When tipping becomes a shakedown

Dr. Rahma Dikhinmahas

The situation I'm mainly referring to is when you order coffee or a sandwich and when you pay, they flip the iPad around and stare at you while you choose between 18%, 20% and 25%.  Not long ago, these were non-tip situations.  Furthermore the food is much more expensive now, so the tip is real money.

In fairness, the cost of the food going up isn't the fault of the employee serving you, and the fact that you're subsidizing the owners profits by allowing them to underpay their employees (in lieu of tips) also complicates things.

I input whatever I think is appropriate.  I agree there is some social engineering/shaming going on by only having those tip options, but it's not like you are forced to tip.  If the people in front of me are being served for 5 minutes and all I want is a drip coffee, I'm not going to tip - the people sucking up all the time and energy of the staff for their absurd order should do that.  If I walk up and the coffee place next to my office starts prepping my drink before I open my mouth, I'll give a buck or two, because that service is the point of tipping.

 

Questions:

1. What do you actually do when this happens?

Tip whatever I feel is appropriate given the situation.

1. If you're tipping, how much of it is because they've put you on the spot like that?

Very little.

1. Any sense that this is hurting the business?  I can think of a few places I will go less often, or not at all, because I don't want to deal with this.

Not for me, or not usually, but I think it's perfectly reasonable to vote with your wallet if you think the decisions ownership is making when it comes to their policies are causing you to be unhappy or uncomfortable patronizing that business.

Tipping at the register only bugs me if I tip someone and they don't say thank you. 

One of the best parts of moving to Europe was escaping the tipping culture in the US. I’ve worked in the restaurant industry before and got paid primarily in tips — I get it — but the way expectations have ballooned makes things incredibly uncomfortable for the customer. The social engineering is also very blatant. I’ve seen tip options (in taxi’s) that start at 20% but also offer 30% and 50%. WHAT? There is a reason they don’t have a 10% or 15% button — because they want to anchor high and make you work harder if you want to leave less. The actual pricing of items on the menu (and in retail stores) is equally obnoxious. You decided to price my sandwich at $19.99 instead of $20.00 and you didn’t include the tax, which is easily calculable? The rest of the world doesn’t seem to have this problem…

When I go into a restaurant in Italy, I know exactly what everything costs. Pizza? 10,00 EUR even … and the final bill will match the menu every single time. No trickery — just the price. The obvious exception is tourist areas where they are trying to extract tips out of US tourists — but that’s not the case in the majority of the country.

In terms of your questions:

1. I usually leave a tip if I think the person is doing their job well — and my bar is pretty high. Jimmy John’s is fantastic — by the time I finish my order the first guy on the sandwich line has been listening in and is already making it. Doesn’t matter if I’m the only person in line, I’m getting my sub fast. I’ll also leave a tip if I’m a regular and they acknowledge me.

2. I’ve definitely left countless tips because I’ve been put on the spot. I’m better about it now though and prefer to reward/tip non-pushy sales tactics.

3. I think it hurts businesses a bit, but overall it is a win for them. While I definitely go to pushy-places less frequently, the practice is so widespread that few businesses really stick out for using this tactic.

How about I tip 15% on my $16 midtown grain bowl and u give me a wink and put another half scoop of pulled chicken in there…

Wasn’t that always the trade when u tipped the old school deli guys back in the day. The food was either waiting for u as u walked in or u get an extra helping of chicken cutlet in ur sammitch..

I used to cave every time to the tune of 15-20% when it wasn’t warranted, but it has gotten so ridiculous where you see 25-30-35% for like a $4 coffee that I now get a lot of joy out of taking the extra time to click into the no tip while they sit there watching me. Typically would always give a $1 or the change for coffee/takeout/ice cream but now I never give anything because it’s so ridiculous.

I'm a pretty good tipper and rarely tip below 25% at a restaurant and even I dislike this stuff. 

It's not that I think no tip is deserved but rather the starting point of these tips is ridiculous such as 18%, 20% and 25% noted above. I'm not sure why I should get this flipped on me when picking up food. You're basically asking me to tip the same amount as someone who waited a table??  A 5% tip for pickup sure, but 15% come on now.

I think people forget a tip should not be guaranteed. I tip at restaurants no matter what, but if the service is horrible, I might do a dollar or two. Example is if they waiter doesn’t come back to the table or forgets a side until the very end of my meal. One guy never visited after dropping our entrees off and I had to find another server to get me a refill on my water.

I never tip at fast food or say a mall food court. I actually laugh sometimes when a cashier takes my order then flips the thing around and waits for a tip.

I paid my way through college waiting tables and bartending, and I despise the iPad flip-tip. It actually dilutes the concept of tipping and hurts professions where tips comprise a majority of worker wages. Back then, I made ~$2.00 / hour before tips, but $20-30 / hour with tips. I lived with the inherent risk of that incentive model knowing that it would average out in my favor if I was good at my job.

Being compelled to tip for places like takeout or QSR makes no sense because the workers aren't performing table service and are often already making at least minimum wage, so they're in-effect double dipping. The real culprits are the POS system providers that sell the tip function as part of their solution suite as a way for companies to pay employees less.

There should be an option for “No thanks” or “No tip”.

I press this and get on with my day.

I never tip on iPads

You work in finance, but find the tip screen and cashier’s stare uncomfortable?

Just don't tip? How hard is it?

I never tip screens. It's borderline bullying if the cashier or other customers are staring at me, giving me the eye, or some other BS. The way to respond to bullying is not to make a scene but to remain steadfast in a silent yet powerful way. Typically, if I see them trying to pressure me into things, I just give them back a cold blank stare.

Hospitality means that service workers be nice to customers, not the other way around.

If I were you, I'd stick to traditional or more upscale places that won't pull this crap on you. They'll earn that tip through really good service.

Glad you brought this up, I replied to a thread on this a couple of weeks ago. I think it definitely needs attention as I believe it's going to shift down a bad tipping path. 

1. When this happens, it depends on: What mood I'm in, What my checking account looks like (shut up), Whether it's a chain or not, Age of the employee, The mood of the worker (smiling, polite, attractive, and appreciative = small tip | weird, gross, emotionless, and mean = no tip)

2. 100% put on the spot, there were literally people behind me in every situation witnessing my every move.

3. I don't care if it's hurting the business. I hardly go anywhere now and make everything at home. There were even places where I had sentimental feelings with growing up but dropped them due to this broke-boy movement. I actually love making sandwiches in the oven at home now. I smile and laugh now thinking "F**king stupid drone b**tch can suck my f***ing d**k for that amount." 

How do you guys feel about tipping net of tax and alcohol? I tip based on the bottom line of the receipt but I’ve been thinking lately of not including the tax in the tip math. 

I felt this pressure for the longest time and recently stopped caring. At bars I tip a dollar per drink (I tip 0 at clubs) Unless I'm dining in I tip 0. This applies to cafes too. Not succumbing to the barista pressure of tipping at a cafe that charges me 6 dollars for fking coffee. Taxis I give 10%, Ubers I don't tip anything. 

I'm in a building with so many doormen, so I tip the ones that helped me the most. Don't make enough money to hand out a tip to everyone. Was baffled after reading an article somewhere about tipping the UPS person. Lol If you give me a printer from the federal reserve I will tip every single person I see, but until that happens, I can only tip as much as I can afford. I've sadly stopped going out as much for coffee cause 6 dollars for a cup of coffee every day adds up. 

Off topic: Anyone else notice how much Uncle Sam takes from our paycheck? Then if you want to buy a place you need to pay taxes on the property as well. Firms are then quick to say "be patient your time will come you'll get a promotion wage increase one day" and then wonder why we job hunt every 2 years. This whole environment is nuts. 

I went to shake shack today. Cashier was great and really nice. Total was around $130 (group of 7). I accidentally pulled my card out too quickly as it asked for a tip and I stuck it in then pulled out as he said I had to select a tip before paying. We had to restart the process over. Had to hit tip then no tip THEN put my card in.

It has become insane. I hate to say it but I don’t tip on takeout orders or just getting a coffee or something like that. Sometimes I actually do depending on my wallet at the time and how I’m feeling. Tipping in the US should be based on service provided and if Im not being personally served at the table, why tip? 

Dude you think that’s bad? During covid, I went to a boba shop and it was one of those “stand in line and order” places, so pretty much no actual service going on. 
 

Yet when it was my turn to order, the server wouldn’t let me touch the iPad (or any of the other customers) maybe because of health concerns. I finished ordering on their little iPad thing (verbally), and then they asked me how much I want to tip. 
 

Usually I don’t give any tip for these types of places because there’s no service. But who the hell is going to say 0% straight to the worker’s face? So I’m pretty sure I said like 20%. Ridiculous. 

Perhaps if we tip the moderators, they will delete fewer comments or topics, haha.

The key is to go to smaller dives and family owned places you are familiar with. Soulless corporate establishments designed to extract as much wealth as possible should be avoided. 

It’s one thing to tip after a meal at a sit down restaurant as one can accurately evaluate the value of the service/food quality/experience. However, if I’m being asked for a tip on something that I can’t judge because I’m paying before I eat/drink, then no.

An example of this is at Starbucks, when you put your card in the reader and they ask you to tip. Despite being a global brand known for quality control and consistency, I could go to multiple different Starbucks’ in my hometown and get a different quality and taste despite ordering the same drink. Doesn’t make any sense tipping if you could be getting a mystery quality of peppermint mocha every time.

I got bubble tea today with a friend, where I ordered via the QR code on the table and paid at the front myself - the server simply brought us the bubble tea.

When I went to pay the server swung the iPad towards me and I declined to tip the 15, 20, 25% tipping options.

The server looks at me with disgust and had the audacity to ask if he could have done anything better and said that he didn’t get a tip.

You can choose not to tip. I typically tip $1 if I tip at all. Tipping should be for good service. Bringing my sandwich to the counter isn't good service. 

Some of you are cheap asses. This topic amazes me every time it comes around. How much are you all making? We sit here and read about people 3 years out of school still getting 6 digit bonuses in a year where we should be lucky to still have jobs. Only to be "uncomfortable" when presented with a tip screen for someone living on less than the taxes on your first year bonus. This is rich. When everyone used cash the change and tips were dropped into the jar/cup. Now with point of sale systems and credit cards being used for $6 coffee people have stopped tipping. People don't even think about it. If spending 8 extra dollars on top of 40 is too much for you, pack your lunch and ride your bike to the office. That $8 is nothing at our level but to the server/counter help it is their survival.