Is it OK to choose 'no tip' at the counter? Some customers think so

Hell yes it's okay!

Canada doesn't have a server wage like the US; we don't need to import their tipping culture. Moreover, regarding tipping in general: It is the employers' responsibility to pay employees a living wage; it is not the duty of the customer to subsidize wages.

Actually, Quebec still has tip wage.
- And employers who use it have a top-up-to-minimum requirement, when applicable.
My therapist thought I was wrong, when I told her servers get paid a living wage. I live in Canada and don't tip.
- Minimum wage ≠ Living wage
  
  Minimum wage = "I'd pay you less were I allowed to, but I can't."
  
  That said, it isn't the customers' duty to subsidize wages.

Permanently Deleted

💯 this. Exactly how I roll. It's a guilt trip and I'm willing to bet most people probably do add tips and it's encouraging the wrong people to keep up this bullshit behavior. Tipping should be abolished anyways. I don't want to hear sad servant stories about how you rely on tips. Your employer needs to pay you properly. It's just subsidizing the pay by splitting it between the employer and consumer. It's bullshit.

When I am asked for tip when purchasing bread at a bakery, I put no tip. Why would I tip for a service interaction that lasted 28 seconds? "Id like some bread please. here you go, its x$. beep thank you have a great day"

I ordered take out pizza once, the prompt said 18, 20 or 30%. If they had kept reasonable options maybe I would have CONSIDERED tipping. But the fact that the suggested tip amount was 18% just made me say nope you get nothing. And the service was pretty bad as well soo.... At this point I don’t care if I get bad looks from the employee

i think its the kind of scenario where if they simply kept the regular options of say 10, 15, 18% more people would be inclined to tip because the action of asking for a tip wouldn’t seem so greedy. Its like they forget that a tip is OPTIONAL and normally it should be given only if the service was exceptional, as a "thank you for going above and beyond to make us happy"

and dont get me wrong, Ive worked at a restaurant and I got part of the tip money, it was really cool because it paid much more than any other minimum wage job I could have found while in high school. But you also have to understand that the waiters at the place I worked at made up to 45$-50$ an hour during the summer (thats about 35$ an hour of tips, + the base tip minimum wage of about 10$). In my opinion tipping should only be given when the service is exceptional and especially when the workers are on tip minimum wage, and not the regular one

EDIT: HAHAHA I just read the last paragraph of the article:

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.

So basically she's saying that her minimum wage workers (I highly doubt a burger place has waiters on the tip minimum wage) will have to increase the COSTS by 20% as if 100% of the money generated by sales was going into the salaries of the workers... Why did this even make it into the article?? Yeah for sure your employee going from 15$ to 20$ (100% estimation on the numbers btw) per hour totally justifies raising the prices by that much

I hate that the tip percent has been creeping up over the years. I remember 10% was standard for awhile, and now often the lowest option is 18%. It's a percent, it'll automatically keep up with inflation you don't need to increase it too.

Service is already included. Of course it's "ok" to not tip. You're only helping the company avoid taxes, thus making your community worse off.

Why do people assume employees get the tips anyway?
- At least in some jurisdictions if it's collected as a tip it has to be passed to the employees

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.

Would anyone tip in this scenario?

Tons of people do this for bartenders that open bottles for them, or poor liquid from the tap into a glass. coffee shops are similar enough settings that people will often do it out of habit.

The difference of course being that bartenders get paid barely anything and tips are expected to be the majority of their income while baristas are supposed to be paid regular wages.

Personally I would rather every job including service jobs be paid a living wage with tips going away entirely.
- I doubt she opened his water for him lol. Bars feel different though since I'm likely to get more than one drink and a tip ensures I won't have to wait for my next.
- Are there any provinces that still have a lower minimum wage for alcohol servers? BC got rid of that years ago.
  
  Unless you mean minimum wage in general is barely anything.
I tip at coffee shops but somewhat erratically. The frequency is creeping up.
- I'll tip at a coffee shop if I order something that they need to make that I know
  a) Takes time
  b) Takes skill
  
  Drip coffee? No tip.
  Pre-baked good? No tip.
  Bag of beans? No tip.
  Combination order – custom $amount (not percentage!) tip based on the value of the custom drink only (no need to inflate the tip from the +$25 for the bag of beans).

Why is this even a repeating issue... this is just rage bait

Sorry you're so enraged.
- No worries. I didn't bite it. I just don't understand the appeal.

I wish the tipping was included in the upfront price

That seems terrible. You want the owner of whatever establishment to decide how much tip someone deserves and trust him enough that it's not just his porsche money?

If all of civilisation collapses into ruin, at least we will have the consolation that "tipping" will be abolished along with everything else.

Thanks. I sure memory of this comment will carry me through the dark times.

This is the best summary I could come up with:

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The original article contains 1,036 words, the summary contains 199 words. Saved 81%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!