Maybe you always carry cash to drop in a tip jar, or you have no problem tapping the $1 or $2 option on a digital payment kiosk. But people are increasingly becoming frustrated with tipping culture and choosing to opt out entirely—until they're not given a choice. This is exactly what happened recently when a customer was getting boba tea: He tried to select the "no tip" option and found that the button was hidden, forcing him to leave gratuity. Read on to find out how tipflation is taking over the service industry and the ways consumers are responding to self-service tipping.
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What is tipflation?
iStockTipflation (a combination of tip and inflation) has become a hot topic of conversation, especially in the last few years. It’s the idea that customers are expected to tip more often and give higher amounts in places that previously weren’t accepting tips.
According to Forbes, "Tipping has become so ingrained in our culture that customers feel obligated to tip, even when the service is subpar, or zero labor took place."
While many workers rely on tips as part of their income, a lot of consumers believe that companies and businesses should be paying their employees more money in the first place, rather than relying on customers to supplement their wages.
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A TikToker recently posted about his experience buying bubble tea.
© @Joostanah / TikTokIn a recent TikTok video, user @joostanah posted a clip of a checkout screen at a boba tea shop called Bubble U. It showed his total of $14.55 and a choice of tip for either 10, 15, 20, or 25 percent to be added to the total.
However, he noticed that the custom tip option, which would allow him to opt out, was blocked by the button marked "continue," ultimately forcing him to give something.
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Other customers share their frustrations.
Backcountry Media / Shutterstock“NO NO TIP OPTION,” @joostanah noted in the text overlaying the video. And he wasn’t the only one upset by the lack of options.
"Went to a boba store in the Bay Area with 25%, 30%, and 40% only options. I paid in cash instead," wrote one commenter. "I wouldn’t have paid. That’s crazy," said another.
Bubble U actually responded to the video directly. "Thank you for bringing this to our attention and we’re sorry about your experience! We checked our systems and found no problem selecting the $0 tip."
And according to Daily Dot, Bubble U also reached out to Snackpass, their point of sale provider, for more clarification. “Snackpass has confirmed that this is not a system issue and has found no record of this customer’s transaction in their subsequent investigation,” they said. Bubble U went on to add that their highest priority is ensuring clients have full control of their tipping options.
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Tipping options seem to be appearing everywhere.
iStockNot only are more digital kiosks popping up with obligatory tipping, but self-checkout machines are requesting gratuity as well. This is a fairly recent practice and it begs the question: Who does the money actually go to?
Tipping becomes even more confusing when you’re not giving money directly to a person. Grocery stores, airports, and even sports games are seeing an influx of tipping requests from self-serving kiosks. Merchants have programmed the machines with pre-set tip amounts starting at 18 percent or higher at times, leaving customers baffled and overwhelmed, according to a report from CBS News. People tend to feel obligated to tip when they see this, even though they haven’t interacted with anyone.
