Woman says she was denied service at restaurant due to friend previously not tipping

If you want to create a divide on the internet, bring up tipping culture.

It's like throwing a lit match into a room stacked with explosives.

And one woman learnt first hard how divisive the matter of tipping can be, as she claimed that she was denied service at a restaurant - because someone in her group had not tipped on a previous visit.

Watch her explanation here:

Replying to a video which said that nobody is obligated to leave a tip, Bueli took to TikTok to agree with the statement.

She said: "I am a tattoo artist and I definitely encourage all of my clients to tip their tattoo artists.

"I definitely acknowledge that it is not a requirement and if I get just my price, I should be fine with that as well.

"But I recognise that a lot of other people don't feel the same way."

She then shared the story of her restaurant run-in, where she had gone out for a meal with two friends.

TikTok/@buelistic

Bueli said: "When we sat at the table, none of the servers showed up.

"One of the managers came by and told us that they would not like to service us anymore.

"And we asked them why, and they told us that tipping was a big reason. Like I said before, because of the field that I am in, I make sure to tip everywhere I go.

"But sometimes my peers do not always do that or may not have the finances to do so."

Bueli further clarified to the Daily Dot that she'd always tipped, but that one of her friends had only tipped when they had the financial means to do so.

And when her friend asked to speak with those who had a problem with them to rectify the issue, they were told it was due to tipping.

She then posed a question to her followers: "Do you feel like this is a good enough reason to deny service to somebody for the rest of their life if it's based off tips and the service isn't always up to par?"

And the question has certainly divided opinion.

Several people sided with restaurant servers and advocated for tipping.

One user wrote: "I personally won't dine in if I'm not planning to tip my waiter. That's just me I tip everywhere I go."

Kamil Macniak / Alamy Stock Photo

While another remarked: "My mom always says don’t go out to eat if you can’t afford to tip."

And someone else also said that being a tattoo artist was not 'the same' as being a server because 'tattoos cost 150/300 per hour'.

However, other users put more of the responsibility onto the restaurant industry as a whole.

One person commented: "Its not on us as the customers to get dogged out because their employers don’t pay them a proper wage."

Somebody in agreement said: "Servers should not need to rely on tips, but the reality is establishments incorporate it into their pay… so sometimes base wage is $2/hr."

To tip or not to tip, that is the question.

Topics: Food and Drink, TikTok

Ben Thompson