Woman dines alone at Maryland restaurant. She plans to tip more than 20% for her salmon dish. Then she sees the bill: ‘As a server absolutely not’

While automatic gratuity is usually added to large parties, think six people or more, it’s not something most solo diners expect to see on their bill. But one woman says that’s what happened to her during a solo dinner at a Maryland restaurant inside the Marriott Owings Mills Metro Centre hotel.

TikTok creator Marisol Velez (@marisolvelez87) posted a video showing her receipt, which listed a single salmon dish priced at $35. Underneath it, she noticed something that caught her off guard: an automatic gratuity charge of 18 percent, or $6.30. With tax, her total came to $43.40.