Someone Asked About Tipping Culture In Ontario & Whether To Tip On A Pick-Up Food Order
We may never reach the end of the debates on tipping culture in Canada, but someone's recently expressed frustration on not just how much to tip in 2023, but when to tip, had most people feeling the same way.
The topic this time was tipping on takeout, specifically a food order that you pick up yourself, and whether it's something you do or don't do in this day and age of tipping culture that seems to have driven the percentage of a "normal" tip much higher.
In the r/Ontario Reddit thread, a user with the name Sam0077d brought up the topic of restaurants that ask for a tip on pick-up orders.
"Is it frustrating for anyone else?" they asked, describing the situation of being asked for a tip on a screen or card reader when ordering, "let's say pizza for pickup."
"They ask you for a tip % before the order is made, so now the workers might have a bias towards said order," they wrote, suggesting that instead, any restaurant with this policy should pay their staff a higher wage.
"This whole tipping thing is getting out of hand," they said in the post.
Given countless prior examples of debates over tipping culture, including a recent story a newcomer to Canada shared of being told by a waiter not to come back based on how much they tipped, it was surprising to see such an agreeable comment section on this particular post.
"If I'm picking it up I'm not tipping. End of story," one person wrote in response.
Many of the other comments seemed to follow along with this same view, with another person suggesting, "Get used to punching in zero. It hurts at first, but then it will be automatic."
"I am not tipping when I drive to pick up a food order," another wrote.
The thread also filled up with frustrated restaurant customers chiming in to express their shared annoyance with tipping culture in general.
"The problem is you're telling the restaurant you aren't tipping before they've made your food," another person wrote. "It's extortion with the implication being "tip us or else". I don't do business with restaurants that do this."
Though someone may have found a clever solution to what seems to be a problem faced by anyone paying with a debit or credit card.
"I always pay cash now lol," they wrote. "I started it as more of a budgeting tool, but it works out great because I don’t have to encounter that screen."
What about you — do you tip on a food order that you've picked up yourself?
