What did you do to help?... Consumers were horned at the 'self-checkout counter' who asked for tips

"Do you want to leave a tip?"

Isita Jamar, a college student living in Washington, D.C., recently received the above automated message after paying at a kiosk at a restaurant.

He questioned, "I don't have any help from an employee with my own calculations, so I wonder why they ask for a tip."

On the 9th local time, the Wall Street Journal reported that there are growing complaints about tips for paying with kiosks.

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In the United States, it is common for restaurants and cafes to tip 15~20% of the order amount as a service charge.

For employees in the U.S. restaurant industry, tipping is more than an additional income, it's actually a real wage, so employees are as friendly as they can to take orders and recommend food to customers in order to get more tips.

However, when they self-ordered at the kiosk without the help of a staff member and were asked to tip, they began to complain about whether they had to tip the same as before.

"Self-checkout counters across the country are harassing consumers with messages asking them to tip 20 percent," the outlet reported, "and consumers are questioning what the tip is about."

"There is an option not to tip, but there are also reactions that it is difficult for employees to press the 'don't tip' button while they are looking at the screen."

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The media reported the story of a man who actually self-paid for $6 bottled water at a souvenir shop at an airport and was embarrassed when he saw a message asking for a 10~20% tip, which he felt was "a kind of emotional blackmail."

Employers say that kiosks' "automated tipping guidance" helps employees raise their salaries, but experts criticize employers for shifting the blame to consumers by shifting the blame to "tips" instead of directly raising wages.

William Michael Lin, a professor of consumer behavior at Cornell University's Graduate School of Hospitality Management, said, "Companies are taking advantage of the opportunity to cut labor costs and demand tips at the same time."

(Photo = @allisonmchang Twitter)