TikToker Disputes $76 Lobster Charge After Waiter’s ‘$38’ Quote Turns Out to Be Per Pound

A TikTok video from creator @lastarr showed the creator disputing a restaurant bill in Saint Martin after ordering lobster she had personally selected from a tank.

"I'm in Saint Martin and I wanted to catch my own lobster," she said. She then asked the waiter for the price before selecting her lobster.

"The waiter came over, she asked, what do we want? I asked, how much is market price? She said, thirty-eight dollars. I'm like, bet, I want my lobster," she said.

She and her fiancé then walked to the back of the restaurant, where she selected and named her lobster "Charlie" before it was prepared. She initially believed she'd been charged for two lobsters, but the dispute later centered on whether the $38 quote was per pound rather than a flat price.

"We noticed that we got charged twice for lobster. The woman came over, she's like, yes, thirty-eight per pound," she said. She asked to speak with a manager rather than accept the waiter's explanation.

When the manager arrived, she reiterated her account of the original exchange. "I asked, how much is the market price? She said, thirty-eight dollars. Not 38 a pound," she said, "That's almost $80 if she would have told me that." She also noted that no scale was used to weigh the lobster in front of her before it was cooked.

The manager then ultimately adjusted the bill by removing a separate service charge equivalent to the disputed thirty-eight dollars, effectively reducing her total to the $38 she originally expected to pay for the lobster.

"Honestly, the resolution was good for me," she said, adding that her frustration eased once the adjustment was made. She ended the video with a mixed review of the overall experience, criticizing the lobster's texture and the restaurant's pricing transparency.

Reactions to the videos were divided. One commenter argued the creator should have known better given her stated restaurant experience, writing, "She does restaurant content and doesn't know market price is per pound."

Another commenter shared a similar experience to argue that per-pound pricing is standard, writing, "Just had lobster. It was $38 per meal with a 1 1/2 pound lobster. If you're buying just lobsters to go it's sold by the pound."

After receiving backlash in the comments, the TikToker posted a follow-up video defending her original account. "Market price is not always per pound. So 38 to me without adding that per pound means it's 38," she said, adding that she said she has worked as a waitress for more than five years and travels frequently.

She said the restaurant's supervisor acknowledged the waiter should have specified the per-pound pricing. The supervisor also confirmed the lobster had not been weighed in front of her, as she had expected. "I'm still not paying 80 for a lobster. I still only paid 38 for that lobster," she said.

One commenter shifted focus to another overcharged item on the bill, writing, "I was siding with the restaurant until I saw they charge $4 for a small water."

The Daily Dot was unable to independently verify the full billing details or the restaurant's standard pricing policy. The details above reflect the videos as shared on TikTok by @lastarr. The identity of the restaurant, its location, and the staff involved have not been confirmed.