TikToker sparks debate after claiming Starbucks barista kept her change as tip

A TikToker went viral after claiming that her Starbucks barista tipped themselves using her change, sparking debate.

Content creator Lily Kate Holbert went viral after alleging that a Starbucks worker didn’t give her back her change, and assumed the leftover cash from their transaction was a tip. 

“I literally just had a Starbucks barista tip herself,” she said in a video that has amassed over 241,000 views. “I’ve been paying in cash for my drink for like the last week because if I pay in cash then, like, it doesn’t really happen, like the money didn’t actually go away. And I’ve had the same total every time.”

Usually, Lily gets her change back, and although she thinks “it’s not like I’m wanting the change,” she does sometimes keep it.

“I collect change and I’m like one of those people who take it and like turn it in for like actual cash… but this girl hands me my drink and I’m kinda like waiting for the change ’cause, like, I know it’s supposed to come.”

However, in this particular encounter, Lily claimed a Starbucks barista didn’t give her back her money. 

“I’m waiting for the change because I know it’s supposed to come… she just frickin’ drops the change into the tip jar,” she said. “And I was like, ‘oh, all right.'”

TikTok divided after Starbucks barista tips herself with customer’s cash

Most TikTok users thought Lily should’ve brought the issue up to the barista, while others shared how they would’ve personally handled the situation.

“You should of said something and honestly asked for manager,” one user wrote. “You should have def said something! Just nicely be like ‘oh can I get my change please?’ And see what she says,” another agreed.

“The audacity would make me demand it back,” a third user shared. “The way I would’ve reached in and grabbed my change,” someone else added.

Some users thought Lily had it coming for not tipping the Starbucks barista.

“Good for her,” one wrote, siding with the barista. “That’s what you get for not tipping,” another shared.

“So every day before, you didn’t tip? She did that on purpose as a not-so-subtle dig,” someone claimed.

Others pointed out that the barista probably meant no harm.

“The comments are so mad but I’d say there’s like a 95 percent chance it was an accident and the barista is embarrassed,” one sympathetic user wrote. “Lol as a barista sometimes it’s muscle memory,” another added.