Photo: TikTok
He still got a hefty tip from them.
By Nia Tipton — Written on Jan 28, 2023
A server revealed that he was able to get the last laugh after a customer refused to tip him, not knowing that gratuity was included in their check.
In a TikTok video, Dean Redmond shared how he was tasked with serving a large party of people.
However, while serving them, one of the women in the group of people, who Redmond labeled as a 'Karen,' acted horribly toward him throughout their dinner, and threatened to tip him poorly.
Redmond's 'difficult' customer tried to tip him nothing but didn't realize gratuity was automatically added.
In Redmond's video, which has boasted over 180,000 views, he explained that while he was working, 26 people had come into the restaurant looking to have dinner.
He recalled that the group had come in only an hour before the restaurant closed and were rude to him throughout their meal.
The party of 26 people immediately asked to be seated all together, despite Redmond informing them that they would need "two separate tables" since they didn't have enough room to accommodate everyone.
“This woman starts screaming that I have no idea what I’m talking about and where’s my manager," Redmond said.
After getting his manager, they are able to find them a long table for everyone to sit at in their back room.
"By the time we come out, they’re like, ‘We’re actually going to go somewhere else.’ At this point, I didn’t care because we were already 40 minutes until close; there was no way we were going to be out until 9:30," he continued.
However, 20 minutes later, the party comes back and asks to be seated once more, but this time Redmond politely tells them they might not able to serve them due to the restaurant closing soon.
Again, the same woman yells for the manager to come back — again, and the 26 people are finally seated to order.
Redmond quickly goes up to their table, asking the group if they have their orders since the establishment will be closing in 20 minutes, which immediately angers the woman, who calls him "rude" for rushing them.
"By the time I get all of their order, it’s literally past close. They ordered seven champagne bottles because they were pissed we didn’t have hard alcohol. I get those for them, drop them off, and put their food in."
During the 40 minutes that it takes for the table's food to be made, Redmond added that "every 10 seconds" the table inquired about whether their food was ready or not.
Once their food comes out, the woman starts complaining about the quality of the meal.
The table Redmond has been serving continues to act poorly toward him, and when he finally brings their food out, the woman immediately finds a problem with the meal.
"It's literally 40 minutes past closing at this point, and this woman starts screaming, 'There's a hair in my food!'"
Redmond tells the woman that all of their chefs are bald, so it couldn't have come from the kitchen, causing the woman to insist that the hair must've come from his head, which Redmond profusely denied.
Once the table is done eating, Redmond and his manager don't bother offering them the dessert menu and instead bring them the check.
After giving them their check for the meal, the woman begins screaming once more, complaining about the price of the champagne bottles they had ordered, which were $40 each.
She reprimanded Redmond for not telling them the price of the alcohol, to which he apologizes and directs her concern to his manager.
The manager also offered an apology and tells the woman that they did remove all of the other meals that weren't satisfactory for them, including the dish with a hair in it.
Redmond continued, saying that the woman then complained about the price of the entire bill, despite the party being 26 people. "She's like, 'This place is highway robbery, $610 for a dinner.'"
The woman then tells Redmond that he shouldn't be expecting a tip from them at all since their bill is so high.
However, Redmond was awarded the last laugh considering their bill automatically included gratuity.
"Little did she know that automatic gratuities are added to parties of 14 or more, so 25% was added to this, and we got about $170 out of this Karen," he concluded.
TikTok users sided with Redmond's frustration over dealing with the 'difficult' customers.
"Can we start writing reviews for customers now, or just refuse people who immediately start harassing the servers?" one user wrote.
Another user pointed out that the price for the champagne bottles was "extremely reasonable."
Other users criticized Redmond's manager.
"Took me a while to learn restaurant managers and owners care more about how they look online than how valued their employees feel," a third user remarked.
A fourth user wrote, "You need a new manager."
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Nia Tipton is a writer living in Brooklyn. She covers pop culture, social justice issues, and trending topics. Keep up with her on Instagram and Twitter.