Steakhouse waitress tries to trick customer into giving 40% tip: 'This deserves... a conversation with the manager'

Author image for Remy Millisky
Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Jul 25, 2025 3:00 PM EDT

This person almost overpaid for their meal by 40%. It's a good thing they pushed back against their waitress's odd ideas!

Most waiters who rely on tips make a really good hourly wage from that. Their actual wage from their employer can be just a few dollars per hour — $2.50 an hour is common — but they may make $30 or $40 in tips each hour if they're working a mealtime rush. And the further you get into the fine-dining atmosphere, the more cash you'll be taking home with you at the end of each week. If you work at a 5-star restaurant, you'll be making an incredible amount of money off the generosity of customers. That's why this steakhouse waitress's actions were quite bizarre, and they caught the eye of this diner, who told their story below. 

I think if the manager hears about this interaction, the waitress won't be keeping her job for much longer. She can claim she was just confused about the rules, but I doubt that this is her first attempt to leech extra money from her patrons. It's an off-putting experience for a customer to deal with… a good manager would want to know about that and make it a more comfortable atmosphere for future diners. 

Next, read about retail workers who watched their worst customers get instant karma: 'Guy stole $60 headlights… and had to have his car towed.'

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  • 01
    We ate at a "midrange" steakhouse with a $100 gift card. Bill was a little over $60. I handed the card to the waitress and asked if I could leave the tip with the gift card (I still tip wait staff up to 20% based on experience, don't hate me, no tips in other eateries though). She said yes, but only if using the remainder of
    via u/Difficult-Insect
  • 02
    the gift card. I said "...it's a $100 gift card". She just looks at me for a few seconds and I said "I do want some of it back." She took the card and said she will "try to find a way", and miraculously the card came back with a receipt and a tip line. She really thought I'd just let her keep the rest since it was a gift card.
    via u/Difficult-Insect

    She's just making things up! That's just total nonsense, and it's a good thing that this customer saw through her conniving ways.

  • 03

    Commenters had lots of suggestions for alternative ways the diner could've dealt with this behavior

    PercentageCreep... I would've said, "okay, then just charge me for my food. and I'll take my gift card back. Thanks." No tip.
    via u/PercentageCreepy2653
  • 04
    TiP GILES PANTRY
    via Sam Dan Truong via Unsplash+

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

  • 05
    mxldevs "$40 tip? we can always. make that zero"
    via u/mxldevs
  • 06
    CornbreadJunior Ya she flat out lied and tried to steal from you. Not tip on that sh
    via u/CornbreadJunior
  • 07
    psychorev $40 remaining on the gift card is 2/3 of the bill. If somebody told me that they expected me to tip them 67% I told him to hl and ask to speak to their manager.
    via u/psychorev
  • 08
    Jellyfish-Ninja Should've told the manager about this interaction.
    via u/Jellyfish-Ninja
  • 09
    STGILES PANTRY
    via Anna Mould via Unsplash+

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

  • 10
    Nothing-Matters-7 "She took the card and said she will "try to find a way"," She was trying to steal from you. This deserves 1. No tip being left. 2. A quiet conversation with the manager. 3. A couple of reviews stating what happened.
    via u/Nothing-Matters-7
  • 11
    marcolius We used to tip 1 cent when we were really annoyed by the service. This gives the message that we know about tipping and we deliberately are giving this tip to signify our disappointment/anger/whate ver you want to call it. The 1 cent leaves no doubt. This situation deserves a 1 cent tip.
    via u/marcolius

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Tags

steak tips gift card tipping restaurant dining experiences dining tipping culture
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