Server gratuities are a hot topic of conversation on social media, with many food service industry workers posting their gripes with customers who flat-out refuse to tip or give below 20% of their total bills despite providing them with stellar customer service.
A recent TikTok posted by server Kaitlyn Best (@kaitlynbest6) is about gratuities, but not about the amount she received per se, but rather in the form in which she received them. Best showed off the various gift cards she was given by customers in lieu of tips, which sparked a litany of different responses from other users on the platform.
@kaitlynbest6 $180 ✅
♬ Barbie World (with Aqua) [From Barbie The Album] – Nicki Minaj & Ice Spice & Aqua
Best writes in a text overlay of the video as she holds a stack of different gift cards: “POV: you’re a waitress and people left you a stack of gift cards as a tip so you get online to check the balances…”
She pans the camera up revealing the spoils in credits she received at various retailers and restaurants. Her gift card gratuities were as follows:
- $15 Taco Bell
- $10 Walmart
- $17.01 Walmart
- $15 Wendy’s
- $15 Arby’s
- $15 Cinemark
- $23.69 Walmart
- $25 Olive Garden
- $15 Subway
- $11 Gather Round
That’s a grand total of $161.70 in store credit.
One commenter suggested, “If any of them are Visa cards you can add them all up on Amazon,” however, the ones Best shows off in her video all appear to be branded specifically for individual retailers.
Someone else said that they used a customer’s remaining gift card balance to get themselves a treat when they worked in the food service industry. “When i worked at cfa,” the commenter noted, “Someone used a gift card and the remaining balance was 1.57 i was able to get a ice cream after my shift… i cried.”
One asserted, “I would take this over a tip any day lol.”
And another said, “That happened to me with $200 Kohl’s cash!”
One wondered, “Do servers actually like these? I have so many but I’ll never use them.”
Someone else assessed, “Kinda bullsh*t but the amount makes up for the bs.”
Another countered with, “Gift cards don’t pay rent.”
For anyone who can’t make use of gift card balances and would rather have money, one commenter suggested, “There’s a website where you can sell your gift cards and they’ll add the money to your bank account.”
According to the Krazy Koupon Lady blog, several websites offer this service for those wanting to trade in their gift cards for money.
Another person noted Mercari offers a similar service, specifying, “u can also redeem most of those for shopping credit on mercari!” adding, “i work at a school and get a lot of random gift cards lol”
According to How Kapow, while there’s nothing technically wrong with leaving a gift card as a gratuity, the outlet said some restaurants prohibit this practice.
The Daily Dot has reached out to Best via TikTok comment for further information.
