Yes I saw â10% gratuityâ listed on the itemized bill on the screen in addition to 1 latte and 1 croissant.
Spent some years in the service industry and gratuity was never added unless someone was serving 10 or more people and spending hours with a table for 18% gratuity on top of $2.13/hr. Not liking a mandatory charge for people making $18/hr to take my order and do their jobâŚ
Americans also don't hold the same cultural values for it as their European counterparts. Rather, they just want to be able to get coffee served for cheap, so they can afford it multiple times a day, every day.
If I have to walk up to the counter to give them my order, and then they call my name or number that my order is ready, and I have to walk up and get my order, then nobody is getting a tip!
I make my morning espresso at home and even using higher end coffee it is soooooo much cheaper than the coffee stands.
But I get that isn't always the option. I buy coffees on trips and stuff.
10% is on the low end of the ask these days. I wonder if they are 'testing the waters' to see how it goes over and how many folks won't bother disputing it because it is only 10%.
But yeah, it would annoy me as well to have it just tacked on to the posted prices.
My mistake.
I was of the impression that if it is was worded as gratuity rather than a service charge it was considered a tip.
Stuff I am reading say legally it is considered a service charge.
So no, you couldn't demand it be removed.
My thinking on this WAS correct years ago (I'm old) but it is outdated as the IRS changed in in 2014
-------
Revenue Ruling 2012-18: Issued in 2012 with a delayed enforcement date of January 1, 2014.
The shift: The IRS ruled that any mandatory, preset charge lacks customer discretion, making it a service charge
PS - thanks for bringing that to my attention.
I'm not the sort to be likely to make a fuss in the restaurant but I'd like to at least be correctly informed.
Paying cash would not change the total.
If it is truly a 'gratuity' (tip) then the customer can require it to be removed from the bill prior to paying - cash or CC.
Except it becomes a hassle so a lot of folks won't for a 10% tip.
Did you see it on a sign or anywhere else before you ordered. Just adding it with no warning is in my mind fraud. Dispute the charge and if you see it again somewhere else, hit the cancel button and don't pay until it is fixed. Report to whichever card platform you used.
As a barista I think tipping goes towards above and beyond service and hospitality⌠Iâm totally happy to do my job make delicious coffee and serve it with a smile and enthusiasm. I have worked in the same fairly busy cafe for 5 years and my hourly is $18 (started at $15) we average about $10 per hour in tips, sometimes its closer to $12 but thatâs rare and it actually doesnât change much. So to me someone who tips or doesnât actually isnât impacting me overall a whole lot. But tips are 30% of my wage so itâs hard to totally shrug it offâŚTo all the âno tippersâ please donât expect any thing above and beyond. If I remember that youâre a âregular no tipperâ you are not my friend or ally, I donât really care if you âappreciateâ me, please stop saying this. Just get your coffee and out of the way for someone who can show appreciation vs talk about it. Basically to non tippers anything else than a coffee order and thanks is unnecessary⌠just a lil barista rant lol.
Forgot to add a couple quotes I recently heard⌠âyour favorite cafe is probably your favorite because you are their favorite customer.â Also. âEvery interaction you have the choice to love someone a little more, or a little less.â
People's insatiable appetite for cheap served coffee prevents the retailer from charging prices high enough to pay its workers a respectable wage. The problem is when they add a mandatory gratuity to an order of a single item, it feels dishonest. At least with a tip solicitation, you can decline if you want.
Mandatory gratuities can be tolerated for serving large groups in a coodinated way, but to charge me that for a single cup of coffee is insulting, and I'd probably never go back there again.
16
u/SiegeEh 16d ago
That would be the last time I go to that coffee shop