In a viral TikTok video, a popular creator said she put her credit card down to pay a group bill at a restaurant. Six weeks later, she says one acquaintance still owes her $240.
The video was posted by Bria Jones (@heybriajones), a beauty and lifestyle influencer with about half a million TikTok followers.
In the clip, a frustrated Jones is seen filming from her car, explaining how a person she’s not very close to ended up owing her money in the triple digits.
“I don’t even really know her,” Jones explains.
When going out in large groups to a restaurant, it is often frowned upon, or even prohibited, to ask the server to split the bill across multiple people or to bring out separate checks. Because of this, there often ends up being one person who puts their card down and then gets paid back by the other members of the restaurant party, either in cash or through a method like Zelle, Venmo, or CashApp.
In the video, Jones says that she is often the friend who doesn’t mind putting her card down when she goes out to eat with others since her friends are consistent about paying her back in a timely manner. She also adds that she wants to rack up the credit card points from the purchase.
However, at a recent dinner, someone invited a friend of a friend that she didn’t know very well.
@heybriajones I like being the credit card friend but this is weird behavior 😭
♬ original sound – Bria Jones
“I did the card thing, and this girl has not paid me back for six weeks. Did I get scammed?” Jones asks.
Jones adds that she’s reached out to the girl through Instagram direct message a few times, and she could tell she’d read the message but still hadn’t responded. She says she also texted her, and the girl promised to send what she owed that night—but of course, she never sent it.
“This is such weird behavior. You don’t go to dinner, rack up $240 on your bill and then just not pay someone back for it. Like, are you stupid or are you dumb?” Jones says.
She adds that if the acquaintance couldn’t afford the meal she shouldn’t have racked up a bill she ultimately couldn’t pay.
“It’s not like oh my gosh the end of the world. It’s the principle. Like, I don’t even know you like that. Why do you have me holding $240 for you?” Jones says.
The TikToker says she wasn’t sure what to do aside from accept the fact that she very well may never get her money back.
The video struck a nerve with viewers, racking up nearly 2 million views and close to 2,000 comments.
“I like being the credit card friend but this is weird behavior,” Jones wrote in the comments.
Several people insisted that Jones reach out to the friend who invited the person.
“At this point you need to reach out to the friend that invited her,” a top comment with more than 34,000 likes read.
Many commenters were appalled by the acquaintance’s behavior.
“No bc I’d be knocking doors down for $240,” a person said.
“Those Venmo’s should have been paid AT THE TABLE,” another wrote.
“The fact that she doesn’t really know you is probably why it’s that much easier for her to just not pay you back unfortunately,” a commenter speculated.
For those curious about how they ended up with such a high restaurant bill, one commenter did the math.
“When you subtract, for example, 9%tax and 18% tip, that brings the original bill down to $180+. Which is very easy to spend at a higher end restaurant.”
In an email to the Daily Dot, Jones said she didn’t have any updates to share yet. “I’m making light of the situation and just turning lemons to lemonade by having fun and sharing the experience online!” she wrote.
