Too many businesses pushing customers to make unjustified Tips

Suddenly every business is pushing its customers to give a Tip, not just as a thank you for great service but as a way of generating more revenues, pushing you to tip as much as 30 percent

By Ray Hanania

Free/consumers, shopping, restaurants, holiday tipping/Friday Dec. 20, 2024

A tip used to have real meaning. It was a way of expressing your gratitude for the great service that went beyond what was expected and which was what you were already paying for.

Businesses today have stepped up the intimidation to force you to tip, not for great service, but as a way for them to make extra money.

I often tip waiters and waitresses who work in restaurants, delivering food and ensuring that you get what you order. I even tip those who provide year-round services, like the mail carrier and the waste disposal employees.

I give the waste haulers a good tip of $40 to $50 twice a year in July and around Christmas. They deserve. They put up with a lot of horrible customers who are sloppy and uncaring when they put out their trash. I also tip the mail delivery person each holiday. They have rough jobs.

Waitresses and waiters have rough jobs and often don’t get paid enough. They provide a constant service taking your order, bringing you the food, and then ensuring that you got what you ordered or checking to see if you need anything else. Ice tea refills? More drinks. Napkins. They are then to help and that service deserves a tip.

But tip the cashier who took your order at the register at a restaurant? For what? Doing their job? Unless they bring the food to you or go out of their way to do something special, why are we being pushed to give them a tip?

For many businesses, it is greed. They exploit technology that they have you complete on iPad like registers at the counter that ask not just for a reasonable 15 percent tip, but 20, 25, and 30 percent or more. It’s intimidating because if you don’t tip you leave the restaurant feeling that you did something wrong.

Tipping is an expression of gratitude, not an extra payment on top of the costs you are already charged.

I have stopped going to some fast food places where they push you to give a tip. 30 percent for what? Taking my order and handing it to me at the counter where I wait for the food to be prepared? I already paid for that basic service.

Worse are businesses that add special charges like “service fees.” In many cases, it is just added to the invoice but it can be removed if you ask them to take it off. A service fee is a grab for more money, pure greed.

I avoid places that impose service fees and you should too.

Tipping should be an expression of gratitude for someone who goes a little further to ensure that your buying experience has been maximized. Instead, it has become a source of greed and owners seeking to grab more money. Or, it’s imposed by owners who don’t pay their employees enough and want you to share in their responsibility.

The push-to-tip phenomenon is a part of the growing exploitation of the holiday season where the holidays mean only one thing to businesses, a way to make more money. Christmas, Easter, Hanukkah, and other holidays have been stripped of their luster by this growing greed. They claim to cut costs when in fact what they have done is increase retail costs and then falsely promote that you can make a purchase using the “holiday discount.”

When I encounter obvious greed, I walk away. It’s easy. It’s one reason why I buy more online, although there are some products that I won’t buy online because it makes no sense unless they have an easy return policy. What’s often advertised online, like on TV or in newspapers which often doesn’t even come close to the reality.

All of that holiday greed is just upsetting. We go to restaurants less. We go shopping less.

Diving into this greed ar some local governments, like Orland Park and wasteful spender Mayor Keith Pekau. Orland Park has the highest sales tax in the region.

Last week, I purchased a MacBook Pro that cost over $4,000, from Apple. The customer service was phenomenal. They didn’t ask for a tip. Apple pays them well and I am more likely to spend more while there because I feel like they care more about me than about themselves.

But I didn’t buy it in Orland Park, where the sales tax is the highest in the state. I went to Oak Brook and bought it there.

The same when I buy a car. I don’t buy it in Orland Park anymore. I go to other car collectives, you know, where a group of brand dealers line up on a street and you can pick and choose the model you want. You will save a lot by not shopping in Orland Park when looking for big-ticket items.

Greed is the greatest sickness plaguing the retail world and some governments. It spoils the holidays and forces you to go out of your way to make a purchase that leaves you satisfied that you got a good deal.

In many cases, the greed is obvious but the manufacturers hope you won’t notice. Like the food products that appear to be the same size, but have less content and cost more. That’s how they deal with the rapidly increasing inflation that politicians keep telling us in under control. Under control? Yeah, right! Government has never lied as much as it has as it does today asserting the economy is “doing well.”

I’d throw eggs at them in protest, but the eggs cost too much these days.

It’s all about the money, today. It used to be about the customer, you know the people who are “always right.”

You charge too much? Good-bye.

You push me to give an unjustified tip? Good-bye.

You jack up the price and put less product in the bag? Good-bye and a half.

There are many places you can go to that don’t exploit customers. You just have to work harder to find them. And when you do, give them a tip just for caring about you, not caring for their own greed.

I would love to hear any of your stories about experiencing your encounters with excessive tipping pressure. Call out the businesses.

Email me at rghanania@gmail.com. Or, just leave a comment.

I’ll reprint your comments AND I’ll keep it anonymous. I’ll share your experience and I won’t publish your name

Merry Christmas. Happy Hannukah. Happy Kwanza. Happy Holidays. Happy Festivus for the Rest-of-Us. Whatever you celebrate this holiday season, I hope you do so without getting ripped off by excessive tipping pressure or encountering growing commercial greed.