Is tipping getting out of control? Many consumers say yes

[dalton99a]

Last edited Mon Jan 23, 2023, 07:48 PM - Edit history (1)

https://apnews.com/article/tipping-fatigue-business-c4ae9d440610dae5e8ff4d4df0f88c35

Is tipping getting out of control? Many consumers say yes
By HALELUYA HADERO

NEW YORK (AP) — Across the country, there’s a silent frustration brewing about an age-old practice that many say is getting out of hand: tipping.

Some fed-up consumers are posting rants on social media complaining about tip requests at drive-thrus, while others say they’re tired of being asked to leave a gratuity for a muffin or a simple cup of coffee at their neighborhood bakery. What’s next, they wonder -- are we going to be tipping our doctors and dentists, too?

As more businesses adopt digital payment methods, customers are automatically being prompted to leave a gratuity — many times as high as 30% — at places they normally wouldn’t. And some say it has become more frustrating as the price of items has skyrocketed due to inflation, which eased to 6.5% in December but still remains painfully high.

“Suddenly, these screens are at every establishment we encounter. They’re popping up online as well for online orders. And I fear that there is no end,” said etiquette expert Thomas Farley, who considers the whole thing somewhat of “an invasion.”

Some of the requests can also come from odd places. Clarissa Moore, a 35-year-old who works as a supervisor at a utility company in Pennsylvania, said even her mortgage company has been asking for tips lately. Typically, she’s happy to leave a gratuity at restaurants, and sometimes at coffee shops and other fast-food places when the service is good. But, Moore said she believes consumers shouldn’t be asked to tip nearly everywhere they go — and it shouldn’t be something that’s expected of them.

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[LakeArenal]

1. Costa Rica businesses are required to add a 10% tip into the bill.

You can leave a bit more but overtipping is considered bad form too Though I never have been refused when offered.

Anyway, we give our regular business friends something at Christmas.

[dalton99a]

3. FWIW Tipping is a foreign concept in Asia.

It is actually considered rude to tip in Japan, China and South Korea. It is neither expected nor customary in other Asian countries (although some workers do accept tips if their bosses are not looking).

[CrispyQ]

2. A mortgage company asking for a tip?

Wow.

Suggested 30% tip? Wow again.

[Bettie]

4. People should be paid enough

that they don't need every customer to tip in order to make up the shortfall in wages.

I tip in restaurants and cafes, but a mortgage company? Nope.

[2naSalit]

9. +1

[GPV]

26. This

[harumph]

5. I don't tip unless I'm being waited on at a table.

If I am ordering and purchasing from a counter to obtain my food/beverage - I do not tip. If I'm being
waited on at a table by a server, I tip 20%. There is usually an option to "skip" the tip or
put in another amount. If it prompts me to put in other, and I'm ordering a coffee or something, I (might) tip 50 cents
or a dollar at most.

[haele]

16. I tip delivery drivers well. And those who wait on tables.

I might throw change in a cash register tip jar, but that's because if they're working behind the register or line, they should be getting paid more as a trusted position.
Corporations bringing in Millions to billions in profit shouldn't be paying their labor wages that are barely living wage for a single person, let alone a family.

My take is if you can't pay decent wages to the workforce that brings you that sort of profit, you shouldn't be in business. Starbucks ain't as small family business struggling to get by.

Haele

[Stallion]

23. Heck -at Shake Shack They Make Customers Input the Order and Want a Tip Even for To-Go Orders

they don't even clean up a table.

No way I'm tipping in that instance.

[Ocelot II]

6. Pay people decently and tips will be unnecessary.

In Europe, tips, if any, run about 10%. If a service charge is included in a restaurant bill, no tip is expected. But European servers are well paid, so tips are not expected but regarded a small bonus as a reward for especially good service.

[I_UndergroundPanther]

7. Waitstaff and delivery people

Need a good wage. Hourly. At least 20 bucks an hour and benefits,any tips they get are just gravy. Than tips would be a kindness not a necessity. I think tipping is cruel to both customer and employee.

Depending on tips just seems very unstable way to live to me. I think reliance on tipping is just another way rich people get other people to pay workers wages that the business should be paying for delivery drivers and wait staff.

Besides in my experince people who have a lot of money and are self entitled tip less or nothing because they dont care or are making a stupid "point" and putting the worker in thier place by being unkind,or they dont care how others have to live so they owe nobody a dime. Same kind of mentality of well off people who think giving homeless people a nickel is not insulting..

[kysrsoze]

8. I'm a former waiter/bartender in college, so I'm sympathetic, but yes it is out of control.

Things are much different today. First, we got paid SUB-$3.35 and were tipped above that. Second, I busted my hump and did everything from actually suggesting drinks and dishes, then bringing out all their food, taking it away, and often bussing and finally cleaning their tables. And then I tipped out portions to bussers and other bartenders. That is a very tough job, and I applaud anyone who can do it. And I always tip well on it. And I leave very good tips for Uber drivers, taxi drivers and delivery people, good tips for baristas, etc. They all work their behinds off.

However now, when I go into a fast-casual place, the staff can barely bring themselves to ask me what I want to order, and I have to walk up to pick up my food when it's ready. They turn the tablet screen around on me, for all to see, and the suggested tip is between 20% and 30%. On top of that, they're all being paid at least $15/hr where we live.

It's beyond ridiculous and it's an unfair situation to put customers in.

[fierywoman]

10. I was asked for tips by my movers (was already paying a serious hourly fee) and by

the guys who hauled away unwanted things in my attic (also a hefty fee for service.)

I gave the movers $20 each and they looked at it and said, "Better than nothing."

This was in 2017.

[sir pball]

11. It's exploiting a loophole, plain and simple

By adding the tip screen to the POS (Point Of Sale) system, all customer-facing employees become tipped and can then be paid $2.65 plus tips up to minimum wage; even if the tips aren't sufficient and the employer has to contribute to payroll it's still less than having untipped employees where you're paying their entire minimum wage.

I'm personally a huge fan of eliminating tipping altogether, but I also know how much bartenders and servers can make in a night and understand why many of them won't take flat-rate jobs even at $40+/hour.

[moonscape]

14. At my local coffeehouse and roaster,

I stand at the counter and ask to buy a lb of coffee. They weigh out a lb, then I get the tip screen when paying. I don’t tip because, um, I’m just buying a product. Are you saying that tip screen means those at the register aren’t paid min wage?

It’s infuriating having to tease out all these circumstance just to shop!

[sir pball]

27. Yes, they're getting the tipped wages nt

[friend of a friend]

12. At a restaurant, we tip $5 per person or 30-35% whichever is higher.

The person who brings our water and/or coffee gets $5. I have a meeting with my PEER Group sponsor every 3 weeks at McDonald's. The person who brings our order and the person who clears our table, we are there for 2 hours, get $5 from me, I don't know if everyone gets free refills of their coffee but we do. If we get special help, like when I hit a pothole going too fast and because we are good customers they fixed the rim for free, I gave the man who fixed it $20. Postal people and garbage people get money at Christmas. Service people and people who deliver to our house and set up what we bought like a refrigerator get $20 each. We give money to homeless people. We figure a lot of people need the money more than we do.

[Mr. Ected]

13. I run a small business and no one subsidizes my employees' wages

If a business can't afford to pay its own employees and relies on you and me to make up the difference, they need a new business model.

[KentuckyWoman]

24. 100% - THIS

Thank you for putting it so plain.

[vercetti2021]

15. Sadly I do live off these

I work at a local coffee shop and it doesn't pay much. But tips keep me fed and in a home. I'm always nice to people regardless if they tip or not. I don't ask them to tip or anything. Just give them a nice smile and hope they do.

[mike_c]

17. all workers should make a living wage

There wouldn't be any need to tip if employers paid a decent wage in the first place. I usually tip in the 20%-30% range and I don't begrudge it because I don't want people in poverty for the privilege of bringing my plate. Seeing other people leave a couple of one's and a handful of change for their server after a full meal is embarrassing because the number of restaurants in the US that pay a decent wage is vanishingly small. I also tip hotel housekeepers and staff, and drivers for hire, especially if they can't set their own fare. Delivery drivers. I tip just about anywhere there is a tip jar because I know that this is America, where so many essential services pay workers poverty wages. But I strongly support a living minimum wage to make tipping unnecessary.

[Silent3]

18. Requests for tips for counter service seem excessive to me

Granted, some of these people aren't highly paid, but AFAIK if you work a counter job, you have to get at least the normal minimum wage, not the reduced minimum wage that applies to waitstaff.

Plus, these days, most employers have been forced to pay better than minimum because the employees are so hard to find.

[Bayard]

19. I recently ordered from Pizza Hut online

I don't normally, but they're the only game in town here. I paid for it at the same time with a debit card. It asked how much I wanted to give, "my team."

Outrageous!

[meadowlander]

21. At a minimum they shouldn't be asking you to tip for service you haven't received yet.

Isn't the rationale for tipping supposed to be so you can reward and incentivize good service?

[maxsolomon]

20. At many of my typical lunch places, the tip options on pay screens are now

15% - 20% - 25% - OTHER

The 15% often has "OK" next to it, implying that if you tip 15%, you're not that happy with the service - it was just OK.

These generally aren't the Restaurants adding "Service Fees" of 15 or 20% to the bill, then leaving a line for ADDITIONAL gratuities.

I think 10% for carry out, especially minimal, brusque, cursory counter service is more than adequate, but my Millenial daughter thinks I'm a cheap ass Monster.

[Efilroft Sul]

22. Headline should be: "Are cheap-labor conservatives still paying low wages to their service workers?"

[TheFarseer]

25. I'm always confused at the concession stand at the ball game

Never sure whether to tip there.

[Initech]

28. I sometimes wonder who's actually getting the money.

The servers and workers or the company operating the machines? There's something not quite adding up in this conversation.

[inthewind21]

29. That's

why I NEVER tip on my card or with a machine. EVER. I pay tips in cash directly to my server.