You tip your hairdresser, but what about your mechanic? Expect to see more ‘tip creep’
You probably tip the person who cuts your hair. Should you do the same for the person cutting your lawn?
Customers are increasing seeing a gratuity option on card payment machines in industries where tipping was never previously part of the cost, from auto shops to fast food giants like Subway and Domino’s.
The phenomenon, dubbed “tip creep,” is leaving a bad taste for some consumers, who have vented online about being asked if they want to pay an extra 15 per cent or more on top of the price of a takeout pizza, oil change or propane tank refill.
“Tipping is spreading to a lot more places right now, so where we wouldn’t have previously been prompted to tip, now it seems to be a lot more common,” says Simon Pek, an associate professor at the University of Victoria’s Gustavson School of Business who researches tipping practices