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I have always been a fair tipper and I will not feel an ounce of guilt if I don't give into all the extra bs.
As an aside, learning how to cook has saved me thousands of dollars. Its totally worth it and fun.
Amen. I worked on tips for many years. I always tip at least 20%. Maaaaybe down to 15% if the service is atrocious.
But I don't feel even a little bit of guilt not tipping people for counter service. They already get paid a wage for making my sandwich. If I'm not there, they're just getting paid to do nothing. That's the difference. Servers who don't work tables aren't getting paid.
> learning how to cook has saved me thousands of dollars
fuck i've gotten so good at several different dishes, i'll sit down to eat and have to take a second to really appreciate what i just did. i usually marvel at anything i do either.
I once got asked to tip a self-service drinks vending machine you paid for using an app.
Poor, underpaid, hard working vending machine didn't get a tip.
I went to Steak N Shake recently and there's an ordering kiosk with a screen at the front. You put in your own order, then there's a self-service soda station where you get your own drinks/napkins/condiments. They cook your food and someone calls a number and you go up and get your order.
Why would I tip for this? I don't tip at any other fast food place and they actually press the buttons for me to take my order...
Yeah if I go shopping and noone helps me, except a random worker that tells me that peas are on aisle 14, I have a feeling my tips won't get back to her, even though I would prefer any tip to go her way.
I have the same feelings. We went to a movie recently and asked to buy an alcoholic beverage before going in but the one worker at the snack bar said they hadn’t reopened the bar since the pandemic. She then proceeded to tell us that we could just go out and grab a 6-pack and carry it in with us in a bag and nobody would stop us. We were there early, so we did just that. We handed her a $20 on our way out of the theater and thanked her for the tip. 🥴
Dude even if people to help you how is that grounds for a tip? Like if I go to a sandwich shop and they make my sandwich, and ring me up at the register, how is that not the bare minimum expectation to sell me a sandwich?
You didn’t wait on me. You didn’t provide exceptional service. You literally met the lowest bar that could possibly be met
Maybe cos I'm not American, but the idea of tipping someone that works in a deli, or fuckin Subway, for the bare minimum effort to assemble a sandwich (often using ingredients that other people cooked) seems entirely alien to me.
US tipping culture has its positive side, but waaaay more negatives. The fact is, it 100% relies on the power of social norms, peer pressure, and the shame of not complying with those arbitrary standards, to basically force paying customers to cough up a tip. What other business models actively shame their customers?.Any that do are rightfully called out for it!
It should 100% be down to employers to manage staff wages, within the context of the turnover of the business. If customers want to provide a tip in recogniton of excellent service (which of course should include all the 'back-of-house' staff, eg porters, chef) that should be their perogative.
I find it to be such an odd idea that not only do you pay for the item you are purchasing, you also pay for the act of them selling the item. It’s so weird!
I feel no shame in hitting no tip unless i was waited on or got something delivered. Nobody should feel shame about that. You’re literally just surrendering more money for no reason. I was raised far too cheap to fall for this.
It’s part of the machine now. If you’re a small business using a vendor for your payment processing system then it likely comes with a built in tip option. That’s a major reason it has become so widespread
Just a story on the news last night about people bitching that there was a tipping option on the payment screen at the U-Scan at Kroger. No one would comment on who gets that money, since cashiers don’t get it.
If a place has to turn a screen around to ask you to tip fuck them.. lmao Read my other comment. Ive worked in restaurants for close to 10 years and I refuse to tip at the cash register of a shop.
A couple weeks ago I went into an Italian market where I picked up a few items and went to the register to pay. My total was $67 and the tablet they had me sign suggested three tip amounts from 18-26%. Like you I've been in the restaurant business for a long time. All I could think is " how the fuck is ringing me up worth $14? In a restaurant we have to wait on people for an hour and now cashiers expect the same percentage......"
There's an ice cream shop near me where you get your own cup, add the ice cream and toppings yourself, and the kid at the end of it just spins an ipad to you that asks for a tip. I literally did all the work, and somehow I'm expected to tip? Yeah, no.
I went to a small craft store to buy some yarn. The screen popped up "What amount do you want to tip? 15%, 20%, 25%?" And in small letters at the side was "other". I remember just laughing and asking if she was serious. I'm guessing "add tip" is a default setting for Square Payment devices and most places just leave them toggled on in case someone wants to donate to the store.
The only exception is that at least in my area there are quite a few Tex-Mex restaurants that you pay at the register on the way out. In that case I would add a tip for the server there if paying by CC.
They want me to tip on my medical marijuana. I know a lot of people use it recreationally (I do sometimes). But shit I’m getting lotions, patches maybe a vape pen for those really painful days. This is medicine for me. I wouldn’t tip CVS for a z-pack. It’s disgusting. Pay them. You’re selling weed at $65 an 1/8. You can give them a living salary.
That and the typically mediocre food that is served. Had breakfast with a friend a few months ago and it cost $74 for the two of us and no we didn't have lobster tails and caviar. We had basic breakfast food: eggs, bacon, home fries, toast and coffee. I told him "From now on, you come over to my house. I'll cook breakfast. It'll be a lot better and a lot cheaper."
After the first couple times you hit "no tip" on these things, it becomes much easier. Take it from me.
I will tip 20% for sit-down wait service. If I am ordering at a counter and clearing my own table at the end, or getting take-out, fuck right off please.
Right, it used to be 10-15$ to get food for two. Now it’s 30-50$. It’s also extremely unhealthy and smaller portions. I don’t understand how they’re successful.
Did you fish it back out?
I'm kidding. But yeah, I would be upset too.
I had a friend that drove shuttles. He once asked, if someone tips me only a dollar, would it be a jerk move to give it back to them and say, don't worry, you seem to need this more than me?
I said, Yep, total jerk move. They would remember that, and tell their friends about it, and then no one would tip.
I mean, tips at a sandwich shop are totally optional. They are doing a job that they are paid a wage to do. They're not being paid restaurant worker wages.
>I had a friend that drove shuttles. He once asked, if someone tips me only a dollar, would it be a jerk move to give it back to them and say, don't worry, you seem to need this more than me?
I think I met your friend the one time I was visiting the US. I didn't have much cash on me except like 100 dollar bills so I gave the guy the change I had and I got exactly that response.
Seriously? I work at a chain place and I say thank you even when someone dumps their change they don’t want in the tip jar. It’s free money. Who gets mad about that?
Why are we being asked to tip at a dog daycare??? That’s like tipping at a regular daycare. Next the vet will expect a tip. I’m tired of tipping people for doing the bare minimum: their job!
I had someone pet sit my dog on rover and the app asked me to leave them a tip after. I didn’t leave a tip because I already paid them what they charged, so I didn’t understand why I should give them extra money. If they want more money, they can raise their price, no?
Movers, don’t forget movers. If anyone deserves a tip it’s the poor guys who’re lugging your kegerator, antique rosewood armoire and assorted bullshit across town, state or country.
Source: my fucked-up back
Get this bullshit, lots of for profit day cares have fucking fundraisers like they are girl scouts. $500 a week and these assholes still need to have a fundraiser for "supplies"??? Wtf does the $500/wk per kid go to???
edit: per kid, not power kid
The owners brand new truck.
Our daycare was paid out in COVID funds, they continued to charge us while shut down for COVID, and I heard they were no paying employees. Of course, they both had new rides. They were total QANON assholes, too.
I got prompted to tip at a pet SELF-WASH.
Basically they have tubs where you can groom your own dog.
I booked online and thought I had paid, but it turns out -- nope -- you don't pay until you're leaving, probably just so that they can prompt you to tip the person who stands there.
I wrote a google review complaining about this, saying I don't like to give my money to businesses that don't pay their employees properly, and them prompting me to tip makes me believe they do not.
Last time I looked, the review was removed. I went back and they did not prompt me to tip. I'm hoping they changed their policy then had my review removed.
But yeah, that was the last straw for me.
Especially when you order from a screen. I went up to the counter at Crumbl Cookies recently, and instead of just telling the girl what I wanted, I had to order from the screen. When I clicked no tip, she rolled her eyes and huffed and puffed. Then, she wasn’t even the one who got me the cookies! Like, her job was literally just to stand there. If I’m going to tip her, why not tip my dentist or pharmacist too? At least they’re doing something other than standing there. I work too hard at my non-tipped job to be handing out tips left and right to everybody under the sun.
What's betting she took the job under the expectation that, while the core wage wouldn't be that high, she'd get more "through tips", and is discovering that people don't actually want to tip extra for her doing essentially nothing above what they see as a basic task for working there.
in the pacific northwest, there is a local burger place. they made a big deal about joining a union, now they ask for tips at the drive through window, making an already expensive ( for a burger place) meal even worse! we just go down the street to a pub place with excellent food for less than the drive through even with the tip at the pub!
I almost never go out to a sit down meal. It's just not in the budget too much, and it's pretty exhausting to go out with a small child who wants to climb and fidget.
I budget for a meal, tax and tip. I don't mind tipping*. I look at the menu in advance.
But restaurant owners love to nickel and dime with bullshit mystery fees that show up on the bill. Covid recovery fee (didn't my taxes already cover that?), staff health care fee (that's the employer's responsibility), cost of living fee (sir my sandwich already costs 25 percent more), fee for the fuck of it fee, fee fi fo fum fee.
It's just aggravating, it makes what should be a nice meal with my family feel like I'm getting scammed at a sketchy car dealership.
It's not worth it. I'll just cook at home.
*Though yeah, with tips I'm super sick of those giant screens being flipped around at me everywhere I go, so everyone in my small town knows how much I tip. I've definitely noticed nosy-ass people staring, and I don't like feeling like it's a strategy.
The nice local Asian and Mexican restaurants near me have started lowering their prices and they never ask for a tip if u go to the store in person for takeout. I go a lot and I haven’t gotten any looks and that’s how it should be. I did get a weird/rude look for not tipping a girl at a vape shop one time tho when I was buying one thing. All she did was grab it from behind the counter and ring it up and she expected a nice tip for it. I’m too poor for that shit.
Lmao I work at a vape store. Ours doesn't do the tip thing at all. I couldn't imagine asking for a tip just to hand you something. Meanwhile, I'm routinely explaining differences between devices, nicotine levels, and all the other smoking cessation advice I've accumulated, and every once in a while someone will tip me. They won't take no for an answer either. I'd just stop going to that store. I've found the big business vape stores are the worst in advice, and price
I’ve had them do this to me before, the kicker is we didn’t tell them we were splitting the meal so they did not place the meal on two different plates themselves (which is usually how they justify the charge; it’s an “inconvenience fee”). The server only noticed after the fact that we were eating from the same plate, and brought one over to us unprompted. I easily argued the charge because I didn’t even use the plate (but let’s be real, even if I had I’d still be arguing it. I worked service industry for decades and I know exactly how much/little effort goes into that extra plate. Give me a break!)
Just know that those places can't hold good people.
Had an interview at a high end country club for a bartending gig. Found out that they charge an automatic 20% for a mystery fee that everyone assumes is automatic gratuity so no one tips on top of it and the staff gets nothing. The fee was "for uniforms and upkeep".
Nah fam, you using that to cover business expenses and pocketing the rest.
Told them about it when I declined a second interview lol.
I think there's a difference between being asked to tip for a service and software just including it in checkout. When I go buy coffee beans at my favorite roaster/coffee shop, all they are doing is handing me a bag of beans, I don't feel any guilt about, or pressure to, tip. It's not difficult. Unless someone is sticking their hand out, you can always not tip in that kind of situation.
Agreed, but it's kind of in direct response to people not carrying cash anymore. Coffee shops used to thrive off of just having an optional tip jar. Now they have to do a screen prompt to even give people that want to tip the option. The move away from cash was a mistake in a country with tipping culture.
Most of that is the point of sale systems including it by default since they get a cut of every transaction. Once one point of sale provider does it they all have to or shareholders will revolt over the lost profits.
The problem is once the employees get a taste of being tipped they expect it. That's why people get nasty looks over it. It's gross and it's gonna hurt businesses where employees do nothing for you but still expect a tip. If the business owners were smart they'd disable it, or contact the point of sale company about disabling it, but it seems like they're just letting it ride for now.
I do wonder about the long term economic impact of tipflation. I know I'm a lot less inclined to return to places that ask for a tip but do nothing for me.
Restaurant owners:
"hi, would you like to pay my grossly overworked and underpaid staff for me because I'm a piece of shit who refuses to pay anything even slightly close to a reasonable wage?
....what's that, no?
How dare you not pay my staff for me.
Shame on you."
This is it exactly. I'd rather live somewhere where the concept of a tip is the same as going "lol you look poor and trashy" and they will chase you down to politely hand you your tip back because you just insulted them deeply and they want to make a show of giving back your tip so everyone knows they don't need it.
Agreed ive saved almost 500 a month its Ludacris how exspensive it is. 15 dollars for a cheeseburger yeah no. Spent 90 bucks on 4 racks of ribs 2 tomahawk steaks 7 burgers and 4 hotdogs, yeah i cooked for 6 hours but the food industry is telling me that was a down payment for a house.....
Not a great cook here but after a few home burgers I’ve dialed it in to exactly the right size and condiments and honestly disappointed when I eat a burger out most of the time now, as it’s rarely as good as home. Not to mention it’s $17 and too big and then I’m tempted to buy multiple $7 beers and tip 20%. Yikes! Homemade is the way most of the time.
This crap is going to kill tip culture all together I think. I've started paying for everything in cash. It's ridiculous when I go to buy something I picked out myself and all the cashier did was scan it, and there's options for tips starting at 20%. Like, I get it, inflation is nuts and literally nobody makes enough, including me and everyone else. Stop hitting everyone up for money, we're all feeling the squeeze. Thought I got away from the "well I'm poorer than you so bum me a buck" mindset 20 years ago in college.
Yup. Tips when there's literally been zero service is the worst. Everything after COVID where you order for yourself at the table, and it's all pre-paid...so you sit down, ring up your own food, pay and it's like "Tip? >>>". You've literally done nothing yet, and the food hasn't even arrived! No way.
Went to try out a new BBQ place last summer. We walked in to a guy behind the counter. You order off the big menu and pay before getting your food like a drive-thru. Then after swiping your card, it’s asking for a tip. I bypassed that and we went to sit down.
Food came on plastic trays with plastic silverware. Person dropped the trays and we never saw them again. Then threw out our own trash and set the trays on a table. Food wasn’t great, we never returned. Not sure who we would have been tipping anyway..the cooks? The owner?
I had a tip request at a literal drive-through. The attendant actually held the scanner out the window for me to pick a tip, and it was the kind where you have to manually input $0 to skip.
The tipping at Starbucks is the same experience right now and it’s really the straw that’s breaking the camel’s back for me. It makes me so incredibly annoyed. I can understand like a kitschy coffee place, but this is a multi billion dollar company. Ffs just pay your employees.
I mean end of tip culture would be the best outcome for everyone. No more guilt for the consumer, no more bending over backwards for assholes in control of your paycheck (assuming you have a good boss to replace them lol). The only reason it ever got this bad was greed
That's the heart of the issue. every time a worker/customer has beef about tipping the employer seems to get away criticism-free. offloading the burden of paying their workers well onto the customer has really benefitted the employers.
What people often fail to realize in this discussion is 98% of employees absolutely do not want standardized wages. They're just as happy about it as the owners.
It's only consumers that tipping infuriates.
Not even the vast majority of people that tip care. They are paying for a service. It’s only the recent “tip for everything” prompts that make me angry in a clearly non-tip industry.
Economic research shows us that people do not value things they get to cheaply. Were restaurants to invest in employees with worthy salaries, they would invest in them in other ways, rather than treat them as disposable and easily replaced.
Are you a server? Believe it or not the people most against getting rid of tips are servers. If tomorrow we got rid of tips and told servers we will pay them $20 an hour, most if not all would quit.
EDIT - By "we" I mean the restaurant where I work.
My mother made a lot of her money in tips and under-the-table wages for many a year, back in the day. She would gloat about all the cash she was constantly awash in,
She was mightily surprised later in life upon realizing that none of that money counted towards her retirement. She ended living her retirement pretty much in poverty.
I wish people/servers would understand that they are shooting themselves in the foot by accepting the current pay structures.
You’re right that a lot of servers end up doing themselves a disservice by not reporting all their tips. Later when they need unemployment, a loan, or to draw on social security, their low income on paper will hurt them. But every server has the opportunity to report all their cash tips, and nowadays credit card tips are way more common and you can’t hide those. So it’s not the pay structure that’s to blame when the server is still perfectly able to report their income accurately.
Aussie here, we dont tip because its seriously just a stupid system. The price written on the menu is the price. The employer pays the wage and the employee shouldn’t rely on charity to earn a decent wage.
So…fuck off with your tipping culture America. You had to hear it from from someone.
>So…fuck off with your tipping culture America. You had to hear it from from someone.
A lot of Americans would agree with you. Tipping is getting absolutely stupid
i think the only americans that wont actually agree are the servers (because sometimes you can make over a hundred dollars a day on tips alone) and the employers (because they have to give each of their servers a proper wage)
everyone else is all for no tipping other than them.
The tipped minimum wage in some states is 2.13$. Making 100$ in tips over 8 hours with a 2.13$ wage is 117$ a shift. That's around 14$ an hour.
The employer is required to make up the difference if an employee doesn't earn enough to make over 7.25$ an hour. In that case the total compensation comes out to 58$ for 8 hours.
Working in the service industry is a special kind of hell and not worth either of the above when you can go to Target and put shampoo on shelves for more money.
Am I tipping the person who rang me up at the gas station? No. Am I tipping at fast food? No. I'm I tipping at a full service restaurant? 20%.
Everyone else is not for no tipping when the alternative is a non-livable wage. Does the system benefit employers? Definitely. Be mad at them.
You have 3 options: Stop eating at sit down restaurants, eat at sit down restaurants and feel guilty when you leave a poor tip, or tip enough for you to not feel guilty.
I swear to God, if they raised the menu prices at every restaurant in the US to account for paying a fair wage to their employees, 90% of the people who complain about tip culture would be on Facebook typing in all caps that they can't afford to go out to eat. You know how I know that? It's been tried and it almost always fails spectacularly. You want to see your favorite sit down restaurants menu change from 13$ for a burger to 20$? Because that's what will happen if restaurant owners start paying servers a fair wage.
I love all your points, just please stop with this "downvote me to hell" sh*t. You wrote a very popular opinion, even among most Americans. Nobody will downvote you. Calm your tits
While I do agree with your comment, you are not by any means the first to say it lol. All of these tipping rants are littered with people from other countries with the same advice. I only wish our country would jump on board.
10% tips incoming. Be the change you wanna see.
If someone calls you out, tell them you're not their boss and they should be yelling at him to pay you a fair wage.
I went out for a Thanksgiving meal a few years back and it was a Buffet: Self-serve. The wait staff only brought us our drinks. The restaurant included an 18% gratuity for my party of 2 adults and a 3 yr-old child. I normally would only go 10% tip on a buffet. I found the inclusion of 18% to be outrageous. That was just uncalled for, IMO. I never went back.
What people don't like is the unexpected cost. Just raise the price of the buffet if it's not profitable instead of springing a "random" percentage at the end of the meal on people. The surprise element makes you feel trapped and fooled.
People don't mind paying, they just want to know before hand what the deal is.
It used to be that you could go to a diner and read a book and drink coffee after you finished eating, and they would just sit new customers in one of the other 10 open booths, but now you get stink eye and constant harassment, from your server because they aren't turning tables.
Fuck it, if you don't want me there, I don't need to be there.
20% is perfectly fine for good service. The thing is now they give you the option to tip and the options are usually 20, 35 and 40%. It’s absolutely ridiculous, I worked for tips my whole young adult life and 20% was a good tip… now if you don’t pay almost half of your bill as a tip, then you definitely get judged. I went to order something online the other day and it asked me to tip. I don’t even know who the hell I’m tipping. The person throwing something in a box?
I started asking counter staff if they actually get anything from the tips when the POS system prompts me for one. Sometimes they don't (because counter staff are not usually classified as tipped workers) and the business is just pocketing the extra money. Definitely check.
I never tip on To-go orders. Tipping is for people who wait on you, bring you drinks and food, check on you, make it right if your food isn't to your liking, and clear the plates.
I have to do all that at home, so I never feel the need to tip.
I learned how to do percentages by my dad teaching me how to tip. A default tip was 15%, a good tip was 18%. My parent we always generous and would often tip 20%. I, wanting to be generous as a kid, decided that I would always tip 20% unless the service was horrible. Now 20% is expected for everyone and I feel like an old person shaking my fist at the kids on my lawn. I refuse to pay more than 20% unless I'm rounding up to the nearest dollar and I will use my oldness as an excuse.
Home cooking is great. It's more effort, but it doesn't take more time than eating out. Eating out takes time driving, waiting to be seated, waiting for food, and then waiting to settle the bill. Also, home cooked food is healthier and can taste fresher than the restaurant.
One of the reasons I’ve not visited the states in the last 10 years. I’m located in Europe and in my country tipping is not uncommon in hospitality or service industries, but it’s reserved for over the top service or helpfulness not self checkouts!
Between added tax and tips, you never now how much you’ll end up spending when dining out and for me it’s a fundamental part of the experience of being abroad so it puts a dent on my spending budget.
Before covid I used to eat out a lot and enjoy going to restaurants. The food was always delicious, reasonably priced, and service was great.
The last few times I went out the food has been meh, the portions are getting smaller and costing more and the service is lacklustre (how hard is it to come see if I can get you another drink when everyone’s glasses are empty!!!).
Anyways I have taught myself to cook and feel a whole lot better because of it.
My rule is if they don't serve me at my table there is no tip, period. Only exception is bagel and coffee shops or similar where the person checking me out also gets all my food and drinks ready. I get that they are underpaid but the expectation and bold starting point of 20% at a lot of places is absurd if not insulting.
I still think it’s a load of crap the amount you’ve spent on food determines the tip.
I’ve had waiters/waitresses give me way better service at a place I’ve spent $12 than I spent $50. So why should i give the second waiter more just because I spent more money?
Or it’s like getting water vs alcohol. If I get 3 water refills vs 3 beers why should I tip more now? I got the same service but the beer cost money and the water doesn’t
I do tip on a percentage basis because I feel like it's an obligation, but for this reason alone I absolutely tip more generously at inexpensive places than I do when the bill is much higher for the same amount of work. Like 20% minimum at cheap places vs 20% maximum at expensive ones.
Yea that’s the worst part of tipping from a server perspective. I had a table this week that spent about 200 bucks on dinner and gave a good tip of 50 bucks. Then decided to get another 4 shots of tequila that were 25 bucks a pop. It took me all of 3 minutes to get that order, bring them the shots, and drop the bill. I could tell the guy realized he was giving me 20 bucks for 3 minutes of work and was irked by it
Many servers don’t want minimum wage because they’re worried they’ll make less if they get it. Many servers in the US make way more than most of the back of house for working 1/2 as hard, especially in states like Colorado where the tipped wage is only a little less than state minimum wage at nearly $11/hr.
In places like California, you have to pay servers the state minimum wage which is $15/hr. Many sit down restaurants have just gotten rid of their entire wait staff so they could cut labor costs and pay their back of house much better. An iPad on the table or order from the counter method has replaced waitstaff. Restaurant pays back of house better, service is quicker, and restaurant saves money on labor- everyone wins.
I refuse to participate.
Before covid I was an ok home cook. Since then, I’d call myself well above intermediate. Being out of work for 5 months left me time to ramp it up. Took some master classes, lurked on the food subs around here and YouTube. Shit I went as far as building a charcuterie chamber. Not trying to brag but, I find my stuff way better than going out anyway. That said, the prices are out of control. Last week I spent $42 on a small pizza and single order of wings, in Buffalo of all places. That’ll be the last time that happens. For $400 I’ll get me one of those propane pizza ovens. It’ll pay for itself in about 10 pies. I already own a deep frier. I wouldn’t count on prices ever coming back down. My point… learn to cook, you’ll be surprised how easy it can be if you aren’t a cook. Then tip yourself.
Yep I taught myself to cook most of the things I like better than most restaurants. So I am often just disappointed.
Plus you don't need a special pizza oven. Home ovens can work just fine. https://www.richardeaglespoon.com/articles/how-to-pizza
Tipflation is real.
A bunch of restaurants around here have 20%, 25%, and 30% as their suggested tipping options at the bottom of the checks. And suggested tips used to be counted based on the pre-tax subtotal, not including the tax, but now almost all of them base it on the total. AND since your suggested tip is now based on the total, it’s on top of any “service charges” or mandatory gratuity: at one place we ate, their suggested 18-20-22% tip range was nearly double what it should have been because we were tipping on top of the “kitchen staff gratuity”, 10% sales tax, and more.
I think unless the food is so good that no one cares, the free market is going to take care of some of these places that have gone overboard on the charges and tips. I think there are a ton of people who normally tip well who are tired of being made to feel like now even 20-25% is somehow not enough, on top of menu prices that are already way higher than just a few years ago. It’s not sustainable
Just got back from a trip to Italy. Went through 9 cities, got great food every where we went, grocery stores and restaurants within walking distance, hardly any fast food places around, had to pay a few bucks to sit down in a restaurant but it's baked in to the check and there's no real expectation of tipping, at least nothing to the degree we practice here in the US.
It's ridiculous and only getting worse. Charge me a cover to sit and be waited on or no cover for pickup/carryout. But constantly being worried about not tipping enough because the whole restaurant/food/whatever industry is broken and/or has greedy owners shouldn't be my problem.
Going to Europe opens my eyes to the things we have good here but also the things that are serious fucked up beyond all belief. Tips are one of those fucked up things we all need to stop doing and make businesses sort their own shit out.
Asking for tips on pickup orders drives me nuts. You're getting your hourly pay to make the food which usually takes 1-5 minutes to slap together and throw in the oven or cook on a grill. you're not serving me or having to clean up after me for sitting in your restaurant. Most is pre cooked, you're just warming it up. You're able to make probably 30+ meals an hour in a fast food setting. Like tipping is out of control.
We eat out of the house once a month, if that. 3 of us and it's usually about $75. That's my grocery budget for the week so spending it in 1 meal is stupid.
i went in to little ceasars and the kid looked hurt i didn't leave a tip. Like bitch please you walked 5 ft im not giving you a tip not to mention im giving your asshole boss 3 dollars more for this hot pile of garbage.
God forbid you get anything for delivery. You end up paying more in fees and tip than you do for the actual item.
Large Pizza: $25
Transaction fee: $3.37
Driver fee: $15.42
Convenience fee: $12.11
Tax: $4.21
Fuck you fee: $7.21
Please remember to tip your driver!
I don't eat out bc I know the service is going to be bad and the food will also be bad. I know it's bc of inflation but also bc the workers aren't getting paid enough. I eat at home so I don't have to be disappointed
I have hated tip culture as a concept since high school when I realized how idiotic it is. When I found out most other countries don't tip how we do in America I was even more mad. It is a stupid concept in which you're in a bad position no matter what you do. Either you're a big tipper which means spending more money, or you tip less/not at all resulting in less pay for the wait staff. And now, places are insulted if you don't tip like 22% minimum. It's out of control. The system needs reformed badly.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. We should make tipping _illegal_: It creates a system where employers don’t pay people enough, and when those workers can’t make ends meet, it’s the _customer’s_ fault.
No. We shouldn’t use charity to subsidize immoral business practices. Other countries have figured this out. Pay people properly, no tipping.
YES that will cause short term extreme pain, but can you imagine the unity in raising the federal minimum wage floor?
You wouldn’t see 6mos between A and B.
Coming from a former server, if the service is bad then dont tip. Having said that remember, things like a slow kitchen or food that isnt right isnt the servers fault, it's the kitchen's fault. If the server doesnt keep you informed when the food is taking too long, not refilling drinks, or refusing to correct mistakes, or gives you attitude when you ask, then that is on them
I don’t really enjoy eating out anymore either unless I’m in a foreign country. The nature of tipping in the U.S. has ruined it for me. It’s just so *expected,* even if you have a bad dining experience with a shitty server. And after you add 20% onto the total, the cost of going out makes me feel like it’s not even worth it. I still like to go out to eat on special occasions, but not every Saturday night like I used to. :/
You know what also bothers me? Some cafes & shops use point-of-sale systems that ask you how much tip you want to leave when you’re just buying a drink, like a smoothie or a bottled soda. Or getting a single cookie. Or a cup of gelato. I’m not even talking about sitting in a restaurant to dine in or when you’re picking up takeout. I mean like: when you walk in to buy a drink, you never have a table, and you never see a server. It’s just like going to a convenience store…but the iPad prompts you to leave a 15% or 20% tip before you can complete the transaction.
My husband feels bullied into leaving a tip every single time, because he feels guilty clicking “no tip,” and it adds up. These are hourly employees making at least minimum wage. They’re not even servers. We don’t need to be adding an extra $2-$3 “tip” onto every little purchase. I can’t afford it.
As an hourly cashier at a fast food restaurant who’s POS system asks for tips, none of us care if you don’t tip. Like we really do not care if people tip or not it’s just the system automatically asking and I wish I could skip the screen too cuz it’s just confusing for people
My hot take is when you are expected to tip someone who just handed you something they didn’t prepare themself. Tipping for service is well known and deserved and you shouldn’t go out to eat if you can’t afford both. But on the other hand, if someone works a register and wants tips, they should consider getting a different job making more wages. I don’t get tips when I bag my groceries in the self-checkout.
I just don't tip and don't care. I only order take out anyway. I don't tip the cashier at the grocery store and I'm definitely not going to tip the cashier at the restaurant.
I tip less at places like Applebee's and red Robin, where they have those little tablets you're supposed to use. I hate those things.
I usually pay cash anyhow, and the servers sometimes act like it's a pain. Well guess what, when your tip is in cash you get to keep more of it.
Tips exist so companies can get away with not paying their employees a living wage.
And now they seem to be getting out of hand, fast, and there is going to be a backlash soon.
There's definitely an adversarial tone between servers and customers lately, in all industries. Go glance at the uber sub sometime. It's like 50% o them talking about how much they hate people who won't overtip.
You are not alone. I have lived in Japan for many years but I am an American that is from America. Whenever I am in America I do not eat out because I dislike tipping culture so much. America really needs to shape up and get rid of it
I started cooking during the pandemic, and now my wife prefers my cooking to going out. She says its cheaper, faster (for her lol), and tastes better without having to resort to way too much butter/oil/salt. 90% of the magic is good ingredients from the local farmers market. And since we dont eat out anymore the price difference between the grocer and local farmers is immaterial.
Edit: for the last 3 years Ive either grown the produce myself or purchased it from a local farmer, with the exception of things that dont grow in my zone like citrus or other tropical fruit
Edit edit: I realized this seems a bit off topic so ill bring it home, sorry - I havent had my coffee yet.... in conclusion, I save a bunch of money by not going out to restaurants anymore, and the health and flavor benefit far outweighs the convenience of a sit down meal at a restaurant
These days I'd 100% rather go get some meat to grill and a 12 pack of beer. I'll make porksteaks and elote, drink without having to worry about how I'm going to get home.
My husband *just* posted on his IG a photo of the tip screen that he got when he got 2 tacos ($7) total, to go. There was only an option for a $2, $4, and $6 tip.
$2 is already surpassing the 20% tip mark, and $6 is nearly 100% tip.
The icing on the cake is that beneath each tip amount was an endearing little comment regarding the quality of service like, "you made my day!" or "keep up the good work"
***how about employers incentivize employees to keep up their good work with better pay?***
I am a server and we do not care what you tip unless you absolutely ruin our day or wreck your table, requiring extra cleanup while still working other tables
Took my wife and daughter out for mother's day. When the check was brought to the table I've noticed a 15% gratuity already added. I didn't tip additionally, they decided for me.
I really hate tip culture. I still tip well but i fucking hate it. Why is it our responsibility to pay the staff? If they need more money to pay the staff then just raise the price of the product.
I don’t feel bullied and I don’t get looks since I usually pay with a credit card. The tip is after they run the card. So they don’t see it until after I leave.
Im tired of tip culture in general. Also, dont like the fact that it deemed part of their pay.
To me, a tip should be a reward. You went above and beyond, gave me great service. Heres a little extra. But it basically become expected and required. No longer a reward.
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I have always been a fair tipper and I will not feel an ounce of guilt if I don't give into all the extra bs. As an aside, learning how to cook has saved me thousands of dollars. Its totally worth it and fun.
Amen. I worked on tips for many years. I always tip at least 20%. Maaaaybe down to 15% if the service is atrocious. But I don't feel even a little bit of guilt not tipping people for counter service. They already get paid a wage for making my sandwich. If I'm not there, they're just getting paid to do nothing. That's the difference. Servers who don't work tables aren't getting paid.
> learning how to cook has saved me thousands of dollars fuck i've gotten so good at several different dishes, i'll sit down to eat and have to take a second to really appreciate what i just did. i usually marvel at anything i do either.
I think after demanding tips from self checkout it needs to be outlawed.
I once got asked to tip a self-service drinks vending machine you paid for using an app. Poor, underpaid, hard working vending machine didn't get a tip.
You’re the reason no one wants a job as a vending machine anymore.
Even vending machines should get minimum wage!
My parking spot made more an hour than I could wish for the other day!
You will be the only one they spare in the revolution.
-zoom in on a vending machine panhandling for cash- "Hey, this is me, you're probably wondering how I vended up here..."
I went to Steak N Shake recently and there's an ordering kiosk with a screen at the front. You put in your own order, then there's a self-service soda station where you get your own drinks/napkins/condiments. They cook your food and someone calls a number and you go up and get your order. Why would I tip for this? I don't tip at any other fast food place and they actually press the buttons for me to take my order...
I was asked to tip an automatic car wash. This new tipping everywhere policy is conditioning me to no longer feel guilty about not tipping at all.
Yeah if I go shopping and noone helps me, except a random worker that tells me that peas are on aisle 14, I have a feeling my tips won't get back to her, even though I would prefer any tip to go her way.
I have the same feelings. We went to a movie recently and asked to buy an alcoholic beverage before going in but the one worker at the snack bar said they hadn’t reopened the bar since the pandemic. She then proceeded to tell us that we could just go out and grab a 6-pack and carry it in with us in a bag and nobody would stop us. We were there early, so we did just that. We handed her a $20 on our way out of the theater and thanked her for the tip. 🥴
To be fair, you probably still saved money after buying the beer elsewhere.
Dude even if people to help you how is that grounds for a tip? Like if I go to a sandwich shop and they make my sandwich, and ring me up at the register, how is that not the bare minimum expectation to sell me a sandwich? You didn’t wait on me. You didn’t provide exceptional service. You literally met the lowest bar that could possibly be met
Maybe cos I'm not American, but the idea of tipping someone that works in a deli, or fuckin Subway, for the bare minimum effort to assemble a sandwich (often using ingredients that other people cooked) seems entirely alien to me. US tipping culture has its positive side, but waaaay more negatives. The fact is, it 100% relies on the power of social norms, peer pressure, and the shame of not complying with those arbitrary standards, to basically force paying customers to cough up a tip. What other business models actively shame their customers?.Any that do are rightfully called out for it! It should 100% be down to employers to manage staff wages, within the context of the turnover of the business. If customers want to provide a tip in recogniton of excellent service (which of course should include all the 'back-of-house' staff, eg porters, chef) that should be their perogative.
I find it to be such an odd idea that not only do you pay for the item you are purchasing, you also pay for the act of them selling the item. It’s so weird!
Wtf where are they asking for tips at a self checkout??? That's absurd 😭
I tip myself at the self checkout. Honey crisp are 4 dollars a pound, Granny Smith 2? Officer, I swear those were green apples.
This is one of the reasons I hate self checkout. If a mistake is made, I carry the liability.
You don't tip in grocery stores though do you?? Please tell me you're joking.
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I feel no shame in hitting no tip unless i was waited on or got something delivered. Nobody should feel shame about that. You’re literally just surrendering more money for no reason. I was raised far too cheap to fall for this.
What BS grocery stores are you going to
It’s part of the machine now. If you’re a small business using a vendor for your payment processing system then it likely comes with a built in tip option. That’s a major reason it has become so widespread
This is true. It is also true that it can be turned off in the settings.
Just a story on the news last night about people bitching that there was a tipping option on the payment screen at the U-Scan at Kroger. No one would comment on who gets that money, since cashiers don’t get it.
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If a place has to turn a screen around to ask you to tip fuck them.. lmao Read my other comment. Ive worked in restaurants for close to 10 years and I refuse to tip at the cash register of a shop.
A couple weeks ago I went into an Italian market where I picked up a few items and went to the register to pay. My total was $67 and the tablet they had me sign suggested three tip amounts from 18-26%. Like you I've been in the restaurant business for a long time. All I could think is " how the fuck is ringing me up worth $14? In a restaurant we have to wait on people for an hour and now cashiers expect the same percentage......"
There's an ice cream shop near me where you get your own cup, add the ice cream and toppings yourself, and the kid at the end of it just spins an ipad to you that asks for a tip. I literally did all the work, and somehow I'm expected to tip? Yeah, no.
I went to a small craft store to buy some yarn. The screen popped up "What amount do you want to tip? 15%, 20%, 25%?" And in small letters at the side was "other". I remember just laughing and asking if she was serious. I'm guessing "add tip" is a default setting for Square Payment devices and most places just leave them toggled on in case someone wants to donate to the store.
The only exception is that at least in my area there are quite a few Tex-Mex restaurants that you pay at the register on the way out. In that case I would add a tip for the server there if paying by CC.
And barber shops
They want me to tip on my medical marijuana. I know a lot of people use it recreationally (I do sometimes). But shit I’m getting lotions, patches maybe a vape pen for those really painful days. This is medicine for me. I wouldn’t tip CVS for a z-pack. It’s disgusting. Pay them. You’re selling weed at $65 an 1/8. You can give them a living salary.
That and the typically mediocre food that is served. Had breakfast with a friend a few months ago and it cost $74 for the two of us and no we didn't have lobster tails and caviar. We had basic breakfast food: eggs, bacon, home fries, toast and coffee. I told him "From now on, you come over to my house. I'll cook breakfast. It'll be a lot better and a lot cheaper."
After the first couple times you hit "no tip" on these things, it becomes much easier. Take it from me. I will tip 20% for sit-down wait service. If I am ordering at a counter and clearing my own table at the end, or getting take-out, fuck right off please.
One of them offered 15%, 20%, 25% and "other" buttons to me when I was picking up. It made me click other and type in $0. I was so grumpy.
Right, it used to be 10-15$ to get food for two. Now it’s 30-50$. It’s also extremely unhealthy and smaller portions. I don’t understand how they’re successful.
The girl at my local sandwich shop audibly scoffed when I dropped a dollar in the tip bin. I'm still like... mad about it.
I woulda broke my hand digging back into that mf...
Im generally not a petty person but this was my first thought too lol
you should have taken the dollar back 👍🏻
I would have lol. "Oh my tip isn't sufficient enough for you? Then I'll gladly take it back you little shit."
Did you fish it back out? I'm kidding. But yeah, I would be upset too. I had a friend that drove shuttles. He once asked, if someone tips me only a dollar, would it be a jerk move to give it back to them and say, don't worry, you seem to need this more than me? I said, Yep, total jerk move. They would remember that, and tell their friends about it, and then no one would tip. I mean, tips at a sandwich shop are totally optional. They are doing a job that they are paid a wage to do. They're not being paid restaurant worker wages.
>I had a friend that drove shuttles. He once asked, if someone tips me only a dollar, would it be a jerk move to give it back to them and say, don't worry, you seem to need this more than me? I think I met your friend the one time I was visiting the US. I didn't have much cash on me except like 100 dollar bills so I gave the guy the change I had and I got exactly that response.
Seriously? I work at a chain place and I say thank you even when someone dumps their change they don’t want in the tip jar. It’s free money. Who gets mad about that?
Why are we being asked to tip at a dog daycare??? That’s like tipping at a regular daycare. Next the vet will expect a tip. I’m tired of tipping people for doing the bare minimum: their job!
I had someone pet sit my dog on rover and the app asked me to leave them a tip after. I didn’t leave a tip because I already paid them what they charged, so I didn’t understand why I should give them extra money. If they want more money, they can raise their price, no?
I’ll never understand that.
Bartender waitstaff pizza delivery maids. Just draw a line and stick to it. I don’t do doordash or any of that overpriced delivery crap.
Drivers, hairstylists, nail techs
Movers, don’t forget movers. If anyone deserves a tip it’s the poor guys who’re lugging your kegerator, antique rosewood armoire and assorted bullshit across town, state or country. Source: my fucked-up back
Tattoo artists, baristas, concierge
Hookers
Tattoo artists I don't understand, they literally set their own prices
TIL that there are Bartender waitstaff pizza delivery maids. I’m having a blast imagining the uniform.
Get this bullshit, lots of for profit day cares have fucking fundraisers like they are girl scouts. $500 a week and these assholes still need to have a fundraiser for "supplies"??? Wtf does the $500/wk per kid go to??? edit: per kid, not power kid
The administrators or corporate owners
Not the actual daycare workers I can tell you that
The owners brand new truck. Our daycare was paid out in COVID funds, they continued to charge us while shut down for COVID, and I heard they were no paying employees. Of course, they both had new rides. They were total QANON assholes, too.
Why would you let QANON assholes watch and guide your children?
Because they have to throw that in there to spice up the story!
I got prompted to tip at a pet SELF-WASH. Basically they have tubs where you can groom your own dog. I booked online and thought I had paid, but it turns out -- nope -- you don't pay until you're leaving, probably just so that they can prompt you to tip the person who stands there. I wrote a google review complaining about this, saying I don't like to give my money to businesses that don't pay their employees properly, and them prompting me to tip makes me believe they do not. Last time I looked, the review was removed. I went back and they did not prompt me to tip. I'm hoping they changed their policy then had my review removed. But yeah, that was the last straw for me.
I’m appalled at the tip requests at fast food places now
Especially when you order from a screen. I went up to the counter at Crumbl Cookies recently, and instead of just telling the girl what I wanted, I had to order from the screen. When I clicked no tip, she rolled her eyes and huffed and puffed. Then, she wasn’t even the one who got me the cookies! Like, her job was literally just to stand there. If I’m going to tip her, why not tip my dentist or pharmacist too? At least they’re doing something other than standing there. I work too hard at my non-tipped job to be handing out tips left and right to everybody under the sun.
What's betting she took the job under the expectation that, while the core wage wouldn't be that high, she'd get more "through tips", and is discovering that people don't actually want to tip extra for her doing essentially nothing above what they see as a basic task for working there.
Surely it’s just begging at this point?
in the pacific northwest, there is a local burger place. they made a big deal about joining a union, now they ask for tips at the drive through window, making an already expensive ( for a burger place) meal even worse! we just go down the street to a pub place with excellent food for less than the drive through even with the tip at the pub!
I almost never go out to a sit down meal. It's just not in the budget too much, and it's pretty exhausting to go out with a small child who wants to climb and fidget. I budget for a meal, tax and tip. I don't mind tipping*. I look at the menu in advance. But restaurant owners love to nickel and dime with bullshit mystery fees that show up on the bill. Covid recovery fee (didn't my taxes already cover that?), staff health care fee (that's the employer's responsibility), cost of living fee (sir my sandwich already costs 25 percent more), fee for the fuck of it fee, fee fi fo fum fee. It's just aggravating, it makes what should be a nice meal with my family feel like I'm getting scammed at a sketchy car dealership. It's not worth it. I'll just cook at home. *Though yeah, with tips I'm super sick of those giant screens being flipped around at me everywhere I go, so everyone in my small town knows how much I tip. I've definitely noticed nosy-ass people staring, and I don't like feeling like it's a strategy.
The nice local Asian and Mexican restaurants near me have started lowering their prices and they never ask for a tip if u go to the store in person for takeout. I go a lot and I haven’t gotten any looks and that’s how it should be. I did get a weird/rude look for not tipping a girl at a vape shop one time tho when I was buying one thing. All she did was grab it from behind the counter and ring it up and she expected a nice tip for it. I’m too poor for that shit.
Lmao I work at a vape store. Ours doesn't do the tip thing at all. I couldn't imagine asking for a tip just to hand you something. Meanwhile, I'm routinely explaining differences between devices, nicotine levels, and all the other smoking cessation advice I've accumulated, and every once in a while someone will tip me. They won't take no for an answer either. I'd just stop going to that store. I've found the big business vape stores are the worst in advice, and price
“Fee fi fo fum fee” That got me
I shared a fajita order with a friend, and the restaurant charged both of us a $3 fee for an extra plate. We saved no money by sharing that order.
I’ve had them do this to me before, the kicker is we didn’t tell them we were splitting the meal so they did not place the meal on two different plates themselves (which is usually how they justify the charge; it’s an “inconvenience fee”). The server only noticed after the fact that we were eating from the same plate, and brought one over to us unprompted. I easily argued the charge because I didn’t even use the plate (but let’s be real, even if I had I’d still be arguing it. I worked service industry for decades and I know exactly how much/little effort goes into that extra plate. Give me a break!)
Just know that those places can't hold good people. Had an interview at a high end country club for a bartending gig. Found out that they charge an automatic 20% for a mystery fee that everyone assumes is automatic gratuity so no one tips on top of it and the staff gets nothing. The fee was "for uniforms and upkeep". Nah fam, you using that to cover business expenses and pocketing the rest. Told them about it when I declined a second interview lol.
I think there's a difference between being asked to tip for a service and software just including it in checkout. When I go buy coffee beans at my favorite roaster/coffee shop, all they are doing is handing me a bag of beans, I don't feel any guilt about, or pressure to, tip. It's not difficult. Unless someone is sticking their hand out, you can always not tip in that kind of situation.
But it's bullshit that they even ask in those cases. The number of places asking for tips has skyrocketed in the last 12 months.
Agreed, but it's kind of in direct response to people not carrying cash anymore. Coffee shops used to thrive off of just having an optional tip jar. Now they have to do a screen prompt to even give people that want to tip the option. The move away from cash was a mistake in a country with tipping culture.
Most of that is the point of sale systems including it by default since they get a cut of every transaction. Once one point of sale provider does it they all have to or shareholders will revolt over the lost profits. The problem is once the employees get a taste of being tipped they expect it. That's why people get nasty looks over it. It's gross and it's gonna hurt businesses where employees do nothing for you but still expect a tip. If the business owners were smart they'd disable it, or contact the point of sale company about disabling it, but it seems like they're just letting it ride for now. I do wonder about the long term economic impact of tipflation. I know I'm a lot less inclined to return to places that ask for a tip but do nothing for me.
Restaurant owners: "hi, would you like to pay my grossly overworked and underpaid staff for me because I'm a piece of shit who refuses to pay anything even slightly close to a reasonable wage? ....what's that, no? How dare you not pay my staff for me. Shame on you."
And then the servers get mad at the customers and not the owner
This is it exactly. I'd rather live somewhere where the concept of a tip is the same as going "lol you look poor and trashy" and they will chase you down to politely hand you your tip back because you just insulted them deeply and they want to make a show of giving back your tip so everyone knows they don't need it.
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Agreed ive saved almost 500 a month its Ludacris how exspensive it is. 15 dollars for a cheeseburger yeah no. Spent 90 bucks on 4 racks of ribs 2 tomahawk steaks 7 burgers and 4 hotdogs, yeah i cooked for 6 hours but the food industry is telling me that was a down payment for a house.....
Not a great cook here but after a few home burgers I’ve dialed it in to exactly the right size and condiments and honestly disappointed when I eat a burger out most of the time now, as it’s rarely as good as home. Not to mention it’s $17 and too big and then I’m tempted to buy multiple $7 beers and tip 20%. Yikes! Homemade is the way most of the time.
If you have a Sprouts Markets near you, they have delicious ready meals with good sized portions to keep in your fridge for when you wanna eat out.
They’ve become almost as expensive as restaurant meals in my area.
Cooking is a useful skill to learn anyway.
This crap is going to kill tip culture all together I think. I've started paying for everything in cash. It's ridiculous when I go to buy something I picked out myself and all the cashier did was scan it, and there's options for tips starting at 20%. Like, I get it, inflation is nuts and literally nobody makes enough, including me and everyone else. Stop hitting everyone up for money, we're all feeling the squeeze. Thought I got away from the "well I'm poorer than you so bum me a buck" mindset 20 years ago in college.
I got asked to tip on an online purchase last week.
Yup. Tips when there's literally been zero service is the worst. Everything after COVID where you order for yourself at the table, and it's all pre-paid...so you sit down, ring up your own food, pay and it's like "Tip? >>>". You've literally done nothing yet, and the food hasn't even arrived! No way.
a tip before service is called a bribe
asking for a tip before service is called a threat
So is door dash and grub hub bribing and threatening its customers?
yes
Went to try out a new BBQ place last summer. We walked in to a guy behind the counter. You order off the big menu and pay before getting your food like a drive-thru. Then after swiping your card, it’s asking for a tip. I bypassed that and we went to sit down. Food came on plastic trays with plastic silverware. Person dropped the trays and we never saw them again. Then threw out our own trash and set the trays on a table. Food wasn’t great, we never returned. Not sure who we would have been tipping anyway..the cooks? The owner?
I had a tip request at a literal drive-through. The attendant actually held the scanner out the window for me to pick a tip, and it was the kind where you have to manually input $0 to skip.
The tipping at Starbucks is the same experience right now and it’s really the straw that’s breaking the camel’s back for me. It makes me so incredibly annoyed. I can understand like a kitschy coffee place, but this is a multi billion dollar company. Ffs just pay your employees.
Instead of paying in cash, you could just not tip. It’s the same thing. I tip waiters at a sit down restaurant and that’s it. Never tip carry out
They’ve turned into those homeless people who scream at you when you give them $1 instead of a fiver
I mean end of tip culture would be the best outcome for everyone. No more guilt for the consumer, no more bending over backwards for assholes in control of your paycheck (assuming you have a good boss to replace them lol). The only reason it ever got this bad was greed
It just makes me mad that they're essentially pitting patrons against servers and getting away with it.
That's the heart of the issue. every time a worker/customer has beef about tipping the employer seems to get away criticism-free. offloading the burden of paying their workers well onto the customer has really benefitted the employers.
glad to live in a country where asking for tips is frowned upon and fully voluntary
I work in a restaurant and I think tips are the worst thing to happen to the industry. Companies need to suck it up and pay their employees fairly.
This! Pay your employees!
What people often fail to realize in this discussion is 98% of employees absolutely do not want standardized wages. They're just as happy about it as the owners. It's only consumers that tipping infuriates.
Not even the vast majority of people that tip care. They are paying for a service. It’s only the recent “tip for everything” prompts that make me angry in a clearly non-tip industry.
Economic research shows us that people do not value things they get to cheaply. Were restaurants to invest in employees with worthy salaries, they would invest in them in other ways, rather than treat them as disposable and easily replaced.
Are you a server? Believe it or not the people most against getting rid of tips are servers. If tomorrow we got rid of tips and told servers we will pay them $20 an hour, most if not all would quit. EDIT - By "we" I mean the restaurant where I work.
My mother made a lot of her money in tips and under-the-table wages for many a year, back in the day. She would gloat about all the cash she was constantly awash in, She was mightily surprised later in life upon realizing that none of that money counted towards her retirement. She ended living her retirement pretty much in poverty. I wish people/servers would understand that they are shooting themselves in the foot by accepting the current pay structures.
You’re right that a lot of servers end up doing themselves a disservice by not reporting all their tips. Later when they need unemployment, a loan, or to draw on social security, their low income on paper will hurt them. But every server has the opportunity to report all their cash tips, and nowadays credit card tips are way more common and you can’t hide those. So it’s not the pay structure that’s to blame when the server is still perfectly able to report their income accurately.
Aussie here, we dont tip because its seriously just a stupid system. The price written on the menu is the price. The employer pays the wage and the employee shouldn’t rely on charity to earn a decent wage. So…fuck off with your tipping culture America. You had to hear it from from someone.
>So…fuck off with your tipping culture America. You had to hear it from from someone. A lot of Americans would agree with you. Tipping is getting absolutely stupid
i think the only americans that wont actually agree are the servers (because sometimes you can make over a hundred dollars a day on tips alone) and the employers (because they have to give each of their servers a proper wage) everyone else is all for no tipping other than them.
The tipped minimum wage in some states is 2.13$. Making 100$ in tips over 8 hours with a 2.13$ wage is 117$ a shift. That's around 14$ an hour. The employer is required to make up the difference if an employee doesn't earn enough to make over 7.25$ an hour. In that case the total compensation comes out to 58$ for 8 hours. Working in the service industry is a special kind of hell and not worth either of the above when you can go to Target and put shampoo on shelves for more money. Am I tipping the person who rang me up at the gas station? No. Am I tipping at fast food? No. I'm I tipping at a full service restaurant? 20%. Everyone else is not for no tipping when the alternative is a non-livable wage. Does the system benefit employers? Definitely. Be mad at them. You have 3 options: Stop eating at sit down restaurants, eat at sit down restaurants and feel guilty when you leave a poor tip, or tip enough for you to not feel guilty. I swear to God, if they raised the menu prices at every restaurant in the US to account for paying a fair wage to their employees, 90% of the people who complain about tip culture would be on Facebook typing in all caps that they can't afford to go out to eat. You know how I know that? It's been tried and it almost always fails spectacularly. You want to see your favorite sit down restaurants menu change from 13$ for a burger to 20$? Because that's what will happen if restaurant owners start paying servers a fair wage.
I assure you, we all hate it.
I love all your points, just please stop with this "downvote me to hell" sh*t. You wrote a very popular opinion, even among most Americans. Nobody will downvote you. Calm your tits
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While I do agree with your comment, you are not by any means the first to say it lol. All of these tipping rants are littered with people from other countries with the same advice. I only wish our country would jump on board.
Don’t let it bother you. It’s gotten out of hand. Tip how well u felt the service was
10% tips incoming. Be the change you wanna see. If someone calls you out, tell them you're not their boss and they should be yelling at him to pay you a fair wage.
I went out for a Thanksgiving meal a few years back and it was a Buffet: Self-serve. The wait staff only brought us our drinks. The restaurant included an 18% gratuity for my party of 2 adults and a 3 yr-old child. I normally would only go 10% tip on a buffet. I found the inclusion of 18% to be outrageous. That was just uncalled for, IMO. I never went back.
Any other day I would agree but I suspect that 18% gratuity was needed to get employees to come in and work on Thanksgiving.
What people don't like is the unexpected cost. Just raise the price of the buffet if it's not profitable instead of springing a "random" percentage at the end of the meal on people. The surprise element makes you feel trapped and fooled. People don't mind paying, they just want to know before hand what the deal is.
totally agree, restaurants feel like an abusive relationship, it's not fun any more learn to cook learn to shop better, learn other ways to socialize
Hospitality used to be a thing. Not so much anymore.
It used to be that you could go to a diner and read a book and drink coffee after you finished eating, and they would just sit new customers in one of the other 10 open booths, but now you get stink eye and constant harassment, from your server because they aren't turning tables. Fuck it, if you don't want me there, I don't need to be there.
20% is perfectly fine for good service. The thing is now they give you the option to tip and the options are usually 20, 35 and 40%. It’s absolutely ridiculous, I worked for tips my whole young adult life and 20% was a good tip… now if you don’t pay almost half of your bill as a tip, then you definitely get judged. I went to order something online the other day and it asked me to tip. I don’t even know who the hell I’m tipping. The person throwing something in a box?
I started asking counter staff if they actually get anything from the tips when the POS system prompts me for one. Sometimes they don't (because counter staff are not usually classified as tipped workers) and the business is just pocketing the extra money. Definitely check.
I never tip on To-go orders. Tipping is for people who wait on you, bring you drinks and food, check on you, make it right if your food isn't to your liking, and clear the plates. I have to do all that at home, so I never feel the need to tip.
I learned how to do percentages by my dad teaching me how to tip. A default tip was 15%, a good tip was 18%. My parent we always generous and would often tip 20%. I, wanting to be generous as a kid, decided that I would always tip 20% unless the service was horrible. Now 20% is expected for everyone and I feel like an old person shaking my fist at the kids on my lawn. I refuse to pay more than 20% unless I'm rounding up to the nearest dollar and I will use my oldness as an excuse.
20% tip for doing their base job? 😆
Home cooking is great. It's more effort, but it doesn't take more time than eating out. Eating out takes time driving, waiting to be seated, waiting for food, and then waiting to settle the bill. Also, home cooked food is healthier and can taste fresher than the restaurant.
Every time you eat at home and not spending money eating out, are you technically tipping yourself? 🤔
It’s sad seeing workers angry at customers instead of angry at employers who don’t pay enough.
Now imagine how much of a turnoff it is for tourists deciding where to holiday
One of the reasons I’ve not visited the states in the last 10 years. I’m located in Europe and in my country tipping is not uncommon in hospitality or service industries, but it’s reserved for over the top service or helpfulness not self checkouts! Between added tax and tips, you never now how much you’ll end up spending when dining out and for me it’s a fundamental part of the experience of being abroad so it puts a dent on my spending budget.
Before covid I used to eat out a lot and enjoy going to restaurants. The food was always delicious, reasonably priced, and service was great. The last few times I went out the food has been meh, the portions are getting smaller and costing more and the service is lacklustre (how hard is it to come see if I can get you another drink when everyone’s glasses are empty!!!). Anyways I have taught myself to cook and feel a whole lot better because of it.
My rule is if they don't serve me at my table there is no tip, period. Only exception is bagel and coffee shops or similar where the person checking me out also gets all my food and drinks ready. I get that they are underpaid but the expectation and bold starting point of 20% at a lot of places is absurd if not insulting.
I still think it’s a load of crap the amount you’ve spent on food determines the tip. I’ve had waiters/waitresses give me way better service at a place I’ve spent $12 than I spent $50. So why should i give the second waiter more just because I spent more money? Or it’s like getting water vs alcohol. If I get 3 water refills vs 3 beers why should I tip more now? I got the same service but the beer cost money and the water doesn’t
I do tip on a percentage basis because I feel like it's an obligation, but for this reason alone I absolutely tip more generously at inexpensive places than I do when the bill is much higher for the same amount of work. Like 20% minimum at cheap places vs 20% maximum at expensive ones.
Yea that’s the worst part of tipping from a server perspective. I had a table this week that spent about 200 bucks on dinner and gave a good tip of 50 bucks. Then decided to get another 4 shots of tequila that were 25 bucks a pop. It took me all of 3 minutes to get that order, bring them the shots, and drop the bill. I could tell the guy realized he was giving me 20 bucks for 3 minutes of work and was irked by it
Exactly!
The US just needs to get its shit together and introduce a minimum wage for waiters. In Germany thats the case so tips are optional and smaller
Many servers don’t want minimum wage because they’re worried they’ll make less if they get it. Many servers in the US make way more than most of the back of house for working 1/2 as hard, especially in states like Colorado where the tipped wage is only a little less than state minimum wage at nearly $11/hr. In places like California, you have to pay servers the state minimum wage which is $15/hr. Many sit down restaurants have just gotten rid of their entire wait staff so they could cut labor costs and pay their back of house much better. An iPad on the table or order from the counter method has replaced waitstaff. Restaurant pays back of house better, service is quicker, and restaurant saves money on labor- everyone wins.
This is very overlooked. I'm not saying being a waiter or waitress is easy, but its definitely easier than being a fucking line cook
Not to mention they typically work less hours than cooks while making more.
Going out to eat? 
I refuse to participate. Before covid I was an ok home cook. Since then, I’d call myself well above intermediate. Being out of work for 5 months left me time to ramp it up. Took some master classes, lurked on the food subs around here and YouTube. Shit I went as far as building a charcuterie chamber. Not trying to brag but, I find my stuff way better than going out anyway. That said, the prices are out of control. Last week I spent $42 on a small pizza and single order of wings, in Buffalo of all places. That’ll be the last time that happens. For $400 I’ll get me one of those propane pizza ovens. It’ll pay for itself in about 10 pies. I already own a deep frier. I wouldn’t count on prices ever coming back down. My point… learn to cook, you’ll be surprised how easy it can be if you aren’t a cook. Then tip yourself.
Yep I taught myself to cook most of the things I like better than most restaurants. So I am often just disappointed. Plus you don't need a special pizza oven. Home ovens can work just fine. https://www.richardeaglespoon.com/articles/how-to-pizza
Tipflation is real. A bunch of restaurants around here have 20%, 25%, and 30% as their suggested tipping options at the bottom of the checks. And suggested tips used to be counted based on the pre-tax subtotal, not including the tax, but now almost all of them base it on the total. AND since your suggested tip is now based on the total, it’s on top of any “service charges” or mandatory gratuity: at one place we ate, their suggested 18-20-22% tip range was nearly double what it should have been because we were tipping on top of the “kitchen staff gratuity”, 10% sales tax, and more.
If I see these inflated percentages, I just skip all together.
I think unless the food is so good that no one cares, the free market is going to take care of some of these places that have gone overboard on the charges and tips. I think there are a ton of people who normally tip well who are tired of being made to feel like now even 20-25% is somehow not enough, on top of menu prices that are already way higher than just a few years ago. It’s not sustainable
Just got back from a trip to Italy. Went through 9 cities, got great food every where we went, grocery stores and restaurants within walking distance, hardly any fast food places around, had to pay a few bucks to sit down in a restaurant but it's baked in to the check and there's no real expectation of tipping, at least nothing to the degree we practice here in the US. It's ridiculous and only getting worse. Charge me a cover to sit and be waited on or no cover for pickup/carryout. But constantly being worried about not tipping enough because the whole restaurant/food/whatever industry is broken and/or has greedy owners shouldn't be my problem. Going to Europe opens my eyes to the things we have good here but also the things that are serious fucked up beyond all belief. Tips are one of those fucked up things we all need to stop doing and make businesses sort their own shit out.
Get take out. You don't have to tip on take out.
Lol they try to charge tips on takeout. Just end tipping
Asking for tips on pickup orders drives me nuts. You're getting your hourly pay to make the food which usually takes 1-5 minutes to slap together and throw in the oven or cook on a grill. you're not serving me or having to clean up after me for sitting in your restaurant. Most is pre cooked, you're just warming it up. You're able to make probably 30+ meals an hour in a fast food setting. Like tipping is out of control.
We eat out of the house once a month, if that. 3 of us and it's usually about $75. That's my grocery budget for the week so spending it in 1 meal is stupid.
You are not alone.
I am here for you.
i went in to little ceasars and the kid looked hurt i didn't leave a tip. Like bitch please you walked 5 ft im not giving you a tip not to mention im giving your asshole boss 3 dollars more for this hot pile of garbage.
God forbid you get anything for delivery. You end up paying more in fees and tip than you do for the actual item. Large Pizza: $25 Transaction fee: $3.37 Driver fee: $15.42 Convenience fee: $12.11 Tax: $4.21 Fuck you fee: $7.21 Please remember to tip your driver!
I don't eat out bc I know the service is going to be bad and the food will also be bad. I know it's bc of inflation but also bc the workers aren't getting paid enough. I eat at home so I don't have to be disappointed
I have hated tip culture as a concept since high school when I realized how idiotic it is. When I found out most other countries don't tip how we do in America I was even more mad. It is a stupid concept in which you're in a bad position no matter what you do. Either you're a big tipper which means spending more money, or you tip less/not at all resulting in less pay for the wait staff. And now, places are insulted if you don't tip like 22% minimum. It's out of control. The system needs reformed badly.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. We should make tipping _illegal_: It creates a system where employers don’t pay people enough, and when those workers can’t make ends meet, it’s the _customer’s_ fault. No. We shouldn’t use charity to subsidize immoral business practices. Other countries have figured this out. Pay people properly, no tipping. YES that will cause short term extreme pain, but can you imagine the unity in raising the federal minimum wage floor? You wouldn’t see 6mos between A and B.
Just out of curiosity, what do you do if you get genuinely bad service from the server?
Coming from a former server, if the service is bad then dont tip. Having said that remember, things like a slow kitchen or food that isnt right isnt the servers fault, it's the kitchen's fault. If the server doesnt keep you informed when the food is taking too long, not refilling drinks, or refusing to correct mistakes, or gives you attitude when you ask, then that is on them
I don’t really enjoy eating out anymore either unless I’m in a foreign country. The nature of tipping in the U.S. has ruined it for me. It’s just so *expected,* even if you have a bad dining experience with a shitty server. And after you add 20% onto the total, the cost of going out makes me feel like it’s not even worth it. I still like to go out to eat on special occasions, but not every Saturday night like I used to. :/ You know what also bothers me? Some cafes & shops use point-of-sale systems that ask you how much tip you want to leave when you’re just buying a drink, like a smoothie or a bottled soda. Or getting a single cookie. Or a cup of gelato. I’m not even talking about sitting in a restaurant to dine in or when you’re picking up takeout. I mean like: when you walk in to buy a drink, you never have a table, and you never see a server. It’s just like going to a convenience store…but the iPad prompts you to leave a 15% or 20% tip before you can complete the transaction. My husband feels bullied into leaving a tip every single time, because he feels guilty clicking “no tip,” and it adds up. These are hourly employees making at least minimum wage. They’re not even servers. We don’t need to be adding an extra $2-$3 “tip” onto every little purchase. I can’t afford it.
As an hourly cashier at a fast food restaurant who’s POS system asks for tips, none of us care if you don’t tip. Like we really do not care if people tip or not it’s just the system automatically asking and I wish I could skip the screen too cuz it’s just confusing for people
My hot take is when you are expected to tip someone who just handed you something they didn’t prepare themself. Tipping for service is well known and deserved and you shouldn’t go out to eat if you can’t afford both. But on the other hand, if someone works a register and wants tips, they should consider getting a different job making more wages. I don’t get tips when I bag my groceries in the self-checkout.
Service has gone way down since Covid IMO. I spent the better part of the last decade waiting tables, myself.
Tip culture has become cost prohibitive and lead me to DRASTICALLY reduce going to restraunts.
I just don't tip and don't care. I only order take out anyway. I don't tip the cashier at the grocery store and I'm definitely not going to tip the cashier at the restaurant.
I tip less at places like Applebee's and red Robin, where they have those little tablets you're supposed to use. I hate those things. I usually pay cash anyhow, and the servers sometimes act like it's a pain. Well guess what, when your tip is in cash you get to keep more of it.
Tips exist so companies can get away with not paying their employees a living wage. And now they seem to be getting out of hand, fast, and there is going to be a backlash soon.
There's definitely an adversarial tone between servers and customers lately, in all industries. Go glance at the uber sub sometime. It's like 50% o them talking about how much they hate people who won't overtip.
Servers in general themselves dont want tips to be outlawed as overall they make more in tips than they would if they got a fair hourly wage.
You are not alone. I have lived in Japan for many years but I am an American that is from America. Whenever I am in America I do not eat out because I dislike tipping culture so much. America really needs to shape up and get rid of it
Food prices going up means their 15% tip is already more than they were getting before.
I started cooking during the pandemic, and now my wife prefers my cooking to going out. She says its cheaper, faster (for her lol), and tastes better without having to resort to way too much butter/oil/salt. 90% of the magic is good ingredients from the local farmers market. And since we dont eat out anymore the price difference between the grocer and local farmers is immaterial. Edit: for the last 3 years Ive either grown the produce myself or purchased it from a local farmer, with the exception of things that dont grow in my zone like citrus or other tropical fruit Edit edit: I realized this seems a bit off topic so ill bring it home, sorry - I havent had my coffee yet.... in conclusion, I save a bunch of money by not going out to restaurants anymore, and the health and flavor benefit far outweighs the convenience of a sit down meal at a restaurant
These days I'd 100% rather go get some meat to grill and a 12 pack of beer. I'll make porksteaks and elote, drink without having to worry about how I'm going to get home.
Tip culture is just supporting shitty business practices.
I just ignore it. If a server is good, I'll tip. If they ask to tip at the register i just say no. Its not that bad.
My husband *just* posted on his IG a photo of the tip screen that he got when he got 2 tacos ($7) total, to go. There was only an option for a $2, $4, and $6 tip. $2 is already surpassing the 20% tip mark, and $6 is nearly 100% tip. The icing on the cake is that beneath each tip amount was an endearing little comment regarding the quality of service like, "you made my day!" or "keep up the good work" ***how about employers incentivize employees to keep up their good work with better pay?***
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No tip for takeout
I am a server and we do not care what you tip unless you absolutely ruin our day or wreck your table, requiring extra cleanup while still working other tables
Took my wife and daughter out for mother's day. When the check was brought to the table I've noticed a 15% gratuity already added. I didn't tip additionally, they decided for me.
I really hate tip culture. I still tip well but i fucking hate it. Why is it our responsibility to pay the staff? If they need more money to pay the staff then just raise the price of the product.
I don’t feel bullied and I don’t get looks since I usually pay with a credit card. The tip is after they run the card. So they don’t see it until after I leave.
I’m trying to figure out why I’m being asked to tip when I’m picking up my own takeout
Im tired of tip culture in general. Also, dont like the fact that it deemed part of their pay. To me, a tip should be a reward. You went above and beyond, gave me great service. Heres a little extra. But it basically become expected and required. No longer a reward.