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Viewers shared their sympathy for a server who claimed in a viral video that a party of 11 people walked out and only left $3 to go toward a $220 bill.
In a video viewed nearly 6 million times since it was shared to Vera Kent's TikTok account, @viseuez on June 29, Kent shared that she was the only person working with the restaurant's overnight cook when the group of people placed their orders, ate their food and left before she could hand them their bill.
Some commenters urged her to report the incident to the appropriate authorities.
According to the legal information website LawInfo, "dining and dashing" occurs when a patron eats or drinks at an establishment and leaves without paying the bill.
A few consequences may come of this, including the restaurant losing money and the server potentially having to cover the cost of the items.
"In some states, a server must pay for the dine-and-dash customers, especially when a server has multiple walkouts," the organization noted. "Most states have rules that require an employer to alert an employee of any deductions from their wages."
However, LawInfo said some restaurants budget for walkouts, and the server may not be penalized.
In the text that overlaid the video, Kent explained that the group came in at 4 a.m. and assured her that it was OK that it was just her and the overnight cook working.
It also noted that the group left $3 total before she was able to deliver them their $220 bill.
"I hope you need the money more than I do," the caption of Kent's video read. "I hope you got home safe & you feel guilty & the girl in blue who wasn't part of the group and offered to stay and help has the best life. But you're mean and you weren't raised right."
Kent wrote to Newsweek that walkouts are common, and the one featured in the video was not the first one that evening.
She explained that the policy to flag potential walkouts is to inform a manager of which table to watch.
Some signs they look for include people talking about forgetting their wallet, if they do not make eye contact and if each person spends a great deal of money.
Servers, Kent said, are encouraged not to endanger themselves and to only interact if it is safe.
If a ticket is not paid, she explained that the restaurant pays for walkouts.
"In my particular situation, I was not charged for the theft and did not receive any disciplinary action," Kent said, though she noted that she heard other servers had money taken from their paychecks if someone did not pay for their orders.
She said this particular group of people were inebriated young adults but they were not impolite.
"They were demanding, but most large parties are," Kent recalled. "The biggest pain in the neck of it all was that they were incredibly messy, and more and more people kept joining them, probably trickling home from the bar or a party."
When she met with management, Kent served a letter with the intent to resign unless changes were made, but said management "stonewalled."
She ultimately decided to submit her two-week notice.
"If they had changed staffing or been willing to hire security, I would have stayed," Kent said. "But when my car was stolen three days after that walkout, due to—again—the lack of staffing or security (they stole my keys from an employee area supposedly covered with cameras, which it was not) it cemented my decision."
Viewers flocked to the comments section, some of them urging her to report them to the police.
"Call the cops what they did is illegal and they can be charged with theft," a viewer advised.
Another recommended that if there is video footage of the incident available, it should be posted on social media.
"I used to work overnights, don't ever tell them it's just the two of you, it opens you up to way more theft/walkouts," a viewer recommended.
Other viewers shared that they experienced similar situations.
"Once the entire baseball team walked out on the bill, so my manager called their coach and ratted them out," one viewer wrote. "It was amazing.
One wondered if there may be some changes made to how people dine in restaurants.
"I've wondered if we will see restaurants start to change how they collect payment...paying upfront instead of after the fact," they commented.
"This is one of the reasons why I'm starting to lose faith in humanity," a viewer wrote.
Other servers have taken their experiences to the popular video-sharing platform.
A group of servers shared their biggest pet peeves about serving in a viral TikTok video, while one server's video showing the low tip they received sparked a debate among viewers.
Another server claimed that she had to cook the food that her table ordered because there were no cooks working.
Updated 07/21/2022, 3:30 p.m. ET: This story has been updated with comments from Vera Kent and a verified video of the incident.
About the writer
Catherine Ferris is a Newsweek reporter based in New York. Her focus is reporting for the U.S. Trends Team. She ... Read more