Nate
Working in the service industry is already a wild ride. Long hours, unpredictable customers, and the constant battle of acting like you’re totally fine when you’re actually seconds away from snapping. But at least there’s one silver lining: tips. Or so you’d think.
Unfortunately, some people seem to believe tipping is optional—or worse, a chance to be insulting and unhinged. From pennies to prayer cards, servers have seen it all. And according to a 2023 survey by CreditCards.com, nearly 66% of Americans still don’t consistently tip 20% or more, with younger diners tipping even less. If that stat alone makes you want to scream into a napkin, just wait until you see what these servers have had to deal with.
We’ve rounded up the worst, rudest, and most ridiculous ‘tips’ servers have ever received. Grab your emotional support beverage, because this one’s going to hurt.
1. “I Work As A Cabin Housekeeper At A State Park. People Usually Sometimes Leave Tips For Us To Thank Us For Our Hard Work, But Yesterday We Found This In A Cabin”
“I don’t mind hearing about the word of God, but this is just evil.”
2. “I Got This As A Tip In My Bar. In Scotland”
3. “This Guy Has Been Waiting For This Moment His Entire Life”
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6. “Thought It Could Be For Food…”
“My family is rather low on money and I got ‘tipped’ 100 dollars at my job at a restaurant as a waitress and got so excited to have my own money since I’m young and can’t get a real job that actually pays well.
Guess I got double screwed and also tipped nothing for all my work. I’m definitely not gonna by your advertising services now.”
7. “Well, It May Be A Tip But She’s Just Trying To Make A Living”
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9. “My Coworker’s Shift Ended So I Took Over One Of Their Tables. Customer Did Not Like This And Left A Negative Tip”
10. “I’ve Been Tipped Twice With Coins I Cannot Legally Use In My Country”
11. “The Jerk That Left A Meme For A Tip”
12. “Don’t Be A Religious A-Hole”
13. “Got This Today As A Tip, Would This Be Valid Anywhere? And Yes It’s Sticky”
“(Very VERY MILDLY lol I’m glad I got anything at all!) I work as a caricature artist so maybe I annoyed someone real bad.”
14. “The Guests Knew The Assignment”
“They tipped in Cash.”
15. “This Is Disgusting And Makes Me So Angry! If They Feel That Way Then Maybe They Should Stay Home And Make Their Own Food”
16. “My Sister Got This While Waiting Tables”
17. “Racist Woman Leaving $0 Tip And Insults In North Carolina”
18. “Sorry I Politely Asked Your Crotch Goblin To Not Throw Sugar At Other Guests”
19. “The Person That Left This ‘Tip'”
20. “One Of My Kids Sent Me This. This Is In The Atlanta Area”
21. “Learn English? How About Learn How To Write”
22. “Karen Makes A Worker’s Life Miserable And Refuses To Tip”
23. “My Friend Waited On Two Underage Kids Who Tried To Order Drinks”
“Stiffing servers has always made someone a bad person, but during a pandemic when benefits have run out and restaurant employees are struggling more than they already did? Despicable.”
24. “If You Leave This As A ‘Tip’ For Your Waiter You Can Go To Hell”
25. “My First Nasty Note”
26. “Deciding Not To Tip Because Waiter Didn’t Wish Her Happy Mother’s Day”
27. “This Came Across My Table This Morning And Upsets Me Greatly!”
28. “I Was Tipped At Wisconsin State Fair, I Don’t Get Paid Enough To Deal With This”
29. “Was Tipped $1, I Live In The UK. This Is Worth Nothing”
“It’s worth like 76p and it would cost more to get it exchanged. I’m also never going to the US.”
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31. “Group Of Rich Girls From Stanford Came To My Bar, Tried A Million Samples, Held Up The Line, And All Tipped Like This”
32. “‘Why I Have Not Tipped!!!'”
33. “Me And Other Server Agreed To Split The Tip On A Party Of 15. They Tipped A Dollar”
34. “Dollar Bill Stamped With ‘Message’ Received As A Tip”
35. “Love Notes From People Who Bring Their Own Drinks Into A Restaurant (TX)”
“A gentleman decided to pour his own wine into our wine glass after finished the wine he ordered. Asked him about he confessed he poured it. The partners reasoning was ‘I thought since we could drink on the sidewalk we could bring our own drink in here’ I took the glass and let them finish their food I just dropped off.”
36. “This ‘$100’ Tip I Received Tonight”
37. “Well, No Tips For Today”
38. “From A Party Of 7 People And They Were There For About 2.5 Hours”
“the ‘thank you!!’ above the tip line is from me, i write it on all receipts, the ‘thanks :)’ at the signature line is my tip i guess. almost cried and walked out after this”
39. “Comps $90 Off Bill, Chased Screaming Child Around, Waited Hand And Foot And Got This As A Tip”
40. “Someone Left This In My Tip Jar”
