Bartenders have dealt with this situation before…

I’m talking about when a customer at a bar tries to pay their tab with a declined credit card.

And a bartender named Michelle shared a TikTok video where she offered up a hack on how she deals with these situations.

Michelle said, “I think it’s messed up when people come in and they know their card only has 10 dollars on it and they rack up a hundred-dollar tab and then they just walk out.”

Michelle said that bartenders who find themselves in this situation should run the card for $1 or whatever the minimum amount is where they work.

She said that if the card goes through for that small amount, bartenders can leave themselves tips for the whole bill plus gratuity to make sure it eventually gets paid.

She said, “Most of the time, that tip is forced through and there’s no way out of paying it. [It] forces them into the negative.”

She said the only bad side of this tactic is that the bartender will have to pay taxes on that amount.

Michelle also recommends that bartenders keep the receipts when this happens in case customers try to dispute the charges.

Take a look at her video.

@michellebellexo

Bartender hack for what to do when someone walks out on their tab and their card declines #declined #walkedtabs #bartender #serviceindustry #carddeclined #bartenderhack

♬ original sound – Michelle Charlotte Bartender

Michelle posted a follow-up video and said, “When you leave the bar and they have your credit card still but you know it’s not gonna go through, that is illegal.”

@michellebellexo

Replying to @legato305 im sayin…yes. #serviceindustry #bartender #server #serviceindustrylife #barfamily

♬ original sound – Michelle Charlotte Bartender

Here’s how people responded.

One viewer offered some additional advice.

Another person they’ll keep this in mind for the future.

And one TikTokker thinks this actually might be considered fraud.

Well, sounds like the advice is mixed on this one.

Be careful out there, fam!