Canada

It's a topic that brings out my cantankerous old man persona. In the halcyon days of the late 20th century when everyone paid for restaurant bills in cash, tipping was a tolerable tradition. Throw in another $2 if you've got it, why not. You'd never expect the waiter to stand there and count out all the nickels and dimes for exact change, so you've got to raise the amount paid to the nearest round number anyway. Then we started paying with credit cards. If people were rational that would've been the end of tipping, but then if people were rational we'd still be paying in cash. After so many years of constantly seeing it done and occasionally even partaking in it, adding a tip to a payment made electronically still feels like a crime against nature.

CBC just had an interview the other day that said most of the point of sale tips get kept by the owners.

If someone is doing their job, they should be paid for their job - by their employer.

The idea of tipping someone for doing their job makes no sense at all. Even if they've done an exceptional job and went out of their way to provide the best service possible, a tip seems appropriate at best.

Give them a thanks, and let their employer know how wonderful they were. Let their "tip" come from a raise, work incentives, extra time off, or whatever else their employer does to reward high-performing employees.

If they aren't being rewarded at work, then the problem is with the employer, not the customer/employee relationship.

If their work is the type that word of mouth marketing and referrals can help them, certainly spread the word!

But tipping someone to pour coffee or to wrap a sandwich? GTFO.

for me, it's not even about the money... i just want to avoid the guilt and extra button presses on the damn machine!

if you want to take $100 from me at the end of the night, just set your pricing accordingly... i just want to tap and be done with it... i don't need the guilt trip and the extra math homework when i look at the machine.....

My local minor league hockey team would have the concession stands staffed with volunteers, and their tips would go towards their kids sports teams. This wouldn't be so bad if the food prices reflected the fact that they weren't paying for labor. A can of beer for $14. A small hotdog for $8. Popcorn for $6. And then you get told "I'm a volunteer, all tips go to support my kids team". It was hard to train myself to hit the "No Tip" button, but eventually it got easier.

And then, as if it couldn't get worse, they moved to a new arena that has completely automated concession checkouts. You grab what you want, put it on a counter that has a camera and it tallies it up for you. It's an amazing process... but then, it asks you to tip.

And while I'm bitching... they also went ticketless, all tickets require a smartphone. And they charge for the convenience of them using my device too help them deliver tickets. Same with parking, must pay using your phone and there's a $0.50 convenience charge.

Tipping is a symptom of employees not getting compensated properly for their work

I only tip for service. I get mad when places that don't provide service ask for tips. You don't tip the clerk at McDonalds or other situations like that. Tipping deliver drivers is unethical - you are inciting them to break driving laws as that is the only way they can provide better service.

I've been to places where the tip WAS about the service. When the ten best restaurants in the world - some kind of Michelin thing in 2001 - included just one American restaurant, I happened to have eaten at that place that year.

And. It. Was. Amazing.

The food was excellent. The wine went well, cheap and pricy both. The service is now my fucking gold standard as it was a rolling magic trick the entire time. We spoke in privacy but seemed never alone. They had what we needed when we needed it, with a superhuman awareness that I never could hope to have when I turned tables and spun plates. The waiter had hands when he needed them, who'd then disappear like ninjas in fog immediately after. Pull the course for the next and the table grooming began like infantry doing toothbrush work, focused and fast. Dessert was not taken: you never get dessert where you got your main. Coffee was suddenly lazy and hushed and introspective, steam curling up to the recessed dim warm lights high above.

The cheque came and the bistromathics forgotten. This cheque went away with embellishment the size of an hour's cab ride, each way. And twice that still. And someone needs to chase payback tomorrow but keeps a stunning souvenir tonight.

Worth every red cent. For the food was Divine but the service set the standard. And I'd do that again in a moment.

Is there psychologically something wrong with me then when i click no to tip unless i have cash on me?

I used to go to this ice cream place. It was one of those places where you get your own ice cream and toppings and then they weigh it and you pay. The people there were really nice and very friendly. Anyway, I was there one day and the owner was interviewing someone for a job there. She was telling this person how after they switched from cash tips to electronic tips, tips went up like 20 or 30%.

I never really tipped at this place, but it's definitely something when they turn the screen and there is a button for like a 25% tip and then it goes up from there. Pretty fucked up when all they are doing is making sure the ingredients are there so you can serve yourself.

At this point I find myself tipping less and less. I will only tip at places that have full service.

I don't tip. Unless it's a bit of cash to my Uber or cab driver for helping with luggage or something. Other than that, nope. It's not my responsibility to pay your employees - and that's assuming they even get the tip money which so often they don't.