Is this the latest way to tip-shame? Diners call out clever restaurant’s ‘sleazy’ trick
Fowl ball!
Canadians are clucking their tongues after a counter-service chicken restaurant near Vancouver, British Columbia, reportedly found a clever way to coerce customers into “guilt-tipping” for their meals.
An irate local posted photo evidence to Reddit that shows the alleged eatery in suburban Burnaby deliberately covering up the “no tip” option on the payment screen of their credit card machine — which could lead the unaware to believe that tips were mandatory at the establishment.
The photo shows black pieces of tape covering where the “no-tip” option would be on the payment reader’s touch screen.
It is replaced with the words “tip” and “thank you.”
That was too much for the snapper of the revealing pic — Redditor Reddit_Lemur said that they hadn’t even been served, but were required to pick up their own food from the counter and bus their own table afterward.
Posts identifying the restaurant on Reddit have been deleted, however, the establishment, Chicken Plus, has been taking heat on Yelp as far back as 2022 for the tipping gambit.
“A regular customer wouldn’t know or see that option is covered by the black tape and will only see the percentage tipping options available,” one Yelper complained at the time.
“They will be almost forced to select the tipping options to proceed.”
“Not everything deserves a tip. It is sleazy to cover it up,” another poster wrote earlier this week.
When contacted by The Post, a representative for Chicken Plus declined to comment.
Meanwhile, the photo has gone viral on X and on other sites, re-igniting the ongoing debate over tipping, which many feel has spiraled out of control.
“That will be a restaurant I will never visit,” one person replied.
“This would make me not tip out of spite,” added another.
Experts have previously warned that digital payment systems aren’t representing accurate amounts in suggested percentages — and that people are often being duped into paying more than they think.
While tipping in sizable amounts has customarily been considered an American thing, the rules appear to be changing in recent years.
The practice appears to have taken hold in Paris ahead of the summer Olympic games.
It has also reportedly spread to pubs in England, where punters have been popping off over the foreign concept.
