Greed greed greed…or am I just a cranky miser?

I dislike cooking/cleaning even more, and fortunately for us, now that the kids have moved out and college payments are done, our income can pretty easily afford going out more - or getting take out. It’s so cheap for just two! I just have to watch the added pounds!

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For me I dislike the time it takes when we go out for dinner and that most of the food you get is subpar(I am done with chains for sit down meals).

Our teeny town (population about 5000) has seven locally owned restaurants. Not chains. We are happy to go to these places, and we tip well when we do. We want these places to continue to be here!!

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I do the same! Though our town is much bigger.

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I could eat out every night for months and not go to the same restaurant twice with no chains involved, although I think due to a thread on here I really want to try a Popeyes blackened sandwich (have several location in under 3 miles). Haven’t had fast food in ages but I’m really tempted. I asked my son about it yesterday (a Popeyes and chick fila are opening 2 miles away and I’ve never tried either) he says it’s really good but chick fila is much better for a fried chicken sandwich.

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I was reading the Nextdoor for my area today and there was a long thread where people were complaining that tipping has gotten out of hand. I think everyone is in agreement that it’s an issue so I guess it’s up to all of us to decide when and who we want to tip and how much.

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I can’t recall the last time we did a chain for a sit down meal, other than one local chain we like that doesn’t exist outside of our region.

We have local mom and pop places we frequent often on a weekly basis so it ends up that we eat out or get take out probably 4 times per week when at home. If we do fast food at all due to errands or something, that’s in addition, but that’s considerably more rare.

I agree it makes sense to let us each decide. (Hopefully the apps show a “no tip” option.) My gripe is it can be confusing dealing with the screen when you are standing in a busy order line and not sure if a service fee was already baked into the total.

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Tipping your server at a restaurant is different than tipping cashier at CVS 30% to ring your Advil but that’s where we are heading. Employers don’t want to pay decent wages, instead they want us to subsidize their costs.

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I don’t tip at retail stores at the register.

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I just feel trapped and do the minimum option but they way it’s becoming a norm, I shouldn’t. If some of us did it, it would become obligatory for all.

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I’m guessing there was a way to bypass the tip, but that it wasn’t very obvious.

Even when there is when, picking it puts you on spot, with cashier, people in queue and you yourself judging you.

Not gonna lie. I worry they are gonna spit in my coffee if I select “no tip” on the ipad

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Yes, that used to bother me, but it got to the point where I got so annoyed that now I have no problem bypassing the tip. The last straw for me was when I paid for a simple ice cream cone with a credit card, and the payment screen displayed suggested tip amounts.

Cranky miser moment: I hired a plumber and two came. One was in training; he observed and some discussion took place between the two. I got charged for the plumber and another half charge for the trainee. I complained but was basically told that’s how that company handled new plumbers. I’ve since moved on.

The same scenario occurred with two refrigerator repairmen. When they walked in the door, I asked about a “trainee charge” and they had never heard of such a thing. The new hire watched and discussed without me paying for him to do so.

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I always have cash in my wallet and I’ve started using it more often to pay. I don’t tip at fast food or coffee shops. I tip 10-15% for delivery services like Instacart and Doordash and 18-20% for sit down restaurants unless the service is extraordinary or we’ve sat at the table for longer than usual and then it’s 30%. I haven’t seen tip options at my doctor offices or mortgage company but there’s an option now for my water delivery person which I ignore since they keep raising their prices anyway.

I don’t have a problem bypassing the tip option, if anything it makes me less likely to tip since I look at tipping as a bonus for service above the norm and it should be offered not asked for/required.

Trainee charges? :rage: Glad my doc did not tuck on an additional charge when she brought in a couple of residents. :laughing:

Our mechanics only charged me an hour of labor instead of the 3 hours they were messing around with the boiler because they brought in a new apprentice and used this as a teaching exercise.

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In general, I feel the same as many - that it is outrageous. I sometimes tip at fast food places, sometimes not. Depends on my mood.

But something H just told me. We have some chicken salad in refrigerator and I asked where he got it. One of his students’ grandmothers gave it to him. She works at a local semi fast food type place. He said she told him she takes her tips and uses it to buy food for the teachers. I thought that was super sweet. So just maybe your tip might do the same!

I’ve never even seen them ask for one at a retail place.

That sounds like a scam. I’d be livid and probably wouldn’t pay that part TBH unless they got a lawyer involved. It makes me glad that H does all of our plumbing fixes - most other repair things too.