[irishwonone]

Originally Posted by DeanFL

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Read this article on Yahoo just now.

Customers hate tipping before they're served – and asking makes them less likely to return

Imagine you’re in line at a coffee shop. You order your usual cappuccino and swipe your credit card to pay. Then the cashier swivels a little screen that prompts you for a tip – before the espresso shot is pulled or a drop of milk steamed.

Do you tip more, perhaps hoping that it will lead to a better drink? Or less or none at all, peeved at being asked to reward service that hasn’t happened yet? Do you feel pressured into tipping the suggested amounts, which can equate to more than half the price of the drink?
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Unsure how many places in The Villages may do this. But I absolutely recall this at Panera in Lake Sumter a couple years ago. They seemed to have a new method, if paying by credit card - the order-taker would swing the screen around towards you to press OK after pressing the TIP amount. Of course you COULD press 0, and OK. But in the 3 cases we ordered she would hover right over the screen to watch your entry. Intimidating. We stopped going to Panera about 2 years ago for other reasons, but this was a reason too.

Now we are good tippers - unless the service was NOT good, always tip 20% or more. But when (kinda) pressed to tip - at a quick service place, uh, that's a bit over the top. The first time this happened at Panera and she 'hovered' I think I pressed 15%, the next couple times, 0.

It's one thing to have a tip jar at Quick service places, but...

Not sure if Panera or others still do this in TV....


Customers hate tipping before they're served – and asking makes them less likely to return
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I traveled and visited Panera often. I would order at the counter and they would bring to table. When finished I was expected to take the dishes to the dirty dish section. Some companies definition of service are limited and I never left large tips even on business expense account. Better suggestion is to put the tip in prices as other countries do.