Tipping is a controversial issue on TikTok. In the latest viral video on the topic, a woman revealed that she was asked to tip after paying $17 for a smoothie and being charged $1.35 extra for a Stevia packet.
In the five-second clip, TikTok user Angie (@luckyangie) sat in her car and sipped a Coconut Cloud smoothie from Erewhon.
She wrote in a text overlay: “Just paid $17 for a smoothie and an extra $1.35 for a Stevia packet and they had the audacity to ask me if I wanted to tip. Um ma’am I’m all cleaned out today.”
The TikToker further expressed her frustration in the caption, writing, “tipping culture needs to chill.”
@luckyangie tipping culture needs to chill🧃#NextLevelDish #tippingculture #erewhonsmoothiereview #coconutcloudsmoothie ♬ It's A Wrap – Sped Up – Mariah Carey
The video racked up 403,000 views as of March 5. In the comments section, several viewers agreed with Angie.
“If your underpaid bc you get tips like servers then I tip, but if you get paid $15 an hr like sonic or Starbucks, I’m not tipping you for working,” one viewer wrote.
“Same, and the way their mood changes If you don’t tip,” a second agreed.
“Valid but why the fuck would you go there then,” a third asked.
However, the majority of viewers criticized Angie for not tipping.
“If you have 18 dollars for a smoothie you have money to tip don’t be stingy,” one user commented.
“I’m sorry but if you can afford an erewhon smoothie you can afford to leave a dollar someone still made that for you,” a second wrote.
“Girl the employee probably makes less than the cost of your smoothie in an hour and you can’t tip a dollar,” a third added.
Others said that customers should blame companies for how they price products and pay workers rather than blame employees.
“They charge whatever they can get away with. As long as people keep paying the prices, they’ll keep raising them,” one person stated.
“We really gotta stop blaming the workers for businesses relying on tip wages to pay their employees. Address big business,” another commented.
“I mean this isn’t really a tipping culture problem it’s a pricing problem on the corporations part,” a third echoed.
According to The Healthy Journal, asking for tips has become more prevalent because “Tips may also be a way for some businesses, already struggling with pandemic-related expenses, difficulty finding staff, and now inflation, to keep their costs down and attract more workers.”
The Daily Dot reached out to Angie via email and TikTok comment for more information.
