Chipotle Customer Tries ‘Phone Rule’ Hack. Worker Shuts It Down

A Chipotle customer tried to use the restaurant’s much-talked-about “phone rule,” but a server told her she wasn’t allowed to record her bowl being made.

Chipotle customers have recently been filming employees adding toppings to their bowls in an attempt to get more. The theory behind the “Chipotle phone rule” is that the pressure of being filmed makes employees want to give customers more food.

But some consumers claim the “phone rule” is a scam used by Chipotle in response to many TikTok users complaining about small portions, and TikTok user Bells (@user3749193284) may be proof of that: when she tried to join the trend at her local Chipotle, she was quickly stopped by a staff member who told her that filming isn’t allowed there.

A failed experiment

In the short video, a Chipotle customer is seen standing at the restaurant’s counter placing his order.

“Two bowls,” she says.

“Does this come with white rice or brown rice?” the waiter asks.

“They’re both white,” the customer replies.

Then, a Chipotle employee noticed the customer’s phone.

“Are you recording?” she asks, and the customer responds in the affirmative.

“Yes, you can’t record here,” the worker replies.

The video ends there, with the customer adding in the caption that the workers “made a mess.” [with] scoop.”

The Chipotle customer’s video had been viewed 5.4 million times as of Saturday and generated more than 3,500 comments.

“It’s crazy how everything changes depending on the shift. Sometimes the bowls are overflowing, other times they look like a toddler meal,” one commenter wrote, trying to explain the difference in the amount of toppings Chipotle customers receive.

“When I worked at Chipotle, the policy was always to give just one scoop,” one former employee said, trying to explain that the amount of food had nothing to do with employee whims.

Watch on TikTok

Many viewers argued that Chipotle employees were right to ask the customer to stop filming.

“Do you guys know how annoying it is when someone comes into your workplace, films you, posts it online and slanders you for being just an office worker?” one person said.

“Chipotle employees are human beings who deserve basic human respect, not emotionless robots,” another user commented.

The Daily Dot reached out to Bells for comment on TikTok and emailed Chipotle for further comment.

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