Is it OK to choose 'no tip' at the counter? Some customers think so
Survey results show 77% of Canadian respondents dislike auto-tipping prompts on payment machines
When Alessandro Montelli was asked to tip when paying for a bottle of water at a local coffee shop, he knew something had to change with tipping culture.
The Torontonian and recent university graduate had just finished a run and wanted to rehydrate. The barista behind the counter handed Montelli the water bottle and turned the point-of-sale (POS) machine — with large tip prompts for up to 20 per cent — to him.
Montelli paid for the water without leaving a tip, and decided to share his experience on TikTok.
"Normalize clicking 'no tip.' I am dead tired of [tipping] for things that should not be tippable," he said in the video.
After years of "tip-flation," which saw suggested tip amounts soar up to 30 per cent in some cases and gratuity prompts pop up at places where they weren't common before, frustrated customers like Montelli are hoping to swing the trend back in the other direction by leaving smaller tips — or none at all.
In a recent survey of adults who'd visited a sit-down restaurant in the last six months, 25 per cent of Canadian respondents said they were tipping less than they had been in the past. Almost 80 per cent of respondents said they're not a fan of auto-tipping prompts on digital payment machines, as well.
Montelli says the conversation about when and where it's OK to leave less or no tip is growing — especially on social media, where people share their own tipping experiences and guidelines.
There's even a tip-fluencer of sorts who goes by idonttip on TikTok. The anonymous, Los Angeles-based user shares videos of himself leaving no tip, at every establishment, regardless of how good the service is.
Montelli still tips at sit-down restaurants, or anywhere he says a genuine service is being provided. His general rules are that he doesn't tip on takeout, at coffee shops or anywhere he has to stand in line to order — the same rules users of the reddit community r/EndTipping share online.
Bruce McAdams, an associate professor at the University of Guelph's school of business and economics who researches tipping, isn't surprised that customers are starting to rebel against tip-flation.
"Maybe the only surprise is it's taken this long," McAdams told Cost of Living.
Up, then back down
During the COVID-19 pandemic, McAdams says average tip amounts left by customers increased by about five per cent in an effort to help service workers whose jobs were hit hard by lockdowns. As some pandemic hardships eased in the past few years, however, tipping percentages programmed into POS devices have remained high.
Tip options have also been added for products and services where they weren't expected in the past, such as oil changes — a phenomenon known as "tip creep," McAdams said.
McAdams says not tipping, especially at places where customers weren't asked to tip pre-pandemic, is a way for people to exert a bit of control.
"It's almost like, 'OK, I'm going to get my revenge by not tipping my loonie, or my quarter on my coffee anymore. That's going to make me feel like the power's back with me and show that I'm tired of tipping,'" said McAdams of consumers.
Anecdotally, McAdams says he's heard of at least a few businesses lowering their tip presets on POS machines to better match customers' tipping habits, and after receiving some backlash from customers.
"So, consumers have actually stepped up and made their voice heard in this instance," said McAdams.
From tip-flation to tip-deflation?
The reaction to tipflation — which could be described as tip-deflation — is probably driven by a mix of factors, in particular the rising cost of goods and services making it more difficult to leave any tip at all, according to McAdams.
As a customer, Montelli agrees. "Budgets are getting tighter. So I think once [people] start evaluating, like, where can you save money? They're like, well this might be one of those spots," he told Cost of Living.
McAdams says consumers are also beginning to see tips less as a bonus given for good service, and more as an expectation to help low-wage workers, which shifts the responsibility of paying them fairly onto the customer.
"Everyone's resigned to the fact that [they're] just subsidizing minimum wage workers," said McAdams. "Tipping has always been a social norm. And I think that we're sort of pecking away and chipping away at that norm."
A 2023 Angus Reid poll found that 59 per cent of Canadians surveyed said they'd prefer a "service-included" model, which would see an end to tipping and employees wages increase instead to compensate them.
Montelli says businesses shouldn't pass the onus of service worker's wages onto the customer through tipping, and hopes that by normalizing leaving no tip, consumers might force business owners to pay their staff better wages.
"Tipping is like mist that is clouding the truth, which is people are not getting paid enough for the work they're doing," said Montelli.
"If we normalize no tip … that is when the pressure will come from the other side and then restaurants will be obligated to change the model."
Karen Kho, owner and operator of Empire Provisions and Lil' Empire Burger in Calgary, says on the whole, customers have been more conservative with their money as of late. That's been reflected both in the tip amounts left, and in their general purchasing habits.
But if consumers are really feeling stretched by the rising cost of everything, Kho said moving away from tipping might not be the best solution. She said if her staff weren't helped out by tips and she had to pay higher wages instead, she'd need to raise prices by about 15 to 20 per cent — a standard tip amount — anyway.
"At the end of the day it comes from somewhere. If you wanted to eliminate tipping, then you have to be willing to pay the [higher] price," said Kho. "My argument would be at least the customer has control over [tipping]."
At the end of the day, Kho says tipping is still supposed to be a reward for customer service, and the "no tip" option will continue to be there for customers who don't want to leave something extra.
"The choice is always in the customer's hand. We expect tips to be only a reflection of exceptional service."
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Interviews with Bruce McAdams and Alessandro Montelli produced by Danielle Nerman