An Ohio server joked around with his co-worker on his way to his lunch break. However, he realized he accidentally discovered a hack for more tips when she called him 20 minutes later.
In a video with over 291,000 views, TikToker Zaddy (@damnzaddy13) sits in his car with a burger and fries to go. He wears a Longhorn Steakhouse uniform.
“I just found a way to cheat the system as a server,” he exclaims. “My co-worker was at a two-top in the middle of taking an order, and I just yelled, ‘Bye, Leah. Happy birthday!'”
He says he was joking around, and his co-worker sarcastically replied, “Thank you.”
However, she called him 20 minutes into his lunch break to tell him that his joke earned her $60 in tips from just one table.
“Oh my god, I am so doing that forever now,” he says at the end of the video.
Do Servers Get More Tips On Their Birthdays?
While the TikToker accidentally discovered the birthday trick, other servers on social media say they’ve long taken advantage of customer generosity using the same method. Many suggest that customers naturally feel bad to see a server working on their birthday, so they try to make it up to them with larger tips.
“If you’re wearing a birthday badge, people will tip more!” a server wrote in the r/TalesFromYourServer subreddit.
Another said, “Worked the bar at a restaurant and the servers made 3x what we did, so often on weekends when the bar would fill up with walk-ins waiting for a table. I would just loudly say to my co-worker, ‘Man, it sucks that you have to work on your birthday!'”
Plus, BroBible previously reported that a Hooters server earned over $600 in tips by clocking in on her actual birthday.
However, some warn that regular customers could catch on.
“I honestly would worry about repeat customers realizing it had been my birthday like 6 times this year… I would see this working much better some place like Vegas where 99% of the customers are in town only for a couple of days,” one commented in r/UnethicalLifeProTips.
Do Servers Agree With The Tip Hack?
Servers in the TikTok’s comments say they’ve adopted different variations of the hack to get more tips.
“I’ve been saving for my ‘wedding’ for the past 3 seasons,” one wrote.
“When I served I would always work Mother’s Day and lie and say my kids were at home waiting for me after I got off,” another shared.
A third joked, “And everyone says I’m wrong for wanting to buy a fake baby bump.”
However, some said the method doesn’t always work.
A commenter said, “I tried doing that on my birthday, and no one cared it was my birthday.”
“Unfortunately when you actually try this no one cares,” a second suggested.
BroBible reached out to Zaddy and Longhorn Steakhouse via email for further comment.