‘Guilt tipping’: is there any escape from the gratuitous rise in gratuities? | Gene Marks

Have you had a point-of-sale device spun round after minimal service inviting you to add a tip starting at 20%? You are not alone

I'm writing this column from Las Vegas where I'm attending a conference. This morning, I went to a coffee shop in the hotel. The cost of my small coffee was $6.49 and no, I am not kidding. Welcome to Vegas.

To add insult to injury, the cashier who served me the coffee - which took her about five seconds - spun the point-of-sale device around and stared me in the eye as I looked down at that screen that is all-familiar to most of us: the request for a tip. The minimum tip displayed was 20%. Or I could choose no tip." What do I do? C'mon, what do you think I did? I walked away sipping my $7.79 small coffee.