Is It OK To Choose 'No Tip' At The Counter? Some Customers Think So

Source: Found here

When Alessandro Montelli was asked to tip when paying for a bottle of water at a local coffee shop, he knew something had to change with tipping culture.

The Torontonian and recent university graduate had just finished a run and wanted to rehydrate. The barista behind the counter handed Montelli the water bottle and turned the point-of-sale (POS) machine — with large tip prompts for up to 20 per cent — to him.

Montelli paid for the water without leaving a tip, and decided to share his experience on TikTok .

After years of ⁘ tip-flation ,⁘ which saw suggested tip amounts soar up to 30 per cent in some cases and gratuity prompts pop up at places where they weren't common before, frustrated customers like Montelli are hoping to swing the trend back in the other direction by leaving smaller tips — or none at all.

In a recent survey of adults who'd visited a sit-down restaurant in the last six months, 25 per cent of Canadian respondents said they were tipping less than they had been in the past. Almost 80 per cent of respondents said they're not a fan of auto-tipping prompts on digital payment machines, as well.

Montelli says the conversation about when and where it's OK to leave less or no tip is growing — especially on social media, where people share their own tipping experiences and guidelines.

There's even a tip-fluencer of sorts who goes by idonttip on TikTok . The anonymous, Los Angeles-based user shares videos of himself leaving no tip, at every establishment, regardless of how good the service is.

Montelli still tips at sit-down restaurants, or anywhere he says a genuine service is being provided. His general rules are that he doesn't tip on takeout, at coffee shops or anywhere he has to stand in line to order — the same rules users of the reddit community r/EndTipping share online.