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Cheapo At The Diner

EXCLUSIVE!

[Blind Gossip] This under-30 female singer stopped into a diner-like restaurant for a late-night bite with a friend.

They sat in a booth for two hours. They ordered two inexpensive items and two coffees (with refills).

The total on the bill was under $15. The service was perfect. They left a $2 tip. Really?!

This singer easily makes millions of dollars a year.

Similar: Bar Tab Pickup

Singer:

[Optional] What % do you usually tip? Do you think rich or famous people should be more generous with their tipping?

Reader Interactions

Comments

    • She left an $800 tip at a restaurant in Tn about a year ago. Can’t see her changing that habit in such a short time.
      I tip based on service, but usually 15 – 20%, depending on how ‘flush’ I am at the moment.

  2. The photo makes me think this is about Ariana Grande. The woman looks like her and is pouring coffee (a grande).

    I tip about 20%, more if service was amazing. If my bill was under $5 I would never leave only one dollar tip! This one did on a $15 bill and two hours of bench warming. In this case I would have probably left $15-20 tip.

    • Totally agree with you. Taking up the space for two hours it is only fair to leave more. I’m not saying celebrities should be expected to throw down a wad of cash all the time. Just be fair & don’t act like the “privilege” of serving you should be enough.

    • Agree on the Ariana Grande guess. These people make millions and should generously tip. Always. I don’t mean leave something obscene, but seriously, a $2 tip on an $15 bill, sitting in the spot taking up space for 2 hours? Incredibly rude and insensitive to someone trying to make a living. The waitress had every reason to be angry. Even if she left her $25 or $50, what is that to someone making her kind of coin? Entitled little donut-licking brat is what she is (assuming it’s her).

    • I didn’t say that the tip should be higher because the person was a celebrity, I said so because they sat in the booth for two hours. I’m confused by the people who assume that since it was late night, the diner must have been empty; that may be true in some places but not in a big city. I assure you that diners are packed late at night because they’re all that’s open other than drive-thrus. I did assume this occurred in LA or another city.

  3. Optional: In general 25% minimum. Sometimes a lot more. The service would have to be horrid for me to leave less. But I always leave something. I used to work in the service industry & it’s hard. Now that I can afford to give back I do

  6. Selena Gomez.

    I usually tip 20%. 15% if the service is very so-so. I figure these folks have to make a living. Plus they work hard. And yes, absolutely I think that rich folks should spread the wealth a bit instead of hogging it all. They certainly expect us to and are happy to tell us so.

  7. Just because you’re wealthy doesn’t mean you need to leave a * load of money for your server. If the bill is at $15 and there wasn’t much service given, a $2 tip sounds right to me. Was the server expecting thousands because s/he had been serving a celebrity? Get off it.

    • It’s not that they are wealthy, it’s that they took up one of the waitresses’ tables for 2 hours. She could have had several more customers in that time. They only get $2 and some change per hour and live on tips so if you are going to take up the time of say 3 or 4 customers, tip accordingly.

    • Why is everyone assuming there were other customers who needed that table? I’m sure the blind would have stated that it was peak hour or there were others who needed the table if that was the case. Just sounds like a server who was hoping for a windfall by topping up their drinks and just got a normal sized tip.

    • Those tables are a server’s paycheck. To sit for over two hours means that server couldn’t make money on that table for two hours. Rich or not, you should respect the fact that the server wasn’t making money from other people that would have ordered more and tipped more. If the just wanted coffee and a chat they should have gone to a coffee shop. Also $2 is less than 15% and that’s a bad tip. If $2 sounds good to you, don’t go out to eat, servers hate your type.

    • Taking the table for 2 hours cost the server money. It’s not unreasonable to think that a few extra dollars should be added. Obviously someone who has never worked in the service industry.
      Don’t know the state, in some there’s a law called tip credit. The employer pays up to 50% of minimum wage because it is thought customers will make up the difference. In college I made 2$ an hour! Had a few pro athletes who were very demanding yet left very little despite me. I stayed all night once…

    • But they took up a booth for two hours, which could have been turned over at least twice, with the server losing the tips from those meals. Whoever it was should have left some extra for that alone.

    • I agree…also, this doesn’t say that the restaurant is crowded. If the place is completely empty, then you’re not taking up a table and taking away from the server’s tips. I would probably give 20% in this situation, but 13% isn’t the end of the world. Maybe they just made a math error.

    • When did tipping stop being a gratuity, and started being a demand? I don’t like how people in certain businesses have started to act like you owe them a tip these days, and then have the nerve to complain if you don’t give them a big one! Tips are something you earn for good service, not something you demand just for doing your job…….unbelievable!

    • I agree with you, they don’t owe a certain amount nor should they give more because they have money. No one knows if the place was crowded or not to even know if two hours cost the server anything at all. How does anyone even know if the server was even attentive…. perhaps not!

    • @blueelephants maybe employers in america should join other western countries and pay their workers a proper wage instead of pawning off their responcibilities to their customers. it’s not the customers responcibility to pay the employees. tips shouldn’t be a subsitute for a proper wage. no other western country except for america uses tips as an income.

    • Servers make less than minimum wage and rely on tips in order to survive, Singer spent less than her server made for those two hours she spent chatting and sipping coffee. Someone famous once said you should treat others how you wish to be treated.

    • Not because she’s a celebrity, but because the server lost a chance at tips by taking up the booth for that long.

    • The blind says “late night bite.” I doubt they would have stayed two hours if it were crowded.

    • I agree with you, because it was “late night” and more of a “diner” than a restaurant. In the blind it doesn’t state that the wait staff was put out about losing turn overs. Which they would have mentioned if that had been an issue.

      Their issue is they expected a big tip because their customer is a celebrity and wealthy. And yes, I have worked as a waiter. Though I also worked in a venue with live music where guests have held tables up nursing beers with a dollar tip per beer.

  8. Singer: Taylor Swift
    I’m gonna make a guess about the friend too: Karlie Kloss.

  9. The Biebs?
    I tip at least 20% for a sit down diner, but I don’t usually tip much for standing at the counter ordering takeout, even though they expect it. Too bad.

    • I tip 15% for adequate service, 20% for great service. But if I order a small meal or just coffee and stay for two hours getting refills and taking up the table, I would tip more like 30-50%. So on this $15 tab, I’d leave at least $5. But I’m not wealthy. If I were, I’d leave 100% for good service just because I could.

  11. Really? Someone was complaining about this? Sounds like someone just got really upset they weren’t able to tell one of those “celebrity tips $1000 for a $15 meal” story.

    I usually tip 20%.

    20% of $15 is $3.

    The story says the meal was less than $15. Seems like a $2 tip wasn’t entirely that stingy..

    • Ikr this story made me cringe. At least in the Uk, if you get any tip it’s considered really lucky. Generally, nobody tips that much, it’s just not expected. Sometimes people do, but nobody minds if nobody tips. Nobody would expect a tip for a little cheap meal that is for sure. It would make me so nervous to eat in America, because I don’t know the rules and I’d be so scared to offend someone 🙁

    • I think the difference is that your servers hourly wages are considerably better than ours. The hourly wage here can be so low that if they don’t make decent tips it can really affect their livelihood. Many are students trying to work & go to school. That aside most servers know that their are cultural differences regarding tipping. A person should not receive poor service from someone because they assume they may not be tipped.

  12. That’s a 20% tip, which is what I usually tip. Not sure it’s fair to expect more than standard just because the perception is that the customer has “millions.” No, I don’t think rich people should be EXPECTED to tip more. No one should be EXPECTED to tip high. That’s not fair. It would be nice if they spread it around, but it’s their money.

    • Actually, it’s a little less than a 15% tip. A 20% tip would have been 3 bucks. A 15% tip would have been $2.25.

    • It said the bill was UNDER $15.00–who knows what the exact total was?
      1. 20% is perfectly appropriate, though a bit more would have been nice.
      2. It said a late night snack-doubtful the place was crowded.
      3. Maybe the friend was treating the singer and maybe the classy thing to do was let them treat and not add to the tip.
      4. How awful to not be able to do anything without people expecting a grand gesture or a lot of money-seems like this celebrity was just trying to be normal.

  13. Lmao that’s not being cheap, that’s called tipping accordingly.

    Even if the bill was $15, the most you would tip is $3 if you go by 20% instead of 15%. On 15% it’s only $2.25

    This exclusive tip sounds like it came from the bitter server who expected they should get more because the person happened to be famous.

  14. Arian Grande

    At least 20%. I was a waitress previously, plus it’s easy to do the math – 1/5 of the total!

  15. Miley Cyrus
    I start at 20%. I add more if the service warrants more. I almost never tip less than 20%.

    If you’re rich and famous, tip more so the whole world doesn’t think you’re a cheapskate.
    If you’re occupying a table for two hours, tip well because it’s the right thing to do!

  16. No idea but I leave 20% and if my friends and I stay a long time, I make sure to leave more for holding the table.

    • Since these women are young and maybe have never had a friend that waited tables, they could just be clueless. But someone should have told them to leave at least 15%.

  21. I don’t know who the singer is, and the blind doesn’t specify in which country the restaurant is, but I assume it’s the US. If this had happened outside the US it’s not such a big deal.

    Countries outside the US usually have 10% service charges added so there is no tip, or an approximately 10% tip is seen as an extra. There are a few countries like Japan or Australia where no tip is expected.

    I would have thought a tip should be smaller for two people. Bigger for tables of 8 or 10.

  22. I don’t know who it is but I am so sick and tired of these whiny waiters and waitresses acting like a normal tip isn’t good enough because of what somebody makes. Get a better job if you don’t like what you make, absolutely disgusting.

    • And I’m sick and tired of people who don’t understand what it means to work for less than minimum wage and depend on tips to make a living. You try it

    • job in this economy instead of wasting time complaining about how disappointed you are with your tips because you were being greedy expecting more when more wasn’t even warranted.

  23. The wait staffer seems to feel entitled, $5 tip would be the max to be expected. Even though they (singer) may be loaded, it’s kind of a bit much to expect her to tip over her tab. It’s not as if she made outrageous demands with attitude, and it wasn’t in peak turn over hours.

    • I am pretty sure Kelly has worked in a bar; she’d understand the tip expectations.

  25. Rihanna.
    I usually tip at the very least 20%.
    While it’d certainly be good karma for celebrities to pay it forward and be fantastical tippers, well, to each their own I guess.

  27. Singer: Taylor Swift (just a guess)

    Optional: I almost always leave 20 percent, unless the service is atrocious.
    Yes, rich people should leave a bigger tip, even in the future after they (hopefully) pay higher taxes.

  28. 20% of $13 is $2.60. “The service was perfect” is their opinion. What’s the difference between a singer, a record label exec, a lawyer and an average person who leave a 15% tip at a diner? The singer is recognizable. Maybe this waitress should CHOOSE to work at a restaurant with a higher guest check if she would like to make bigger tips instead of complaining about a standard tip amount from someone she(he) dubs “worthy” to pay more to make up her(his) low wage.

  29. I don’t know who this is, but $2 on a bill of less than $15 isn’t bad. Etiquette rules say you should pay 15-20% tip on the subtotal before tax which is probably somewhere in the $2 range if it’s less than $14 before tax. Maybe she’s smart with her money and doesn’t like to spend extravagantly. Two hours is a long time, but if it’s late with plenty of empty tables around, I don’t see a problem with that either. With that said, I pay 20% tip most of the time. Servers work hard for the…

  30. Taylor Swift – only because she seems to be the ONLY currently successful under 30 female singer who easily makes millions every year. Glad I’m a Gen Xer and my generation had PLENTY of talented singers.

    I would have paid my tab with a $20.00, and left at least another twenty as a tip. Whoever this blind is about is one cheap *. I work for a living and always tip 20-25%. Even after unsatisfactory service…I pay up. I might have a minor sarcastic comment for the server though.

  31. IDK

    I tip 20% for good service. The singer could have done that plus a little extra for staying so long. If she gave a huge tip, outrageous tip, everyone will start to expect it and that is a problem. However, I have left extra generous tips for waitstaff under special circumstances like:

    – heavily pregnant
    – college kid working to pay tuition
    – one lady whose boss was a jacka** (also left a note for her boss telling him how attentive she was)

  32. Her tip was OK. I don’t know why people expect huge tips.
    I usually tip well but if I’m not in the mood, I will tip around the 15% mark.

  33. I have no clue, but I’ll say Taylor Swift.

    Having waited tables (and waited on famous people), I’d say in a diner or a place in “ordinary America”, throw a C-note down. Make the person’s day. If they didn’t make a scene or demand selfies and did a nice job. That’s free publicity.

    In exclusive restaurants, just do the usual 15%-25% depending. More if you made crazy demands.

  35. I think esp these waste of space katrasions should tip better they steal other people’s ideas and need to give back in anyway..also if u sit in a booth for over 2hrs then u should pay for space waitress losing money on esp if your rich and class less

  36. No idea who this is, but why should you be expected to tip more just because you have more money? I’m so glad tipping isn’t a thing in my country – some restaurants include a mandatory 10% service charge but that’s it.

  37. I agree this is stingy, but not excessively.

    I usually tip about 20%, but on smaller bills (like this one), I’d probably just round it up to $20 (roughly 30-35%).

  39. Must be someone British. We don’t have a big tipping culture here – waiting staff are not expected to make up their salaries with tips, and there’s a bit of a public outcry each time tipping controversies about specific restaurants come to light. About 10 % would be considered normal here; though these days it’s more like 12.5 %. (Though of course, a lot of Brits tip generously too). I just hope this is not Adele!

  40. Taylor Swift. They didn’t call it a diner, they called it diner-style. They could have just called it a restaurant. Taylor has a song called “All-Night Diner”.
    And that was a sh**y thing to do. Rich people shouldn’t have to tip more, but they should at least not be cheap.

  41. Not sure who the singer is.

    At the very least I tip 20%. I think it all depends on the service though.

  43. I’m surprised and dismayed by all the cheapskates commenting on here that this measly tip was justified. If you’re in the U.S. you most know that servers depend on tips as their primary source of income. i.e., to pay rent and put food on the table, etc.

    Even if you’re not a rich celeb – no, it’s NOT “reasonable” or “fair” to occupy a table for 2hrs and then leave less than 15% if the service was adequate. If you’re cheap just own it, don’t try to justify it like it’s the right…

    • I don’t break my back and wreck my brain for hours upon hours, days upon days so I can squander my hard-earned money on some little snot who feels entitled to more pay because s/he chose to work at a restaurant as a server. If this makes me cheap, so be it.

  45. HI Ace, long time lurker, never really commented. However, this is one topic I cant stay silent about. I’ve spent nearly a decade in the hospitality industry, between bartending, serving, and banquet server. I am fortunate to live in the Chicago area , therefore, sports keep business rolling in year round, especially if you work at a sports bar. I currently work in southwest Michigan, and there the server minimum wage is a litle over 3 dollars an hour. In Indiana, servers are paid 2.13 an…

    • Yes, I understand it’s frustrating that employers do not pay employees properly. But, it has literally ALWAYS been this way. It is nice to have cash every day, or at least every couple of days. I expect myself to provide exceptional customer service, try to answer any and all questions and address concerns, and correct any errors that may occur. Servers are humans. We have bills, children, house payments, etc. SO when you dont tip, you’re not showing the corporation. You’re hurting families

  48. I was going to say Carrie Underwood but she is over 30. Taylor Swift in a frugal moment . She should have left three dollars . I do 20 to 25 % always . When it is a gathering dinner and a lot of running around then I go higher to 30 to 35 maybe more. Servers can get an Entitlement mentality and think they should be in the will and I am sick and tired of those tip jars at registers in convenience stores and anywhere where all you did was ring up my purchase ? I mean really !

  49. And I know…you would do the same complaining about tipping if it was average Joe…..oh wait. Sheez.

  50. I’m sorry…but seriously? The girl left a tip. Just because she’s a celeb and has more money, she’s expected to tip higher than the rest of the world???? That’s complete BS. It’s a diner for crying out loud. coffee and 2 meals…and the waitress probably left them alone most of the time.

    I was a waitress…20% of $15 should be $3.00. Most people don’t realize this, and they only double the tax. Doing so, you’re leaving less than 20%, but people think it’s right.

  51. In Canada, minimum wage for servers is less than the normal minimum wage. Some restaurants don’t share the entire tip when paying through a debit or credit card payment (I try to leave cash). Many restaurants have a policy where servers must pay out 5% of their customers’ bills to ‘behind the scenes’ workers (cooks, dishwashers). This means that a poorly tipped server could even be losing money.

  52. if I were well off i’d truly give an impressive tip. I am not rich and I still tip 20% for good service.

  53. Singer: Ariana Grande

    [Optional] What % do you usually tip? Do you think rich or famous people should be more generous with their tipping?
    I usually tip about 18-20% unless the service had some major hiccups. I do not think rich or famous people should be more generous than the regular Joes.
    A $2 tip on a “less than $15” bill is fine. Notice that you do not have to tip on taxes, so assuming the bill was, say, $14, then it would be about $13 pre-tax. 15% of $13 is $1.95.

  55. 2 dollars for 15 dollars, which likely includes taxes is more than reasonable. just because you’re rich doesn’t mean you tip more than average person.