TIpping in advance
April 4, 2022 8:32 AM Subscribe
This question is inspired by the previous tipping question on Askme, but was something I have been wondering about.
I always think of my tip amount as acknowledging the quality of service. Like, I'd give a much bigger tip for amazing service and a standard tip for standard service.
How do you think about tips asked for in advance - especially for services provided by the business owner themself?
I recently made an appointment for a self-care service. (Let's call it reiki, but it's not that.) To book the appt you have to pay online in advance. The business owner is the sole practitioner. You can only book online.
As part of the simultaneous online booking/paying, I was asked by the website to add my choice of tip: No tip, 10%, 15% or 20%. I could not leave this blank to submit the appointment, I would have had to select "no tip" which also felt uncomfortable. There was no space to write "I'll tip later."
This made me wonder two things.
First, I've noticed that business owners are asking for tips when they didn't used to expect it as the owner, is this true? For example when my hair is cut at my salon by the owner, they expect a tip now. (The salon does very, very well and employs many people; the owner likes to cut hair too.)
Second, isn't a tip supposed to acknowledge the customer's satisfaction with the service? Why am I tipping the "reiki practitioner" in advance, just to book them? If the owner is the sole practitioner they can set their own rates, so it's not like management is underpaying them and they need customers to top that off their minimum wage bs salary. They set their own prices (and it's expensive.)
I'm looking forward to my "reiki" and this isn't a big deal, I am just wondering.
I recently made an appointment for a self-care service. (Let's call it reiki, but it's not that.) To book the appt you have to pay online in advance. The business owner is the sole practitioner. You can only book online.
As part of the simultaneous online booking/paying, I was asked by the website to add my choice of tip: No tip, 10%, 15% or 20%. I could not leave this blank to submit the appointment, I would have had to select "no tip" which also felt uncomfortable. There was no space to write "I'll tip later."
This made me wonder two things.
First, I've noticed that business owners are asking for tips when they didn't used to expect it as the owner, is this true? For example when my hair is cut at my salon by the owner, they expect a tip now. (The salon does very, very well and employs many people; the owner likes to cut hair too.)
Second, isn't a tip supposed to acknowledge the customer's satisfaction with the service? Why am I tipping the "reiki practitioner" in advance, just to book them? If the owner is the sole practitioner they can set their own rates, so it's not like management is underpaying them and they need customers to top that off their minimum wage bs salary. They set their own prices (and it's expensive.)
I'm looking forward to my "reiki" and this isn't a big deal, I am just wondering.
Business owners are caught. If they don't put a space holder in, most people think no tip is necessary and if they do, they look like they are expecting tips. The truth is somewhere in between. I just put "no tip" and give a cash tip when there. I assume they are asking for my credit card not about my preconceived notion of what the service will be or about my tipping style.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 8:42 AM on April 4, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by JohnnyGunn at 8:42 AM on April 4, 2022 [3 favorites]
I can't speak to the tipping issue but I can say that when I read your question, it reads partly like a payment system issue to me.
Probably they used to take payment at the time of the service and now with Covid and everything else, they've made online pre-payment possible. They probably only have the option to turn the "tips module" on or off, so they left it on for everyone.
posted by warriorqueen at 8:49 AM on April 4, 2022 [11 favorites]
Probably they used to take payment at the time of the service and now with Covid and everything else, they've made online pre-payment possible. They probably only have the option to turn the "tips module" on or off, so they left it on for everyone.
posted by warriorqueen at 8:49 AM on April 4, 2022 [11 favorites]
I'm looking forward to my "reiki" and this isn't a big deal, I am just wondering.
Hypothetically, if the service is terrible, would you still tip anyway to be polite (and then never come back?)
If that's the case, then whether or not you're tipping before or after receiving the service is irrelevant. It only matters if you feel you need the option of withholding the tip. And in the long run, it's probably better to just tip.
People are using a lot less cash and not every credit card processing setup allows for tipping. I've actually been caught a few times without cash while picking up my online order at the pizza place, but I always make up for it by double-tipping the next time. Just roll with it.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 9:11 AM on April 4, 2022 [2 favorites]
Hypothetically, if the service is terrible, would you still tip anyway to be polite (and then never come back?)
If that's the case, then whether or not you're tipping before or after receiving the service is irrelevant. It only matters if you feel you need the option of withholding the tip. And in the long run, it's probably better to just tip.
People are using a lot less cash and not every credit card processing setup allows for tipping. I've actually been caught a few times without cash while picking up my online order at the pizza place, but I always make up for it by double-tipping the next time. Just roll with it.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 9:11 AM on April 4, 2022 [2 favorites]
I find this odd. The only way I could make sense of it is if it is indeed some back-end thing where there wasn't a spot to put a message like "tips for excellent service are appreciated," but the system did have an option like "leave tipping on? y/n" and the owner was like sure, what the hell. But gosh, asking for it in advance is... off-putting, indeed.
In terms of owners taking tips...tipping is so expected in the US that I think there are some folks (like your salon owner) who just figure why leave the money on the table, when it's just as easy to take it and know that Americans will generally pay it without complaint.
posted by fingersandtoes at 9:44 AM on April 4, 2022 [1 favorite]
In terms of owners taking tips...tipping is so expected in the US that I think there are some folks (like your salon owner) who just figure why leave the money on the table, when it's just as easy to take it and know that Americans will generally pay it without complaint.
posted by fingersandtoes at 9:44 AM on April 4, 2022 [1 favorite]
This is a therapeutic service, right? I don’t tip my LMT, therapist, or acupuncturist. I imagine reiki is the same? You could always ask. I initially asked my LMT and she emphasized that she set her own prices and that tipping for therapeutic services is not required or expected. If you are not at a spa, it’s not expected. But just ask!
posted by vivzan at 10:30 AM on April 4, 2022
posted by vivzan at 10:30 AM on April 4, 2022
In this particular instance, I think it may have to do with the payment processing system. I have found, for example, that businesses that use Square to take payments inevitably have tipping options built in. The same is true for some hardware-based POS systems as well. I see this at Eataly, for example, where it doesn't make sense to tip the person who simply hands me the premade panino I'll be having for lunch. In cases such as these, I don't think it's a big deal to click "no tip." Because your "reiki" practitioner is a sole proprietor it seems likely they're using an (embedded?) prepackaged/preconfigured sales portal that includes tipping.
As for the second part of your inquiry, I don't know that it's reasonable to think of tipping as an "acknowledgment of customer satisfaction." In many settings--restaurants being the most obvious--tipping effectively constitutes the server's actual remuneration for the work they perform, and in such as setting there is an implicit social contract for customers to provide this income in the form of a tip. Yeah, yeah, this is a crap system. We all know that restaurants should pay these employees a living wage for their time and charge accordingly. But that's a system we'd like to have, not the system we actually have. In any circumstance for which tips constitute the main income of the person serving us, I'd say that tipping 20% is obligatory regardless of satisfaction (if you're dissatisfied there are other remedies and actions you can take that don't include stiffing on the tip).
posted by slkinsey at 10:30 AM on April 4, 2022 [1 favorite]
As for the second part of your inquiry, I don't know that it's reasonable to think of tipping as an "acknowledgment of customer satisfaction." In many settings--restaurants being the most obvious--tipping effectively constitutes the server's actual remuneration for the work they perform, and in such as setting there is an implicit social contract for customers to provide this income in the form of a tip. Yeah, yeah, this is a crap system. We all know that restaurants should pay these employees a living wage for their time and charge accordingly. But that's a system we'd like to have, not the system we actually have. In any circumstance for which tips constitute the main income of the person serving us, I'd say that tipping 20% is obligatory regardless of satisfaction (if you're dissatisfied there are other remedies and actions you can take that don't include stiffing on the tip).
posted by slkinsey at 10:30 AM on April 4, 2022 [1 favorite]
I agree on the technical side the vendor probably had to choose between "No tips ever" or "offer tips but confuse some people" and picked the one that makes them more money. My solution to this is to not tip the first time I do a prepaid service, but then tip the next time based on how the previous service (haircut, massage, whatever) went.
posted by JZig at 10:51 AM on April 4, 2022
posted by JZig at 10:51 AM on April 4, 2022
I agree that this changed during COVID when many businesses started to offer contactless pick-up. I will say, I like the fact that when I order pizza from the place nearby, I can walk in and quickly grab it since I've already paid. This is my regular place, I have my regular tip, there is no guess work.
But for services that are new, I select "no tip" and then tip once the job is done- I don't think the owner will assume you won't tip eventually, since I imagine you wouldn't be the first to go that route.
posted by coffeecat at 1:58 PM on April 4, 2022
But for services that are new, I select "no tip" and then tip once the job is done- I don't think the owner will assume you won't tip eventually, since I imagine you wouldn't be the first to go that route.
posted by coffeecat at 1:58 PM on April 4, 2022
i saw this type of behaviour about 5 years ago when booking a spa treatment in person. At the moment of booking, before the treatment, I was asked about the amount of the tip. I was quite surprised and replied that we would wait until *after* the treatment. This pre-tipping, in my opinion, should NOT be normalised.
posted by alchemist at 5:32 PM on April 4, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by alchemist at 5:32 PM on April 4, 2022 [1 favorite]
Here is an article that addresses the issue. Sort of. More for over-the-counter service.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 9:03 AM on April 8, 2022
posted by JohnnyGunn at 9:03 AM on April 8, 2022
This thread is closed to new comments.
True, owners didn't used to request tips, but most of the time now, people don't know who the owner even is, and their credit card machines certainly don't, and owners liked the bump in income. So instead of raising prices, which they have the power to do, they just rely on getting some tips. People tend to factor tipping into the price anyway, so from the owner perspective, they're leaving money on the table if they don't ask.
And also true, tipping is supposed to at least somewhat relate to the quality of the service -- though that's always been pretty shitty in practice -- but with credit cards and online services, it is much easier to handle all of that at one time. People will forget to come back and tip later and tip income will go down.
So now you get this increasingly bullshit system where tipping is a semi-optional service charge of some random amount paid out regardless of circumstances to anyone who does certain types of work.
posted by jacquilynne at 8:40 AM on April 4, 2022 [11 favorites]