Online Shopper Asked To Leave A Tip Which Would Go Toward Quarterly Bonuses For The Employees
People criticized the company for depending on tips from customers instead of paying their employees fairly.
fizkes / Shutterstock During the past couple of years, many people have expressed their outrage at the tipping culture in the United States. Between being asked to tip at coffee shops, for take-out orders, and at clothing stores, people are fed up with the tipping system in this country.
Now, the phenomenon continues after a Reddit user shared an outrageous instance in which they were asked to tip that didn't make much sense.
An online shopper was asked to leave a tip that would go toward quarterly bonuses for employees.
Posting to the subreddit "r/EndTipping" — an online public forum where people can post about tipping-related news or instances that happen to them — a man showed a screenshot of a checkout page for an online clothing store, where he was asked to leave a tip upon completing his order.
Photo: Reddit
"Tips are distributed to our team in the form of bonuses every quarter. Never required but always appreciated!" the clothing company named Gilgamesh wrote on their site. Flabbergasted, the customer who had placed the initial order was not quite sure why he was being asked to tip on an online order for a major company.
"On an online order for clothes? What?" he wrote in his Reddit post.
In the comments section, people were equally outraged and expressed their dismay at not only the request to leave a tip, but also at the knowledge that this clothing company was relying on consumers' money to give out bonuses, rather than properly paying their employees.
"Pay your employees!" one Reddit user criticized, while another user claimed, "Unless I really needed the garment, it would remain in the cart forever."
A third user chimed in, "This is becoming more and more common. Why? Because the vast majority of people are tip-washed and will do it. It’s pretty ridiculous, especially that one. So now us customers are expected to pay their wage AND bonuses?"
"It's so ridiculous that retail is going for tips now. It's just turning into inflation. We're meant to pay extra for everything we buy now, while the owners state a lower price. I refuse to do it. Seriously," a fourth user added.
Many people have admitted to feeling pressured to leave tips when asked.
According to a LendingTree survey, nearly a quarter of people say they always feel pressured to tip when the option is presented, while 42% say they sometimes feel pressured.
In an interview with CNBC, Matt Schulz, LendingTree’s chief credit analyst, explained that because of how much easier it is for businesses to ask for pre-set suggested tips, many more are continuing to do it which in turn, adds to the level of guilt that many customers feel when asked to.
"People don’t want to feel like a jerk or cheapskate," Schulz told the news outlet. "Businesses are taking advantage of that fact by making bigger-than-usual tips the default options on many of these payment terminals, hoping that customers will just go ahead and pay the extra amount rather than hassling with clicking ‘custom tip’ and entering a smaller number."
Many financial experts recommended that no matter the business, if you've enjoyed the service and want to continue supporting the establishment, then there's no harm in leaving a tip. But in this instance, when a company is outright asking for tips to pay their employee's bonuses, it may seem more backward than asking to tip at a coffee shop on a take-out order for a latte.
Companies shouldn't be stiffing their employees and relying on money made from tips to make up for it. This only proves that there is a serious disconnect between the service workers who actually need tips versus the companies who use them to their own advantage.
Nia Tipton is a Chicago-based entertainment, news, and lifestyle writer whose work delves into modern-day issues and experiences.