[HN Gopher] Demands for Tips Are Up. Actual Tipping, Not So Much
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Demands for Tips Are Up. Actual Tipping, Not So Much
Author : malshe
Score : 31 points
Date : 2023-09-18 21:02 UTC (1 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www.wsj.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.wsj.com)
| egypturnash wrote:
| "Tipping baristas isn't the norm", says the caption on the photo
| at the head of the article. It isn't? I've been tipping baristas
| about 20% ever since I got a laptop around 2005 and started
| spending a lot of my work time in coffee shops. But the chart in
| this article says only about 25% of people do this. Huh.
|
| I'm not gonna quit though.
| belfthrow wrote:
| You really are the white knight barristas need in this 7 dollar
| latte age.
| mplewis wrote:
| It's spelled "barista"
| Waterluvian wrote:
| If we tip baristas at Starbucks we should tip the people at
| McDonald's. Both are essentially fast food workers.
|
| I'm not trying to be mean. I think there's some brilliant
| manipulation going on with how some of these coffee shops brand
| and present themselves.
| skyyler wrote:
| The ability and care of the Starbucks worker has a lot more
| impact on the product than the McDonald's worker.
|
| I don't like the idea of tipping at (or going to) Starbucks,
| but I tip at independent coffee shops.
| Spooky23 wrote:
| You tip people like this as a form of mild corruption.
|
| When I travel to places I'm going to return to regularly, I
| take out a few hundred bucks in $5 bills. Parking guys, the
| hotel clerk, the night housekeeping supervisor, etc. I'm also
| nice to people, as I truly appreciate them.
|
| Kindness + cash = courtesies granted.
|
| If you're abusing the hospitality of the coffee shop, the
| staff should be happy to see you.
| hermannj314 wrote:
| Stop letting the capitalist class pit the working class against
| one another.
|
| Stop tipping. The employee's issue is not with you, it is with
| their employer. Studies have also shown that tipping enables
| race, age and sex discrimination in total pay.
|
| If you believe in equity and fair wages for all, you will stop
| tipping.
| wruza wrote:
| Is there even a way out of this situation? Some socioeconomical
| absurdities just cannot die.
| dpkirchner wrote:
| Government regulation is the only viable option, and that's
| pretty unlikely to happen (at least in the US).
| alwayslikethis wrote:
| By not paying. Your continued tipping allows restaurants to not
| pay their employees a living wage and forcing the customer to
| subsidize them. Once a sizable percentage (let's say 30%) of
| customers don't tip, it will become progressively less
| effective as they have to jack up the percentages even more for
| people that do pay, resulting in more of them joining the non-
| tippers in a feedback loop. And then, maybe tipping will become
| a thing of the past.
| wait_a_minute wrote:
| Paying with cash.
| 1letterunixname wrote:
| Finding decent restaurant food and service is like running into a
| Navy SEAL or a model who's an astronaut with a PhD and a private
| pilot's license. If I can cook better than what's on the plate,
| then why even walk in the door? To catch this year's COVID?
|
| And the "living wage fee" gotcha capitalism tricks aren't cute or
| advancing socioeconomic justice. Raise the prices, pay fair
| wages, and run a respectable business... or don't.
| silisili wrote:
| I feel so aggravated that nearly every single place I visit asks
| for a tip or 'donation' now. I take some solace in the fact it's
| not just me getting old and grumpy for once, and nearly everyone
| is saying the same.
|
| I'm hoping this will be the trend that -finally- ends tipping
| culture in the US. When everyone asks for a tip, nobody gets a
| tip.
| mahastore wrote:
| Yep the waiter that served us the other night in a Mexican
| restaurant showed sufficient displeasure at the $50 tips we
| were giving him and clearly said he expected more. He hardly
| spent anytime talking to us (a party of 10 people) or making
| suggestions etc and did nothing out of normal , neither did he
| spent a lot of time on our table. I am not sure if they feel it
| is right to ask for more tips nowadays but I am afraid it also
| shows the general decline in affordability. Or the restaurants
| themselves are in really bad shape and not able to support the
| waiters fully? Either way it leaves a bad taste and if this
| continues even lesser people will go out for dining.
| candiddevmike wrote:
| For me, I just round up to the nearest dollar and call it good.
| For anything where a tip was expected pre-2017, it's between
| 5-15%, typically 10%. I'm tip fatigued and this is what I am
| comfortable paying now. Pay your employees better.
| bsder wrote:
| > I feel so aggravated that nearly every single place I visit
| asks for a tip or 'donation' now.
|
| A lot of this was done by the credit card processors in order
| to increase their rake.
|
| I don't tip on machines unless I'm in a resaurant (and I
| probably shouldn't there--either). If I'm going to tip, I give
| cash because I can't count on any of what I put into the
| machine getting to the person I intend it to go to.
| nickjj wrote:
| > A lot of this was done by the credit card processors in
| order to increase their rake.
|
| I can't speak for every terminal supplier but store owners
| often do have the option to turn it off.
|
| But it becomes problematic when it ships with tips enabled by
| default and there's strong messaging from your terminal
| vendor's rep to keep it enabled. You end up having to go out
| of your way and against the grain to disable it.
| malshe wrote:
| I am totally with you. The other day I bought shaved iced for
| my child which took perhaps 1 minute to make. I was already
| paying $5 for a really tiny cup and then another $1 that showed
| up as the suggested tip on the card reader. The employee was
| looking directly at me and I couldn't see the option for "No
| Tip" fast enough. So I had to click on $1.
|
| That $1 didn't mean anything to me until then. It was suddenly
| a tax I was paying for not being Larry David :)
|
| The businesses who think that are striking a balance between
| good customer service and paying fair wages don't realize that
| the consumers are leaving with a bad taste in their mouths.
| adriand wrote:
| As a privileged white collar tech worker who makes far more
| money than just about any service worker, I happily respond to
| requests to tip by tipping. It is a privilege to be able to!
| daneel_w wrote:
| What?
| mahastore wrote:
| The issue here is not even request to tip , but rather
| hostile behavior when not tipped to the satisfaction of the
| service worker.
| FireBeyond wrote:
| Went to a concert the other night, happened to be at a winery.
| They had wine sales. Walk up to the cashier, ask for a bottle
| (only bottles), and how many plastic cups. They hand you both,
| and you can uncork off to the side.
|
| Tip options for this "service" (on wines ranging from
| $28-60/bottle): "20, 25, 30 or 35%".
| _dark_matter_ wrote:
| Same, but for buying canned beer at an arena concert recently.
| Pretty awkward to manually press "Other" -> "0".
|
| My "system" now is to _always_ press "Other", even if I'm going
| to tip one of the pre-selected amounts (e.g. 20%). This way I'm
| always making a conscious choice.
| malshe wrote:
| Sometimes they make it quite difficult to navigate to "Other"
| by making the font too small or forcing you to swipe to
| another page. I think most people are too afraid to ask the
| servers how to find "No Tip" option.
| malshe wrote:
| https://archive.ph/6XFUI
| wait_a_minute wrote:
| Pay with cash. Then there's no more bs tip options at every
| transaction like when you pay with card.
| happytiger wrote:
| We just stopped going out. It's not fun, it's expensive, and the
| constant tipping is simply awkward.
|
| So, no thanks. We used to eat out twice a week. Now I go maybe
| once every 3-6 months, always just for work.
|
| I do tip generously. I just don't enjoy the culture.
|
| I can't be alone in this.
| speff wrote:
| We're in the same situation - the budget just can't take it. On
| the plus side, I've learned how to cook meals better than any
| restaurant I've been to. Just need the right tools to get
| started. It's surprisingly easy to cook and cheap if the
| grocery's bought on sale/clearance.
| ryanklee wrote:
| What kind of places are you even going where "tipping culture"
| intervenes in such a way that it affects your enjoyment?
|
| I am not at all a fan of the economics of tipping, and I've
| spent tens and tens of thousands of dollars on restaurants and
| bars, but I've never once felt tipping intrude on my time.
|
| Generally, I pay and tip at the end of the night. It's a pretty
| uneventful moment.
|
| Curious how your experience differs.
| jpcfl wrote:
| You are not. But every time I bring up the unpleasantness and
| absurdity of compulsory tipping, people seem to assume I'm
| stingy.
|
| I live in San Francisco, so the surcharges added to my bill are
| often: * tax (I think it's 8.625%) * 18%
| gratuity * 6% SF mandate
|
| I know we've become accustomed to this, but I'm getting real
| sick of this kind of trickery in the US. I don't see any way to
| stop it short of legislation, though.
|
| All I want is to pay a straight $15 for a sandwich, and not
| have to solve the math equation of $14.99 + 8.625% tax + 18%
| tip + 6% "SF mandate".
| MuffinFlavored wrote:
| What do you do now? Go to the grocery store and buy groceries
| and then cook/clean? Or do you order to-go/takeout/delivery/go
| pick it up?
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