US tipping culture keeps invading other countries — this is the latest victim
One by one, nations are falling — to dreaded “tipflation.”
The American practice of overtipping due to passive-aggressive tactics — and often guilt — is spreading overseas to Europe, where it is customary to leave only a Euro or two.
First, cafes and brasseries in Paris were caught red-handed begging for an all-American extra 20% ahead of the summer Olympics — and now pubs across the United Kingdom are pulling the same type of rubbish.
“It’s not normal for us to give a tip when I’ve had to go to the bar and wait in a queue, and all they do is give me a drink,” Juliette Layne, a 59-year-old project manager in London, told Bloomberg.
She sounded off while having a rum and Coke at the Phoenix, a pub near Buckingham Palace that nudges patrons to pay an extra 12.5%, 15% or 20% in pounds.
“To me, it doesn’t resonate,” she added.
A few short years ago across the pond, it was a faux pas to even tip on a credit card rather than do the more acceptable practice of throwing a few pounds in the direction of the bartender.
Like most things in the service industry, though, the COVID-19 pandemic changed everything as QR-code menus and digital payment options became the norm, according to Luke Beavon, who is in charge of the UK branch of card payment company SumUp.
“You’d get prompted like 10%, 15%, and it was just a click, and it was very, very easy to tip,” he told Bloomberg.
“People were excited to be going out again and were feeling generous.”
Kate Nicholls, CEO of UK Hospitality, also noticed that people are using card payments and being prompted to tip more frequently, even for smaller purchases like one beer.
“Previously you might have only used a card payment when you’re buying a meal, but now you’re using it for more purchases at lower price points,” she said.
Inflation and staff shortages also play a role as pubs and eateries look to incentivize and attract new workers.
Starting in October, the United Kingdom is also rolling out laws to forbid employers from keeping a portion of a restaurant’s service charges — typically a 12.5% service charge used to replace a would-be tip, Bloomberg reported.
Now places like the Jugged Hare in London are both charging the fee and asking for a tip on top. One TripAdvisor reviewer said the policy left “a sour taste.”
“The waitress showed me how to decline to pay more by entering zero under this ‘Other,’ but it wasn’t obvious,” they wrote. “This seems wrong to me on at least two counts, and an underhand if not outright dishonest policy.”
As far as retaining staff, “it’s been a challenge for the hospitality sector,” said Simon Emeny, the chief executive officer of pub chains Fuller Smith and Turner Plc.
“The opportunity to get tips is a big retention factor in the sector.”
But customers aren’t buying it.
Raj Dodhia, a 49-year-old IT worker who accompanied Layne at The Phoenix, suggested this is another American revolution the nation flat-out doesn’t want.
“It’s gone too far,” he insisted.
Even those like Emeny admit that England is tipping to a point of no return.
“It’s very important for UK pubs that they retain their values,” he said, “and actually don’t become like New York or Boston.”
