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After all, these days when you shop at coffee shops, convenience stores, or even self-checkout kiosks, you might see a message on the checkout screen asking you to tip.
Their frustration is clear: About 59% of U.S. adults have a negative view of tipping (down from 66% in 2023), and more than one in three believe tipping culture is out of control, according to Bankrate. investigation Starting in June.
“People are now expected to give tips in situations where they weren’t expected to do so before, and even in professions where tipping is used to, they are now expected to give large amounts of tip. That social pressure is making people edgy,” said a tipping expert. Michael LinProfessor of Consumer Behavior and Marketing at the Cornell University School of Hotel Administration.
Business Insider spoke with tipping and etiquette experts to get specific times when you can forgo tipping without coming across as rude.
“Please take this as a suggestion, not an obligation.”
During the pandemic, people became more generous with their tips, setting a new precedent for how much some workers can expect to earn in tips. Now, as the world adjusts to a post-pandemic normal, some businesses continue to rely on tips to supplement employee wages.
Checkout stations with tip prompts have become ubiquitous in part due to the rise in businesses adopting consumer-facing POS systems like Toast and Square over the past few years.
New York-based etiquette expert Thomas Farley said: Mr. Manners These factors don’t necessarily translate into expectations that customers should tip more, they told Business Insider.
“Just because an offer is presented on one of these storefronts or over-the-counter trading screens, it should be taken as just an offer and not an obligation,” Farley said.
You can omit the tip at self-checkout kiosks…
We know we tip for service we receive, but what about when we provide the service ourselves?
“It’s really surprising to see people asking for tips at self-service kiosks or in the cashier line,” Lin said. “That’s the most surprising thing because it’s not clear who is receiving the tip.”
If you pay by the register yourself, you don’t need to worry about tipping, he says.
…don’t tip for takeaway or counter service items like coffee
If you pick up the food yourself, you may be able to skip the tip (though of course, tipping is handled differently when food is delivered).
“If you don’t want to leave a tip on your takeout order, it’s on the counter, so just pick it up, pay for it already, and walk out,” says etiquette expert Avery Johnson. Southern Etiquette Academy. Still, she notes that it’s OK to tip more than 10% on takeout if the customer has a special request, like ordering something extra.
Lin also doesn’t tip when ordering takeout food, or when receiving counter service, like ordering a cold brew and a pastry at a coffee shop.
Don’t feel pressured to tip on the sweatshirt you just bought
Farley said the rules of tipping etiquette can get a little murky when it comes to tipping prompts that appear when shopping at retail stores.
Let’s say you’ve won tickets to the biggest concert of the year and want to buy a $100 sweatshirt to commemorate it. You go to a stand selling concert merchandise and a salesperson has to pull down your chosen sweatshirt from a rack with a pole. When you try to pay, a message appears on your screen asking for a hint about the transaction.
Customers who have never tipped in this type of transaction before might wonder whether they should tip a few more dollars here.
Farley said customers are not required to tip in these situations. “It’s hard to close the deal, especially if the person is smiling, pleasant and providing good service, but you’re not obligated to tip,” he said.
…or a tip for a meal you already tipped
Farley said the most unexpected tip request he’d ever received was at a sit-down restaurant where the menu already stated the standard 20 percent tip charge was included on the bill.
But when the cashier handed Farley her final bill, the card reader displayed a message asking for an additional 20 percent tip.
“I was very confused,” Farley said, adding that when he asked the waiter why he was being charged a second time, he was told the 20 percent tip was to be shared among all staff, but the 20 percent that showed up on the card reader was for his service that evening.
“The service wasn’t 40 percent service, it was 20 percent service, but I had to pay 40 percent,” Farley said.
If you’re worried you might find yourself in this situation, Farley says you could also ask the restaurant to waive the initial tip fee: “If you’re adamant about it and don’t think that burden should be placed on you, restaurant owners I’ve met and read interviews with will say they’ll fight back and comply with consumers who request that the fee be waived.”
If not, he recommended “finding out” the restaurant’s tipping policy to avoid any awkwardness.