I’m American but lived in Japan for a couple of years. I was so shocked by the amazing customer service the Japanese workers gave me but never asked or expected a tip.
I was so confused coming back here and seeing all of stores implementing an option to tip and I’m trying to figure out… for what? Most of the workers hardly acknowledge me when I’m there and it feels as if I’m bothering them coming to order something, and then they turn the iPad around asking for a tip.
This honestly needs to stop.
I was so shocked by the amazing customer service the Japanese workers gave me but never asked or expected a tip.
That’s how the entire world works outside of NA.
And yet there’s this myth that without tips all the workers would be lazy and you’d get no good service.
I’ve heard and seen that repeated constantly.
I always say it’s shocking what us Americans are accustomed to here in the US, and those that have never been outside of the country would never know these things. I also visited Australia for a bit and noticed no one asked or expected a tip as well.
Glad I had the opportunity to see how other countries do things outside the US 🙂
I think thats more to do with Japanese culture than anything. Staff at even convenience stores were super nice and helpful when I stayed in Japan. But here people don’t really care that much. You cant expect a culture of people to change. Id much rather permanently live in Japan if my work and family didnt tie me down.
Oh I definitely agree. The Japanese were taught at a young age to show respect to others and to do your best no matter how small or insignificant the job may seem to others. At this point, it is what it is here in the US, I just expect it now. It was just more of a reverse culture shock coming back here after living in Japan for a few years.
I’ve also got my mind set on moving back and staying in Japan permanently when I get the chance.
If this backlash kills off tipping in America forever, good.
Employers should be paying their employee a living wage anyways, instead of shifting the responsibility to the customers.
In states that don’t still need to pay minimum wage, I get your point. The last two states that I’ve lived in, though, still require min wage (or higher, depending on some municipalities).
Restaurants operate on notoriously small margins and are tough to make it as a mom and pop, a lot of the time.
I’d rather tip, and have the assurance that money is going to the worker, than pay $30 for a burger and be told the employee is getting a cut.
If they can’t survive because they have to pay their employees their business model is unsustainable.
Except at some restaurants that money isn’t going to the employee, but to the employees* front/back of house… So you’re still only being told the employee is getting a cut… And the bigger company can still outdo mom and pop by volume.
Restaurants operate on notoriously small margins and are tough to make it as a mom and pop, a lot of the time.
Then charge more for your food. If your business model is unsustainable without paying your staff, you shouldn’t be open.
If your business model does not support paying your employees a fair wage, you do not have a viable business model.
My general guide for tipping
- traditional service industry where their employer pays them $2/hr. YES, but I wish your employer would just pay you. I’m still tipping not going to punish their employer for that but seriously try not to even go to these places anymore.
- Other traditional services industries, barbor, nail salon,etc. Yes as appreciation. They personally took care of me so yeah.
- Baristas, it any other ipad station. NO. They are paid a standard wage. I might drop my change in a tip jar every now and then when paying cash but that’s it.
- Food trucks and other independently owned stores. Generally No. Food trucks are independently owned and not service industry. If they need more money charge more for the food.
charge more for the food
Yes! Just do this! I promise you seeing more expensive prices on the menu will annoy me FAR less than getting the check and seeing a surprise 18% “service fee.”
Or having your food taste more horsey than normal.
Even for point 1 it’s just wrong. They should not work there for that wage and if the business needs to charge more money to pay them more then charge more money.
Relying on tips for worker pay not only shifts the responsibility for paying the employees away from employer to the customer but also makes employees getting paid optional (depending on how a random person that walked in feels).
Yet another thing that has been eye opening about living in Europe is how fucked and terrible tipping is in the states. Twenty percent AS A MINIMUM? When I’m picking up food at the counter??? AYFKM?
Not to mention, you can’t have a percentage go up and blame it on inflation.
If a business can’t afford to pay its workers a living wage that business should not exist. If we all stopped going to these places they’ll be forced to fix it.
But Reddit Vs Lemmy is like a microcosm of this issue. Most people will stay on Reddit because god forbid they get inconvenienced or have to do something differently.
The same way people won’t leave twitter, won’t stop getting food at McDonalds or shopping at Wal-Mart, etc…
I don’t support tipping culture.
The problem with tipping culture is that it works.
I read an article the other day about airlines moving toward cheaper air fares, but charging more and more fees for basic things that should be part of the air fare. That trend is accelerating because customers reward it, period.
People only look at the base price of things, and shop around the best base price. Mentally, humans are mostly awful at factoring in extras and comparing one place’s apples to another place’s oranges. The company with the lower base price wins, and shifting prices over toward fees and extras doesn’t seem to hurt them as much as just including those costs in the base price does.
Same story with tipping. If a Moe’s burrito costs $10 but you’re asked to leave a $2 tip, while a Joe’s burrito simply costs $12, then I’m pretty sure the average consumer is only going to look at that $10 vs. $12 comparison and favor Moe’s. It’s dumb. It’s awful. We all say on social media and chat forums that we don’t think that way. But most of us kinda sorta DO, unfortunately.
The result is that generous people end up accommodating the increased tip culture, while less generous people just stop tipping altogether. So instead of employer paying their workers fairly, and spreading the costs among their customers fairly… we get an awful system where the employers still make the same profit, but the workers and customers are negatively impacted. For the employees, the dignity of honest work erodes, as they shift toward being part worker and part panhandler. For the customers, generosity is punished and a selfish mindset is rewarded. It’s an extremely toxic cultural trend, all around.
I don’t know what the solutions are. I fear that there really IS no solution other than changes to law and regulation, but our culture is too fragmented and government too broken for that.
Well said. Such huge culture shifts are hard because of the pain involved in the transition. On the Other side we have employees being paid fairly and predictably and customers not being punished for their generosity. But the in-between will be employees being paid less but not earning via tips which just keeps the status quo.
I did takeout at a Dominos the other day, and it took the idiot a full minute to figure out how to bring my order up on the computer. He’s tap, tap, tapping away at the computer with no idea what he’s doing. Probably high as hell. And then he’s like, “It’s going to ask you a question”, and I was actually angry that it even gave me the option. WTF! And I still felt slightly guilty for hitting “no tip”. Fuck tipping!
I’ll tip for sit down service or delivery… Anything else you can fuck right off.
It always amazes me that that tipping is still a thing. If your business can’t survive paying a proper wage to your employees without the need for supplemental income from the customer your business isn’t meant to survive. Isn’t that the capitalism they’re always on about?
They are TRYING their best at making it a thing in other countries as well. Companies that are saying no to free money at no effort is rare.
its our duty to stop it when we see it. I don’t care how much it makes me look like a grumpy old prick, if I’m.asked or prompted for a tip in Australia they will get a No. don’t get me started on the lack of actual service post-covid where the only interaction you have with someone is when they physically bring stuff to your table
“capitalism”, hah
Typing culture needs to die. Pay your damn employees a living wage.
And that’s how it is in most of the world. It’s possible. 😛
My girlfriend and I went to a retail store one time and at checkout the cashier turned the iPad around and showed us a tip screen……
We need a competition for “most ridiculous place to ask for tips”.
Someone in this thread said that their self-checkout asked for a tip. I don’t know how one could top that!
Airport grab’n’go kiosk, I thought I saw. For that extra spicy fuck you.
One time at the Starbucks drive thru, waiting several minutes for a cold brew, only a cold brew, I was irritated to see a very obvious tip cup on the drive through. After waiting much longer than it should have taken to pour a cold brew, the guy tried to solicit a tip on my card… seriously…It is absolutely irritating to have them not only provide slow service but then aggressively demand a tip for shitty service. I’ll tip when it’s appropriate, bartenders, waiters (20+%) and straight food delivery (fuck Uber eats, door dash etc, I won’t pay 50.00 for 30.00 in food and then tip, that’s stupid, so I don’t use it.)
Edit(I don’t use the food delivery services, I am not going to stiff their folks delivering food. )
I just wish jobs payed livable wages.
I had no idea until recently that coffee shops are allowed to pay tipped wages instead of regular minimum wage. Right now, I am reading up on my state (Florida)‘s minimum wage laws, and apparently any employee who receives tips can be considered a tipped employee, meaning if your workplace has a square POS, congrats, they are allowed to pay you $5.44/hr! The tip credit explanation is also absolutely blowing my mind with a combination of confusion and corporate greed. The fact that there is an under-20 minimum wage of $4.25/hr is absolutely mind-boggling. I could MAYBE understand this for people under 18, but people from 18-20 are adults and plenty of them have already moved out of their parents’ homes. How is this okay?!?
In some places it’s $2.13/hr. It’s not ok. It’s never been ok. We need to change.
Yeah, whenever I see a fast food restaurant ask for tips before I receive my food, I give them nothing. Is this a threat? Will my food have boogers in it if I don’t tip?
I only tip at full service restaurants, barber shops, and for specialized full services that I want prompt responses (bars, hotels, rideshares).
Convenience stores, fast food, self service kiosks, medical services oil changes, I’m not tipping you for doing a low skilled task or something insurance covers.
Do barbers also depend on tips? That’s need to me.
I’m fine with tipping in the places where it’s already expected. Wait staff and delivery and such. There those people live on the tips being given. Yeah the system is shit and we should pay them appropriately from the start, but refusing to tip doesn’t fight the system; it just stiffs a worker.
I don’t like it when a bakery or ice cream stand sale terminal prompts me to leave a tip. It makes me feel awkward for hitting no, even though not tipping for ice cream has been and still is standard.
You gotta learn to get past the guilt. Just hit zero. They’re relying on your guilt to extract more money from you.
Oh I hit zero consistently for the normally non-tipped services. I just feel awkward doing it. Feeling awkward isn’t enough to get me to do so, but it is enough to make me unhappy about being asked.
Pass the awkwardness on and place yourself on the side of the employee and shame the employer:
“Oh man this is wild! Just to think that your employers has the audacity to instead of raising your salary to compensate inflation, they just passed that cost onto your customers. I would be so mad if I were you, to be forced to hope for the kindness of strangers instead of getting a liveable salary.”
