Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Is tipping getting out of control? Many consumers say yes

apnews.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

361–370 of 1001 posts

Re: Is tipping getting out of control? Many consumers say yes

#361

Post by viraptor »

dgfitz wrote: post #342
eastbound wrote: post #308

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are only 39.8 billion US banknotes in circulation, it can easily tracked in a Postgres database, banknote numbers when it exits the ATM, banknote numbers when they are redeemed by the baker, or by your drug dealer of choice, banknotes are only in circulation for one or two exchanges before coming back to a bank, it’s very possible that they are tracked to identify curious loops in circulation. In fact, if they…

Please correct me if I’m missing something. You’re describing a map where the key is a note and the value is, a linked list of banks? I’m not clear what the point is that you’re trying to make.

I believe what they're saying is - we have the capability to track every physical banknote as it leaves/enters the bank and attach it to the person who deposits/withdraws it.

There may be extra steps in between, but if you're tracking a transaction / relationship type which happens twice or more, you can expect that the person on the record is the person you're after or can point you at them.

But I don't know why they expect FBI to actually have it implemented. The system would have to be so widespread/common that we'd know if it existed. I mean, there's https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Currency_bill_tracking but that's for hobbyists. Otherwise banks may check for duplicate numbers... but I can't find any mention of more widespread tracking.

Re: Is tipping getting out of control? Many consumers say yes

#362

Post by skeeter2020 »

rideontime wrote: post #333
csomar wrote: post #276

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> and give customers an option to donate to a charity if they still wish to part with additional money. Please no. That's how it usually starts. It was with small change but now McDonalds harasses you every time you make an order to round up for some charity I never heard about. I'd donate to charities on my own. Needless to say I avoid these places like the plague.

You've never heard of the Ronald McDonald House?

At least McDonalds covers all the overhead and gives 100% of money donated to Ronald McDonald house.

Re: Is tipping getting out of control? Many consumers say yes

#363

Post by skeeter2020 »

sneak wrote: post #354
kenjackson wrote: post #302

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can buy a gift credit/debit card with cash and use that. Those normally work.

Those are tracked, too, and can't be obtained without strong identity.

...and often have expiry dates and huge service fees

Re: Is tipping getting out of control? Many consumers say yes

#364

Post by jryhdtjtdhy »

csomar wrote: post #281
dang wrote: post #216

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You should write a longer piece about your coffee shop! and the process behind it. If you do, you should submit it to HN - and if you do that you should email us (hn@ycombinator.com) because we might put it in the second-chance pool ( https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26998308 ).

I wonder if all these laid off engineers will end up opening small businesses and using their skill to cut one or two employees. Maybe we'll finally get a push toward real automation.

Because then those engineers will no longer be out of a job, but some other people with a smaller skillset will be! And all will be good, because we finally had a push towards real automation!

Re: Is tipping getting out of control? Many consumers say yes

#365

Post by bigDinosaur »

DrThunder wrote: post #122
tkuraku wrote: post #38

I think tipping should be outlawed. The price should be the price. Workers should not be subject to inconsistent pay for the same amount of work. In addition it gets rid of any bias in wages (more attractive people or people of different ethnicities might get higher tips for the same work).

I don't. For sit down restaurants, or many service oriented jobs it makes for a better customer experience. I agree for counter service it where they want tips BEFORE the service experience it makes no sense. You ought to try sitting down in a restaurant in the EU. They do the bare minimum to serve you. Tying a possible bonus to the way you act in customer service facing role has a lot of benefits. "In addition it ge…

My experience in restaurants all throughout the EU is that service is perfectly acceptable. I really intensely dislike over the top service - I want the employees to be polite and friendly but not to fawn over me - I want to feel that they're my equals in a social sense, not servile (but that doesn't mean they shouldn't respond to complaints etc.) I guess I'll have to take a trip to the US to see the difference in expectations.

Re: Is tipping getting out of control? Many consumers say yes

#366

Post by viraptor »

kingkawn wrote: post #352
jacktribe wrote: post #99

I've just opened a coffee shop in Los Angeles last month, and we don't take tips. We only use self-ordering iPads (I've custom coded an iOS app w/ Stripe Terminal for it), and we don't accept cash either. We've had a few customers baffled by the no-tipping policy, and still insisting that they leave a tip. Some even left cash on the counter or on the table. We had to chase a few of them down to return their money. Al…

Just let people tip if they want instead of making a moral high ground out of it

I'm not sure if they're taking a moral high ground exactly, but I do appreciate a business taking a stand against tipping. It's bad for everyone in the end - I'd love it if it died soon.

Re: Is tipping getting out of control? Many consumers say yes

#367

Post by EVa5I7bHFq9mnYK »

ot wrote: post #161
tptacek wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tipping is a system in which customers explicitly, optionally, and variably share some of the cost of labor. It has the features of allowing individual patrons to modulate the labor subsidy they provide, based on their current price sensitivity, the value they place on warm fuzzies (don't dismiss this!), the relationship they want to build with the business, and the service they perceive themselves to be getting. You…

Those same arguments apply to several other professions where it is not customary to tip. The reality is that tips are expected only for the lower social/economic classes, where it is acceptable that the price for labor is set based on the whims of the customer instead of being pre-agreed (which, personally, I find degrading). Right-leaning people like it because it creates a power dynamic. Left-leaning people like i…

I read about a study that found that the most pro-tip group of people are older men ... that is the way to buy love for them.

Re: Is tipping getting out of control? Many consumers say yes

#368

Post by sacrosancty »

q845712 wrote: post #139
godelski wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tipping at best is a form of bribery and at worst a feudal practice of wealth transfer. I tip because it is the social norm (and bribery: don't want my food messed with), but I think we can also acknowledge that this practice is weird and has a shaky history.

I think tipping at its very best is an opportunity to give a stranger a small gift. I recognize your points -- sometimes it feels like an obligated payment and probably in nearly all cases the capital owning class could and/or should contribute more, but i think you're excluding some optional perspectives. Sometimes I just want to help someone have a nice day by giving them something they didn't expect, like a genero…

[dead]

Re: Is tipping getting out of control? Many consumers say yes

#369

Post by kylehotchkiss »

nayuki wrote: post #69
crtified wrote: post #40

Is this a thing in countries other than the USA?

The tipping situation is numerically very similar in Canada, unsurprisingly. But at least in Canada, the waiter brings a wireless point-of-sale machine to the table for you to pay. Whereas in American, they take your credit card all the way to the cash register (unsafe!), bring the receipt to your table, make you write the tip and total on the receipt, and collect the receipt.

There’s handheld machines now at American restaurants which have a very bold tip screen. At the one I see it at, the waiter (who usually only took our order, didn’t even fill drinks, bring food, etc) holds it towards me and says “tip?” instead of the common “it’ll ask you a few questions”. Maybe it’s a clover POS system?

Re: Is tipping getting out of control? Many consumers say yes

#370

Post by SantalBlush »

lotsofpulp wrote: post #355
hedora wrote: post #267

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The US faced a dilemma: Post civil war, many people didn't want to pay freed slaves for their labor. A combination of tipping and converting jobs that were typically held by blacks to unpaid positions provided a solution. It became popular despite attempts to ban the practice. Today, tipped workers in the US are paid, but have a lower minimum wage than normal workers. Source: https://time.com/5404475/history-tipping-…

> Today, tipped workers in the US are paid, but have a lower minimum wage than normal workers. No, they have the same minimum wage as all workers. The employer is liable to pay the employee if tips + earnings from tipped min wage are less than earnings from non tipped minimum wage.

That's not "the same minimum wage as all workers", that's an entirely different payment system--one that the person above was trying to describe.
Post reply on HN