Tipping expectations are getting out of hand
By Lethbridge Herald on March 23, 2023.
Editor:
Has tipping and other forms of panhandling gotten out of control? That’s the question I pondered on my way home recently from a quick trip to the grocery store.
Inside the main doors on both sides of the lobby were tables set up with a single person at each soliciting for completely different agencies. Like everyone else I kept on walking – they kept on yakking.
Later at the till, I was asked if I’d like to donate to another worthy cause.
It seems everywhere I go today I’m being asked to donate, donate, donate, or round up my tab to the nearest dollar.
Some establishments are slipping in a “small” charge (like three per cent) for using a credit card – be alert.
The entire panhandling game has changed. How has it changed? Tip-by-tablet is now a public affair. Intimidatingly, in front of everyone looking at us and over our shoulder we’re being publicly shamed into adding to our bill anywhere from 15 to 30 per cent for nothing received in exchange.
I am not intimidated and often tell my personal panhandler you should be tipping me – without me darkening your doorway, there would be no you!
I view current tipping practices as another in the river of pervasive wealth transfer practices – pickpocketing being one of them, all magically happening without a single hand in the pocket.
Check your utility bill! I looked into this further and found panhandling version 2023 seems to have widened the boundaries even more than I’d imagined.
In Portland Oregon, a guy fixated on reducing his waste footprint visited a greenie product store to purchase “green” dishwasher pods. There the tablet register promoted him to leave a tip.
It gets better. A lady took the kids to a “pick your own apples” place after making a reservation to do so. That online reservation application requested a tip of between 10 and 20 per cent.
Is this stretching the boundary of bold or what? I have no idea whatsoever how much more brazen retailers and the general panhandler can become, but I do know that as a fixed income person, who earned every nickel honestly in this grand life, I’m avoiding the craziness of panhandling – version 2023 – in every way possible, and I will not be intimidated doing so.
Alvin W. Shier
Lethbridge
16-15
I quote, “without me darkening your doorway, there would be no you!” Oh Alvin, sigh, I expect that’s what you think, but did you really say that? I expect that person’s parents would disagree with your statement.
Tip or don’t. Donate or don’t. It is all up to you. Just because the person setting up the debit terminal decided to enable the tip function does not mean that I have to use it or that I should feel bad about not using it. I have worked my fair share of these service positions and when I did there wasn’t a tip jar, or terminal prompt to even suggest that I should be tipped. I have been asked numerous times to donate by a cashier and I will always answer no. Our family picks the causes we want to donate to, how much, and how often. Then we donate it. I don’t need to be part of a marketing number so a business can add that to their advertising so the rest of the city can see what a good corporate citizen they are.
If you get wait staff that does a great job, obviously ignoring things out of their control, then tip. If it was a “holy cow” level of service then tip big! If you get standard service, then standard fees apply… those are the ones on the menu. If you get crappy service, then standard fees apply… and reconsider your choice of restaurant in the future.
I think the term for this is “Tipflation”.
Sometimes there is no choice. More and more restaurants are automatically adding an additional 18 percent tip to the bill.
I refuse to revisit these establishments.
I also refuse to go to restaurants that make tipping mandatory. In my late teens, early 20’s I worked of Hy’s Steak House went to BC to work at Hy’s there where we did table service, flambeed main courses and deserts . . . we worked hard and most of the time we were tipped well, but sometimes we were not, but that was okay. We called it a gratuity, which as a guess comes from the word grateful . . .? Gratefully for the good food and service?
After working the industry for several years, I always tip well, unless the service is bad because the server is spending most of their time with a mutual admiration society meeting in the corner with other staff and ignoring the customers. If I can see the server is working hard to serve, but has been overwhelmed by too many customers and not enough staff on duty, I still tip well.
Ultimately though, it is the customers choice. I have run into problems sometimes finding a restaurant in other cities that doesn’t have mandatory tipping, but I will eat fast food, and have before been forced to tip.
In many cases, if gives the server incentive to work harder.
While the comments are valid to a degree I believe the point of the writers letter was missed. Yes you have a choice, however, it is pervasive everywhere. Time to ignore Alvin. Tip options have gone from 10-15% to 18-25%. Must ask, has the service improved, the food any better?
If I choose to order a bottle of wine with dinner, why should I have to pay a 18 percent tip to the server on that?
Let’s go back to a dollar value tipping system rather than percentage.