07/29/2026
Miscommunication or intentional theft?
Was dining at the Cheese Cake Factory and had a $114 bill with 3 guest. My friend gave me $60 cash so the intention of paying $40 cash and leaving them a $20 tip. The waitress grabbed the check, charged the full amount to the card and kept the $60 as her tip. She Came back and said “thank you have a good day”
When confronted she acted a bit confused and tried to skirt the situation. So I asked for my change back, And left her no tip. Still felt a little bad about leaving nothing, but felt she was trying to take advantage of us since she never came back to confirm.
I get irritated when a server assumes all the change is for them when it’s over 50%. Yes I do want my $12 back for my $8 beer.
EDIT:
This seems like quite a controversial topic, I read some of the replies and a lot of the questions ask "Why did you not explain the payment situation to the server?" The server was busy and took about 15 minutes to collect the check with the card and $60 cash. In that time we got engrossed in our conversation and I did not realize she picked it up. Normally I would explain how I wanted the payment to go, as I always try to tip in cash when possible, but instead just got the notification on my phone the full amount was charged.
Another common question is "why did I not pocket the $40?" I like to use cash before putting anything on my credit card when possible, makes sense to just reduce your credit card bill.
Some other comments mentioned some servers do get great tips, and I agree. I have left 100% tips before because I had a great time when the server. Normally its it's a $20 on $20. But I think assuming a 53% tip was a bit bold.
I know some servers that make over $100k a year in high end restaurants and some are making less than minimum wage. So it can go both ways, and I think that's the case with any job you put effort into. I'm in the mindset of paying for the service when there is a service, and paying extra when it's a great service.
