I'm more than fine tipping low waged people who provide an actual service like wait staff and barbers, but the ubiquitous payment terminals taking over for credit card payment, where the cashier/counter staff expect a 10/15/20% or more tip (some now have 20% as the minimum, unless you go "custom") for doing nothing, piss me off!
What next, will tips for supermarket cashiers be next? CVS checkout too?
During COVID I would tip my normal sitdown restaurant amount for takeout. But not anymore.
True, but the problem really seemed to start when the swivel-to-face-customer POS terminals from Square/etc started to be used - the ones that display these 15/20/25% tip prompts.
I'm trying to think if I've ever seen one of these terminals that doesn't prompt for a tip?!
What you're upset at is good old fashioned corporate greed.
By and large, huge corporations tend to know that tip prompts annoy people and don't have them.
An overwhelming majority of the egregious tip asks, either for generic not-normally-tipped services, or prompting "25%, 35%, or 45%?", have been small businesses or food carts, especially in tourist-heavy areas.
Corporate greed isn't really part of it, because higher tips for the workers does not make its way to shareholders.
Higher tips for workers absolutely makes its way to shareholders or owners, just not directly. They don't need to pay workers as much, and they will see lower staff turnover.
I find the second point questionable. Firstly, the two options you give are mutually exclusive; either they don't have to pay staff as much, or they will see lower turnover. Lower wages made up for by tips will not decrease turnover if the owner passes that on to themselves via lower wage.
Secondly, and this is a regional thing, but where I live (Oregon) there is no exemption from minimum wage for tipped workers. Workers who make tips must still be paid at least the base minimum wage as everyone else. This puts a hard floor on how low wages can go regardless of tips.
I'll acknowledge that there can be some benefit to owners and shareholders from tips, but I do not think that the tip gouging that has become common benefits a shareholder more than it hurts them via consumer frustration.
Whether rational or not, I'm personally fine tipping where the worker is making a low wage, and have spent time personally attending to me. Part of it is thinking that they'll appreciate it more than I will miss it.
Let me return the question: why would you tip a waiter? because they brought your food to your table? isn't that why they should be paid by the restaurant?
Let me also state that, residing in a European city, I do tip my (cheap) barber every time I go because I feel they do an outstanding job at 20% less the price than most competitors, and that work deserves praise in the form of a tip.
In general, it seems to me that a tip should reflect something outstanding. In addition to my cheap barber, I also usually tip at fancy restaurants where the service has proved very, very high above comparables.
Do you also tip your local bike shop or computer store when they sell you a computer or bike that is outstanding and costs 20% less than most competitors? Do you tip your car salesman? Do you tip your bus driver when he/she is 20% faster?
Tipping in the example circumstances I gave isn't typical, but it's something I would consider doing in exceptional circumstances.