Tipping is the lowest form of corruption,..... especially when it's a subjective amount. It's just human nature to work harder for extra money but it ought to come from a better paying job and not expecting from the clients.
2
My daughter who had worked at a Poke salad place said they actually never see the tip when it’s included in the credit card purchase . Management kept it all. So now I never tip on the counter except cash of service is good.
8
Pay people.
It's that simple.
Pay people a living wage.
7
The problem with this system is that we are required to tip even before being served. We have all come to accept tipping for service, and tipping high for exceptional service. But we can't be expected to tip high at the outset without knowing the quality of the service that is yet to be provided. If the workers are paid less because the management wants them to rely on tips, then this so-called innovation takes away an incentive to tip generously. Making it electronic and convenient doesn't make it sensible- it is merely putting glossy make-up on an antiquated feudal system, instead of a system of fair wages for work done.
7
Tip or don't tip that's a personal choice .
What bothers me as a customer is when the precalculated tip either on the screen or paper bill is based on the total including tax (which is over 10% in Charleston) rather than the cost of your food. In effect when you tap for that 20% tip you are leaving a 22% tip.
When did it become common practice to tip on a total including tax? Is it honest to hide an upcharge to a tip?
8
Regarding tipping in general.
Tipping is a benefit to the employer, not the employee. If an hourly income of some amount, say $15, is necessary to attract the desired number of employees, and the average tipping rate per hour is $2, then the employer will only have to offer a wage of $13 per hour to attract the desired work force. In the long run then, that is what will be offered. If there were no tipping the employer would have to offer $15.
Employers are likely to highly approve of tipping, because it lets them obtain their workforce at lower cost. Some employees like it as well, because in some cases they don't understand the economics of supply and demand, or maybe because they can get away with not reporting tips and thus that part of their income is tax free.
A case can be made for limited tipping to give some employees an incentive to give good service. In those cases, a small tip of maybe 5% for exceptionally good service should suffice. In all other cases we should resist tipping in whatever way we can.
Best case - everyone stops tipping and the employers will have to increase wages to obtain the required workforce.
4
I agree with your statement. Tipping is becoming a burden on the customer. We also work hard for an income and it should not be the customer paying for the employees salary. I know it is unfair to the employee but if we continue to accept this nonsense the system won’t change and it will only benefit one party.
1
I know many (most?) full service restaurants compensate their wait staff by paying lower hourly wages on the assumption that tips would make up the difference. But their cooks don't receive tips, and neither do their hosts/greeters. Counter service restaurant staff seem more analogous to the latter, but I don't know how they're compensated. It would have been really helpful if this article could have enlightened us about how counter service staff are compensated (in comparison to staff who rely on tips for part of their wages), so we could make better informed decisions. Are the (apparently) new tipping policies attributable to a change in compensation practices, or did they proliferate because fast food restaurants have started using "one size fits all" software that includes tip prompts (and actually reduces the work done by the staff, since customers now take care of payments themselves)? Until I learn more about compensation practices and am convinced that tips are appropriate for economic reasons, I will resist electronic tipping that appears to be generated by generic software, rather than by the establishments I frequent.
2
I live near a gourmet prepared foods-to-go shop. Prices are per-pound and determined by ingredients. The experience goes like this: stand at counter, point to the prepared foods I'd like to order, wait for friendly server to dish up order, meet server at register to pay. It takes about seven minutes, start to finish. At the end I am given a touchscreen to select a "graded" tip option: 15% (good), 18% (very good), 20% (great), 25% (excellent). Tip amounts for exactly the same service vary wildly, depending on whether it's pasta or steak. Last week an eager new employee served me. When I selected the 15% option (for a $60 order), his face dropped, and I realized he was responding to the grade rather than the amount. I've felt badly ever since.
1
If a minimum wage equal to standard minimum wages becomes the law for waitstaff too, as Warren, Sanders, AOC, Schumer and others "progressives" urge, I will stop tipping. The additional payroll costs will be reflected in the increased price of the food. The waitstaff made their choice to support politicians pushing for that higher wage, let them accept the consequences of that choice.
I also find that some "suggested" tip amounts are being calculated based on the meal tax, too. Why should I tip on the tax that the government is charging? There was so service involved in that.
I get that the poor pay of restaurant workers, ride-share drivers, et al. is something that employers should correct. Also the question of which workers should be tipped and which should not is difficult, as is justifying a 20% tip at an expensive restaurant vs. zero at McDonald’s. But until that ideal time, perhaps the easy answer is that those of us who are fortunate should quit thinking about whether this or that transaction is appropriate for a tip, and just tip 20% on everything possible; and those who themselves are earning a modest wage should pass on any questionable tipping situation. Consider this a minor correction to the inequality in our economy.
2
At sit down table service restaurants it's always 20% and sometimes more unless the service is beyond negligent. I think in the past 30 years I've only tipped less than 15% once. As for counter service for black coffee (Starbucks)--never. For food counter service 15% and sometimes 20%--I order at counter they bring me the food. Airport curbside checkin $5/bag. Uber/Taxi 20%. Maid service $5/night and most times I don't have the room cleaned if it's only 2 nights but still leave a tip. Bell person--$5 to $10 but I generally don't use that service. Don't get pizza delivery. So by my thinking I'm doing the right thing by the people who do this work. I worked as bartender and food server 35-40 years ago and remember tips accounted for 50%+ of my income. Ditto for my spouse.
My Dad owned restaurants and was a very generous tipper. Whenever we went somewhere with service we got a pop quiz. He would tell us how much the bill was and ask how much we should tip. It we calculated too low, we were remind about the importance of recognizing how hard it is to work in the service industry & how they are paid differently. I understand that as tippers we are contributing to a system where businesses don't have to pay well but I'm not going to punish the worker. I do notice how people around me tip and I have been know to stop dating someone because they were bad tippers!
10
My recent Panera Bread tip for a $5 breakfast: touched "custom" amount, and entered .25.
I just came from Australia where, at a restaurant, the waiter came over to ask if I wanted to leave a tip as he was riding up my bill. I was dining with an Australian friend who looked up and said: "Whaaat? Is this because he's an American. Does anyone every tip?" I recall this every time these new screens at pickup counters try to prompt me for a tip. No, the rules haven't changed. Just the pressure to tip. And I'd feel like a mug giving into it. That said, as a former waiter, always overtip for table service.
Tipping is anti-capitalism and thank dog for that. Only far right wing rich people never tip. Generally poor and middle class are the best tippers.
It is capitalists run wild who should all be shamed but will never happen because everyone is afraid of losing their job more than anything.
Funny how easy it is for other people to tell you how to spend your money...
3
I don't tip on such counter screens, and I don't feel guilty about it. If their employees need more money, they should charge higher prices.
3
Of course the point of sale restaurant software providers support tipping on their platforms and think it's "great." These companies all make a small amount of money that's a percentage of the total cost. Each individual tip increases their revenue.
1
I tip in counter order cafes where I sit at a table to eat. I leave a larger tip if they deliver the food to the table and bus it. If I am getting coffee I sometimes leave a tip for the barista, as I would for a bar tender at a club, but not always. I have been doing so more frequently since the screen started requesting it. When I am least sure about appropriate tipping is when buying take out food.
It's interesting that a number of people say they always leave 20%, when in fact the well-known 'standard tip' is 15%.
It seems like people are always trying to one-up someone else.
A few years from now they'll be complaining about people only leaving a 20% tip.
3
I noticed recently that when I ordered food a counter, the suggested tip amounts were 18%, 20% or 25%. That seemed generous even for a full service restaurant. I have heard that at buffets the standard tip is 10 % since you are getting the food yourself. So it seems that at a restaurant where you order and pay yourself but someone brings you the food, the tip should be similar? Am I wrong?
2
A tip is to reward service that exceeds expectations. That's the definition of a tip. It's not supposed to be something to be relied upon.
5
In addition to my tipping a variable amount to counter service employees, I have handed a dollar or two to that hard working person cleaning restrooms in airports, restaurants, etc. That, to me, is a thankless job. The absolute ear to ear smile from that person when they realize my thanks makes me smile too!
1
Sounds like a lot of peer pressure going on here. If the person behind me observes my tip or lack thereof, why does it matter? The transaction should be invisible to the cashier once I have clicked "done". I was aghast the first time I was confronted with a tipping scheme for counter service, but not any more. I take a deep breath and evaluate if the transaction merits a tip or not.
This perfectly explains the etiquette of a tip for counter service:
“It’s more up to the individual guest,” he said. “If they have a really great experience and want to recognize that, that’s a wonderful thing. But I certainly don’t think that in a counter service paradigm, it’s a requirement or onus on the guest to have to tip.”
3
I try to have dollar bills on me so that I can leave exactly one dollar in the tip jar. I worked in restaurants for over a decade so I know the business, but tipping 20% on a computer screen for someone to hand me a salad makes me mad.
When paying with a credit card in a cab I leave twenty percent. I figure it out and don’t avail myself of the screen offerings, some of which equal ridiculously high amounts.
Decisions, decisions. I miss cash.
4
I tip when there's service, usually 25% and often 30%. If I'm standing at a counter and someone hands me something, I don't tip. (I do usually drop something in the tip jar around Christmas, though.) A sushi chef once took several minutes painstakingly making me a to-go order, and I tipped him 25% of the tab.
So ... it depends. When I tip, though, I tip in cash. Waitstaffs love that.
Judging by the comments, the survey results mentioned in the article are probably tainted by fear of sounding cheap - nobody wants to tip counter service. And what's worse, most of us who do tip at the counter are doing because of peer pressure and not because we're happy to reward good "service".
2
Touch screen tipping is turns the whole issue of tipping on its head. It is a guilt-based form of extortion and should not be used. The idea of tipping at all came about in England in the eighteenth (?) century with the advent of cafes. "TIPS" is an acronym for "to insure prompt service". Well, standing in line at a counter is about as prompt as it gets as there is no waiter, only a cashier. It is very close to self-serve. So, what "service"?
Next, will we be asked to tip the people who check out our groceries? Maybe the clerk who helps us find the right size shoe? Sorry, they are doing their job. I only tip for services from a real wait person taking an order, delivering the goods, and cleaning up after I leave.
Pay people a salary and leave the guilt to Catholic nuns.
5
i'm disappointed this article didn't provide a contrast with an alternative model... increase food prices and pay the workers a fair wage.
i do not tip at restaurants where i stand in line to order. and will not ever. i'm perfectly happy for them to increase prices to cover their costs, but when I tip, i am subsidizing the purchase price for those who don't. it is just bad policy.
3
i'd like some info on what percentage of people tip the coat check person (at any venue) and how it has trended.
Tipping at restaurants would be popular for those fortunate enough to have an income level to want demonstrate their wealth, and relish ostentatious giving alms to the poor. Except traditionally in high end full service restaurants, a waiter can easily earn more than those in the kitchen whose product is what bringing in the customers.
At the most upscale restaurants, waiters who have invested nothing, can make more than the owner of a business, especially in NYC's high two year failure rate. And now I understand that Uber drivers get to evaluate their customers, so they can punish those who can't afford a car and expect low price transportation.
When I stand in line, give my order, and then pick it up and take it to my table, I do not add a tip to the person who is lucky enough to have this decent job - with no student debt to pay off.
I'd rather eat at home.
One of the things the U.S. tipping culture has brought is a sort of cheesy servile attitude on the part of waitstaff:
"Hi I'm so-and-so. I'll be your waiter today". (I'm being nauseatingly friendly in hopes of getting a nice fat tip.)
"Are you still working on that?" (Can't believe you haven't finished yet. Isn't it about time for you to get going?)
And not to mention, "Here's your bill, pay when you're ready." (I'm clearly not going to make any more money off you, so you should hit the road).
Piling on, but I also get frustrated by the preset amounts/percentages some establishments choose to offer as I believe they, too, add additional pressure not to be "cheap." A coffee shop may offer presets of $1-$2-$3. For a $2 drip, that's at least a 50% tip! Or when you're expecting presets at a counter-service cafe/restaurant to be 10%-15%-20% (reasonable) but they're actually 20%-22.5%-25% (unreasonable). So, yes, I'm feeling undue pressure to tip in the first place, but I'm also subtly being told what's an acceptable minimum tip. This culture is out of control.
5
This is why I always carry cash to pay at those point of service machines. No need to click No Tip for someone handing me a empty cup. Same thing at my supermarket, which always includes an option to give to "world hunger" etc.
Tips are for table service, not self-serve at the counter.
One cafe owner said people receiving counter service should tip if they've had a truly outstanding experience. OK, but I pay (and decide on the tip) before I've received my food. Should I tip based on how I predict my experience will be? Or tip based on what my experience was last time I visited? Tipping in advance makes no sense.
Personally, I'm annoyed when a Point-of-Sale system at a counter service restaurant asks me to tip, so I don't do it.
8
@BNab Agree. Its ridiculous to tip in advance for service you haven't yet received. The whole concept of tipping has been turned upside down.
1
I usually tip 20% for good service at a sit-down restaurant, but only 10-15% for service at a buffet, where the only service consists of busing the table. Counter service involves even less and I tip accordingly - nothing at all for perfunctory service, or a dollar or two in a tip jar for exceptionally good service. What I won't do is leave a tip on a machine. Unlike with sit-down service where the server's name is on the check, there is no accountability for counter service and for all I know, my tip is going to the owner.
I remember when working in a NYC 5th Avenue office in a reception pool NYC one summer a long time ago that the standard tip for delivery was always 10%. It was rounded up to avoid pennies, and it didn't matter what the base amount was. It made things simple.
I use that same type of simplicity when tipping at the counter, if I choose to do so. I no longer hem and haw about "the system". Life is too short!
1
I sometimes wonder if Times' writers are aware that there is a rather large (size wise) and sophisticated country north of them. The article was of interest to me, being a customer, restaurant worker and generally a tipper, but the stats provided completely ignored what Canadians do regarding tips and our attitudes towards the practice as well as minimum wage laws. I do wish they (the writers and researchers) would acknowledge our presence more often.
Also, it would have been interesting and enlightening to mention countries such as Japan where tipping is not the practice. The work ethic and pride in one's work makes tipping almost an insult. In my travels there I have consistently found service to be polite and respectful and I am not referring to five star hotels or restaurants.
If I choose to tip it has to do with the service and the general attitude of the worker towards me. I do not care if the person in the line behind me can see whether I tip or not. It's my interaction with the server, or counter person.
It's strange that people don't think they should tip service workers. When you go to a bar and order a beer, don't you tip the bartender? Even if all they did was get a bottle out of a fridge and open it for you?
How is that any different from a worker making you a coffee?
Those of us who can afford to go out for coffee and food should treat the people working those jobs well, it's the decent thing to do.
I would guess most of the people who don't tip have never worked a service job in their lives.
Here's a nice read on the history of tipping and how digital platforms have reinforced and changed some of our ideas about tipping and the impact on workers. https://points.datasociety.net/racing-for-tips-4816da5b5096 "The restaurant industry has normalized a business model and pay structure that outsource the responsibility of payment, allowing employers to provide a low base wage while consumer provided tips comprise the majority of workers’ income. Restaurants are the largest employers of subminimum wage workers. Restaurant work, and more broadly tipped work, began in the late 1800s. After emancipation, newly freed slaves stepped into the paid workforce and primarily worked in service roles like waitstaff and railroad porter. At that time, many employers were not paying workers in these roles a wage, but rather relied on guests to offer workers a tip instead, entrenching the economic subjugation of Black workers."
1
Guide books from the 1960s say a 10% tip is the recommended amount. In the 1970s and 1980s it was 15%. Now people are saying it's 20%.
Is this going to keep going until the standard tip is 100% of your food bill?
5
An issue that should be addressed: when tipping on a screen, or even writing it on a credit card bill, how is the tip apportioned? Are staff in the kitchen included? Does my server receive my tip, or is it shared among all servers? Does management take a share? Policy should be clearly posted, or included on the menu. Asking the server their preference or the establishment's policy is often enlightening.
Bartender, Counter Food Server, what's the difference. If you don't want to leave a tip, pay cash.
What about take-out orders?
2
A young woman at a pricey cafe in Topanga, Calif., literally shook the tip jar at me when she was ringing me up.
Sorry, no, sweetheart.
5
I don't go out often, but when I find a great place I stick with it. My two favorite restaurants in Utah are a local Italian Bakery and an Indian food restaurant. Both are lovely with amazing ambiance. I tend to sit down at the bakery, which is counter-service, and usually get takeout from the Indian food restaurant, which is a full-scale sit-down restaurant (I just don't want to sit around waiting for food!). I tip 20-30% at both. It is worth the recognition as a regular, the occasional lagniappe, and the shared goodwill.
1
The entire argument for tipping seems to be that customer's should top up employees wages if they are too low,
Some states that have abolished the sub-minimum wage and have a high minimum wage of $10 or more. (California ($11.00) and Washington State ($11.50) and Oregon ($12.50).
Do customers still need to do top up wages in places that have established a high minimum wage and have abolished the sub-minimum wage?
1
There should be more transparency concerning how fast-casual tips are distributed. I know that at some Jason's Deli locations (franchise, not corporate), the restaurant keeps all the credit card tips meant for cashiers and carryout staff. Apparently, it's legal since these workers are paid minimum wage or higher and therefore aren't officially classified as "tipped employees."
1
For sitdowns, I would almost definitely tip. For counter service, I rarely do. It used to be that if I order takeout, I tend not to tip, but I've since come around to tipping when the touch-screen checkouts, not because I feel ashamed by others seeing me choosing no-tip, but because the checkout is usually completed so quick that I don't tend to think through, having to mentally calculate how much I want to tip (%), and how much it comes down to.
I do take issue about restaurants expecting customers to tip in order to make up for the low wages that owners skim on the hardworking employees. To me, tipping is about showing gratitude and appreciation for good service; tipping is not meant to be charity. I'd much rather getting charged higher menu prices, so that EVERY customers pay their fair share, and no one should be feeling like they are free-loading getting served by someone earning below minimum wage that is hardly a living wage.
2
The rule has always been: No tipping at a self-service counter. Many of these restaurants, including McDonalds used to prominently display "No Tipping" signs.
1
I tip only in sit-down restaurants or bars. I view the option of paying a counter clerk a tip with bemused curiosity and a bit of pique. I don't tip just to stand in one spot and accept payment for work they did not do themselves. If you start tipping cashiers where will it end? Will you also be expected to tip grocery store clerks who check you out? Will you tip bank tellers who make monetary transactions? And I, for one, don't feel the least bit guilty.
3
As a European I find tipping culture so unfair and arbitrary. Why should a server in a restaurant where a meal costs 20$ get less as a tip than the server in a restaurant where the meal is 50$?
And for that matter, why should the server get the tip for a fake smile and the 5 minutes spent bringing my food and cleaning my table, why shouldn't the cook who spent significantly more time and thought into the food?
Last but not least, tipping makes the human interaction so fake. In Europe, if the server smiles you know it's because s/he's a nice person and they're probably enjoying your company for the brief moment you spend together. You feel good. They feel good. In the US there's always the thought at the back of your mind that they're only being nice because they want a tip. Ugh.
3
" As tipping became widespread in America, many found it to be antithetical to democracy and American ideals of equality. In 1891, journalist Arthur Gaye wrote that a tip should be given to someone "who is presumed to be inferior to the donor, not only in worldly wealth but in social position also."
"Tipping and the aristocratic idea it exemplifies is what we left Europe to escape,” William Scott wrote in 1916"
A. Macconnel - A brief history of tipping
2
One thing that is irritating in many restaurants is someone coming to you when you've barely finished and slapping down the bill on the table, in a barely disguised attempt to rush you out the door. This used to be considered rude, and still is, in my book.
5
@Peter Piper
What is worse is when you have finished your meal and need to leave, but you can't find your server to ask for the check, or you ask for it and it takes them a long time to bring. it. I prefer when the check is left without asking, because then I can pay and leave at my convenience.
Couple things. 4% of your CC tip goes to a processing fee from a Merchant Services financial corporation and another 30%ish of your tip just goes straight to the government on their next payroll check. Oh, the cafe (the actual business) will pay higher Employer taxes on the employee’s earned tip wages, too, straight to Uncle Sam. Payroll tax is about 10 % of total wages, in addition to the taxes the employee is already paying. So. Tip in cash.
Next- please. I am not tipping a dollar on a $4.80 cold brew. I will on a latte or pour-over, those take individual time, talent, and skill to craft a single drink just for me. So I’ll tip in cash. You should, too.
2
What is this “cash” to which you are referring?
For counter service, at most I round up to the nearest dollar, period. As others have said, you're tipping before the service is given and you're tipping people who are already getting an hourly wage. Is the wage relatively low? Perhaps, but my wages don't keep up with inflation and no one's giving me tips to help me out. It's just life. Rather than moving towards tipping everyone, I'd rather move towards the European model in which servers are paid a normal wage and tipping isn't necessary. Unfortunately, this model doesn't benefit the employers whereas tips supplementing employee wages does, so I don't see that getting adopted any time soon, especially in the US where corporations have so much power.
4
The reason for ordering kiosks and counter service is to save money for the owner. Some of the savings should be passed on to the service staff.
All I have to say is sorry no. I am a very generous tipper for my wait staff, my hair dresser, etc. The kid at the counter who has just learned to use a computerized register... not so much. They say hello, they take my order and I wait off to the side for my ice cream or whatever it is.
Those who feel guilty or shame for not touching the button to add $$ to your order, I hereby release you from your guilt.
9
Absolutely not. I feel no shame in tipping nothing when someone is just handing something to me from behind the counter -- otherwise, it would be unfair for me to not tip the grocery store cashier either.
7
If it’s self-service, I tip myself
3
The author gets embarrassed, which causes him to tip. Think about that.
4
Sad to see that so many people are brainwashed and manipulated by the fear of a manufactured mock embarrassment and peer pressure from strangers.
I of course will be happy to accept a tip from anyone who learns something from this comment.
3
Please stop referring to monetized services like Uber and Lyft as "ride-sharing."
True ride-sharing is hitchhiking.
If I invite you over for dinner, do you expect to receive a bill?
Tip them; they're cabbies -- however they're dispatched!
(But tip the driver in cash, so that Uber can't steal the money!)
3
Unless I missed it, no one mentioned that counter service staff earn at least minimum wage and waiters can be paid significantly less than minimum wage. That alone is reason enough not to tip counter service staff
2
so I should tip the counter person because the employer doesn’t pay a living wage, but who makes sure the tips actually get to the employees and aren’t pocket, in part or full, by the employer? The answer is, no one.
I tip at least 20% when I can give the tip directly to the server. Otherwise, no. I also tip in cash because I don’t trust tips put on a card to be distributed to the servers who earned them.
1
I also always tip in cash to make sure the server gets the tip. I put money in he tip jar if one is available rather than add to the cc payment—if I use a card. Also servers prefer cash for the reason I cited, plus, according to servers I’ve talked to, they don’t pay taxes on their tip income.
1
Here's an idea (that I'll bet a lot of people are going to hate): the little screen could tell the customer what the hourly pay that the counter person is getting. It could say something like "Here at this coffee shop, we pay our counter staff $11.25 an hour. Would you like to add a tip?" It could even update the number in real time with the tip information that is being collected, such as "here at this coffee shop, we pay the counter staff $11.25 an hour. The tips so far since we opened this morning has made the effective rate $12.56. Would you like to add a tip?"
8
@Andy
That's the best idea I have ever heard. It's called "transparency." We need more of it, not less.
1
I put the loose coin change into the tip jar @ Dunkin Donuts.
It's so ridiculous to have to leave a tip before an order is even presented to the customer. I have no idea how fast it will come, how friendly the person will be, if it gets messed up, if it's the right temperature, etc. There is way too much tip creep in America! One time I saw a tip jar at a donut shop. Am I really supposed to tip someone for putting a donut in a bag for me? One reason why I pay in cash is so I don't have the obnoxious tip screen presented to me. I don't need a side of judgment with my coffee.
6
A tip is for service given, but they beg for the money the service is given - maybe with an unspoken "service quality depends on tip given". Also, often I get these begs at the counter service type places where I bus my own table etc. - what exactly they do to deserve extra money? I hate it.
1
Tipping is mainly for food service workers who are categorized so as to be ineligible to receive the full minimum wage. As in, servers who wait on tables.
4
I worked for 30 years as a waiter, bartender, and busboy. I received tips. The Busboy tips came from the servers. I was not paid minimum wage always, as employers could figure in a minimum amount for tips. Tips are to ensure service. Not just ANY kind of service. Someone pours you a cup of coffee and gives you a donut, and wants a tip? The money should come from the owner, who, by the way, is receiving a tip in the form of profit when I buy something. You say the employees do not make much. That is the result of letting capitalism control wages to such an extent that we have gross inequality. People want money from me when the top 1% could tip 20% on everything they buy.....but don't. Let McDonald's franchisers give bonuses in place of tips.
6
This is a little off topic, but I'm hoping someone can answer this.
When I am in a grocery store and asked to donate to the cause-of-the-month, is the store is using my dollars to benefit their own charitable giving deduction. I have asked numerous times of numerous employees. No one has been able to tell me if the money goes directly to charity without being used as a tax write-off for said corporation.
If someone could enlighten me, I'd be grateful. I never donate in these circumstances, preferring to give money to causes I support, even without a tax deduction for myself.
3
A tip is a kind of compliment. And asking for compliments has just never been a good idea.
3
A tale of 2 systems
America - How much is that Sandwich? $10, oh plus tax and please also tip our staff because they don’t earn much.
Australia - How much is that Sandwich? $12, that’s it
People will always say why THEIR system is better, as though they had a hand in creating it. I’m not sure how we got there, but having only one price to deal with when considering whether or not too make a purchase makes things way easier.
This only works if you pay staff a wage they can live off. This causes margins to get squeezed, and some businesses to fail. But if you can only survive by paying your staff next to nothing, maybe you shouldn’t be there. And on the plus side, good businesses will prosper as the bad ones fail.
2
What I wonder when I tip at a counter or on rideshare is if the worker actually gets the tip or not. In college I worked in a restaurant (as "deli help") where the wait staff did not get to keep their tips, and I know places still do this today. Would you tip knowing that the person for whom you're leaving the extra is not going to get it?
I’m happy to leave a cash tip in a restaurant for good service. But never when a screen asks for a tip before service.
Not only would it be a tip for a minimal service like simply taking my payment, or services I can’t judge because they are yet to be rendered, but once a tip is asked for, even by a screen, the experience stops feeling like gifting from me to staff, and just feels like begging or hectoring from management - a pretty long distance from the idea of “gratuity.”
And of course since it’s management applying the pressure, I wonder all over again who the tip would go to.
1
When you tip for most things you do it after you receive the service. At counter service you are expected to tip before you get anything. I don't usually tip for counter service, but I don't usually go out to that type of restaurant either. I'd rather only go out when I want a full service experience.
I live in a state where all workers make at least minimum wage. This means that if someone is working a minimum wage job and chooses to actually eat out, they then feel obligated to tip extra to someone making exactly the same as they do.
I do tip at restaurants, at hair stylists, massage, even at motels (when I remember) but it is a GRATUITY not a requirement.
1
I am not not a big fan of the tipping economic model. The only exception being when I am in a third world country with a very favorable exchange rate for the dollar so I feel rich. In that situation, tipping 40-50% at a restaurant makes me feel good and I know it can make a big difference to the recipient or propitiate. But here in every day life of a middle class individual, frankly I hate it. I tip at sit down restaurants and when I get my hair cut. At least 20% if the service is good. I know how the game works. And I tip drivers and food delivery people. But by and large it is just offloading business expense onto the customer so the owner can reap more profit. Just pay your employees a better wage and charge your customers the final and full cost upfront. Every time I visit the in-laws in Japan, a country where there is no tipping, it solidifies my views on the issue further.
I ran across this wonderful tool for figuring a living wage where you live: https://livingwage.mit.edu/ Mind you that the living wage is a step up from poverty, but only covers minimum food, clothing, shelter, health care and transportation costs. It does not include money for eating out or entertainment, nor does it allocate for holiday or vacation expenses.
The New York City area lists a living wage for a single person as $17.46; that is about 55% of what is needed for a single person with one child. As such, a $15 minimum wage is not as ridiculous as people in other parts of the country might think it is.
I live in central Texas and the living wage for a single person is $12.56, which is about half of what is needed if that person has a child. Unfortunately, Texas' minimum wage is $7.25, but tipped workers can be paid as little as $2.13 per hour as long as their tips make up the difference between $2.13 and $7.25. Some cities (San Antonio, Houston, and Austin) have raised the minimum wage to more than the living wage, but it only applies to city workers because the Texas legislature has forbidden cities to require private employers to pay higher wages.
It has been 10 years since the minimum wage last saw an increase. I have been writing to my federal representatives, making the case for raising the federal minimum to at least $12, and, more importantly, to add yearly, automatic cost of living increases. We all do better when we all do well.
2
Since so many of these establishments do pay at least minimum wage, there shouldn't be a need to tip. Will retail workers be the next? They too are paid minimum wage and are providing a service of ringing up your items, many times bagging them too. I was in the restaurant/bar business for over 15 years and I was never paid more than $2.13 an hour. And that was back in the 90's! That still is the wage being paid to them. There, tips are should be expected.
Counter-service tipping has gone up because of the rise of these "frictionless" services like Toast, Square, etc. that just ask customers to tap an iPad once or twice. These services, one assumes, charge THEIR customers (the restaurant or cafe) some percentage of all transactions processed. So, of course it is in the payment processing company's interest to normalize tipping as high as possible.
Note how they frame the question of tipping--not asking if you want to tip at all, not leaving you space to calculate an amount, but asking if you'd like to tip $2, $3, or $4 for that $2 coffee? Parents are familiar with this type of framing trick: you don't ask a toddler if they want to take a bath, you ask them if they want to take their bath now or in two minutes.
Let's just pay workers a living wage.
1
I have moved to "cash only" tips, now that I've learned many fast casual restaurants treat their cashiers as tipped workers, not hourly employees. Tipping using Square or other cashless payment systems just means I am subsidizing the owners and their reluctance to actually pay minimum wage.
1
I think the article left out half of the story by not polling workers about whether tipping has any impact on the quality of their service. Is counter tipping only an altruistic transfer of wealth to low paid workers or an expression of social guilt or does it actually elevate service quality?
4
I just stayed in $165 B&B @ Gettysburg. Note in room asked for tip for cleaning people. Sign in dining room asked for tip for kitchen/wait staff.
I say NO to this! Can't owner pay employees out of $165 per night rate? If employee is not earning what they want they should get another job....
3
I don't understand (mandatory) tipping for someone who makes minimum wage. If, as in some states, your pay is $3, then sure, it makes sense to give you a tip. But otherwise, tips should either be eliminated or voluntary. No one should be shamed for not giving a 20% tip if they don't want to. There are so many different service workers that we interact with every day that don't get tips, and I don't think it makes sense that only some industries receive tips if everyone's pay is the same. So really if they're making minimum wage we're just doing it out of custom - let's eliminate the custom. But if out of the goodness of your heart you want to supplement someone's income - go right ahead. But we shouldn't be forced by custom, as we are now.
2
The ubiquitous tip jar. What to do?
I have seen two instances that have given me thoughts that make me abhor that tip jar.
A person from another culture thinks that this is the thing to do, put something in that tip jar. I know that that person is working a low level job, probably making very little money. And works at a job where no-one tips.
A person comes into a restaurant to pick up an order to go. A tip is put in the tip jar that is shared by the people at the counter. The cook who did all the hard work does not share in that tip.
People who do not tip are resented. I know I am because I don't put money in the tip jar. I only gave them the tip jar.
American tipping expectations make international travel just that much more enjoyable!
4
I’ve never understood why tipping is based on the cost of one’s meal. I suspect one gets the same service with a $30 lunch as with a $15 one. Tipping should just be a flat add-on.
5
Let me start by saying that I'm generally a 20% tipper at sit-down restaurants. I tip taxi and Lyft drivers, hotel chambermaids and others. But I agree with others who've said that tipping at counter service establishments only maintains a terrible system in which employers underpay their workers. The way in which the screens are set up, the worker can see whether you're tipping or not, which adds unfair pressure and discomfort to the transaction, making the customer feel guilty about the underpaid worker, which is effectively the employer's issue. This insidiously shifts the onus of the worker's well-being from the employer to the customer, which is egregious. I should also add that I've traveled to other countries where tipping is not customary, and in most of them, I've gotten far more courteous treatment than I have in the so-called "service" economy here in the US - probably because the people in these service jobs abroad are paid a living wage.
154
@Lisa M
Just a question if you are generally a 20% tipper at sit down restaurants, how do you reward those that give you excellent service? Do you up it to 30%? My tip for very good service is 17% usually I refuse to pay upwards if 20%. Also include in my bill are drinks. Must I pay 20% tip on a glass of wine carried to the table?
5
@MaryBH good point. I actually am against the entire tipping economy, for reasons mentioned above. Whether a sit-down or counter establishment, it lets employers off the hook, and puts customers in the position of remunerating employees.
8
@Lisa M
I agree, Lisa. "This insidiously shifts the onus of the worker's well-being from the employer to the customer."
And why am I only expected to directly subsidize the employment of certain employees of the food service and other industries? Because their employers have a way to reach into my pocket and ever more put upon heart. "Take the load off Fannie ... and you put to load on me."
Also, in my travels to most countries where tipping is not expected, service and courtesy is often superior.
8
Stores that use automation and counter service should share the fruits of increased productivity and pay their remaining employees better. Absolutely no tipping for computers/machines.
Industry has found a new way for consumers to pay for their low wages. The counter argument would be we would like to deliver affordable food. Most of the "affordable" food is killing us fat, sugar and salt. Living in the Land of the Fee (not Free) getting a double mocha latte is like giving the executioner a tip purse before he lops your head off!
This is a tough topic, especially when you consider some important facts. In much of the country, the minimum wage for tipped workers is an astonishingly embarrassing $2.13 ( look it up and the you can win bar bets when you ask your friends who won't believe you). By tipping more workers, you may inadvertently make them eligible for LOWER wages in many states (that's why Marriott got push back when they ran a campaign to encourage tipping maids). Moreover, there have been recent exposes of companies such as DoorDash and Amazon/Whole Foods keeping delivery people's tips when done on a card. We need fair living wages, not more tipping. But sometimes you feel like you want to tip that nice person who hands you your latte. So...ALWAYS ask if they actually get to keep their tips. And when you can, tip in cash. And more importantly, vote for higher, livable minimum wages.
1
Many counter service places have their machines set up with options for 20%/25%/30%, which is truly shameful. If I want to tip for what is essentially self-service, I believe 5%, maybe 10%, is far more appropriate. What's even worse is that you are asked for a tip BEFORE being served. I can't count the number of times I've left the 15% or 20% tip after ordering at the counter, only to have poor service follow. How can I pre-tip appropriately, if I don't even know how the service will be?
Here in San Francisco, many cashiers don't even bother to say "thank you" or "you're welcome." Granted there is a severe labor shortage right now so service has gone out the window. Regardless, it's hard to want to tip those who obviously hate their job.
I'm increasingly hitting the "no tip" option without shame or guilt, and if the counter-service seems promising, I'll pre-tip 10-15%, although that usually involves several additional taps on the screen.
I'm also considered going back to cash for counter service, because once I pay, that's the end of the transaction. And if the service is tip-worthy, I can always dump some change or a buck or two into the tip jar.
2
In 2020 let's be sure to not to tip at the ballot box.
And just choose who MIGHT give us the best service. And hope for the best in 2021
The tipping culture has gotten way out of hand. You really feel it on a trip: tip the cabbie, tip the doorman at the hotel that just opens the door of your cab and sets your suitcase on the pavement, tip at all your meals, tip the housekeeping staff.... all these are recommended things to do and you definitely feel the pressure in say, Manhattan. But day to day: hair cuts, counter service, the lady who clips our dog's toe nails at the Pet Palace... I do it all, probably driving from a combination of wanting to be generous and certainly the fear of not being seen as generous. But in the end, I feel a little bit depleted and did my buck or two make a difference to the tipped anyway?
1
Most commenters seem to be thinking about the lessons they want to teach business owners or the changes they want to see in society. We should work to change the economic injustice. However, if you have enough money to buy a coffee or lunch, why not share another dollar for the staff? It’s not going to greatly affect your life, and if everyone tips a bit, it’s going to make a small impact in those servers’ lives in the weeks that we tip. I prefer to think about the human in front of me and their painfully low wages rather than the politics behind their current job when I’m making a decision in that moment. We’re just people with money interacting with other people who need some.
2
Tipping is just an outdated concept from the US slavery era.
4
How ridiculous America has become. Pay the employees fairly. Price it into the product.
Should I tip a clothing store worker who went into the back to find the right size for me? How about the book shop worker who helped me find a title?
6
I leave a great tip for great service, but I don’t tip when presented with a screen. It’s an in-your-face, put-you-on-the-spot tactic that I can’t stand for a few minutes worth of work. And for those who think these service jobs are so low-paying: generally that’s not true. I made very good money— far more than what I could have made in retail, etc., as a waitress in an inexpensive restaurant during my college years. Based on my experience and others I know who bartended, waitressed, etc., I would venture to say most people that have tipping as a component of their jobs make substantially more than their minimum wage peers even at coffee shops, etc.
5
@JHD "I would venture to say most people that have tipping as a component of their jobs make substantially more....."
And I would venture to say that you have RARELY left "a great tip for great service."
@JHD When you're thru "venturing to say" go check it out and ....
wait ! are you saying that coffee shop servers live on minimum wage and do not "have tipping as a component of their jobs"?
Kenneth, I don’t recall having dinner together for you to be able to judge how I tip.
2
Especially annoying is "tip inflation" -- asking for tips where previously it was not the custom; systems which have a "minimum" tip of 18% instead of the 15% standard. Why not give yourself a raise?
Tipping is basically a way for the business to misrepresent the true cost of the offer, exploit the workers, and lay the guilt on the customers. Studies show tipping does not improve service. I'll bet even the reports from businesses about what percentage of customers tip, are inflated, since they want to encourage tipping. It'll continue until the customers start to say no. I tip 15% in traditional contexts and refuse any of the "inflation" attempts.
Solution: Everybody on a livable minimum wage. All prices quoted in full, taxes and everything. No tipping.
4
@Henry Lieberman In reality, Henry, there is no such thing as "a livable minimum wage." You try it and let me know how it goes.
1
I don’t trust owners to give 100% of the credit card tips to the employees. I always tip Uber and Lyft divers in cash and don’t tip fast food counter service. Employers should pay a living wage and restaurant price increases have far outpaced my income increases.
1
I frequent Sbux (don't throw things--I know it's unhip to admit this) and use my Sbux gold card. I don't tip. Sbux baristas get paid well and are not getting $2.13/hour like some tipped wage servers.
When I order food to go and pick it up(rather than having it delivered) I tip, because there's work involved in prepping the food to go and getting it into the bags, etc. It's almost the same as tipping a delivery driver (on top of the delivery fee).
I live in a ski destination where any server is probably working one or two other jobs. One of the kids told me that 10% at the counter works. My kid did this for a couple of years which makes me want to tip more.
Went to a bakery cafe where I was picking up a takeout $40 cake (just to be clear: it was expensive and they were making money on it, baker was part owner) and ordered a coffee and a pastry to consume there. The clerk flipped the screen at me demanding a 15/20/25% tip on $50 with a straight face. How is this not awkward or infuriating? And this was a place I liked!
8
@Not Convinced Tell the baker that kneading dough is not the same as needing dough. He may get paid a little extra for service, but not for ransom. (That's the way the cookie crumbles. )
1
Tipping no longer seems to bear much relationship to the quality of the service received. I would much rather pay more so that workers receive an adequate salary than have to depend on tips.
2
In Costa Rica tips are included in the bill in sitdown service but not in counter service and I have never seen the touch screens you talk about. I would worry about tips paid by credit card actually getting to the waitstaff or driver.
@Richard Tandlich I never have and never would tip thru a 3rd party. It's almost like givi ng money to some kid at the corner and asking him to put it in the parking meter for you.
I work in a service type business -- as a clerk in a wine shop. I don't have a tip bucket on the counter. (Some stores do, and that's offensive.)
However, when I make deliveries -- (picture this -- 60+ years old, driving up to your house w/ a case of wine that schlep out of my trunk, walk up to your front door, and ring bell) I have never once gotten a tip. I'm doing this for 6 years. Really?
4
What you fail to bring up regarding tipping for counter service, is that you are tipping when you order, not when you have received a service. When my inconsistent barista decides to give me my $5 espresso drink in a paper cup instead of ceramic, and can't even pour a decent tulip or heart on top, I would rather not tip 20% for that kind of sloppy service. These point of sales tip systems are shaming customers into paying a gratuity that is too often undeserved and allowing owners to shame customers into subsidizing their workers' wages.
9
I waited tables for many years. I worked hard for those tips. I now tip generously, especially when the menu is inexpensive, because those servers work just as hard as the ones at the expensive places. But I do not leave tips at counters, I do not add tips to a bill for takeout. It belittles the work of the people waiting tables, and has become so commonplace that it is ridiculous.
6
I am mostly bothered by point of sale when I am asked to tip BEFORE I have received the service.
Even with counter service or casual, some employees take extra care and I would like to tip them (not 15-20%, but a buck or two), but I am irritated by screens asking me to tip before I've even received my order.
11
Ugh, this again. The cost of paying staff a living wage is a cost of doing business. Tipping is subsidising the business owner's costs. Do they need us to pay for their next food order too? But like everything with southern North America, you've gone too far down the "companies pay as little as they can, always; human matter little, always" track to ever stop this now. Maybe the next dominant species can work it out after we're gone.
2
@James Pedley
The next dominant species has ALREADY worked it out. That species is the entire apparatus of reified capital, incorprating that screen. We are being farmed.
It is my understanding that TIPS is an acronym for the phrase 'to insure prompt service'. Given that definition, I don't see how tipping a starbucks cashier insures prompt service. Your order goes in line with the others and comes out when it's done. I don't tip there, but then I rarely go there.
When I order a take-out sandwich and want a couple tweaks that are not on the menu, I tip because it takes extra thought and labor to produce it. If I am at a sit-down restaurant and I order a small item, I tip proportionally more than the bill because it takes the server as many steps to bring me a cup of tea as it does to bring me a sandwich.
That said, I do think that people who work in restaurants should be paid a living wage and not have to depend on the kindness of strangers. I love travelling in countries where I am not expected to tip. The service is invariably good.
4
Fast food is tough work, and because I used to work in it and am happy to be on the other side of the counter now, and make a good living, I tip the max every time. And, really it is not much extra!
1
Although I agree with many commenters that I would prefer to eliminate tipping by paying workers better wages, I try to tip generously at coffee shops. Tips helped me a lot when I worked at a coffee shop when I was going to college.
1
At this rate, soon the employers would charge employees to work in their establishments and then make money off tips.
1
I'm a generous tipper, usually out of genuinely wanting to express appreciation for good work but often out of pressure from the presence of a jar or touch-screen prompt.
Tomorrow on my 60th b-day, I have a massage scheduled. Even though the CMT works from her own home, I always give her $100 though her fee is only $90. Of course, she never tells me it's unnecessary (in her shoes, I wouldn't either), but I always find myself wondering if I'm overpaying. Still, I don't want someone who's not quite happy with me touching my body. Such are my mind's deliberations.
I wish that people would charge what would make them happy for a good that they provide. Then customers could decide if they want to pay that amount. I suppose in a free-market economy, it would all work out fairly quickly. For now, many of us feel a bit exploited by the unclarity.
4
status as a regular
Yes! I tip less if I am an everyday customer (10 to 15%), more if it is just a rare visit (15 to 20%).
1
@Rodrian Roadeye I never thought of it from that vantage point. Most people I know generally tip more at local venues . Either they know the servers from frequent visits or they want To Insure Promptness with future visits.
I'll tip the 10% which amounts to less than $1.50 when I pick up food for lunch.
I can swing it
Seth - Thanks for this article, as a former bartender, TIPs paid the rent, but I agree that tipping has gotten out of hand, especially for counter service. What's next? A tip jar on every employee's desk? What happened to pride in oneself for delivering good service. Many believe TIP is an acronym for "To Insure Promptness." A TIP is designed to keep the power in the hands of the customer. Bad service, no TIP. Good service, good TIP. However, a TIP should be about taking pride in who you are and the work you do. It's the theme of a new business book which launches in January. "TIP: One simple strategy to inspire high performance and lasting success." A story and a strategy for leaders and managers who don't want employees who expect a "TIP" for every little thing. I hope you'll check it out on Amazon or B&N.
4
I'm glad I'm not the only one stumped by tipping at the counter. They don't even deliver your food- they put the order in. This seems a bit over the top to give a tip. I hold firm on no tipping at the counter( for now...)
3
It is especially irksome when you're prompted to tip a percentage on the card machine because it is calculating your tip on top of the taxes you've been charged! This process has messed up the customs around tipping, creating tips on top of taxes and other service charges. Some places automatically include gratuities for groups of 6 or more diners who don't notice / realize that charge, so they go on to select a gratuity when they use their card - tips on top of tips. Personally, I don't tip for counter service, as others point out, I'm taking my own food to a table and then bussing it afterwards; or, if it's take out, then I'm collecting my food at the counter.
4
I'm not sure how much I buy the idea that we're subsidizing the employers by tipping; I presume if wages went up then prices would go up to cover it. Maybe it would amount to the same thing in the end. But I'd still much prefer it. The whole thing seems like a stupid game to me.
1
I like the Swiss model. No tipping. Excellent service. Yes, it’s expensive to live in Switzerland but everyone makes a living wage and has supportive societal benefits.
A minimum wage law was rejected some years ago in Switzerland. Why? Because the lowest paid wage earner averaged $50,000 per year.
That is the social contract missing in the US.
2
"but that’s in part to avoid the pang of embarrassment that comes from hitting “No tip,” which would be visible to the person behind me in line and often behind the counter as well." You get embarrassed because complete strangers may have a minor poor opinion of you? Honestly, I really don't care what the person behind me in line thinks of my tipping habit.
7
I generally tip for counter service. At least they’re preparing my drink or food. But my biggest shock was being expected to tip at a magazine shop at the Charlotte, NC airport. I bought a paperback and the cashier pointed to the tip jar after I paid. I just walked out. She literally did nothing but take my money.
I do stick the change into the jar at the counter in the US. And I do give the customary tips in US restaurants. It's just that I prefer to spend my hard earned holiday money traveling in Singapore and Japan where bad service would be unthinkable AND tipping is considered offensive.
Best avoided are upmarket US chain restaurants where the waitstaff have a syrupy faux come on and are constantly interupting you mid-mouthful or mid conversation to ask "How you doing?" These places would be shunned in Australia where tipping is NOT customary and where people are paid properly and do their jobs and just get on with it. The dining public here is not particularly pleased with what they see as just another American intrusion.
But my US concern is mainly with hotels and there the situation is dire. I tip the hotel maid well, on a daily basis, not at the end of the stay. I add a nice thoughtful note saying how much I appreciate their work, because this problem is structural: The people at the top do not share well.
Those hotels that put out tipping envelopes, and you know who you are, also put out the message that anything you put in this envelope has absolutely no guarantee of honestly getting to the right person who cleaned this room. Staff have no idea how much you put in, so we'll skim the top and subtract from their pitiful hourly wage, hence the sealed secrecy.
Corporates, Stockholders, if you want your staff paid properly, then pay them properly, we're the first to notice.
2
Employers need to pay living wages. Increase the cost of the item if you must. But stop asking your underpaid employees to hope they get enough in tips to make rent. Your employees are working for you, not the customer. You see them every day. Pay them a living wage!
3
Well two things really; firstly as an overseas visitor I'm already paying ~32% more for everything. Second thing is that it's not for the customer to support the employer (not employee) business model. The employer should be paying higher wages and rather than sit on their laurels it's well past time for people (workers) to 'organise' and fight their respective government representatives for higher wages. Otherwise, why change when the customer will pick up the tab?
3
Minimum wage laws should apply to "tipped" employees and tipping should go the way of the dodo bird in most cases. Businesses should price the product to cover employee compensation or go out of business. This also eliminates the "free loaders" who don't tip in today's system.
We don't tip at Walmart, why should we be expected to or shamed into it at a coffee shop or cafe? Walmart employees are not well paid either.
Tipping should be reserved for particularly spectacular service at a place that one would not expect it. For example, if I'm paying $200+ per seat for dinner (excluding alcohol), I _expect_ spectacular service and it's not extraordinary. If, however, I'm eating at a Denny's (yech) and receive that level of service, it's worth a tip.
How about establishments prominently post their hourly wages so that customers have a better idea of how much they need to be compensating to assist in providing a living wage for their workers?
3
@Pen Or better yet, refuse to patronize those eateries where this noxious assumption that customers are obliged to subsidize the employer--because that's what tips actually amount to--has any place in the satisfaction equation for the people who keep them in business. Us.
As a former waitress in a cornucopia of restaurants (yes, I'm using the old fashioned, politically incorrect, gender specific term) I tend to overtip for most services. However, I do not tip anywhere where there's a random "tip jar" or bowl or bucket set out on the counter. I find that to be extortion. Counter people (and I'm not talking about the corner drug store where you ordered a tuna, whiskey down, coke no ice) are typically paid way over the hourly wage of active servers. I do not tip them. My local FLORIST has a tip jar out. Why? I tip only if you had to carry something to me from the kitchen... or the equivalent.
4
Here in Oregon all employees earn minimum wage. Due to labor shortages I doubt that anyone except entry level employees are earning minimum wage. However, many states allow wait staff to be paid far below the federally mandated minimum wage with the idea that the difference will be made up in tips.
Here in Oregon & also Washington I do not tip for counter or coffee service. Especially when I am handed a empty cup and everything else is done by me.
I other issue is growing up 10% was considered a reasonable tip but now wait staff believe they are due 20% or more. How and why did that change. I over heard one waiter tell another that they were changing restaurants because they were beardy making $30/hour. I am sure that is more than many of the patrons make.
2
Another problem with being asked to tip at the counter is the sequencing; it happens before you have been served your food or drink.
At that point you do not have enough information to know if you will receive a good product and good service, in a timely manner.
Once I tipped at the counter then proceeded to wait 1.5 hours for my omelette. Last time I will make that mistake.
2
I'd prefer that all workers make a living wage. Add the extra payroll cost into the price of the coffee or burger or pizza. I'll pay it gladly. The current minimum-wage-plus-tip system is a mirror of charitable donations in this country: we donate money to nonprofit organizations that help the needy because the government safety net has been shredded by Republicans. We taxpayers provide food stamps to Walmart employees because their pay is so low they can't survive (those that still qualify for food stamps...)
2
I recently started going to a new hairdresser m- she doesn't accept tips - I love it and mind you my old hairdresser was less l money even with a generous tip. I am paying about 20 or 30 dollars more but I love the no tipping - just charge what it's worth don't put me in the awkward position trying to figure it out.
2
My problem with counter tipping is that it obscures the wage gap between workers paid the minimum wage (federal is $7.25) and workers paid with the expectation of tips (federal wage is $2.13). When I was a server, being paid well below minimum wage, I knew that I needed to hustle to make enough tips to make a living. I can't tell nowadays who is making which wage. I assume that someone working at a counter restaurant or coffee shop is making about triple what a waiter is making, but I can't really know. It is absurd that this is how wages work in food service. We don't tip dry cleaners, as Max points out, because we know they all make about the same. The reason the food industry is different is because of the two tiered wage structure, that a customer can't even always deduce. I only tip for counter service when I feel guilty, and then I resent it. When the owner of a salon presented me with one of these devices asking for a tip I stopped going there. It's ridiculous.
2
Why inconvenience yourself by using cash to avoid "feeling awkward" about not wanting to tip? The restaurants know that people are made uncomfortable by the touchscreens, which is precisely why they do it. They are betting that you will pay more to excuse yourself from the embarrassment that they are deliberately and cynically causing you. I say don't tip l, and make a big show of not doing so.
3
I struggle with tipping living in two different states with different minimum wages. When dining in North Carolina where their is a two tier minimum wage, I tip generously (20 - 25%). When I am in California or visiting New York where the Liberals have raised the minimum server's wages to the same level as other industry workers the cost of meal has gone up to cover the extra wages. I don't feel inclined to be as generous to tip on top of an already inflated meal price.
1
@Bill Actually, Bill, it's never been a political issue. In New York, for example, that minimum wage bill was sponsored by both Republicans and Democrats.
But you really didn't want to know about that, did you?
4
@Bill Inflated? Hmm...
Maybe just priced to accurately reflect the cost of ingredients, operations and service?
1
Do you tip the receptionist at your dentist's office, your doctor's office, the clerk in a 7-11, the clerk at your laundry?? They work hard and often at minimum wage.
I was very annoyed the first time I encountered a touchscreen requesting options for tips of 20%, 25% or 30% in Jackson, WY. I waited in a long line to order expensive (and delicious) pastries and 2 coffees, and was presented with the touch screen. The food was brought to the table, which I felt to have been the only service I received. There was even sign at the table asking customers to bus their plates and silverware.
5
The whole tip thing is very out of hand. Yes, wages are too low but does tipping solve that?
Back in the day, 10-15% was customary if you had good service. Now 20% is standard regardless of "service rendered" and more is becoming customary. When is enough enough of putting it back on customers? I think the European model would be a better way to where tipping is a rarity, even not accepted in many places.
4
Do you tip the cashier at a convenience store (i.e., 7-11) when you buy a sandwich or food item and a coffee?
If not, why do it at Starbucks?
I understand that people working counters aren't making a lot, but let's turn this the other way... do you think those "low-paid" people should be shamed into tipping when getting a cup of coffee for themselves?
Let work together to make sure everyone has a decent wage in this country without depending on tips.
2
I am a high tipper generally. But when I go to Starbucks, grab a pre-made sandwich and a canned/bottled drink from the rack, I feel no obligation to provide a tip.
6
This is a major reason why I dine out far less than I used to and have my coffee at home. I'm sick of being nickel and dimed over stuff like this and being expected to ante up at every turn. Also hate it when a retailer asks at the point of sale,"Would you like to round up" or "contribute $1" to (some charity)? Makes me want to never patronize them again.
7
I don't mind leaving a tip, but what I resent is that the suggested tipping starts at 20% or more, which I think is excessive for a cup of coffee (even a latte) or a sandwich and more appropriate for a full service restaurant. So now I pay in cash (which SF has now required establishments to take) so I can leave what I believe to be an appropriate cash tip without feeling bullied by the credit card machine
1
@don You pay by credit card for just a cup of coffee?
2
@kenneth
Umm, yes, many of us do. Nothing to with credit, a lot to do with convenience.
4
@TheSceptic I can't tell if you're serious or just teasing me. Do you really find it easier to pull out a credit card and sign the receipt than simply to leave a dollar or two on the table?
Tipping used to be 8-10%, then it was 10-15% then it was 15-20% and now bleeding hearts are saying you should be tipping 20-25% followed by comments that if you can't afford that you shouldn't be eating out. How about businesses pay a living wage and either they stay in business or they don't. Let's really put capitalism and the free market place to work instead of socially subsidizing business owners. Same argument in the illegal immigration system. It's businesses hiring them knowingly that's the issue and pocketing the labor savings.
8
Tipping is a vestige of a feudal aristocracy, where workers were treated terribly as a rule, but sometimes a wealthy patron with a big heart would take pity on the peasants and throw them a bone, so he could be thanked profusely and feel ever so good about himself. Of course it was arbitrary and based not on the needs of the workers, but on the whim of the rich patron. In modern times, tipping substitutes for correct pay in much the same way. It's fundamentally unfair and arbitrary, and creates the same dynamic of superiority for the customer who can reward or punish at his discretion the peasant doing the work. It's well known that employees who are more attractive, flirtatious or friendly will get more tips than their colleagues, despite not earning it. Just as private charity is no subsitute for government taking responsibility for solving problems, tipping is no substitute for proper pay. It treats workers like slaves, grovelling to win favor from those holding the purse strings. Pay should always be based on work, not on whims.
3
@Samuel Russell "Tipping is a vestige of a feudal aristocracy..." I'm not old enough to know about that. Sam, but I do remember from childhood that everyone we knew thought most servers deserved something a little extra.
That's because the adults knew that the servers were poorly paid. It's been going on for a very long time with no end in sight. Thanks everyone for speaking up. Patronize restaurants that pay good wages where tipping is not necessary.
They are around. I would use a website that highlights these restaurants.
Come on people - a buck, two bits...it is a nice thing to do. Something not to think too much about.
1
@Lisa
Agreed. Nice.
But why only in cafes? Why not every time you see a cash register? And many times when you don’t.
The supermarket, the 7-11, the Duane Reade, the department store, the airline and hotel check-in staff, the in-flight crew, the pilot, and everybody else.
4
Now my son wants a touch-screen device so he can track his allowance in comparison with others across the country.
6
I usually pay cash, so the idea of being “embarrassed” that someone behind me would see me hit the no tip button is not a problem. I have a problem when a company tries to shame me into doing something I don’t want to do, and it affects whether I return.
In places like chain restaurants that have those obnoxious terminals on the table where my credit card is wirelessly sent to some server, I pay in cash. I have no control over the security of their system. Similarly, I will normally tip the server in cash so they don’t have to pool it and get short shrifted as an incompetent server gets the same amount. For counter service, putting a package in a bag is not tip worthy. Do you tip the person who puts your shirt in a bag at Target? I thank the bagger at the grocery store, but don’t tip unless they take them to the car. At military commissaries, many of the baggers are retired military and I have no problem with those tips, nor when I am overseas and get the same service.
I find it almost ludicrous to think an Uber driver makes $30/hr.
1
What about takeout? I was shocked to see my daughter add a 20% tip to a take out order.
5
I never tip for counter service. If a "friend" shamed me for it, I'd be upset. I always tip very well for table service, sometimes even exceptionally well if the service is good. Restaurants and fast food outlets should pay their help sufficiently well that tips are optional, rather than an added cost to consumers.
2
@Barbara Right. It's so much easier to bring french fries to the counter than to a nearby table.
Tipping is a horrible Victorian class system tradition that humiliates both the tipper and the tippee. The master-servant setup is intolerable in an egalitarian society.
As much as I have enjoyed my few trips to the US, enjoyed the hospitality, friendliness, nature and cities, tipping is a constant black cloud threatening your good cheer. Who to tip, how much? Is it possible to meet a person as an equal and then give him/her money a few dollars or a handful of coins like to a desolate beggar?
3
@Chinaski Traveling abroad always means learning the cultural differences of that country. Because ours was founded as a classless society, we don't have the master-servant hang ups that many Europeans do. We get that there is dignity in all work. So, to lift the cloud from your visits and make them more enjoyable, just remember, in the U.S., everybody loves a big tipper.
People who defend tipping at counter service cafes:
Why don't you tip at the grocery store?
At the pharmacy?
At the dry cleaners?
At McDonald's?
At the movie theater?
At a clothing store?
What is special about ringing me up for food vs anything else?
11
@Mmm I've never known anyone to "defend" such tipping without being challenged or asked about it.
Tipping is out of control in this country. At a fast paced setting like a coffee shop or food truck, they would take in hundreds per hour in just tips if everyone tipped.
7
I sometimes eat at a soup and sandwich chain. I have to order at the counter (they have an in store option of ordering via a computer screen). I have to get my own beverage. While they deliver my meal, (they often get it wrong, or there’s bad lettuce in my salad, or the soup is cold and I have to take my food to the counter to get it fixed) I’m supposed to bus my own table and separate garbage, recycling, and dish ware. I do not tip as I’m doing most of the work. I don’t go there often because all of this is so annoying and I resent that tip screen.
5
I wonder why you still patronize a place that often gets your order wrong, serves cold soup or over the hill lettuce...
1
@dairyfarmersdaughter
Because my elderly dad likes the place.
Our wonderful Republican President Ronald Reagan was the one who decided that tips must be counted as income and ever since recipients must pay tax on them thus further eroding their means. As a former waiter, I remember my outrage as he gave tax cuts to the wealthy only to come after my pittance of an income.
So now you have the system where employers pay sub-minimum wage, expect the public to make up the difference and then have the federal government come in and take a share of it all!
4
The base wage in many municipalities is not reduced for servers. The prices on the menu reflects the increase. Then, tipping on the new menu prices makes the 20 to 25% tip even larger. My tip reflects the change. Have gone to 10 to 15% in these locals. As to coffee at the counter, I stick a dollar in the box. Seriously, I don’t tip grocery clerks, the woman at the bakery, or the salesperson bringing me a item to the dressing room. The idea of the tip was based on servers NOT making the minimum wage. States even cities have changed that dynamic. I’m careful about knowing the difference.
1
It doesn't make sense to tip for counter service. If they want a tip, they could bring you your food while you sit comfortably, and use actual porcelain plates, cups and silverware. In Europe that's what you always get, and you still don't tip! I'll pay extra to be treated like an actual customer. If you're going to hand me a bunch of styrofoam and plastic that all gets thrown away while I stand there waiting, why should I tip for that? Outrage over low pay is fine, but how about some outrage over the shoddy, utilitarian customer experience?
5
2 instances of this practice verging onto the absurd for me here in Tampa are these:
1. A friend and I went to the Amphitheater by the State Fairgrounds a few weeks ago to see Heart in concert. Of course they pat you down and scan you to make sure you have nothing to eat or drink on your person at the entrance way like you are entering an airport. We were able to go into the covered bar area that was available to upper grade seat holders..that had nice outdoor furniture and lighting...fans but no AC. We walked up to the bar and were served right away which after the bartender made our 2 Cape Cods and handed us a bottle of water in under 2 minutes and charged us $49 dollars we understood why. This if course came with a swiveled presentation of a touchscreen starting with the option to tip 20% or more, plus “other”. Does anyone really think someone deserves a $10 tip for making 2 vodka cranberry drinks and handing over a bottle of water in 2 minutes max? She didn’t even have to walk anywhere to retrieve anything.
2. We went to a busy, trendy food hall on a recent Saturday night. I ordered a $19 steak sandwich, the guy put in the order and ran my credit card in 1 minute, offering me the touchscreen which asked me to choose what I wanted to tip, starting at 20%.
If anyone deserves money it would be the cook, but who knows if anyone gets the tip other than the cashier? They need to clarify..
1
Why shouldn’t business owners pay a living wage or go out of business if they can’t? What a scam to make the customer pay the wage and bus the table!!
4
I realize that even in a sit down restaurant tips are shared with all the rest of the staff thereby being a subsidy to the restaurant owner. I almost always tip the wait staff 20% but when I receive excellent service I always slip the wait staff an extra $10 -15 in cash that I tell them to just put in their pocket.
1
My esthetician no longer accepts tips. She raised her rates slightly, and has a firm NO TIPS policy. I love it. We have an agreed upon amount for her services, and there is no rushed calculating and second-guessing (did I leave enough tip? too much?) after our appointment. I've recently started NOT tipping at counter service restaurants, and for drive thru coffee. I do however, tip modestly when I pick up food to go (since I am taking the waiter/waitress away from their tables briefly to package up my order). I tip 20% or more at any sit down restaurant or cocktail bar, and I tip for haircuts and pedicures. Loved this article and the comments. I'm going to lose any guilt I had about the counter service/drive thrus and boldly leave NO TIP.
7
As the owner of a restaurant, I grapple with the what I consider the positive concept of a no-tipping policy and, instead, seek to pay a living wage. Guests order at the counter and self-serve their drinks; orders are delivered by team members to guests. Regardless of how I may feel about tipping v. not to tipping, our team members not surprisingly LOVE the idea of tips--which effectively raises their hourly wages by at least $1. If the average pay was $15/hour, i.e., a living wage, team members would still covet the idea of that extra "pay" in the form of a tip. So whether I personally grapple or not with the tip/no tip concept vis-a-vis a living wage, it will continue to be part of our business model for the time being.
@Peter K. Schaffer
So why not a sign that says: If you feel you received great service this establishment approves of customers tipping the employee that gave it
2
@Lisa Randles
Good idea! I personally prefer "Thank you for being our guest. No-tipping is necessary, required or expected. However, if you feel you received extraordinary service, please feel free to leave a tip." BUT the reality is our team members would strenuously object, regardless of our living wage or not. Thank you for your insights Lisa Randles.
2
I agree that tipping is for personal service usually. Over tipping is likely masking stagnant wage issues in our labor market and should not be encouraged as a “subsidy.”
For US/Canada here is what I usually use for food service:
Lunch full meal service: 10-12% base
Dinner full meal service: 15-18% base
order at counter? reduce 0-5%
pickup at counter? reduce 0-5%
bus your own table? reduce 0-5%
Full counter service/take-out: 0-5%
do not tip on tax.
add/subtract % based on quality of service or personal discretion. Increase if you want to be treated as a memorable regular or if special requests were accommodated, e.g. splitting bills per seat at large tables in Canada is standard, but in the US it may be considered extra work. If your server/host/attendant is exceptional then tip as such.
rules slightly different for bars/breweries, but $1/drink is a safe bet regardless of price. More for flights/growler fills. Again, +/- for better/worse service.
tipping does not equate with kindness.
p.s. if a full counter service establishment starts their digital tipping % at very high rates (20%, 25%, 30%), which is a new trend, I usually let them know this is excessive and reduce tip accordingly.
2
I buy bread at a local bakery that happens to also sell coffee and sandwiches you can eat in the bakery. I'm not buying those served items...just put my bread in a bag and I'm out the door. When I purchase with a card, I get that screen requiring me to choose 15%, 20% or more as a tip...for buying a loaf of bread? It's always awkward, so I now just carry cash when I make a purchase there.
5
One of the major problems with tipping is that when tips are not pooled, they may create a disparity in income among workers unrelated to the level of service provided. Tipping is about more than service, it can be affected by bias. For example, female servers who are deemed to be "attractive" are more likely to receive bigger tips. Since tipping disincentivizes employers from raising hourly wages, some otherwise good employees may be penalized.
NO. The tipping expectations have gone way beyond what a tip is suppose to be. Before everyone calls me a cheap skate , I would render that my wife and I both worked many minimum wage jobs in our youth and young adulthood that included tips.
Do the job you are hired for to the best of your ability and look for better jobs and/or further education and training to make more money.
Basic economics will raise wages if tipping is brought down to reasonable amounts. It will take time as most wage pressure does.
I feel we are being urged to pay for a third person when we go for a nice dinner. We just stay home most of the time. We work hard also.
2
I began wondering about this when I noticed a tip jar at my local pizza joint. I decided that when I went in with a $2 coupon, I'd donate my coupon as a $2 tip. It got dicey, however, when I picked up my pizza without a coupon. Most of the time I tipped, sometimes not. My latest crisis was whether to tip at a frozen custard stand. After not tipping at first, I consulted my wife and she was for it. So now I give them $4 for my $3.50 treat, and drop the change into the jar. It's almost 15percent, which is what I give to full service, but I rationalize that it's more than the ten percent I feel is more fair because otherwise I'd have the change hanging around (which I'd rather not deal with).
@HH
Yeah. Two friends of mine, a lovely married couple, celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary with a trip to Hawaii, on the change Mrs. removed from Mr.'s pants every night for 2 years.
Consider "keeping the change."
@Euphemia Thompson $6.50 in change every night of the week, 52 weeks a year, for two years. That's some pair of pants !!
Sit-down tipping in a traditional restaurant: at least 20 percent unless it's really bad service.
Food that's delivered: 15-20 percent. These folks make bupkes. I appreciate the food coming to my door.
Counter service where they have to make something (a fancy coffee, a sandwich, etc.): at least a buck, maybe two, depending on what's done. Often 15 percent of the bill for big orders.
Food I pick up: Nothing. Good grief, I drove from my home to get it, and they didn't do anything but fix the food and package it.
2
I'm never tipping at a self-service counter.
And when I see businesses with tip jars or tip questions on their app, it's often a reason to go elsewhere.
1
It’s gotten so that tipping is absolutely expected for table service, leaving no incentive for good service. There is now a tip jar at the cash register of a convenience store the cashier does nothing but ring up purchases that I carry up myself. It’s obnoxious.
6
NEVER. I never tip at the counter. Tipping is for special service, when you are seated and they bring the food to you, check on you, refill your water, etc.
I am neither ashamed or embarrassed about clicking NO TIP. The writer is still controlled by peer pressure I guess.
7
I pay in cash to avoid the screen.
4
Should we tip the cashier at the department store.?
Should we tip the bus driver?
Should we tip the doctor's receptionist?
They pay may not be paid as they should be by their emplyers, but do we have to compensate them for doing their job.
Tipping used to be a specific gratification for special end personanized service. Apparently it has sbecome a mandatory add on, like a sales tax...
1
@Max Lewy There's no "should" involved. Everyone is free to be as cheap or as thoughtful as he wants to be.
If it is "self service" then I am serving myself essentially. If I sit down, and someone brings me something, I tip. If I have to stand at a counter then just make the coffee, for example, and hand it to me, I rarely tip. I am paying for someone to hand me a cup of coffee. I get my own napkin, and bus my own dish. I certainly am not tipping at a fast food restaurant. Our state has I think the second highest minimum wage in the nation. The tipping mentality allows businesses in some states to pay people as little as under $3 an hour, and make them hustle the clientele for a decent income. This is absurd, and should be eliminated. Charge what it costs to provide a decent wage and benefits.
176
@dairyfarmersdaughter not sure if things have changed over the last 40 yrs or so, but when I worked fast food places like McDonalds we were FORBIDDEN to take tips... only other place I worked where it was forbidden was at retirement home, didn't want patients feeling a need to tip for good care.
4
This is another example of how the inequity in our society is causing problems for the middle class and below. A tip should really be an optional payment given for good or great service. But, as the article says, service workers are typically getting a low wage, very often not enough to survive on. So I, like many others, feel obligated to give a generous tip—even if what I ordered required minimal service.
Meanwhile those in the C-suite are pulling down millions of dollars annually and getting stock options worth even more. If they would pay workers a living wage we could all go back to giving tips as recognition for a job well done—instead of trying to make our dog-eat-dog form of capitalism a little bit fairer.
1
@David Salahi "we could all go back to giving tips ..." Now honestly, David, did you ever?
The idea of tips for counter service as just another way to wring money out of customers, especially when they're expected to bus their own tables. Sit-down table service is quite different, and I always leave a 20% tip for that.
The arguments that restaurant workers are generally low paid and the cost of living is going up don't sway me. I've had low paying jobs and my cost of living goes up, too, but I never asked for tips. And it doesn't embarrass me, either, not to leave this kind of tip. If someone's going to be embarrassed, it should be the counter worker who's asking for a tip.
109
@John There's "low paying" and then there's "waitress wage." In many states, waitstaff only has to be paid $2.13 an hour--including baristas and bakery employees-- and the rest of the income comes from tips. If the tips don't add up to at least federal minimum wage, the owners are supposed to make up for it.
However, after spending 10 years in the service industry working across multiple restaurants, I would say less than half actually pay out what they're supposed to.
There is no union for waitstaff. You speak up and mention what they're doing is illegal, you get fired. (Something that has also happened to me multiple times.)
The reason your coffee is that price is because the person pouring you that coffee is being paid terribly low. Mentally add in the extra dollar. Treat it like it's "Shipping & Handling." There. Now that's the actual price of the drink.
You don't want to pay someone for pouring your coffee? Fine. Get a coffee pot and pour it yourself.
You'll save more that way too.
8
@John People sitting at counters are expected to bus tables?
1
@kenneth. No. I'm writing about restaurants, such as Mcdonald's, where the customer orders and pays for his food/beverage at the counter and takes it himself to a table or out.
2
I have always found tipping in the U.S.A. to be mostly confusing. Some people might tip pre-tax and others like me tip after tax. Restaurants tend to be pretty simple, either double the tax or leave 20% unless there is a problem. And often times the problem might not be the servers fault.
How much do you tip movers? Barbers? I was even surprised that my tennis racket stringer lamented that people didn't tip him. I said to him, "who knew?"
More confusion is whether to tip someone independent versus someone working for a store, for example, a hair stylist would be tipped when working for a shop, but what to tip if they are independent and cutting your hair at home or their place?
So back to the new counter thing. If you are of a certain age, you can remember a time when there was NO TIP JAR. But you might also remember that you could sit at a bar, drink and pay after you were done. Not any more. C.C. down first.
And speaking of the tip jar, I found great humor in a Seinfeld episode when every time George was about to put a buck in the jar, the server turned his/her back and he withdrew. I am sure many of us can relate!
I've been caught off-guard a few times by the screen thing, and found it cumbersome to put in my own tip, so found it easier to just do 15%, but now am rethinking, especially after reading the article.
Popular opinion here is resentment and I concur. Why make customers uncomfortable and confused. Just pay them more.
3
@jordan "I have always found tipping in the U.S.A. to be mostly confusing." That's okay, Jordan. Go ahead and be confused. Just don't make the waitress pay for your confusion.
@kenneth The confusion was general, I thought I had expounded well. But with waitresses or waiters there is no confusion. I tip 20% for waitresses and waiters, frequently more. thanks!
Putting aside the issue of whether a tip is deserved or not, if you do tip, is it better to leave cash than put it on a credit card? Somehow, I think that cash tips don't find their way on to W-2s, making the cash tip that much more valuable. I rarely tip on my credit card purchases and if the guy behind me on line doesn't see my dollar go into the tip jar, oh well. But if the counter person doesn't see, I am not going to be George Costanza, either.
32
@Henry
Better for whom? The receiver likes the cash. The rest of us who pay full taxes on our presumably non-cash income, should like the worker to pay his/her share of taxes. Workers don't make much money, but the principle says that they should pay the taxes required of them.
10
@Henry "Somehow, I think that cash tips don't find their way on to W-2s" The IRS uses a formula to estimate how much a waiter should make in tips, and if they report less, they could be audited. Yes, the IRS is happy to go after low-wage workers because they don't fight back. Auditing of rich people is down 80% in the last 20 years. Rich people fight back.
Having said that, I'm not sure how they might apply that to workers in fast food where there are no real waiters...
4
@catamaran They do pay, Cat. You'll be so pleased to know that the IRS simply assumes a certain percentage of income is derived from tips and taxes accordingly.
Now, doesn't it thrill you to know that the $8-an-hour waitress doesn't get to keep the entire eight dollars?
If she did, she might just go out and buy her own little catamaran.
9
I disagree that tipping is "the right thing to do." The right thing to do is for employers to raise wages, and not depend on generous customers to compensate for their stinginess. (This is coming from a former waiter who has worked in over a dozen restaurants.)
189
@Ray So, meanwhile, shall we just stiff the waiters to teach their employers a lesson?
7
@kenneth How about just better regulations to compel employers to pay reasonable wages. But I know there is push-back on that idea from employers too, because a lot of the tip money doesn't find its way into pockets, and more importantly, onto income tax returns.
1
@kenneth - Yes.
1
Even at the best restaurants, workers are vulnerable to tip skimming and wage theft. For example, Mario Batali's group settled for 5.25 million in wage theft back in 2012. Wait staff are asked to tip out an extraordinary number of other categories of employees in food service. The "other NRA", the National Restaurant Association, has lived outside labor laws long enough. It's time to abolish tipping and raise the minimum wage to $15.00 per hour. Food service is too vital to our economy to endure any more excuses for the lost taxes, sexual harassment, wage theft, and racial and gender discrimination it perpetuates.
3
Instead of debating whether or not to tip for counter service, we should be asking why businesses get away with underpaying employees.
4
@Jeff
You Sir , have addressed the exact problem.
2
This is pure insanity. Stop and think about this my fellow Americans. Our ever increasing, sheeplike tipping culture is just a subsidy of underpaying industries who have paid millions to lobby the government in an effort to boost their margins by passing labor costs to customers instead of showing it in the price of their product on the menus. Tipping is inconsistent, unclear and it often is incorrectly linked to the actual quality of services delivered.
Adopt the Japan model instead. No tipping for anything whatsoever. It makes every meal or service less controversial and ultimately more enjoyable. Yes, prices will appear higher but at least it is transparent rather than a black box. Employers need to be held accountable to the laws of economics whereby if they can’t pay a market wage to employees AND make a profit, then their business probably wasn’t a great operation and it deserves to fail. And employees, if you willingly accepted a job that you are not forced into, do your job with pride no matter what it is. Our society would be much better off if these two concepts took hold. If you observe the Japanese, whether a parking lot attendant or a waiter in a restaurant, people give the same level of effort as a doctor or lawyer. It’s just a matter of pride.
Stop tipping culture and raise the wages and the stated prices.
3
Regarding places that want to force you to tip with their little ipad screens, I either don't go there any more or I go and pay cash. The more they try to force me to tip, the less I want to tip.
5
Disappointing to see so many comments hostile to leaving tips. Greedy people making up reasons to justify their lack of empathy with others. We are creating a very harsh dog=eat-dog society.
4
@wyleecoyoteus And how do you know they're greedy? Some folks sitting at counters just might not have as much money as you.
3
@kenneth Have you read the comments, Kenneth? Many are averse to leaving any tip. I know those people are greedy because they said so. Or at least they said they were cheap. What do you call a person who makes up silly philosophical arguments to avoid leaving 50 cents for a hard working person who served them?
@wyleecoyoteus I woudn't call them anything at all until I actually heard them say that. And I certainly wouldn't assume that comment strangers were "making up silly philosophical arguments" if I didn't know the background of those comments.
Let’s face it. Most complainers here are mainly whiny, stingy millennials or guys. That means mostly you don’t want to take the time to be thrifty by grocery shopping, make your own meals to take to work and then clean the kitchen. You don’t want to brew coffee at home and take in a thermos to work after cleaning the kitchen. You don’t want to cook meals for a week and freeze them so you can eat healthy instead of processed. So your “mommy” substitute on the other side of the counter serves you in person or via a computer and then you complain about paying them for their time to wait on you when you’re probably making twice what they do and your life is so much “busier” than theirs. Seriously?
2
@Blue Note In A Red State huh? you presume to know my background and my financial circumstances?
Seriously?
4
I hate those automatic tip screens that everyone behind you in line can see. They are designed to shame you into taking financial responsibility for an establishment that underpays it's workers. Fat chance I am going to leave a tip in a counter service restaurant that has the hubris to charge me $19 for a breakfast sandwich and a cup of green tea that is not even delivered to the table. Frankly, there are just not enough objections available for that!
12
what about the back of the house
when was the last time you sent a thank you to them
2
i send them beers from the bar, and i tip my server well
“TIPS” originated as “To Insure Prompt Service” and was, I think, a bribe for the Maitre d’ to obtain prompt seating (and service) in a restaurant. We certainly have changed things!
The way things are progressing, pretty soon it will be appropriate to tip checkout clerks at the grocery or hardware store - or the folks who pump out your septic tank or swimming pool - or clean your office or maintain your elevator. How `bout tipping your Proctologist?!?!
If a TIP is necessary in order for employees to receive an honest wage, the amount should be included in the price of the purchase - whether food or extension cords - and it should not BE a “tip”. Conversely, the cost for credit card processing is built into every purchase. Why should anyone use cash and give up a rebate of several percent??
If I want to express gratitude for exceptional service - directly to someone providing said service - it should be ENTIRELY up to ME, not “expected” by everyone with whom I have an interaction involving some level of “service”. And I abhor the notion of “shared tips”! I do not want to share my appreciation with persons I’ve had no contact with whatsoever.
(I WOULD like to have an easy way to tip the chef when served a particularly fine meal.)
For my part, I intend to continue to ignore “expectations” for tips and to provide same, (in cash and directly into the hand of the intended recipient when possible) when it MY wish to do so.
4
quite frankly, it's irritating to force the customer to feel obligated to tip. that option should be the customers. furthermore, there is room for manipulation and abuse. mind-manipulation is obvious, abuse not so. for ex. at a recent dinner with 2 couples in Park City UT, a touch-screen payment device was thrust into my face by the server. no time to peruse charges & calculate amount of tip. given 3 tip options. later, i noted the restaurant/saloon (which i would like to name but assume nyt would then not post my comment) computed the tip % on the final, not pre-tax. since then, i have eaten at approximately 30 restaurants, of those that use such devices, none calculated tip % on the final, the others who have the "suggested" gratuity printed below final amount - all %'s were based on pre-tax!! the restaurant in Park City, as well as others should be avoided.
as to counter-service/fast-food businesses - raise your prices, if u dare and pay your employees more; don't make the customer your default way of paying employees!!
4
Well, that was helpful.....
@Tony and your comment is meaningful.
The obvious question: Are the tips one hundred percent shared amongst the wait staff (and kitchen staff and bus staff) or doe ownership/mgmt get a piece..?
2
@Scott Crytser I think most of us know the answer to that. We may not want to know, but we do.
And we also know that the "tip" is often shared with other waiters and waitresses as well.
In which case you're not really tipping someone for fine service; you're boosting the pay a few dimes and quarters for everyone working in the restaurant.
Can't we just pay a living wage?! I love going to Canada where you can go anywhere w/o tipping.....imagine.
3
@Calleendeoliveira But the cost of traveling back and forth to Canada is far more expensive. Snowbirds with pension accounts can do that; I cannot.
2
@Calleendeoliveiran I I am not sure where it is you go in Canada but I travel frequently to BC and AB and yes, tipping is expected.
Pff!! I don't tip counter service! Ridiculous!
4
Too bad they can’t make a robot to serve the food. Ha!
@Capt. Pissqua They used to do that here in New York. It was called an Automat.
3
How about we all pressure our legislators to make minimum wage a livable wage? Don't think for a second that business owners aren't really the ones who benefit when we start tipping every single hourly worker...the "help" of the tips just means they don't have to increase wages out of their own pocket. That's assuming that they are even GIVING these tips to the workers. I don't know what the law dictates, but I do know that many business owners don't know the laws well enough to know they are obligated to round up to minimum wage when tips aren't enough to cover, so I don't doubt they'd take advantage of the extra money form tips.
3
@Olivia Okay. But what exactly is "livable"?
My concern with tipping in questionable circumstances is that it gives employers an excuse to not pay their employees a fair wage. Tipping will slightly improve the compensation of the individual in that one transaction, but I'm not sure that it ultimately contributes to improved compensation of service workers overall.
2
@Dan But what exactly do you regard as "questionable circumstances"? And how do we recognize them when we're there?
I do not tip for counter service. Generally, I'm being asked to tip for service I have not received yet. It's the opposite of the logic used to justify tipping - a good tip for excellent service recognizes the employee. Tipping just for the sake of tipping is the customer subsidizing the employer.
6
@Paula Stanley I'm not a big tipper either, Paula, but most folks don't even realize how or why tipping took hold in the first place.
In England.
To Insure Promptness.
It happened before the meal, not after.
Tipping’s origins are murky but predate the old myth of tip being an acronym for “To Insure Prompt Service”. Either way, having worked in food service, not sure how much a tip can expedite counter service in an establishment, such as Starbucks or a sandwich shop, that works on a “first-in-first-out” philosophy.
I need help on a related issue... a lot of stores that sell food and wine have added the tip line to receipts as well. In this instance, no one has even poured a cup of coffee. You literally hand them a bottle of wine, they scan it, you give them your credit card and then comes the receipt to sign with a big glaring line for added tip. I always feel terrible leaving it empty, but I don't get it. I really hope the employers aren't reducing wages and expecting customers to make up the difference without the custom being truly established.
4
@Molly I hate to dash your hopes, but that's exactly what the employers are doing.
Since demanding tip always increases their incomes regardless how much they are paid, service providers will always benefit by putting out a tip jar or flashing that annoying Square terminal in your face. Therefore, unless banned by the establishment or law, no amount of "fair/living wages" will end this practice (though why one should be able to subsist off of serving coffee is another question).
There is also the problem that no establishment can really afford to be the first mover on this otherwise they will be run out of business so it has to be done across the board. However the business owners have no incentive to do anything as long as there's a significant population happy to tip or acquiesce to it. So enjoy your $7 cup of coffee.
3
I want to see a serious piece reporting on where the tips go at any particular establishment. Do they supplement fair wages to reward staff for good service? Do they let the owner avoid paying a fair wage? Or do they imply supplement the owner's profits with no benefit to the employee?
Do any vendors make that information available to customers? Do any jurisdictions require that it be made available?
How does the current system disadvantage employers who do pay a fair wage and must price their products accordingly?
I was disappointed that this article focused entirely on consumer guilt and avoided these questions.
My personal view is that every vendor should be required to pay a fair wage. Tips should be totally discretionary and go to employees as an expression of special appreciation for special service.
4
Tipping is bad for people.
It's bad for the workers because it perpetuates the system where they're reliable hourly wage is reduced to well below minimum wage, and they have more uncertainty in their lives.
It's bad for customers because they end up overpaying for whatever they get.
It's bad for the economy because, although tipping is sometimes described as a "gratuity" it has become an obligation. The posted prices are not the actual prices. The economy becomes less efficient.
Businesses love the automated tipping because it creates more opportunities to take more money from customers. But, where does it end? "Would you like to pay extra for your latte?" becomes "Would you like to pay extra for this or that service that you thought you already paid for?"
Would you like to tip the police officer that just wrote you a speeding ticket? Well, why the freep not? They're working people too, with families to support and public safety to ensure, and it sure would help your city council NOT deliver that pay raise the officers would otherwise get. Will society get that far before people realize that tipping is bad for people?
I usually leave a modest tip for table service, but otherwise, almost never. It's hard to change that tradition. I do regret that we'd all be better off with honest pricing, honest wages, an efficient economy, and NO TIPPING.
7
I am generally conflicted about tipping at counters. I agree with the statement about tipping for good service. I certainly tip at a diner counter where there is a waitress. But one thing is certain, if I tip for a counter order or an uber or lyft, or for that matter a small cafe with low prices, I tip in cash. I do NOT want it to go through a cc machine and let there be a possibility of the owner/manager taking the tip. Or using the tip to offset their wages up to the minimum wage.
When I tip, I want to know that the tip is going to the person to whom I intend to receive it!!!!
2
@Ortrud I used to do the same. Then I learned that management (like the IRS) simply assumed a certain percentage for tippng and acted/pinched accordingly.
Tipping is a way to show gratitude for the service you've received.
So now I'm supposed to tip for the service I've been provided by the cashier? For the whole 30 seconds of interaction? Yeah, no, I'm good.
7
I used to work at a panera type counter service restaurant and the receipt had a tip line and none of the workers got the tip. this makes me hesitate to tip anywhere because if I do tip, it needs to go to the workers and not management.
5
The other odd thing is that some counter service restaurants set the preset tip options oddly high. I've been seeing counter service places where the preset tip choices start at 20% and go up from there. I think the highest I've seen was 35%, which again was for counter service. It looks less like a be nice to the employee and more like an unseemly money grab/guilt trip by the restaurant.
3
A different, yet similar, dillema occurs when confronted by businesses to donate to charities.
Whether the request was made verbally by the cashier, or digitally by the screen, I would always donate out of guilt, even though my husband and I already give generously to our chosen causes.
I would feel anger and resentment to be
put in this position, just as I feel the same anger
and resentment at tipping in food establishments
where I am standing in line, rather than seated comfortably at a table.
I am happy to say that I resolved the former
dilemma.
One day it occurred to me that these
businesses were reaping a fortune in charitable donation tax deductions, by donating OTHER'S money.
Now when asked, I either check no, or say (always with a smile), "no thanks, XYZ can donate their own money if they want tax deductions"
I have yet to figure out a good ploy for the original dillema posed, however. Sorry!
4
@Lynda dilemma
Tip in cash only, if you're going to tip. If you tip on a credit or debit card you have no idea if the server / staff will actually see any of it.
I added a tip for my driver when booking a van to the airport. At the end of my ride I asked the Driver if he actually received the tips. He said he didn't see any tips at all. The company kept 100%.
6
Years ago, I was a coat-check girl at The Russian Tea Room, as it was then known. The owner (Faith Stewart Gordon at the time) took all the tips! Yes, they went to the house. We didn't get a thing. Even cash that was handed to us, we were expected to put in the box "for the house." No split, no nothing. A few of us took a little of the tips, a few dollars cash which was handed to us (not even our fair share, just a small portion) ...and yes, we were caught and fired for it. They had 'secret shoppers' come through with marked bills. All this in a restaurant that even then (in the 90's) had an average tab of over $300/person. So ever since then -- I'm just not as generous. You don't know where the tip is going, how its split-- or if the house just keeps it.
Establishments should pay a reasonable wage for each labor function and that should be it. A tip really should be an extra for special service -- not routine service, special service. However, with our current government laws allowing servers to be paid less than $3/hour -- yes, of course you should tip servers, and generously if you can. If a app service -- tip in cash.
Next -- can we discuss how to tip hairdressers that are making over $100/hour?
3
The names of those who tip for service in advance are permanently placed on the call lists for those who sell rooftop solar systems.
Teachers do not make as much as Uber drivers who average $30/hr, according to this article, even taking into account that the drivers have no benefits. Adjuncts with Phds make less than Starbucks baristas with their tips. This is insane. Why go to college/grad school and rack up enormous student debt when you can have a job that a 16-year-old can do that takes no skills whatsoever and very little training and make the same amount? Everybody should NOT make the same amount, and apparently no, there is not enough to go around.
1
I’ve always been confused about tipping, including these 2 points.
1 . Inconsistency in where to tip.
Restaurant table service? Yes, most agree.
Counter service, where you’re given your food right after paying? I don’t get it. But counter ordering where they subsequently bring food to your table? Grey area. Best to leave cask after you’ve actually received service, though I admittedly never do.
But what about clerks at convenience stores, hardware and shoe stores and the like? I’ve never heard anyone tip them, yet arguably, the amount of personalized work involved is at least equal to, if not greater than, the quick food place.
Tipping a cab drive but not a bus driver?
Dishwasher repair person? No-one I know would tip.
2. Programmed tipping based on the after-tax bill.
Why should I tip on tax that goes to the govt? What if I’ve been tipping 15%, say, for years at my favourite restaurant. But then the govt raised the sales tax 1%. Why should my tip automatically go up?
I’ve received exactly the same service as I did the week before, but suddenly the server gets a raise?
The auto % should be based on the pre-tax amount, which I try to manually correct with a specific amount. But I have no illusions this will ever change. Maybe getting picky here, as we’re now talking a small change in actual amount. Just the principle bothers me.
Anyway, thanks for making us all think about this confusing topic. Apologies to excellent hard working people I’ve stiffed!
2
I tip after a service has been rendered, not before. So my barber, bartender, uber driver and waiter all get tips from me.
Giving tips at a counter service place whether digitally or throwing cash into a tip jar to be shared among employees regardless of whether they had anything to do with your service feels like a kind of social extortion. It doesn't reward good service. It simply makes it easier for the owner and manager to justify not paying those workers a fair wage to begin with.
2
I tip at self-service counters, but I feel like it's a hold-up. I particular resent one restaurant where the counter-tip choices start at 18%!!! I leave a dollar at counters where you wait for your order and 10% at places where you order at a counter and they bring your order out to you. I tip 25% for full service.
1
@Katz Bluefield ?
I am not only for no tipping but having the restaurant add the tax to the menu, so I know exactly what it will cost me... and so for for.all businesses... like the rest of the world...
2
I spend a lot of time in Japan these years. No-one tips, it is almost considered rude to tip. Yet, the service is very good.
Employers should pay living wages to ALL employees. The food would be more expensive, but still.
In NYC you are often asked to pay 20% or 25% even on a bill with tax, excise tax, NYC tax and so on. This is sickening me. The same in taxis. First they add all sorts of fees and tolls, and then you are supposed to tax. Where is the truth in the advertised price there?
Tipping counter service? Sorry. i don't tip the guy at 7/11 or the grocery store. Why should I tip the person pouring a coffee?
2
We loved our time in Japan, where tipping is not expected, and they would be insulted if we did tip. No expectations, no confusion, just pay the listed price.
1
Tipping makes conscientious people foot the bill for profits for the business and stingy non tippers. Everyone should pay the same for the product and businesses should pay their employees a living wage. Tippers be gone!
2
Simple. I pay with cash and almost always tip.
1
A few things thing about tipping is that it has been proven to be highly discriminatory and generally stays at about the 18% mark in this country for sit down service regardless of whether the server feels he or she had done an exceptional or average job. Some restaurants in the US have gotten to the point of eliminating tipping and building the service cost into the menu pricing. So far the numbers for over the counter orders seem to match closely. I'd be curious to see if the issues associated with serving at restaurants are becoming more aligned with these other places.
No to counter-service tipping. Unless, perhaps the person serving me went out of their way to make me something off the menu, or we had an interesting conversation. I go to the same coffee shop several times a week, see the same person each time, and each time she asks for my name. Nope.
Also: I noticed tip envelopes at my massage therapist the other week. What's next; tipping your dentist?
3
@Bugginout “Nope” to not sharing your name with the cashier? If so, with a customer like you, who want a regular?
@robco I think buggin means "nope" to not tipping when someone whom he sees regularly can't remember his name.
1
@BugginOut Sometimes, even for dentists, it's hard to get those extra few dollars. It's like pulling teeth.
2
Tipping has a begging component I feel uncomfortable with even though I have been a server in my life. Tipping creates a social divide between 'us' and the poor people who have to work for miserable wages. Employers should pay their people a living wage and not depend on the public to subsidise their poor practices. I tip 15-20 percent at a restaurant, out of social obligation, but not at counter service. So I have to tip for you to take my order, then I have to get my own coffee and bus my own table? I don't think so.
5
My parents didn't have extra money to buy me the CDs and clothes I wanted as a teenager, so at the age of 14 I started working part-time in retail. When I turned 16, I worked a couple nights a week at a local restaurant. I waitressed part-time in high school and college, and then after graduation because my full-time job didn't pay enough for me to survive. I made $3.75/hr. and relied on tips to make up the difference. I worked hard and there were nights when I got no tip or just a couple of dollars from a table that spent all night eating steaks and ordering bottles of wine. I cared about service and was good at it. Some people are cheap or selfish and don't think about other people and what their lives are like.
Fast-forward to today and I am an accomplished 39-year-old who makes a salary that puts me in the top 20% of earners in the United States. I tip every time I go to a restaurant, cafe, ride in an Uber or Lyft. To many people, a $15/hr. minimum wage sounds like a lot. But in cities like New York City, Boston, San Francisco, that's not nearly enough to make rent, put gas in your car, or pay for a monthly subway pass, in addition to all of the other things you need to survive.
I strongly believe that if you have the means to tip a dollar or two, or more, you should do it. It's really not that much money and maybe the person on the other side of the counter will be able to use the money to pay an electric bill or a student loan payment. It will make their day.
7
@Erika Marie I have always been a "generous" tipper. My brother tipped almost nothing and thought I was a fool for leaving "too much money."
And so it goes (apologies to Billy Pilgrim).
I think if there was something on that screen that SPECIFICALLY said "Tips are NOT used as a replacement for wages.", I'd be happier giving tips FOR GOOD SERVICE!
Doing the work you're hired to be doing should be compensated appropriately in a wage or salary. Going ABOVE AND BEYOND is what tips are for.
This article seems to promote the "entitlement" to tips that I find personally abhorrent.
(and that's MY tip)
5
I’m sorry, I thought the new $15hr minimum wage was supposed to bring these jobs up to a certain standard of income that tipping (theoretically, at least) used to balance out when service workers got paid less. But a boost to $15 minimum and you still want a tip? There are plenty of jobs requiring college education and more which don’t pay that kind of salary, nobody is entitled to a tip. And it used to be that these jobs were temporary, or aimed at college kids in their spare time or summers... nobody guarantees that you can raise a family working at Starbucks or driving Uber, and nobody should.
5
It is my understanding that waiters and waitresses at sit-down restaurants are paid a little over two dollars an hour, while the others you are talking about, such as counter clerks, are paid the minimum wage. Am I wrong?
7
The pretty overwhelming number of commenters here exasperatedly dissing counter tipping shows that most people are just giving in to social pressure when they hit the tip button. Most people get it that this is a scam that lets business owners pay employees as little as possible.
Here in Washington, D.C., a majority of voters supported a referendum to raise restaurant workers' pay and end tipping. And then the city council yielded to pressure from restaurant owners and overturned it
Congress needs to raise the national minimum wage for all businesses to (at least) $15 an hour, and so we can be done with tipping once and for all.
2
@John and meanwhile ?
I never leave a tip for over-the-counter service. If paying cash, I'll leave the change. But 20-30 percent??? That's insane.
Also, you can never be sure who gets that money. Too many stories of owners/ management pocketing that money.
5
I was at a gas station and the attendant handed me a credit card machine for payment. It included a percentage tip option I that I had only seen in restaurants. This would make the tip proportional to the amount and grade of petroleum being transferred, which is absurd. Why would putting a nozzle in a tank be rewarded as if the value of the gasoline correlates to the service performed and that some expectation had been exceeded? I didn't participate and the next time the tip option wasn't on the device.
4
How many of us are tipping the guys at our local bodegas when they make our coffee and breakfast sandwiches? Why then should I be tipping someone who pours me a $4 coffee and puts a croissant in a paper bag?
3
Tipping is a horrible form of compensation and a dodge to exploit the poorly educated. What happen to the "free market system" when it comes to food service? Let the product, which includes the service, determine if customers come back or don't when it doesn't measure up to expectation. There is no substantial difference between a cafe and a supermarket where you can also buy a cup and a sandwich, except tipping is NOT allowed because supermarket workers (typically) earn a more livable wage, Workers deserve to be paid a fair wage for whatever they do. Customers should not be put in the position of determining whether or not to make a charitable donation to supplement a worker's wages based on how poorly they are paid or how much they smile and wiggle like a pole dancer.
1
I never tip with a card, always with cash. They get my tip in addition to their wages, not as part of it.
2
I don't tip in these situations, and I resent the fact that there is a screen asking me to do so.
8
The author admits to guilt, in the face of the swiveled screen. But he didn't feel guilt before, so he is simply responding to a technological device. In that sense, we are all becoming like lab rats.
Too much tipping, due to too much affluence. The next deep recession will sort this all out. Millenials (and others) save your dollars. You don't need to worry about being embarrassed in the eyes of a stranger who simply poured you a coffee.
Also, don't shop at places that don't accept cash. They are inherently discriminatory towards the poor who don't have a credit/debit card. Vote with your feet (and money). You may not like the homeless person coming in with pennies to buy a coffee, but that's the real world. That person needs that coffee!
3
I hate being 'shamed' into tipping at the bar. And often tipping STARTS at 20% or 25% - banking on clients being too embarrassed to fumble and manually enter 15%.
It's like bums holding the ATM banking door...
I understand that many people are underpaid - but employers bank on clients making up what they refuse to pay (like Walmart).
5
I'm going to hit "no tip" every time. If you don't like the wages at that job, you are free to get another job.
4
Quit shaming me into tipping. I worked for too long earning $2.18 an hour as a server to tip someone making minimum wage.
5
There's a little Mom and Pop deli around the corner were the couple have no employees, just themselves.
They put out a tip jar.
1
Personally, I can't wait until robots take over these jobs. Having to tip someone for passing something to you across a counter is ridiculous. There are already robot bartenders and I hope it spreads.
2
"For Lora and Daniel Vimont, from Jersey City, the answer is absolutely yes. They usually tip 30 percent"
“In this country, people are paid ridiculously low wages,” said Ms. Vimont.
Well Ms. Vimont....by subsidizing these employers who pay "ridiculously low wages"....you are only enriching the greedy business owners who refuse to pay a living wage.
It is not the responsibility of underpaid and overtaxed American workers to pay the wages (via tips) of other underpaid and overtaxed American workers.
It is the responsibility of every employer to pay every employee a living wage.
End the subsidizing of greedy business owners now.
#AbolishTips
4
Touch screen tipping degrades the experience of shopping at your establishment.
What should be a human connection between the staff and the customer becomes one of social pressure and money grubbing.
I find it disgusting.
4
I do tip at self-service cafes, but I resent it. What service? I have to wait at the bar for my drink to pick up, and then they call my number and I have to go pick up my meal. And oops, I forgot napkins, and oops, I need a spoon. And then my partner makes me feel bad when I don't want to clean up my dishes and put them in the bus trays. I yearn for the days when I could go to a coffee shop/casual restaurant and be served from beginning to end. So relaxing. Now that is worth a 20% tip.
169
For some reason counter tipping with a credit card just irks me so I usually pay in cash so I can drop something in the jar. I used to feel the same way about table service and would give a cash tip even when paying with a credit card, but have caved in and now add the tip to the credit card statement. My reluctance stems to the past, when the tips at the end of the day were divided up by the restaurant staff. With credit cards it has depersonalized a little ritual that was supposed to be a personal thank-you to the staff.
2
To me, tipping is a pay it forward thing. I've been blessed and when given the opportunity to tip, always do it. I love the new machines. They make it easy. My discomfort comes at hotels. If the cash isn't in my hand, it's awkward because the time of many of the interactions is so short. I feel like I have to be prepared ahead of time. So, I try to not travel without my husband. Even when he's not completely prepared, he's so good at making polite conversation while reaching for his wallet. Putting people at ease is a gift. It's on my mind because we just came back from an overnight trip and I'm always observing him and how easy he makes it look.
2
So if the tips aren’t enough to raise the employees hourly rate to $15, then the employer must pay the difference? Sounds like I’m tipping the business rather than the server.
4
I do not give tips via credit/debit card. The idea of a credit card company making a percentage off the transaction really irks me. I want my cash in the hand of the specific person with whom I interacted, helping to compliment them for a job well done and/or to augment their (often-paltry) wages. I don't like tip jars either, although I understand the rationale for their use. On some occasions while tipping servers at drive-up window servers, I've been told that they cannot accept tips. I think that's super-creepy. If I want to give money to someone then that ought to be acceptable. It's just one more sleazoid attempt by corporations to control us.
4
For table service I always tip 20% or more for good service. For a coffee shop or counter service, no tip. Why tip them for doing their job?
5
So why tip table servers for "doing their job"?
In a table service situation we know that the server's salary is based on the expectation that customers will be tipping. As far as I know, that is not the case for counter service. Often there is a very simple exchange involved; they take your order, you insert your credit card; they give you a receipt, and you pick up your item elsewhere. So, in essence, you are acting as a coworker, helping the restaurant to serve you. The cashier at the supermarket often does a good deal more work than the barista. They often have to enter more items, weigh veggies, and actually put things in a bag. Have you ever tipped one of them? Think they get paid more than the guy at Starbuck's? Maybe they should start calling themselves cashistas. There are lots of customer/employee interactions that we deal with everyday in all kinds of commercial establishments where the salesperson exerts at least the same amount of effort as behind the counter workers. So, if you tip your barista, be sure to add 18% for the guy who helped you find that widget at the hardware store.
2
The only times I have ever tipped at a counter is when I was given change in coins and I don't want jingly jangly noisy pockets all day long.
1
One approach is to regulate wages to discourage tipping. Australia does this. It also enforces the rule of law because earnings are equally subjected to taxes and mandatory contributions. Another is to aggressively enforce tax law to discourage the widespread practice of low wage/huge tip income in higher end bars and popular near fine-food-places. From a public policy standpoint, tipping permits owners to pay lower wages and offer fewer benefits. As tipping is hit and miss & lowest in less prestigious places, the less-well-off/less attractive/etc. get the least -- a very bad outcome from a social justice point of view. Tipping implies servility and is ethically objectionable -- a handout to your (grateful) inferiors. Decent, living wages, well regulated workplaces, fair taxation and no tipping are socially and morally superior outcomes. Meanwhile, tipping raises similar questions as giving money to beggars. Should you refrain in order to discourage it or give generously in recognition that for many it's an important part of their income?
1
Make your decision AFTER you receive your order and consume it.
If you’re happy then, leave something in the tip jar.
BTW, the opening example (Portland OR) is interesting because the state minimum wage for servers is way above the federal minimum.
3
In French bistros, servers do not expect tips other than the the coins left from the change from the bill. Took a little getting used to
3
Full-service servers in general are paid a few bucks an hour and expected to make most of their income from tips. In very high-end restaurants they may get NOTHING per hour. It's not their fault, it's the law. Sure it's wrong but don't penalize them because of that. (Yeah I know this is a bit off-topic). I agree with those who say counter service normally doesn't need a tip.
1
@Linda S. Full-service servers in general are paid a few bucks an hour and expected to make most of their income from tips.... counter service normally doesn't need a tip.
Why? Are counter servers not "expected to make most of their income from tips?"
What about picking up carry-out where the counter person simply gives you your bag of food. Tips are suggested on the computer tablet. But just for picking up a bag and running my credit card? I don't think so.
4
NO!!!
I'd rather pay with CASH--then let's see what they try with their sometimes 40% (but not spelled out) tip extortion on a screen.
When I stand at their counter--THAT IS NOT SERVICE. I am buying the product at the listed price.
And NYC yellow taxis have always given about 45% split of fare to the driver. (I forget the exact %.)
1
@mike well, if that's what happens with cab drivers, who can blame you for not tipping at the restaurant?
There is also a key problem with tipping at the counter—all you have done up until that point is ORDER! You have no way of knowing if you are going to get your Cortado or iced latte in a timely manner. You have know way of knowing if the coffee is actually constructed to your liking. You have maybe only the smallest connection to hospitality as you are greeted by someone behind the counter. Which is to say, no service has been performed and yet you are compelled to add a gratuity to a service you have yet to receive or better yet, judge—restaurant tipping is at least in theory tied to how someone has executed various tasks and those tasks are not judged until the tasks or fully complete. The exact opposite is true for counter tipping.
5
I happily and generously tip for wait-service, delivery service and car service. But it makes me angry to even be asked to tip the cashier who is ringing up the order that I have come to pick up. Why doesn't the store owner tip me?
175
I always tip generously at restaurants, but I am very resentful of being asked to tip when I take my order to go or bus my own table. The way those apps are set up make it very uncomfortable to say no, and sometimes set the minimum tip at 50% or more ($1 on a $2 cup of coffee), and make you manually type in something lower.
2
@Lisa You might solve that particular problem by paying actual "cash" for just one cup of coffee
I prefer to tip in cash in these situations, even if I pay for my meal/ride/whatever with a credit card. I have no way of knowing if credit card tips get returned to the worker and shared with the cooks who are "working so hard back there!" or if they get vacuumed into the employer's pocket with the rest of the payment from the credit card company. Credit card tips are also subject to the "3.5% + $0.15 per transaction" fees; cash is not.
This is a conversation I recently had with a friend when, at a counter-service small restaurant we had stopped for coffee. I had gone to the counter and ordered for both of us, and left something between 18-20% as a tip. After chatting for awhile we realized our coffees had not arrived. I looked at the receipt (very unusual I had taken or kept a receipt) and discovered it had been 20 minutes!
Frankly, this has happened too many times! I leave a generous tip and then get poor service.
I really wanted to take back my tip!
Because, as others have pointed out, these are low wage earners and it is the 'right' thing to support them. But I also find myself believing their employer pay them a living wage.
Tipping, it seems to me, serves two purposes. To thank the server for good service and so they will remember me next time I come in, with the expectation I will get some kind of preferential treatment.
Counter service offers neither of these outcomes. The only reason to tip is to make up for them being underpaid by their boss. Tipping, in this case, simply encourages bad employers to treat their employees poorly.
Stop tipping! Raise the minimum wage!
225
@Sea-Attle Most of us tip AFTER we've been served.
3
@kenneth, how do you tip AFTER you've been served when you have to pay (and are presented with the tipping option) BEFORE you've been served?
23
Forget it. When I choose to forgo wait-service and order take out at a counter, I’m not going to be bullied into percentage tipping simply because the people behind me can see me press “no tip” on the payment screen. That said, if there’s a jar out, I’ll throw in a dollar and whatever change I get from the order. That’s the type of “service” I’m getting.
8
@Citizen Actually, this article headlined COUNTER service.
A lot of the counter service places I go to have lines out the door for many hours of the day. It appears as if the owners are doing better than fine. I don't see the brief counter exchange as an event that triggers the need to subsidize when the owner should be accepting the responsibility of paying the workers who make his/her place so successful. I find the tipping in these places a herd behavior from people to timid to say no. Your boss should pay you that two to three dollars more per hour, not me the customer. Especially true with the price your boss is charging me to begin with. This has gotten totally out of hand.
5
@Michael Schneider Oh. Of course. Not tipping the wait staff will certainly teach the owner a lesson.
A common thread throughout this article mentions that the service person (waitperson, driver, etc.) is underpaid and tipping helps "ease the pain". Since when is it the customer's "duty" or responsibility to alleviate poor salaries? And how is tipping going to alleviate that problem in the long term? As long as there is an alternative, business owners will continue to mistreat employees through low and insulting salaries, and walk away with ever-increasing profits. I've seen the complete unfairness of salaries paid to people in the service industry, i.e. my daughters, and have tipped for decent service, but disdain the practice.
Tipping has become a shaming event for customers (which I would find hilarious if it weren't so prevalent - I could not care less what some nosy customer thinks of my tipping rate), a disgusting "demand" laid on customers by business owners, and a terrible income strategy for employees. Tipping should be outlawed, and fair wage standards implemented. After all, the US (and capitalism itself) is all about fairness to everyone, right? Right?
19
What kills me is bartenders who expect $1-2/beer for the privilege of having them draw a pint. Sorry, but the 2-3 minutes it takes to get me two drafts is NOT worth $2-4 on top of the $12 I spent on the beer. Isn’t this just rent-seeking?
4
I deal with this by making my own coffee at home.
6
this practice is so annoying. i'm that odd coffeehouse patron who asks for a large dark coffee. no soy milk, cream, shots of espressor, or sugar/stevia. no caramel drizzles or cinnamon sticks. i am asked to tip? for someone to pour my coffee into a cup?
i refuse to tip for fast casual as well. tip up front for an order i haven't yet received, so there's no indication that service was good. i have stopped patronizing restaurants with closed kitchens that use it because i don't trust them not to take it out on me when they side-eye my "no tip" selection. if it's big order, yes, i tip 10%. if i'm a regular, i tip 10-15%. why more if i'm not sitting down getting service?
2
What's the difference between tipping someone because “In this country, people are paid ridiculously low wages,” vs. handing over money to a beggar on the street because "they're homeless"? Pity payments?
2
@RonRich I don't know the difference. I also don't know why you're even comparing the two.
I must admit that I do often give something to the guy on the street who has nothing. I also give something more to the restaurant person who has served us well.
Both are deserving. Neither quite empties my wallet.
I find it absolutely creepy that the "demand" for a tip is IN MY FACE. I rarely give anything at those touch screen displays. I get grossed-out instead.
9
The system is set up incorrectly and we should fix that instead of manipulating my conscience to require personal generosity. I would like to see tipping being used for the purpose it was originally intended for, which is a reward for exceptional service. US Employees have been denied a living wage in this industry, and employers are passing the responsibility of providing that compensation on to the customer. I worked in US restaurants in my younger days so I speak from first hand experience.
In Germany, tipping in restaurants is modest, as staff are paid a wage that includes health insurance, social security contributions and paid vacation. We should expect the same in the US.
6
I remember going to a concert once, and bought a t-shirt from the merch table. When I used my card, it prompted me for a tip. I did tip, but I wondered why I was tipping someone who handed me a t-shirt? Then, I thought, why is it different from going to a cafe, restaurant, or taking a cab? I don't tip the cashier at a department store yet they are providing a service. They might help me locate something in a store... and they don't make a lot of money working in retail. I think if we tip the person making our coffee, maybe we shouldn't forget about the cashier in a retail location. Or... in a perfect world they would make a livable wage and we wouldn't have to tip at all.
3
I'd be embarrassed if I tipped someone who sold me a T-shirt.
3
@Sneeral Depends on what you were wearing before you got the T-shirt.
1
@kenneth You have a point there...
Where does the tip money go in counter service? To the cashier? The cook? The person who puts the order together? Do they all split it?
When I tip in a restaurant, I know where my tip is going. Would it be OK to ask the cashier at counter service how my tip money would be apportioned?
Putting my food on the counter and getting my own drink are not the same thing as being served by wait staff who try to see to my every need. I'm reluctant to tip, but if I knew more about where my tip money ends up, I might be more willing.
2
@A. Boyd "Would it be OK to ask the cashier at counter service how my tip money would be apportioned?"
Why ask us? Try it a couple of times and just find out.
I have so far refused to tip for counter service only, including tipping at my local green grocers. The latter has had a tipping jar for some time. I tip for sit down service because it is a service.
2
@P.G. I certainly do tip for restaurant counter service, knowing what the people behind the counter are earning.
I do not tip the grocer for broccoli rabe.
My dividing line - if it is a multi-location chain, generally no tip unless there is some real stand out service or situation. At a locally owned restaurant, cafe, that I frequent often, I will usually leave some kind of modest tip - $1 or so. It may be high in percentage terms relative to my purchase, but its low impact to me, and is in recognition of our community connection.
1
@Beth And let's be entirely honest...you also care how you look to the locals who know you.
Like a lot of OPs, and the author of this piece, I'm conflicted about tipping. On a policy, larger issue level, I'm against it. It helps the food service/hospitality sector justify the very low wages they pay. The more emotional side of me recalls when I was a waitress/barmaid, making $2.15 an hour, on my feet all day...I absolutely needed those tips to live on. But the bottom line is that customers should not have to subsidize a business's payroll. There is a role here for government as this is not a problem that can be solved at the customer/retail level.
And, on a nerdy note...originally, tips was an acronym. TIPS stood for to insure prompt service, so a tip was given in advance, as a sort of incentive. Very much like tipping the maitre'd in an upscale eatery to get a good table/service.
3
I am open to tipping at counter service, but I prefer to tip AFTER I have received the service I am
paying for.
Starbucks for example offers tipping through their app up to an hour after you’ve placed your order. What is missing though from most places is an easy way to give feedback about your experience ring your visit. Starbucks is complicated, needing to go through their website. Other places non-existent.
Tips should not be making up part of their hourly wages but should be in addition to their minimum.
Tipping at the time of ordering also does not get you acknowledged as a regular customer. That tipping appears anonymous. Rather leave the tip after receiving services. Not as a gesture of good will or because I’m pressured into it with people standing behind me, but because the service was good or even excellent.
2
I was surprised that the article didn't address the primary factor behind this trend: Payment processing apps like Square base their fees on the total transaction amount, including tip. So they have every incentive to make their "tap to tip" amounts as high as possible: They make more by guilting you, the customer, into tipping more.
16
After many years of working as an infection prevention nurse I am well aware of how bacteria and viruses reside on our hands. I carry a small bottle of alcohol hand sanitizer with me to use after handling restaurant touch screens and menus. Tipping won't save you from viruses but cleaning your hands will.
I don't mind tipping, but it does bother me that servers are tipped as a function of the price of the food. We often frequent Mexican restaurants where the servers work hard and are kind, but the food is priced so low (two people can have a full meal plus drinks and tip for $20) that even a 20% tip is only $4. Meanwhile, a server at an upscale restaurant in town can give uninterested, sub-par service, but because the food is expensive they receive a $20 tip. I do tip more than 20% at the cheaper restaurants, because those servers shouldn't receive less just because the food is cheaper, but I know a lot of people don't tip accordingly to make up for this. And don't even get me started on San Francisco's 'mandate' that doesn't even have to go to the employees. Let's just pay people a fair, living wage and scrap the tip system altogether.
4
This may seem off-topic, but it reminds me that as soon as I get off the phone with a Verizon. a bank or insurance company rep, I get a survey asking me if I was satisfied with the service. This always seems quite unfair and I never reply any more to such surveys. First of all, it only allows me to comment on the person I spoke with who is usually pleasant and only quoting company policy, which I may be unhappy about. But my unhappiness or dissatisfaction is not their fault. Secondly, even if the company rep has promised to do something, I won't know if it has been done satisfactorily for at least a month or two (for example, adjust my bill). I always feel like these surveys are a way of judging the poor reps who are at the bottom of the hierarchy. If the surveys came two months after the conversation, or asked me about the company's policies or executive compensation, I would be happy to answer.
6
@Brigid Wit I also get requests to complete follow-up surveys after all sorts of routine, non-M.D. medical visits, e.g., optometrist, lab procedures, and R.N. appointments. Interestingly, the doctors don't seem to care what you think of them.
I don't waste my time responding to these surveys. I have no idea what is behind them, but I suspect it has something to do with this modern culture of expecting a gold star merely for doing what is expected. I don't need to be treated like the Prince of Wales, and average, competent service is fine with me. If I legitimately have something to complain about, I will complain. If I don't complain, feel free to consider it a gold star.
@Brigid Wit last year when I bought a new phone the apple person after an hour asked how my experience was I said a curt "fine" her response was "FINE" I said yes fine - I wanted a new phone and I bought a new phone what more do you want.
Counter tipping is odd and counter-intuitive because you are asked to tip at time of order without having received the service and product.
Ride service tipping makes sense to me - post service - when a driver has been extra helpful, gone above and beyond, I am motivated to tip well.
The portion of the tip that goes to whom I have intended is still not clear to me and knowing this would help me in my tipping decisions.
2
I've worked behind the counter as a barista and as a bartender, front-of-the-house as a server, and back-of-the-house in kitchens both high-brow and low; I've worked in these positions both in the United States and in Europe.
I've also been a patron at all of the above type of establishments on both continents.
As an employee, having one's earnings be at the mercy of foot-traffic, the whims of customers, the price of the items sold, and the shifts and hours assigned is unsustainable and unfair. I can say with certainty that most everyone I've worked with in the service industry is genuinely kind and generous, and they want their customers to enjoy their time; to suggest that one will "put on" a good attitude just for the money is degrading and insulting.
As a customer, I would like to pay the amount listed on the menu and not have an ethical war waged in my mind for everything from a coffee I order from a screen to a haute-cuisine meal with wine pairings. If an establishment believes that an item should cost a certain amount, that should be what the customer pays. Customers are not responsible for determining the earning capacity of bank clerks, supermarket employees, or electricians, and they are miraculously able to receive good service from the above without dangling the thought of a stingy tip above their heads.
Employers should pay their employees fair wages, full stop.
12
Expecting people to tip when they are only handed something across the counter has gotten out of hand. I tip generously at a sit-down restaurant (always in cash) and I'm certainly not going to tip at the same level when I get my food at the counter and am expected to clean my own table if I eat there. In fact, I see no reason to tip at all.
12
Tip jars? Forget it. The money goes to whoever is counting the days take. When I do tip it's always in cash and I make sure the tipee in question gets the cash and not someone who can siphon off the proceeds.
Too bad I can't usually tip the cooks and/or dishwashers. I've worked in plenty of restaurants where the rest of the staff receives nothing.
I was the cook in a pretty nice hotel and when customers wanted something special and the wait staff was too incompetent to help it's generally left to the cook to make it happen, but who gets the tip? Not the cooks. Never has any wait staff I've ever seen chipped in to help out the rest of the staff. It always goes in the wait staff pocket. Anyone realistically think credit card tipping will ever go to the rest of the staff? It goes in the company accounts every time.
1
This seems to be a growing source of disagreement. I don't tip at McDonalds or other fast food places. Nor do I tip for counter service as most times the staff is just turning around to a coffee pot, filling it up and that's that. Very different than sit-down service at a restaurant where the waitstaff has to take your order to the kitchen and carry an often heavy tray back to the table. I don't use the tip options when using a credit or debit card, but rather leave a cash tip on the table. And I decide what the service and the food was worth, not a computer. My granddaughter did waitstaff work at a high end resort where no one was paid more than minimum wage (although the cheapest room cost over $400). They could have easily afforded to pay more, but let the well-off patrons fund their employees with tips instead. She made great tips there, and the owner could offer low pay using the excuse that they made tips.
1
I have worked as a waiter, a salesman, a teacher, a banker, a translator, a court interpreter and a house painter during my life, in various countries. I dislike the tipping system. Workers should be paid a living wage, have sick days, paid vacation days, have health insurance, etc.
When I worked as a salesman or translator/interpreter - well paid in Germany, not so in the USA, I never expected a tip.
Why not tip salesmen, translators/interpreters and teachers? Who knows. Adjuncts here in the USA have horrible pay and no "benefits".
In Germany, as a waiter, I had all the normal "benefits" (social rights) as any other worker. Once in a while someone tipped me or bought me a drink in Germany. Some regulars (Stammkunden) gave me a small present.
The whole tipping thing is too complicated and unreliable. All employed should have the full list of "perks".
One thing I found fantastic in Germany. One of the restaurants asked me to come to my place of work early every day, because they served me a full dinner, usually the special of the day. This enabled me to recommend it to our customers. That was one of the most caring employers I have ever had. And it was reflected in the feeling in the restaurant that always full. That feeling of generosity and happiness flowed over from the staff to the customers.
Restaurant owners, take note!
1
Tipping, in theory, is for good service. When the “service” is merely doing the minimum it takes to get the offered product to the customer, it seems ridiculous. Plus, when tipping at the cashier, how do I know what kind of service I may be about to receive? Do I tip on the taxes? I live in a high sales tax state, when the state raises taxes does that mean I need to tip more (it certainly didn’t affect the service)?
I get that people may not be paid enough, but that needs to be solved at the ballot box and/or supply and demand of the labor market. Tipping is a haphazard and conceptually troublesome way to accomplish that.
3
I always tipped for counter service until I began working in retail to supplement my teaching salary. Sometimes I would spend close to an hour helping a customer shop for clothes. Many times they would leave buying nothing. Whether they bought the clothes or not, I was still only paid $15 an hour, and I certainly never received a tip. As a teacher, I work incredibly hard for far too little and am only occasionally rewarded by my "customers", usually with a Starbucks gift card. As a non-Starbucks fan I would much rather have cash. I hate the new tip begging screens, but I envy the ingenuity and the ability of some low wage workers to guilt people out of their cash. People willing to tip $2 for a $6 drink every morning should be willing to pay more in their taxes for teacher pay.
5
I realize that I may be in the minority here but recently I went to a nice pizza joint to order a pizza to go, the young gal at the computer screen told me the pizza to go would take 40 minutes.
She then asked how much tip I would like to leave. I asked her do you know what tip means? She said, well, you give me money.
I was shocked. I almost always leave a 20% tip when I dine.
But when it comes to a counter situation I may or may not throw a buck into the cup or the computer screen depending on the service.
2
Well, if you are put off by the touch screen, Seth, then you are justified in not leaving a tip. Political correctness, and the guilt that it incurs, plays no role in determining whether or not you’ll leave a tip.
There are other employees at the restaurant, but we need to understand what tipping is: Tipping helps out restaurant management who do not pay their employees enough. Tipping keeps capitalism going.
If management installs an automated interface and it makes you feel uncomfortable, then don’t tip the restaurant. If you like it, then tip the restaurant. You are not a welfare agency. But if you want to feel that you are helping the welfare of workers, then give a tip.
At some point people will feel guilty about not tipping robots.
1
The entire tipping culture is the US is dysfunctional. And at the root of it in big part is the minimum wage system which assumes that "tipped" occupations should get a lower wage that is made up by tips, although almost nobody knows exactly what those occupations are. Nobody controls how employers keep parts of tips or how they get distributed among various employees. The whole system has created enormous disparities. Why do waiters often make out pretty well while kitchen staff often work a lot harder for much less? Why does a counter worker at a food service place get tipped but not the checker at a grocery store? How is it that "redcaps" at airports, at least in the old days, make enough on tips to send their kids to college and drive nice cars while ramp workers and even flight crew struggle? There are hundreds of examples. The whole system ought to be blown up and started over from scratch, starting with a decent wage for everybody and a ban on all forms of tipping everywhere. Can that happen? I'm not holding my breath. It's like guns. Regimented Japan seems to get it mostly right. Freedom loving US -- not so much.
1
Tipping has ruined the whole tap to pay point of sale process. It’s supposed to be a quick way to pay, but now there are layers of questions! Where’s the convenience? And tipping my Subway sandwich artist? It’s take away, there is no tip! You used to get a discount for picking up yourself, technology is obsessed with extracting money at every step.
1
This is becoming a " tipping point" with me. I expect that when I purchase something , the price paid includes all business expence i.e. rent, utilities, etc. Should I expect a tip jar at the grocery store check out? Why not just PAY employees a decent wage and move on!
1
Tipping is archaic. It leads to unequal wages for equal work (often rewarding those whose work is subpar, depending on the luck of the draw of who they served). I find these counter tipping consoles (which I thought were just standard software and were completely permissive, not mandatory) to be more of a nuisance, since the workers in these establishments are being paid full wages and not sub-minimum wage. Good service? Tip. Bad service? Don't tip. Like tipping? Tip. Don't like tipping? Don't tip. It's arbitrary regardless. I tip. But I can and I don't shame those who can't. The only way to fix the system is to get rid of it entirely.
1
I do not. I also have reduced my tipping at sit down restaurants for two reasons. One, I live on social security and drive for Uber to supplement my income and I just can't afford it. I make less than the waitress. Two, I get very few trips as an Uber driver. I average about two dollars per hour after expenses and take the lack of tipping to heart. To my surprise, the least tippers? Waitresses!
1
@Larry Waitresses, eh? Seems like they're un-paying you back !
It's a terrible system. Minimum wage employees at fashionable coffee houses in white upper-class neighborhoods get tips that might add $5 or $10 an hour to what they're making. And the upper-class New Yorkers who tip them get to pat themselves on the back for being so nice.
But it does absolutely nothing for all the other minimum-wage employees out there. Child care workers don't get tipped. Janitors don't get tipped. Prep cooks and dishwashers don't get tips. Convenience store workers and security guards don't get tips.
Plus, having a machine that tries to coerce you into tipping $2 on a $4 cup of coffee -- it turns it into a $6 cup of coffee. I guess if you're a young millennial making $250k, you can afford a $6 cup of coffee, but the rest of us have to watch our budgets a little bit.
4
I never liked the idea of subsidizing low wage employers but tipped because the minimum wage was so ridiculously low and because it was heavily relied on individuals in certain jobs like waiting tables in a sit down restaurant. Our state minimum wage is now the highest state minimum in the US at $12.50/hour. Tips on top of that outside of extreme high cost of living areas seem ridiculous for entry level work. I still tip at restaurants but do so because my spouse harasses me into it. My preference is to not go out to eat which frankly is a huge rip off.
1
Tipping has gotten out of control. Everyone has their hand out. What's next, a hospital stay and the nurse expects a tip to dispense your meds? How about the few (very few) Walmart cashiers expecting a tip? Stop giving tips for people doing their job. Maybe then it will go away.
11
@Sam
I agree wholeheartedly, with the exception being restaurant servers who (because of federal law) can be paid under $3/hr.
This tip-creep is getting ridiculous. Are we next going to tip Amazon warehouse workers, because we know they're not paid enough? NO! Jeff Bezos, the richest guy in the world should just be (by law!) required to pay them more.
And BTW, yes, in South Asia (India, Pakistan) tipping is so out of control hospital workers DO ask for tips. One lady I know had a (male) sweeper hitting her up for a tip while she was in labor in an upscale hospital!
1
What your seeing in India is not tipping, but requests for bribes for better service. Tipping is actually pretty uncommon there. When buying coffee in India, my offer of a tip is routinely refused. Tipping is usually reserved for otherwise unpaid labor like porters.
Absolutely no tipping on counter service. This is ridiculous and the prompt actually annoys me. First, these are hourly wage employees, not tipped employees, so they get normal wages. Second, they're not doing anything special, just handing over the product. To be even asking for a tip in this situation is completely preposterous, this attempt to separate me from more of my money is annoying, and is actually a reason why I rarely patronize such coffee shops.
15
The thing that convinced me that tipping is a moral problem is when I learned that black waitstaff and baristas get tipped less than white ones.
No. This is wrong. Stop tipping. Pay people for their work.
7
I meet friends at a locally owned coffee shop once a week. I try to pay cash and put the change in the jar. I figure I'm a regular and the amount of the money is inconsequential to my life.
What galls me is how many of the clerks.........almost all young....don't even acknowledge my tip. But just enough do that I continue. In fact, I will likely tell them I appreciate hearing "Thank you," many of their coworkers don't say it.
I've seen tip jars at dry cleaners and at the bulk water/ice store I go to. Others, too, that I've forgotten.
5
The rise in requests for tips at every purchase is the result of employers not paying a decent wage. The employees have no chance of squeezing that wage from their employers so they ask us to make up the difference. The price increases we're warned about if wages are increased are bypassed and we just pay the employees directly... Maybe we could make it even simpler and elect Andrew Yang and get those tip jars off the counter.
7
We need to stop this insanity. Business owners, including for sit-down restaurants: please build a fair living wage for your staff into the menu prices, and get rid of tipping altogether. Tipping is a ridiculous and stressful social construct.
15
Cue the Steve Buscemi rant from Resevoir Dogs!
Seriously though...I always wondered if the tip I leave in Ubers factors in to my personal score. Do they rate me before or after seeing how much tip I left following a ride?
6
I tip for counter service, usually just a dollar or two in cash. One problem with that is that if I pay for my order with plastic, I still have to hit 'no tip' and the workers don't necessarily see me leave a tip so I worry that they think I am stingy!
4
Americans tip, not because people are paid little, but we’re conditioned to no matter how good the service. It’s reflex. It’s also wrapped up in feelings of guilt and self worth.
That said, let’s just pay everyone a living wage, raise the cost of restaurant food, and stop this nonsensical act of tipping. It causes way too much angst.
12
I always tip 20% -- or more -- for table service, but for carryout on 10%, give or take.
At counter service, you tip before you get served, so you can’t even base your tip on the quality of service. I usually tip and then cross my fingers.
5
Do not tip counter service. Where does this conniving ridiculousness stop? I now get asked to tip for pouring my own coffee!
Also, automatic tipping amounts added to bills are calculated on the post tax amount. The tax man does not need tipping, do 15-18 % on the pre tax bill. Don’t be conned.
10
It's an obscure and somewhat perverted (tips are often shared with management) payment that allows employers to insist you will make a living wage, while underpaying you.
While it's a revolting practice, places justify it as what they do to compete.
Corruption on a small scale.
6
“Is tipping the right thing to do?” Really? Of course it is. If you’re paying Stumptown prices, you can most probably well afford to spread the money around a tad more equitably.
2
I don't tip unless I'm being served by a waiter, as in the person who in this country I know will get paid *below* the minimum wage. I find the entire system of tipping to be highly inappropriate since I shouldn't be responsible for the living standards of anyone but myself and my family, but I find it especially insulting that these new apps even ask me about tipping for counter service. Why? Because it's asking me for charity. It's not a tip; it's a donation to the poor.
A lot of comments say here that you shouldn't go to a restaurant unless you can afford the tip; I say the restaurant and cafe and salad bar shouldn't open a location unless it can afford its own employees.
8
I tend to tip very generously for servers at the table -- I have a moment to privately considered the service, the situation, and write down a number, having felt at least a fleeting connection with the human being who helped me out with my dining.
Suddenly the appearance of the finger-signature screens at the counter seemed shoved in my face -- or at least in my palm. And I feel like I do when the grocery check-out clerk asks (which is only occasionally) if I'd like to donate to Muffins for Mariners: guilty if I don't, no idea as to how much if I should.
Restaurants should pay employees more no matter what. The scribble screens are likely here to stay now. But tech designers might respond to customer concerns by eliminating the percentage numbers and simply offer a more user-friendly interface. At least give me a smiley face and a few words of enticing encouragement. The person behind me is in a hurry to get their coffee and croissant and move on, I know. But I'm old -- I need a moment of humanity.
4
I'm not sure this is a good thing for the fast casual segment of the industry. They tend to be much more expensive than fast food places and you would like to think at least some of the higher price would go to take better care of employees. Everything I see one of those tip options, it just really reminds me I need to cook myself more often (and better food and for much less money) and I'm less likely to return in the future.
6
The problem with tipping by credit or debit card is that the employee is out of that monetary loop. The employee and the customer have to rely on the good faith of the restauranteur or manager to forward the tip to that employee. My experience with restaurants is that they do not pay a living wage ($2.50/hour in 2005 - way below the minimum wage). Traditionally they have been allowed to do this because they feed their employees (limited menu for meals if there is time to eat) and because employees are tipped. Good faith seems to be in short supply these days. I always leave a cash tip and try to make sure the right person gets it.
4
As someone who works in an ice cream shop with the Toast touchpad tipping option, let me clarify a few things.
1. We get paid minimum wage ($12/hour) in a city where that money does not get you far. If you do the math, $12/hour for 12 hours, 7 days a week, and all 4 weeks in a month is $4,032. In a city where rent averages more than $2,000 and college debt is steep, tips can help a lot on the more minute costs like healthcare and food.
2. We can see how much everyone tips, however, we do not judge if a person does not tip because everyone's life circumstances are vastly different and people may not have the band width to pay 20% for a couple scoops of ice cream
3. It is not necessary in my mind to tip for a single scoop of ice cream because it is relatively simple and takes very little time. That being said, if we pack a pint, quart, or a make a milkshake or multiples of these items, it seems courteous to tip. Scooping that much ice cream is difficult and takes a considerable amount of time, so 5%-15% seems appropriate.
Food for thought from an in debt gen-z.
4
The comments offer additional, good data points. I do not tip when the person is simply putting something in a cup or a bag for me. I do tip when I order a barista drink, food that requires prep, the food is going to be delivered to my table, or I am going to be taking up some real estate for a while. I tip $2 - 5 on an uber/lyft, depending on the aggravation factor for the driver, same for a taxi or shuttle driver. I do not add larger tips for larger fares. I leave 18-20% at a restaurant, regardless of whether it is a diner or fancy place.
2
Why not adopt the European approach? There the price of the meal, no matter where it is procured, already includes a “service charge.” And if the service was particularly good one leaves a few Euros on the table (not a percentage of the meal price) as a show of appreciation for the service. And guess what, except at the fanciest of places, I’ve found that the price of meals seems to be lower than in the US (no $100 for two small pizzas like the reader discussing her experience in Finland) even though the servers get paid a salary, not the the reduced hourly wages offered in the US where employers expect customers to subsidize their workers.
As to tipping for counter service? No way unless the server has been particularly attentive and nice.
2
I never tip when faced with a screen, or my tip is greatly reduced, as taking care of my check has always been my servers responsibility. I'm not going to tip a machine for what is becoming a threat to human employment. When we order and pay by screen, the only task a server has is to bring us the food, and possibly clean the table.
1
Tipping, in general, is a ripoff, of customers and employees, by management. It is a means of making an order seem to be cheaper than it actually is.
2
I feel it's important to stand up to this new form of intimidation of the customer. The practice also fosters a condescending atmosphere between server and client. The ideal situation would be for workers to be unionized and to make a living wage with benefits added.
It is so not 2019 to hand over alms to people who are just doing their work.
7
I really don't mind tipping 20% at low cost counter establishments. The workers work hard and paid very little. However, I give no tip to the high end counter food stalls in establishments like Time Out and Eataly here in Boston. Such places overcharge, hire college students who obviously don't lack money, and we the customers do all the work. Besides they have the nerve to refuse salary giving instead an option on the credit card to tip up to 25%.
1
I am always confused by this. Are counter staff paid the reduced rate that waiters and waitresses are paid where tipping is needed to bring wages in line? If they are paid the same as a clerk in a store. why are we just tipping them. They all work hard.
2
In the end, it’s again businesses taking advantage of the friendliness and courtesy of American customers. A small latte or cappuccino is already $ 5. I don’t really see why I should spent $ 7 or so for a coffee. It’s no surprise that this development was only enabled by the proliferation of cashless payment systems. People are psychologically more willingly to part from their money this way. No wonder that Americans have the highest per capita consumer debt on earth.
7
I just drove cross country and couldn’t believe it happened twice...getting coffee something I would not tip for with counter service the Four Square device wouldn’t let me finish the transaction without giving some type of tip. So I gave a dollar and then called my credit card to get it back who of course refunded it and charged the merchant a $25 dollar dispute fee.
I don’t tip a hardware store for fetching a part why should I tip a coffee shop for handing me coffee?
8
I was a career retailer, professional bookseller for 25 years. I worked my way up into management and when I left in 2006, I did not make $15 an hour. But my expenses were minimal, mostly on rent in an expensive town near Cambridge, Mass. So what the heck is a living wage? Yes, I have empathy for service workers but the tip jar is out of control, they do get paid for doing their job.
4
I was just faced with one of these screens in a cupcake shop in Pasadena. All the employee does is pick up a few cupcakes out of the display, put them in a box and take my payment. If this is worth a tip, then any purchase across a counter could involve this not so subtle demand for a gratuity.
8
Nearly everyone of the establishments I frequent for a latte have counter tipping. These are my issues:
1. I have to go to the counter to place my order.
2. I have to pick up my latte from the counter after they yell my name--even if I am seated at a table outside!
3. I have to buss my own table.
To me, this does not equal the service of an establishment that:
1. Takes my order at the table.
2. Delivers my food or drink to me.
3. Clears my table.
I usually do tip at the counter, but it always galls me when I am prompted to do so.
9
I don’t leave tips on paper credit card receipts or digital payments because I don’t trust that the gratuity will reach the intended recipients. My students in the food service industry often tell of bosses who take tips off the table and pocket them them. I use cash to tip and prefer an in-person handoff whether sit-down or counter service. Especially true when tipping housekeeping staff in hotels. Wage theft is a common crime where, once again, there are no consequences for those at the top.
2
An employer who chooses not to pay a living wage should not be trusted to gather up the tips and later distribute the charged tips to the employees who worked the credit machine and the back of the house.
As another reader said: tipping is absurd.
My tipping for a varied host of reasons does not diminish the absurdity.
The fact that there is little to no record of the tips a particular employee receives only adds to the absurdity. It is taxable income based on the honor system.
There are employers who ban tipping; and there are friendly, efficient employees who assuredly and promptly serve. There is no need to insure that service.
1
Counter tipping is not to insure good service. It's a subsidy.
5
I think the question tippers should ask is if they would tip the person that serves them at the supermarket deli counter. Same thing. Same service.
6
How about going to hair salon where he/she is independent contractor owning own chair? We are expected to tip which can be a large sum in addition to what the hairstylist has decided to charge. Illogical. Some tip for medical massage. In this vein, why don’t we tip the pharmacy tech or pharmacist who hands us our filled prescription ? Or the Walmart Greeter?
4
I resent that we all have to make up for the wages companies steal from workers so the owners can be filthy rich. How crazy is it that someone working full time can qualify for food stamps!
For a different world view: When I stayed at a family inn in Thailand, I wanted to leave a tip for extraordinary service and kindness though I knew it was not the cultural norm. This tip more than any other was heartfelt, and yet the facial expression of the recipient clearly showed she was hurt, crestfallen. I had demeaned their gift by giving money for it!
3
So I order a decaf coffee and a bagel at the local coffee house where my group is meeting. I am asked if I want room for cream. When I inquire, now staring at the black brew, I am told it is around the corner. The half and half is empty so I use 2%, not my choice, returning the empty carafe back to the counter. At my table I unwrap my bagel and apply the cream cheese from another prepackaged container. When the meeting has concluded , I return my dishes to the counter and recycle or dispose of the trash. For this I leave a tip?
At least the coffee was poured hot, not self-served from a vacuum thermous.
8
But tipping gives nobody incentive to change. I keep reading about Japan. Their minimum wage is supposedly just $8.20. So maybe they just suffer in silence.
I am astonished that in such a lengthy and detailed survey & analysis of tipping, no one is raising the question of employer responsibility to pay their employees a decent wage, and instead are passing on that responsibility to the customers while they reap and keep their profits. Greed continues to find its clever ways to avoid decent behavior while feigning goodwill for working people.
4
When visiting Japan I strongly admired the culture of not accepting tips, whatsoever. They will flat out refuse to take a tip because Japanese take pride in their profession whatever it may be, even as simple as a bell boy, and do a good job based on their salary.
316
@TylerBarkley
The biggest reason my sister did not like to live in Japan was the compulsive gift-giving. While they may not tip there is great compulsion to give gifts to ones boss, landlord and others who would seem to be less worthy
11
@TylerBarkley completely agree. In America tips are taken for granted and the concept of service or professionalism among service sector workers is a seldom heard concept. I wipe tables before I use them at coffee shops and fast food restaurants because the staff doesn't. I count change because cashiers make mistakes. American service was not always this way.
5
@FerCry'nTears that's not true. I have lived and worked in Japan off and on for 30 years and the gift giving is far less than it used to be. Also younger people have moved away from it over the decades and "gift" is too strong of a word to use. It is not as in the sense that we think of as gift.
5
Abolish tipping. Add 15% service charge as they do in Europe, then, please, leave the customer alone. If one is delighted with someone's service, one is always free to put up a review on Google or wherever. Pay the counter people a decent wage. "Tipping creep" through those counter devices is absurd.
30
@Al from PA
I agree with you Al. I like a basic 15% service charge built into the bill. This takes care of counter service operations such as the coffee bar stand-up service in Italy. When at a full service sit-down restaurant, if the service has been efficient and cordial, I'll add an additional 10 - 15% tip in cash - given directly to the server. The server remembers for the next time and the kitchen staff has been taken care of as well. Of course, in much of Europe, being a waiter is still considered to be a highly trained professional - the face of the restaurant to the customers.
1
@Al from PA: if waitstaffers are paid a fair wage, no tipping OR "service charge" should be required. Do you tip your doctor? nurse? schoolteacher? computer programmer?
Yet again, a way to pass costs on to the consumer rather than owners paying a living wage. They should be up front about the cost of their product and add it to the price if they want to pay their workers a fair wage. No table service, no delivery, no tip, and no guilt here.
23
Tipping is what you pay for professional service. I pay a full tip if the following occur
1. I am seated by a host.
2. My order is taken tableside
3. The server attends to my needs during the meal
4. The table is bussed when I leave.
If there is partial service, I will pay a small tip. I also pay a 10% tip if they pack stuff for takeout. Cashiers who ring up orders are not providing you with any of these services. This whole bit of cashier-tipping is a modern annoyance. I have started paying cash in these situations.
22
Tipping for counter service seems to have started with teenagers putting out jars/cans for "our college fund". In that situation a tip isn't for good service, it's just a charitable-like donation to a kid.
That seems like a long time ago. Now tipping at the counter is an expectation.
That leads to what one of the posters described -- many people tend to tip where they go regularly, but not at counters where they just stop in. That's because the tip has gone from being something nice to something extorted -- give one or risk bad service in the future.
A compromise? Don't worry about the percentage -- pay in cash and throw the coins from your change in the jar. It's more than zero and less than an obligation.
11
I rationalize counter tipping and other non-restaurant tips as flexible pricing. I can pay a bit more, so I do. People who cannot afford to shouldn't tip at counters or on Ubers. It's a redistribution mechanism (albeit an inefficient one). It should also be seen that way by recipients, who are not, I hope, offended when they don't get a tip. It seems fine that about 30% of customers tip, 30% don't tip, and 30% vary.
2
I resent being asked to compensate for failures of government and the economic system to provide employees with a living wage. I would much rather be charged a fair price up front, than be subject to the hidden cost of a tip.
I suppose I can make an exception for restaurants, where the practice is so ingrained, but even then the tip should be based on the price pre-tax. For any 'service counter' type situation, I have no problem clicking 0%.
18
Tipping is an out-dated, mostly US custom that became oppressive when it was added to screens. Last July, when I was in the US, I just left cash on the table--20% not to mention the VAT, sales tax, or whatever else is tacked on to the bill at the register. The added benefit of leaving cash is the server can do what servers have long done--under-report their earnings to the IRS.
Studies have been done on tipping that show overall there is no correlation between tipping and the quality of service. It is a tradition that has outstayed its welcome. For heaven's sakes, just pay the service employees more and be done with the fiction that customers are somehow bequeathing gratitude for service.
17
Tipping originated in the UK in 17th century. Initially it was rejected in the US.
I almost always tip when faced with the touch screen, but I am always skeptical that the money will get to the employees. I suspect tipping through the app puts the money in the employer's pocket. Plus, I feel like the employees should be paid a higher rate rather than having to depend on tips.
4
I always tip. I worked in those places back in the day, and wages were very minimum. Workers in these places are older now and could use some extra money.
3
Generally, tipping is ridiculous on many levels.
16
I find these in-your-face tablet transactions to be annoying. I've sometimes been presented a screen where the minimum suggested tip amount is 20% and it goes up from there. I agree that some counter people are underpaid, and deserve more, but I'd rather owners raised prices, paid their staffs better, and didn't lay a guilt trip on me. Is putting my bagels in a bag or handing me a pre-packaged sandwich so complex that I need to agonize over how much of a tip it's worth? At this rate, we shouldn't be surprised when this practice starts showing up elsewhere. Home Depot: hmm...should I tip the cashier 15 or 20% for that toilet? My bank: does getting to interact with a real teller merit 10% of my deposit? FedEx: when I sign for a package, should I tip a little because the box isn't smashed?
26
I’m an Australian who has spent plenty of time in the USA. I’ve always found the culture of tipping to be repugnant. People who work should receive a wage they can comfortably live off. Inexplicably, vulnerable workers in the food-service industry in the USA are singled out to shoulder the business risk of their employer and receive poverty level wages. They are effectively forced to beg as part of their normal day’s work. Every time I hear another fake, “How y’all doin’?” or see a forced grin as they side-eye me filling in the bill I wince. I sense the desperation and feel ashamed at the unwanted power differential. I enjoy good service but I’m not looking for subservience.
Back home, a cup of coffee that’s $4 on the sign is $4 at the register. Taxes are always included - no handful of shrapnel. The staff are decently paid. When they talk to customers it’s as professionals doing a good job or just to be friendly. Taking the money and obsequiousness out of this interaction makes it less stressful and more enjoyable. On the rare occasion the service is bad I do what most people do and take my business elsewhere.
35
You have good points, but you have misunderstood something. People are going to be friendly and ask how you are not because of what they think you will leave but because that’s the culture.
I've started carrying more cash and pay with exact change. Problem solved.
5
I call it tipping fatigue and it will sometimes prevent me from entering a shop as I just don't want to deal with this emotional swindle.
20
When traveling in Japan for business, I was told by Japanese colleagues that the Japanese do not expect a tip because they are not servants; they are proud professionals who receive an appropriate wage from their employer. Why don't we adopt this practice in America? Employers should pay an appropriate wage.
21
Because the government doesn’t make them like in other nations....Japanese seem to work a lot of hours so who knows?
I do not tip at the counter. The owner of the businesd to NOT expect me to subsidize his workets because they do not pay their workers enough. All the arguments in the article i agree with except for me subsidizing the owner's bad business practice of underpaying their workers.
6
I tip well (20-30%) at sit-down restaurants--because servers are bringing the food to the table.
I see tip jars on the counter in sandwich shops and pizza parlors, and to me, it's just an attempt to get more of my money. But for what? If pizza is delivered to my house, I'll tip. If pizza is brought to my table, I'll tip. If I drive to the pizza place and go to the counter to pick it up myself, I see no reason to tip, regardless of the passive guilt emanating from the tip jar with the cute hand-written sign on it.
18
Just a casual reminder that when you tip on credit card transactions, that tip is the exorbitantly taxed, so, please tip in cash. Also, while yes in NYC we are getting $15/hr, please remember that we take jobs in service in order to maintain flexible schedules necessary to provide the culture that you moved to this great city to enjoy, and therefore, must pay our own health insurance out of pocket and do not have vested 401k's. A good rule of thumb for me, if the person has a job that requires interaction with the public, then kick them some extra cash. Public: we love ya, but you are a hassle.
7
@Nico I refuse to tip in cash and let that tip go under reported to the IRS. Credit card tipping ensures that the workers aren’t cheating
@Nico, unless I'm missing the sarcasm, paying customers don't work for you and nobody in NYC cares about your wannabe actor ambitions. Earn your tips the right way, by actually putting your customers needs above yours.
However most people doing service jobs aren’t in the arts. And most of their customers don’t live in NYC because of the arts.
1
I have stopped tipping. Resturants can raise prices, but not there are resturants that not only riase prices, but also want tips and pay for health insurance of the workers. E.g. Bestia in Los Angeles. They charge for tap water,too. I won't be going back to places like that.
4
If the worker who rings up my muffin and coffee gets a tip, why not the register person at the clothing store who removed security tags and neatly folded (and sometimes also wrapped in nice tissue paper) the clothing items that I bought? The person at the pharmacy had to pull up my prescription, check my insurance, and label and bag my medication, shouldn't they be tipped?
The whole thing has gotten beyond bizarre. I went to a self-serve frozen yogurt bar where you dispense your own yogurt, add your own toppings and place your cup on a scale...the cashier did nothing more than hand me a spoon and yet, still the screen prompted to leave a tip.
26
I would bet BIG money that the top sales pitch of these touch screen vendors like Square and others to small businesses are the increased tip rates. So, once again, tech leverages human weaknesses (in this case guilt) for their own benefit. Bogus.
Small businesses should raise prices and raise wages accordingly, and this should be done with the support of appropriate tax rates.
6
Counter workers should get paid full minimum wage or more so that they are not shortchanged on their FICA contributions from their employers who also, in many cases keep the tips. I don’t trust the system. A waiter can keep track of tips. I also like to tip at the conclusion of the interaction-why would you tip when you place an order which is when you pay electronically at a counter?
3
People should tip if they feel like it, not because they feel pressured or obligated to tip. I find it amazing that there are people who actually agonize over whether to tip or not.
9
Waiters get tips for service, but also for the up-sell and to speed the service so that the table can be turned around. Also good waiters can handle many tables at once, so they make more money while keeping the bosses overhead low, therefore it is a good arrangement for both. When the restaurant raises prices, the waiters get an automatic raise, which drives owners a bit crazy. Counter service has none of this, business should pay them well, they have to keep the line moving.
2
Tipping is obligatory for waiters because they don't get paid minimum wages--the tip is an expected part of their compensation and the only way they can earn a living from waiting tables. This rationale doesn't apply to those who do earn minimum, which is the case with counter help. So no, I don't tip at the counter and I won't be bullied into it. There's no reason an employee who hands me a cup of coffee should get a tip when the one who bags my groceries or shleps out 10 pairs of shoes for me to try on doesn't. I'm having a hard enough time reconciling myself to the inexplicable and unjustifiable way the expected standard tip for waiters jumped from 15% for most of my life to 20% in the last decade or two, when no one else's wages have increased to that extent. But I guess that's another story...
7
My impression is that most counter workers are paid at least the $7.25 minimum wage, not the $2.13 that tipped employees receive.
So when the counter employees start collecting tips, wouldn’t that then qualify them for the $2.13 wage and save those stores a fortune?
2
Tipping culture is out of control, even my dog boarding place has the touch screen with the tip options. I don’t believe I should be expected to tip in this context, but then I worry my dog will be treated badly if I don’t. My solution is that I switched dog boarding places.
16
On my first trip to China, about fifteen years ago, I made the mistake of leaving a tip after a truly excellent meal at a local restaurant. The money was thrown back at me. The waitress was insulted that I would give her money for doing her job. And she's right. The concept of tipping is demeaning. People should get paid a decent wage for their work. They should not be dependent on customers giving extra money. What does this practice say about the jobs for which tipping is customary? Raise prices, add a service charge, but the practice of tipping is demeaning.
3
My son tutors students Calculus and makes $12 an hour. Nobody ever tipped him.
9
I always tip 20% of the total bill (including tax) rounded up to the next dollar.
This includes take out and dine in and even drive trru, Uber, etc. Ask anyone who works in a service industry, the person will remember you and you will always get great service.
1
Somebody explained that you were supposed to tip 10% for counter service, and 20% for table service (It used to be 15% but it went up). That seems reasonable, but it gets awkward because some places have an obvious tip-jar, and others don't, and some seem to have no-tipping policies. I haven't run into the touch-screen tip-option yet...
I tip generously (20-40%) for excellent restaurant table service, nail technicians and my hair stylist. Generally speaking these people have personally attended to me for at least an hour. That deserves a good tip.
Counter service doesn't deserve a tip. They are doing the basics of what they're supposed to be doing. I've never received a drip coffee from the pot that warrants a 20% tip.
Recently I went to a new restaurant, and upon arriving, was told that I am to scan their QR code, and I do my ordering on my own phone for my whole stay. The restaurant basically offloaded the labour onto me. When it was time to pay, the minimum tip amount requested was 15%. Why would I tip 15% when they passed the labour onto me? The whole reason to dine together is to get away from screens, is it not?
Just because the payment machine asks for free money from you does not mean that you have to give it.
12
@RG: what does that restaurant do with customers who do NOT have phones? or their phone is broken or the battery just died? refuse to serve them?
2
We tend to pay people a fixed wage. Tipping is just not an issue. It isn't required, and all customers are equal in this regard. There is no shame in paying exactly, to the cent, what the bill says.
2
I never tip at counters unless I've asked the servers to do something above and beyond getting my order.
The question is, why are customers expected to make up for a lack of a decent wage?
5
Just so we’re all clear. Labor will be paid for. Either through your voluntary tips or through higher menu prices. It’s not as if restaurant owners will take the profit hit. I would rather the menu prices as I don’t like the anxiety that the tipping culture produces. Raise the prices, remove the practice of tipping and let people enjoy their coffee in peace. It’s more fair that way too.
6
I find it uncomfortable to have the counter service person watching me as I decide the tip percentage (or whether to top at all). Remember the good old days when you could leisurely consider the tip from the comfort of your booth or table?
2
I always wonder if these pay services like toast take a percentage of the tip that we leave. It’s generally legal for them to do so. If that’s the case, then this is a much different calculation as to why they are allowing tips on their platform. I usually tip at the coffee shop because the servers are very nice where I go, but I don’t leave a huge tip, maybe a dollar on an eight dollar charge. Unlike some commenters I’ve seen here, I don’t believe that declining to leave a tip will make any sort of statement to the ones who matter, the only one who will see that is the employee who is not getting paid very much to start. Overall, I find it annoying that I have to operate a computer when I’m trying to buy a cup of coffee. I would really prefer to just give them my credit card rather than feel like I have to navigate through all the screens before I even get to work.
3
I solve the tipping problem by always having some cash. I try to pay for the meal, whether ordered at the counter or at the table, and most often pay, and tip, with cash.
When I do use a credit card, I find it insulting to have listed on the bottom of the bill: 18%, 20%, 25% tip. Especially when I felt the meal was somewhat over the top pricewise to begin with, I had to fetch my meal from the counter when my name was called, and also was expected to bus my table when done. I'm perfectly capable of mentally calculating a tip (generally about 15% if food/service are good), but am put off by a written expectation on the bill.
4
If I’m standing to order, I don’t tip (unless it’s a special circumstance) if I’m sitting I do. The laws should follow this as well, if the customer is standing, minimum wage. Of course I also think waiters should get minimum wage at all times, but that might be a difficult fight in most places.
2
We eat at the same restaurant once each week. Counter ordering, with delivery to the table. We tip generously, in part because we knew someone who worked there (our daughter), so we have some insight into the employees. The owner is generous with his employees, but all of them are college students who are working to live while in school. Call it support for higher education.
1
But that’s your choice ....putting it on the touch screen makes one feel obligated. Apparently the owners of this place don’t feel obligated to pay fair wages.
2
Most people are aware that the federal minimum wage is set at $7.25 an hour; far less widely known is that this does not apply to restaurant workers. While researching a forthcoming article on sexual harassment of low wage female workers, i learned something astonishing: as i state in the article, "In 1976, at the behest of the National Restaurant Association (known to restaurant worker activists as "the other NRA"), federal legislation capped the minimum wage for tipped workers at $2.13 an hour, where it has remained there for the past 40 years! These “wages” go almost exclusively to pay social security and employment taxes; as a result, servers and other tipped workers typically receive no pay check, but rather a pay stub for $0 marked “THIS IS NOT A PAYCHECK”
In light of such blatant exploitation, it's hard to argue against tipping - but it is a devil's bargain that benefits no one but owners. Not only is the very concept degrading, but tipped workers have far higher levels of sexual harassment (from both customers and management) than other types of workers. Why should they have to, truly, depend on the kindness of strangers? And why should these "strangers" have to subsidize the profits of the restaurant owner. Yes, i always tip, and I tip well, but i think of this every time i do. A guaranteed wage of $15+ for all workers is far over due.
41
The relentless spread of tipping is just another example of deceptive pricing to which American businesses have become addicted. For restaurants, the price that appears on the menu is only about 70% of what you end up paying when you add up the bill. For hotels, the advertised rate excludes taxes and the ever expanding resort fees. For colleges, it means tacking on all sorts of student fees to the traditional tuition, room and board, to the extent that graduate students who used to get their tuition waived in exchange for teaching duties now find they are being hit with crippling student fees. And, of course, there are the airlines which seem to charge extra for everything that used to be included in the published fare. The irony is that at least with airlines you can generally avoid the extra fees by not checking bags or buying a particular seat or a meal or drink. But resort fees are typically mandatory add-ons, as are student fees, and just try not tipping at least 20% in a restaurant. It's time to stamp out all of these deceptive pricing practices once and for all. Following the example in France where service and taxes by law have to be included in the price shown on the menu.
35
Low wages subsidized by tips = higher share-holder profits. New rule of thumb: if you own stock in the company, tip the counter-employee.
5
I tip because I feel like I have to. I would rather the employer paid a decent wage instead. I HATE tipping.
41
let's be honest, $15/hr is NOT alot of money.
10% for counter service seems reasonable.
6
@t power If you multiply it out to 40 hours a week times 50 weeks a year (assuming two weeks off for vacation), that is $30,000/year for completely unskilled work that a 14 year old can do. That doesn't sound too bad to me for work that requires zero education, zero skills, zero investment of any sort. And most people doing this work are not doing it as a career. Granted, I will presume that most counter workers are not working 40 hours a week, but that just underscores the point.
1
Just don’t offer pre-calculated tips on a bill that are based on the total price including tax. That is unethical (or inexcusably unaware).
19
On what basis has the meaning of tipping been changed? Tips are for service and never to owners who are expected to have the ability to set prices.
Haircut? Tip a worker who cuts hair but not if owner cuts your hair. It is assumed they can set his own price.
Dining at a restaurant? When waited upon at a table. At the counter hasn’t the customer essential served themselves?
Transportation in a taxi or limo? Is the owner driving the car? Like the haircut, the owner sets the price and tips are not to be expected.
5
I went into a tony coffee shop in a little plaza in Lynbrook (Long Island). Upon ringing me up for the very overpriced coffee and cookies, I then couldn't complete paying until I had tapped 'no tip' '$2' etc on the screen in front of me. I have nothing against tipping, but the cashier hadn't done anything extra other than hand me my goods across the counter. It was a very uncomfortable feeling, as if I was being shamed or brow-beaten. My husband loved the cookies, but I won't be back.
35
I am shocked when people do not tip baristas making a craft drink. I understand not tipping for counter food service, but craft coffee is a different category. It's an art. Do you tip your bartender? Same thing. If you want drip coffee, fine, keep your dollar, but if you want a latte, a cortado, etc., add a dollar. It makes a big difference to the person behind the counter both in terms of their take-home and a show of appreciation for their craft.
3
@Paula T
I'm shocked that you don't care to know that unlike batistas, most bartenders make a less than minimum base wage.
1
I don't get it. Why does the person who poured a cup of coffee get a tip but the person who spent an hour helping you try on shoes and walking up and down the stairs to get them, not? In NYC wages are 15 an hour for both people. Waitstaff gets tips because they are paid under the minimum wage. I don't think that is true for counter staff. Ice cream scooper gets a tip, book store employee doesn't. Does that make sense?
41
This screen turning has been done to me three times. I have not gone back to any of those places.
8
There are apps for restaurant and cafe owners to collect tips for their employees, but where is the app for raising the minimum wage and providing decent health care?
Dear Tech, please start addressing more substantial problems.
9
I’ve always thought tipping is a response to good service and I tip well in restaurants. But I don’t understand being expected to tip a counter person who hands me a drink and takes my money. My least favorite fast food cafe in Charleston not only presents the tip screen but also reminds customers to clear their tables before leaving.
15
Just to add one more comment into the mix.
Consider that Owners/Managers will take tips left on Credit Cards.
Having represented workers/employees I am aware of a profound problem exists when you tip by Credit Card.
There are Owners (managers) believing tip belongs to them and not their employees if on Credit Card.
The Employee/Worker requesting their tips will be informed the Tip Belongs to the House/Owner/Manager - not them.
It could be grounds for termination and insubordination; so workers/employees will not or be allowed to inform the Customer they won’t get the tip.
UNLESS you are sure that credit card tip will go to Worker/Employee
BEST PRACTICE - TO INSURE THAT YOUR WORKER - GETS TIP - GIVE IN CASH. OR. PUT IN TIP JAR.
13
I tip 20% or more on sit-down service, even if it's bad. I know that they receive basically nothing in regular wages and rely on tips. They also work hard for their money. But counter service employees make more regular wages. To say that we should tip Uber drivers just because wages haven't kept up with where they should be is nuts. Why do we continue to subsidize these companies? A mom and pop shop is one thing, but Uber? They need to pay livable wages. That's the bottom line.
9
Not a counter story, but a cautionary tale for sit-down dinners.
Last year in a Ft. Lauderdale restaurant, my sister and I were treating the table to dinner. We got the bill and sent it away to be split between two credit cards.
The individual vouchers came back with suggested tipping at the bottom. After we’d signed to give the server a $100 tip each, I kind of shook my head and realized 25% of the entire bill was $100–so while the bill was split between 2 cards, the suggested tip covered the whole bill. We redid our tips to $50 apiece.
We wondered how many people got caught by this and really overtipped.
9
We can thank for Starbucks starting the guilt trip tipping jars.
9
@Ozma
Panera too.
1
I do not tip on counter service. I do not like to be asked. I am less likely to visit a location that I know has a POS process that requests a tip for counter service. Pay your employees appropriately without asking for handouts.
I hope this practice does not spread. But if it does, know that everybody who does tip in this situation is effectively paying for me and others who maintain the status quo of no tipping for counter service, and I'll never be the least bit embarrassed by this.
Enjoy your coffee.
17
Just pay cash. Avoid the screen altogether.
12
Visiting Japan is a relief from this nonsense. No tipping anywhere for anything. The practice is degrading and unfair. When you go out to eat, waiter service or not, you pay the listed menu price with no tipping and the sales tax built in.
Same practice when shopping at stores, tax prices are built into the posted price.
31
I don’t mind it at the small family or high-end independent restaurants. I really hate seeing this, though, at chains like Panera.
I’m not going to help the CEO get a bigger bonus by subsidizing the cost of his already underpaid workforce. Chains like panera need to do the right thing and tack on fifty cents or more to the turkey bravo. Pay a living wage. And if they won’t, vote for a living wage hike!
27
My plan is to tip 15 to 20% at a sit-down restaurant, usually almost 20. I base the tip on cost before taxes. If the percentages offered include taxes, I am deciding today not to wrestle with the numbers and just do 15%. However, as I often drink only water, I may tip higher - as I might for a low-cost meal such as breakfast.
At the counter, or places where you bus your own table, I strongly feel that a full tip is not warranted. Thanks to this article, I plan to tip about half what I would for complete table service (currently, I seldom tip there at all). It is inexcusable and offensive for an establishment to offer a 25 or 30% option for counter service. I have decided to take offense when offered easy choices that are all higher than 8% and likely not tip at all.
However, if the economy blows up again, I'll probably to back to tipping in cash. When it's hard to get a job, it's too easy for employers to cheat employees out of credit card tips. It seems worth my effort to get the money to the employee who earned it.
10
Corporate owned company no tip. They have the resources to pay their employees well.
Family owned or independent half of I tip for table service.
4
I tip AFTER I have received good service. Ordering is the first and least significant step. Will my order be prepared well and in a timely manner? Will it be served with a smile? When they turn the screen towards me, who knows? If the service is good, I put cash in the tip jar after.
10
the business owner needs to pay properly....if the service and food are done right, business will grow...so should the pay....
8
Tipping has always seemed like such a subjective thing to me. Personally, I try to tip about 20% on things like restaurant service, ridesharing like Uber and Lyft, and grocery delivery.
When it comes to counter service, I do feel pressured to tip by electronic payment screens, so I usually end up tipping a dollar, or more if it's a local business.
With that being said, I understand others' decisions to not tip - some people may not be able to afford the extra cost every time they visit a counter service business, and others simply don't see the point.
After reading this article and the comments, I feel less obligated to tip at counter-service restaurants. If every service job normalizes tipping, it will be harder for employees to get a livable base wage from employers. I still think that I'll end up tipping at the small cafés and restaurants I visit often, because I want to support local businesses and their employees and I enjoy frequenting them.
6
How long, O lord, before we will be expected to tip the hardworking cabin stewards on our flights?
I can't wait for that slow exit lineup at the cabin door as each passenger is expected to shell out some cash as well as a smile in thanks.
Coming soon to an airline near you. Wait for it. Or not.
18
It is rather arbitrary. I’ll tip a barista but I won’t tip a bank teller. I’ll tip my hair stylist and she owns her ow shop but I won’t tip the checker at the grocery store.
But, I always tip. Even tip at a pizza parlor when I order a slice.
4
I tend to leave a cash tip in a jar if it says “for our text book fund” and I know most of the workers are attending a local college. (If it said ‘Beer Party’ I probably wouldn’t..but others might!)
What I don’t like is when the option to tip pops up on the payment screen. If I am a regular at this restaurant I normally tip because I want good service and think there’s a chance that as I regular patron I will be remembered. So I’m sort of buying good service along with my meal.
I once knew a food critic that would not tip at any dining establishment that had a salad bar. He would only tip a waiter if they brought all the food to his table.
6
Not much good will in the comments section. Your barista or uber driver is likely barely making ends meet. If you have the few bucks to spare, it's some good karma for you and a helpful, kind thing to do.
I have a small business, I pay $4 per hour above minimum wage for what amounts to bar help. I also give a commission on everything they sell. And yes, I let them put out tip jars and leave the tip screen up. I'm not asking customer to subsidize anything - if you enjoyed yourself and my employee was part of that, tips are welcome.
5
‘Good Karma.’ Nice.
2
@Jane Bowles - Your supermarket checker and drug store cashier are likely only making ends meet, too. You do tip them, don't you Jane? Thank of the Karma!
2
@PM if they offered a way to tip then yes, i enjoy it. makes me feel good.
Back in '82 my friend a was a manager a 24 hr Greek diner in Queens. He told me the place grossed $100k a week and cleared 40 grand. That's a week. In 1982. That's 2 million a year in profit AND the owner had 3 more diners in Brooklyn.
It's a license to print money. The business plan in a Greek diner is you unlock the door and throw away the key.
Why am I subsidizing his payroll with profits like that?
Back in '73 I delivered lunch for a NYC coffee shop on Madison Ave that had only breakfast and lunch service. I got $1.00/hr in "House Pay" plus tips, minimum wage then was $1.60 . A 15 cent cup of coffee here, a $1.65 roast beef sandwich there. The tips were not great. I'd watch the cash-out at the end of the day, the register totaled $3,500. A day. In 1973.
Why couldn't I get paid more? And that place was run by my uncle!
I tip my barber and all the delivery guys; all the regulars I deal with and I'm happy to do it. But a waiter I'll never see again in my life? That waiter is the face of the restaurant and should be paid better by their boss.
If I'm paying for another's wages, another's tuition and another's state and local taxes through my federal taxes ... I want to write that off on my taxes. That's fair.
11
@Mike B, was your Greek Diner friend working for a cash-only restaurant? I have never encountered as many cash-only establishments as I have in NYC. Two sets of books...okay.
4
@Passion for Peaches
No, but cash mostly. The credit card boom was just taking hold.
Tip jars at pizza joints, Starbucks and other fast food establishments? They don't work for tips, they just WANT tips. Not for me.
I always tip hotel room staff, making beds is backbreaking work.
1
I'll tip a buck or two at the counter. I hate tipping 20 per cent as a floor in restaurants. It was 15 per cent until recently. 20 percent or more was for exceptional service. The rise in percentage says the system is failing. It should be enough for it to keep up with the bill, which is affected by inflation. But it says the cost of living is rising faster than the cost of food. It may be getting to be time to abandon the tip system and just pay people a living wage. Then a tip can go back to being a gratuity instead of a living.
5
I worked food service in college. I always tip at LEAST 50% unless the service is absolutely terrible, because I tried living on that way and it's almost impossible. At my local Waffle House, I always tipped 100% or better (on a $7 breakfast, of course I was going to). I also don't go out to eat unless I can afford that kind of tip, and consider it a completely normal part of eating out.
4
As an ex service industry person I thought these comments might restore my faith in humanity.
Nah.
7
@Olivia
Your faith in humanity, Olivia? The thing is that I am not your employer, Olivia. I want your millionaire employer to pay you a livable wage, and I vote accordingly on people who want you to get that livable wage. It's an uphill battle when you yourself vote Republican, give your millionaire restaurant owner a tax deduction, and expect me to pay your wages? That is simply not gonna happen, that kind of business model is broken, and I refuse to support it.
6
I don't tip for counter order. I'm really fed up with customers being responsible for the foodservice employees being paid an equitable wage. The owner of these businesses should be paying their employees an equitable and livable wage. Tipping should be extra, not counted as part of their salary.
15
This is nonsense. Besides, I've never seen a Starbucks that didn't have a tip jar, including at the drive-thru. Always wondered why fast food places don't follow suit. I also think the minority of us who still pay primarily with cash are more inclined to tip generously as "to insure promptness" upon return and to reward competent service.
3
Sorry to have to quote Mr. Pink in Reservoir Dogs, but "this tipping automatically is for the birds..."
The current practice of tipping is used by restaurant owners to insulate them from a slow business day/night. The vast majority of service businesses pay below minimum wage (which needs to be raised almost everywhere, but that's another issue), and tell servers that they'll make up the difference with tips. The owner has lower costs in the event of a low revenue day, and externalizes that cost on to their employees. Only the employees take a hit now. Why is it the customer's responsibility to take over a business's payroll department?
Don't feel embarrassed or guilty for not tipping when service isn't exceptional. Merely bringing your meal to the table, hot and promptly is the baseline standard and "the price" in the menu.
8
To quote part of the article - “(For the record, Stumptown employees are paid at least $15 an hour, the New York City minimum wage, and divide tips in addition to that. Some cafes pay tipped employees less, though they are guaranteed $15 an hour if tips don’t make up for it.”
So perhaps we need to know how each business is compensating their employees. If the staff get $15 an hour (or something above that) plus tips, then my tip goes to the employees. But if my tip goes towards the $15 per hour, then that money is going to the owner. I’m happy to tip staff and do so regularly, because I know minimum wage is not a living wage. But give extra money to an owner, many of whom have above average income and/or wealth, no thanks.
Peace - John
7
The cable guy came Friday to set up a second tv. Easy job and it took less than a half an hour. As the guy was leaving my brother-in-law asked, Soto voce, if I was going to tip him. It hadn’t even occurred to me but he slipped me 15 bucks, which I handed over to the genuinely thankful cable guy.
It took 10 minutes to find that the DVR did not work. It’s now Sunday night and it still doesn’t work.
Oy.
12
Surprisingly few of the posts here address minimum wage. Far too many people believe that tipping encourages employers to under pay their employees. With legislation that guarantees a living wage, this whole topic would be moot.
4
I spent many, many years waiting tables and bartending and counted on tips and my glowing personality.
When I walk into any store, my "tip" clock starts running. Do the employees give me the impression they are glad I walked in the door or am I getting in the way of their phone time? One day at a local hydroponics store, I took my items to the counter and had to wait for the employee to watch Usain Bolt run some match because it was live.
When I tip, I tip in cash because some of these card systems end up going to the owner and when the owner shows up to work and acts like they are glad I am there, maybe I will tip them, too.
One day at the VA hospital in Seattle, I asked where the tip jar was when I got some great service at a coffee stand. She told me they were not allowed to take tips because it was federal property or some such malarkey. Congress can take tips from lobbyists but not a barista at the VA? So, I threw the tip onto the floor behind the counter, smiled, and said, "you dropped something".
There are many ways to "tip" these days for good service. Recently, I was at a big home store and got off the hook good service (always do there) so I asked the lady if there was any online survey I could take. She lit up, grabbed the receipt, circled her number and the link and handed it back. A few words less than this comment was enough to tell her boss she is incredible and deserves a raise or promotion.
16
I don’t tip for counter service. I’m not subsidizing employees’ wages. I tip for personal service. If the restaurant cannot provide a decent wage to its employees, maybe it shouldn’t be in business.
18
This practice has gotten completely out of hand. My local bakery now has a touch screen system. When I buy a bakery item, the screen gives me the option of giving a $2, $3, or $4 tip for my $2.65 croissant! At the bottom of the screen is a small, low-contrast button saying "custom tip," and after touching that I can find the option "no tip." The worker has put the croissant in the bag and handed it to me, and then touched a button on his or her side of the touch screen to ring up the purchase. That's it. Insane.
People should be paid a decent wage, not dependent on individual's tips.
33
Not gonna do it.
Not on that little machine.
The presumption irks me.
And I am certain management at some places steals the money.
Not gonna help start a new expectation either.
Nope.
17
Maybe restaurants and coffee shops should tip the customers for coming there!
11
This whole tipping thing has gotten out of hand.
Now even the 15% option of tipping is going away. Only 18% 20% and 25% sometimes.
If I see that, I 100% tip nothing.
8
Ideally every non-skilled worker should be paid a living wage with benefits, however until that day arrives I will continue to tip my waiter, my counterperson, and the person handing me my drive up order.
Most likely these people are struggling to make ends meet and the few extra bucks will make a big difference in their lives and not lower my standard of living one bit.
2
The card companies get 2-3% of the tip, best to tip cash.
13
I dislike order at counter business put me on a guilt-trip with tablets that includes a line for tips.
Why can’t we do what most European countries do by paying the service staffs a living wage and do away with tipping?
7
I tip, including Shipt shoppers, but hate message company sends out re showing love to the shopper. A tip isn't love. I hate cheapening the word, the idea.
1
Increasingly, I'm prompted to tip before any service has been completed. I'm increasingly required to fetch my order from the counter, and increasingly I'm now required to clear my table into some plastic bin below the counter.
My role in the transaction is to purchase the item at the stated price, and if the business owner knows the market, then the business continues onward. The employee made a choice to work at said business and, especially in this economy, can move to a different location if unsatisfied.
My kid's teachers are underpaid. The street maintenance worker is underpaid. The lifeguard is underpaid. And the G.M. worker is apparently underpaid. Are we now leaving tips after my new auto purchase?
Tapping the screen twice for my coffee order and spinning the tablet around for me to tap 18% (at the lowest) tip? No.
21
I don't have a problem re: tipping with touch-screen payment, b/c I only ever pay in CASH.
I do not patronize any place that's cashless, and I personally refuse to use a credit or debit card to pay for a coffee or a take-out meal - that's just exposing my personal info to tracking AND possible hacking for no good reason.
If businesses are too trendy to take cash, I'm not a customer of theirs. The minimum wage is now $15/hour. Am I really supposed to tip the cashier for taking my money? Not happening!
16
@L
I do exactly the same. And Philadelphia just passed a law that all businesses must accept cash. So now I can eat at the airport again.
2
Having lived many years in non-tipping countries (including France, where the 15% service charge is simply included in the bill), the basic dynamics of US-style tipping rackets are simple.
Minimum wages have not kept up with inflation as companies underpay their staff. Companies then try to guilt trip the customer into subsidizing their staff's wages (so that they can even pay less). Now the underpaid employee directly before you places an an obnoxious screen indiscreetly in your face, to make a show of your 'generosity', or lack there of. But both the customer and server are marks in this corporate scheme.
So how dare the companies call the customer cheap? Sometimes they even take the tips as a top-up and then include them to claim that their workers are paid NYC's $15 minimum wage? Pure swindle, for both worker and customer. Wasn't Uber even failing to pass along the customer's tips not so long ago? Scandalous!
The solution? Include any and all service charges (set them at say 15% for restaurants and maybe 5% for service counters in the bill. The money goes to the staff, not the managers or owners.
Period. Any small additional tip should be unexpected.
Restaurants et al, pay your staff a living wage.! Even if list prices go up, the guilt trip and the phoney, forced smiles will give way to a better experience. The total $'s spent won't vary much, but no longer essentially panhandlers, the servers will be happier. And the customer won't be manipulated.
10
What many people do not realize, is that while they think a tip is given to the waitperson for his good service, in actuality is is usually split with the kitchen workers and cooks, as well as the bus persons. So if no tip is given for counter service, or for that matter, at self serve buffets, the other low paid workers get nothing, even though they may essentially do the same work as their peers in a full service establishment.
Not tipping at the counter on principle is just a rationale for being cheap
3
The only reason this sort of tipping works is through social pressure. It makes me feel manipulated.
I do often tip a dollar or two in cash in these situations, though I resent it.
Tip of my hat (!) to the fast casual restaurants and cafes that do not allow tipping, like Daily Provisions in Manhattan. They also pay their employees well, imagine that.
10
Today a saleswoman spent about 10 minutes with me, assessing whether the pants fit (no), or if the coat was too big (yes).
She convinced me to get a different size of pants. I bought two pairs.
Did I tip her? No. And I'm sure saleswomen aren't well paid.
Why would I tip someone who spent 30 seconds pouring me a cup of coffee that I bought at the counter?
Now I'm feeling guilty about not tipping salespeople.
Time for employers to pay better wages, even if it means raising prices. And getting rid of the tipping business.
25
There's no where in the world as excessive tipping as in this country. Why, because employers don't pay their servers a fair wage and accept you and me make up for it. That's why we don't have professional servers and better service compared to other developed countries. It's a shame and it should be changed.
3
My husband's favorite is when went to an upscale restaurant and had a drink at the bar first.
Our table was ready and he gave the bartender a $50.00 bill for our 2 gin and tonics (which were $14.00 each). The bartender took the bill and said, "Did you want any change back?"
(um, YEAH, he did)
27
How do we know that the tips are finding their way to the employees who did the work without management taking a piece?
3
If a coffee drink takes extra time or the server is especially pleasant I will tip. Otherwise, the practice of tipping counter workers only encourages business owners to fight against any wage increases. I'm tired of seeing stores and restaurants close and business reporters blaming a dollar an hour increase in the minimum wage as the reason (not in the NYT, talking about other local news outlets). I know a small biz owner in Manhattan facing a tripling of their rent from $15K to 45K a month - an absurdly greater increase than the extra $16/day spent on their employees.
8
It's a bum's rush sponsored by those pushing the service (the folks who supply the payment platform)--I don't frequent businesses that expect me to tip someone 1$ for a 2$ coffee--I find the whole thing repugnant. Among many other things, it's the kind of thing that makes life less pleasant in the US than many other parts of the world. I think everyone should stand up and refuse to cooperate with this.
17
@jane
That’s why the airlines recommend keeping your seatbelt fastened at all times.
In reading the comment here, I see a recurring theme. People tip where it’s not strictly required because they think they are righting wrongs (pay inequities). They tip to feel good about themselves (the benevolent customer). But there is also an overriding element of class distinction here. One commenter said she (?) carried single bills around to had out as tips for coffees and such, but also to donate to “the homeless” she encounters. Wow.
So many people complain that teachers are underpaid for the work they do. Would you tip your kids’ teachers? No. Tipping reinforces class distinctions. It’s interesting that so many virtue signalers turn it around in their heads to make it into some sort of equalizer. It is not that.
13
If I buy a new phone at the apple store, I should leave a tip for the service the nice person provided? When I buy groceries, I should tip the low-paid cashier so she can share with the people who stock the shelves?
Nobody behind you is gawking at the screen while you pay, so what is the big deal about guilt? That emotion is self-generated.
What the author of this article failed to do was ask the actual workers on 'over-the counter' (you mean fast food?) joints what they get out of tips through the payment machines.
11
@Svirchev, there are services where inducing tip guilt and shaming at the pay point are absolutely intentional. Spas often do this. I occasionally get a massage at a place that automatically adds 18 percent to the service fee. When you go to the front desk to finalize your bill, the clerk asks, in a loud voice, “Do you want to add a tip?”. I have no problem declining because I know I have already been charged what I would usually tip. But I see so many customers say yes. It’s rude to pressure customers like that.
12
But what you probably don’t know is if the service fee goes to the therapist, the back of the house staff, or whether it is spirited off somewhere else entirely...,
1
@Cook, nope. Not at this place. I know that because I asked my massage therapist. It goes to service provider.
3
The proliferation of tipping jars/requests has pushed me pass my tipping point to where I’m now at my boiling point.
Same goes for charity requests at supermarkets, CVS etc.
22
If I am getting takeout, I generally don’t tip. If I am staying in the restaurant, I only tip if I see the staff actively cleaning the tables, bringing out orders, and otherwise doing more than putting items on the countertop.
I also like what they do at my local Fatburger. If you leave a good tip, the cashier calls out “fat tip”, and the kitchen staff calls back “thank you”.
So I’m all over the map, basically.
2
I really hate to leave a tip until, like at a restaurant, I've been served and have had time to evaluate the service I received. The cashier only puts in my order on a computer and takes my money. Someone else makes my coffee or meal, and someone else calls out my name or number. Before I leave a tip, I'd like to make sure that I got the right order, everything is there (if it's in a bag), the food or coffee is hot, and that the courtesy has been consistent from the cashier to the pick up. If not, and I've already tipped, I'm just chipping in on the owner's business venture and making it easier for him/her/them to stay in business.
7
I truly believe the sales tax in SF is now 25-30% based on this trend. Not only does every single establishment have this software, but the cashiers stare at me while I enter a tip. There are also places that label tip amounts as good, great, or awesome, which makes me feel like if I don’t tip, that implies the service was terrible.
Yet another reason normal people can’t afford to live here...
9
I think this practice is hurting small businesses and their employees along with it, more than they realize.
In my (now) trendy neighborhood, there is an independent bakery, ice cream parlor, patisserie, brewery, deli, coffee roaster, bottle shop all within a few blocks of my house. The service is limited to taking an item from behind the counter and putting it in a bag. A $9 loaf of bread become $11, $15 for a 12 oz bag of coffee becomes $18, $20 4-packs of beer become $24.
I patronize these businesses less than I otherwise would if they eliminated tipping. When I start to compute the tip on a $24 pie, I come up with “ridiculous” and end up back at the local supermarket.
10
I was floored to see an option for tipping the flight attendant for handing me a bottle of water I purchased.
10
@jane
What the heck does the flight attendants these days anyway? I guess this confirms that they are only glorified waitresses/ers
2
when in doubt, always give more. it's thinking about it that gets you in trouble.
1
Oh my gosh. You should definitely not feel obliged to tip. When I have take out, I always hit no tip. The tip is for people that are served tableside. How dare that we are expected to pay highest prices for coffee at a Starbucks say, so they can pay their rent and their upper management millions, and so that we can make up the low pay, paid to the workers. NO way.
It is up to the employer to pay their workers and we should not be prompted to tip at the counter for a cup of coffee.say. How dare they do that and expect tips.
By the way, Social Security, you are not expected to be able to retire and use just Social Security benefits to live on. But what am I missing here? Over the years, the SSA and the Federal Government have figured out how to REDUCE the benefits paid, not increase them. The age to get a full benefit is higher and at 62 you get 70% and not 80% now. We should be increasing these benefits, not REDUCING them. They use new formulas so the highest benefit has in effect remained at the levels from 50 years ago. Social Security and Medicare taxes are paid into by working people and Employers. Its the cost of living in Society. As such those benefits should go up and not down. Also, the Medicare Part B premium which has already been paid for and only covers 80% of allowed charges used to cost 104. dollars a month. Now my mom, whose check is 1700. pays 134. And she is not alone. Much is paid and little is given back in benefits. Medicare for all is not a panacea.
4
@This just in: they raised the age for SS to 67 in 1982, but it didn't kick in until just recently. MANY boomers do not realize they are getting a serious cut in benefits until they try to retire at a normal age -- or are FORCED to retire by job layoffs and/or age discrimination.
Even if you wanted to work until 67 -- GOOD LUCK! employers don't want you and will look for any excuse to get rid of you.
The raise in age starts at those born in 1950 and then jumps dramatically at 1955 and above….by 1957 births, you have to be 67 to get your full benefits. As you say, you can start at 62…..but no Medicare!!!! and a 30% cut in your check FOR LIFE.
Pretty clever. Thanks Reagan! (and thanks Clinton and Obama FOR NOT FIXING THIS IN THE LAST 25 YEARS!!!!!)
Obama's parting gift in 2017 was to raise the raise the Part B premium from $104 to $135.50 -- a HUGE 35% increase -- $70 a month for a couple! when we have LOW inflation! and nobody even protests this.
Thanks for sharing real data on tipping, that's really useful to know. I will point out that not all of it may be representative. I've travelled to Ireland several times, and found that taxi drivers are puzzled and sometimes a bit offended when I offer a tip, which doesn't jibe with the 35% tipping rate that the article suggests. Oddly enough, places where tipping is the highest tend to have the very worst service, whereas an Irish taxi ride is usually a fount of great chat and stories. I really don't think that tipping works at all.
6
Agree - I was offended by the line in the article that suggested that other counted were catching up, with the implication that a tip based economy is somehow superior (vs, say an economy that has figured out how to pay people a living wage, provide benefits etc)
5
We never tip in Italy, even in the tourist zones like Rome. It's just not done here, but the American tourists have trained the Roman/Florentine writers to expect it. Annoying. It's a respected profession and they are paid a great wage. In the US, I won't tip at counter service for a coffee. Just pour it and leave it, and bag the pastry. At sit down, I always tip. And in Lyft, I always tip. For a massage, I won't tip. You don't tip your dentist or doctor.
7
But the pay dynamic for your dentist or doctor is a lot different (unless you’re talking about a self employed massage therapist)
I find this discussion and question astounding.
For one, having customers pay part of a counter person's salary is wrongful. Any employer that pays their staff less, and then expects customers to "top off" their staff's salaries is a deadbeat company.
Secondly, the fact that tips are taxed as income, it means our tips are essentially THE SALARY THAT EMPLOYERS WON'T PAY.
What if Walmart started doing that -- asking you to tip their cashiers based on what you bought? How about gas stations? Don't they deserve a tip? After all they're outside in the cold (and heat), smelling fumes all day long. What about nurses and doctors - shouldn't they get a tip for having to deal with sick coughing people all day? And of course bus drivers - they deserve tips for dodging through traffic and stopping at red lights... ALL DAY!
Gosh, tipping can be a trumpian way to improve our economy
And don't mind that tipping subsidizes deadbeat employers. They love you for it!
16
@IN - Actually, Walmart already expects you to "tip" their employees by paying for the foodstamps and Section 8 housing because the billionaires won't pay a living wage.
20
I grew up in restaurants. Tips are for service. Table service. Servers are paid 30% of the federal minimum wage. That's $2.13 hr and the feds have no plans to raise it. Those workers working counters? They're paid retail wages. Some, like Starbucks, pay more and offer benefits. I tip for service.
15
I agree with those that think no tip is needed at a counter; tipping expectations have really gotten out of hand. I will leave a dollar, however, if the server has gone out of their way to get me a glass and ice for my bottled iced tea or some other extra service. Otherwise, I'll save my tips for a sit-down restaurant.
6
So, the writer is not sure if the counter server can see if No Tip (or a low tip percentage) is added on via the screen? I thought the technology, and point, in flipping it back to the other side would make the tip page disappear. I would prefer to be a Clean Slate to the counter person especially when my drink or food has yet to be made.
2
My daughter recently started working at Bolay, a local South Florida chain. Eaters move down a line and order, and the servers put it on the plate. She is paid $5.50/hour!! The owners then split the tips (yes, the front facing screen) and the kids usually manage between $11 and $12 an hour. It is infuriating to me that a counter service restaurant gets away with these wages, relying on customers to tip where they haven't in the past. I *always* tip now in case the poor folks behind the counter are earning below minimum.
6
Better to fight the state government for full wages for the counter workers, maybe there will be less people working, but they will get a good paycheck. This way the owner can hire lots of workers so that the lunch rush moves quickly and make tons of money doing it, when things slow the workers will clean and restock at 5:50 an hour, total scam.
2
I own a counter service cafe and it is distressing to me how many people think that the owners need to open up their fat wallets and pay their employees a living wage. I probably speak for a lot of owners of similar establishments when I say the money just isn't there. It is a struggle to find a business model that pays the bills while covering payroll and possibly some small profit.
My employees are hardworking, dedicated and creative people and they deserve a living wage. They do not deserve anything less than waitstaff at full service restaurants. They are on their feet all day and they greet hundreds of customers with a smile. I have a great business and we sell a lot of food. We pay a range of $11-$15 hour and that is honestly the best we can do. A couple of years ago we added an allowance of 6 days paid time off and this year we are offering $2100/yr of employer funded health care dollars. I am proud of what we do offer but wish I could do more without sinking our business.
I was slow to allow credit card tipping for all the reasons talked about here. Now that we do "turn the screen" I am so grateful for the customers that do tip. It has upped my employees pay checks by $3 - $4 hr. I agree that the customer should see it as optional and 20% does seem high for counter service but I suggest that you think of it less as payment for service and more as a vote for living wages for all hardworking people even those who work in sectors that are traditionally underpaid.
2
@A Smith: "...it is distressing to me how many people think that the owners need to open up their fat wallets and pay their employees a living wage."
At first, I thought this comment was a a sarcastic joke. Having read it several times, I think this guy is actually serious.
So count me in as one of those people who distresses you, A. Smith.
If you can't open your "fat wallet" and pay your people a living wage, you don't deserve to be in business.
19
@Thomas C. Perhaps I didn't write as clearly as I intended. "fat wallet" was sarcastic. Most of us independent business owners are broke, one bad week away from bankruptcy. What was sincere and not at all sarcastic is the description of how many of us do all we can to share the income of our businesses with the employees that work along side of us.
A self assured "you don't deserve to be in business" comment cements the impression that you are very naive about the challenges of keeping a business afloat.
3
@A Smith: What I do know is how capitalism and the free market are supposed to work.
If you have a good enough product that the public wants, you should be able to charge enough to cover the cost of doing business (including labor) and turn a profit, without relying on outside subsidies.
Far too many businesses, both large and small, rely on distorting labor costs downward by utilizing subsidies from taxpayers. Many dependiing on compensating their employees through Medicare, food stamps, Section 8, tax-free enterprise zones, and more.
Requiring that the public subsidize your labor costs through tips because you can't pay your employees a decent wage is just another way that shows you haven't created a successful business model which is able to cut it on its own.
7
Thank god for this article, this has been an ethical concern of mine for a long time. Where I live there has been a proliferation of higher-end, counter service restaurants. Tipping 20% at these types of places honestly feels a like a scam from restaurants to get you to pay the same price for less service.
Instead, I have developed a personal rule. If I order at the counter but they bring me my food and bus my plate, I tip 10%. If I have to get the food and clear my table, I am essentially my own waiter and I tip nothing.
13
@Liza M. Hear! Hear! Same thing with me -- if I have to pick up my food at the counter, and then bus my own table, I don't tip a dime. I tip 15-20% for a sit-down restaurant, the same (in cash) for hotel housekeepers, and 20% for my hair stylist. I tip taxi drivers too -- but rarely use them. Everybody else -- nada. (Take that back, I will hand over a dollar or two or five or ten to pan-handlers at the freeway exit.)
3
@cathmary
I have always tipped housekeepers; whenever possible I hand them cash, or leave money on the dresser. I tip cab drivers. I tip wait staff, and the cooks when it is possible to go directly to their serving counter. Maybe it isn't always how much you can afford to give, it is a thank you gesture for people who work hard.
1
According to an old story, a couple went to a fancy restaurant and had terrible service. They left a huge tip. The next week they went back. The staff, remembering the huge tip, treated them like royalty. They left a $1 tip. As they were leaving, the maitre'd approached them and asked, given the exceptional service they had received, why there was such a paltry tip. "Tonight's tip was for last week, and last week's tip was for tonight."
6
When I worked in Manhattan, I always tipped the cook at the deli across from my office who made my bagel, egg and cheese sandwich. He knew exactly how I liked my eggs and how much mustard to put on the sandwich. Dunkin’, Starbucks and fast food joints? No tip since all they do is hand me something and take my payment.
Another peeve is tipping a tradesman who has quoted you a price to provide a product or service. I hired a painter to paint my living room. He gave me a price, we dickered a bit and agreed on a price. Someone told me that I should have tipped him. Why when he accepted the price?
7
You totally ignored an important factor, I have learned: geographic location and regional differences in the US. You cited establishments in Portland and New York City, the two places where I have lived and thus learned this from, and you totally neglected that people tip more often in Portland than in NYC - and did before the influence of technology. The etiquette is different. There have been so many times I've been surprised I can't find a tip jar in NYC, having moved here from Portland. This is just one more way that things are different outside of New York (and showing kindness to others is more a part of the culture), but New Yorkers assume they represent the norm. In my experience NYC is usually the outlier. I guarantee you would not find as much of a split if you did your informal survey in Portland. I understand tipping is a complex thing and it's kind of bizarre when you think about it, but talking about it as only a split among individuals is inaccurate.
@M - But New York culture is the norm here. This is the New York Times, remember.
2
I despise the pressure to tip implicit in these screens suggesting enormous tips for counter exchanges. Hence, I pay for counter service in cash, so that I can more easily decide whether and how much to tip — usually spare change or a dollar if the staff is pleasant, and nothing if not. I think wages and benefits should be paid by the employer and included in the item’s cost. Handing over an ice cream cone or coffee is a transaction, not an intensive service like what table service waiters provide, or a hair stylist, or a driver in whose skill and judgment you rely on for a safe, efficient and pleasant ride.
5
if companies paid their workers proportionately to the profits they make on their labor, tipping wouldn't exist in most of these places.
6
I find it absolutely ridiculous that I have to tip at a fine dining establishment when my entree alone can cost me $30 to $65 and a bottle of wine sets me back $100! If the owners of the restaurant can't afford to pay a living wage to their wait staff with those prices, then they are either greedy or don't know how to run a business!
This is why I don't eat out 90% of the time!
I work hard for my money and if I'm trying to save myself $4.00 by picking up my own pizza vs delivery costs, the last thing I'm going to do is tip at the counter!
6
In most of Europe, this entire discussion would be laughable. Check Rick Steves' website for a good primer on tipping overseas. (Of course, none of your servers over there will ever go bankrupt from medical bills or college loans.)
I have also heard that American travelers to Australia and New Zealand have been leaving tips in recent years, when this was previously never expected in those places, and that some locals have thus been feeling pressure to tip due to this new expectation, which amounts to inflation for the people who live there. They are not happy. (www.newzealand.com/int/feature/new-zealand-currency/#tipping)
4
I waitressed in my 20's and was surprised to find out recently that the hourly rate waitstaff in restaurants are paid is about the same as when I waitressed over 25 years ago. When I had that job, we were allowed to keep the tips we were paid and they were usually paid in cash. Then, sometime in the 80's (maybe mid-80's), it became law to pool the tips and divide them up among the various waitstaff, including those who bused the tables. I resented having to share my tips with people who didn't bust their butt waiting on my customers, some of whom were quite demanding, as you can imagine. End of my waitressing career. I found the following at Reference.com:
Title: How Much Do Waiters Make An Hour?
In the United States, the federal minimum wage for waiters and other tipped employees is $2.13. With tips, a waiter's hourly wage must reach at least $7.25. In busy, upscale restaurants, an experienced waiter can make $30 an hour or more.
In most cases, tips from customers account for most of a waiter's wages. If a waiter's base pay plus tips do not average out to $7.25 per hour or more, their employer is legally obligated to cover the difference between the waiter's total wage and the hourly minimum wage. Some states, including Alaska, California and Nevada, have state laws to ensure that tipped employees have the same minimum wage as non-tipped employees.
2
@Laura: Regarding the law, if a waiter does not make enough tips to reach $7.25 an hour, many employers fire the waiters rather than make up the difference.
Thus, I worked with many wait staff who, just to keep their jobs, on a slow night were forced to report non-existent phantom wages on which they had to pay taxes.
Even if it was only 7.8% FICA withholding on monery one didn't make, that is unconscionable.
A $2.13 minimum wage is a travesty.
To hear restaurant owners refusing to dip into their sacred profit margins to pay any more than $2.13 an hour pretty much sums up what is wrong with our country.
10
If I have to use a touch screen and the only interaction I have is to hand over money to the cashier I see no reason to tip especially if I have to wait three minutes for someone to deign to show up at the cash register. Pay the employees better. I'll pay more for the sandwich or drink or whatever but you don't tip the cashier at the grocery store either and they do way more work and put up with much more grief.
9
I was always taught to leave 10% in a self serve type of eatery, ie., buffet or sushi-go-round. Servers often bring drinks and check up on the table. And of course clear. So when presented with the screen if the service has been nice and friendly albeit minimal, I leave a custom tip of 10%. Lyft drivers are invariably super courteous and helpful so 15% to them. I try to carry cash and use that as I know it goes to the intended recipient. Many people of modest means tip better than the well off because they have been there. A woman friend who sometimes lives in her van tips the gas station attendant! (Yes we still have them here in Oregon). As for me, I am well enough off that I can afford to give a boost to someone young or maybe doing a hard service job to support their kids.
6
I don't always tip at counters, but I did just last night while at a popular food truck. The extra 5 seconds it took me on the tablet caused the cashier to turn to the customer behind me on line and voice an exaggerated, sympathetic "sorry for the wait."
4
It makes me uncomfortable trying to figure out tips.
So I avoid restaurants and taxis.
7
Up until now, I thought the option to leave a tip at these stores had just been left on the machine accidentally, because the manufacturer probably sold the same machines to full-service restaurants, and the owners didn't know how to inactivate it.
4
I tip at 20% for sit down meals, but don't tip counter service. There's no service delivered. I don't see it at all as a quandary. I don't even care that baristas see "no tip".
13
Those of us who once worked for tips are - I would think - highly likely to tip. I'd also think most of us only tip in cash. I see no reason to cut the bankers and Kalanicks of the world in on these transactions.
1
I was a "professional" server in a variety of decent to high quality restaurants for about 9 years in the 70s, in NYC & Minneapolis. I started out small and ended up making good money in a real restaurant working hard and trying to provide service, meaning attention to the patron's needs as a diner. It's hard not to expect some service in a restaurant when they flip you a tip cue before nothing has happened except the taking of your money. And the service doesn't exist in counter places-they make no room for individual attention. If the only thing I get from a restaurant is my plate of food, & I have to go to a side stand to get water, & the silverware & napkins are on the table, & there's mostly a long wait until someone takes your stuff off the table so you can spread out & talk to your friend, if at all, why should I tip? I'm providing the service for myself. Obviously, I'm old and talking about a different time; however, if that's the case, I'll follow the new way & pretty much serve myself. I should tip because of the owner's cheapness? Not really sensible to me.
4
["Some cafes pay tipped employees less, though they are guaranteed $15 an hour if tips don’t make up for it."]
In effect, most of the tip goes to the employer.
5
The only counter service place I will tip at is my bagel place. Line could be out the door but I never wait more than 5 mins because of the exceptional hard working staff. I’m willing to reward excellence, but not mediocrity; thus, I do not tip people for merely doing what they are paid to do.
3
The typical CEO of a chain restaurant makes between 5 and 6 thousand dollars per hour, and sometimes up to $13,000 per hour. Does that help readers to decide whether or not to tip their front line employees?
4
No table service... no tip. Unless a large takeout order, then 15%
2
Unfortunately, I have to say that tips in the United States are a disease. Just pay your staff properly. A little tip for a particularly good performance is ok. But just voluntarily. When I'm in the USA I'm begged for a tip at every corner. Very unpleasant for tourists. Why should I even think about asking for a tip at a self-service shop?
13
Counter tipping is ridiculous. Don't expect me to make up for low wages the company or store or coffee shop is paying its workers. Pay them a decent wage. Coffee counter expectations are the worst. I only order regular coffee, but the expectation is that I should tip for the act of pouring the coffee into the cup. It always drove me nuts when I was working - now I'm retired, so I make all my own coffee. Better tasting, less expensive, and no expectation of a tip.
I do tip, and well for sit down service. Counter service tips are nuts.
7
I never tip on the those screens and feel no guilt or embarrassment about it. In general, I don't feel counter-top tips are required.
But I DO put in an extra dollar to two when I especially appreciate the person's attitude or helpfulness. With local places, it's really a gesture of friendship. You get to know and like the people at your regular stops, and those everyday relationships really are one of life's pleasures.
6
Tipping at POS says nothing about the experience, because you’re paying before you’ve been served. (I’m sure many others have pointed this out, but there are 500+ comments, so apologies in advance.) I find it kind of awkward and coercive, because I like to tip well, but I don’t like being pushed into it.
I also have this struggle: is it better to buy a coffee from a favorite shop on a regular basis, and tip less each time, or only go there occasionally and tip well, and just drink at home? (In a situation of limited funds.) After all, one goes for the scene, as well; it’s not just about the drink, but a little piece of community. I want to be generous with my community, but if I’m not able, should I cut myself out?
5
I choose to tip when skill is involved. A good hair stylist, a well-times and accurate waiter, an Uber driver who navigates rush hour traffic to get me to the airport in time — those are situations where I’m extremely grateful, and the tip I leave is out of respect for the skills of the person providing a service to me. If there is no skill involved, I’m much less likely to leave you a tip.
9
It’s passing the cost of wages into the customer. The owner of the business pays their workers less because they know that their employees are receiving tips. It’s now become your responsibility to pay that barista’s wage.
15
Exactly - it’s the employers job to pay his employee a living wage, not mine. If they raise the price of items to pay people decent wages, I’m fine with that. But no, I’m not tipping for counter service to pick up the employer’s slack.
4
Tipping at restaurants makes sense. You’re there for about an hour and the quality of your dining experience can depend on your waiter. You spend about 30 seconds at the counter and it’s a pretty simple transaction that doesn’t warrant a tip.
15
I don't tip for counter service or food trucks (yes, they have tip jars too). Easiest way to get around it is pay by cash or use a gift card, if they have one.
My friends and I go out for dinner before knit night. We usually go to Panera. They started asking for a tip about 2 years ago, and no table delivery or bussing (they do that now). Paying with cash or gift card avoids the ask. Once a month we go to a full-service restaurant and I'll tip 18%/average- we're a large group and get separate checks, and split the BOGO drinks. When I first started frequenting Panera, about 8 years ago (different city, different knit night), I asked the servers about tipping. They said it wasn't necessary b/c they received an hourly wage; any tips left at tables were pooled and split at closing. They would bring the food out and clear the table most times.
I'm getting tired of tipping and doing things- pumping gas, bringing bags and bagging groceries, using ATMs (that one is not so bad), self-checkout, using loyalty cards/sharing information, and so on. Where's my "tip" (discount)?
I do tip my hair stylist well, and she gets a salary and benefits. It's a good shop, employees are happy/content, receive training. She's good and provides advice, consultation, and and occasional samples and discounts.
10
@patricia, I suggest one exception to the “no tipping necessary” rule for places where you pay at the counter and food is brought to your table. If you have a bunch of little kids with you (or even if your group is made up of piggish adults) and leave the table an absolute mess (food dropped on the floor, crumbs and wadded paper napkins everywhere, etc.), definitely put some bills on the table before you leave. I have seen parents and groups of moms with kids leaving the most atrocious messes at eateries of all kinds. When it’s a limited-service place where you can bus your own table, and you make no attempt to clean it or dump the trash, and you don’t tip, it’s inexcusable.
2
@patricia
It's interesting that more and more businesses are coming up with ways for the customer to do most of the legwork - self-checkout, pumping our own gas, even interactive kiosks at McDonalds for ordering food. I'm getting tired of getting guilt-tripped for needless tipping by workers and owners alike.
3
@Passion for Peachers ---I agree.
Hmmm. After reading many comments, I’m changing my way of tipping in coffee retailers, no waiter waitress establishments or “to-go” orders. Let the owner raise the price and pay an increased wage. That would help all those service associates.
11
I don't know if I am a rara avis, but I hate touching touch screens. They are never cleaned and no one washes their hands before or after touching them. Cafes that want my custom have wall menus or wall menus.
I am also a cash person. More and more I am avoiding new "trendy" cafes because they have a policy of plastic/app only. Now I avoid any place where the restaurants use tablet menus as well. (Yes, I know regular menus are also filthy--I usually wash up after I order). As a former waitress, I am well aware of many unsanitary practices that take place behind the doors.
What I eat and drink is a private matter. Same with tipping. NY is just becoming a dirtier and dirtier place. Now customers can see how unsanitary these places are, yet no one protests.
6
I also hate that everyone touches the screen to pay. It’s nasty.
6
Wait, a touch screen grosses you out but not CASH? The actual dirtiest thing in the world?
5
today, a counter server broke a 100$ bill for me to purchase a coffee, I gave them a dollar tip.
@tell the truth
I guess if you are going to go around using $100 bills, you might as well spread the wealth around a little bit ;-)
3
@tell the truth
Surely you got a $100 bill inside a bank; I use ATM's all the time, and have never received a $100 bill. It is a dangerous practice for a bank; there are usually other people in line who can see that bill.
1
I find counter tipping to be quite different from tipping on a sit-down. With the former, I really don't have much information about the quality of service when I'm asked to leave a tip. Someone has taken my order and could have been pleasant or unpleasant in doing so, but I don't know if they'll get my order right, get my order out in a timely fashion, do a good job making my order, etc. So, how can this tip reflect quality of service?
I still do tip in these situations, but have come to terms with the fact that it pretty much is purely based on the idea that the people working at the establishment likely get low pay and few benefits and could use the extra dollar or two more than I do.
218
@Hans
Totally! I can't tell you how many times I tipped for counter service only to find my hot coffee was lukewarm or my order was otherwise messed up. At a restaurant, at least there is the sense that you are tipping for a job well done.
24
No one tells me what to tip!
9
Karma...cause and effect...what goes around comes around...if you want the world to remain generous with you, be generous with the world.
6
@Kirk Cornwell, that’s reciprocity, not karma.
7
Karma is action.
Danny Meyer has it right!
4
Not really, the waiters have taken a big pay cut, and many have left for other establishments. NYC restaurants are not following his lead thankfully for their waitstaff.
@DJM I was speaking as a customer.
In the last year I have been thanked for tipping for counter service by just one server* - bar, coffee, sandwich: nothing. Nada. Zip. I mean I don't expect much, a smile. A nod. A wink. But nothing? I really don't get it. Maybe everyone is uncomfortable.
(* Uncle Gussy's food wagon on Park and 51st)
10
"So though high percentages of British customers are still not tipping,but they may eventually come around." No, I hope they absolutely do not "come around" to this ridiculous greedy, pathetic practice.
19
Can’t tell you how much this sentence offended me! Glad I’m not the only one
1
Counter tipping is just a way for the businesses to avoid paying a proper salary, especially in the cases where workers are paid less but the employer makes up the difference if the total of wage plus tips is less than $15/hr.
11
In Portland, Oregon restaurants are now adding 18-20% tip as a line item above the subtotal due. Some even have the brass for an 'additional tip' line beyond the 18-20. Is this even legal, to add the tip to the subtotal due ?
7
@Darold Petty: Does that include McDonalds?
1
@Darold Petty
I've only seen this done for parties of 6-8 or more. If I happened to be at one of those restaurants, I would cross that line out, recalculate 15%, and change the bill accordingly. Let's see if they want to take me to court over it.
1
You really want to go to court over twenty bucks?
1
I do not tip at the counter in fast casual restaurants - I don’t even know if I will have good service or not when I have to make the decision. I tip generously when I am waited on. I believe it is the restaurant’s responsibility to pay their staff an adequate wage, and that tipping when there is no wait staff is encouraging them not to do so. I know it’s controversial. Interesting that the fast casual restaurant I go to most often never suggested tipping until they got the customer facing pay screen.
5
I had a similar revelation while purchasing pints at Salt and Straw. I was prompted to leave a 20% tip on the $9.00 pint. Really, the counter person only rang up my order - I had retrieved the pints from the case myself. I'd never consider tipping the cashier at the grocery store, so how is this different? But then I considered that if I have enough resources to buy $9 pints of ice cream, shouldn't I share that wealth with the person standing on their feet all day who only makes $12.50/hour? So I went ahead and tipped.
3
Actually, yeah you should share the wealth, but not like that! Tipping counter staff is not how we should address inequality! Obviously if you can afford $9/pint ice cream, you should be paying way more taxes!!
9
@Jane S
Buckling under to this kind of pressure only leads to more entitlement. If you are really bothered by wealth inequality, make a donation to the charity of your choice.
3