No one likes to feel taken advantage of—especially when it comes to money. When the math on a service charge was reportedly not adding up, this IHOP customer put her foot down.
In a TikTok with almost 65,000 views as of Tuesday, content creator and storyteller @brokeassfemale breaks down how a post-graduation dinner at IHOP led to the police almost being called.
@Brokeassfemale says that after her nephew’s graduation, her family decided to go to IHOP to celebrate. At the restaurant, she immediately notices posted signs with the gratuity policy.
“There are like six signs at the entrance saying that there is a 15 gratuity for parties of four or more. There were six of us. We see [the signs], we’re like ‘all right, cool,’” she says.
The content creator readily admits that they were a rowdy bunch. “I’m not gonna hold y’all, my nephews were in there wreaking havoc. They were mad loud. We were truly giving ghetto, which is why we already made an agreement among the table to go over the 15 percent,” @brokeassfemale reasons.
However, @brokeassfemale says she noticed a discrepancy with the check after the server came back with it—an unexplained $40 charge. She says the server said it was “just the service charge” when she called the woman back to her table to discuss the issue.
“It says 15 percent gratuity. Our check was less than $190. How was a service charge over $40? If y’all are charging a bad kid fee, just say that,” @brokeassfemale vents.
The content creator says she continued to exchange words with the server, even pulling out a calculator to show what 15 percent of her check amounted to. The server reportedly brought out a new receipt with a lower service charge, but the TikToker alleges there was still an error.
“All of a sudden, the service fee is now like $28, which is still over 15 percent,” the TikToker says.
At this point, @brokeassfemale says she and her family were over it. “I tell her straight up, ‘I’m not paying no gratuity and no service charge because y’all are playing in my face.’”
Why did the IHOP customer walk out?
She says the server refused to take the service charge off the bill, so she refused to pay the bill at all. “I rally up the soldiers, and we head on out the front door,” she says.
The content creator says a busser threatened to call the police as they walked out, but the family was unmoved. “Once they saw we were standing on business, they charged everybody individually with no gratuity,” she concludes as the video ends.
In the comments section, viewers ran the gamut from support to chastisement of @brokeassfemale’s decisions at the restaurant.
“You still just can’t walk out without payment,” one viewer pressed.
“After that I would not leave a single cent of gratuity. Good for you girlfriend for standing your ground!” a second viewer encouraged.
“IHOP was definitely wildin,” came another comment.
“Businesses always calculate that gratuity after taxes. It’s ridiculous,” yet another person shared.
“They really block their blessings when they start assuming the [tip] they ‘deserve,’ came a fourth comment.
Tipping continues to be a controversial topic across social media platforms as users debate the state of compulsory tipping culture in the United States, which services warrant tipping, and just how much to give.
@brokeassfemale iHop is so ghettp now #fyp #newyork #restaurant #tips
♬ original sound – brokeassfemale
The Daily Dot has previously reported on such experiences: a man who reportedly got pushback from a Subway worker when he didn’t tip on his $3 Dasani, a customer who was perplexed after a server reportedly added 20 percent to his table because of his four kids, even a case similar to @brokeassfemale’s, where another customer realized that the percentages for suggested tips did not match the cost of their bill.
The Daily Dot has reached out to @brokeassfemale via TikTok and Instagram direct message for more information.
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