It’s like a scene straight out of South Park—a customer is asked to donate to charity at a store and when they decline, it’s as if that option never even occurred to the employee who proposed the donation offer.
One McDonald’s customer is questioning how many times she’s been overcharged at restaurants because she didn’t take the time to look at a receipt. Two mysterious charges she received at the chain in one week prompted this fear.
TikTok user Jax (@girl_mommy3) says that on the first trip, she noticed a $2 Sweet Tea on her bill that should’ve come as part of a meal. Later that week, she found a donation to Ronald McDonald House on another receipt, despite her telling the employee she didn’t want to “round up” to donate.
“McDonald’s is stealing money from you and you may not even realize it,” Jax writes in a text overlay in her clip, before she narrates why she believes this could be the case.
“This happened twice in one week. OK, I know, going to McDonald’s twice in one week is ridiculous,” she states in a bout of self-awareness, “But one of them was for me, one of them was for my kids.”
An accidental ‘automatic’ charge
Jax explains the first instance, in which she was charged $2 extra for a drink that was supposed to come with her meal. “So I go and I get my meal, I order a number 7 and it comes with two cheeseburgers, fries, and a drink. I pull up to the window, they’re like it’s this much, and I’m like, ‘OK,’ and I pay and then they’re like, ‘Do you want your receipt?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, why wouldn’t you, why are you asking that? Just give me my receipt,’” she states, seemingly flummoxed that a worker would assume otherwise or that pre-asking customers if they’d like one has become a standard modern business practice to begin with.
The TikToker says that after she checked the receipt, something she normally doesn’t do, she clocked something that didn’t seem right.
“So then I’m waiting in line because there’s a car in front of me and I’m reading the receipt, normally I don’t. I just throw it out,” she says. “I’m like, why are they charging me $2 for a sweet tea when it’s supposed to come with my meal? And I’m like that’s fishy, so I go up to the window and I’m like, ‘Can I speak to the manager?’”
The TikToker then detailed how she brought up the pricing issue with the Mickey D’s employee, and she didn’t seem to appreciate their response. The manager allegedly told her, “Oh, I guess the system just did that automatically.”
Jax wasn’t having it. “Why is the system doing that automatically? So the system is out here stealing money from people, and you’re not acknowledging it?” she asks in the video, exasperated. “So I got my $2 back, obviously, because that’s ridiculous.”
McDonald’s sneaky donation
While that first pricing issue was resolved, Jax happened to have another issue with payment at a Mickey D’s location during her second visit of the week.
This time, it wasn’t for an “automatic” charge from the establishment: “So then I go yesterday to get my kids a Happy Meal and I pulled to the window, they’re like this is the amount or whatever and they’re like do you want to round up your total for the Ronald McDonald House.”
Jax goes on to state that she distinctly remembered telling the employee that no, she wasn’t interested in giving money to the Mickey D’s charity that provides free or low-cost accommodations for families who need to travel long distances for their children to undergo medical treatments. “And I said no because I know you already f*cking donated and you’re just doing it to get your money back,” she says as to why she was reluctant to part with her own money for the fast food franchise’s charity.
After another receipt back-and-forth, Jax takes a look at the bill.
“Now I’m reading every receipt that I get, [and] they put that donation on there,” she says. “I was like, ‘I told her ‘no’ and she still put the donation on there.’ Granted, it was 88 cents but it’s still a principle.”
Jax brought it up with a manager, who then gave her a refund for the 88 cents. But Jax went on to repeat, again, that she wasn’t concerned with the amount of money she had added to her bill, it was the fact that an employee asked if her she wanted to donate, she told them no, and they went ahead and did it anyway: “Yeah, I don’t care that it’s 88 cents it’s just the principle behind it. Like, 88 cents per every customer that you have, turns into thousands of dollars in McDonald’s pocket.”
Now, Jax is warning customers to always check their receipts. “So long story short, always check your receipt regardless of where you are. I just can imagine how many times this has happened to me and I don’t even know because I never look at the receipt,” she says at the end of the clip.
@girl_mommy3 CHECK YOUR RECEIPTS
♬ original sound – Jax
Commenters say tipping and donations are ‘out of hand’
While some commenters took issue with Jax’s method of speaking to the manager, several users agreed with her viewpoint.
“It’s not about the money it’s about the principle. They are using dishonest practices to increase their profits,” one wrote.
“Still don’t see how she’s being a Karen.. I honestly agree with her. It’s the PRINCIPLE,” another said.
One TikTok user who chalked the issue up to spikes in tipping/donation requests at establishments: “Tipping and Donation are getting out of hand!”
“Everyone calling you a Karen when ITS YOUR HARD EARNED MONEY!! please I would do the exact same thing you did,” a second user wrote.
The Daily Dot has reached out to Jax via TikTok comment and McDonald’s via email for further comment.
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