Every time I eat at a restaurant, I’m prepared to tip the staff. But exactly how much I leave depends on a variety of factors. If the service was excellent, the employees were friendly and helpful and the food was delicious, I'd be inclined to leave 20% or more. On the other hand, if the food was cold and bland, the server was rude and I have no plans to return, I probably won’t tip a dime over 15%.
Working in the service industry and relying on tips can be incredibly stressful, but at the end of the day, it’s up to the customer to decide how much they’d like to tip. Well, it should be. Below, you’ll find a story that a Reddit user recently shared detailing how calling out tip theft at a local restaurant got them banned from the establishment.
This diner noticed that an employee decided how much to tip himself while ringing up an elderly customer
Image credits: LightFieldStudios / Envato (not the actual photo)
So they decided to immediately call them out for stealing money
Image credits: Image by Freepik (not the actual photo)
Image credits: anonymous
Many people believe that tipping culture has gone too far
Image credits: Jenn Miranda / Freepik (not the actual photo)
Tipping is a divisive topic. If you’ve ever worked in a restaurant, you’re probably a huge proponent for leaving generous tips. But if you’ve never experienced the service industry life, you might find tipping to be unnecessary and obnoxious. “I already paid $20 for this meal, and now they want me to pay even more?”
Tipping culture has also been a hot topic in recent years, as many people have noticed tipping screens pop up in unexpected places, such as self-checkout machines and grocery store PIN pads. According to a Pew Research Center survey from 2023, 72% of Americans say they’ve noticed an expectation to tip appearing in more places than ever before.
As far as where Americans feel tips are appropriate, the majority report that they always tip when eating at a sit-down restaurant, getting a haircut, having food delivered or buying drinks in a bar.
Many also make sure they tip when getting a ride in a taxi or through a rideshare service. About a quarter usually tip when going to a coffee shop as well, and a small minority tip at fast casual restaurants where there are no servers.
In recent years, though, it seems like Americans are exhausted by tipping culture. Whether it’s due to inflation making budgets tighter, feeling less obligated to tip when restaurant prices increase or simply being annoyed by being asked to tip everywhere they go, many are leaving less behind today than they did a few years ago.
Restaurant Dive reports that in 2022, 43% of diners would tip servers 20% or more in restaurants. By 2024, however, only 38% of patrons were that generous with their tips. Meanwhile, less than one fifth of customers said they would tip 10% or less in 2022. But in 2024, 30% of people said they would typically tip 10% or less.
The customer always has a right to choose how much they'd like to tip
Image credits: Image by Freepik (not the actual photo)
Apparently, pressure can go a long way in getting tips from customers. In fact, a report by PYMNTS found that social pressure can drive tips up by 50%. However, this obligation to tip doesn’t exactly make customers happy. Over a third of customers argue that “tipflation” has gone way too far.
Regardless of how annoying those little screens prompting customers to tip are, though, they still leave the power in the hands of customers to simply opt for “No Tip.” That is, unless they’re confused and the employee taps the screen for them.
When people talk about tip theft, they’re often referring to employees stealing from their workers or workers stealing tips from one another. Sadly, this is a common issue in the restaurant industry that needs to be addressed.
The Economic Policy Institute even estimates that tipped workers lose out on a whopping $36.4 billion each year from employers being dishonest or skimming a little off the top of the tip pool.
But just because your boss might not be trustworthy when it comes to paying out tips doesn’t mean that it’s right to start stealing them from customers. Whether it’s inserting the amount that a customer wrote down to tip incorrectly or selecting a large percentage on the point of sale screen without the customer’s consent, this is undeniably wrong. And as the author of this story knew, it deserves to be called out.
Readers were appalled by the employee's behavior, and many urged the author to call them out publicly
