“As a former waitress, this makes me sad. I always tip even when there are problems. We are people, mistakes happen,” a user wrote in response to the incident.
An unhappy customer in the United States has stirred a debate online after he left restaurant staff a ‘negative tip’ for an upsetting experience as he complained of being served the “wrong food, waiting forever, rude waitresses.” Antoni Correa’s tip has now gone viral on social media as he called out at the restaurant for the poor service while sharing the photo of the bill on TikTok. It depicted a negative tip of $ 32.49, which in fact, was equivalent to what he paid at the restaurant. So, therefore, the infuriated man left no tip to the restaurant employees making a negative sign in front of the total bill for the tip.
Correa’s bill amounted to a $ 32.49 bill, and he wrote a tip of $ 32.49 so he doesn’t have to pay anything, which generally is deemed inappropriate. The incident garnered over 1 million views as the internet stood divided with some calling out the customer for being “unfair” to the staff, while others agreeing to him. “I don’t think this will work that way. You still have to pay my guy,” a user wrote. While another opined, “As a former waitress, this makes me sad. I always tip even when there are problems. We are people, mistakes happen.”
Meanwhile, another user said, “I mean, I believe tips should be based on the service of the waiter or waitress, but that’s ridiculous.” Yet another commented, “Did you tell the waitress something about the wrong food? Did you give them a chance to fix it? Are you understaffed?” In his statement later to a local press outlet, Correa said that he mostly gave 20 percent tip, “so I did it where I had dinner,” he said, adding that the bill he shared was meant in light humour and that only half the people had understood about his bad experience. “Now they hate me,” he said.
‘No cash for tip, take slice of pizza,’ sparked fury
Last month, a separate incident had similarly sparked an online debate after a customer tipped the delivery executive with a pizza slice instead of money, citing that he has ‘no cash, take a slice’. The issue of tipping delivery drivers fairly has been a subject of debate with many calling out rude customers for inadequately tipping those on jobs of delivering food. Many on the internet have hurtled recommendations to opt for curbside pick-ups if one cannot fairly tip the executives.
The incident had depicted an encounter between the customer and a pizza delivery executive, which was in fact recorded on the doorbell digicam on the buyer’s house. It showed a man who reached home at an unidentified location and rang the bell. He then placed the pizza on the bottom and found a note that read: “No cash for the tip, please take a slice of pizza”. The bizarre incident caught on camera sparked fury among the netizens who argued that the delivery executives worked overtime and for lengthy hours, with most on side jobs, and are struggling. Therefore, it is obligatory to pay a decent tip to them.