If you’ve ever worked a food service industry job, then you know the absolute nightmare of dealing with difficult customers; of putting on a smile and hoping that by the end, it’s all worth it when you receive a good tip. For one server, in particular, that unfortunately wasn’t the case.
The server took to Reddit to share her interaction with a couple who refused to leave her a tip because she simply asked if they would be splitting their bill or paying together. It was a simple question that isn’t uncommon in the least, but this difficult couple may have simply used it as an excuse to forego the tip that she rightfully deserved.
In her Reddit post, the server shared an image she had taken of the receipt that was left by a couple she had been serving, who wrote a dignified statement about why they refused to leave a tip.
According to the server, she had approached the couple before giving them their check and asked them a routine question that most restaurant employees are supposed to ask: “Are you splitting the bill or paying together?”
Apparently, the couple took great offense to that question and found it “rude” that she had asked them if they wanted to split their check instead of assuming that they would pay together. On the bill, the husband used the server’s pen to explain that, because of her question, they were refusing to leave a tip. “No tip because it was very rude to ask why my wife and I if we wanted separate checks,” the husband wrote. To make matters worse, the overall total of their bill was for a $65 meal.
In the comments section, many people sympathized with the server and even pointed out that the couple was probably not planning on tipping at all and just used the excuse of her asking that question as some sort of reason not to.
“Looking for any excuse not to tip,” one Reddit user wrote, while another user added, “If they didn’t want to tip, they could’ve just paid the bill and left like every other sane person would’ve — but no, gotta make sure they come up with some sorry excuse, mixed in with an insult, just so that they can sleep soundly at night.”
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Paying restaurant servers a livable wage instead of relying on tips from customers has been a topic of debate for quite some time. Unfortunately, that’s not the case, and although there are undoubtedly instances when extremely poor service might warrant a reduced tip, those instances are undoubtedly few and far between.
It’s important that if you’re going out to eat, you’re tipping the staff who are working tirelessly to provide you with a pleasant experience. Especially since many tipped workers, including waiters and waitresses, don’t make that much to begin with.
According to a 2014 report by the Economic Policy Institute and the Center on Wage and Employment Dynamics at the University of California, Berkeley, 13% of tipped workers live in poverty, compared with around 6% of non-tipped workers.
It’s made even worse when knowing that the federal minimum wage has steadily increased over the last few decades, while the federal minimum wage for tipped workers has been frozen at $2.13 since 1996.
Restaurant servers work hard to create pleasant experiences for customers who choose to spend their meals dining out, and their livelihood is often impacted by the tips they receive. So, the next time you eat out, even if the restaurant is striving to provide its employees with fair wages, consider leaving a tip as a token of appreciation for the dedication that servers put into making your meal enjoyable.
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Nia Tipton is a Chicago-based entertainment, news, and lifestyle writer whose work delves into modern-day issues and experiences.
