There are throngs of restaurants that throw away surplus food at the end of the night, which raises all sorts of ethical questions—especially with food inflation on the rise. As a result, a number of shoppers are on the hunt for low-cost solutions to afford groceries.
Enter Too Good to Go, an app that connects customers to restaurants that have excess food. The app works to the benefit of businesses and customers alike. Restaurants earn some money from their wares; and, in exchange, customers can get food that they may not otherwise be able to afford at full price.
The app is predicated on the idea, however, that customers can’t request items. Instead, they pay a discounted rate for whatever is available at any given time.
@jorlala AITA for not giving her what she wanted?? i would have considered if we had other waste going out but those were literally the only options #baristalife #baristaproblems #customerserviceproblems #customersbelike #customerstories #customerstorytime ♬ original sound – bhadbharista
But not everyone is privy to how Too Good to Go works. In fact, one worker went viral on TikTok after exposing a customer who attempted to use a family member’s death in order to get better food choices.
@jorlala, a bakery worker, said that her restaurant gives out “pre-bagged” pastry offerings as part of its Too Good to Go operation. But one customer, she said, had demands for her goody bag. In her video, @jorlala asked viewers whether she’s “the a**hole” for not acquiescing. To help viewers understand her predicament, she re-enacted her interaction with a customer—performing both “roles” in her skit-tok. As of Thursday morning, the video had over 182,800 views.
“Is there, like, a way that you can not give me any croissants?” the customer asked.
“So, the way that these work is they’re just, like, random,” the worker responded. “There are two butter croissants in that, but I can’t really change that.” In addition to the croissants, though, she said that the bag contained a chocolate chip cookie and a lemon loaf.
This didn’t satisfy the customer, however.
“Yeah, so.. My mother-in-law died yesterday,” they said. “It’s been, like… really rough.”
After the worker offered her condolences, the customer explained why their mother-in-law’s death was relevant to the contents of their goodie bag.
“I was just kind of hoping that I wouldn’t have to get croissants in this,” the customer said, implying that she was dealing with the aftermath of the death and didn’t want to be eat croissants while mourning.
Again, though, @jorlala explained that she wouldn’t be able to satisfy the customer’s requests. That’s because, she said, the Too Good to Go randomized bags are “based on… waste.”
Not willing to give up, the customer then revealed that her father-in-law died, too. When that gambit didn’t work, the customer claimed to have cancer.
“I’m dealing with a lot so if you could… take the croissants out and instead I’d like the cinnamon roll and the morning bun,” they said.
Once again, the worker said she explained that Too Good to Go is based on waste. As a result, she couldn’t adhere to the customer’s specific demands.
“AITA for not giving her what she wanted??” the worker asked viewers. “I would have considered if we had other waste going out, but those were literally the only options.”
Viewers who watched the clip resonated with @jorlala’s struggles, with several workers writing that they’ve experienced similar customer behavior.
“Literally working retail is like this,” they said. “I’m just like, ‘That’s cool, you want this or not?’”
“I used to get this a lot when I used to work as a receptionist,” another said.
“The amount of emotional manipulation customers service employees go through is insane,” a third person wrote.
The Daily Dot has reached out to @jorlala via TikTok comment and to Too Good to Go by email.
