@yoya301 wrote:

I went to Subway the other day and ordered 2 subs. The cashier rang my order and gave me a total of $17 and change. I paid with a card and tapped it on the pay terminal. The cashier thanked me and put the receipt in the bag of food. By the time I got home I got the notice from my credit card showing my transaction total as $21 and change. I was confused so I looked for the receipt in the bad and saw that he added a $3.30 tip to the order. I was not asked for a tip, nor given the option on the pay terminal. When I tapped my card to pay there was no total. It only said to insert or tap to pay. I was trusting the cashier since he said $17 something.

Extorting tips that way is unacceptable in my opinion.

Contact your credit card company and have the amount of the tip that was added without your approval removed. I know it's a pain and seems not worth it. But it's the principle of the thing. If the cashier gets away with it, he will do it again. And again. To many victims. This has happened to me a few times and I always reverse the portion of the charge that I did not agree to. The first time this happened, I was on vacation in another state. I took 2 friends I was staying with out to lunch at a popular burger place. It was a sit-down restaurant and the server was slow and unresponsive. She seemed interested in a table of 2 guys across from us. She was always at their table chatting. Our tab for 3 burgers, appetizer, and soft drinks was just under $50. I tipped her $8, for a total of $58. The charge was $68, with an $18 tip. Having that $10 removed was pretty easy, only took a phone call. Some credit card companies allow you to do it by email. Even easier. My brother who delivered pizza for a few years in college says this is pretty common with pizza deliveries to add $5. He said he never did it but a few of the other delivery guys made a killing doing this because most people don't check and by the time they pay the bill they've forgotten. Be aware. Don't allow yourself to be cheated.

@yoya301 wrote:

I went to Subway the other day and ordered 2 subs. The cashier rang my order and gave me a total of $17 and change. I paid with a card and tapped it on the pay terminal. The cashier thanked me and put the receipt in the bag of food. By the time I got home I got the notice from my credit card showing my transaction total as $21 and change. I was confused so I looked for the receipt in the bad and saw that he added a $3.30 tip to the order. I was not asked for a tip, nor given the option on the pay terminal. When I tapped my card to pay there was no total. It only said to insert or tap to pay. I was trusting the cashier since he said $17 something.

Extorting tips that way is unacceptable in my opinion.

That's not extorting, that's stealing, and it's prosecutable.

@roflwofl wrote:

..... My brother who delivered pizza for a few years in college says this is pretty common with pizza deliveries to add $5. He said he never did it but a few of the other delivery guys made a killing doing this because most people don't check and by the time they pay the bill they've forgotten. Be aware. Don't allow yourself to be cheated.

After college I bounced in a bar. All the waitresses complained about how one waitress had so much more in tips they they did.

One night I had a patron approach me asking if I could have the waitress bring him back his change. Apparently he had given her a $20 for a $4 drink and she never returned with his change. I realized that's how she got such big tips from drunks.

If I'm at a coffee shop and order a plain-Jane drip they don't get any type of tip. If I order a pour over or any thing that requires more work than just filling a cup from a spigot I'll add 20 percent.

I don't like the tipping prompt screens either. Mainly because I don't understand the idea of tipping before you receive the meal. I also doubt that the employees will even know who tipped or who didn't. So, if the point of tipping is to reward good service then it will not have that effect for both these reasons. Although, I occasionally succumb and add a little tip. I much prefer to tip in cash so they at least see you doing it.

Never

Not at fast food, I don't tip. Sonic i tip $1 to $2. Sit in restaurants, 20% or more if service went above and beyond to the server. And I will even tip the guy towing my car because he is probably getting an hourly rate, working out in the heat of the summer. But I won't tip fast food places, cashier at a checkout counter, hostesses.
However, I have tipped a fast food worker at taco bell one day because she was the only worker, management didn't care enough to get her help that day. She closed her drive through down and people could only pay with cards at the "order yourself" screen because it wasn't easily possible for her to keep up with health code standards if she had to make food, handle cash, buttons on headset for drive through, etc. I gave her props for not just walking out. So she got a tip because she deserved it because on the day, she was not getting paid as nearly as much as she should of been.

I can't see tipping on a fast food burger, fries, and drink for $16.61 to people who are at a cash register and i am picking up an order. Since when would you tip for McDonalds? In a $16.61 place, there is a choice for tips when you enter credit card info and it's uncomfortable not tipping.

I consider FF to be McDs, BK, Wendy's, Taco Bell, etc. A fun day at work for bargain Big Macs, etc. awhile ago that was picked up in person by a co-worker resulted in s huge tip for the stsff.

There is a local restaurant here that I was doing a credit card verification shop for. I ordered an order for take out at the counter and when she gave me my total, she just included an 18% tip, which made the order over my authorized amount. I asked her why it was so expensive and she told me about the tip. Mind you, there is no notification of automatic 18% anywhere on the menu or in the restaurant at all. She said she would remove it and I went on my merry way. Five minutes later, as my food was being prepared she comes back to tell me she was just going to run my card for the 18% because she wasn't allowed to take it off. I told her I did not authorize her to do that and I wanted to talk to the manager. The manager told her she couldn't run the card again. Did she run the card again after I left? I don't know since the card I was using was for the verification shop.

I did learn, however, they are doing this to all customers regardless of how you order. If you dine in, you order and pay at the door. Apparently they bring the food to the table but do not offer any service beyond that. No drink refills, no correction of incorrect orders. The complaints this restaurant has gotten since implementing this is not good, so I don't think they will be around much longer. I really don't mind tipping when I get good service, but the way this place is going about is just shiesty and bordering on fraudulent.

I never tip at fast food places..never realized it was an expectation..however I do tip at places like olive garden etc and if service is decent im a very generous tipper usually 25 percent plus..if its really good service its usually much higher than that

Personally: NEVER‼️
Mystery shopping If reimbursed and the job is worth taking: SURE

I worked years ago at TRH and expected a tip for to go orders (worked as a hostess), but definitely not the standard rate. $1-2 per meal was acceptable. Even if you order to go, the employee is still taking your order, processing payment and boxes up the order/makes sure it's accurate, which usually takes a few minutes. At TRH this is all done by the same person. At FF establishments, each part of the process is completed by someone different, not to mention the fact that they are already paid by the hour.

Don't take the job. Pretty ballsy to ask for a tip for fast food.

So if I'm reading the above posts correctly, people actually pay 25% more than I'm already paying for my meal. I just did a fine dining shop where I tipped about 21% because it was reimbursed up to that amount.

If it wasn't reimbursed people actually pay another $7,50 above the $30 I've already tipped for a 90 minute stellar server? More power to you and can I start working where you dine?

When does tipping become overboard? It used to be 10% and I had a hard time convincing my parents that Dallas was at least a 15% town. Now I tip 20% in a much smaller town, Are we now supposed to tip 25%?

@wrosie wrote:

So if I'm reading the above posts correctly, people actually pay 25% more than I'm already paying for my meal. I just did a fine dining shop where I tipped about 21% because it was reimbursed up to that amount.

If it wasn't reimbursed people actually pay another $7,50 above the $30 I've already tipped for a 90 minute stellar server? More power to you and can I start working where you dine?

When does tipping become overboard? It used to be 10% and I had a hard time convincing my parents that Dallas was at least a 15% town. Now I tip 20% in a much smaller town, Are we now supposed to tip 25%?

I would say yes. 20-25%. Is the extra 5-10 dollars really gonna break anyone here? It will make the server's day though. Heck, if you're dining at a high end place and it's an extra 25, so?

A lot of ya'll are cheapskates. Trust me, if you ever go back to a restaurant where you tipped poorly, it will show.

I was a server for many years when I was younger. I got a wage from the restaurant which was *much* lower than minimum wage (which is legal for servers), with the expectation that tips would at least cover the difference. In fact, at the time of my employment, I was taxed on 8% of my gross receipts + the low minimum wage regardless of whether or not I actually *received* an 8% tip. For good or ill, it is the customers at restaurants with servers make up the difference of their pay. As for as I know, employees at fast food restaurants make the current non-server minimum wage or better. For that reason, I *only* tip at a fast food establishment if I receive some exceptional act of service -- someone doing the job they are paid for is not reason enough.

20 percent is usually my standard tip for good table service. However, during the pandemic I upped it (to help my favorite restaurants).

I give less at a fast casual place, depending on how much assistance they provide. If I have outstanding service, I'll throw a little more in the tip jar as I leave.

If a server makes zero in tips by law the employer still has to pay them minimum wage. Tips only supplement the employer's portion of the wages.

If the assignment allows food + tip to be reimbursed, I'll spend the leftover on tips.
As a regular customer, I only tip at sit down restaurants or bars. Boba shop? hell no

So…..

McDonald’s in my area now delivers to your table. Do you tip?

Chick-Fil-A in my area not only delivers to your table, but come by to follow up with a team member and a manager to check on your visit, plus even offer refills, napkins and sauces while dining in and seated at a table. Do you tip?

Both have very similar and in many cases, BETTER service than many traditional dine-in restaurants where it’s expected to tip for dining in….

To Tip or Not to Tip that is the question?

@Swilli wrote:

If a server makes zero in tips by law the employer still has to pay them minimum wage. Tips only supplement the employer's portion of the wages.

This is true, but in many states only if the server only makes less than $30 in tips.....*a month*! See [www.dol.gov] for detailed information.

i personally would still not tip even if it’s reimbursed because i don’t want to create an expectation.

Every time I have encountered a shop where the tip is reimbursed, it has been a required tip. Often even the percentage is stated.

@LindaM wrote:

i personally would still not tip even if it’s reimbursed because i don’t want to create an expectation.

@myst4au wrote:

Every time I have encountered a shop where the tip is reimbursed, it has been a required tip. Often even the percentage is stated.

@LindaM wrote:

i personally would still not tip even if it’s reimbursed because i don’t want to create an expectation.

I think she was referring to fast food.

If I am sitting and you take my order, bring my food and refill my drinks then I will tip 20% all day long. If your are taking my order and handing me a bag of food I will not tip you. I am also not tipping you for making an ice cream cone. I am not tipping at Sonic or Five Guys. Tipping is out of control.

@Kathy1296 wrote:

If I am sitting and you take my order, bring my food and refill my drinks then I will tip 20% all day long. If your are taking my order and handing me a bag of food I will not tip you. I am also not tipping you for making an ice cream cone. I am not tipping at Sonic or Five Guys. Tipping is out of control.

What about tipping at Chick-Fil-A?

Some locations, aside from getting your initial order at the counter, will not only deliver to your table, but will refill your drinks, a manager visit to check on your visit and will buss your table as you begin heading out.

And from experiences, their services at a fast food easily beat many sit-down restaurants when it comes to customer service…

Thanks for all the replies, it has been an interesting read!

My real concern is that, AFAIK, no one around here tips on fast food, so it would make me stand out like a sore thumb! Especially on a drive thru, where there they just run your card and hand you the receipt. I can't even think how that scenario would play out. So I cancelled out of the drive-thru. I asked for clarification, but no response. I did accept a dine-in though, and again requested clarification from the scheduler, but still no response, which I understand is normal for this MSC. So I will just do it and see what happens. The form just asks for total, (order plus tip). If there is a NON-AWKWARD way to tip, I will. The reimbursement seems enough to cover the meal plus tip, so I don't mind to pay it. If it seems too weird, I won't.

In this state, workers are paid a generous min wage to begin with. I was surprised to learn some years ago that some states allow the employees to be paid only $2 or $3 per hour, and they rely on tips to make up the difference, even at fast food. So when we visited Tennessee, my family there pointed out that we should be sure to tip. Otherwise I would not have known.

I tip generously at sit-down restaurants, even buffets. But if I made the rules we would get rid of the tipping system and pay everyone, including waitstaff, a liveable minimum wage. If you still wanted to tip, that would be fine, but it would be the exception rather than the rule.