When Ted Rossman was at Newark Airport in New Jersey the other day, he got a shock along with his sandwich.
Rossman, a senior industry analyst for financial information site Bankrate, went to a self-serve kiosk for a snack before a flight, scanned the item himself, and was asked for a tip.
Since there was no other human involved in the transaction, just a machine blinking back at him, he was more than a little flabbergasted.
“People are being asked to tip more than ever,” says Rossman. “There are crazy examples that you would have never even thought of 10 years ago. It’s getting harder and harder to avoid.”
Which is why Americans are apparently fed up, according to a new Bankrate survey, opens new tab on the subject. In fact, 59% of respondents report they have at least one negative view of tipping.
That might be why, in almost every area you can imagine, the percentage of people who always tip is down compared to 2021. For food delivery folks, that number has sunk from 59% to 51% over that time frame.
For taxi or rideshare drivers, from 48% to 41%. For hotel housekeepers, from 28% to 22%. For coffee shop baristas, from 23% to 20%.
So what is going on?
“Tipping in America is truly out of control,” says Kashif Ahmed, a financial planner with American Private Wealth in Bedford, Massachusetts. “I understand many folks get most of their pay from tips, but businesses have started to ask for tips when no extra work was done. And in some cases, no human was even present!”
Read more at Reuters.com
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