Aussie wait staff divided on new dining trend

A new US dining trend has infiltrated Aussie restaurants and left locals furious. Now, wait staff have hit back at the backlash.

Australian hospitality staff are divided over an “uncomfortable” dining trend that has become increasingly common in restaurants, as fears grow over a shift in the nation’s tipping culture.

The practice – known as guilt tripping – involves a member of staff explaining to a diner how to enter a tip before watching them as they make their payment.

Professor Steve Worthington, an expert from Swinburne University with over 30 years of experience in payment systems, said the practice was on the rise in Australia.

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The new trend has left diners furious. Picture: Supplied

“There’s a large degree of surveillance when you’re given the payment terminal. It’s very visual to everyone. They are looking at what you’re doing and it feels intrusive,” he told news.com.au.

The practice has become commonplace as more venues opt for iPad-style point of sale (POS) systems.

News.com.au spoke to several wait staff across Sydney who have offered their own reasoning as to why the trend has taken off in recent years.

Mitch Gianni, who has been a fine dining waiter for seven years, said the practice “honestly does” get people to tip more.

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Mitch has worked across bar and waiter roles for the past seven years. Picture: Supplied

“If you’re a respectful waiter, you look away,” he said.

“It is a little bit in your face. When people stay and just stand there, I think that’s a bit wrong.”

However, Rushcutters Bay waiter Peter Takapuna has been in the hospitality industry for 30 years and said the iPad-style tipping system made little difference to how much people tip.

“I leave the screen on the tipping option after putting the bill total in and absolutely leave it to them,” he said.

“People who tip will always tip, and that’s whether they’re well off or not.”

Bartender Scott Griffin said it was never an “intentional practice” and instead was about ensuring the safety of the machine itself.

“It’s not a great practice to leave a wireless eftpos terminal unattended given the cost that could be incurred due to a stolen machine – also with a wireless terminal there’s no point in leaving it unattended like you might a receipt,” he said.

“The preset tipping options are there in part to encourage tipping but they are also there to streamline the process, while some people might find the prompt on the nose, if they decline the tip, it isn’t different socially to paying with exact cash.”

Kylie Pengelly Linke, who opened the first authentic Aussie pub in Stockholm, said tip surveillance “smacks of rudeness”

Hospitality and Event Strategist Kylie Pengelly Linke, who opened the first authentic Aussie pub in Stockholm, has been majorly vocal on guilt-tipping, taking to social media to slam the practice.

Speaking to news.com.au, Ms Linke said the practice “smacks of rudeness”.

“Capitalising on tourists who have a tipping culture makes sense, but you certainly run the risk of offending an Aussie,” she said.

“Especially considering we are lucky to have one of the highest minimum wages in the world. Guilt tipping is just one more way venues will lose customers. Leave me to make my payment in private!”

One Aussie said the tip options at a Melbourne restaurant were colour-coded (green for 20-25% and red for 5-10%). Picture: X

It’s not just Aussies sick of tip surveillance.

Two US marketing professors analysed 36,000 transactions with varying amounts of privacy during the payment process to compare how much customers tipped.

“High levels of surveillance are bad for business,” they wrote.

“Customers who felt watched while tipping were less likely to make a return visit or recommend a business. Feeling scrutinised led to resentment and reduced loyalty.”

They advised companies to “give customers privacy to tip” if they wanted customers to keep coming back.

Originally published as Aussie wait staff divided on new dining trend