Comment: The Tipping Game

I don’t quite know how to categorize this post, so I went with “Comment.” I have a comment to make about tipping.

In North America, tipping is expected in the service industry. Good service. Bad service. We tip. We tip at restaurants, spas, and hair salons. We tip for cab rides. We tip hotel staff for service. We tip. We should tip to say thank you and to show appreciation of great service. North Americans are expected to tip.

And when the service isn’t all that great? I still end up tipping. Do you? Why? If the tip is a reflection of service received, and service is bad, why should I (or we) feel obliged to offer a 15% tip? It’s a curious question. One that I have discussed with others recently as we’ve expressed frustration and interest and curiosity about the tipping practice in Canada.

Outside North America, tipping practices vary. In France and Italy, tips aren’t common. In Japan, too, you never tip. And this is a country whose citizens pride themselves on providing excellent service. When I was there, I wanted to tip everyone, but since tipping is frowned upon, I didn’t dare!

Although tip percentages in North America vary, they seem to hover around the 15% mark for many of the services I tend to use (e.g., restaurants, spa, salon). Emily Post’s tipping etiquette guide offers reasonable guidelines regarding many industries and services.

Lately, one thing related to tipping has really bothered me (and some of my friends, too). Let me explain.

Some of my regular – and new – restaurants and cafĂ©s are self-service whereby you order at a counter and you either bring the food back with you after it has been served on the counter, or it is brought to your table. In these establishments, you pay your complete bill before you receive your meal. The machine that you use to pay with your credit card or debit card gives you an option to tip (some machines start at 18% tip).

Tip in advance of receiving service or a meal? I just don’t get it.

At one place I go to in Waterloo, you order and pay for your meal at the counter. You get your own water from the water dispenser. You pick up your coffee at the counter and bring it to your table. A server brings you your meal (not always the right one!). You clear away your own dishes. Regardless of all the work you do, a tip is requested at time of payment (before any service, besides someone taking your order, is offered). How do you know if or what to tip if you’ve not yet received any service? Do I tip because someone has said hello to me and taken my money for order? It seems odd to tip pre-service. Frankly, the whole situation bothers me. Am I alone in thinking that it’s rude to request a tip for service that hasn’t yet been offered?

I wonder what would Emily Post say about this. What do you think? I’d love to know!

9 Comments

  1. Nadine June 6, 2019

    The Emily Post Institute has a podcast that takes questions called “Awesome Etiquette.” This would make an interesting submission. The context is American, though, so they are pro tipping culture, usually starting at 15%.

    Reply
    • Jordana June 6, 2019

      Interesting! I’m going to look into this. Thanks, Nadine!

      Reply
      • Jordana June 6, 2019

        I looked into it, and I emailed the Emily Post Institute!

        Reply
  2. Tina B June 6, 2019

    I don’t tip at self-serve places. Perhaps that’s not the etiquette, but you can bypass/enter 0 on the machine. I don’t feel as though working the cash warrants a tip. If that was the case we’d tip at every service/retail establishment we went to – at the mall, at the drug store, etc..

    Reply
    • Jordana June 6, 2019

      I get annoyed that I have to go through the bypass/enter 0 option. I kind of feel guilty every time I do. I had a friend ask “why are you asking me for a tip” type of question at one of these cafes, and the woman responded “for service”. And then they brought out the wrong food. Uh huh. Annoying.

      Reply
  3. Lisa June 6, 2019

    As an American in Canada, I find that people tend to tip higher in Canada. I was a waitress for a long time, and I was annoyed that it was common to calculate tips with tax included. I think tips should be calculated based on the cost of materials/services purchased. And that was in addition to the practice of what seemed like higher tipping in general in Canada, and tipping not related to the quality of service provided. Frankly, this seemed more like a British practice than American (consumer-oriented) to me.

    Reply
    • Jordana June 6, 2019

      I didn’t know there were noticeable differences between American and Canadian tipping practices. I wonder if tips are higher in Canada because we’re known to be “nice and polite.” I think I generally tip on the goods/services amount (without tax). In fact, I use the tax amount as a guideline for how much I should tip. If I am given a machine with pre-loaded tip percentages, and the service wasn’t great, I opt for the “other” option and input another percentage or dollar amount. I feel like I need to be in control of my tip rather than be machine lazy.

      Reply
  4. Nick D June 7, 2019

    Great piece, Jordana! I totally blame the payment machines for enabling this. Back in the day, few cashiers would have had the nerve to say “and how much would you like to tip today?” before you had even sat down. But now the machine takes the awkwardness away and puts it entirely on the customer. I know the service industry is a competitive/tough game, and restaurants have to hustle, but I find this practice really irritating.

    Reply
    • Jordana June 7, 2019

      I went to two places today where I was confronted with the tip option on the machine pre-service. I tipped both times because I felt obliged…even though both were self-serve. The machine sucked me in!

      Reply

Leave a Reply to Jordana Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.