Posted on 10/21/2026 10:14:53 AM PDT by V_TWIN
Don’t forget to tip your robots.
A recent TikTok has exposed an airport store for prompting customers to select an 18% tip at a self-checkout kiosk.
Dr. Clay Moss, a longevity specialist, recently posted a TikTok where a self-service payment terminal automatically nudged him to tip. In an undisclosed airport, the doctor was stunned when he tried to purchase a bottle of water — which was already overpriced — and saw that he was automatically encouraged to tip — 18%.
Dr. Moss showed the store’s kiosk, which revealed the software — that seemingly uses a preset function — prompting customers to leave a 10%, 15% or 18% gratuity using an automatic tipping feature.
While he has seen the feature at other types of retailers, one major factor was missing — a worker. The airport store was completely self-service with not a single employee near.
Dr. Moss then asked two simple questions — has tipping culture gotten out of hand and who is the money going to?
“Who is this automatic 18% tip that I have to click out of for? Who am I tipping here? Is this what we’ve come to?” Dr. Moss said on TikTok.
He went on to say that in most cases, tips go to the staff associated with the store — like cashiers, attendants or shared tips for all the workers to split at the end of their shift. But what happens when the checkout machine is owned and operated by a third party?
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
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The fact that it's happening at an airport where everyone is in a hurry and it's default is set to 18% is stealing as far as I'm concerned....not to mention $6.50 for water.
Despicable.
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I use cash just to avoid this.
$6.49 for one bottle of water?! I can get a 24 pack of Alaska Glacier water bottles for $5.98.
I can fill my water bottle for free at the airport.
That’s the real reason they won’t let you go through with liquids over 3 oz.
Money grubbing has gone automated.....>>>>>>
Headline makes it sound like an airline did this...
A local doughnut shop has a self serve line. You go pick your doughnuts and pay.
I refuse to tip for that even though all the young ladies at the cashier counter act sad when I don’t.
All they are doing is exchanging money, might as well start tipping grocery stores, banks, gas stations, hardware stores etc
In this case it appears to be a suggested 18% tip which the customer can change. Still annoying though. I decide what I tip on a case by case basis. I detest these phony “guilt trip” attempts by people doing what I consider to be entry level low skill work.
Some places no longer take cash. The stadium where I was last weekend for example
Robots gotta live too!............
A few months ago we went to a restaurant we’d never been to.
I paid the tab with plastic. When it came back to sign I noticed a charge of several dollars for “processing” my card.
The server never said one word about it at any time.
Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me.
We never went back there and I am now hyper vigilant more than ever when it comes to every digital transaction I do.
LOL. Nothing shortens my longevity more than the rage I feel at POS terminals asking for tips and STARTING at 18% and offering options for 20% and 25%! I often react with a big "FU," click "Custom" and leave zero tip. I've got a visceral hatred for the out-of-control tipping culture in the USA.
I remember when I was a kid we were traveling in NYS on the way to see my dad's folks down near NYC. We stopped at a HoJos and the service was SO bad that dad left two pennies under the plate. LOL...I still remember that about 70 years later.
but they will allow an empty water bottle though. I carried a crushed down Sam’s water bottle and refilled it many times on my last journey through airport land.
Yep. More and more places are refusing to even take cash at all.
Yep, retailers are cutting off their nose to spite their faces. They can "see" add up the 3% they are charged for using credit cards but what they can't "see" is the number of people who will never come back because they are charged extra for using the convenience of plastic.
Does the tip go to the software programmer?
This is becoming really common. It really irks me. some places won’t let you pay cash, and they want a check or debit card so they can instantly get your money. If you use a credit card they get charged so they pass it on to the consumer 3, 4, 5 percent or more. I just told the toyota dealership to stuff it on an optional purchase (trailer hitch). They more than doubled my parts cost they estimated (but there’s a discount) and when I pulled my card out to grudgingly pay it was “oh we have to charge an additional 3% for charge cards, but if its a debit we don’t. “ I told them to keep it. dealerships are always shady. no exception.
Not on my dime.....they can all KMA!
Argentina “rents” the dishes to you.
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