Server Shares Her Trick to Get More Tips From Customers, And It Involves Elaborate Acting Skills: ‘Definitely Immoral’

The cost of living continues to rise, and sometimes, not even three jobs can help pay the bills. For servers who have a federal minimum wage as low as $2.13 per hour, they are forced to rely on customer tips to make a living—and at times, they have to get a little creative with how they achieve it.

A server named Lily (@lilylofi) shared in a video on her TikTok the “immoral” way she was allegedly able to rake in the big tips from customers. According to the TikToker, who described herself as a “professional rage baiter,” she had enlisted the help of her friends to visit her workplace on a Friday when it was the busiest.

Lily claimed she made her friends sit in her section of the restaurant, and once they were finished eating their meal, got them to start a commotion—specifically hurling insults at her. “My homeboys would come in and they would just cause a f*****g scene,” Lily said. “I basically gave them free rein to make fun of me about anything.”

Server shows off her acting skills

Lily alleges she encouraged her friends to be “as rude as you can,” which included them roasting her job, her looks, or anything else that they could think of to pick her apart with. According to the server, the disturbance her friends had caused had prompted the other customers she was serving to pull her aside and check on her.

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“Other tables would pull me aside and ask me what was going on with that one table. [And ask] why were they being so rude,” Lily said. For Lily’s part, she would allegedly act as the “helpless little server” who was just trying to work through her shift while dealing with difficult customers on a busy Friday night. This isn’t the first time a server has pulled an elaborate act, as one man allegedly told sob stories to gain sympathy from customers.

Lily claimed that the elaborate acting turned out to be effective, and that it resulted in four of the six tables that she had served that night tipping her 20% of their bill. The server allegedly received notes from the customers expressing how sorry they were for the other table’s bad behavior as well.

Getting tips is a team effort

Viewers found Lily’s tactic amusing, and even praised her as “smart” for coming up with such an idea. “Girl this is genius,” one comment said. Another said, “I like your hustle.” A third comment said, “Fraud tip farming is crazy.” When asked about how her manager reacted, Lily claimed “they did the same thing.”

Other viewers were not as receptive to the deception, especially since it created a nuisance for other customers. “Personally I’d never do that, I get tipped good cause I actually give good service and have a good attitude. Also having your ‘homeboys’ degrading u sounds gross,” one comment read. “Doing all that for 20% and also creating a hassle for other dinners is def not it……”

According to Lily, it was a win-win situation for her and her friends. The server claimed she received extra money, while her friends were able to get a percentage off for their food using Lily’s employee discount. “It was a team effort, and we did that a few times,” Lily said. “[It was] definitely immoral, but it definitely works.”

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