Self-Checkout Kiosks Are Guilt-Tripping Customers Into Tipping Even Without Human Interaction

The rise of self-checkout kiosks has sparked a new wave of guilt-tripping and pressure tactics on customers. From cafes to sports stadiums, tip prompts are popping up everywhere, leaving customers confused and frustrated.

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According to a report by The Wall Street Journal, many customers have been prompted to tip workers with whom they've had no interaction. While some are willing to add on the extra fees, the majority have been left uncertain about where their money is actually going.

One customer at San Diego's Petco Park was asked to include a tip on his order when he took a beer from a self-service beer fridge. "I was confused because it wasn't entirely clear who I was tipping," he told the Journal. Despite the confusion, he still tipped 20%.

A spokesperson for the stadium clarified that all tips collected go directly to employees. But not all customers are willing to cave into the pressure tactics. A traveler at Newark Liberty International Airport was asked to add a 10% to 20% tip on a $6 bottle of water at an OTG gift shop, which the customer deemed a "bit of emotional blackmail." The customer chose not to tip.

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OTG's spokesperson defended the tipping prompts, stating that all tip money collected is pooled and paid out to the staff members working that particular shift. Nevertheless, customers are growing increasingly skeptical of these automated guilt-tripping machines.

Wall Street Journal reporter Rachel Wolfe told CBS News that tipping a machine leaves little proof that the money goes to the employee, and the law doesn't have the same protections for tipping machines as for human workers.

Tipping has become an increasingly prickly issue in the U.S., with Americans now feeling the strain of tipping fatigue resulting from the ballooning number of establishments soliciting gratuity.

Consumers have always taken pride in being good tippers at places like restaurants, which typically pay their workers lower than the minimum wage with the expectation they’ll make up the difference in tips. But many consumers are irritated by automatic tip requests at coffee shops and other counter-service eateries where tipping has not typically been expected, workers make at least the minimum wage and service is usually limited.

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More companies are using self-checkout machines and adding tips to provide bonuses to employees. Researchers worry that companies are using tips to shift the responsibility of paying their employees onto consumers rather than raising wages themselves.

According to William Michael Lynn, a professor at Cornell University's Nolan School of Hotel Administration who studies consumer behavior and tip culture, businesses are seizing the opportunity to get additional revenue with minimal effort. "Who wouldn't want to get extra money at very little cost if you could?" Lynn stated.

Even landlords are jumping on the bandwagon, turning to TikTok to make a case for adding tips to rent. Meanwhile, the first unionized Apple store in Maryland is pushing for a tipping system to be introduced.

Digital payment methods have been around for years, but the pandemic has accelerated the trend toward more tipping. Consumers were more generous with tips during the early days of the pandemic in an effort to show support for restaurants and other businesses hard hit by COVID-19, according to Lynn.

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