“You’re Making Us Pay Out Of Pocket To Serve You”: Tip Outrage Makes Server Go Viral
Working at a restaurant is hard stuff. For more than one reason. And, it seems there’s now even more reason to be unhappy with it as was shown by this one waiter.
A Texas Roadhouse waiter recently went on TikTok to vent about not having gotten a tip. Not a pleasant situation to be in on a large order, apparently some restaurants have rules on sharing tips and that order ended up costing the waiter.
Tipping has become toxically controversial, reaching a point where it’s flat out demanded from customers
Image credits: MargJohnsonVA
“Zero f******g dollars! That means I had to pay out of pocket to serve those fools”
Image credits: kevenmanochi
A waiter recently ended up having to ‘pay out’ a $98 bill at the restaurant he worked at
The story goes that waiter Keven Manochit (@kevenmachochit) recently served a table that ended up racking a $98 bill. They paid the bill, all fine and dandy there. However, there was no tip.
Soon after this happened, Keven posted a 6-second video showing the receipt and cursing the clients out for leaving nothing beyond what was due. He went on to say that he will now have to cover the clients with his own money.
But tips are optional, right? Yes. But the problem isn’t in the lack of tip itself. It’s in how tipping is done at this particular joint.
Some restaurants have different tipping policies, which force waiters to pay out a part of their sales as tips to the rest of the staff
You see, the traditional way of how tips work is that the customer leaves a tip, the waiter pockets it, and that’s that. However, because everyone from the hosts to the chefs are also intimately involved in the process, some places decide to divide up the tips among them too. Seems fair, right?
A Redditor explained in detail how it works, and basically waiters have to pay out a portion of their sales as tips to the rest of the employees that were also part of the restaurant experience.
Without complicating it, say there’s a $100 bill, of which 5% is the tip, so $5 would go to the chef. If you get a $20 tip on this, hey, $15 for you as the waiter and $5 for the chef. But if you got nothing, you still have to pay $5 to the chef. And at this point, if you have zero tips, you are paying it out of your own pocket.
@kevenmanochit #bekind #tipyourserver #server #serverlife #texasroadhouse #texasroadhouseserver #serverproblems #servertiktok #servertok #servers #serverstories ♬ original sound – KevenManochit
Needless to say, this sparked a debate among commenters, picking sides of the tipping argument
Some commenters were quick to point out that tipping is optional and that it should be done based on the service—not the bill amount. And if they can’t handle that, a job switch is recommended.
Those on the other side of the barricade argued that folks have to work there to truly understand the struggle. And considering that some states still have a $2 minimum wage for tipped workers in force, you really need those tips to actually earn something.
Yet others pointed out that this is just one table—it’s out of context for the entire night. One table might tip nothing, while the other might go for $30. So that could cover both bills.
It is important to note that one commenter said she’d likely tip $30 to $40 for that $98 bill, but she didn’t feel like it was sufficient. The creator reacted to it saying that that would be more than enough.
Whatever the case, we’d love to hear from you. How much would you have tipped? Share your takes and stories in the comment section below!
Besides reactions, folks provided more information on why this is a problem
Some were in support of it
Others were against it
Poll Question
Thanks! Check out the results:
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If my server has to pay out, that's not my responsibility. That is the responsibility of the owner, the manager, and the server. I would rather pay a little more for my meal and not have to tip, but that's not my decision.
Wait what? The server pays bar/tax over the customers bill regardless they got tipped or not? That tipping culture is even way more insane than I ever could imagine.
And you still have to tip our bartenders, cooks, busboys, etc. My wife was a waitress and had a 4 hour shift once with a certain Sunday crowd. No one tipped and she ended up paying out $21 of her own money to work that shift. Yes, she had to pay to work.
Load More Replies...You should pay a percentage of the tips to the cooks (and other staff), not a percentage of the bill. That's just ridiculous. It's not my problem, as a customer, that your boss is an idiot and you agreed to it.
Isn't the problem that the minimum wage in America is criminally low and waiters rely on tips just to get by? In effect, the customer is subsidisng the employer so that he/she can pay staff less. I don't mean to plug Australia particularly, but the minimum wage here is currently $A 23.23 per hour ($US 15.28) plus a minimum 25% loading for casuals. Employers must by law pay at least the minimum and WILL be prosecuted if they don't. Our regulator is very active in this area. At present, the labor market is very tight and I have read stories about wait staff being paid $100,000 pa. In my experience, tipping is not expected - but of course, very welcome if you decide to do so for exceptional service.
I have just looked it up, the Federal Minimum Wage is $7.25 per hour and has been at that amount since 2009. Tipped employees get a minimum wage of $2.13 per hour if they make more than $30 per month. From Wikipedia: The United States federal government requires a wage of at least $2.13 per hour be paid to employees who receive at least $30 per month in tips.[4] If wages and tips do not equal the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour during any week, the employer is required to increase cash wages to compensate. Just nuts.
Load More Replies...That's the part I don't get. If the job isn't working for you and you determine it's not worth it. Leave. Find something better. When enough people commit to that, the restaurants will either fail or change. All continuing to be subjected to this does is perpetuate it.
Load More Replies...I was in USA for about 4 months a few years back and i was shocked by their tipping culture. In Europe we tip if we want to and it is based on service. First time when i was in the restaurant server kinda requested a tip and that was a little shocking for us, but it is their custom so who am i to complain tbh. The point is, i will tip if i am satisfied with service not becouse it is required of me
That one comment about tipping 30-40 dollars on a 100 dollar bill, and asking is that enough... That's equally, if not even more insane than leaving a zero dollar tip. Customers feel guilty over not providing their servers with proper tips, when they should not even had to think about that, and tip only in accordance to their level of satisfaction is what is wrong here. The job provider should take care of their employees, and pay them livable wages, that burdrn should not be on customers. That's the main issue here, the whole US wages sistem us just whack, because it allows people to be underpayed, and forced to depend on tips, that are optional, but then puts the blame on people if they decide to choose the option of not leaving a tip. Corporate America at its "finest".
Greatest nation in the world! 🫡🇱🇷Where you can go bankrupt from medical bills and servers doesn’t get payed a fair wage
Call an ambulance go bankrupt, call the cops get murdered.
Load More Replies...We all try but sometimes when people don't want to help themselves you can't do anything but stop enabling them. Time people stopped tipping until employees directed their anger where it belongs. Hint: it's not the customer.
Up to you if you want to stop tipping until wait staff revolts or if you want to boycott and explain why to the owner. I prefer the second option because it's more direct. Hitting the owner in the pocketbook risks closing the restaurant, but wait staff could also lose jobs by complaining about conditions or threatening to strike.
Load More Replies...Wow. They seriously need better employment laws over there - minimum living wage being number 1 on a list of many ... I bet businesses/employers love it over there :-/.
Yet again the problem is the idiotic American tipping culture where employers think they can get away with this s**t. It is not acceptable anywhere else in the world, and it should not be acceptable in America. Instead of accepting it, make use of your lax labor laws and walk! It does not have to be this way.
Those servers ranting on customers shows they haven't understood anything.
It's such a common problem, and once you start seeing it then you realise how much it goes on. Thise with money and power deflect attention from themselves by blaming immigrants, asylum seekers, customers - basically anyone with no power. So long as we are all kicking downwards then we will never be able to solve the problems.
Load More Replies...What a shame, the US! So basically these people pay to work? Is this all a very big pyramid scheme? What in the world?!?
"Greatest Country on earth", which would collapse with having to pay a living minimum wage and no illegal slave labour.
Load More Replies...We have five restaurants within our family-owned beach resort. The lowest paid position on our property is a gardener assistant and a pool boy, which starts at 23 an hour. We do not expect our guest, pay resort fee, to properly tip our servers. However, we built an 18% service charge on all food & beverage. IRS code requires that we give a “gratuity“ completely to the server, but a “service charge“ can be divided up, however we see fit. We give the service to the servers. That’s a choice we’ve made as a business. In other words, we’ve raised the prices of our Food and beverage to a number that most consumers consider unacceptable, but disguise it with the service charge. And that they’re in lies the problem. If restaurants to pay servers a living wage, They would have to increase increase their menu cost by at least 20%. They survived on slim margins, but even a 10% increase is met with absolute disdain and disgust by the customer.
I'd rather pay extra for my food knowing the server is getting paid a decent wage.
Load More Replies...Tipping is optional & no one is required to do this. If the waiter feel as though that's an issue feel free to blame your employer & not the customers since it isn't their problem. Maybe seek employment elsewhere if you have to or a second job to make ends meet.
I’m tired of tipping culture. Every other day it’s another person complaining about it. Why does the customer have to pay server’s salary? I never can seem to grasp that concept
OP made a choice to work there and accepted the way their place of business puts the screws to them. Do not blame the customer.
If you are paying out of pocket then you are a fool and need to contact the labor board.
This is how it works for me: you are guaranteed the minimum tip percentage by default. Unless you are butt rude and inattentive. Then, I half it. But you still get something. To get more than the minimum, you go above and beyond your duties. If the place is busy, I take that into consideration. This is how I have always tipped. I've worked in the service industry so I know how it is but I also know how it should be.
Had a jackass come in one night and did the whole putting money on the table, saying "here's how much you can get. Let's see if you earn it" s**t. I said "oh. Wow. I thought you guys were just myths. Let's see if I can get to zero. Goal!" Took the wind right out of his fat assed sails.
See this is ridiculous. Seen Americans complain at servers in Australia because they don't have to dance for them and put up with their awful behaviour to earn tips.
Load More Replies...I was the head chef at a restaurant and never got one penny of the tips. I was paid a decent salary instead.
Tipping culture in America is going crazy!!!!!! Tipping is OPTIONAL. We split tips at my working place (club house in Scotland), and everybody gets a share according to the hours worked that week, you worked 40 hours, you get tips on that, 60 then your cut will be more, 20, then you get less. Waiters in the USA should direct their anger and frustration towards their bosses and the system, not the clients !!!!!!!! 😡😡😡
This is an issue we had when I worked at a restaurant. The servers have to tip out a bit for tip sharing (usually 2-4%) so when people don't tip, they get screwed. At our place, the shift managers would maintain a dine and dash/no-tip fund where they'd put in 1/4 of their tips into it and that would cover it. But yeah, if you don't tip, your waiter is basically paying to serve you. Tipping culture SUUUUUCKS!
Restaurants should pay their staff a living wage. I rarely go out anymore because not only is food and drink double what it was 3 years ago, tipping is outrageous.
I see a new trend coming: personal waiters. Soon, restaurants will have NO waiters, the customer brings their own. I mean if I'm paying for service I'd like to pay the guy that I want to pay, not the one that I have to.
Look, I'm sorry, mate. But it's not my fault your boss isn't paying you a living wage. Nor is it my responsibility. This may sound harsh, but I will tip you the amount I want to tip you. That's just my opinion.
First off, if you're too cheap to tip, stay home. Second, waiters/waitresses shouldn't have to share their tips with the rest of the staff. Those employees are paid a higher wage than wait staff, because they don't get tips. That's the trade-off. Want tips? Serve. Want a regular paycheck every week, cook. ✌🏻
America is just hopeless on so many levels. In Finland you only tip if you had some real splendid service and feel real jolly about your day out, or if you go to fancier restaurants and are so wealthy that you'd leave tip just to show off you have money. Bar or cafe can have a tip jar. And the tips are rarely personal but usually shared by the staff when the jar is full or the day is done.
As an American, you understand this going into the meal and budget accordingly. The alternative is 20% higher food bills on a night out. Not tipping here means the service was horrible (don't punish server for bad food - just don't go back). Otherwise, you're cheap, ill mannered, from elsewhere (excusable), or clueless. I love learning from other cultures. The other three wouldn't be in my party.
Any server that is paying money to work deserves it for being stupid enough to work a job that requires you to pay to work HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
This is USA however I do leave tips, if the server is friendly helpful and prompt a tip is EARNT so fair enough, I do not however believe in tipping just for the sake of it, that is demanding and I will not condone that.
And yet, whenever there's an article about how bad tipping is, there's always one person that says they earn more money that way. There are some that do but there are many, many examples of wage theft like this and those in the industry that fight against the abolishment of tipping are screwing their own colleagues over.
Maybe, just maybe, the US could try paying it's waiting staff etc a wage that means they wouldn't have to rely on tips?
So they are taking tips from someone making less than minimum wage to supplement someone making more? That is why they make more as they are non tipped positions. Someone needs to call the labor board about them distributing tips to people they were not intended for. Sounds like the restaurant is just finding another reason not to pay a decent wage.
Rage bait about tipping culture. Again. Low quality tiktok content. Again.
Yet here you are reading it and commenting. Be part of the solution by ignoring the post and moving on.
Load More Replies...Waiters if you don't like not being tipping quit bitching and find a different job. Unless you're being forced at gunpoint to wait tables here's other jobs out there.
Compared to the UK: (min could be better, tbh). current-mi...63845e.jpg
The job above details: "12hr/10hr. Previous experience would be ideal, however full training will be provided". It didn't state age-specific wage - which they need to make clear, due to min wage age differences, so it's either a flat min, or they're waiting until the interview to clarify (which sucks). Waiting jobs are still below par when it comes to hourly rates, in a lot of Countries, including the UK. We do tip, but it isn't added on bills, and waiting staff aren't penalized or stripped of part of their wages if they don't get a tip. I send heartfelt hugs.
Load More Replies...Sadly, all of the industry workers are getting killed with downvotes. It is not their fault. Stop attacking your servers. Nobody wants to serve some of you A holes. If you don't tip, fine, but the server still has to pay your tax and tip out to hosts and bar. They can't stop it. The management can't stop it. The owner can't stop it. It's a USA thing, not a server thing. What BoyGanesh said is SPOT ON. You live in the USA, then you know this. Unless you're just ignorant or cheap.
If my server has to pay out, that's not my responsibility. That is the responsibility of the owner, the manager, and the server. I would rather pay a little more for my meal and not have to tip, but that's not my decision.
Wait what? The server pays bar/tax over the customers bill regardless they got tipped or not? That tipping culture is even way more insane than I ever could imagine.
And you still have to tip our bartenders, cooks, busboys, etc. My wife was a waitress and had a 4 hour shift once with a certain Sunday crowd. No one tipped and she ended up paying out $21 of her own money to work that shift. Yes, she had to pay to work.
Load More Replies...You should pay a percentage of the tips to the cooks (and other staff), not a percentage of the bill. That's just ridiculous. It's not my problem, as a customer, that your boss is an idiot and you agreed to it.
Isn't the problem that the minimum wage in America is criminally low and waiters rely on tips just to get by? In effect, the customer is subsidisng the employer so that he/she can pay staff less. I don't mean to plug Australia particularly, but the minimum wage here is currently $A 23.23 per hour ($US 15.28) plus a minimum 25% loading for casuals. Employers must by law pay at least the minimum and WILL be prosecuted if they don't. Our regulator is very active in this area. At present, the labor market is very tight and I have read stories about wait staff being paid $100,000 pa. In my experience, tipping is not expected - but of course, very welcome if you decide to do so for exceptional service.
I have just looked it up, the Federal Minimum Wage is $7.25 per hour and has been at that amount since 2009. Tipped employees get a minimum wage of $2.13 per hour if they make more than $30 per month. From Wikipedia: The United States federal government requires a wage of at least $2.13 per hour be paid to employees who receive at least $30 per month in tips.[4] If wages and tips do not equal the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour during any week, the employer is required to increase cash wages to compensate. Just nuts.
Load More Replies...That's the part I don't get. If the job isn't working for you and you determine it's not worth it. Leave. Find something better. When enough people commit to that, the restaurants will either fail or change. All continuing to be subjected to this does is perpetuate it.
Load More Replies...I was in USA for about 4 months a few years back and i was shocked by their tipping culture. In Europe we tip if we want to and it is based on service. First time when i was in the restaurant server kinda requested a tip and that was a little shocking for us, but it is their custom so who am i to complain tbh. The point is, i will tip if i am satisfied with service not becouse it is required of me
That one comment about tipping 30-40 dollars on a 100 dollar bill, and asking is that enough... That's equally, if not even more insane than leaving a zero dollar tip. Customers feel guilty over not providing their servers with proper tips, when they should not even had to think about that, and tip only in accordance to their level of satisfaction is what is wrong here. The job provider should take care of their employees, and pay them livable wages, that burdrn should not be on customers. That's the main issue here, the whole US wages sistem us just whack, because it allows people to be underpayed, and forced to depend on tips, that are optional, but then puts the blame on people if they decide to choose the option of not leaving a tip. Corporate America at its "finest".
Greatest nation in the world! 🫡🇱🇷Where you can go bankrupt from medical bills and servers doesn’t get payed a fair wage
Call an ambulance go bankrupt, call the cops get murdered.
Load More Replies...We all try but sometimes when people don't want to help themselves you can't do anything but stop enabling them. Time people stopped tipping until employees directed their anger where it belongs. Hint: it's not the customer.
Up to you if you want to stop tipping until wait staff revolts or if you want to boycott and explain why to the owner. I prefer the second option because it's more direct. Hitting the owner in the pocketbook risks closing the restaurant, but wait staff could also lose jobs by complaining about conditions or threatening to strike.
Load More Replies...Wow. They seriously need better employment laws over there - minimum living wage being number 1 on a list of many ... I bet businesses/employers love it over there :-/.
Yet again the problem is the idiotic American tipping culture where employers think they can get away with this s**t. It is not acceptable anywhere else in the world, and it should not be acceptable in America. Instead of accepting it, make use of your lax labor laws and walk! It does not have to be this way.
Those servers ranting on customers shows they haven't understood anything.
It's such a common problem, and once you start seeing it then you realise how much it goes on. Thise with money and power deflect attention from themselves by blaming immigrants, asylum seekers, customers - basically anyone with no power. So long as we are all kicking downwards then we will never be able to solve the problems.
Load More Replies...What a shame, the US! So basically these people pay to work? Is this all a very big pyramid scheme? What in the world?!?
"Greatest Country on earth", which would collapse with having to pay a living minimum wage and no illegal slave labour.
Load More Replies...We have five restaurants within our family-owned beach resort. The lowest paid position on our property is a gardener assistant and a pool boy, which starts at 23 an hour. We do not expect our guest, pay resort fee, to properly tip our servers. However, we built an 18% service charge on all food & beverage. IRS code requires that we give a “gratuity“ completely to the server, but a “service charge“ can be divided up, however we see fit. We give the service to the servers. That’s a choice we’ve made as a business. In other words, we’ve raised the prices of our Food and beverage to a number that most consumers consider unacceptable, but disguise it with the service charge. And that they’re in lies the problem. If restaurants to pay servers a living wage, They would have to increase increase their menu cost by at least 20%. They survived on slim margins, but even a 10% increase is met with absolute disdain and disgust by the customer.
I'd rather pay extra for my food knowing the server is getting paid a decent wage.
Load More Replies...Tipping is optional & no one is required to do this. If the waiter feel as though that's an issue feel free to blame your employer & not the customers since it isn't their problem. Maybe seek employment elsewhere if you have to or a second job to make ends meet.
I’m tired of tipping culture. Every other day it’s another person complaining about it. Why does the customer have to pay server’s salary? I never can seem to grasp that concept
OP made a choice to work there and accepted the way their place of business puts the screws to them. Do not blame the customer.
If you are paying out of pocket then you are a fool and need to contact the labor board.
This is how it works for me: you are guaranteed the minimum tip percentage by default. Unless you are butt rude and inattentive. Then, I half it. But you still get something. To get more than the minimum, you go above and beyond your duties. If the place is busy, I take that into consideration. This is how I have always tipped. I've worked in the service industry so I know how it is but I also know how it should be.
Had a jackass come in one night and did the whole putting money on the table, saying "here's how much you can get. Let's see if you earn it" s**t. I said "oh. Wow. I thought you guys were just myths. Let's see if I can get to zero. Goal!" Took the wind right out of his fat assed sails.
See this is ridiculous. Seen Americans complain at servers in Australia because they don't have to dance for them and put up with their awful behaviour to earn tips.
Load More Replies...I was the head chef at a restaurant and never got one penny of the tips. I was paid a decent salary instead.
Tipping culture in America is going crazy!!!!!! Tipping is OPTIONAL. We split tips at my working place (club house in Scotland), and everybody gets a share according to the hours worked that week, you worked 40 hours, you get tips on that, 60 then your cut will be more, 20, then you get less. Waiters in the USA should direct their anger and frustration towards their bosses and the system, not the clients !!!!!!!! 😡😡😡
This is an issue we had when I worked at a restaurant. The servers have to tip out a bit for tip sharing (usually 2-4%) so when people don't tip, they get screwed. At our place, the shift managers would maintain a dine and dash/no-tip fund where they'd put in 1/4 of their tips into it and that would cover it. But yeah, if you don't tip, your waiter is basically paying to serve you. Tipping culture SUUUUUCKS!
Restaurants should pay their staff a living wage. I rarely go out anymore because not only is food and drink double what it was 3 years ago, tipping is outrageous.
I see a new trend coming: personal waiters. Soon, restaurants will have NO waiters, the customer brings their own. I mean if I'm paying for service I'd like to pay the guy that I want to pay, not the one that I have to.
Look, I'm sorry, mate. But it's not my fault your boss isn't paying you a living wage. Nor is it my responsibility. This may sound harsh, but I will tip you the amount I want to tip you. That's just my opinion.
First off, if you're too cheap to tip, stay home. Second, waiters/waitresses shouldn't have to share their tips with the rest of the staff. Those employees are paid a higher wage than wait staff, because they don't get tips. That's the trade-off. Want tips? Serve. Want a regular paycheck every week, cook. ✌🏻
America is just hopeless on so many levels. In Finland you only tip if you had some real splendid service and feel real jolly about your day out, or if you go to fancier restaurants and are so wealthy that you'd leave tip just to show off you have money. Bar or cafe can have a tip jar. And the tips are rarely personal but usually shared by the staff when the jar is full or the day is done.
As an American, you understand this going into the meal and budget accordingly. The alternative is 20% higher food bills on a night out. Not tipping here means the service was horrible (don't punish server for bad food - just don't go back). Otherwise, you're cheap, ill mannered, from elsewhere (excusable), or clueless. I love learning from other cultures. The other three wouldn't be in my party.
Any server that is paying money to work deserves it for being stupid enough to work a job that requires you to pay to work HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
This is USA however I do leave tips, if the server is friendly helpful and prompt a tip is EARNT so fair enough, I do not however believe in tipping just for the sake of it, that is demanding and I will not condone that.
And yet, whenever there's an article about how bad tipping is, there's always one person that says they earn more money that way. There are some that do but there are many, many examples of wage theft like this and those in the industry that fight against the abolishment of tipping are screwing their own colleagues over.
Maybe, just maybe, the US could try paying it's waiting staff etc a wage that means they wouldn't have to rely on tips?
So they are taking tips from someone making less than minimum wage to supplement someone making more? That is why they make more as they are non tipped positions. Someone needs to call the labor board about them distributing tips to people they were not intended for. Sounds like the restaurant is just finding another reason not to pay a decent wage.
Rage bait about tipping culture. Again. Low quality tiktok content. Again.
Yet here you are reading it and commenting. Be part of the solution by ignoring the post and moving on.
Load More Replies...Waiters if you don't like not being tipping quit bitching and find a different job. Unless you're being forced at gunpoint to wait tables here's other jobs out there.
Compared to the UK: (min could be better, tbh). current-mi...63845e.jpg
The job above details: "12hr/10hr. Previous experience would be ideal, however full training will be provided". It didn't state age-specific wage - which they need to make clear, due to min wage age differences, so it's either a flat min, or they're waiting until the interview to clarify (which sucks). Waiting jobs are still below par when it comes to hourly rates, in a lot of Countries, including the UK. We do tip, but it isn't added on bills, and waiting staff aren't penalized or stripped of part of their wages if they don't get a tip. I send heartfelt hugs.
Load More Replies...Sadly, all of the industry workers are getting killed with downvotes. It is not their fault. Stop attacking your servers. Nobody wants to serve some of you A holes. If you don't tip, fine, but the server still has to pay your tax and tip out to hosts and bar. They can't stop it. The management can't stop it. The owner can't stop it. It's a USA thing, not a server thing. What BoyGanesh said is SPOT ON. You live in the USA, then you know this. Unless you're just ignorant or cheap.
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