Customer left stunned after server refused 35% tip claiming it 'didn't count'

A customer at a restaurant was left shocked when a server told them that their 35 percent tip 'didn't count' for a very specific reason.

Tipping is a topic of increasing controversy in the US, with people divided over how much they should tip or when they should tip.

Others are critical of the tipping model altogether and instead advocate for servers to be paid a higher hourly rate.

Tipping can be a hot topic. (Flashpop / Getty)

In the meantime though, disputes over tipping are commonplace when eating out, as this one customer recently found.

Taking to TikTok, the restaurant goer explained that she had met a friend for breakfast.

Everything was fine until the end of the meal when she went to pay, and left the server a generous tip of 35 percent.

For those who don't know, a tip of 20 percent is a good baseline, and 35 is definitely going above and beyond.

But there was just one issue that the server had when they saw the tip, and told the customer that it 'didn't count'.

The customer said she paid using a gift card. (TikTok/@tinysparksvixen)

That's because the customer had paid, including the tip, on a gift card not using actual cash.

This caused some confusion in the comments section of the video, and while no-one seemed to think that it was explicitly wrong to tip with the gift card others suggested carrying cash for occasions such as this just in case.

The TikToker recalled the moment that the server had confronted her after the meal, telling the guest: "I don't know if you guys know this, but it is really rude not to tip your server."

When the customer explained that they thought they had tipped, they told how the server responded, saying: "She goes, "No, it doesn't count if it's a gift card'."

The customer was left confused, adding: "I was like, 'I don't think that's how gift cards work...' Maybe she's right - does that tip not count if it's from a gift card."

Most people in the comments agreed that it was okay for her to tip using the gift card, but some pointed out that it might vary from place to place if it's accepted.

One wrote: "Most of the restaurants I have worked at didn’t allow tipping on the gift cards," as a second posted: "Some places it does some places it doesn't."

Meanwhile, a third commented: "I’ve always given the extra balance (plus a little more if it wasn’t enough) and no one has ever given me grief!"

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