A woman has been left gobsmacked after being charged a whopping $25 (£20) after a waitress cut the birthday cake she brought into the restaurant. TikTok user Gigi, who is known as @vivala_blondiiie online, shared how she was out celebrating a friend's birthday - and made a homemade cake for the special occasion.
She took the cake to the restaurant to surprise her friend - and when asked whether they wanted it cutting and bringing it back out to them, she politely said 'Yes'. However, it wasn't until she reviewed her receipt - which came to a total of $126.98 (£103.33) - when she realised she'd been charged $25 (£20) for the cake to be cut.
She said on TikTok: "When the server asks if we want the cake we brought cut, thinking she's doing something nice for us... but it was $25. I didn't know this was a thing?"
While some users shared their shock over this "outrageous" charge, others claim this is normal for restaurants and reminded her "nothing in life is free".
One user said: "News to me! $25 is way too much and they should have told you first."
Another user added: "Many restaurants do this but they definitely should have told you about the fee."
But a third user said: "It's obvious. I don't know why people like bringing outside stuff into restaurants."
One more user added: "Some restaurants let you bring in your own bottle of wine but you pay to have it opened. I mean, you're not buying their stuff so?"
Others pointed out how her receipt already includes a $4.52 (£3.68) service charge, suggesting she'd already paid them enough for their service.
One user said: "I would count that as her tip then."
While another user added: "This happened to our group too! We brought our own plates, silverware and cut it ourselves - still mad."
According to New York Times, many restaurants add a cakeage free - a play on the term corkage - on to a customer's bill when they bring in their own dessert from outside.
It has been suggested that it is to cover the staff's time in plating it up and washing the dishes - but also to offset the loss of revenue from in-house desserts.
It comes after a former McDonald's worker shared how customers can get their hands on fresh fries when visiting the fast-food restaurant.
Crew member, known as @jodessy on TikTok, claims customers commonly ask for "no salt" on their fries in an attempt to be served a new batch - with many adding their own salt on after receiving their order.
However, she claims this is completely unnecessary and slows down the entire operation for yourself and other customers. Instead, she offers an alternative hack to get the perfect fries.
She said: "Asking for fries no salt is just annoying. Just say you want the fries dropped fresh - nine times out of 10 the fries are already dropped fresh."
Do you have a story to share? Email paige.freshwater@reachplc.com.
