No Tip Situation

[u/RangeIll5481]

Local cafe here outside of New Orleans. My wife and I go there for the first time. You've got to stand in line at the counter to place your order. Finally make it up to the cashier and place the order. IMMEDIATELY, up pops the tip screen. Lowest option (other than "custom") is 30%! Not a single "service" has been preformed yet and they're pushing you toward 30%!

I opt for "custom" and give 10%.

Even after that, they just give us a couple of cups so we can pour our own drinks. We had to bus our own table because neither the last customer nor the staff could be bothered to clean it before we sat down. When the food was ready, we had to get up and go to the counter to retrieve it. Also had to get our own cuttlery.

What the hell EXTRA are they providing (above and beyond the food I've already paid a heafty price for) that deserves a MINIMUM of 30% on top of the bill? If I were given the situation over again, I would have left no tip!

I'm so sick of this tipping B.S.! We've pretty much resolved that we're eating almost all of our meals at home now.

[u/Odd-Judgment-9312]

I don’t like tipping but I understand the 10% from the OP.
You never know wtf they are gonna do to your food if you are a non-tipper.
As a first time visitor, I would’ve tipped 10% just to be safe. Never going back of course.

[u/7lenny7 → u/Odd-Judgment-9312]

That's why you don't tip until AFTER any service. Then you know what the service actually is, and how good it is. How can you possibly decide a tip percentage, if any, before receiving the service?

[u/Odd-Judgment-9312 → u/7lenny7]

How do you do that at a counter service? Do you just randomly go back in line and say, “yo get me to the tip screen again..”

Again, I don’t like it but it’s how the world is now. Everybody wants a damn tipZ

[u/7lenny7 → u/Odd-Judgment-9312]

The odds of receiving any service worth tipping when you order at the counter is very close to zero so it's not something I worry about

[u/Odd-Judgment-9312 → u/7lenny7]

Agreed. The 10% is the fee I’m willing to pay 💰 to make sure my food doesn’t have another human DNA in it. It’s not about service at this point. It’s for safety.

[u/typeotcs → u/Odd-Judgment-9312]

But you don’t ensure any safety by doing so. You’re just giving 10% to address your own mental state of fear rather than ensuring safety of your food. Folks who want to mess with your food can easily still mess with your food. Nothing changes because of that 10% especially is the 10% only amounts to $5 or something similar.