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You Want 20% for Handing Me a Muffin? The Awkward Etiquette of iPad Tipping

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Re: You Want 20% for Handing Me a Muffin? The Awkward Etiquette of iPad Tipping

#121

Post by syedkarim »

blacksmith_tb wrote: post #36
Simulacra wrote: post #5

I don't feel guilt when they swivel that ipad around, more like annoyance. When I'm asked to tip for someone handing me a cup of coffee, I say no tip. We should really be pushing to get away from this relic of slavery, and don't tip unless it's absolutely clear we need to; i.e. at a sit down restaurant.

Ouch, having worked in cafes and restaurants as an undergrad I pretty much always tip 20%. Is it absurd? Of course, but given how badly most waitstaff are paid, the idea that you will somehow eliminate the practice by stiffing a few barristas seems both sadistic and highly unlikely to change the world. Until robots hand me muffins, I accept it as a tax on eating out.

I worked my way through college as a waiter and bartender. My first job was as a golf caddie. I've dried cars at car washes and operated a rickshaw. In all of those cases, there is an understanding that a tip is part of the purchase. More importantly, there is some actual work being done or service rendered for the tip (less so for bartenders, which do get paid above minimum wage).

Buying a muffin at a coffee shop and not paying a premium on top of the asking price is not sadistic. It's a normal commercial transaction. Based on your logic, why don't we tip fast-food workers, grocery store clerks, gas station attendants, etc...

Re: You Want 20% for Handing Me a Muffin? The Awkward Etiquette of iPad Tipping

#123

Post by laken »

I tend to tip more than average, though I usually consider small counter transactions (like a $3 coffee) to be worth a 15% tip max. I don't like when the kiosks are configured to either not have 15% as an option, or make it look like the bare minimum. I do feel that social pressure from the people behind me or the cashier to tip at least 20% which is the middle option on some of these, or on some even 25%. Those I feel are often quite high for the level of service.

Re: You Want 20% for Handing Me a Muffin? The Awkward Etiquette of iPad Tipping

#124

Post by PunchTornado »

minimaxir wrote: post #82

Semirelated question: how do you feel about tipping for Uber/Lyft? A few informal polls awhile ago ( https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/venessawong/theres-stil... ) couldn't come to a consensus.

almost never, unless an exceptional event

Re: You Want 20% for Handing Me a Muffin? The Awkward Etiquette of iPad Tipping

#125

Post by dougmwne »

I grab an ice cream about once a week. It's normal Sysco ice cream, nothing fancy, but the location is always popular with a line. The cashier aggressively points out the tipping buttons and watches closely while you make the selection. I watch nearly every person ahead of me tip a dollar for a 4 dollar ice cream. A dollar every thirty seconds. I'm quite jealous of that hourly rate.

Re: You Want 20% for Handing Me a Muffin? The Awkward Etiquette of iPad Tipping

#126

Post by 5874-4b22-a4e0 »

pc86 wrote: post #37
ComputerGuru wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A lot of people just plain don’t carry cash to spend any more. To say that five years ago (with typical CC PoS systems) that would have been fine but today thanks to these startups we’ve regressed to having to pay with cash or else need to pay 15-30% more is ridiculous.

Please cite an example where not using cash necessitates a 30% higher price?

The requests for tips.

Re: You Want 20% for Handing Me a Muffin? The Awkward Etiquette of iPad Tipping

#127

Post by chasd00 »

mikeash wrote: post #63
rayiner wrote: post #23

Own your privilege and tip the goddamn 15-20%. If you can afford to spend $3 on a coffee, you can afford to spend $3.60 on a coffee. You almost certainly make a lot more than the guy or girl behind the counter. (I love the iPad payment thingy because I always feel guilty never having cash to put in a tip jar.)

Where should we do this? Do we do it at McDonald's too? At the gas station? When buying computers?

if i ever ran retail, no matter what, i would always have a tip line. Even self service gas stations, it's instant +20% margin.

Re: You Want 20% for Handing Me a Muffin? The Awkward Etiquette of iPad Tipping

#128

Post by mikestew »

Balgair wrote: post #39

The 'politics' of tipping aside, one thing that really grinds my gears is that they calculate the tip after taxes are applied. I feel that the tips should be calculated based on the exchange I had with the establishment/person and that the taxes should considered separate from our interaction. Like, here's the 20% tip on the 100$ I spent. Not, here's the 20% tip on the $100 + 5% tax, $105 total. I know why they do th…

I feel that the tips should be calculated based on the exchange I had with the establishment/person

You're free to calculate the tip however you like. Just because some junior programmer took the easy way out to make the math easier doesn't mean you have to along with it. I don't recall a digitized tip screen that didn't let me enter a custom amount.

Re: You Want 20% for Handing Me a Muffin? The Awkward Etiquette of iPad Tipping

#129

Post by [deleted] »

pg_bot wrote: post #83
jjuhl wrote: post #17

No guilt. No tip. Never. If they want more than the listed price they should raise the listed price. Social customs/expectations/guilt/whatever be damned. I never tip. Never have, never will.

I can guarantee that you've never worked as a waiter/waitress. This is so fundamentally insulting that I can't believe anyone actually would hold this position. When you sit down at a restaurant you are paying the wait staff to serve you. If I ever saw you a second time, I would insist you pick up your own orders, drinks, and bus your own table you skinflint.

[deleted]

Re: You Want 20% for Handing Me a Muffin? The Awkward Etiquette of iPad Tipping

#130

Post by nraynaud »

spdionis wrote: post #56
Balgair wrote: post #39

The 'politics' of tipping aside, one thing that really grinds my gears is that they calculate the tip after taxes are applied. I feel that the tips should be calculated based on the exchange I had with the establishment/person and that the taxes should considered separate from our interaction. Like, here's the 20% tip on the 100$ I spent. Not, here's the 20% tip on the $100 + 5% tax, $105 total. I know why they do th…

Isn't the problem the other way around? In Europe taxes are included in the price from the start.

Yeah, and for a really capitalistic reason: you can compare a night at the restaurant with a night at the movie to allocate your budget, wheras in the US you have to know the tax on movie tickets, the tax on food (good luck, theses are defined by town), and the tip you will leave.

Capitalism only work if both side of the transaction have the same information, that's how Stiglitz got his Nobel prize. (another US trope: collecting the Nobel prizes and never reading the papers)

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