Bartender runs into entitled regular customer who never tips outside of work, she accidentally gifts him $81: 'The way I look at it? All those lost tips and the money she just gifted me was just karma'

Author image for Ben Weiss
Ben Weiss • Writer and Editor
Dec 1, 2025 4:00 PM EST

Every so often, karma has its way of doing the work for you.

This bartender found himself regularly dealing with an entitled customer, who would put everyone through one complaint after another only to never show gratitude. She never even tipped her servers despite constantly dining at this establishment during her weekly routine.

Unfortunately, she would end up getting the same treatment from her bartender where she least expected it… outside of the restaurant.

This all happened without planning on the bartender's part, but in this tight-knit community, people were bound to run into each other constantly. This turn of events was, in some ways, inevitable, which just goes to show that this entitled customer should never have chosen to make enemies with this guy in the first place.

One day, he ran into her at her place of work, which was at the local mall. When she made the mistake of giving him far more change than he deserved, the bartender was on his way to do the right thing and return the extra money, until she decided to show her true colors once again. That outburst made him change his mind…

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  • A man makes a cocktail behind the bar.
    via Maks Styazhkin

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • Let this story serve as a friendly reminder that regardless of whether or not you live in a small community, tip your servers and bartenders, folks! They're the key to your decent dining experience. Besides, you don't want to put that negative energy into the world by not tipping them. This lady learned that lesson the hard way!

  • Story from quite a few years ago, from when I was a bartender in a corporate style cookie cutter restaurant. I mostly worked nights, but had one regular mid shift on Fridays. We were always
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  • super busy at the bar for lunch on Fridays and usually had quite a few of the mall workers coming in to eat then head back to work.
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  • Nearly every Friday the same smug, borderline rude lady came in for lunch. Everytime she paid exact change. Zero tip. Maybe half the time she would complain over some minor inconvenience,
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  • and more than a few times got a comped meal. The more I had to wait on her, the more indignant and pissed I got.
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  • So around Christmas time I was out and about in the mall buying for family and friends. Picked out something nice for my girlfriend
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  • at the time... a sheer top which I thought would look amazing on her. Decently priced with it being on sale too.
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  • Walking up to the cashier, I was a bit surprised to run into ... resting-b I-face. Whatever. In street clothes I felt like she barely registered who I was, or maybe she really didn't care who was at her register... maybe both. So, I
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  • hand her a $20 bill. She examines it for a moment. Turned it over twice. Held it up to the light even. Then... out comes the counterfeit pen marker. Thinking to myself "a bit excessive, no?".
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  • Change should have been around a dollar and change. Surprisingly, she hands out $81 plus change.
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  • She calls next in line, so I stepped to the side for a moment in contemplation. I could honestly feel the devil on one shoulder and angel on the other.
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  • Took me a moment or two ... but I finally let my moral compass win and stepped back in front of the register.
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  • I nicely explained that there was a mistake made, but before I could continue she shot me down and briskly told me in a semi- professional tone to GTFOH. So... I did.
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  • The way I look at it? All those lost tips and the money she just gifted me was just karma. Si d to be her I guess.
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  • A man makes a drink behind a bar.
    via Olena Bohovyk

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • OP plexdiferous Trust me... thought of it. But a bit of empathy hit me and to be honest, didn't like the thought of her needing to pay it back to the store. Or maybe get in trouble for being light that night. But once she glared and me and told me to get out of line? Mind made up.
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  • Profreadsalot At least you tried to do the right thing. Many people would have just walked away.
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  • OP plexdiferous I have been overseas and yes, many countries have unique colors and sizes to differentiate the bill denominations. which is definitely a good thing. But in my defense, she examined that $20 for a good, solid 15 seconds before going to the security marker. You would think that a long look like that would have been enough.
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  • -DethLok- Meanwhile, in Australia (and numerous other countries) all our notes are different colours and different sizes, the larger the value, the larger the size. Mistakes like that are VERY hard to make.
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  • OP plexdiferous Honestly? I thought removing myself from her line as told and walking away was enough. It ended up being spent on Xmas gifts and not on myself... so I felt zero guilt.
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  • ThinkbigShrinktofit I have no issues with how this was handled. I would have done the same. But I'm wondering if she would have gotten into way more trouble if you complained to a manager about her bad customer service ... and cash- handling.
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  • OP plexdiferous One thousand percent sure. Definitely just a 20.
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  • MajorNoodles You're absolutely certain that you gave her a $20 and not a $100, right?
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  • OP plexdiferous I believe it was a few years before that... thinking maybe 1999 or 2000? Thereabouts.
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  • Blue Veritas 731 You say this happened quite a few years ago. By any chance, had the new $20 bills just come out? If so, and not paying careful enough attention, perhaps she saw the new style $20 and just automatically assumed it was one of the new style $100s? At that point, she would be in an kind of "mind blindness" where the eyes see what the mind thinks it's looking at. That's the only thing I can think of, given the long period of time she looked at the bill.
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  • OP plexdiferous She came in once or twice more, then disappeared. I don't believe she was fired... but couldn't say one way or the other. I only worked that mid-shift for another month or two, so it's possible she started coming back in after I wasn't on Friday afternoons anymore.
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  • Dewhickey76 Out of curiosity, did you see her regularly still at the restaurant, or was she suddenly a no show? Because a shortage of $80+ would be cause for immediate termination at many retail jobs that I have worked.
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  • OP plexdiferous And yet... it happened. Most times a cashier will put a higher bill in the 5th slot or under the drawer. Honestly couldn't see what she did with it. But can confirm that I spent the extra 80 for Xmas gifts!
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  • Metorjetta This is beyond unbelievable. You can't tell me she placed $20 into her register just to pull out four of them.
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  • OP plexdiferous Normalizing tips? The the US tips are the bulk of revenue for people in the industry. When you are making $2.14 an hour? Yes, you expect to be tipped as a social norm. It's a transactional agreement between the customer and the server that there will be gratuity for services provided. When you to to a mechanic, does he not charge for parts AND labor? Same here, except most places do not add it upfront to menu costs but allow leeway for the customer to decide the gratuity.
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  • Puzzled-Document8958 It sounds like you are implying you were robbed of some optional tips and that was something that others should be be punished for... I understand the part about the bad attitude but you are normalizing tips and that is not ok
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  • [deleted] Next time she's in the bar and pays...also use a pen marker righhhhht in front of her
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Tags

customer service malicious compliance server server life entitled people karma bartender karen entitled people karen customer
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