What Do You Think of Giving Tips on Those iPads at the Counter?
This article was done in cooperation with the Price of Business show and USA Business Radio.
Recently Kevin Price, Host of the nationally syndicated Price of Business show and Editor at Large at USA Business Radio noticed an article in The New York Times on a new trend when it comes to tipping. Entitled “Counter Service Tipping: Who Gives?” It goes on to note “Those customer-facing, touch-screen payment systems in restaurants are confounding customers in the U.S. and beyond.”
Price has encountered these often recently and discuss his thoughts on them to USABR. “I always find them uncomfortable. There is a presumption that I’m suppose to give before I am even served. That does not seem to be a very good way to conduct business”, Price said
Seth Kugel, who is a writer at The New York Times, notes that Price is not unique when it comes to this:
“It was 2015 when I first began to grapple with tipping when ordering at a counter-service restaurant. I had ordered a fried chicken sandwich at Pine State Biscuits in Portland, Ore., and a friend chided me for not tacking on a gratuity to my credit card payment. I hadn’t even considered it.
“’They’re working hard back there! They’re getting paid so little!’
“‘But I’m just ordering at the counter! I always tip waiters well, but this is not a waiter! I’m not a terrible person!’
“I lost the argument, and ended up going back to leave a cash tip.
“Turns out, I’m not alone. As small, independently owned cafes, smoothie bars and fast-casual restaurants in the United States have adopted customer-facing touch-screen payment systems in recent years — and as credit cards have replaced cash for even the smallest purchases — Americans and (heaven help them) foreign visitors have been confronted with a new kind of tipping. Point-of-sale systems, with touch screens asking you whether you’d like to tip $1, $2 or $3 for that latte or 15, 20 or 25 percent for a salad, have been spreading like an infectious disease — or an infectious new dance craze, depending on your perspective.”
Kevin Price decided to ask friends of the Price of Business show their thoughts on this new way of giving tips. If his antidote driven survey is anything like national views, this practice may not last long.
Pam Josselet of Houston, Texas captured an attitude reflected by many in the survey, stating “If a person or machine’s purpose is only to take my payment then I do not tip. That is not service. If the purpose is to allow me to pay when I want and I don’t have to hand my card over then this is safer, faster and has no impact on the tip I give.”
Jennifer Gilbert Williams of Norwalk, Ohio said “Prefer to leave cash when we eat out at all, which we don’t do very often.”
Linda Vincent, who was originally from the Metro Detroit, Michigan area, but now lives in Mississippi said “I prefer the old way of leaving some cash on the table.”
James J. Talerico, Jr is from the Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas area and he told USABR “Waitresses and others who are being paid less than the minimum wage are, of course, a different situation, but if an employee is being paid the market rate the market should fix any employee inequities. I’d rather jump behind the counter and fix my own order then pay someone extra just for doing their jobs.” Talerico is also a regular on the Price of Business show.
Bernadine Kuenstler Eledge of Mangolia, Texas, told us “I don’t pay until I’m ready to leave. If the service was good I tip accordingly. If it was poor I pay less. In the past I got someone else’s credit card after payment and my husband once had a waitress modify the tip. At least I don’t have to worry about those things happening with the pay-at-the-table systems.”
Gary Westbrook of Abilene, Texas stated “I prefer tipping, or not, based on the quality of service that I receive. I’m usually a 20 percenter when I do tip, and very rarely do I not do so.”
Gary Reese of Newark, Delaware says “Wait staff are paid so little salary that it encourages them to under report tips. I always leave tips off of card transactions and give cash. I don’t like mandatory tips for groups of a certain size. Should always be based on service.” Thus he likes to wait to see what they service turned out to be.
Finally, Wendy S. McClellan of Harpers Ferry West Virginia writes “As someone who has been on both sides of that screen, I always leave a tip. If it’s at a coffee shop, one dollar per beverage, at a carry out restaurant, I always tip two dollars. If I’m at a sit down restaurant, screen or no screen I tip a minimum of 20%. There are still people somewhere getting paid to make and deliver the food and drinks.”
