Photo: TikTok | EZ-Stock Studio | Shutterstock
Nothing was going to stop him from getting a good tip.
By Nia Tipton — Written on Jan 25, 2023
A server has elicited mixed reactions after revealing how he was able to get a hefty tip from a group of older customers.
In a TikTok video, Dean Redmond shared his experience serving a table of "boomers," and how he was able to finesse his way to receiving a tip after messing up the table's order.
Redmond shared how he received a $400 tip after lying to a table of elderly customers.
In Redmond's video, which has boasted well over 3.5 million views, he explained that while serving a table of older customers their order had never been sent back to the kitchen.
"I come and get their order, and when I think it's [been] sent back to the kitchen, [it] never got sent back," Redmond recalls
After thirty minutes have gone back, he notices that his table is getting frustrated as time goes on, asking him where their food is and why it's taking so long.
Redmond promises their food will be out soon, but as he walks past the kitchen he sees that the cooks are not making any food and are instead watching the World Cup.
When he walks into the kitchen and asks if there's any update on the order for the "big table," the cooks tell him they never received any orders, which is when Redmond realizes their tickets never went through.
Upon realizing that he had messed up the order, Redmond comes up with a way to still get a tip by thinking on his feet.
"I call my cell phone off of my work phone, and I'm like, 'what? I can't talk right now, I'm at work.'"
Redmond pretended to have gotten a call that his mother had died while in earshot of his table of elderly customers.
He decides to pretend to have gotten disastrous news while near his table of elderly customers so they can hear.
After hanging up the phone, he runs back to his table in a frenzy, telling them that he just got a call from a police officer saying that his mother had gotten into a car accident and passed away.
At the admission from Redmond, the table of customers are rightfully shocked at the news, despite it being a lie.
When he tells them that their food will be out in a minute, clearly using the diversion to ensure that the table won't leave him a bad tip, they assure him they're not worried about their meal anymore.
"'Please don't worry about our food, you're clearly just worrying about your own mother, you're just worrying about us too much,'" the table of elderly customers tells Redmond.
Upon returning ten minutes later with their meals, they thank him profusely for working despite getting horrible news about his mother.
However, after Redmond's shift was up, he noticed that the table had come back "two hours later" with a $400 tip for him.
With the money, they left him a handwritten note which read: "Please accept our deepest condolences for the loss of your mother."
"We have all chipped in some of our savings to give to you. Hope your Christmas is filled with many blessings!!" the note continued.
Redmond concluded his video by expressing his guilt for lying, saying, "Oh my God, I just stole from the elderly!"
TikTok users had mixed reactions to Redmond's lie.
"Is this not defrauding people?" one user inquired.
Another user added, "See, I love lying to my customers but this is too deep."
"Imagine them seeing this," a third user pointed out.
Other users found the situation hilarious, praising Redmond for going any means necessary to get a huge tip.
"Get your bag, I told a table I was expecting and they blessed me," another user shared, adding that they actually weren't pregnant at all.
Another user wrote, "Evil. I respect the hustle though."
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.