Friend gets ignored by server due to his sobriety, so friends leave $0 tip on a $300 tab, service industry workers actually applaud them: ‘[I’m] a bartender and waitress, this service deserves no tip.'

Author image for Elna McHilderson
Elna McHilderson • Managing Editor
May 24, 2025 7:00 AM EDT

As someone who has worked in the service industry for many years, not tipping someone is the biggest no-no you can do. It's not like an "oh that's annoying." No. It's more like a, "WOW. That person is the actual scum of the earth." Everyone is entitled to have their opinions on tipping, but when you don't tip a server, that's taking away money for food and rent. You're not making any sort of point to tipping culture when you take away some 20-something-year-old's chance on making rent. Talk to the politicians if you wanna make that change. 

 

Anyways, I digress. That being said, there are moments when leaving a $0 tip is kind of warranted. For example, if your server is being blatantly discriminatory, then, yeah, they don't deserve your money, right?

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  • This party decided to leave a $0 tip after their waitress made it clear she did not care to serve their one friend because he was not drinking alcoh0l. She even tried to pull a shady move and get him to still pay for a soda that she never brought him. So his friends decided that was disrespectful enough to the point of no tip. And, you know what? Service industry workers are actually praising them for their move! What do you think? Check it out below. 

  • Cheezburger Image 10508499456
    via Unsplash+ (and Taylor Davidson)

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • AITA for not tipping a waitress on a $300+ tab The other day, my friend's girlfriend broke up with him, so the boys. and I decided to take him to a club to cheer him up. I was the last to
    via Nerd_Rat
  • arrive, and they had already gotten a table and were all drinking alc ol. When the waitress came up to me and asked what I wanted to drink, I couldn't have alc ol because of the medicine I'm on, so I
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  • ordered a Sprite. She gave me an awkward smile and said okay. Ten minutes went by, and I still hadn't received my Sprite. However, she came back and asked my friends at the same table if they
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  • wanted another round. They all said yes, and then they ordered shots as well. I reminded her about my Sprite, and she nodded and left. She then brought all the alcol and shots back out for my friends, but still no Sprite.
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  • About 10 to 20 minutes later, she returned and asked how we were doing. Everyone said they were fine, and I said I still hadn't gotten my Sprite yet. She nodded again but didn't even walk back to the bar;
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  • instead, she started talking to another girl. After waiting an additional 10 or so minutes, I decided to go to the bar myself and get a Sprite and a water. I paid the bartender, left a tip, and went back to the table.
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  • We hung out for another few hours, my friends drinking a lot of alc ol and eating hors d'oeuvres. When we were ready to leave, she brought our checks and gave me one for the Sprite that she never
    via Nerd_Rat
  • brought. I told her, "You never gave me the Sprite; I got it from the bar." She responded, "Oh, the bar transferred it to me," and I replied, "No, I paid the bar." She said okay and took the check away.
    via Nerd_Rat
  • I don't know why I was so upset about the Sprite; it's just a Sprite. But my friends were also upset that I was being treated that way, so they all paid their tabs, left no tip, and wrote on the checks, "You should
    via Nerd_Rat
  • have brought my friend. a Sprite." I think it's messed up not to leave. tips, and I would have told them not to do that if they had let me know in advance, because people rely on that money for their
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  • livelihoods. But I also don't like being discriminated against because I can't drink alc ol due to my medications.
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  • Do you think we were being leaving a tip? for not
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  • Cheezburger Image 10508512768
    via Unsplash+ (and Getty Images)

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • CarryOk3080 Nta. I have been a server, bartender, and restaurant manager. She didn't provide a service to get tipped for. Your friends saw that she was blatantly ignoring you. That equals no tip. Maybe next time she won't be so
    via CarryOk3080
  • snobby and refuse to serve a Sprite. You could have been the DD for all she knows, and she alienated the sober person of the group. Drink people can be savage, your friends just stood up for you.
    via CarryOk3080
  • International-Age... NTA, I've been a bartender and waitress. This service deserves no tip. Soft drinks and waters take less than 10 seconds to make
    via International-Age971
  • Srvntgrrl_789 NTA. I've worked as a bartender, waitress, and a barista. That kind of behavior doesn't just deserve a no tip, it also deserves a call to the bar owner to let them know WHY the waitress didn't get a tip.
    via Srvntgrrl_789
  • Commercial Tap8457 NTA! Hard lesson but I hope one she learns from only once or she should stop that line of work and try McDonald's. High five
    via CommercialTap8457
  • nic530728 NTA I've been a bartender and server and she didn't deserve a tip!
    via nic530728
  • AndieMarie16 NTA....a tip is for providing GOOD service! Completely ignoring a patron is not at all good service! Also you technically left a tip...to the bartender, who got your drink so you didn't owe her anything period! But your friends aren't AHs either, she was a crappy waitress!
    via AndieMarie16

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