Americans have taken to social media to make runaway tip suggestions that they say have gotten unfairly high in recent months.
Inflation, self-checkout machines, and the new expectation of tipping on transactions like buying a bottle of water have prompted many to share their frustration online.
Social media users recently posted images of receipts that appear to state a tip of up to 30 to 50 percent.
“Remember when the recommended amounts were 15%, 18%, and 20%?” Twitter user Jeff Catalfino wrote earlier this year, along with a picture of a receipt totaling $61.48.
“I tip 20% for all but the worst service.” Sometimes even a little more. But there will never be 30%,” he added. “Tipping has become apostate. There needs to be a clear resistance from everyone.”
Now that Colorado has passed a new bill that would allow Walmart and McDonald’s workers to accept tips, Americans are about to get even more pissed off. In Maryland, a unionized Apple Store is also in talks to introduce a tipping system.
Social media users recently posted images of receipts that appear to state a tip of up to 30 percent.
A TikToker named @broadwaychey claimed she was asked to leave a tip when ordering an item online
Twitter user Andrew Johns shared a receipt that listed a recommended tip of 20 to 24 percent, but noted that a four percent “kitchen charge” had been added to his bill.
He said, “With higher food prices, and therefore higher tipping, not only does the cost of eating go up, but there is also a higher percentage for tipping and kitchen fees.”
“Based on the upper end of this ‘recommended’ tip, the total tip total is almost 30%!”
Some claim to have seen tip recommendations that start at 30 percent and go up to 50 percent.
One Reddit shared an image of an iPad showing the toggle to the popular subreddit “mindlyinfuriating” and captioned it, “A bit presumptuous huh?”
“The absolute audacity and arrogance to put those amounts out there,” wrote one commenter under the post. “If I saw this screen, I wouldn’t even bother going to Custom Amount.
“I would go right out, pay my bill and never go back there.”
Social media commenters expressed particular frustration at being asked to tip on an iPad after simple transactions.
TikTokerin @poorandhungry went viral this week after posting a video claiming she was asked to tip her up to 50 percent for a $2 ice cream cone at Ben & Jerry’s.
When she decided not to tip, the cashier expressed her frustration with an expression on her face, according to the Tiktoker.
@poorandhungry went viral this week after posting a video claiming that she had to tip up to 50 percent at Ben & Jerry’s for a $2 ice cream cone
A Reddit shared an image of an iPad showing a 30 to 40 percent tip range to the popular mindlyinfuriating subreddit
Twitter user Andrew Johns shared a receipt that listed a recommended tip of 20 to 24 percent, but noted that a four percent “kitchen charge” had been added to his bill
“That’s never appropriate on any planet, even if I get $100 worth of ice cream and I don’t tip,” she said of the awkward encounter.
Consumers say they’re increasingly encountering iPad devices that prompt them to tip even if they haven’t interacted with an employee.
“I picked up some takeout yesterday and was presented with one of these screens,” said a Twitter user who goes by @RealPandaTheMan, who posted a picture of an iPad screen suggesting tips.
“Will they hate me if I press no?” The guilt is insane…”
Another TikToker named @thejmancomesquick posted a clip complaining about being asked to tip for a pizza he ordered online and picked up himself.
“They said, ‘Oh, would you like to tip 20 percent?’ For what? What did you do?’ he said angrily.
“At 20 percent, people come to your table, serve you, pick up things, and bring you things!” What did you do? Did you refer me to your website? It’s crazy!’
Consumers say they’re increasingly encountering iPad kiosks that prompt them to tip even if they haven’t interacted with an employee (self-checkout at Shake Shak above).
Shockingly, a TikToker named @broadwaychey claimed she was asked to leave a tip when ordering an item online.
‘Excuse me what? Am I a bad human? “Because it makes me feel guilty about what they want,” she explained. “But I don’t tip you, I don’t even know what I tip you for.”
A traveler asked to tip after buying a $6 bottle of water at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey told The Wall Street Journal the iPad prompt was tantamount to “emotional blackmail.” .
While business owners say the automated prompts are significantly increasing tips, thereby increasing employee salaries, critics of the new tipping culture say employers are shifting the responsibility of paying their employees onto the consumer, rather than increasing their pay themselves.
Some consumers have complained that they don’t even know where the tip goes, even though no employee helped them.
And it seems that tipping will continue to increase in the near future.
A bill passed in Colorado earlier this month would allow employees at companies like McDonald’s and Walmart to accept cash as tips. Both companies have previously banned their employees from accepting tips from customers.
Meanwhile, employees at Apple’s first unionized store in the US are in talks about introducing a checkout tipping system.
Workers at the Towson, Maryland, facility that unionized last year plan to ask customers if they would like to add an optional tip of 3 to 5 percent of their purchase or an individual amount.
Apple’s current policy is that store associates who accept a tip from a customer are automatically fired.