Frustrated diners express anger over ‘insidious’ dining trend
A trend among restaurants has become a major source of frustration for diners who are fed up with the “insidious” tactic.
One of the lasting features of the Covid-19 pandemic has become a source of contention among restaurant diners, with the divisive trend being labelled “insidious”.
An opportunistic tool for eateries to bulk up their bottom line has sparked frustration among a section of the Australian community who have lashed the tactic as pretentious.
Diners have taken issue with digital payment systems adopted by most restaurants that ask customers for a percentage tip before they place their order.
Often, as noted in a popular Reddit thread, the option to tip staff 10 per cent is selected as the default option, sometimes leading people to mistakenly tip when they’re in a rush.
One of the major complaints surrounding the tipping feature was that it came before customers had any interaction with staff or their services, and usually only shortly after arriving.
There have been calls for the feature to be removed from QR code digital payment systems in Australia, where hospitality staff are paid fairly unlike in countries like the United States.
“It seems to me that we’re getting more and more places using digital payment means to promote tipping in Australia. When you pay by card, you have to go through the tipping questions before being able to pay,” the Reddit post, titled “insidious tipping culture”, read.
“Some places now have a QR code where you order and pay for your stuff at the table with no interaction from a server, and the process still asks for a tip. We need to f**k this sh*t off.”
Not many disagreed with the bold statement, with hundreds responding about how they too felt it was wrong to ask diners to tip for something they had yet to experience.
“Asking for a tip before there’s been any service at all, while you’re ordering from a code on the table is whack,” one person responded.
“Man those places where you pay digitally and it asks for a tip before you’ve received anything really p*ss me off,” another wrote.
One diner who recently experienced this recalled how they were “really irritated” after being asked for a tip having not spoken to anyone and the menu having poor availability.
“Half the items were unavailable. I ordered and paid without speaking to anyone and it asked for a tip at the end, with the default option being 10 per cent,” they explained. “It really irritated me, mostly because it’s Australia and these people are getting paid appropriately.
“Also, I had received zero service by this point and for all I knew my food could’ve been terrible. I definitely won’t go back there because of this reason.”
Others felt meal prices were more than adequate compensation for restaurants.
“Yeah thanks I love paying $25 for a single meal out and having to tip! Get f***ed. Tipping has no place here in Australia,” one argued.