
An Iowa man recently had an experience in a restaurant that left him scratching his head. He says that the server added 20% automatic gratuity because they were a party of six.
His issue isn’t with automatic gratuity itself. He’s miffed because the sixth person is their 11-month-old infant. And three of the diners are their small children.
Matt Krueger (@rental.cashflow) says that he and his wife took the kids out for breakfast recently.
He says he eats at restaurants often and is familiar with automatic gratuity being added to parties over a certain size.
But he was nevertheless surprised when the bill came.
“The waitress automatically added a 20% gratuity to the bill because we had six people in the group,” he says.
“Here’s the thing, we only ordered three meals because my children are seven, five, three, and 11 months,” Krueger adds.
So he poses a question to the crowd.
“If you work as a server or in the restaurant industry, would you charge two parents and their four little kids, including a baby, the extra 20% because of the six-people rule?” Krueger says.
Was the server wrong in counting the baby as a person?
Americans have grown increasingly disgruntled with tipping culture. They’re tired of being prompted to pay extra for a wider variety of goods and services.
In this instance, however, people overwhelmingly took the server’s side.
Many pointed out that they took a table meant for six, who could’ve been adults. In that case, it’s likely the bill and the tip would’ve been a lot higher.
“You have 6 human beings,” one said simply. Another agreed, writing, “The baby is still a person.”
A lot of people accused Krueger of wanting to undertip. But in the TikTok, he said that he usually tips 20% or 25% for exceptional service, which is standard. Like many, but not all, he’ll also tip less for subpar service.
Another common point was that kids are messy.
“There should be a baby fee,” reads one of the more extreme comments. “I see the mess at tables after families with babies/young kids leave.”
Another joked that the gratuity was essentially a “cleaning fee.”
One person suggested that Krueger should always tip 20%.
He replied, “Define a TIP. I’ll help out ‘a monetary gift given to a server for good services performed.’ When did forcing someone to give a money reward, regardless of service quality, become a thing?”
@rental.cashflow Including my baby, who is 90% breastfed, is just wild. This video blew up last year, so let's see what you all have to say about it now. #20percent #autogratuity #gratuity #tippingculture #autotip #eatingout ♬ original sound – Matt Krueger
Krueger didn’t immediately respond to an inquiry sent via TikTok direct message.
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