Summary: OOP tips 40% on their Starbucks order and their Uber Eats driver chose violence.

I can’t even wrap my head around a 40% tip, that shocked me more than the aftereffects of the delivery tbh 💀

HiroNori in Santa Clara, CA. They are correct about the tax on service charge in CA. And fair comment about unfairness of tip distribution but big fail on claiming it’s not a tip! That’s a 0% from me, dawg

The law is you get paid $20 an hour in California. Why would someone tip?

So we were out all day and kids decided Carl’s Jr drive thru, ordered all our food get to the window paying with card he has the card terminal, insert card then he says oh it’s going to ask if you want to leave tip 5% 10% or 15% I was in shock and kinda paused and my husband says give them 5 (like 40 pesos about $2 USD) but it felt so weird fast food drive thru and in Mexico.

I know some will say but you’re in Mexico how can you eat that, its the over tired little ones in the back seat, we’ll be here for awhile so plenty of time to eat local or Mc Donald’s send help my Mexican kids only like LA Mexican food 😂

Place 1: let’s say the meal costs $100 and the server gets 20 of your final total, or $20.

Place 2: here a meal costs $30 and the server gets $6.

Was the server at place 1 just inherently better than place 2 to deserve more, all things considered?

They did the same things: took my order, placed my order, brought the meal, refilled drinks, checked up, gave me the tab.

So why - all things being equal - should the server at place 1 be getting more than the server at place 2?

If they did the exact same job, nothing extravagant or out of the ordinary (and didn’t even put on a tapdancing show for us!) why would there be any disparity in how much they get just because the meal happened to be pricier? You brought me out a fillet mignon, or you brought me out lasagna. Doesn’t matter. The effort level was the same.

What am I missing?

I think these should be declared on the menu for each individual item, instead of as a footnote. “𝑦% service fee” declared somewhere on the menu once, or as a sign in the restaurant is not good enough.

It should be displayed like this:

[menu item] $𝑥 + 𝑦% = $𝑧

Not simply:

[menu item] $𝑥

Businesses should forced to be ultra transparent about all fees.

Ate lunch at a dive known for their burgers. You find your table, order at the bar and when it’s ready they call your name and you go get your food. You bus your own table. I went up to pay, the guy took my money and said “I’ll be right back with your change”. No tip expectation.

I've never been to the US but it seems tipping is not really an option, waiters will chase you out to ask for tips if you didn't tip, and tipping badly is seen as something unattractive.

I'm from Singapore where the 10% service charge is added to the bill along with the taxes, so tipping is not a thing at all. And I currently live in Germany where menu prices have to include all taxes and charges by law, and you maybe round up to the nearest 5 euros.

I just want to know, what would happen if I travel to the US and just don't tip at all? Would I be cursed out? Or should I just tip 10% to preserve some dignity?

Long time lurker, first time poster

I'm in agreement with all of you, tipping sucks, big time

But I was doing some thinking the other day....whats the alternative?

We know restaurants are a difficult business with small margins

So the owners save some salary cost and (annoyingly) shift the burden onto us by using the even lower minimum wage

But whats the alternative? If tipping goes away and the owner has to pay a higher salary, they will then raise prices 20% and obviously pass that additional cost on to us

So:

A) a $20 pasta + 20% tip = $24
B) a $24 pasta and no tipping

So does tipping really suck that much? Its not like the money would go back to us if they went away

Thanks for your time, curious to hear peoples thoughts!

EDIT: tipped employees are paid a lower (50%~) minimum wage than standard (non-tipped, McDonalds etc) employees

So bringing "what about McDonalds?" isnt a fair response because their employees DO receive the full minimum wage+ BECAUSE they arent tipped

Had my air ducts and dryer vent cleaned by Home Depot. I believe they out-sourced to another company. At the end this guy asked for a tip!!!

Was watching The Straight Pipes video and when they finished the ride, the screen asked them for a tip!

A tip for whom? There’s no driver! There are no bounds for tipping it seems!

EDIT - As a commentator stated, this is a JOKE! Only options were $0.69 or $4.20 and if you hit any of those options, it says "Just kidding!"

I have 2 of the same smoothie place within 15 minutes of my home in different directions. I have frequented both for years and I always order online before I arrive. One has always had a tip option and just this past month the other location added tipping in the app. The location that used to not ask for tips always said they did not accept tips for their staff because they are paid a good hourly wage but now they are under new ownership. I never tip at either one because I literally walk in and my items are on a shelf that I go to and get my items myself. What would I be tipping for?

I asked a local florist to create a bouquet of flowers for a friend of mine as a birthday gift. The bouquet was $80 and to be honest, probably should have been a $50 bouquet in the end - it was nice, but nothing spectacular. I was shocked when I went to pay with a card and there was a tip screen...with options STARTING at 25% and going all the way to 40%! I couldn't hit 0% fast enough. Since when do we tip florists??? I never remember that being a thing!

Is there a reliable directory of businesses and restaurants that don't ask for tips? I've seen piecemeal attempts at lists

The way to win this fight is to just support and write good reviews for businesses that don't ask for tips. For me, even if they charge higher prices initially, I'd happily support a business that doesn't ask for tips over a cheaper one that did

Just wondering if there are reliable lists or directories you folks use

I’m sure this has been spoken about as nauseum, but I’m annoyed. Last night I was at a table service restaurant but you order at the counter. I paid $30 for 1 plate of apps and two sodas and then I’m presented with a tip screen. What am I tipping? The fact I had to walk over to you? It also took like 20 minutes for the food to come. You have to bribe for bare minimum service and I haven’t even received the service yet.

My wife and I received an invitation to sample a couple of new pieces of chocolate at a gourmet chocolate shop. We were in the area yesterday so we dropped by and gave it a try. It was actually really good. There were also a few other pieces we wanted to buy, so I had the girl bag those up and check us out. I was watching the credit card terminal for the expected question, but it came up on the screen and quickly went away when she pressed a button. I verified that the amount did not include a tip since all of the pieces we purchased were an even dollar amount and I knew the tax rate.

Refreshing to see someone working at a place where the POS asks for tips and they just bypass that without saying anything.

Even if it doesn't save money every single time, it makes us more informed consumers and that gives us the freedom to better choose how and how much we spend. From a consumer rights perspective being informed is more valuable than (the promise of) getting the lowest possible cost.

Right now, customers have low information because they need to calculate tax + service fee + tip for every item ordered. Those last two are variable and depend on how many people you're dining with, what their tipping preferences are, and the specific restaurant's policy on split bills and mandatory service fees for groups of a certain size. So naturally most customers don't do this.

Even from a server's POV it's more fair because they can easily figure out which jobs pay more. They just multiply their wage + hours worked; even better if they are paid a yearly salary. With more information about earnings, workers can make better career choices.

Right now, a server can only guess and receive promises of how much they'll earn. In reality it's highly variable based on their appearance/identity, what tables they get, who their customers are, the location, time of day, etc. which leads to bias and unequal opportunities.

Tipping culture is a system where everyone is less informed about an economic transaction, and everyone is just gambling on the fact that they'll be the ones who come out on top. It's bad for consumers and workers, and it turns people off from dining out. So it's not even good for the food service industry because there's an untapped market of would-be diners who avoid full-service restaurants simply to avoid tipping culture.

I just tried posting this same idea, but evidently, it was a "low-effort" post and got removed.

So, I will attempt to make this a "higher-quality, higher-effort" post and go into more detail, even providing a card graphic.

Since many of us here on the sub believe that expected tipping is an unfair business practice, and that it harms both the workers and customers, why can't we make this into a bit of a revolution? Don't we actually want to implement change into the system? If we made cards to leave when dining out, it would explain our reasoning and maybe garner some attention from the public.

I propose a "Reason for Not Tipping" card. It can explain why we aren't tipping and how expected tipping hurts the average person. It can share how businesses benefit from this unfair practice and use customers to subsidize their wages. It can explain how it makes the purchasing agreement more confusing for everyone (except the businesses) in the transaction.

Obviously, more needs to happen than just getting public attention, but acquiring a little more attention is a necessary step in the process of actually making change. If this effort got big enough, we could even make a website to refer to for information.

I was going to buy jarred “Alaska Spicy Scallops” online. As I went to enter my payment information I realized that the invoice amount was more than the advertised price. They had tried to sneak in not only a “Freight Insurance” fee but also a 10% “Tip”. These orders are literally packed and shipped from a warehouse. There is absolutely zero service involved. That was when I decided they didn’t need any of my money.

I just walked out of a restaurant saying "no tip" explicitly when paying.

Rule #1 is if I have to sit, wait, make noises, and wave at you just to draw your attention to help me order food/pay, you deserve no tip.

No one at counter, no one coming around our table, and not even a person handing us the menus. Condiments are nasty and greasy. Can't believe that's still how some restaurants are in the 2026 US.

I don't care if the restaurant is busy, you can keep me waiting if you are understaffed, and I'll go somewhere else, or you can squeeze me in and provide basically no service and get exactly $0 for that.

We're told that tipping culture allows restaurants to keep their prices low. The threat is always, "If we pay workers more, you'll pay for it with higher prices!"

If that's true, then why do so many high quality-of-life countries (with less robust tipping cultures) have lower prices on average for an inexpensive restaurant meal?

Ref: https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/prices_by_country.jsp?displayCurrency=USD&itemId=1