Tip, tap… d,oh! Majority of Manitobans at high-anxiety tipping point, confronted by more hands out expecting more money at more places, Probe Research poll reveals By: Gabrielle Piché Posted: 2:39 PM CDT Friday, Aug. 23, 2024 Last Modified: 5:30 PM CDT Friday, Aug. 23, 2024 Updates

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Paying with debit or credit card at the beer vendor, candy store or fast-food restaurant?

Aside from higher prices for seemingly everything, customers are increasingly being prompted on screen to leave a tip, often in situations where service provided — if at all — is barely noticeable.

And most Manitobans, fresh data from Probe Research reveals, don’t like it one bit.

Namita Bhatnagar shares the view of two-thirds of Probe’s 800 survey respondents who are annoyed by what’s been dubbed “tip creep,” where places not typically associated with tipping now ask for gratuities before customers tap their cards.

She is also onside with the 80 per cent of Probe respondents who are frustrated with “tipflation” in suggested tip amounts.

Prompts offering choices of 20 and 25 per cent does something to the mind, said Bhatnagar, who studies consumer behaviour and is the acting marketing department head at the University of Manitoba’s Asper School of Business.

“The consideration set point does matter,” she said. “Twenty per cent against 30 looks much more reasonable than 20 against 15.

“If you just change the number on the suggested amount to be higher, suddenly people are… a little bit more OK in paying higher amounts.”

Even so, a majority of Manitobans choose to tip between 15 and 20 per cent, Probe found.

Bhatnagar is selecting — occasionally — to hit whatever button is needed to opt out of tipping. It’s not an easy move for her, she said, explaining that she was a student for a long time and knows employees are just trying to make ends meet.

She wouldn’t eat out if she couldn’t tip, she said.

“But just given the way that tipflation has gone… that’s something that I feel I’m forced to reconsider,” she said. “My kindness, in a sense, is being taken advantage of.”

Customers face uncomfortable situations when they’re staring down a tip prompt screen with an employee nearby, Bhatnagar said, adding she feels “bad” and embarrassed when she chooses not to tip. Nevertheless, she forces herself to opt out when she feels the tip isn’t necessary.

“I kind of have a talking to (with) myself when I do that,” she said. “(And) who knows if the employee is benefiting from that tip or not.”

Two-thirds of Probe respondents said they weren’t confident which staff members at an establishment would receive their tips.

The findings are “a little bit of a hint to the service industry” to establish more transparent practices regarding tipping, said Mary Agnes Welch, a partner with Probe Research.

The issue seems to be on many Manitobans’ minds, Welch said, prompting Probe’s first tip-focused survey Aug. 1-9.

“(There’s a) sense that the whole tipping universe is changing,” she said.

Manitobans between the ages of 18 and 34 were the least likely to report being irritated by tip inflation.

Welch speculated that could be because they’re in the age group likely to be receiving the tips, or because they’ve been paying customers for less time and, therefore, haven’t had as much experience in a pre-tipflation world.

Allyssa Aborje, 19, both gives and gets tips.

“When they do choose to tip, it’s something nice to have,” the frozen-yogurt shop worker said.

Aborje receives many tips, boosting her minimum-wage earnings. She doesn’t mind returning the favour at other eateries — but fast-food chains give her pause; even though she feels pressured, she won’t tip at some, she said.

Generally, she leaves 10 or 15 per cent.

Gennine Westerman, 77, believes a tip above 20 per cent is reasonable after an enjoyable sit-down meal.

“If the service is good, then you should tip well,” Westerman said.

Almost half of Manitobans tip between 15 and 20 per cent, Probe found. More than one-third tip 10 to 15 per cent; just seven per cent surpass the 20 per cent tip threshold often.

Despite tipflation, the average gratuity hasn’t seemed to change much, Welch noted.

When Bhatnagar visited her parents in India, she sought restaurants that didn’t allow tipping. Such companies seemingly pay their servers well enough so they don’t have to depend on customers’ kindness, which reflects well on the establishment, she said.

Tipping isn’t as prevalent in India as it is here; some places are OK with the practice, some aren’t, she said.

Nearly 80 per cent of Probe respondents said a model in which restaurants pay staff higher wages and discourage tipping would be an attractive alternative.

It was a point of contention for Nathalie Beausejour and Ron Nijssen, who visited Winnipeg from Quebec Thursday.

“I prefer to pay what I see,” said Nijssen, who’s originally from Holland (where tipping isn’t obligatory).

However, the quality of service may decrease with no tips — it’s a tradeoff, he said.

“I think it’s important I have the choice, if the person gives me very good service, to tip,” said Beausejour. “(A) tip is something that is deserved.”

Raising employees’ wages isn’t feasible for restaurant operations, said Karwan Kahil, co-owner of Daanook Restaurant, which serves Syrian food on Albert Street in the Exchange District.

Kahil said he’d have to increase the price of items on the menu, which could lead to customer loss. Most of his employees are in school — they make minimum wage and split tips evenly.

“There’s the option, no tip — (customers) can skip it,” he said.

Sometimes he’ll bypass the tip screen for repeat customers, and they’ll ask him to bring it back so they can leave something. He hasn’t changed the screen since the eatery opened in 2020. There’s a “no tip” option easily accessible, along with relatively low percentage recommendations.

The sales system came with the tip screen as is, Kahil said.

He immigrated to Canada as a Syrian refugee in 2016. In the Middle Eastern country, patrons give cash tips directly to their servers, he said. Daanook Restaurant no longer keeps a tip jar after a previous theft.

The tip jar was also stolen at Bon Sushi, located in the food court at 201 Portage Ave., owner Woo Chun said.

Chun, who is originally from Korea where tipping is non-existent, said he’s indifferent about the practice here, but noted that many new Canadians may also come from places where there is no tipping, leading to confusion and, often, distaste.

Restaurant advocates have been sounding alarm bells about the struggling industry.

Paying higher minimum wage has added to the burdens borne by many eateries, along with pandemic-era debt, inflated operating costs and staff retention, the Manitoba Restaurant and Foodservices Association has said.

Restaurant workers typically prefer to work where there’s tips, said Bhatnagar, who has done research on the subject.

Last February, server Kaylee Belluk told the Free Press roughly half her wages were tips, adding that a large group not leaving one could put her in the red for the table because she was required to share with kitchen staff at the end of her shift.

“Should we be tipping at all? I think that’s the big question,” said David Camfield, a University of Manitoba labour studies professor.

Labour activists have long objected to the practice because tips can create demeaning work and may be based on a person’s appearance, Camfield said, adding the money may never get to the worker.

Between 1909 and 1915, at least six American states criminalized tipping; unions felt the practice prevented workers from being paid fair wages. The laws were repealed by the 1920s.

Now, Canadians (and many Americans) take tipping for granted, but it doesn’t have to be a norm, Camfield said.

In the United States, the average tip percentage on orders marginally decreased in March 2024 compared to March 2023 — to 18.99 per cent from 19 per cent — according to data from restaurant point-of-sale software company SpotOn that appeared in industry publication Restaurant Dive.

No margin of error can be ascribed to Probe Research’s poll because it wasn’t conducted with a random sample.

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com