In the United States, it is customary to tip about 20% of the bill when dining at a restaurant. Tipping is almost the only system in developed countries that is common in the United States. It is a desperate measure to compensate for the absurdly low minimum wage of 2.13 dollars (about 2,800 won) per hour for service workers.
The New York Times (NYT) reported on the 9th (local time) that tipping culture in the United States is also becoming confused as the digital economy is invigorated, such as the increasing number of people ordering and eating food through apps. Here is a summary of the article.
A delivery man for Uber Eats, which delivers food to luxury residential areas in Los Angeles, said that the tips he receives while delivering food to luxury homes are inconsistent. Doc Rivers, coach of the Los Angeles Clippers basketball team, gave him $130, but some said he didn’t tip at all.
As such, there is no established fair price for tips given to food delivery drivers. Food delivery apps like Uber Eats and Door Dash require you to tip when ordering. This breaks the perception that tips are a reward for good service. It is not easy to understand why customers should tip.
Furthermore, apps have transformed personal relationships into digital interactions. Because of this uniform tipping method, the giving of many tips has also been reduced. It’s easy for restaurant diners to show their appreciation to the waitresses, but it’s not so easy to give a generous tip to a food delivery person you rarely see face-to-face.
As a result, most people who order food through the app only give the minimum tip required by the app. Hard to find button for tipping Few people bother to tip.
This way, the app operator has the initiative to set the tip. Customers as well as delivery drivers are trying to change their perception of tips. Some websites, such as supermarkets, auto repair shops, and dog hotels, which did not ask for tips in the past, now ask for tips.
As a result, customers worry about whether they should tip when buying food at convenience stores, and worry that it would be rude if they do not tip at grocery stores.
Because of this, some say that forcing apps to tip is coercion and emphasize that the government should regulate the act of making money by companies without providing any additional services.
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.