A woman is obsessed with her horror story as a server on the internet

People who work in customer service might say they’ve seen and heard it all. Every day is different when working with the public—from great experiences to extremely bad experiences—and one woman has built a network based on the highs and lows of hospitality.

Sydney Akgun, 28, a former travel agent and food service employee, has amassed 298,500 followers online by recreating the difficult situations servers are often forced to face, often Minimum wage and no tips.

Akgun, who is from Boston, Massachusetts, often goes viral on TikTok, where her posts under the handle @poorandhungry have been viewed millions of times.

“The goal of my content is to make people connect and feel like they’re not alone when a customer is irrational or cruel to them,” she told Weekly newspaper.

On February 23, a video titled “Yes, this actually happens all the time” received 1.5 million views. The video shows Akgun, who was wearing a pink sweater and working as a receptionist, showing up to a restaurant in the evening despite having a reservation for the next morning.

Pretending to be a customer, she put on her glasses and said, “I can’t help it, I’m early.” As of this writing, the video has received more than 211,000 likes and a ton of shocking comments.

One TikTok user said: “As a customer service person I do believe you!!! The audacity of some people’s behavior leaves me speechless.”

“I can’t believe so many people don’t understand what booking is!” another person commented.

Akgun started sharing a series of videos about the travel industry in 2021 based on his own experiences, and it wasn’t long before the videos started gaining a lot of traction. She then went on to create hotel-inspired videos—and the rest is history.

Akgun now works in technology sales and spends a few minutes every day acting out scenarios involving awkward customers.

“My content is really gaining mainstream traction in 2023,” she said Weekly newspaper. “Restaurant videos resonate with more viewers, both negatively and positively.

“All of my videos and posts are based on real interactions submitted by me, colleagues, or guests and are noted in the caption.”

Currently, the federal minimum wage for most workers in the United States is $7.25 an hour. Employers may choose to pay direct wages of $2.13 per hour to employees who “usually and regularly” receive tips of at least $30 per month, as long as those employees receive tips totaling at least $5.12 per hour.

Akgun explains that her storytelling videos are meant to help raise awareness about the treatment servers have to endure. She also hopes to encourage customers to tip or think twice before eating out, as noted in the video, which has 1.2 million views.

She begins the video by stating that this has happened many times before “in real life.” She asks the “customer” (herself) what they want to start and they ask for a glass of water first and then point out that they don’t tip. They said they would be happy to accept any form of service.

Akgun went on to point out that the tip was a service charge for sitting in the dining area and being served, so the order had to be changed to takeout.

The video, posted on February 5, sparked controversy on the internet, with some saying they believed tipping should be optional.

“This is the best way I’ve ever seen it explained. I always say a tip is like a service charge,” one TikTok user said.

Another netizen commented: “Tipping is a service charge, I don’t go there. I tip based on service, good service, bad service, bad service, tip period.”

A third commenter said: “These videos remind me why I no longer work as a server. It pains me because it feels like I’m begging for money, especially after reading these comments.”

The Pew Research Center revealed in November 2023 that 21% of U.S. adults said tipping more is a choice, 29% said tipping more is an obligation, and 49% said it depends to the situation.

“The tipping culture is just a very small part of what I created,” Akagon told Weekly newspaper. “My goal is to educate everyone that tipping is mandatory, not optional, and if you don’t agree to patronize an establishment without a tip, tipping is mandatory, not optional .

“As a former service worker, we don’t want economic reform to replace tipping culture, but rather require employers to provide health care and benefits.”

Some agencies will calculate the service fee for you, while others let the customer decide. But what is a reasonable tip?

The Pew Research Center found in a November survey that a 15 percent tip is widely considered the minimum acceptable tip for restaurant service, and 18 to 20 percent or more is often recommended.

akgon says Weekly newspaper: “The best way for a person to educate themselves on the tipping culture (because this sounds like a basic person, respecting service staff is impossible, or their abilities) is to work in a restaurant for a month or two or Work that relies on tips to fully understand the impact.

“Most consumers who struggle to understand the importance of tips don’t realize that there is no standard minimum wage for service workers and that tips are not ‘top’. I find that reasoning and education do not resonate with this group of people.”

Other videos include underage drinking attempts, drunken patrons and more server horror stories. Although Akagon left the hotel in 2020, these memories still haunt her.

she told Weekly newspaper How she stays calm when dealing with rude customers.

“Ultimately, ‘killing people with kindness’ is more satisfying and better on brand. When I can maintain an incredibly calm and somewhat cold tone, it can help defuse an escalating situation (people are quick to Realizing they sound like crazy situations),” she said.

“Even if someone is being extremely rude, I remind them that we are all on the same side and I’m here to provide a good experience. If I stay calm and the customer escalates or becomes violent or profane, that’s always acceptable End the call or ask them to leave.”

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