The rise of self-service kiosks asking patrons for tips at the end of their transactions is frustrating people who have had no interaction with employees, leading to increased “tipping fatigue.” Becoming more common at digital, self-checkout kiosks, customers are wondering two things—whether the prompt is necessary and who collects the tip?
Some customers are going as far as to say that machines requesting a tip for its service is “emotional blackmail.”
While some report their willingness to add a few bucks on for the machines, the majority found the tip request from a non-human entity bizarre and confusing, most of which cited the final destination of the funds as most curious.
Kiosks at sports stadiums, cafes, and airports are now asking for tips following payment and understandably so, people are skeptical about dishing out extra dough to a machine.
Customers at Petco Park in San Diego are hit up for added gratuities from self-service beer fridges. One sports fan reported that he was “confused because it wasn’t clear who I was tipping.” The generous patron tipped 20 percent anyway.
A stadium spokesperson claimed that 100 percent of the machine-induced gratuities go to employees who work at the park.
A traveler shopping at an OTG gift shop at Newark Liberty International Airport said the prompt to add a 20 percent tip on a six-dollar bottle of water was a “bit of emotional blackmail.” The customer did not oblige.
Like with Petco Park, a representative for OTG claimed that all kiosk tip proceeds are pooled and distributed to employees working that shift.
An increasingly controversial practice in the U.S., Americans are experiencing “tipping fatigue” as they get propositioned not only at restaurants, valets, takeout counters, hotels, but now also from human-less kiosks.
Now, landlords have taken to social media to plead their cases for rent to include an added gratuity, while an Apple store in Maryland is attempting to establish their own tipping system.
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