Staff refuse to serve loyal customer over history of 'not tipping enough' — and the entitlement is unreal

Discussions about tipping culture are everywhere, and one TikToker has added fresh fuel to the debate. The video, posted by BÜELI (@buelistic), has drawn attention after she shared that she and her group were turned away at a restaurant over tipping. In the clip that was posted in 2022 and has since gained 1.7 million views and over 229k likes, she responds to another woman who had said, "Nobody is obligated to tip you." She explained that while she encourages tipping in her own line of work as a tattoo artist, she was shocked to be denied service altogether. She said she had gone out with loved ones when the manager told them they would not be served.

When she asked why, she was told tipping was a major reason. "Like I said before, because of the field that I am in, I do make sure that I tip everywhere I go. But sometimes my peers may not always do that or have the finances to do so. Do you feel like this is a good enough reason to deny service to somebody for the rest of their life if it’s based off of tips and the service isn’t always up to par?" she asked in the video.

Research backs up how deeply tipping affects workers. A study titled How Tipped Wages Harm Workers and Increase Inequalities found that 84% of U.S. restaurants investigated by the Department of Labor had violated tipped wage rules, costing workers millions in lost pay. It also showed that waitstaff rely on tips for more than 80% of their income, leaving many — particularly women and people of color — in poverty. In states that have eliminated the tipped wage, outcomes for workers are better across the board, with lower turnover and higher morale.

The comments section showed how divided people are on the issue. @miriamsdelirium wrote, "Servers should not need to rely on tips, but the reality is establishments incorporate it into their pay... so sometimes base wage is $2/hr." @elice_k added, "A lot of waiters and waitresses honestly need to just quit because they’re not gonna fix this until they have no workers." @spoicy_gabs said, "You are comparing 2 different industries, the rules aren’t the same. Rule of thumb, if you can’t tip, don’t go somewhere you know it’s the norm." @rebelfluer commented, "Why is tipping such a big deal?!?! Like what?!?! I would absolutely tip you, don’t get me wrong. However, servers are bugging over tips."

Others pointed to the need for broader changes. @mykira.r commented, "I think we really should be looking to change the wage for waiters. Tipping was supposed to just be extra for great service, not the way people get paid." Some offered an outside perspective. @callmekt wrote, "In New Zealand, we never tip or get called out for being tipped, it’s not a huge deal here." @lovejonespoet chimed in, "I’ve lived in Tokyo most of my life, and when I came to the US. It was weird when servers got mad when I didn’t tip. It’s pretty much an insult in Japan to tip. It’s like saying you don’t make enough."

You can follow BÜELI (@buelistic) on TikTok for more personal content.

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