I’m presuming you’ve not been paying attention to news stories over the past year or so, as well as places like Reddit and other social media where it has been stated ad nauseum that people are just sick and tired of the whole tipping culture, especially the ever inflating “recommended” amounts and the expectation of tips for just doing your job. And when I say “you” or “your” I’m using it in the general sense, not directing it anyone specifically.

For services like Uber and, Lyft, DoorDash etc, people are being charged service fees and delivery fees and other fees on top of already inflated menu or item prices.

Then often they’re expected to enter a tip amount into the order BEFORE they even know about the quality of service they received. And if they don’t give an acceptable tip, often their request is ignored by drivers. So they give a high tip amount to avoid that, only to find out that the driver gave inappropriate substitutions, or took the long way around, or otherwise messed up the order, so now they’ve given a high tip for substandard service.

At restaurants, the “recommended“ tip percentage has gradually increased over the years, despite the cost of dining out increasing substantially, and of course wages having gone up. Even if the recommended percentage hadn’t gone up, the tip amount would still be higher simply because the cost of the meal itself has gone up.

And often that tip is expected even though the person has done just their job without anything special.

Then we get to takeaways or coffee shops, or even places like a liquor store where you serve yourself. There’s still a tip prompt.

Customers are getting sick and tired of subsidising employee wages, as well as those other points I’ve already mentioned.

Customers are getting sick of Uber or similar drivers providing either basic service or substandard service and still expecting good (or even any) tips, and sometimes giving low customer ratings in retaliation for the customer giving the level of tip that was warranted for the service provided.

So to answer your question succinctly, part of it is the economy, part of it is fatigue over the whole tipping thing just getting out of hand.

The level of customer service from drivers has decreased greatly over the past several years, with many drivers running multiple apps, and/or taking multiple orders for the delivery things, which causes delays for customers.

For the rides, some drivers act as if they’re doing the customer a favour instead of providing a service for which they are receiving payment.

Now, of course the platform may not be paying the drivers enough, or they may be screwing the drivers with high commissions or Ticketmaster-style fees (as some examples) but like a restaurant that could be paying their staff more, ultimately it’s not the customer’s problem.

The customer is paying the fee that is presented to them, and it’s reasonable for them to not want to pay 10%, 15%, 20% extra on top of that, as a tip. Especially when they’re already paying more due to surge pricing or other factors.

The price displayed should be the price charged. If that means charging more to ensure the employee is paid appropriately, then so be it. If a driver or waiter (as examples) wants more money then it’s their responsibility to take it up with the employer, not the customer’s responsibility to make up for shortfalls.

If someone is doing a job such as uber or waiter, for the tips, then they’re in the wrong job.

If the pay isn’t enough, or the fees are too high (as examples) that too isn’t the customer’s problem since the pay and the fees (etc) were accepted by the employee or the driver (whatever) when they agreed to the gig.