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Tipping Right

As a consumer that started to re-engage with the food service industry coming of the pandemic, I can't say the ubiquitous tip options at every turn makes for delightful customer experience. The set of options remain about the same irrespective of the quality or type of service rendered. 

If it's a fast casual establishment making me a standard sandwich in the menu to go while I wait in line to pick up my order is not worthy of a 30% tip. That is not the customer's perception of value. Now if it were a party of twenty out for dinner with many folks having dietary restrictions or otherwise needing substitutions that's different. Add to that the party arriving at different times and being at different stages of ordering - some haven't figured out their drinks yet and others are close to ordering their entrees. 

It takes a lot of effort to keep all the balls in the air with such a group, get the orders right and deliver them in a way that makes for a seamless experience for the group. That is worth 30% easily. It has to be noted, the level of talent servicing the customers in these two situations is very different. I had a young woman at the local Subway scowl at me for asking her to toast the bread before she fixed the sandwich. It went downhill from there with her throwing stuff at the bread like she was attacking it. If 30%  was one of the options on the tip menu (in this case there was none), I am not at all sure if I'd be inclined. 

The idea of building the cost of tipping into the price of the service makes more sense. The customer still has a choice - they can take out instead of sitting down and not have to pay the premium. Studies show that greater the number of tipping options the higher the total amount collected. I must be an anomaly because I work with the dollar amount I have in mind and it is never one of the available percent options. I would imagine there are customers like me out there who resent being boxed in by pre-set numbers that do not calibrate the quality of their experience that the tip is meant to reflect.


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