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Americans are sick of today’s tipping culture — to the point where 83% say automatic service charges should be banned, according to new research.
In a survey released Tuesday, WalletHub found that nearly nine in 10 Americans think the country’s tipping culture is “out of control.”
The group also found that three in five Americans think businesses are replacing employee salaries with customer tips — while 83% support banning automatic service fees.
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Mandatory service fees are seen as a way to fairly compensate workers serving large parties, but WalletHub’s findings suggest they are overwhelmingly unpopular among consumers.
The results were based on an online survey of 200 U.S. adults.
Americans in general are “fed up with increased tipping obligations,” said Chip Lupo, an analyst at WalletHub.
“Tips have gone far beyond traditional establishments, which had been places like sit-down restaurants, bars and hair salons,” Lupo told Fox News Digital.
“Now, it’s everywhere you look. That’s part of the frustration, because people are at a point where they don’t know who to tip and how much to tip.”
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Some restaurant owners, however, are wary of eliminating tipping altogether.
Vicki Parmelee, owner of Jumby Bay Island Grill in Jupiter, Florida, previously told Fox News Digital she was skeptical of a “no-tip standard,” which typically translates to a mandatory service fee.
“There’s no incentive for the servers to be attentive and give extra-good service. … I’m not interested in doing that here,” she said.
Christopher Dietz, chief financial officer of Triple T Hospitality Group, told Fox News Digital that tipping is not intended to replace employer-paid wages in restaurants.
“[Tipping] supports higher earnings for workers and helps ensure restaurants remain places where people can build careers.”
“Tipping is not about replacing wages, but about rewarding exceptional hospitality,” the New Jersey-based expert said. “Our service professionals are specially trained and highly skilled at what they do.”
Dietz added, “Tipping allows these professionals, who often go above and beyond to make guests happy, to earn more per hour than what any restaurant could afford to pay given the tight margins of the industry.”
Michelle Korsmo, president and CEO of the National Restaurant Association in Washington, D.C., said research shows that tipped servers earn a median of $27 per hour, “and that earning potential is a major reason people choose careers in restaurants — along with flexible schedules and the opportunity to build valuable skills that translate far beyond the industry.
“For years, full-service restaurant operators and their employees have worked together to preserve tipping because it works for servers,” Korso continued to Fox News Digital. “It supports higher earnings for workers and helps ensure restaurants remain places where people can build careers that fit their lives and long-term goals.”
Jules Hirst, the owner of Etiquette Consulting Inc. in California, agreed with the sentiment of the survey takers.
“In some ways, tipping is out of control,” Hirst told Fox News Digital.
“Nobody should be tipping when you’ve grabbed your own water from the refrigerator,” she said. “Everywhere you go, the option for tipping comes up.”
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The etiquette expert added, “Tipping is for someone who goes above and beyond in service for you.”
Americans do need to know when to tip and when to skip, said Diane Gottsman, owner of the etiquette-focused Protocol School of Texas.
“When you have a simple exchange, perhaps buying a cup of coffee at the coffee shop, and you are presented with an option to tip, you can hit ‘skip’ or ‘no tip,'” she said.
“Not every exchange requires gratuity.”
Although she acknowledged “tip fatigue,” Gottsman said that until tipping is banned, it’s important to keep in mind that restaurant servers are generally paid a lower base salary.
“If tipping [were] to be banned, it would mean that the hourly wage would need to be increased,” she said.
Fox News Digital’s Peter Burke contributed reporting.
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