In a video that was posted on TikTok on 18 June, a woman named Emry Kaiser shows the audience how she was treated when she went to get facial waxing done. "Tipping culture has completely gotten out of hand" reads the overlay of her video.
In it, one gets to see that Kaiser is casually dressed and seems to be paying her due at the counter of a salon.
According to her caption, the employee processing her payment added a 15% tip without asking. In the video, the poster then says that she had, in fact, offered cash in exchange for the service, so she wanted her change back. She also said that she should have been given the choice to say if she wanted to leave a tip or not.
The video had over 875,000 likes as of publication and was, according to the caption, recorded somewhere in South Dakota.
@emrykaiser Got a facial waxing done & the lady tried adding a 15% tip without my consent #tippingculture #tips #hairstylist #waxing #southdakota
♬ Lucifer's Waltz - Secession Studios
In the comments section, however, most people supported the woman, as she either may not have been able to afford to tip the lady or may not have been satisfied with her service, or more than that, may just not want to engage in tipping culture. "Cancel the transaction and tell her to redo it," suggested a commenter and got over 268,600 likes on her comment. "Refund immediately, no tip, and wouldn't reboot either," suggested another.
The top commenter said that adding a tip without asking your client at all is "illegal." According to Yahoo Creators, tipping is legally considered to be voluntary in the United States, so nobody can force someone to leave a tip the way the woman, Kaiser, in the video was.
The video also goes on to show that the lady who was charging the woman in the video said that leaving a 15% tip happened to be the "most popular option." To that, a commenter said: "Yet it wasn't an option."
Another person who wanted to share their opinion in this comment section said that she is a waxer. She said that if a client leaves her a tip, she actually gets really emotional and grateful, and that adding a tip by herself is "wild," and that what she does is let the customer put in their own card details and add a tip, if any, by themselves. And if by chance she sees that someone has entered a tip, she cries inside because she knows "times are hard."
Another person in the comments section said that she is a waitress and that nobody is required to tip, especially if they are not even impressed by the service. "They do not deserve a tip that big," she concluded.
The Daily Dot was unable to independently verify the events described in this video. The details above reflect the account shared on TikTok by @emrykaiser. The salon and employee involved have not been identified.
