A Texas Olive Garden customer picks up her to-go order, including cheese sticks, breadsticks, salad, lasagna, and soup. However, she realizes she was charged a tip that she didn’t intend to leave.
In a video with 2000 views, TikToker @da_taste_7599 sits at a table with plastic to-go containers surrounding her. In the background, a crowd of people talks loudly. It’s unclear whether she is still at the Olive Garden where she picked up the food.
On-screen text reads, “Did you know that Olive Garden automatically adds gratuity when you order online?”
Does Olive Garden add an automatic tip for to-go orders?
In the caption, she notes that the total gratuity amounts to $17.68. While the TikToker says she was caught off guard by the tip, some commenters suggest that Olive Garden doesn’t actually automatically add gratuity for online orders.
“I order from there weekly and never had that issue, lol,” one writes.
“Lol, that’s funny because that has never happened to me once, every time I have ordered from them, and we order from there often. Maybe it’s just your store,” another says.
A third commenter suggests that the TikToker may have left the tip section unchecked when ordering. “They do, but you can uncheck the option when you check out. Not that big of a deal,” they explain.
However, the TikToker replies, “no option viewable,” to the suggestion. In a comment, she explains that her order was split into four receipts, and gratuity was added to all of them.
How much should customers tip on to-go orders?
In the comments, Olive Garden customers are split on whether tips should be expected on to-go orders. According to Toast, a 10 to 15% tip is customary for to-go orders, despite surveys finding that only around 14% of customers tip for pick-up. For larger orders, Toast recommends 15 to 20% gratuity.
“Bc all that food don’t magically get put into to-go containers on its own,” one writes.
Another notes, “I always tip 10% for a pick up order. They have to actually work to put your order together and get it ready, WHILE they are still tending their tables.”
However, others say they only see the need to tip if they’re seated and tended to by a server during their meal.
One suggests, “I only tip servers. One of the perks of ordering to go is you don’t have to tip. I don’t think tipping should be enforced either but I always tip based on service not to pay someone’s bills.”
“Unless you are getting waitstaff pay I’m not tipping. Nope. Talk to your bosses,” another says.
@da_taste_7599 Why do I have to pay $17.68 gratuity on an online order that I picked up? #foryou #fyp #olivegarden #gratuity #foryoupage ♬ original sound – Da_Taste_7599
The Mary Sue reached out to Da_Taste_7599 via TikTok comment and to Olive Garden via email for further comment.
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