A woman was left baffled after she was asked to tip after ordering some earrings online.
While in places such as the UK, tipping is seen as a choice - adding extra to the bill if your waiter was super nice and went out of their way to help you - in the US, it’s seen as a given.
While there’s been ongoing uproar about the fact that employers should pay their workers more instead of expecting tips to subsidize their pay into a living wage, the debate on tipping culture seems to be hotter than ever.
While lots of Americans think that tipping culture is getting out of hand, there seems to be a new way of tipping that’s appeared, as aesthetician, Janine, recently explained in a TikTok video.
In the viral video Janine adds the caveat that she’s no stranger to tips herself in her line of work and realises the importance of them, saying ‘tips aren’t expected, but they’re definitely appreciated’ before sharing her ‘confusing’ story to the platform.
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The TikToker shared that she was shopping for earrings online at a 'major retailer' but was asked for a tip at checkout, which she said seems unreasonable as no service was performed.
“Excuse me? Like what am I tipping for?” she asks.
While she said the experience was as smooth as can be expected when shopping online, she couldn’t help but feel it’s a ridiculous ask as tips are usually reserved for servers.
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She said to her followers: “The moment that I realized just how out of hand tipping culture is getting.
“…These companies need to start paying their employees properly.”
People rushed to her comments in agreement with her take.
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“My fav is froyo places. Where they stand behind the counter, watch YOU make your own order and then ask for a tip. No ma’am,” the top comment read.
“I’ve been a die-hard tip-til-I-die kind of consumer, & the way it’s gotten out of control makes me so upset. I hate feeling like I’m becoming a class traitor for not wanting to,” another shared.
The video now has over 650,000 views and hundreds of comments agreeing with Janine about her experience and worrying that this may roll out to other online sites and become ‘the norm’.
“Tipping for an online order is wild,” echoed another confused user.
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What do you make of it?
Chelsea Connor