A customer was charged an unexpected $25 fee after they asked a restaurant server to cut a birthday cake they had bought themselves.
TikTok user Gigi, who goes by @vivala_blondiiie on the app, went viral earlier this week when she posted a video of the receipt from the restaurant, which cost a subtotal of $113.
She then zoomed in on the $25 charge, which read: “1 Cake Cut”
“When the server asks if we want the cake WE brought cut, thinking she’s doing something nice for us…but it was 25 dollars,” Gigi wrote over the video. She captioned the clip: “I didn’t know this was a thing?!?”
The TikTok video received more than 800k views since it was posted. Many users shared their mixed reactions to the surprising charge. Some people were shocked by the $25 charge simply for slicing a cake, while others maintained that this was a customary practice for restaurants.
“Totally a thing. Because then they bring plates and forks, which they then have to wash. But it was wrong that you weren’t told of a fee,” commented one user.
“This is normal, but you should have been told,” said someone else. “Because the waiter or waitress didn’t tell you, I would have made that the tip.”
Another added: “My restaurant does this but we have to let the party know there is a fee if they eat the outside dessert. Usually they don’t have a problem paying it.”
A “cakeage fee” is known as the extra cost a restaurant charges to serve customers a dessert that they had previously bought for the occasion. According to The New York Times, a cakeage fee “covers the cost of the server’s time and washing the dishes”. The fee also helps to “offset the loss of revenue from in-house desserts and makes up for the extra time a party will be at the table but not ordering food”.
“I don’t mind a small fee but $25 is crazy,” wrote one TikTok user.
“Wow!! That must be some excellent cutting!” joked someone else.
