2mo ago

Has tipping in America reached a tipping point?

www.cbsnews.com Has tipping in America reached a tipping point?

A November 2023 survey from the Pew Research Center found that 72% of people think tipping is expected in more places than it was five years ago.

Summary

Tipping in America has expanded into unexpected areas, with 72% of Americans saying it is expected in more places than five years ago, according to Pew Research.

While tipping can release feel-good neurotransmitters, a Bankrate survey found two-thirds of Americans now view it negatively, and one-third feel it’s “out of control.”

Critics highlight issues like social pressure and wage inequality, while businesses attempting no-tipping models, like a New York wine bar, have struggled to sustain them.

Many believe tipping culture has become excessive, with calls for reform growing.

94 comments

If your business can't survive without my tips, you don't have a viable business.
- But also, if you can't survive without my tips, you're probably working in the American service sector.
- I don't tip businesses, I tip people. Some of those people own the business.
  If you underpay people to rely on tips, you're just playing the game on a harder level.
- I generally agree with you, but what is your response to businesses like those mentioned in the article that tried a no-tip model and could not sustain it?
  I think that tipping models are starting to emulate app microtransaction models - they know that a majority of people are not going to tip, or will round their total up to the nearest dollar or something. It's the person that sees the option to tip and decides to throw an extra $20 just because that they're after. If they instead raise the prices to make it average out, the majority of people that normally would not be tipping go somewhere that's cheaper (because they do tips), and the few people that would pay extra no longer have the option to.
  To tie back to the microtransaction analogy - the games that bring in money are the free ones where you can pay to get stuff. Most people pay very little or nothing, but a small percentage throws tons of cash into the game. If you were to take the amount of money brought in by these whales over the life of a game, divide it among all people that played it, and charged that much for the game, it wouldn't profit nearly as much, because none of those people want to pay the $5, and the people that were spending hundreds can only buy the game once, if that.
  
  what is your response to businesses like those mentioned in the article that tried a no-tip model and could not sustain it?
  That they don't have a viable business.
  
  The problem with one place going tip-less, is that they're still competing with tipped places.
  Going tip-less inherently means the prices need to go up. If the average tip is 20%, you need to raise prices at least that much, to match what your people got from tips. So if you have a restaurant with menu prices 20-30% higher than others, you'd expect to loose business to competitors. If every restaurant in the area had to raise menu prices 20-30% with you, that wouldn't happen.
  I have a dine-in movie theater near me. Which I grant, is different than a standard restaurant. This last year they changed their POS system, and removed from the bill an automatic 18% gratuity they used to have. Something like a month later, they added it back. Because everyone complained. Customers, and servers alike.
  If a single restaurant really wants to go "tip-less", that's the way to do it. Automatically add a minimum tip to every bill.
  
  No response, they didn't explain what challenges they encountered.

Fuck all tipping. Fuck unclear prices. Fuck variable service.
Put clear prices. Expect consistent service. Pay fair wages.
If it's about low pay. Why not expect businesses to pay fair liveable wages like every other industry?
If it's about quality of service. Why do you not expect good service every time? Why do you not also tip your doctor for good service or the construction workers who ensured the roads are good for you to use?
Idiotic inconsistencies and morons everywhere defending it. Only in recent years are people finally taking notice, but 10 years ago oh I'm an asshole for suggesting tipping should be banned in favor of consistency, clear prices, and fair wages.
- A lot of tipped workers defend it because waiters can make good money for their qualifications, but what they don't understand is that they should be making that amount of money without requiring tips.
  The problem is that when a restaurant increases prices, they don't share the extra income with the staff.
  Hell, Subway has doubled the prices in like 3 years AND started asking for tips for the staff.
- I mean, if you're the asshole for suggesting it, then I'm right there being an asshole with you. I still tip, because I want the people who serve me to be able to take care of themselves, but ideally, that shouldn't be my fucking responsibility. It should be their employer's. It's a fucking barbaric system that puts service workers' ability to put food on the table in the hands of entitled Karens and reduces them to begging for a decent wage.
  There's a cider bar that opened in my town recently with a strict no-tipping policy, and holy shit, is it ever refreshing to not have to deal with that rigamarole.
- If it were about quality of service, you would tip before receiving the service. The waiter doesn't know how much you're gonna tip, so their quality of service will never change.
  
  That’s the weirdest argument ever. You tip on the basis of the quality of service. The server learns from feedback and training how to improve quality. It’s not a one and done situation, but a constant feedback and refinement.
- You were an asshole in good company.
- Wow you're the first American ever to think tipping is bad! Ten whole years ago? What a thot leader
  
  What a peculiar line of attack. OP isn't bragging about anything, they're irritated that it's taken at least a decade for a known problem to be addressed.
  Being frustrated about a problem for a long time ≠ being into a thing before it was cool.

I bought a couple of sweaters online today, and the order form asked for a tip.
No.
- There's an option to tip at the self check out at my grocery store. The fuck ám I tipping? It's self check out. Am I tipping myself? Fuck these people
  
  You're just giving the large corporation a little walking around money, for their wonderful service, of profitably running a store! You're so nice!
  
  You're tipping the kiosk that provided the service. I guess.
  
  Am I tipping myself?
  Oh, I would be tipping generously at the self-service if I were tipping me through getting a discount.

I'm no longer tipping just because the stupid kiosk asks me to and making me feel guilty... If it's not a normally tipped position such as server, bartender, or barista, I'm going to default to tapping no. It's gotten ridiculous.
- A vape shop I go to added it to their checkout kiosk. These people are literally just ringing up my purchase for me like any other retail cashier. I fucking hate it because they just stand there staring at me as I'm forced to decline the tip as if it's reflective of their service and not the fact that it's a bullshit system.
- https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rm9sbG93ZXJz
  Be careful, that didn't work out well in X-Files.
  Joking, of course.
  I've heard claims that POS software now turns tipping on by default as part of the problem. I'd rather business owners just take care of their employees.

This is the dark side of Nudge theory. People need to practise refusing and it will stabilize. I tip handsomely when I want to and I refuse when I don't. Sometimes I feel irrational guilt. I sit with the guilt for a while, then it's gone.
Tip when you want as much as you want and no more. Refuse to listen to anyone who tells you that this is morally wrong.
Peace.
- Fuck all tipping.
  
  This. Make people quit their serving jobs because of the lack of tips. Create a demand for servers that forces employers to actually pay a living wage.
  Every single time you tip you are perpetuating this system. Stop.
- Nudge theory is bs
  No other comment on your content, may be right or wrong.
  
  And yet, people are presented more often with a meaningless request for tips. Sounds like Nudge to me. Plz bring evidence.
  (Edited to remove superfluous irrelevant claim that might not be true, anyway. I regret the error.)

at tobacco shop
POS: add a tip?
...for what, death?
- The other day I had a cashier say just "Do you want to round up?" without specifying any particular reason.
  Usually when I've been asked, they'll say it's for charity or whatever... but not this place.
  Do you want to just give us a little bit of extra money while you're here?

Being overwhelmed with tip prompts has broken my tipping guilt. I feel like half the time people work don't get or see those tips.
Sit down restaurants absolutely. Delivery yeah.
Pick up nah, you walk something 2 feet to me nah. Fuck tipping culture, pay your people right and charge accordingly don't keep tacking on shit, tip charge, service charge, every other fucking sneak at the bill only charge now a days.
- I was at a sit down recently where the lowest tip selectable without entering a dollar amount was 18%. 10% used to be the standard for competent service, 15%-20% for outstanding service. Now the quality of service is worse because they're underataffed, and they expect me to tip more?? Get real.
  
  The lowest "suggested" option has crept up to 20% in many places. A 15% tip is already adjusted for inflation. Now you want 20?
- My take on tipping: If I can't get the product without further employee assistance, I'm not tipping. Take a sandwich shop, for example. You're not going to let me behind the counter to assemble my sandwich, so I'm not going to tip you for doing it for me because I can't get the sandwich otherwise.
  My only exception to this is a bar because I'm usually there for more than 1 drink, and it's nice not to be the last one to get served when it gets crowded.
  
  I'm confused. At a sit down restaurant you can't just walk into the kitchen and make your meal, yet that is a standard place to tip.

Don't forget to tip your landlord!

Other than the idiotic healthcare system and politics, tipping is probably my least favorite thing about the US. No-tipping works elsewhere, and it can work in the US.

Apparently there are now tip prompts on digital payment terminals for payday loans…
- I've seen them on rent payment sites
  
  They seem to be confusing shelter with bottle service.

With no taxes on tips (if it actually happens), expect a HUGE increase in tip expectations.
- Also with the elimination of overtime pay (if it happens) workers will doubly be expecting higher tips.

Yeah, us neurodivergent people don't get dopamine hits from that kind of thing. We know the money isn't really going to the worker in many cases anyway. It's just going directly to the business to pay their employees normal wages which should be part of the cost of the product, not an add on charge. It just means they didn't have to raise their prices with inflation.
- But the anger/annoyance hits are plentiful!

I've stopped shopping anywhere where tipping is required. Tyvm I'll order online and pick up my food myself.
- anywhere where tipping is required.
  If it's required, it's a fee not a tip.
- They still ask for a tip for this. It is a lot easier to refuse online though vs some stupid iPad register.
- In New Zealand, as far as we’re concerned, Tipping is a city in China.

I hate that tipping culture is a thing in the US and wish the culture would change. But as a former waiter, I'd never take a job at a no-tip restaurant (or even a pooled tip restaurant) because I always made higher than average tips than my coworkers.
- If you were still waiting tables, what would you have done/felt had tipping been outlawed? Change of jobs, looked for something at a certain rate of pay for waiting?
  
  As a waiter, I made a lot more money from tips than the wage itself. So making an impression on the customers was a huge priority, and I was good at it. If that was no longer a factor, I imagine it would result in a lower quality of customer service provided by me, even if the employer tried to compensate with a higher wage.

I still tip, but if I see a tip screen I clear it and then add a tip or not or tip cash

Here's a tip: organize with your fellow workers and exercise your first amendment right to peaceably assemble and petition for the redress of grievance that comprises not getting paid enough.
Call it a free speech club so you can call any scab who tries to hassle you about it unamerican communist traitor scum who hate civil rights and American freedom.

94 comments