that the woman took money that wasn’t approved. This, she adds, “wasn’t OK.”

“I don’t care how stupid I was … that doesn’t change the fact that she did something honestly probably unlawful,” she adds.

As a bartender herself, Venegas says that this is “absolutely not” something that a person in the industry does. In fact, she says that she “can’t think of any industry, any job out there” where that would be allowed.

What About The Other Discrepancies?

The TikToker also highlights the other discrepancies. Along with an extra person being charged, she notes that an extra amount of money came from bracelet connectors. Venegas says she got one after the woman cut the chain without measuring her wrist, making it too short. Some other women got the connectors, too. In itself, this isn’t a problem, Venegas adds. However, she claims that the way this woman went about it “bothers her,” as this could have been avoided by her measuring wrists properly.

Finally, she insists that she “always tips well” and that she “take[s] a lot of pride” in tipping people.

Still, she decides to put her “big girl pants” on and send that email despite her discomfort. She says this is because commenters pointed out that the woman had probably done this before.

Crickets From The Company

In an emailed interview with BroBible, Venegas said, ” Prior to posting the video, I had a very small following (around 200). My followers were mostly friends and family. I had shared the story with my close friends prior to posting and everyone was telling me how crazy of a story it was. I honestly just wanted to see what other people thought and I NEVER expected my video to blow up the way that it did. I have been posting since around May of 2026, and my videos didn’t ever seem to be pushed out further than to my own followers…. until now.”

She went on to add that “most” reactions were positive and encouraged her to do something about the situation. “I definitely thought what was going on with this company was strange but it truly did take thousands of people commenting to make me realize how serious the situation was and helped me think more critically about it. People are right, if i don’t do something about it, this company probably will do it again, if they haven’t already,” she explained.

As of Nov. 9, the company haven’t replied to Venegas. They have until Nov. 10 until their 5 business days are up.

“Character and integrity is important to me,” she said. “A lot of people were p—– that I haven’t outed the company and shared their name/location. I wanted to give them a chance to make it right. My goal here was not to destroy a business. If they don’t respond to me, I will report the business to the BBB [Better Business Bureau], leave a review, and share their name with my followers.”

The Customer Hopes To Get A Refund

In terms of the use of the company credit card, Venegas noted that her husband hasn’t yet submitted the expense report from the evening.

“We are waiting to hopefully get a refund,” she wrote. “Since this was an activity that employees of his company/spouses of employees participated in, everyone is aware, and just waiting to see how it plays out. If they don’t make it right, we will dispute the charge. ”

Finally, she added that she takes “a lot of pride in being a good tipper,” and that, in her opinion, the tip was “justified” for the required service.

“A lot of people are attacking me for not leaving a tip on my own and saying that it is my fault because I didn’t make the first move and leave a tip myself,” she noted. “I had never gotten a permanent bracelet before, I had no idea if tips were standard. When she didn’t ask me to sign a receipt (where you’d normally leave a tip), i just assumed this wasn’t something you tipped on.”

What Do You Do If Someone Adds An Unauthorized Tip?

As explained in another BroBible article, if this happens to you, you have two options: Raise it directly with the business, or raise it with your credit card company. If you’re raising it with the business, it is important to gather evidence of the additional charge, like the receipt you got or your credit card statement.

With this evidence, it should be straightforward for businesses to refund you for this unauthorized tip. However, if the business refuses, you aren’t out of options. As previously mentioned, you could dispute this charge directly with the credit card company, providing evidence and explaining your circumstances. But it’s worth noting that there’s an important caveat to this. According to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, you must dispute this charge within 60 days of it appearing on your statement.