You tip your hairdresser, but what about your mechanic? Expect to see more ‘tip creep’
Customers are increasingly seeing a gratuity option on card payment machines in industries where tipping was never previously part of the cost, from auto shops to fast food giants like Subway and Domino’s.
And I have seen them on you-tube as well. Tip-jars for livestreams.
“Tipping is spreading to a lot more places right now, so where we wouldn’t have previously been prompted to tip, now it seems to be a lot more common,”
Yay, and the last time I went with a big party to a restaurants, they made it so that the “Tipping” was an automatic extra 15% of the total cost. No option to say no or give a lower amount.
As customers shift away from carrying cash, it’s easier than ever for any business to ask for a little bit of extra money by adding the automatic prompt — what psychologists call a “tip nudge” — to their card payment machine.
To which I almost always decline.
The contradiction creeps into other service industries, too — most people give a bartender a buck or two for serving a can of beer, but what about a liquor store clerk?
A store clerk (from past experience) does not know the product, and only know how to scan an item, fill a bag. Any high school dropout (with the correct age) could do it. A bartender has to know their liquor, how to mix drinks, be sociable, etc. Skill level much higher, IMO.
There’s limited research into what is motivating more businesses and sectors to opt into tipping, but Pek suggests the pandemic is a likely factor.
Also the bottom line. The more money/revenue they can generate, the more profits they make.
“There was a moment in time where people wanted to show appreciation for essential workers [through tipping],” he says, pointing out that many businesses stopped accepting cash because of hygiene concerns.
And what of all the businesses and workers who had to close/laidoff/etc. because some politician declared them to be non-essential? And at any time a new lockdown will force them to close/be out of the job?
“I just hope that the tipping culture tips — no pun intended — towards tipping for really good service, not by default, because then the meaning of tipping is lost.”
To me, tipping is already at that stage. Its meaning is gone in most retail/service/etc sectors of the economy.
If the service is good, people will come back, and word of mouth/reviews will spread, sending more people to go and spend their money there.
Forced tips, or expecting people to make tips (even when service was poor), is one instant way to drive customers away.
Would I tip the person taking my order at a drive-thru, because they were clear and got my order right?
No, but I can see Ryan RKOutpost jumping for joy and wanting that person to be employee of the year! LOL
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