Dear [put name of establishment here],
Everytime I visit your establishment, I see a little jar that says, “tips…thanks!” On top of that, if I pay with a credit card, sometimes I am faced with another line right before the total that reads, “Tip: ___________.” Now, don’t get me wrong, I appreciate great customer service, but this “tip” thing is just getting a little out of hand. When I buy my coffee, I don’t think a simple, “Hi, how are you doing?,” “Do you want room for cream?,” and “Anything else for you today?” deserves a tip. Come on, I mean I’m already paying you at least 50% margin on what I’m buying! At a restaurant, service entails seating, taking my order, filling my drinks, cooking, bringing my order, cleaning up, desserts…Now that, I think, deserves a tip, but come on, taking my order, my money, and giving me my change back does not deserve a tip.
So please, [put in name of establishment here] make it policy to remove these “tip” jars from your stores. I feel bad because some of your employees “expect” a tip, which to me is just ridiculous. Or at the very least, put it by where I pick up my order. Not at the register after you’ve just taken my money. I haven’t even received my order yet! Thank you.
Sincerely,
Freedumb
P.S. (Tips…thanks!) -> 
————END LETTER
If you (blog reader) are interested, It’s Just Money has a post on tipping guidelines.
Flexo
June 26, 2006 at 9:35 am
Nice irony with the PayPal donation button after the entry on tipping!
freedumb
June 27, 2006 at 7:54 am
Hah, thanks Flexo. I hope someone from one of the corporate stores reads it.
Anonymous
June 28, 2006 at 11:14 pm
i hope you’re joking. don’t tip if you don’t want to. it’s really that simple.
mbhunter
June 29, 2006 at 6:10 pm
Only way I could see justifying putting a tip in there would be if they were earning tipped minimum wage, which is less than non-tipped minimum wage.
Financial Freedumb and Brownie - A PF Blog » Free Iced Beverage From Starbucks…
August 30, 2006 at 6:16 am
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annab
August 30, 2006 at 6:57 am
I’ve worked in a place with a tip jar but we didn’t expect a tip. Pretty much (at least where I work) the tip jar is for those people who feel like we did an extra-special job and want to give us a little change for it.
Although most people come in, get a few things and zoom out, some people get more face-time with the barista. Sometimes it’s because they have really huge drink orders (which is hard, because then all the quick orders have to wait) or they want something super-picky and uncommon , or they don’t know what they want and the barista has to pick them out something. Those kind of orders require the person to do a lot more work than otherwise, so a little tip is a nice way of saying thanks for putting in the extra effort.
An automatic drip coffee, regular black is a no-brainer, but the customer who asked for 6 olive-flavored half-caff mocha-choka-latte-yayas at precisely 178.9 degrees with whip in the shape of the Eiffel Tower and then proceeds to tell me about her bunions as I’m trying to froth the yeti-milk she insists upon will turn my frown upside down if she scoots some change my way, y’know?
freedumb
August 30, 2006 at 12:44 pm
annab, lol…I can’t believe how crazy some orders at Starbucks can be…I’ve heard some crazy stuff… 6 olive-flavored half-caff mocha-choka-latte-yayas at precisely 178.9 degrees with whip in the shape of the Eiffel Tower that’s funny…
About the tip jar though, I swear some people give you a funny look if you don’t give them the 54 cents of change…
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September 20, 2006 at 8:49 pm
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