With those tipping screens now seemingly everywhere, Americans think that the practice has “gotten out of control,” according to a new survey.
At least 63 percent of US residents now having a negative view of tipping, up from 59 percent last year, according to Bankrate, a financial publisher and comparison service.
Yet, the number of Americans who have gotten used to tipping has gone up since the COVID-19 pandemic, when it slipped. There have not been significant declines in tips for service providers, the survey noted, particularly for hairdressers and restaurant servers.
So fucking tired of tipping. I’ve read recommendations of 30% these days. That is absolutely insane. The prices for everything has increased substantially already, and we are expected to tip proportionally to it? Not to mention, the tip screens on POS systems are showing up at regular businesses now. So fucking annoying.
I’ve read recommendations of 30% these days
Bloody hell! Anyone saying that is trying to take advantage of people.
In the example you give, the business owner increases prices in line with inflation but hey! the workers need a pay increase too, and I’m not paying them more, so the customer should tip more… so the recommended tip amount increases from 10-15% to 20-30%. But this is not in line with inflation, this is an exponential increase.
A lot of people won’t recognize this as people don’t generally understand exponentials that easily.
A lot of people won’t recognize this as people don’t generally understand exponentials that easily.
Given your example, you’re struggling with it as well.
The worst thing is when they try to export this culture to other countries. Boycotting American gig-economy apps is the best thing you can do to try to curtail this.
I’m not saying you’re wrong about gig economy apps, but the tipping culture being described here goes way beyond that. Pretty much anywhere that uses one of the popular point of sale systems like Square has a tip request screen you have to click through in order to finish your transaction
I’ve experienced that in the US also, but thankfully where I am Square does not display the tip request screen. So far, I’ve only noticed requests for tips in the gig economy apps, and I appreciate that you’re drawing attention to how much more pervasive it is in the US. All the more reason to not have it spread here.
Nearly half? Are the rest just not paying attention?
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I personally don’t even tip anymore.
So… don’t participate? This seems like a victimless crime unless you’re being forced to tip.
There’s a massive difference between people saying they wouldn’t mind paying more if it meant not tipping and people actually being willing to pay more. The difference between a 20% markup on prices and being asked to voluntarily tip an amount that isn’t specified is pretty minimal. Having worked in a job that relied on tips for over a decade, I can’t tell you how many times someone who didn’t tip complained about the price without a tip. Would they pay it anyway? Maybe. Is it probably a good idea? Maybe. But I don’t know many situations in which a 20% hike on prices translates into a 20% increase in wages.
There are definitely a lot of people who would benefit from just making a living wage rather than being paid below minimum and having to supplement that with tips. Often that person just ends up not making minimum wage at the end of the day, and there are definitely companies that exploit that pay arrangement to get people to do work that shouldn’t have to rely on tips regardless. There’s a small burger place around here that literally hires counter help for tipped wages, but then also makes them do dishes, clean bathrooms, and even help make some of the food. They’re basically being paid less than minimum to do two to three jobs, only one of which even legally qualifies for the reduced pay rate.
But would the patrons of that restaurant really not complain if they had to pay an extra $3-4 for a burger? I’m not so sure.
One thing I’ve learned about people is that many of us find complaining to be cathartic. If it wasn’t tipping, it’d be the prices or the service or something else. A lot of the time it’s already all of those things.
In the mean time, though, it’s probably better to push back against unfair labor practices by trying to pass local laws rather than by just stiffing your server.
Prices of goods do not correlate 1-1 with increase in wages. Getting rid of tips would only result in prices of goods increasing (from what I remember when researching this years ago) like .5-1%. Most people would not notice this cost increase at all.
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I am not American.
When I first dined in US restaurant, I was flabbergasted with the fact that the cashier pulled out a tablet and already have five buttons ready to be tapped - 12%, 15%, 18%, CUSTOM TIP.
That no tip button was below the four prominent buttons.
No, I have never seen this in Japan, China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore and of course Indonesia where I live.
Who’s forcing them to?
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But which peers? A client-vendor-transaction is a 1:1 encounter. Pushing buttons on a terminal is a 1:0 interaction, same for writing numbers on a check. Can’t be that hard to decline.
At this point I’ve stopped tipping. However I don’t like random numbers so when I checkout at restaurants I round to the nearest $5. So if my meal was $32.45 I’ll tip $2.55.
For me it’s a fun math game and the percentage for the tip is low.
That’s like an 8% tip.
Yeah anything less than 15% is considered low here.
That’s how it works at restaurants and cafés outside of the USA, or at least how it used to work.
Outside the USA, when the bill is paid with cash, the customer will keep any notes from the change given and the coins are left on the table, it’s not much, but a token show of appreciation.
Now that cash is rarely used, tips are pretty much never given unless it’s something unusual, like a work function or something else where the staff have a little more to concentrate on than they normally would.
Meanwhile, tipping isnt an issue in the majority of America. Huh.
- the millions who visit.
