Server gets no tip from high-profile guest after restaurant comps their lavish meal. Then she confronts her manager: ‘Was this the plan all along?’
It can be strenuous being a waitress at a high-profile restaurant, especially considering the clientele that regularly makes life just a touch harder. But one server had a particularly awful evening when a food influencer customer didn’t leave her any tip, even after the restaurant comped her and her friends’ meals.
TikTok content creator Riri (@ririthedslayer) shared that she’s seen many server rants on her for you page. So, she decided to add one of her own. A famous influencer came into her restaurant and got a free meal in return for promotional services. Riri ended up serving her table. Then, she ended up getting 0 dollars and 0 cents from the encounter. She shared the entire situation in a TikTok video with over 3,400 views, adding that “ if another influencer comes into the restaurant,” someone else is taking them.
Riri gets a high-profile client and does her best to offer excellent service
Riri’s manager came up to her on a regular day to let her know that a high-profile client was coming into their restaurant. She had seemingly never met this client before, but she knew the influencer had around 1 million viewers on TikTok and posted a significant amount of food content on her page.
For that reason, Riri tried her best to be extremely accommodating with the table. She ended up with a four-top, as three of the influencers’ friends came to try the food as well. Riri mentioned that at that time, they were understaffed. She was doing running, serving, and busing, all at the same time.
All four women ordered some appetizers, along with four entrees, four drinks, and four desserts. Riri brought all of those out with little issue. When it finally came to put the blank receipt on the table, Riri did so, expecting at least a small tip. But, when she got the receipt back, she noticed that the box was entirely blank.
Riri had been “busting her [expletive]” with two other tables the entire time she was serving the influencer, and it had been completely exhausting for her. So, she left the restaurant feeling a bit conned.
TikTok commenters weigh in—to tip or not to tip on a free meal?
TikTok commenters told Riri that she shouldn’t have expected to get a tip. After all, the influencer agreed to review the business for her page. That is technically a payment for the meal, including the experience she receives in the store.
But others agreed with what Riri was saying. Riri herself didn’t agree to offer a free service just because they were reviewing the business, and tipping culture in America primarily exists for the staff’s benefit, not for the restaurants. For that reason, the influencer could have considered tipping, and the meal being comped as separate, and left her a tip.
It’s unclear whether it’s normalized for high-profile influencers not to leave tips when eating free meals at restaurants. But, more and more people are becoming fed up with food influencers’ requests and expectations when going out to eat.
An article from the NY Post described a similar experience for multiple New York City restaurants. In one instance, an influencer left a shocking low tip for a large amount of food and then proceeded to not make a review of the restaurant—Chef Papa Vietnamese Kitchen. A large number of restaurants’ grievances with online food reviewers come from the lack of agency they have toward actually sharing their positive experiences, along with the fact that they frequently expect free meals without actually considering how the food showed up on their plates.
So, Riri and many others are fed up with food influencers, especially given their lack of tips.
@ririthedslayer This video made me realize how much I say “like” #server #serverrants ♬ original sound – riri
We’ve reached out to Riri via TikTok direct message for more information.
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