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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

#2
Yes. If you business wants to collect a "tip" up front, before services rendered, it's not a tip (Doordash, Instacart, etc). If 100% of the proceeds don't get straight to the employees, but some end up in the pocket of the business, it's not a tip.

This last one is going to be to hear, but if you pay your employees below mimimum wage and allow for tips to make up the difference, well.....

Always tip, in cash, direct to the employee.

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

#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 wealth from the charitable to the uncharitable (high tippers pay more and subsidize the business, low tippers pay less).

I believe in the spirit of tipping rewarding better service, but by and large it doesn't actually function that way. Most tip ~20% on everything outside of extreme circumstances.

Much better for everything to be baked into the price of whatever good or service it is.

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

#7
Was really shocked to go through my normal Starbucks drive thru recently and was verbally asked “are you going to leave a tip?” and they thrust the card reader in my face which starts with a $1 tip as the first option you see on the left hand side. You have to hunt for the “No”. Of course Starbucks knows their target, those that feel too embarrassed if they don’t leave a $1 tip. (I paid). I tell myself, not again. Then I was back there today and paid it again. They got me. Not again.

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

#8
I’ve implemented a personal policy to make it easier for myself and reduce bias:

Full waiter experience (seated, handed menu, food brought to table, plate cleared) gets 20%.

If the level of service is less than that, the percentage starts to go down proportionally.

Counter service is flat-rate $1 per person served.

This is the same every time regardless of quality of service (unless something truly malicious happens, but I’ve never experienced that.)

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

#9
They started this in Australia just before the pandemic, but I haven't seen it since we reopened.

I suspect enough people, when prompted with these uncomfortable requests, paid it reluctantly then just never came back. At least, I know I've never been back to any business that asked for or expected a tip.

I'm sure this showed up on the metrics as an immediate spike in revenue, followed by a large downturn some months later.

Honestly can't think of a quicker way to ruin your business.

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