I remember when fast food restaurants began upgrading their Point-of-Sale systems with customer-facing touch screens at the registers. Soon touch screens appeared in the lobby replacing many of the former registers. It seemed sleek and modern, as though it might improve the retail experience in some way. I’m sure it streamlined things for the owners, but there was a new step in the payment process that stood out to me – the tip screen.
Asking for a tip seemed odd to me because this screen was at the register and I was asked to select a tip amount before my food was even ready. It was takeout and there was no table service. Back in my day, tipping was for waiters / waitresses and was determined at the end of your meal. Typically, great service warranted a larger tip. If you’ve never waited tables, you may not know that waitstaff don’t even earn the paltry national $7.25 minimum wage!
Those hardworking people who tell you the specials, take your order, refill drinks, and curate your experience, often make only $2.13 hourly. Outrageous, right? Tipping culture was created to supplement the wages of the waitstaff. It was a vital part of their ability to survive. It makes one wonder why restaurants won’t pay their waitstaff a livable wage, but that’s a separate topic. This odd pay structure is a facet in America and is not a global trend.
However, my rant is not about fair wages. It’s much simpler. Tipping was based on your whole dining experience and determined at the end of your meal. So, I’m standing at the register, ordered a Number 3 with a milkshake, my takeout order was rung up and now I’m asked to select a tip amount before my bag of food is even ready.
My question is, when I’m at the register in a restaurant with no table-service: who am I tipping? Is this tip for the person who rang up my order (or maybe I placed the order via touch screen)? Is it for the person in the kitchen preparing food? Maybe it goes to the person who grabbed my burger off the rack under the heat lamps. I support tipping for good service, but that has always been a part of table-service for the waitstaff who make far less than minimum wage.
These days, I see tip screens at checkouts in a variety of different businesses. It’s not limited to restaurants anymore. What was once to supplement the hard work of waitstaff is now open to anyone behind a register, but as a consumer I don’t even know who that digital tip goes to when I’m standing at a checkout counter.
I’ve seen tip options on websites that sell clothing! My stance is, I’m not leaving a 20% tip after being charged $12 to ship a $40 T-shirt! Maybe I’m too old to understand the current trend in tipping, but it seems to have evolved into something larger than assisting waitstaff earnings. How do you feel about tip-screens at the register?
By CapeCod.com staff
