Whether we like it or not, tipping is here to stay, although it’s taken a different form than what’s historically been presented.
Recently, customers, shoppers, and diners met in an online discussion to reveal the times they realized tipping culture had gotten entirely out of control.
1. The All-You-Can-Eat Buffet
When your local buffet chain restaurant begins pushing you to tip amounts usually reserved for full-service restaurants, you know diners will have a problem with it! “A local all-you-can-eat buffet that we go to occasionally now asks for a tip at the register when you enter,” says one man. “The default is 20%, and you must manually change it if you want to pay less or nothing.”
2. The Neighborhood Pressure
Many people express surprise (and outrage!) that many of their neighbors started to tip delivery services when they dropped off packages. But, from the Amazon driver to the UPS driver, will we finally get to the point where we are tipping the mailman every time he drops off a letter?
3. The Internet Purchase
I’ve never experienced this, and I hope I never do: One customer recalls recently purchasing something online, only to be met with a bizarre request to tip. “I was asked if I wanted to tip the people who processed my order I purchased online,” she explains. “For goodness sake, people pay your employees, and don’t make me fear how well they’ll package my order!”
4. Moving the Goalposts
One of the more underhanded ways restaurants have tried to extract extra tips from customers lately is by changing their point-of-sale systems directly. Many diners call out establishments that default to larger-than-normal tip amounts, such as 25-30%, instead of the standard 15-20%. These people feel pressured to choose one of the default options because they get put on the spot.
5. The Fast Food Tip
One specific person in Las Vegas, Nevada, has found that the obscene tipping culture spilled over to her local fast-food restaurant, giving her quite a shock! “One of my pet peeves here in Las Vegas is that tip jars are turning up everywhere, including fast-food joints!” she exclaims. “Nope, not gonna happen from this senior citizen.”
6. Sky-High Drink Tips
In the bar industry, historically, customers tip $1 per beer. After all, it doesn’t take much effort for a bartender to pour a pint or grab a bottle of beer from the refrigerator. However, with beer prices in many cities approaching double-digits in recent years, people admit to feeling pressured to tip more than just a single dollar. It makes no sense – it’s not like the bartender is doing more work.
7. A Bowling Alley Flexes Its Muscles
Prepare yourself for a shock: A local bowling alley decided to go too far by forcing gratuity onto its patrons. “Our local bowling alley charged a 30% gratuity onto a pitcher of beer,” one customer glumly says. Wow, a 30% gratuity would make me never return!
8. The Retail Store Tip
More than a handful of retail customers report seeing signage in stores in their local mall soliciting tips for their employees. From these stores’ perspectives, if one of their employees helps someone pick out the perfect pair of jeans, they should be entitled to a tip. For obvious reasons, this rubs a lot of retail customers the wrong way.
9. Tips Have Gotten Larger Over Time
Many remember when a 15% tip was for standard service, and a 20% tip was reserved for an excellent meal or experience. Countless people can’t believe that 20% is now the baseline, and many servers and bartenders feel entitled to a 25-30% tip just for pouring a few beers. It’s crazy how times have changed!
10. The All-Inclusive Tipping Conundrum
Speaking from personal experience, I was recently confounded by the tipping situation at an all-inclusive resort in the Dominican Republic. Even though the resort’s website clearly stated all gratuities were included, many in my party felt the need to tip since there were many staff members we frequently interacted with. Of course, the vacation was fantastic – but it seemed like the staff expected those extra tips.
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This thread inspired this post.
As the ultimate everyman, Chris enjoys writing about, well, everything. Blessed with a knack for stringing together sentences in an easy-to-read and conversational tone, he'll just as likely cover the electric vehicle price wars as he would the latest happenings in the entertainment world. As a freelance writer for Wealthy Nickel, Chris focuses on trending topics across mainstream American culture, including travel, finance, and relationships. He also writes under the NBC-Universal banner, specializing in one of his childhood passions: WWE. As the principal WWE correspondent for USA Network's Insider website, Chris has interviewed dozens of WWE Superstars over the years, including particularly memorable conversations with Cody Rhodes, Paul Heyman, Liv Morgan, and Sami Zayn. When not covering the hottest brand in sports entertainment, he enjoys collaborating with other NBC-Universal properties, most recently Bravo TV, covering many of the best reality shows we all love to hate. An avid traveler, Chris enjoys sneaking away to Europe for months at a time, writing must-read content at small cafes in Croatia and Italy, often with an Aperol Spritz in hand. His life is hard.
