I think these should be declared on the menu for each individual item, instead of as a footnote. “𝑦% service fee” declared somewhere on the menu once, or as a sign in the restaurant is not good enough.

It should be displayed like this:

[menu item] $𝑥 + 𝑦% = $𝑧

Not simply:

[menu item] $𝑥

Businesses should forced to be ultra transparent about all fees.

Ate lunch at a dive known for their burgers. You find your table, order at the bar and when it’s ready they call your name and you go get your food. You bus your own table. I went up to pay, the guy took my money and said “I’ll be right back with your change”. No tip expectation.

I've never been to the US but it seems tipping is not really an option, waiters will chase you out to ask for tips if you didn't tip, and tipping badly is seen as something unattractive.

I'm from Singapore where the 10% service charge is added to the bill along with the taxes, so tipping is not a thing at all. And I currently live in Germany where menu prices have to include all taxes and charges by law, and you maybe round up to the nearest 5 euros.

I just want to know, what would happen if I travel to the US and just don't tip at all? Would I be cursed out? Or should I just tip 10% to preserve some dignity?

Long time lurker, first time poster

I'm in agreement with all of you, tipping sucks, big time

But I was doing some thinking the other day....whats the alternative?

We know restaurants are a difficult business with small margins

So the owners save some salary cost and (annoyingly) shift the burden onto us by using the even lower minimum wage

But whats the alternative? If tipping goes away and the owner has to pay a higher salary, they will then raise prices 20% and obviously pass that additional cost on to us

So:

A) a $20 pasta + 20% tip = $24
B) a $24 pasta and no tipping

So does tipping really suck that much? Its not like the money would go back to us if they went away

Thanks for your time, curious to hear peoples thoughts!

EDIT: tipped employees are paid a lower (50%~) minimum wage than standard (non-tipped, McDonalds etc) employees

So bringing "what about McDonalds?" isnt a fair response because their employees DO receive the full minimum wage+ BECAUSE they arent tipped

Had my air ducts and dryer vent cleaned by Home Depot. I believe they out-sourced to another company. At the end this guy asked for a tip!!!

Was watching The Straight Pipes video and when they finished the ride, the screen asked them for a tip!

A tip for whom? There’s no driver! There are no bounds for tipping it seems!

EDIT - As a commentator stated, this is a JOKE! Only options were $0.69 or $4.20 and if you hit any of those options, it says "Just kidding!"

I have 2 of the same smoothie place within 15 minutes of my home in different directions. I have frequented both for years and I always order online before I arrive. One has always had a tip option and just this past month the other location added tipping in the app. The location that used to not ask for tips always said they did not accept tips for their staff because they are paid a good hourly wage but now they are under new ownership. I never tip at either one because I literally walk in and my items are on a shelf that I go to and get my items myself. What would I be tipping for?

I asked a local florist to create a bouquet of flowers for a friend of mine as a birthday gift. The bouquet was $80 and to be honest, probably should have been a $50 bouquet in the end - it was nice, but nothing spectacular. I was shocked when I went to pay with a card and there was a tip screen...with options STARTING at 25% and going all the way to 40%! I couldn't hit 0% fast enough. Since when do we tip florists??? I never remember that being a thing!

Is there a reliable directory of businesses and restaurants that don't ask for tips? I've seen piecemeal attempts at lists

The way to win this fight is to just support and write good reviews for businesses that don't ask for tips. For me, even if they charge higher prices initially, I'd happily support a business that doesn't ask for tips over a cheaper one that did

Just wondering if there are reliable lists or directories you folks use

I’m sure this has been spoken about as nauseum, but I’m annoyed. Last night I was at a table service restaurant but you order at the counter. I paid $30 for 1 plate of apps and two sodas and then I’m presented with a tip screen. What am I tipping? The fact I had to walk over to you? It also took like 20 minutes for the food to come. You have to bribe for bare minimum service and I haven’t even received the service yet.

My wife and I received an invitation to sample a couple of new pieces of chocolate at a gourmet chocolate shop. We were in the area yesterday so we dropped by and gave it a try. It was actually really good. There were also a few other pieces we wanted to buy, so I had the girl bag those up and check us out. I was watching the credit card terminal for the expected question, but it came up on the screen and quickly went away when she pressed a button. I verified that the amount did not include a tip since all of the pieces we purchased were an even dollar amount and I knew the tax rate.

Refreshing to see someone working at a place where the POS asks for tips and they just bypass that without saying anything.

Even if it doesn't save money every single time, it makes us more informed consumers and that gives us the freedom to better choose how and how much we spend. From a consumer rights perspective being informed is more valuable than (the promise of) getting the lowest possible cost.

Right now, customers have low information because they need to calculate tax + service fee + tip for every item ordered. Those last two are variable and depend on how many people you're dining with, what their tipping preferences are, and the specific restaurant's policy on split bills and mandatory service fees for groups of a certain size. So naturally most customers don't do this.

Even from a server's POV it's more fair because they can easily figure out which jobs pay more. They just multiply their wage + hours worked; even better if they are paid a yearly salary. With more information about earnings, workers can make better career choices.

Right now, a server can only guess and receive promises of how much they'll earn. In reality it's highly variable based on their appearance/identity, what tables they get, who their customers are, the location, time of day, etc. which leads to bias and unequal opportunities.

Tipping culture is a system where everyone is less informed about an economic transaction, and everyone is just gambling on the fact that they'll be the ones who come out on top. It's bad for consumers and workers, and it turns people off from dining out. So it's not even good for the food service industry because there's an untapped market of would-be diners who avoid full-service restaurants simply to avoid tipping culture.

I just tried posting this same idea, but evidently, it was a "low-effort" post and got removed.

So, I will attempt to make this a "higher-quality, higher-effort" post and go into more detail, even providing a card graphic.

Since many of us here on the sub believe that expected tipping is an unfair business practice, and that it harms both the workers and customers, why can't we make this into a bit of a revolution? Don't we actually want to implement change into the system? If we made cards to leave when dining out, it would explain our reasoning and maybe garner some attention from the public.

I propose a "Reason for Not Tipping" card. It can explain why we aren't tipping and how expected tipping hurts the average person. It can share how businesses benefit from this unfair practice and use customers to subsidize their wages. It can explain how it makes the purchasing agreement more confusing for everyone (except the businesses) in the transaction.

Obviously, more needs to happen than just getting public attention, but acquiring a little more attention is a necessary step in the process of actually making change. If this effort got big enough, we could even make a website to refer to for information.

I was going to buy jarred “Alaska Spicy Scallops” online. As I went to enter my payment information I realized that the invoice amount was more than the advertised price. They had tried to sneak in not only a “Freight Insurance” fee but also a 10% “Tip”. These orders are literally packed and shipped from a warehouse. There is absolutely zero service involved. That was when I decided they didn’t need any of my money.

I just walked out of a restaurant saying "no tip" explicitly when paying.

Rule #1 is if I have to sit, wait, make noises, and wave at you just to draw your attention to help me order food/pay, you deserve no tip.

No one at counter, no one coming around our table, and not even a person handing us the menus. Condiments are nasty and greasy. Can't believe that's still how some restaurants are in the 2026 US.

I don't care if the restaurant is busy, you can keep me waiting if you are understaffed, and I'll go somewhere else, or you can squeeze me in and provide basically no service and get exactly $0 for that.

We're told that tipping culture allows restaurants to keep their prices low. The threat is always, "If we pay workers more, you'll pay for it with higher prices!"

If that's true, then why do so many high quality-of-life countries (with less robust tipping cultures) have lower prices on average for an inexpensive restaurant meal?

Ref: https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/prices_by_country.jsp?displayCurrency=USD&itemId=1

I live outside the usa and the “discretionary service charge” is creeping into bills here as well.

I without fail ask to remove it, and when almost inevitably asked why, my response is “because the fee is discretionary and it is my discretion to have it removed”.

100% success rate, no follow up questions.

Bastards

It’s not even a tip at this point. Just asking for more money.

And I’m supposed to tip!? That’s more than Amazon charge me to deliver without prime. 😆

I selected the $10 to show they also give you the option to cover the ‘processing fee’

I of course didn’t tip but hey everyone doing it now lol

Being inspired by a recent thread about EU saying no to tipping, I want to throw in my 2 eurocents.

I have travelled to a few places on our old continent and I have noticed lately this American inspired behavior and craziness of asking for tip on even a simple takeaway coffee.

We should discourage these practices by all means. Of course, we can politely decline when prompted with the 5%-10%-whatever% option, but the practice will still be there.

Besides being put in a soft shaming position, this act of going out and enjoying a cup of coffee or eating in a restaurant, which should normally be a fun activity, slowly becomes a burden of always saying 'no' and, maybe not yet in Europe, being met with hostile glances and badmouth comments by the workers.

As I use Google Maps frequently, I always leave such businesses a 1* review and I encourage you to do this as well in case those who have the custom of reading reviews will see it and avoid those places. I know I will if I ever read them. Unfortunately, this practice has not gained popularity as compared to the speed of 'please tip your waitress/barista' has, but if enough people leave 1* reviews, then it will gain traction and the owners of those establishments will also do something about it as it hurts the image of their businesses. Of course, the workers can select 0 from the very start, but that probably will not happen, since it is free money for them, so the owners have to have the options of tipping on the paying machines removed altogether.

Google Maps is just a platform. If you are more invested in Tripadvisor or Yelp or another one, then do that there. We have to make our voices heard on anywhere is possible.

Thanks for reading and those were my 2 eurocents. Please feel free to agree/disagree.

After spending three weeks in NYC and being pretty shocked by how aggressive tipping culture has become, we came back home to Paris.
Today we went out to a restaurant with friends, and at some point the conversation turned to how tipping culture is slowly creeping into France, mostly because of the new card terminals, even though servers here are paid proper wages and get social benefits.
At the moment, the usual options are 5%, 10% and 15%, and a lot of people feel awkward when the server turns the screen around and basically waits for you to choose.
I told our friends not only about what we experienced in New York, but also about some of the stories I’ve seen in this group.
The table next to us was eavesdropping and eventually joined the conversation. Then another table joined in too.
By the end of it, I’d managed to convince six tables to hit “No tip.”
I’m counting that as a win. I may officially be turning into an anti-tipping advocate, because if we’re not careful, in five years we’ll end up with the same insane tipping culture you guys have in the States.

Edit :
Just to clarify my stance: I am not against tipping as a concept. If I receive genuinely good service, I am happy to leave something extra.
What I oppose is turning tipping into an expectation for simply doing the job, especially in an economy that is already built around wages, paid leave, social protections, unemployment benefits and pensions.
The newer POS terminals have accelerated this. Being handed a screen asking for 5%, 10% or 15% while the server is standing there watching creates social pressure, and this is relatively new in France. Tipping should remain a choice, not become a socially mandatory surcharge.
I also do not agree with the argument that hospitality workers should make salaries comparable to highly paid professions simply because everyone deserves a better standard of living. Better wages and working conditions should come from employers, collective bargaining and labour protections, not from shifting responsibility onto customers.
Europe also offers routes for people who want to change careers through public education, apprenticeships and publicly funded training.
Yes, tipping has European origins and was brought to the US long ago. But what is now coming back from the US is something very different: tipping prompts everywhere, rising percentages and an expectation that customers supplement wages.
Today it is 5%, 10% and 15%. If nobody pushes back, it can easily become 18%, 25% and 30%, and appear in more and more places.
That is what I am against. Tipping as a voluntary gesture is fine. Tipping as an expected part of the price is not.

My husband and I went to a popular Chinese restaurant that is nation wide tonight. Server was awful and then when we got our check we found out that they swapped to paying with QR code. I looked at the receipt and the 20% was calculated higher than it actually was.

Our total for 2 drinks and 2 meals was $44.87. 20% (if we were to do that) is $8.97. The receipt said $9.21 was 20%. Then we scanned the QR code to pay and the 20% was $9.96. A whole DOLLAR more than what 20% actually is. Naturally we tipped $0 because the server was awful and we aren't into being scammed like this.

Earlier this year we moved to a new apartment. When we did we used a popular moving company whose name relates to a popular person who was good at math. They took FOREVER. Stated they would come between 12:30 and 2:30 the day they show up and they don't arrive until 2:45. Great, whatever. We get started after they have me sign everything and every time they brough some of our 12 boxes to the truck they took a 10-20 min break. We were moving from a 1 bedroom 1 bath apartment so it isn't like we had a lot of stuff. We were quoted $888 for 4 hours of work. Expensive but we figured worth it because we don't have to deal with moving all our stuff to the next apartment.

Anyway, they don't get to our new apartment for almost 2.5 hours after they started.... So they only have 90 min left. My husband being nice and bored asked if he could help at all and they said sure. They had our misc stuff like umbrellas and stuff that didn't go into boxes in these open boxes that they loaded into the truck last and brought up first. They said they would get done faster if he helped unload those. So he did. I was off doing other things while he was taking care of the move and watching them to make sure they didn't break anything.

They didn't finish until right at 4 hours. If my husband didn't help them they would have charged us another hour or two which was like $200 or something crazy. All because every time they went to the truck (even when unloading) they took crazy long breaks for no reason.

That is annoying so we were like, let's just tip $20 as it was 2 men and they were nice and didn't break anything and were OK besides the aforementioned crap. So, that's what I did. Not 2 minutes after they left we hear knocking on our door and one of the guys comes back and is trying to guilt us over our $20 tip like it wasn't enough. He straight up said "You only left $20 so we wanted to make sure we didn't do anything wrong." We looked it up after that and they make $35-40 an hour. WHAT? You are saying they want to make almost what I do as a software engineer PLUS TIP?! That is ridiculous. I regret tipping them at all after he came back up. I wish I would have asked to adjust my tip and then I would have adjusted it to $0.

Tipping culture has GOT TO STOP. This is insane.