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Is tipping getting out of control? Many consumers say yes

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

#671

Post by Freak_NL »

inetknght wrote: post #388
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…

> we don't accept cash either. Not accepting tips is one thing. But not accepting cash means you will never have me as a customer. Edit: I've already walked away from a dozen different food places in airports because of this kind of trash: please install this app, can't pay in cash, can't see a menu without scanning a QR code, use an iPad with shitty touchscreen that I can barely see or use... I just wanted to order…

Mandatory digital ordering and refusing cash just radiates customer hostility to me. It's the opposite of hospitality.

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

#672

Post by wruza »

godelski wrote: post #50
adam_arthur wrote: post #6

Given that even retail stores have added tipping prompts to their checkouts, I'd say yes. Plus many restaurants with placeholder tip icons that start at 25%+ You also don't know what the tip is really going towards in many cases. In the classic restaurant/waitstaff case you can reasonably expect it to go to the workers, in the random knick knack or general goods stores ??? Tipping in general is a system to transfer w…

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.

(and bribery: don't want my food messed with)

The correct term is racket. Bribery is when you get something above normal.

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

#673

Post by midasuni »

mdrzn wrote: post #664
midasuni wrote: post #649

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Still plenty of restaurants with “service charge” at the bottom of the menu

That's at worst a couple euros per person, very far from a 10%-20% upcharge.

I have a photo of a menu from Munich earlier this year, not a particularly fancy restaurant - just a pizza place with a table on the street.

12.5% service charge at the bottom.

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

#674

Post by Freak_NL »

TylerE wrote: post #403
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…

I find forced (or even strongly encouraged) rating even worse than tipping, especially given the inevitable anything less than 5 stars might as well be zero attitude.

Always rate negatively, and if possible supply that you are doing so because rudely getting asked to rate them at an inopportune moment sours your experience however great it may have been.

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

#675

Post by euroderf »

midasuni wrote: post #673
mdrzn wrote: post #664

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's at worst a couple euros per person, very far from a 10%-20% upcharge.

I have a photo of a menu from Munich earlier this year, not a particularly fancy restaurant - just a pizza place with a table on the street. 12.5% service charge at the bottom.

But it was up front, in genuine print, not buried on a terminal.

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

#676

Post by jandrewrogers »

Renaud wrote: post #495
bradwood wrote: post #472

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Japan has been doing it like this for years. And it's much better. Pay people properly, and encourage them to be the best they can be (even for jobs that are so-called "unskilled") and then everyone's a winner.

Not just Japan. Basically most of the world except Noth America pay their waiters wages that don't depend on tips. Sure some places allow additional tipping, but it's not a mandatory fee and the workers don't have to get it to make a living.

The mandatory minimum wage where I live is $18.69/hr, which is higher than the median wage in many European countries. Any tips or mandatory service charges are always in addition to this and many waiters make more than the minimum wage.

Replacing tipping with a 20% mandatory service charge -- tried many times here -- results in the employees earning less money, empirically. Eliminating tipping is unpopular with employees since it is effectively a pay cut.

Proponents of "no tipping" policies in the US are not going to be successful until they address the elephant in the room of reduced pay for employees. Unlike in Europe, US employees know how much money they earn with tipping.

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

#677

Post by frameset »

adenozine wrote: post #667
lynx23 wrote: post #655

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am blind. Would I be able to use your iPad setup to order something in your shop, or is the "lets make everything fancy" setup maybe exclusionary?

[flagged]

Would the Americans With Disabilities act apply here?

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

#678

Post by carabiner »

jacktribe wrote: post #454
gymbeaux wrote: post #437

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A rare-interesting UX problem with people thinking the screen froze. I guess it’s easily solved, but there are surely many ways to solve it.

It's very interesting observing people use the app in person, as opposed to privately on their phone where you have no idea how they interact with it. For instance the Stripe Terminal reader is immediately to the right of the iPad POS, but a good number of people don't know where to tap the card. I need to design an arrow on the checkout screen for that because I've seen many people tapping the card to the iPad scree…

It's 2023 but I still think a lot of iPad based POS have a poor ending transaction UX. It needs to be a cute, super clear and simple "All done! Turn the screen around." It's jarring to sometimes be dumped at the item selection menu that is meant for the cashier. Or it just says "Thanks!" without a direction to put the screen back how it was.

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

#679

Post by Freak_NL »

xp84 wrote: post #500
8note wrote: post #460

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> that didn't allow them to get a bank account This sounds like the real problem to solve. It's unacceptable for people to be unable to get a bank account and whatever cards to pay cashless

In civilized countries they solved this decades ago by allowing the postal service to offer simple bank accounts. It's totally a fake problem that untrustworthy people can't be trusted in modern times with bank accounts. The risk is check bouncing. People don't "need" checks anymore though to function in the cashless world. We already have prepaid card accounts that don't allow you to spend money you don't have. The…

> The risk is check bouncing.

Checks aren't a thing in most of the world. Opening a bank account is hard because of know-your-customer laws.

The civilised solution to this is very simple: cash! Until you get you bearings and have a bank account opened, just use cash.

Tourist in a country where your debit or credit cards don't reliably work or come with extra fees? Cash!

Buying a second-hand piece of furniture from someone else, and don't feel the need to expose more information than necessary? Cash!

Electronic payment system goes down while you are in the queue at the supermarket? No problem, because you always carry a little cash for backup. (I've had this happen to me several times.)

Cash is the ultimate fallback in civilized society, and worth protecting.

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

#680

Post by lljk_kennedy »

killerpopiller wrote: post #625
teekert wrote: post #610

I can tell from experience if you come from a non-tipping country you can really have some negative experiences before you realize what's going on :) That said, the "need" for a tip does make the waiter/ress a lot more pro-active and helpful than in my country where waiter/ress's can be cranky even. In the US they introduce themselves ("Hi I'm Jerome, I'm excited to be your waiter today!" Made me smile every time), m…

I always have to cringe about such exaggerate expressions, "excited to be your waiter" and the like. What is the intensification? It just feels like an unnecessary lie or even hypocrisy.

Exactly. I'm just getting a sandwich, man. Even I'm not that excited about it.

And this in turn, diminishes the whole thing. Can I _not_ pay for the false charm?

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