A New York man says he was charged a “non-tipper fee” at a restaurant. But the passive-aggressive note left by a server was seemingly the last straw.
With all the tricks servers play to get tips, we are currently in a period of “tipping fatigue.”
And in a video with 78,900 views, TikTok user @captain.t.roll demonstrated that this fatigue was alive and well. As he spoke, he shared what appeared to be a $77 restaurant bill, which included a “frequent non-tipper” fee and a handwritten message.
“Put yourself in this hypothetical situation,” the TikToker said. “So, I’m at the Gilded Oyster. I usually come here on my lunch break, and I usually order the same thing. I feel like I know the people, and the people know me. We have a pretty good friendship. And I don’t usually leave a tip because I don’t really believe in tipping when I go out. So I just get the usual grilled octopus and some oysters, grab a small margarita.”
“And when I paid this time, I gave her my credit card, and then they came back with the fee on the bottom, saying, ‘frequent non-tipper.’ And I did the math, and this is about 20%. That’s $12.90. So what I’m going to do here is I’m going to leave a negative tip of $12.90 just to remove that. Because when I handed her my receipt, she comes back a few minutes later with this rude message, saying, ‘Servers pay attention to recurring customers who don’t tip. We got you covered. Next time, try not to forget.'”
The receipt was signed off with a smiley face.
BroBible reached out to the TikToker via TikTok private message.
@captain.t.roll I thought tipping was optional? Can restaurants actually get away with forcing tips onto customers. I feel like servers are entitled and restaurant owners are greedy. Tipping has really gotten out of hand. #receipt #tipping
Should He Stay In?
In the comments, users were divided.
“You shouldn’t be dining out,” one wrote. “These guys are doing a service to you bringing your food refilling your drinks asking if you need any condiments etc.”
While a second concurred, “‘I don’t believe in tipping’ is just a way of saying ‘I’m a cheapskate.'”
On the other side, a third said, “Servers are not owed tips. Try not to forget.”
Meanwhile, on the non-tipper fee specifically, a fourth added, “Can’t that adding to your bill without your consent be called theft?”
It Has To Be Ragebait, Right?
It should be noted that, along with the name @captain.t.roll being kind of self-explanatory, it clearly states in the account bio that this is a satire account.
The account is full of similar videos of passive-aggressive notes purportedly “written” by waiting staff on restaurant receipts. However, given they’re all in the same handwriting, the conclusion is pretty clear. The Gilded Oyster also does not appear to be a real restaurant.
With all of this in mind, the viral TikTok in question is almost definitely ragebait.
It’s Based On Real Life
Still, there have been occasions where this has actually happened before. Back in December, Threads user @lionellsaidit2 went viral after sharing the written message they got on a receipt while on vacation.
“On my holiday travels, I stopped and had breakfast,” they wrote. “This occurred afterwards. I was gonna leave a cash tip…… These servers are out of control, A lot of times they blocked their blessings for greed!”
Accompanying the post was a picture of the receipt containing a handwritten note that said, “Learn to TIP. It’s not my job to serve you FOR FREE!”