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The US’s tipping culture is pretty extreme compared to the norm in Europe.
While a 10% or 12.5% tip might be on the cards for good service in the UK, and the latter is now regularly added as automatic gratuity to many restaurant bills, it’s not unusual to see 20% tips get dished out to service workers in the US.
This is down to the fact that minimum wage laws in the States are so limited that bar staff, restaurant servers and the like are often paid much too little to live on, with the assumption being that they can make the shortfall up in tips.
It’s a means to encourage good service, but it puts the onus on the public rather than employers to keep their staff out of poverty.
When someone flouts this social convention, it can be a flashpoint. There are plenty of TikTok videos out there of delivery drivers and serving staff confronting customers over lacklustre or missing tips, speaking to the cultural norm as well as the often desperate need for tips to come through.
It seems that some servers take tipping into their own hands where they can, however, as one Redditor discovered after checking their restaurant receipt.
The receipt, with the business’s name struck out, shows a series of tip options with tick boxes beside them, and the customer in question had opted to give no tip whilst specifying the final bill as $27.96.
They didn’t elaborate on why they didn’t want to give a tip, but perhaps the service really didn’t merit it that day. Or maybe they’re a cheapskate, who knows?
After checking the receipt when they got home, they saw that they had in fact been charged the smallest tip option listed on the receipt at an additional $4.19.
They promptly got in touch with Chase Bank to dispute the charge and managed to claw the fraudulent tip back, but it’s safe to say they likely won’t return to whichever establishment served them for anything other than to give them a piece of their mind.
“Guys this is why you need to double check your credit card statement,” said the original post’s caption. “Props to chase bank. Dispute resolved within minutes.”
The comments were awash with people aghast at the shady move from whichever server finished the transaction. Considering people tend to sympathise with servers when it comes to tips, it’s telling that there weren’t any comments pointing out that leaving a $0 tip after a meal is somewhat frowned upon in the US.
“Considering this is pretty much fraud, I wonder what kind of backlash the business will get, if any?” suggested one comment, to which another replied: “That’s why it’s our responsibility to call out the fraudulent behavior relentlessly even though they hate it.”
“I've fired servers for doing this,” claimed another comment. “It is fraud. To each his own but if an employee is going to steal from customers they sure won't miss a chance stealing from me.”
“That’s straight up theft,” added another.
Another recalled: “In university the bar/restaurant complex I worked at was immediate termination if you added anything to what a customer signed for. Too much liability for the company having an employee committing fraud.”
And finally, the lesson to take from this: “This sub taught me to take photos of my receipts.”
Featured Image Credit: UCG/Contributor/GettyTopics: US Food, Restaurants and bars, Social Media
Rachael Davis