A Georgia woman says she was beyond shocked when she found out that a restaurant she had gotten a $15 takeout order from had allegedly charged her a $40 tip. She claimed that she had opted to leave no tip and was not aware it had been added until her credit card company alerted her via email.
The incident has baffled netizens, with many questioning how such a significant charge could have been added without her authorization.
According to Adrienne, who shared the experience on TikTok, she had ordered soup from a Mexican restaurant on Chattahoochee Avenue in Atlanta. Because it was a takeout order, she said she deliberately left no tip and instead placed an X in the tip space on her receipt.
Instead of her original order reportedly costing just $15.01, an additional $40 tip brought the charge on her card to $55.01. She said her bank reached out to confirm whether she had intentionally left a whopping 266% tip on her order, and that’s when she knew something was wrong.
Georgia Woman Returns to Restaurant Over $40 Tip
After receiving the alert, Adrienne said she headed back to the restaurant to find out what had happened. She showed a woman at the restaurant the email she received and explained that she had never authorized the tip. The woman allegedly agreed that the amount was significant before going to retrieve the original receipt.
Once she found it, Adrienne recalled how the woman acted afterward. “Without saying anything to me, she was looking at it and she goes, Lindsay, Lindsay, Lindsay,” Adrienne claimed. She said she was then referred to the owner, whom she says was “very apologetic” over the phone.
“The first thing he said was, we’re gonna make this right,” Adrienne said. “He was like, I hope this doesn’t make you think any differently of the restaurant… And he’s like, we can refund it, we can put it back on your card, it’s no problem. We’ll take care of it right now for you.”
While she was pleased that the restaurant wanted to rectify the situation, she said her mood quickly soured when the owner started to explain how the incident could have occurred.
Restaurant Owner Reportedly Calls It an ‘Accident’
According to Adrienne, the owner claimed that what happened had been an “accident” and even gave an example of having experienced a situation where a $10 tip somehow became $99.
However, Adrienne argued that her situation was different because she hadn’t entered a numerical tip in the first place. She questioned how the restaurant could have accidentally charged an additional $40 when there was no $40 tip written on her receipt to begin with.
Adrienne also said she asked the woman she first spoke to whether the tip section on the original receipt had been scratched out. Although the woman didn’t directly answer the question, Adrienne believed her reaction after seeing the receipt suggested that something wasn’t right.
The owner, however, reportedly told Adrienne that he was going to “stand by [his] staff,” and the restaurant ultimately refunded her entire $55.01 charge.
Viewers Don’t Buy the ‘Accident’ Explanation
Adrienne’s story also had viewers questioning how a $0 tip could allegedly become $40, with several commenters suggesting that the employee had added it on purpose.
“She should totally be fired,” one person wrote of the employee. “That wasnt an accident. When servers close out their tabs they enter what credit card tip was entered,” another claimed. Someone else said, “Adding an unauthorized tip is illegal… ppl can go to jail for that.” Another pushed, “Cant you file charges for theft, even though they refunded you, she intentionally stole your money.”
Others were particularly bothered by Adrienne’s account of the owner saying he would stand by his employee.
“Standing by a staffer who is stealing is CRAZY!!!” one commenter remarked. Another wrote, “Absolutely terrible of the owner for claiming that was an accident. He could have done the right thing… by handling the thief he clearly has employed there.” A third said, “I would have called the police. He can bail her out since he’s standing by his staff.” A fourth chimed in, “I would press charges since they wanna play.”
Adrienne, meanwhile, said the experience left her with a lesson of her own to be more vigilant about checking her transactions. She admitted that she typically didn’t pay close attention to charges and receipts and was thankful her credit card company had flagged this particular transaction.
By sharing what happened, Adrienne said she hoped other customers would do the same and make sure the tips appearing on their final charges are actually the ones they authorized.
