One Reddit user was surprised to see his intended 20 percent tip at a Chili’s in the US jump to 73 percent with the press of a button.
The 25-year-old diner shared a photo of the payment tablet he used, showing that his $19 bill had unexpectedly increased to $32.80.
He said he “thought it was a strange problem” while paying for his burger, fries and drink at a Chili’s in Virginia, according to news week.
“I appreciate the work the servers do, but this is too much for a table of one,” he wrote in his Reddit post under the name Wonderful_Wade.
While he’s still waiting to hear from Chili’s about what happened, the reason for the huge difference could be related to the way the restaurant chain’s Ziosk payment tablets calculate tips.
A 25-year-old Chili’s customer discovered that his 20 percent tip turned into 72.6 percent while paying for his meal at a Virginia location.
“I’m currently waiting for the restaurant to find the receipt so they can send it to me so I can find out what exactly happened to my bill, or if it was just a technical issue at the kiosk,” he told Newsweek.
‘Assuming everything is fine, I would normally tip 25 per cent. But it depends on how much the food cost and how good the service is.
“I would only pay that much if the service was excellent and I felt I deserved that high tip percentage.”
The Reddit user responded to some commenters, with some users questioning their bill and others commenting on the tipping culture.
He said he had scored Chili’s ‘3 for Me’ discount – a meal that includes a drink, a starter and mains from a select menu.
The problem could be related to the way the payment machine, from a company called Ziosk, calculates tips at Chili’s. The screen reads: “Tip is calculated after taxes and before discounts.”
While the 3 for Me deal costs around $10.99, the items alone add up to much more than that before the discount is applied.
But even then, Wonderful_Wade says the math still isn’t right.
“Even on their own, the total would only be $30, but this implies the total is $69 if my calculations are correct,” he said in the Oct. 19 Reddit post.
‘The response has been very divided. “Half the people claim I’m lying and used a gift card or something to reduce the bill, and the rest have been ranting about tipping culture,” u/Wonderful_Wade told Newsweek.
The restaurant guest’s $19 bill turned into a meal total of $32.80. The Ziosk read that 20 percent of the bill was $13.80.
‘Sorry, but discounts don’t matter. I tip what my check is before taxes. This is predatory,” wrote one Reddit user.
At least two commenters suggested what the Chili’s customer should do next time, including calculating tips before and after discounts.
‘The best way to do this is to simply take the final total and calculate the percentage of the tip you want and use the custom option. “Then you won’t have to worry about this,” wrote one Reddit user.
This isn’t the only Ziosk tipping issue reported this year.
TikTok user @baldbackup highlighted a similar issue in a June 17 report. video . Another error by Ziosk inflated a 20 percent tip on a $18.98 bill to $15.19, which was actually calculated as 80 percent.
TikTok did a little math and said the 20 percent tip was only supposed to be $3.79.
‘Where do they get $15.19? What is that?’ the TikToker shouted.
The Chili’s customer claimed a discount was added because he participated in the restaurant’s ‘3 for Me’ offer.
Several restaurant customers have raised Ziosk issues this year in TikTok videos
Tipping culture has become a hotly debated topic over the years.
It is known as the practice of customers giving extra money to service workers in various types of businesses, including restaurants.
TikTokers also started creating videos based on tipping culture and shared their experiences and advice on what to do about it.
“We know that tipping has been a hot topic,” said Van Darden, head of media relations at Talker Research. USA TODAY earlier this year.
“It’s trending on TikTok, there’s all kinds of conversations online about it, it’s been in the news as people have come off COVID highs and delivery services.”
This came just a year after the Pew Research Center said the standard tip most Americans pay in restaurants is 15 percent or less.
It also indicated that 37 percent of U.S. adults would leave a 15 percent tip, while 22 percent would prefer to leave a 20 percent tip.
Experts concluded that sales in Chilean stores increased 14.8 percent during the fiscal fourth quarter of this year.
Despite Ziosk’s problems, Chilean restaurants have apparently seen strong sales results this year.
Its same-store sales increased 14.8 percent and the company’s total sales were nearly $1.2 million in the fiscal fourth quarter of 2024.
“Our marketing team has done a great job of getting back into what we call the zeitgeist or getting relevant again,” said Kevin Hochman, CEO of Chili’s parent company, Brinker International. CNBC.
Some of the factors that helped with this growth include the restaurant chain’s social media presence and its focus on value-oriented advertising.
Daily Mail has contacted Brinker International for comment.