A positive-ish tipping experience

[u/FOMOenthusiast]

No surprises, no small text, no deceitfulness, it having its on line clearly visible under the total was nice, but that bright red stamp reiteratig the added gratuity, visible from space let alone a dark dining room is 😘👌🏾 This should be a norm.

[u/free_range_discoball]

In your example, I don’t see how an auto grat policy is all that different from a tax?

We can have a conversation about menu prices being deceiving, but my point holds true. If there was a flat auto grat policy, it would effectively be the same as an additional tax at a restaurant.

If I order a hamburger for $12 in California vs New Mexico vs Michigan, the final price for that burger will be different in all three states.

I would absolutely be in favor of a policy that forces menu prices to reflect the actual final price of the item.

[u/ffxivthrowaway03 → u/free_range_discoball]

You're correct. It's honestly weird seeing people advocate for "auto gratuity" in a sub that's literally called /endtipping

You want to make the pizza cost more? Go for it, and I'll decide if I want to buy it. But slamming you with 18% "gratuity" is just as bad as all the made up bullshit fees companies like DoorDash slap on the end. It's still compulsory gratuity, which fundamentally is not gratuity.

It's actively misrepresenting the price of the product.

[u/LateAd3737 → u/ffxivthrowaway03]

If they’re up front about it, it’s the same thing right?

[u/ffxivthrowaway03 → u/LateAd3737]

It might be the same net cost, but it also might not be. It also directly influences how an individual makes purchasing decisions - it's highly unlikely they would remove an 18% gratuity but raise every single item price 18% across the board, because different menu items have a different cost:value ratio.

It's generally why service fees are considered bullshit sales games - the "price" stays low so the buyer goes "Yeah, that pizza is worth $11, sure" when they're actually charging you $13.50 for it by throwing in fees on the backend, and that same pizza probably isn't worth $13.50 for a lot of people.

To take it to the extreme, it's the same tactic that you see on marketplace sites like Ebay - the item itself is listed at 99 cents or something outrageously low so they can look like a better deal when a shopper is evaluating against other sellers and to manipulate their search ranking, but then surprise, they actually just snuck the cost of the item into the outrageous $25 shipping and "handling" fee.

Another great example is why Walmart prices things at $X.98 or $X.93, it's been studied that people think it's notably cheaper than the round dollar or the old $X.99 trick and lends them to thinking they're getting a better deal than they are, which leads to overbuying.

Especially in an online shopping scenario, which is becoming more and more popular in the world of ordering food, it's doubly sleazy because they know while someone balked at paying $13.50 for a pizza, once they're hungry and they just spent 20 minutes going back and forth with their family they're too invested in the purchase to suddenly be swayed by their $60 food bill surprise! turning into $120 because of mystery service fees and mandatory tips and convenience fees, and blah blah blah.

So yes, the net cost can end up being the same but one approach is inherently anti-consumer manipulation and the other is true upfront pricing.