61–70 of 215 posts
It always requires a signature and you have to explicitly press "18%", "20%", "25%" (or similar) or "No tip" button.
I would be shocked if I ever saw a tip amount pre-selected for me (unless on a bill for a large party at restaurant, which has been standard for a long time now).
The tip calculator on these is surprisingly broken in obvious ways. For example, if you order a cup of coffee and merchandise or a bag of beans, it calculates 15% on the entire order. Wtf!
Often the actual question I want answered is "What tip will I be giving if I pay various whole dollar amounts?"
For example, let's say I order a pizza for delivery, and the mandatory charges come to $20.60, and let's also say I consider 15% a reasonable tip.
A normal tip calculator will tell me that I should give the pizza guy $23.69.
Screw that, I'm not futzing around with trying to find $0.69 in coins, and I'm certainly not going to give him $24 or $25 and ask for $0.31 or $1.31 in change.
Nope. I'm going to pay an integral number of dollars and say "keep the change".
What I want a tip calculator to do is give me a table:
Pay Effective Tip
$21 1.9%
$22 6.8%
$23 11.7%
$24 16.5%
$25 21.4%
I made an Apple Dashboard widget to do just that, and it worked out quite well. If I had ever gotten around to learning mobile development, that was going to be my first app for learning.
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In this scenario, especially in SF as a tech worker, you should feel guilty if you can afford to spare a dollar for someone on minimum wage for a tip but are reaching for the zero button. Having the iPad highlight your stingyness is not a problem with the technology.
I dunno I am in the exact category you describe but don’t feel obligated to. It is messed up to even have the new tipping system where you have to shamefully press “no tip”. I just paid $10 to get a sandwich in a paper box from a food truck, and you want a 20% tip for handing it out the window?
You don't have to.
I think if you can really easily spare a few dollars for someone who earns much less than you but choose not to there should be a little shame involved. Your feelings about not doing that are on you, not the iPad.
I hate the tipping system ("tipping") in the US. It's so forced and only benefits the business owner. You should not have to rely on uncertain tips to make up a minimum wage that is just stupid. Both parties keep the system alive, someone has to break the cycle.
Some restaurant owners have added automatic service charges or marked up prices to include service, but that's a mess too. If they mark up prices and customers don't realize service is included, they'll think the prices are too high and go elsewhere. If they add a mandatory service charge, customers might feel ripped off and will worry the fee doesn't really go to the servers or that they should still leave a tip.
Restaurant owners basically need to conspicuously state on the menu that service is included and the money will go to servers (and bussers, bartenders, etc.). But if you're a restaurant owner, do you want your menu dominated by a statement about your labor policies? There's a reason it's only really been tried by big name celebrity chefs, not your corner diner or Thai place.
How is this acceptable? What other industry quotes prices that don’t include wage costs, then bill for a higher amount.
It’s particularly bad because pulling the percentage out of the tip lowers the percentage of the amount I pay that would go to the server (vs baking the price into the menu cost), so it’s dishonest pricing and also convoluted tip theft.
So many comments here are talking about "defaulting" to tips or to 20% -- but I've never seen that on a Square or Square-type device. It always requires a signature and you have to explicitly press "18%", "20%", "25%" (or similar) or "No tip" button. I would be shocked if I ever saw a tip amount pre-selected for me (unless on a bill for a large party at restaurant, which has been standard for a long time now).
I am confused as to why it's standard to tip some low-paid workers but not others: * Fast-food workers do just as much work as coffee shop employees, why not tip them? * Workers at clothing stores take the time to fold your clothes nicely and box/bag them for you - why not tip them? * Grocery store checkout clerks in the city carefully bag up your goods so you can carry them with just two hands - why not tip them? *…
FWIW, tipped workers typically work for an hourly wage lower than the minimum wage, and are expected to earn the rest from tips. Most of the jobs you're talking about are not in the tipping wage category, and management just has to monitor carefully. Fast food has tons of computers to do exactly that, and even department stores have secret shoppers and cameras to observe staff. Grocery stores have crazy levels of cam…
> FWIW, tipped workers typically work for an hourly wage lower than the minimum wage, and are expected to earn the rest from tips.
That's true, and tipping those workers is something one ought to do. My post was primarily in reaction to tipping expanding to new frontiers of employees who are paid a "regular" wage such as most coffee shop workers or waiters in states where there is no special tipped minimum wage.
In these cases, it seems strange that one job (food-related service) deserves tips while other jobs do not. I've seen many posts recently such as "Tip the bill challenge proves humanity has a heart" or "20% minimum tip or else", but have seen no such calls to help employees in other fields.
It does seem like the obvious ideal is that people who work full-time hours are able to support themselves in a non-extravagant but livable way. I don't claim to know the correct economic solution to get there though!
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Or you could just have a living minimum wage, lol.
yes, if the government could manage to pass a good law there :) but in the event that the government won't, tipping helps correct the situation.
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I'm in CA so don't encounter this issue. Is it common in other states for workers in an establishment where you order at a counter and pick up your food from a counter to be paid a tipped minimum wage? I thought employers had to gross up employee pay if their hourly + tips didn't hit the non-tipped minimum wage?
> I thought employers had to gross up employee pay if their hourly + tips didn't hit the non-tipped minimum wage? Employers are required to do that. However, as is most often the case at the low end of the job ladder, enforcing your employment rights against your employer is a very efficient way to find yourself unemployed and--in smaller communities where "people are gonna talk"--blackballed from ever holding a job…
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I used to feel the same, but then I started to appreciate just how fortunate I am to not have to work in retail. This isn’t because I’m better. It’s just because I was born into the right situation. I always tip now and use the experience as a reminder not to take my fortune for granted. It’s also a reminder that everything I have might be taken away at any time.
I don't think retail is a bad job. I would hate to be stuck at a computer all day writing code and dealing with non-technical managers and clients. Someone who works a job where they receive consistent tips can make a lot of money, and if it's in cash it's tax free. Plus the tips never go to the kitchen who do all the actual work.