Tip Screens Made Suckers of Us All. Here’s Why I Say No

I want to talk about how everyone who lives in America has been turned into a sucker. By a sucker I mean someone who hands over his money voluntarily to people who are taking advantage of him. That’s exactly what is happening with tipping. I spend a lot of time in France, Italy and Spain, where it works differently, so I’ll compare.

How a restaurant check turned into a tip screen

It used to be simple. You finished dinner, the waiter brought the check, you looked it over or didn’t, paid in cash or by card, and signed. Tips in America were usually about 15%. People tip waiters, pizza delivery drivers and sometimes hotel staff. The whole service business is built on people earning a wage and getting tips on top for good service.

Now nobody brings you a check. The waiter comes over with a card terminal, and you barely see what you’re being charged for. You tap your card and nothing happens, because the waiter tells you to pick a tip first: 20, 22, 25 or 30 percent. Whoever designed these machines understands our emotions very well. The waiter is standing over you, and the payment won’t go through until you choose.

On top of the menu price you already pay about 9% in sales tax, no matter what. Add a 25% tip, and you’re paying about 35% more than the price on the menu. Some people leave 30%, some 18% or 15%, but at 15% the waiter will think you’re cheap. On average, I’d guess, people leave 22% to 25%.

In a restaurant I understand it. A waiter takes your order, brings the food and looks after you, and if he does it well, why not give him something extra? I also know that restaurant owners often pay waiters very little, so they work hard and earn their money in tips.

Why a café counter is a different story

What really bothers me is coffee shops, bars and many other places. Near my apartment in Manhattan there’s an Italian café where an Americano costs $7 and a pastry $12. You order at the counter, and there’s a terminal on it. When you go to pay, the screen asks for 20%, 25% or 30%. The people there are doing the job they were hired for. One works the register, and another hands you a pastry that was already sitting in the case or pours your coffee the way they do at any Starbucks. Why should I add another 25% for a cashier on top of the tax?

Sometimes I don’t leave anything. But most people do, and that’s exactly what the people who came up with these terminals count on. It feels awkward in front of the cashier and the people in line behind you, and nobody wants to look stingy. That’s how we were turned into suckers. It’s a kind of racket: you can’t just pay, you have to choose first, while someone stands there waiting. And the cashier is on a salary. I don’t even know where those tips end up. Handing someone cash is a different matter.

How tipping works in Europe

In Italy, Spain and France, where I go often, you can leave two to five euros on the table at a café. In restaurants people sometimes leave 10% and sometimes nothing, and that’s normal. I think the right way is to put everything into the price. If a dish costs $30 and with the tip it should really cost $45, put $45 on the menu. Then nobody has to play on our feelings.

What an American commentator says about tip screens

In the video I showed my viewers a segment from an American commentator’s show about what he calls a pandemic of pointless tipping. Tipping used to be limited to restaurants and pizza delivery, he says, so people could afford to be generous. Then tip jars appeared in coffee shops, then tips for takeout handed over a counter, and then touchscreen tablets at registers all over the country: in bakeries, airports, supermarkets and gas stations. In his view, service has gotten worse while we’re asked to pay more than ever.

He cites a Wall Street Journal report that self-checkout kiosks at airports, stadiums, cafés and bakeries had started suggesting a 20% tip. Business owners said the kiosks raise tips and staff pay. Labor advocates said tipping lets employers shift the cost of wages onto customers. A student at American University in Washington asked the obvious question: where does a tip left at a machine go? The commentator’s own answer is that if anyone deserves a tip after a self-checkout, it’s the customer who just scanned and bagged everything himself.

His solution is to keep tips for waiters, delivery drivers and a few traditional jobs like valets and coat checks, and to let everyone else live on their wages. Most people, he says, have simply never learned to say no. He taps the no-tip button without any guilt and treats it as practice for turning down emotional blackmail in general.

Why I say no now

I agree with him. I don’t want to be a sucker, so when I think a tip isn’t deserved and someone is squeezing it out of me, I say no. I urge you to do the same. Don’t tip when you feel it hasn’t been earned, so you don’t walk away feeling you’ve been played.

The main thing is not to feel like a sucker.

Tell me in the comments how tipping works where you live and whether you feel you’re being taken advantage of too. I have viewers in many countries, and I’m curious. And as always, keep fighting and don’t give up.

Originally published as a video on my YouTube channel on 18 July 2025. Watch on YouTube