According to the Pew Research Center, a large percentage of people in the U.S. view tipping as a choice. It’s customary for the dinner service to come to an end before the customer gets presented with the bill and option to tip. So, oftentimes, the server won’t even see the customer’s tip until after they are gone from the restaurant. But in an unexpected turn of events, a TikToker and server @servingcvnt shared that she encountered a customer who was very upfront about being a non-tipper.
In a TikTok with over 2.4 million views, content creator and server @servingcvnt breaks down how it happened.
“A lady came into my restaurant today and asked me if it was OK if she didn’t tip,” @servingcvnt begins. “And I said, ‘Yeah. That’s fine. It’s not mandatory.’”
The content creator says the customer was a bit surprised by her response. “She says, ‘Oh, so you’re not gonna be one of those servers giving a big stink about not tipping?’ And I said, ‘No, ma’am. It’s fine. It evens out in the end.’”
@servingcvnt says she told the customer that because some other customers tip more than expected, it can help balance when customers do not.
@servingcvnt says she told the woman she prefers that her tables do tip, to which the woman asked why.
What happens when customers don’t tip
“I had to explain this whole thing of how if you don’t tip, servers will still have to pay money on your bill, and you [are] actually costing us money,” she says.
In a turn of events, @servingcvnt reveals that after explaining this to the customer, the woman ended up tipping 10%.
“I was like, ‘Great,’ because it covers my tip out,” she says.
“I’m wondering do people just not know unless they work in the service industry…that if you don’t tip you cost your servers money?” @servingcvnt asks as the video ends.
@servingcvnt57 I made a whole new account to ask this because I’m genuinely confused. What do they think happens instead? #server #serverproblems #serverlife
♬ Just A Girl – No Doubt
Viewers weigh in
In the comments section, users were divided on how the tip-out system should affect the customer’s decision to tip.
“None of this is the customer’s problem,” one person wrote.
“Tip out only exists in the U.S. and the rest of the world does not know, and no, most regular people do not know about tip out,” another user added.
“What kind of scam are employers pulling on employees in the U.S.?” a third viewer asked.
“Tip out is inhuman. What is wrong with the USA?” a fourth person expressed.
How does tipping out work?
Notch Financial defines tipping out as a system where servers and bartenders collect tips throughout their shifts. At the end of their shift, they distribute a percentage of those tips to hosts, bussers, runners, and kitchen staff. In the United States, the overall amount of server and bartender tips that go out to restaurant staff averages about 20-30%.
Tipping culture in the U.S. continues to confound non-Americans. As one user put it in the comments of @servingcvnt’s video, “I don’t understand America.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to @servingcvnt via private TikTok message for more information.
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