Woman refusing to tip at self-serve kiosk stunned by staff's cold treatment: 'Who would I even be tipping?'

A woman shared how a family meal at Shake Shack turned uncomfortably tense after she chose not to tip at the self-serve kiosk. Posting under the username u/xJustHere, the woman shared that she, her husband, kids, and mother-in-law were told to order through the kiosk since no one was available at the counter. In the post that gained 1.7k upvotes, she said that the total bill came out to be $84, adding that the screen prompted her to add a tip, suggesting $20. "I was confused. For what? For placing my own order on a kiosk?" she said.

She added, "I looked around, and it’s a fast-food-style setup. You get your own drinks, grab your own condiments, and throw away your own trash. So I selected no tip. Who would I even be tipping?" she wrote. Her reaction is one that many customers can probably relate to. Tipping screens have become common even in places where service is minimal, and the expectation often leaves people unsure about what they’re actually paying for. A 2020 study by Murray State University titled 'What am I tipping you for? Customer response to tipping requests at limited-service restaurants,' found that tip prompts in these settings tend to frustrate customers, especially when they feel no direct service was provided. The study noted that such prompts can lower customer satisfaction and make them less likely to return.

After placing the order, the family sat down to wait. A few minutes later, an employee brought over their food but seemed irritated. "She dropped the tray off without saying anything, and when we said thank you, she ignored us," the woman said. She noticed that only the entrées and drinks arrived without any of the five fries they had ordered. After waiting about ten minutes, she approached the counter. "The same employee looked annoyed that I was there," she said. "I’m very non-confrontational and hate bothering people, so I gently asked when our fries would be out. She said, 'You’re missing a fry?' I told her no, we were missing all of them."

The worker clicked around on the screen, visibly frustrated, then handed over a tray with a few fries. Before leaving, the woman placed another order to-go for relatives who hadn’t joined them. "Again, I didn’t tip," she said. This time, she said, a different employee frowned and "practically slammed the bag onto the table hard enough that it crumpled." When she said thank you, the worker ignored her and "made a strange clicking sound" before walking off. She said she couldn’t think of any reason for the hostility except the missing tip prompt. "Why would two separate employees be so upset? I’m honestly at a loss." Readers backed her up and expressed frustration about tipping culture, highlighting that staff rudeness only exacerbates the issue.

u/texan-yankee wrote, "Tipping has become extortion. The fact that you also have to choose to tip BEFORE service is ridiculous, and is beginning to feel like a bribe to even get acceptable service without getting my food spit on or dropped on the floor." u/Sharp-Cheek-5893 commented, "This kind of behavior is why hubby and I have pretty much completely stopped going to restaurants. The entitlement is outrageous." u/nokman013 wrote, "At this point, why would they bother bringing out the food? Why not let the customer take it from the counter? A flashing number or a literal shout-out from the counter should be enough. Jfc, the entitlement."

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