A user on TikTok has sparked discussion after claiming that a customer left her a hate letter in lieu of a tip.
In a video with over 132,000 views as of Sunday, TikTok user Natalie (@natalie.vukovich) shows a multiple-page note that she alleges a customer left for her.
“When my table left me no tip and wrote me a whole hate letter about how my service was horrible but I’m just a teenage girl trying to make money for college,” she writes in the text overlaying the video. She then lip-syncs to a line from Lana Del Rey’s song “Mariners Apartment Complex,” in which she sings, “I f*cked up, I know that, but, Jesus.”
@natalie.vukovich Someone play Mean by Taylor Swift
♬ original sound – Olivia💕
According to Natalie in comments, the customers stole her pen and “ripped up part of their menu” to write the message.
“Basically someone recommended the place to them and they liked the food but they listed all the things I did wrong and how bad I am at my job,” she says of the substance of the note.
While some commenters were taken aback by this experience, others who had previously worked in the service industry noted that interactions like these are unfortunately common, as several other viral stories have shown.
“I had this middle-aged man who came in alone write on the back of the check all the things I did wrong in bullet points and then gave me a GRADE %,” a user recalled.
“Same but mine was email,” another added. “Also she bragged about the $1 tip (i didnt take).”
“One time a table wrote me a note about how I checked on them so much that it annoyed them and told me to “do better’ in the future & didn’t tip me,” claimed a third.
“On my first day a guy told me i was awful and to never work in the service industry and i cried,” stated another TikToker.
Others simply shared their thoughts on interactions like these in general.
“I’m convinced old people act like this towards service staff cuz in their age it was a career that could actually pay bills and shld be ‘serious,’” detailed a commenter.
“America needs to change its customer service policies,” shared a second. “The customer is not always right. Managers should be required to defend their employees.”
The Daily Dot reached out to Natalie via TikTok comment.
