We all know that tipping has become a hot topic of conversation of late with seemingly everyone having their hand out and not so subtle hints asking for a percentage. I encountered one this weekend that really pissed me off.
We went to a bar/restaurant for lunch and a couple of drinks. This was in Fells Point, Baltimore and food and drink there tends to be a little pricey. No problem. The check came and it had the now-common suggestions for 15%, 20%, 25% and even 30% tips. Each option had what the total would be, tip included. I looked and thought “What the hell?” one app, two lunches and three (maybe four) beers/seltzers and with the 15% option total was $126. I looked closer at he itemized bill and a 20% tip had already been added in and the suggested tip options were on top of that! I pointed this out to the bartender/waiter and his reply was “Oh, don’t worry about that” and walked away, I paid the bill with the 20% that had already been added. FWIW, I always pay 20% or more unless the service is really bad.
We were on a pub crawl and a few more drinks or a larger group and I might have paid the bigger bill without paying attention. I’ve heard of a percentage being automatic with large parties but for two people? And then having the balls to suggest up to 30% more? That’s some sneaky shit, right there. Food and service were very good but I gave them 1 star on Yelp with all the details.
I believe in tipping. In fact I believe in overtipping, however in this case, and the employee’s flippant attitude about your concerns, I would be reducing the automatically added 20% tip to about 10%, accompanied by an in-person rant to the manager and a scathing online review, written, copied, and posted to anywhere that will let me post it.
It may actually even be illegal to do what they did. According to the IRS, “a payment is a tip if it is ‘free from compulsion’ by the diner, and the customer determines the amount paid.” Automatically adding it without your permission makes it a “service charge” which must be reported and have taxes withheld, and you must be informed of the service charge beforehand.
I remember doing this too, once. The service was terrible, really bad, and the bill had an automatically added 25% tip. I clearly lined that out and wrote in the tip I was going to pay. I took a photo of the bill and checked it against my CC statement to make sure of the amount I paid.
I tip generously when the service is good. But in my book that means I can tip less when the service is bad.
Most places I have been that auto-add a tip allow you to dispute that tip and make it whatever you want. But, you need to go to that extra effort which most people will not do.
The auto-tip on a big party (six or more usually) seems something you cannot undo but I would think if the service was truly terrible you could probably argue that down too.
In general…tipping should be based on service and, if the service was bad, then tip less. Kinda the point of tipping.
The whole tipping thing has gone out of control. I was recently prompted for a 20-30% tip for a pickup order at Outback. It’s not just the number of places you’re supposed to tip, but the percentage is being inflated as well. And it’s all because employers don’t want to pay their employees properly. Real shame. I’m actually a damned good tipper, always have been, but the whole tipflation thing has made me reassess.
I go to a lot of concerts, and when I go I often buy some merch. The machines at the merch stands always ask if you want to tip the salesperson. For what? For going to the box and getting my T-shirt? It’s ridiculous.
In some, an automatic service charge can be enforced even the policy is it will go the staff as tips.
And in some states, if they list it as a gratuity, that can potentially be ignored, since a service charge and a gratuity are considered different things.
YMMV as it often does in this oft-irrational country we live in
The ultimate tip screen horror story . Woman is entering her phone number onto the touchscreen. She doesn’t notice it switched to the tip field. She catches it later when she checks her account. Subway refuses to return her money. Her bank tells her it’s her tough luck. Only after she contacts a local news outlet, she finally gets her money back.
Same. I used to consider myself fairly generous and I ain’t about to go all Mr. Pink but it does grate on me that (a) tip percentages keep increasing while service, if anything, gets worse, (b) more and more places/services expect tips and (c) there’s a whole mindset now that I’m the asshole if I don’t want to give someone 25% for low service tasks like handing me a bag of food just because their boss doesn’t pay enough to keep the lights on.
I have a question. Instead of tipping, what happens when servers are paid entirely by their employers. Would patrons see that 20-30% simply transferred to the check? We did see price increases at MacDonalds, who had to raise wages to keep their employees (who aren’t tipped - not even an option on the order kiosk) from working elsewhere.
The booze portion of the restaurant bill is even more suspect, since it’s always been a 500% markup. A friend from long ago told how he went into the restaurant business, and the first thing he learned was to discard any cost-to-profit ratio he’d applied in previous businesses: just charge as much as the market could bear.
While I don’t doubt that wages played a factor, meat and fuel prices were also up considerably. It’s in McDonald’s interest to make it sound as though wages are the primary factor since, when ingredient prices drop, they can keep prices the same and pocket the difference. “Hey, you wanted $15 an hour for the workers, right?”
It bothers me that the calculated tip amounts that are suggested on receipts or on the auto pay machines are percentages based on the cost PLUS tax. I was always taught that your tip is based on a percentage of cost only.
Put your money where your mouth is…if you hate the auto tip, suggested tip…opt for zero and tip in cash. Your server will appreciate it and it WILL over time end this auto/suggest bullshit. It’s working with self checkout and it will work for this. If you cave and use this system, don’t be surprised when it’s soon your only choice.
Also, a lot of times when you’re being prompted for a tip, In a non traditional tip setting, it’s actually because they bought the cheapest software, secondhand, they could find. They are too cheap to pay to have the tip feature adjusted/removed. Please don’t give the help attitude over it. They aren’t trying to weasel tips out of you! They aren’t expecting a tip! (Non traditional spots!) They had zero input in its installation and hate it twice as much as you because it cheeses off their customers. If you always seek out zero tip, on the machine you’ll soon become very efficient at it, like self check out.
Just a suggestion, some people would like to get mad at someone about it and choose the counter help, because that’s all there is. Try to resist, it is entirely NOT that employees doing. If you really want to sound off call the management next day.
As a USAian, I get a kick out of applying my tipping habits when outside the US. When we vacation in St Martin, the “custom” in Sint Maarten (the Dutch side) is to include a 15% tip on your check. It usually says in big letters “15% TIP INCLUDED”. We have long, leisurely meals and want to tip beyond that. I pay my check with a credit card and then leave an additional 15% cash on the table. We’ve been chased down in the parking lot by our server wanting to return our money. We explain that it was intentional.
In Saint Martin (French side) if I leave more than 15% the server will ask if I need change.
At the grocery store the baggers are local kids who are not employed by the store. Signage explains this. I always tip them a few bucks for their bagging and pushing our cart to the car. One year my smallest bill was a twenty. I gave it to the kid, but told him it covered our next stop (we usually shop twice). When we stopped a few days later he remembered me and refused any additional tip (I offered a couple dollars but he reminded me).
Trying to order through UberEats, Doordash, etc the “Suggested Tip” is 20% based on food plus the arbitrary “Service Fee”. No, I’m not tipping 20% on the $8 that GrubHub added to the total…
Ever go on a cruise? They typically automatically add $15-$23 per person per day to your account. You get an itemized bill on the last day. If you want to change the tip amount, you get to go stand in line at the guest services desk to adjust your tip.
Passengers as young as 3 years old are typically not exempt from these daily gratuities. On Disney cruises, even infants are included.
