Will this affect your Tipping? [Suggested Tip Amounts]

Questions on how we spend our money and our time - consumer goods and services, home and vehicle, leisure and recreational activities

Will the mentioned technology affect your behaviour?

Yes, I will tip more often and/or larger relative amounts
11
9%
Yes, I will top less often and/or smaller relative amounts
20
16%
No, I'm a member of homo economicus
62
51%
Other, because Bogleheads always want more choices
29
24%
 
Total votes: 122

Topic Author
ThatGuy
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Will this affect your Tipping? [Suggested Tip Amounts]

Post by ThatGuy »

This forum seems to be populated by many rational beings, known as Homo economicus. Since tipping is always fun topic on these boards, I'm curious, will this new trend affect your behaviour?
Technology May Turn You Into A Bigger Tipper wrote:Molly Moon Neitzel has seen this firsthand at her Seattle shop, Molly Moon Homemade Ice Cream. Last year, she installed a type of iPad-based cash register made by Square at one of her six shops. When customers pay with a credit card for their scoops, the cashier flips the iPad around so they can swipe their cards. Before they can sign their names, they're presented with a screen that suggests tip amounts. The options at Molly Moon are $1, $2, $3 or no tip.

You physically have to hit "no tip" — and feel like a jerk — if you want to be stingy. The system is smart. If you buy only one cone, it will give you whole dollar tip suggestions. However, if you buy scoops for, say, an entire little league team, Square suggests percentage tips. This might sound insignificant, but Neitzel says her staff noticed they were quickly making up to 50 percent more in tips.
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Dutch
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Re: Will this affect your Tipping?

Post by Dutch »

I never respond well to suggested tip amounts
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BrandonBogle
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Re: Will this affect your Tipping?

Post by BrandonBogle »

I hit other b/c I loved your wording of that option. However, for something like this, how would one specify a specific tip amount? If you choices are predetermined dollar amounts (regardless of whether whole or based on percentages) or no tip, I would personally be hitting no tip more often and asking how do I provide a tip of my preference.

Lately I have not done this, but before when I would go out much more often, I would pick a tip that fit around my percentage goal while made my total dollar amount "stand out" to me for when I review my statement. So if my bill with would be $12, I would add a few cents to the tip to get a bill of $12.03 since 1 + 2 (from the $12) = 3. This was an easy way to spot discrepancies in my statement.

However, I have go out much less now and when I do, I simply keep the receipt in my wallet for a week and check the posted balance online and toss the receipt if it matches. Prior to this, I only once caught a mistake with the previous mistake and using this method, I caught a mistake this week. For this week's mistake, I should have just paid more attention. I bought take out for $6 + tax and my credit card receipt shows I was charged $10.77. Something must have gone wrong there, but I totally missed it when signing my receipt at the restaurant!
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Re: Will this affect your Tipping?

Post by Jack FFR1846 »

Unless I'm with a large group where tipping is set (because 18 people leave $1 on a $300 bill), I don't like suggestions. I tend to tip well, starting at 20% and if it's a small meal, like breakfast or my son and I split a meal because we couldn't possibly eat 2 full meals, I'll tip higher. As an example, my wife and I and one son go get lunch. Wife and I split a meal and son gets a kids meal. After the coupon, the whole bill is maybe $15. I'll leave $10 tip or more.
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livesoft
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Re: Will this affect your Tipping?

Post by livesoft »

Checks at restaurants that I go to already suggest tip rates: 15%, 18%, 20%. They give the amount BEFORE tax is added, too.
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The Wizard
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Re: Will this affect your Tipping?

Post by The Wizard »

I don't think I've ever paid for a cone/dish of ice cream with a CC and have certainly never left a tip for it.
I'm talking about stores where you give your order standing up and the person makes it in front of you...
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Re: Will this affect your Tipping?

Post by Grt2bOutdoors »

I tip for service - you fill up my water glass when it's half empty during a sit down meal. I tip when you go out of your way to make the experience better than expected. I don't tip for someone being paid to scoop ice cream into a pre-made cone and charging me $5 a scoop. This tipping business has gotten out of control. And suggested tips is likely to make me give less - I don't like bullies. :annoyed
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barnaclebob
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Re: Will this affect your Tipping?

Post by barnaclebob »

If I'm standing, I'm not tipping.

$1pp if I order standing but the waitress brings the meal out and I don't have to clean my table

20% for full service.
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ThatGuy
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Re: Will this affect your Tipping?

Post by ThatGuy »

This is still early, but I'm actually surprised at the number of responses stating that this won't change their behaviour. How will you continue to give the same tip as before, when there is no "other" button on the iPad? I thought everyone on these boards used cash back credit cards for everything?

As far as the comments about not liking suggested tips, I'll quote this also from the story:
Haggag was intrigued by these suggestions. He analyzed 13 million cab rides in New York City. The researchers noticed that New York's taxis used credit card machines that suggest tips far higher than what most riders were used to paying — as much as 30 percent.

"If taxis can just increase their revenues by making this small change, why don't they just keep raising their percentages through the roof?" Haggag asks.

It turns out that taxis that suggested higher tips did take in more money. However, a 30 percent tip suggestion also annoyed some taxi riders, which Haggag calls the backlash effect.

"What we found is that the proportion of customers that leave no credit card tip also jumps. More than a 50 percent increase," Haggag says.
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bertilak
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Re: Will this affect your Tipping?

Post by bertilak »

No.

Even before this technology one had to sign a CC receipt which conveniently left a space for a tip. I usually just draw a line through that space since I usually leave tips as cash on the table. I assume whoever is running may card understands that. If exposed to this new technology I will assume they still understand. I draw the line for two reasons:
  1. No sense letting someone besides me make the decision to put a tip on the card or not.
  2. Long time ago, I simply left the tip space blank but, believe it or not, cashiers often would stop and ask if I wanted to leave a tip! Drawing the line has eliminated that little annoyance.
I almost never put anything in a tip jar because those are usually in places where the customer does all the work of collecting the food, delivering it to the table, refilling water glasses, getting extra napkins and, when done eating, putting trash in the trash bin, dealing with glasses and silverware and stacking up the trays. I feel I should be the one getting a tip!

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bottlecap
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Re: Will this affect your Tipping?

Post by bottlecap »

Grt2bOutdoors wrote:I tip for service - you fill up my water glass when it's half empty during a sit down meal. I tip when you go out of your way to make the experience better than expected. I don't tip for someone being paid to scoop ice cream into a pre-made cone and charging me $5 a scoop. This tipping business has gotten out of control. And suggested tips is likely to make me give less - I don't like bullies. :annoyed
It is crazy that this is at an ice cream shop. What exactly is the tip for? Will they let me get behind the counter and scoop my own? There is no service component here, they are providing you a good. Before they do this, they have to make the good first. There should be no tip for handing me an ice cream cone and taking my money. Should I tip a McDonald's cashier? They are doing the same thing.

That said, I do occasionally drop a buck or two in the tip jar at these places, but I feel silly doing it. The tip jar being there is bad enough. If the employer put it on their iPad register, I probably wouldn't frequent that business anymore. It's just too presumptuous, especially in situations when the employer should be paying the employees, not the customer.

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englishgirl
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Re: Will this affect your Tipping?

Post by englishgirl »

I would generally not tip in an ice cream store. But I would feel like a jerk hitting "no tip". So I'm pretty sure I'll be the sucker who now starts tipping $1.
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bengal22
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Re: Will this affect your Tipping?

Post by bengal22 »

I would not frequent an establishment that used this technique. I consider myself a good tipper but I do not like being bullied.
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fareastwarriors
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Re: Will this affect your Tipping?

Post by fareastwarriors »

Grt2bOutdoors wrote:I tip for service - you fill up my water glass when it's half empty during a sit down meal. I tip when you go out of your way to make the experience better than expected. I don't tip for someone being paid to scoop ice cream into a pre-made cone and charging me $5 a scoop. This tipping business has gotten out of control. And suggested tips is likely to make me give less - I don't like bullies. :annoyed

Me too, I'm fed up with it. It feels like tips are expected at nearly every retail establishment...
sigh
letsgobobby
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Re: Will this affect your Tipping?

Post by letsgobobby »

This is a really tricky situation. At the small shops I frequent that use an iPad for transactions, there is typically a line. Things are moving fast. There is peer pressure to finish the transaction and move on. And since I'm not familiar with the interface, I'm at a disadvantage - I just want to hit something, and move on.

Typically at stand-in-line-and-order places, I would not tip. No specific service has been provided, and besides, in WA and OR waitstaff are not paid less than the already high minimum wage even if they also receive tips. However it's not a religion - I'll tip 10% anyway, irregularly, just because. In OR it's easy because there is no sales tax. In WA I don't tip tax, which means for an iPad based transaction I have to back out the 8%+ tax (which isn't transparent on the iPad receipt), manually calculate a new x% tip on the untaxed base amount, figure out how to do all that on an interface which isn't familiar to me, and do it quickly while people are standing behind me in line getting antsy to eat their http://saltandstraw.com/ ice cream. It's easy to get flustered.

Maybe the solution is simply to pay cash at these institutions, to retain control over the process, which in its current iteration feels very imbalanced.
scrabbler1
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Re: Will this affect your Tipping?

Post by scrabbler1 »

Two words: Use Cash!

No, I would not tip at an ice cream place unless I was receiving waiter/waitress service while sitting down at a table. This is really tacky.
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Re: Will this affect your Tipping?

Post by Ged »

I don't use a credit card for small purchases and rarely use one in restaurants. Generally I try to limit the exposure of things like credit card numbers etc. to third parties.
poker27
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Re: Will this affect your Tipping?

Post by poker27 »

I typically tip well, and will usually tip a buck or two when I go for carryout. However I hate being put in that situation. I would be less likely to visit the establishment just for the headache.
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Re: Will this affect your Tipping?

Post by an_asker »

livesoft wrote:Checks at restaurants that I go to already suggest tip rates: 15%, 18%, 20%. They give the amount BEFORE tax is added, too.
Isn't a sit down restaurant somewhat different? I've been confronted by these 'tip suggestors' at Pizza Hut when I go to carryout my pizza. I just sign the bottom line and come out. Maybe I should be crossing out the tip line or writing ZERO there, eh?
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Re: Will this affect your Tipping?

Post by SimonJester »

Counter service = no tip and I would use cash.


I really question the overall security of these Ipad / Cell phone credit card readers. If hackers can install maleware on department store cash registers and grab credit card info as its swiped, how hard would it be to install something on someone's Ipad or Cell phone to do the same? Probably a lot easier!
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placeholder
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Re: Will this affect your Tipping?

Post by placeholder »

I would use a CC (I do for almost everything) and I would have no problem hitting No Tip.
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Yes, it will

Post by davebarnes »

Dutch wrote:I never respond well to suggested tip amounts
I automatically touch the $zero.
Even if I was planning to tip.
I never use cash. Always plastic. Changed my habits at age 62.
Last edited by davebarnes on Wed Mar 05, 2014 9:47 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Rob5TCP
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Re: Will this affect your Tipping?

Post by Rob5TCP »

I noticed when they starting credit cards in NYC cabs, the tip amount were extraordinarily generous (18/20/25 were the choices).
When I am in a hurry, I sometimes will select one of the amounts. Other times, I will give the amount I intend to.

For other places, I have no problem hitting no tip if I don't wish to tip.
herbie
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Re: Will this affect your Tipping?

Post by herbie »

englishgirl wrote:I would generally not tip in an ice cream store. But I would feel like a jerk hitting "no tip". So I'm pretty sure I'll be the sucker who now starts tipping $1.
I'm here.

I have seen these systems (two of my coffee shop haunts use them), and they do give the option to enter a custom tip amount. But, I accidentally entered 10.00 instead of 1.00 once and that was a PITA and slightly embarassing when they had to go in and refund me the money. Now I try to use cash and tip as I normally do.
Last edited by herbie on Wed Mar 05, 2014 2:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Mike Scott
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Re: Will this affect your Tipping?

Post by Mike Scott »

count me as a "no tip jerk" at the ice cream shop and by the way I won't be back to buy any more ice cream either
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serbeer
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Re: Will this affect your Tipping?

Post by serbeer »

I suppose if I did not read this and would be caught off guard by such system, I would be inclined to tip $1 for the reason mentioned, though normally I would not leave the tip under these circumstances. However, now that I read this and mentally prepared to encounter something like this in the future, I'll have no problem choosing no tip option.
So, thank you for posting :)
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Re: Will this affect your Tipping?

Post by TSR »

I once hit "no tip" in front of my girlfriend in this exact situation (and then left a dollar in the tip jar because that seemed reasonable as opposed to a percentage). She told me that "in this economy" I was a jerk for not spreading the wealth around. I made the same point about this not being a service establishment, there being no below-minimum-wage workers there, etc., and she just looked at me like I was the worst person in the world. I asked if the presence of the tip option in any store automatically meant that one had to tip. She said yes. I asked if this would apply to Walmart. She said yes.

The point of the story is that we are no longer in a relationship.
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dm200
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Re: Will this affect your Tipping?

Post by dm200 »

There are so many confusing factors is deciding whether (and the amount of) a tip.

I would be interested in hearing from those who have direct experience/knowledge of those involved with carryout "service". It seems to me there are several categories of "carryout" that I notice:

1. Establishments where carryout is a regular, normal and frequent part of the establishment's business and there is normal flow of just carryout. The employees handle the carryout for all or the majority of their duties. Or, there is little, if any, difference between eat-in and carryout (McDonalds for example). In these cases, I tend to not give a tip.

2. Establishments where most of the business is table service, but the same employees may package and give the carryout order. These are the most puzzling to me, since it seems the employees do just as much work as serving the same orders at a table or the counter. I would want to be fair to such employees, but how is that different from #1?
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BrandonBogle
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Re: Will this affect your Tipping?

Post by BrandonBogle »

dm200 wrote:There are so many confusing factors is deciding whether (and the amount of) a tip.

I would be interested in hearing from those who have direct experience/knowledge of those involved with carryout "service". It seems to me there are several categories of "carryout" that I notice:

1. Establishments where carryout is a regular, normal and frequent part of the establishment's business and there is normal flow of just carryout. The employees handle the carryout for all or the majority of their duties. Or, there is little, if any, difference between eat-in and carryout (McDonalds for example). In these cases, I tend to not give a tip.

2. Establishments where most of the business is table service, but the same employees may package and give the carryout order. These are the most puzzling to me, since it seems the employees do just as much work as serving the same orders at a table or the counter. I would want to be fair to such employees, but how is that different from #1?
The restaurant I most frequently do take out with is a #2, but it is NOT the wait staff that does this to your food, but the hostess and register person. That person is NOT making tips from the tables, so I work on the assumption they at least make minimum wage. If it was the wait staff doing this, that could put some credence on a small tip. Other factors would have to come into play (like how busy there are -- the wait staff could have been sitting around bored).
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RyeWhiskey
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Re: Will this affect your Tipping?

Post by RyeWhiskey »

As someone who has spent many years working in the service industry I always tip. I use the following rules:
- $1 for cup of coffee, drink at bar, ice cream (which I never get but if I did)
- 20% for good service at a sit down place
- 10%-20% for take-out, counter service, depending upon how familiar I am with the place, etc...

Most service employees make near minimum wage and rely on tips to make a living wage. Without discussing why this is the case and what it means to have a customer pay a part of an employee's wage, tipping is important and always appreciated. For a simple example: I got some tacos after drinks last night and my bill was $6.75. I left a $2 tip and watched as the lady behind the counter looked, genuinely smiled, looked at me and thanked me, and then went about her business. My tacos were excellent. :beer
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JupiterJones
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Re: Will this affect your Tipping?

Post by JupiterJones »

"You physically have to hit 'no tip' — and feel like a jerk — if you want to be stingy"

I usually don't tip for to-go orders that do not involve a server or any significant amount of expo.

I've used these tablet thingies while getting take-out from a sandwich shop before. And I've hit "no tip". Didn't feel like a jerk at all.

Well, not any more of a jerk than my standard, base level of jerkiness, at least. :D
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MDfive21
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Re: Will this affect your Tipping?

Post by MDfive21 »

everyone who doesn't tip should be required to work in a tipped position (and subsist on those wages) for 6 months or more. i bet your outlook on tipping would change dramatically, considering these are minimum wage or lower jobs. the pay is inconsistent and varies greatly by season and the weather.
we can argue all day about how the industry should change the structure of pay but for now, it is what it is.

in this situation, i would probably tip $1 for each serving of ice cream, enjoy the big smile i get from the server, and know that i made his/her day a little brighter.

fwiw, for takeout i usually add a couple dollars unless it's a big order, then no more than $5.
$20-40 sit down meal is $7 flat tip. if they served me the put in $7 worth of effort especially if i have my 4yr old with me.
$40-60 sit downm meal is $7 to $10. depends on establishment.
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kenyan
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Re: Will this affect your Tipping?

Post by kenyan »

One of my pet peeves already is the take-out only/fast-food or other similar establishment that leaves a tip line on the credit card receipt. I recently patronized a sit-down restaurant that also does a fair amount of take-out business, and the cashier was so kind to cross out the tip line before he even handed me the receipt for my take-out order. I'm definitely returning there :D .

When I get pestered (in my mind, this is pestering) for tips in cases where I do not feel any tip is warranted or should be expected, it does not make me any more inclined to tip. I would not feel like a jerk, either (even if I am); I would feel like it was an imposition for them to ask.
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prudent
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Re: Will this affect your Tipping?

Post by prudent »

I always carry some cash so I can tip in cash (other than the rare high-end meal where I would miss the 2% cash back). So for me this would not change my behavior - I tend to click/tap/write "no tip" as a reflex.

Although I find it irritating that places want to force-feed you a suggested tip amount, I don't hold that against the workers. If they earned a good tip, fine. If they are subpar, the tip will be commensurate. But I would not be coerced into selecting an amount from a tip menu.

I did get a good laugh at the taxi story, though. Suggested 30% tip! No wonder the number of no-tippers went up. That giant suggested tip might work with foreign visitors who may not grasp the concept and just click/tap the OK button, and I suppose it might work with the math-impaired.
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Re: Will this affect your Tipping?

Post by Ice-9 »

bengal22 wrote:I would not frequent an establishment that used this technique. I consider myself a good tipper but I do not like being bullied.
I was hoping no one else expressed this sentiment so I could post it. :D But you did, and that's exactly how I feel. I would not be a patron of Molly Moon because of this practice. I do not believe ice cream shop servers should be tipped; that's just silly talk. I tip wait staff 20% of the total bill (including tax) normally.
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Re: Will this affect your Tipping?

Post by BrandonBogle »

prudent wrote:Although I find it irritating that places want to force-feed you a suggested tip amount, I don't hold that against the workers. If they earned a good tip, fine. If they are subpar, the tip will be commensurate. But I would not be coerced into selecting an amount from a tip menu.
I have found some restaurants in my area providing the suggested tip for various percentages and when I do the math, they calculated the suggested tip post-tax instead of pre-tax. The worst is when they pre-fill the suggested Tip on the receipt line and put a blank space for any "adjustments" to the tip.
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Re: Will this affect your Tipping?

Post by BrandonBogle »

Ice-9 wrote:
bengal22 wrote:I would not frequent an establishment that used this technique. I consider myself a good tipper but I do not like being bullied.
I was hoping no one else expressed this sentiment so I could post it. :D But you did, and that's exactly how I feel. I would not be a patron of Molly Moon because of this practice. I do not believe ice cream shop servers should be tipped; that's just silly talk. I tip wait staff 20% of the total bill (including tax) normally.
I feel the same, often tipping 20% or even more. I did once tip an ice-cream girl. Over this past New Years we got some ice cream from a Kilwins and I saw a Christmas ornament that would be perfect for a friend. I decided to buy it and asked the lady at the register if they had a box I could put it in since I would need to put this in my suitcase and would not want it crushed. She excused herself and took out one of the general inbound shipment boxes, and put my ornament along with wax paper and a "gift bag" into the box and taped it up well using shipping tape. She got a tip and a very, very genuine "Thank you!"
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Re: Will this affect your Tipping?

Post by grog »

I saw this in a taxi a while back. As an added twist, the options were something like a)$2, b)$3, c) other amount, d) no tip, with $1 deliberately omitted. If you did want to tip $1, you had to hit "other," then work through another menu. They are clearly trying to steer you away from the $1 tip through inconvenience and also with the implication that $1 is an unusual, inappropriately low tip amount. Manipulative, in my opinion.
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Meaty
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Re: Will this affect your Tipping?

Post by Meaty »

JupiterJones wrote:"You physically have to hit 'no tip' — and feel like a jerk — if you want to be stingy"

I usually don't tip for to-go orders that do not involve a server or any significant amount of expo.

I've used these tablet thingies while getting take-out from a sandwich shop before. And I've hit "no tip". Didn't feel like a jerk at all.

Well, not any more of a jerk than my standard, base level of jerkiness, at least. :D
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Raladic
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Re: Will this affect your Tipping?

Post by Raladic »

BrandonBogle wrote: I have found some restaurants in my area providing the suggested tip for various percentages and when I do the math, they calculated the suggested tip post-tax instead of pre-tax.
This is my worst pet-peeve. I'm not going to tip the tax I'm already paying.

Our tax rate here (state+local) is 9.5%, so I usually just multiply tax*2 for a good tip and dock off $1-2 if the service wasn't as excellent as it should be.

Having come from Europe originally where under no circumstance would you ever tip more than (if even) 10%, this has taken us a while to get used to, however, and this we do see, the service in the US is exceptionally better than in Europe, sometimes it might be a bit over the top and fake, but we'll take over the top any time over having to woo for the servers attention to take our order (as a general European experience), so we have come to term that for better service we are now okay with tipping that much more.

Ironically, I believe that if minimum wages will go up to European levels, service will most likely suffer, as restaurants will probably downsize the amount of staff to European levels, which means more customers per server, which in turn means less attention on a per customer basis (hence the wooing of your server so he will plead you some attention to take your order).
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Re: Will this affect your Tipping?

Post by sport »

The worst I ever saw was a sit-down restaurant. It was a slow night, and the meal was served by the owner of the place. He calculated the tip HE thought was appropriate, and added It to the bill. He insisted I pay it too. I never went back, and he later went out of business.
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Re: Will this affect your Tipping?

Post by TSR »

MDfive21 wrote:everyone who doesn't tip should be required to work in a tipped position (and subsist on those wages) for 6 months or more. i bet your outlook on tipping would change dramatically, considering these are minimum wage or lower jobs. the pay is inconsistent and varies greatly by season and the weather.
we can argue all day about how the industry should change the structure of pay but for now, it is what it is.

in this situation, i would probably tip $1 for each serving of ice cream, enjoy the big smile i get from the server, and know that i made his/her day a little brighter.

fwiw, for takeout i usually add a couple dollars unless it's a big order, then no more than $5.
$20-40 sit down meal is $7 flat tip. if they served me the put in $7 worth of effort especially if i have my 4yr old with me.
$40-60 sit downm meal is $7 to $10. depends on establishment.
I think the trouble here is knowing what is a "tipped position" and what is not. I always tip wait-staff more than 20%, aiming for around 20% but always rounding up to at least the nearest dollar, sometimes much more. I do this on top of tax because I just don't want to get cheap about it. But when I go to get takeout, my assumption is that the person behind the counter is not working in a "tipped position." I will often tip in such situations, especially for more hands-on service. But I am frustrated by the fact that seemingly the only evidence that anyone expects tips is that they put the tip jar out on the counter (or on the CC receipt). Honestly, what would you do if McDonalds did this? What about Target? The folks at Target make as little as the folks at Chipotle, but it wouldn't occur to me to tip the folks at Target. I think posters here are responding to the fact that it feels very arbitrary and slightly manipulative to be given this as an option and then to have their options narrowed considerably to an "opt out" mode.
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stemikger
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Re: Will this affect your Tipping?

Post by stemikger »

I always tip well. I used to work for tips and I remember how much they used to mean to me. The only exception is rude service which is not too often.
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frugaltype
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Re: Will this affect your Tipping?

Post by frugaltype »

I can't imagine tipping when buying an ice cream cone.

At sit down places for actual food, I generally tip 20%.

I usually ignore tip jars at places where you order at a counter and pick it up there. I do put my change or a dollar or two in at one place that I am in frequently and where the counter people are nice. For example, they only have one vegetarian wrap and were out of hummus, so they thought and with my okay substituted guacamole. It's also a local store, not some evil franchise.
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Cosmo
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Re: Will this affect your Tipping?

Post by Cosmo »

Tip for what?!? Standing in line, I am supposed to leave a tip? Not only a "no tip" but a diplomatic WTF. " I am supposed to tip you? Really?" Um hell no, this is a scam.
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frugaltype
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Re: Will this affect your Tipping?

Post by frugaltype »

Raladic wrote: the service in the US is exceptionally better than in Europe, sometimes it might be a bit over the top and fake, but we'll take over the top any time over having to woo for the servers attention to take our order (as a general European experience), so we have come to term that for better service we are now okay with tipping that much more.

Ironically, I believe that if minimum wages will go up to European levels, service will most likely suffer, as restaurants will probably downsize the amount of staff to European levels, which means more customers per server, which in turn means less attention on a per customer basis (hence the wooing of your server so he will plead you some attention to take your order).
I think Europeans feel that providing good service is beneath them. I think their attitude is not a function of money. Just imho.
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Re: Will this affect your Tipping?

Post by Grt2bOutdoors »

I have had great service and good service. I tip commensurately. I have also had mediocre and just plain terrible service where those doing the serving have zero business working in the hospitality field. You can guess what their tip was, but no where as bad as a former colleague of mine who waited tables and bused to pay for college - for bad service the tip ranges from a dime to a penny depending on severity.
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YttriumNitrate
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Re: Will this affect your Tipping?

Post by YttriumNitrate »

Going back to the original topic of forcing people to actively turn down a tip, this reminds me of all those stores where at checkout they ask you if you would like to donate a dollar to some charity. While the money might be going for a good cause, my view is that it's rather tacky to put your customers in that position and I tend to avoid places that ask for a donation. One example I can think of is that Domino's is no longer in my Friday night pizza rotation due in part to their St. Jude campaign.

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Re: Will this affect your Tipping?

Post by gd »

I don't know what I'd do, because I've never bought an ice cream cone with a credit card. I'm guessing I'd have looked at the prices and walked away before buying.

OT but to reply above, in my modest but relevant experience European service attitudes are based on it being more of a respectable life-long profession rather than a short-term job. Particularly outside of a tourist area, most of their customers are neighbors or people they see all the time, and they are equals who happen to work in that restaurant. Treat them even subtly as servants, easy to do for a tourist, and you'll get a reaction. Add cultural differences like conventions for when you are attended to and when you are left alone, and perceptions of bad service result.

TIpping is sort of insulting in a way; it's their job. I say this first-hand; I have the same reaction in my customer-contact-intensive job when rookie customers tip me for my services (it's not normally done); I'm flattered, but also somehow vaguely offended that they pay me extra when I have the professionalism to do my job well anyway.
sls239
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Re: Will this affect your Tipping?

Post by sls239 »

If I were buying ice cream for myself I probably wouldn't tip. If I were buying ice cream for an entire little league team, I probably would. But in either case, I see no reason other than greed to make it part of the required payment process instead of just a convenient add-on. It makes the owner look petty and money grubbing.
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