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Comment by parliament32 | Hacker News Reader

My biggest gripe with tipping culture right now is the number of services and establishments that think it's okay to tip ahead of time.

If I sit down at a restaurant, and get served well, I'll leave a tip at the end when I pay. Hell, even if the service isn't great I'll still leave a bit of a tip.

But now there's this idea that you should tip for service... before you get served. The tip jars at Starbucks, apps that ask you to input your tip before you get your delivery, POS systems that ask for a tip, etc. There's no way I'll ever tip before service, and probably won't after either if the business is audacious enough to ask for a tip when they're using a pay-before business model.

I'm looking forward to seeing how long it takes for self-service gas pumps to start asking for tips. After all, there's an attendant inside keeping an eye on you, so that's a service right?

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This is so annoying! It's like an automatic thing now when paying in a trendy store using an iPad. It's like, I just ordered, but before I've even gotten my goods, I'm presented with a dialogue on whether I want to pay 5%, 10%, 15% tip (or "no tip" as a small button at the bottom).

I'm sure these businesses have found that merely including the dialogue = free money, so why wouldn't they?

I've had several experiences lately where the tip dialog only offered 15/20/25% or "other" (which could be used as "none")

Last chain restaurant I ate at had a little 'tablet on your table' for drinks/apps/paying. The base option for tipping was set at 25% with a slider up and down.

I especially like the ones that offer you "quick" options of 20%, 25%, 30%. I think they're just banking on people pressing the middle button as quickly as possible without looking at it.

Lately I've also been seeing just the dollar amounts as "quick" options, without the percentage. Relying on people not being able to do quick math, I suppose.

You’re right! People don’t select the lowest number because they don’t want to seem cheap. People don’t select the highest number either because that of course costs more money. Shifting the middle number from 20% to 25% leads to more tip dollars.

It's just panhandling if you ask for a tip before you've done any service. And it's offensive to get panhandled by a commercial enterprise.

I agree - I think it's an absolute misunderstanding of what a tip means. It completely removes incentive for the dasher to follow delivery instructions, grab extra napkins, ensure food is stored upright, etc. I would be so much more on board with agreeing to a set tip amount beforehand if I don't manually enter one after the food was delivered after x amount of time..

You can just go back and put your tip in the Starbucks tip jar after you have received your service. Also if you pay with the Starbucks mobile app you can add a tip for up to 2 hours after your order is complete.

I don't understand tipping at places like Starbucks. There is no service and the employees are paid a full wage. I don't tip at 7-11 either.

I don’t get it either. I just don’t go to Starbucks.

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