6 ms·

> tipping This has gotten ridiculous past 2-3 year. Buy a $3.00 coffee , $1 tip is expected. I hate those ipad type payment consoles.

rootusrootus 4y ago
Not only that, but now everyone wants tips for things which never expected it before. Food cart? Tip. Fast food drive-thru? Tip. Heck, my barber now charges $25 for a haircut (which takes all of 15 minutes) and we're expected to tip for that too. Then there are tips that I apparently don't really know about but if I don't, I'm the jerk. I never knew I was supposed to tip the natural gas guy when he comes by to do some service (which is 'free', this is service from the actual gas company on the meter). My neighbor tips the garbage truck driver. If someone put an initiative on the ballot that explicitly banned tipping, I'd vote for it.
- denton-scratch 4y ago
  > Heck, my barber now charges $25 for a haircut (which takes all of 15 minutes) and we're expected to tip for that too. It's been customary to tip barbers since forever, hasn't it? When I was just 8, my father gave me money to tip the barber. I think the principle is, you tip so that the server remembers you. With haircuts, that can make a difference. My hair is now so thin and wispy that no barber can make it look OK. I cut it very short myself, with electric clippers. I haven't been to a barbers in 8 years.
  - rootusrootus 4y ago
    Yeah I guess I should be more specific. It's not really a barber, I think it's more 'hair stylist' I guess? Just a place that does all kinds of haircuts. No barber pole on the front or anything like that. Rarely get the same stylist twice, and they just pull up my cutting preferences from their computer when I check in. > My hair is now so thin and wispy that no barber can make it look OK. I cut it very short myself, with electric clippers. I haven't been to a barbers in 8 years. Ha! I'm getting there fast. I can still get it cut so it doesn't look terrible, but it quickly grows out and starts to look patchy, and worse, like I'm trying to have some kind of hangover. I'm this ---><--- close to just taking the clippers to it myself and calling it good.
  - willcipriano 4y ago
    The way barber shops/salons work is the barber typically rents a chair from the business, some proportion of the fee you pay goes to the house and it is expected that the barber will earn some proportion of their money via tips. They also provide their own tools and products. Tipping barbers goes back at least to the 80's if not longer.
    - thewebcount 4y ago
      It doesn't matter if that's how a barber typically works. Your average consumer doesn't and shouldn't have to understand how every business they frequent works behind the scenes. I shouldn't need a degree in economics just to get a freakin' hair cut.
      - willcipriano 4y ago
        It's really only wait staff, bellhops, valets, catering for private events, hotel maids and barbers that need a tip historically.
- hn_throwaway_99 4y ago
  > Heck, my barber now charges $25 for a haircut (which takes all of 15 minutes) and we're expected to tip for that too. I think this comment perfectly encapsulates why tipping has exploded and why it's never going away. People say they hate tips, but they complain vehemently when the base price of those goods rises to a decent wage. In most urban areas I'd posit the reason for the explosion of tipping is because of the growing wealth inequality and explosion in housing costs. I'd bet that your barber is having a hell of a harder time making ends meet than, say, your average software developer compared to 10 years ago.
  - rootusrootus 4y ago
    > I think this comment perfectly encapsulates why tipping has exploded and why it's never going away. People say they hate tips, but they complain vehemently when the base price of those goods rises to a decent wage. I'm not complaining about the price of the haircut, per se. I guess I could have phrased it better. What's getting me is that they're raising the price steadily, every few months it seems. That's cool, inflation is real, they have to make a living, I get it. But if they're doing a good job ratcheting up prices to keep up with inflation, why do I need to worry about tipping them so they can make ends meet? Yes, they're not up to software developer levels. But they do get carpal tunnel, so there's that. And they require a bit of training and licensing before they can work. But at $100/hr, lets assume the stylist is getting 50% of that. They're not poor, they're more than 3x our local minimum wage. Even then, it would bother me that my tipping was required for them to make ends meet. I'd much rather pay a fair price and not feel guilty based on how much I tip, wondering if it's enough, etc.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
gruez 4y ago
>Buy a $3.00 coffee , $1 tip is expected. Is this a fancy coffee shop thing? I admittedly don't go to cafes often, but my impression was that it's a "tipping optional" type of place (as opposed to something like full service restaurants which are tipping defacto mandatory).
- yamtaddle 4y ago
  It's a side-effect (uh, or, deliberate feature) of modern POS systems. Defaulting to having a tip line on receipts for e.g. a carry-out meal from a restaurant, which people never used to tip for, or showing a tip option on an iPad in a situation that never, ever called for tipping before and the worker is standing right there watching you fill tap or fill out the receipt so you feel like maybe you're being a dick (what's the norm now? Are you one of those assholes abusing sub-minimum-wage tip workers if you don't tip? Who knows!) if you don't. Tipping was just not even considered in these transactions, before. [EDIT] Oh, and percentage-tip defaults for situations where the norm before was maybe you toss your extra change or a $1 bill in the tip jar, and it was pretty normal not to tip at all most of the time. "18%, 20%, 25%, Custom, Skip".
  - ghaff 4y ago
    And if the POS systems made you feel like a bit of a cheapskate before, they sure made you feel like one in 2020/2021 comfortably working at home while young service workers were pouring coffee or flipping burgers.
HDThoreaun 4y ago
Just because the option is there on the tablet doesn't mean it's expected. Counter serve food/takeout and basic coffee will 95% of the time not get a tip from me.
- dangwhy 4y ago
  > Just because the option is there on the tablet doesn't mean it's expected. Yes i am too much of wuss to not tip when the person behind the counter is staring right at me making that choice.
grahar64 4y ago
The night after my first haircut in the US I was like “oh shit” and I googled “do you tip for a haircut” and realized I fucked up. The results were anywhere from 10%-50% tip. The next haircut I got I asked “what is a good tip” and the hair cutter would not tell me. I guessed 20% and went about my day. Then someone told me “that was too low”. I ended up cutting my own hair, or waiting until I was in another sane country.
- aninteger 4y ago
  20% is fine for a haircut. It's perfectly acceptable.
  - WirelessGigabit 4y ago
    No it's not. Hair stylists should set there prices accordingly in a way that they make a livable wage.
    - grahar64 4y ago
      Some places hairstylists are more like contractors who actually pay to get a seat to cut peoples hair in. So tipping is a larger portion of their income.
      - WirelessGigabit 4y ago
        If they are employees they can negotiate a living wage. They all should band together and ask more if it is not livable. In fact, we all should stop to frequent places that exploit employees by not paying them a livable wage. And if the solution to this means an increase in price, so be it. The defense of 'they might be contractors', which rent a seat for a fixed price or on a % revenue sharing with the salon is even more ridiculous. They are contractors, so they have all the means to set their own price.
  - juve1996 4y ago
    20% was fine when haircuts were a lot cheaper. My barber and most in the area have increased their prices significantly. 20% at $20 isn't bad. When my haircut is now pushing 35-40 range it becomes harder to stomach.
ddingus 4y ago
I have started inputting a custom amount. Recently, I've noticed some places keeping the machine out of my hands and flat out asking, "what should I do here?" It's way over the top aggressive now.
- ddingus 4y ago
  Meta: I missed my edit window, and apologize for the reply on my own post here. Soon, I will just start asking them to input something that takes work: "Please input $0.57, thank you SO MUCH!"[0] I expect the "custom amount" button to go away, at which point I will say something about making sure the average amount is about what I wanted to pay, and that means skipping some tips, and paying others, and oh by the way can you make a note of that. Is your manager here... Sorry about that, but getting this stuff right is really important... This is all a really craptastic game I would rather not play.[1] [0] I expect someone to get it wrong, or try and skate out on that little bit of work. Hoo boy! "Nope, let's make sure it is right please. Yeah, go back, hit custom, and yes $0.57 please. Yeah, you got it! Thank you!" [1] Like the check your bags Nazi they forced some poor soul to be. What I ended up doing was to get a gift receipt. Then, as I am walking right out with the stuff they have my money for, I hand it to them, "Here, please hold on to this for me, thanks!"

rootusrootus 4y ago

Not only that, but now everyone wants tips for things which never expected it before. Food cart? Tip. Fast food drive-thru? Tip. Heck, my barber now charges $25 for a haircut (which takes all of 15 minutes) and we're expected to tip for that too. Then there are tips that I apparently don't really know about but if I don't, I'm the jerk. I never knew I was supposed to tip the natural gas guy when he comes by to do some service (which is 'free', this is service from the actual gas company on the meter). My neighbor tips the garbage truck driver. If someone put an initiative on the ballot that explicitly banned tipping, I'd vote for it.

denton-scratch 4y ago
> Heck, my barber now charges $25 for a haircut (which takes all of 15 minutes) and we're expected to tip for that too. It's been customary to tip barbers since forever, hasn't it? When I was just 8, my father gave me money to tip the barber. I think the principle is, you tip so that the server remembers you. With haircuts, that can make a difference. My hair is now so thin and wispy that no barber can make it look OK. I cut it very short myself, with electric clippers. I haven't been to a barbers in 8 years.
- rootusrootus 4y ago
  Yeah I guess I should be more specific. It's not really a barber, I think it's more 'hair stylist' I guess? Just a place that does all kinds of haircuts. No barber pole on the front or anything like that. Rarely get the same stylist twice, and they just pull up my cutting preferences from their computer when I check in. > My hair is now so thin and wispy that no barber can make it look OK. I cut it very short myself, with electric clippers. I haven't been to a barbers in 8 years. Ha! I'm getting there fast. I can still get it cut so it doesn't look terrible, but it quickly grows out and starts to look patchy, and worse, like I'm trying to have some kind of hangover. I'm this ---><--- close to just taking the clippers to it myself and calling it good.
- willcipriano 4y ago
  The way barber shops/salons work is the barber typically rents a chair from the business, some proportion of the fee you pay goes to the house and it is expected that the barber will earn some proportion of their money via tips. They also provide their own tools and products. Tipping barbers goes back at least to the 80's if not longer.
  - thewebcount 4y ago
    It doesn't matter if that's how a barber typically works. Your average consumer doesn't and shouldn't have to understand how every business they frequent works behind the scenes. I shouldn't need a degree in economics just to get a freakin' hair cut.
    - willcipriano 4y ago
      It's really only wait staff, bellhops, valets, catering for private events, hotel maids and barbers that need a tip historically.
hn_throwaway_99 4y ago
> Heck, my barber now charges $25 for a haircut (which takes all of 15 minutes) and we're expected to tip for that too. I think this comment perfectly encapsulates why tipping has exploded and why it's never going away. People say they hate tips, but they complain vehemently when the base price of those goods rises to a decent wage. In most urban areas I'd posit the reason for the explosion of tipping is because of the growing wealth inequality and explosion in housing costs. I'd bet that your barber is having a hell of a harder time making ends meet than, say, your average software developer compared to 10 years ago.
- rootusrootus 4y ago
  > I think this comment perfectly encapsulates why tipping has exploded and why it's never going away. People say they hate tips, but they complain vehemently when the base price of those goods rises to a decent wage. I'm not complaining about the price of the haircut, per se. I guess I could have phrased it better. What's getting me is that they're raising the price steadily, every few months it seems. That's cool, inflation is real, they have to make a living, I get it. But if they're doing a good job ratcheting up prices to keep up with inflation, why do I need to worry about tipping them so they can make ends meet? Yes, they're not up to software developer levels. But they do get carpal tunnel, so there's that. And they require a bit of training and licensing before they can work. But at $100/hr, lets assume the stylist is getting 50% of that. They're not poor, they're more than 3x our local minimum wage. Even then, it would bother me that my tipping was required for them to make ends meet. I'd much rather pay a fair price and not feel guilty based on how much I tip, wondering if it's enough, etc.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]

gruez 4y ago

>Buy a $3.00 coffee , $1 tip is expected. Is this a fancy coffee shop thing? I admittedly don't go to cafes often, but my impression was that it's a "tipping optional" type of place (as opposed to something like full service restaurants which are tipping defacto mandatory).

yamtaddle 4y ago
It's a side-effect (uh, or, deliberate feature) of modern POS systems. Defaulting to having a tip line on receipts for e.g. a carry-out meal from a restaurant, which people never used to tip for, or showing a tip option on an iPad in a situation that never, ever called for tipping before and the worker is standing right there watching you fill tap or fill out the receipt so you feel like maybe you're being a dick (what's the norm now? Are you one of those assholes abusing sub-minimum-wage tip workers if you don't tip? Who knows!) if you don't. Tipping was just not even considered in these transactions, before. [EDIT] Oh, and percentage-tip defaults for situations where the norm before was maybe you toss your extra change or a $1 bill in the tip jar, and it was pretty normal not to tip at all most of the time. "18%, 20%, 25%, Custom, Skip".
- ghaff 4y ago
  And if the POS systems made you feel like a bit of a cheapskate before, they sure made you feel like one in 2020/2021 comfortably working at home while young service workers were pouring coffee or flipping burgers.

HDThoreaun 4y ago

Just because the option is there on the tablet doesn't mean it's expected. Counter serve food/takeout and basic coffee will 95% of the time not get a tip from me.

dangwhy 4y ago
> Just because the option is there on the tablet doesn't mean it's expected. Yes i am too much of wuss to not tip when the person behind the counter is staring right at me making that choice.

grahar64 4y ago

The night after my first haircut in the US I was like “oh shit” and I googled “do you tip for a haircut” and realized I fucked up. The results were anywhere from 10%-50% tip. The next haircut I got I asked “what is a good tip” and the hair cutter would not tell me. I guessed 20% and went about my day. Then someone told me “that was too low”. I ended up cutting my own hair, or waiting until I was in another sane country.

aninteger 4y ago
20% is fine for a haircut. It's perfectly acceptable.
- WirelessGigabit 4y ago
  No it's not. Hair stylists should set there prices accordingly in a way that they make a livable wage.
  - grahar64 4y ago
    Some places hairstylists are more like contractors who actually pay to get a seat to cut peoples hair in. So tipping is a larger portion of their income.
    - WirelessGigabit 4y ago
      If they are employees they can negotiate a living wage. They all should band together and ask more if it is not livable. In fact, we all should stop to frequent places that exploit employees by not paying them a livable wage. And if the solution to this means an increase in price, so be it. The defense of 'they might be contractors', which rent a seat for a fixed price or on a % revenue sharing with the salon is even more ridiculous. They are contractors, so they have all the means to set their own price.
- juve1996 4y ago
  20% was fine when haircuts were a lot cheaper. My barber and most in the area have increased their prices significantly. 20% at $20 isn't bad. When my haircut is now pushing 35-40 range it becomes harder to stomach.

ddingus 4y ago

I have started inputting a custom amount. Recently, I've noticed some places keeping the machine out of my hands and flat out asking, "what should I do here?" It's way over the top aggressive now.

ddingus 4y ago
Meta: I missed my edit window, and apologize for the reply on my own post here. Soon, I will just start asking them to input something that takes work: "Please input $0.57, thank you SO MUCH!"[0] I expect the "custom amount" button to go away, at which point I will say something about making sure the average amount is about what I wanted to pay, and that means skipping some tips, and paying others, and oh by the way can you make a note of that. Is your manager here... Sorry about that, but getting this stuff right is really important... This is all a really craptastic game I would rather not play.[1] [0] I expect someone to get it wrong, or try and skate out on that little bit of work. Hoo boy! "Nope, let's make sure it is right please. Yeah, go back, hit custom, and yes $0.57 please. Yeah, you got it! Thank you!" [1] Like the check your bags Nazi they forced some poor soul to be. What I ended up doing was to get a gift receipt. Then, as I am walking right out with the stuff they have my money for, I hand it to them, "Here, please hold on to this for me, thanks!"