Waitress hits out at people trying viral ‘eat and return’ stunt at her restaurant

A no-nonsense waitress has gone viral after calling out two diners who allegedly scammed her restaurant with a now-trending “eat and return” scheme.

A waitress has slammed people trying the viral ‘eat and return’ stunt. Credit: Klaus Vedfelt / Getty

The furious server, who posts as @girlypopzonly on TikTok, laid out the jaw-dropping encounter in a video recorded from her restaurant’s kitchen.

According to her, the couple managed to run through seven meals – yes, seven – claiming each dish was “nasty” only after polishing off the majority of it.

The saga began when one of the customers sent back a half-eaten burger, claiming it wasn’t to her liking. But it wasn’t a total loss, as every last fry on the plate was also gone.

“So she gives me half a burger back. And I’m like, ‘You know what? OK, she didn’t like the burger, that’s fine, she liked the fries.’ So I take it back,” she said.

But it didn’t stop there. The customer then turned her attention to her date’s shrimp pasta, only to “return” that too, after scraping nearly the entire plate clean.

“The shrimp pasta’s half gone. There’s three noodles on the f***ing plate. And I’m like, ‘Oh, that’s weird, but OK,'” the server fumed, adding: “This is not a buffet, by the way. We don’t work at a buffet.”

As plates were cleared, the couple, who only paid $20 for the seven meals, allegedly laughed every time the waitress passed by. “Then, they’re sitting there laughing at me,” she said. “Every time I pass by, they’re like, heh, heh.”

By the end of her now-viral rant, @girlypopzonly expressed how common the scam has become and how helpless servers can feel when management sides with diners to avoid a scene.

“When you guys go to restaurants, do you order a bunch of meals?” she asked. “’Cause you’re like, ‘Might as well just eat a bunch and then return it.’ Why is this the norm? This happens so much.”

While the waitress was stunned that her manager agreed to comp every meal, commenters on the social media platform were even more baffled that no one stepped in to shut it down sooner.

“That’s a bad manager. your manager should have went over there and let notify them that every single dish that they ate when more than 75% of it has been eaten. it’s still going to be on their bill and that they cannot eat an entire plate and then return it,” one user asked.

Another asked: “Your manager didn’t talk to them after the second return?” while a third added: “I would lie and say unfortunately our policy states if over half the plate is eaten we can’t comp it off your bill but we can reduce the rate and get you something else.”

“Nope- not normal behavior!!! I have NEVER sent anything back, ever!!!! If I don’t like something, I just don’t eat it! I’ll order dessert and im good!!!” someone else wrote.

In today’s restaurant reality, the customer isn’t just not always right – sometimes, they’re just plain wrong.