California man reveals shocking amount of money he was asked to leave at San Diego’s Catalina Lounge

A California man has revealed the shocking amount he was asked to tip while paying his bill at a San Diego dive bar.

In a post on X, accompanied by photographic evidence, the bar drinker showed how, after paying his $24.50 bill, he was presented with a 100% tip option, which would have doubled his total to $49.

The ruse to trick unconscious and possibly drunk customers into paying more after racking up a liquor bill appears to be deliberate.

Other options on the mobile payment device include a whopping 50% tip, which would have added $12.25 to the man’s total, as well as more moderate options of 25% and 20%.

The man, who posted on X under the name Gordon Kling, named the bar in question Catalina Lounge in Ocean Beach.

The photo appears to have resonated with followers who believed the bar was deliberately trying to scam its own customers.

“There’s no way someone didn’t accidentally tip 100% and think, ‘Oh, that’s just the total, that’s what I want.’ That’s deliberately misleading,” Breen added.

“Haha, that’s exactly why I took a picture…” Kling replied. “I was completely drunk and thought I was having a bad time. I took the picture and came back to it the next morning and I couldn’t believe my eyes.”

Other users added that the place was trying to take advantage of people who were a little more tired and didn’t realize they were tipping so much.

“This is hilarious. Catalina Lounge is also a must-visit spot. All those bars in PB and OB are a magnet for drunk guys on dates,” one user explained.

“Even the bars in Pacific Beach aren’t that bad. The MAX I’ve seen in PB is 35% (I think it’s at Mavericks). Not even on a date lol. I was just playing pool with the boys,” Kling explained.

“When I saw this picture I immediately thought of Catalina before I even read what you said. When I first saw her there I was in disbelief. Imagine how many drunk people reach 100%,” Bianca wrote in response to the post.

Another X user thought the bar was counting on customers misinterpreting the options.

“It’s actually smart in a bar: it gives the waiters an incentive to increase sales, because the drunker the customer, the more 100 will look like 10 percent.”

“It’s not the customer’s responsibility to provide a living wage to their employees. Tipping culture is toxic,” added another.

DailyMail.com has contacted Catalina Lounge for comment.

Tipping out of embarrassment or pressure when you’d rather not is on the rise.

This spring, it was revealed that Americans spend an average of $453 more per year on tips than they would like because of “guilt.”

Consumers say they paid an average of $37.80 per month in reluctant tips because they would feel guilty not to, According to a new study.

A new poll by Talker Research found that more than a quarter of the 2,000 people surveyed said they were “always or often forced to tip more than they would like.”

On average, the respondent tipped more than they wanted six times in the past month alone.

Another recent study found that three-quarters of Americans believe tipping culture has gone too far.

The findings come amid a widespread backlash against “tipflation” that has seen tipping culture spread from bars and restaurants to shops, takeaway chains and even self-service machines.

84% of respondents to the CouponBirds survey believed the minimum wage should be increased to compensate for the need for gratuities.

Overall, tipping is most common for restaurant service. About 59% of consumers said they would tip at dinner, while 43.8% would tip for food delivery.

Next come hair and beauty services, for which 41.1% of respondents said they would tip.

About 39.6% said they would tip in a taxi, while 36.8% said they would tip in a bar.

The least likely customers to tip are convenience stores and bodegas. About 4.9% of respondents said they would tip in this case.