There is pretty much one way to stop this: stop patronizing carry-out and counter service establishments that throw a tip question into the checkout process. It's not enough to just elect zero tip. Stop giving them your money, period.
No problem tipping for good sit-down table service, or a good bartender at a bar. But at carry-out and self-service places, there's no service provided so nothing to earn a tip.
A tip needs to be for the part of service you can directly evaluate. If you give the same tip everywhere you are doing it wrong. If you don't stop think about it that is wrong. If paying for the group the tip is a group discussion even if the rest of the cost is kept secret.
A confounding factor is you don't generally know whether a server gets the tip. Many places create a pool of tips that gets distributed across the wait staff and sometimes even the rest of the staff.
You can only vote with your feet if there’s somewhere else for you to walk. You may do the best you can avoiding all these places. But then you’re there at a local arena for a show. You take a beer out of the fridge and check out. The cashier takes your card and flips the screen towards you and the screen wants 25% on a $15 beer for the cashier’s labor of cracking the can (which they have to do anyway by policy).
That was an example. My point is that these are showing up in more and more places, and they prey on the fact that you’ve already committed to a purchasing decision by the time you realize you will be asked for a tip. Substitute my example for buying a gift for a friend at a fun little gift store, or buying vegetables at a farmers market.
I suspect that the "service" distinction is no less arbitrary than tipping in general. It might not seem that an occupation has a service component until it vanishes. How can counter service go wrong? Famous last words. If tipping sets up a relationship between quality and pay, it could affect any job.
Who gets tipped is a matter of social custom, though each person is free to come up with their own criteria.
Disclosure: I earn tip income in my side job as a musician.
A good way to bypass this (and increase your privacy) is to just pay cash. Then you don't interact with the screen at all and there isn't even any expectation of a tip. Funny how it changes.
WE ARE A CASHLESS VENUE. You may convert your cash into an interest-free loan for the venue at the inconveniently-located customer cash extraction machine.
No service provided? Like, the line cook isn't juggling 8 orders in order to package your stuff and get it to you in a timely and accurate way? Agree that you don't really know how well they did until you open up your order, but I also disagree that the tip is based only on "good" service. The idiotic wage structure we have right now makes workerbees dependent on some level of tips.
Comments
There is pretty much one way to stop this: stop patronizing carry-out and counter service establishments that throw a tip question into the checkout process. It's not enough to just elect zero tip. Stop giving them your money, period.
No problem tipping for good sit-down table service, or a good bartender at a bar. But at carry-out and self-service places, there's no service provided so nothing to earn a tip.
I have a problem tipping for anything now. If a tip is something someone expects, it's no longer a tip, it's a hidden charge, and I don't like it.
A tip needs to be for the part of service you can directly evaluate. If you give the same tip everywhere you are doing it wrong. If you don't stop think about it that is wrong. If paying for the group the tip is a group discussion even if the rest of the cost is kept secret.
Pay for value, the percent is a suggestion.
A confounding factor is you don't generally know whether a server gets the tip. Many places create a pool of tips that gets distributed across the wait staff and sometimes even the rest of the staff.
I consider that fraud. Though the law probably does not.
You can only vote with your feet if there’s somewhere else for you to walk. You may do the best you can avoiding all these places. But then you’re there at a local arena for a show. You take a beer out of the fridge and check out. The cashier takes your card and flips the screen towards you and the screen wants 25% on a $15 beer for the cashier’s labor of cracking the can (which they have to do anyway by policy).
Well you can just not buy the beer.
That was an example. My point is that these are showing up in more and more places, and they prey on the fact that you’ve already committed to a purchasing decision by the time you realize you will be asked for a tip. Substitute my example for buying a gift for a friend at a fun little gift store, or buying vegetables at a farmers market.
I haven't seen tip requests at point-of-purchase for anything other than prepared food/drinks yet. I suppose that might be coming.
I suspect that the "service" distinction is no less arbitrary than tipping in general. It might not seem that an occupation has a service component until it vanishes. How can counter service go wrong? Famous last words. If tipping sets up a relationship between quality and pay, it could affect any job.
Who gets tipped is a matter of social custom, though each person is free to come up with their own criteria.
Disclosure: I earn tip income in my side job as a musician.
A tip at McDonald's. Hello I ordered at the kiosk and just spoke literally one word to the young lady over there why am I tipping...
McDonalds used to not allow tips. I suspect that hasn't changed but they didn't configure the kiosk
I was told, when growing up, that if they come to your table, take your order, bring your food—you tip.
Otherwise, negatory.
A good way to bypass this (and increase your privacy) is to just pay cash. Then you don't interact with the screen at all and there isn't even any expectation of a tip. Funny how it changes.
WE ARE A CASHLESS VENUE. You may convert your cash into an interest-free loan for the venue at the inconveniently-located customer cash extraction machine.
It's close to 100% of carry out/counter service establishments. This advice isn't practicable.
No service provided? Like, the line cook isn't juggling 8 orders in order to package your stuff and get it to you in a timely and accurate way? Agree that you don't really know how well they did until you open up your order, but I also disagree that the tip is based only on "good" service. The idiotic wage structure we have right now makes workerbees dependent on some level of tips.
God please yes. That time is better spent on paying customers.