(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — A new survey finds customers at restaurants might be experiencing what’s been described as “tip fatigue.”
The online restaurant platform Toast said tipping at full-service restaurants fell from the standard 20% to 19.4% in the second quarter of 2023.
The Toast Restaurant Trends report said that’s the lowest average since the start of the pandemic.
Izzy Kharasch, the president of Hospitality Works in Chicago, told the WBBM Noon Business Hour that the explosion in contact-free methods of payment led to more opportunities to tip.
During the pandemic, Kharasch said folks were “happy to tip everybody” because it was good to see people going to work. Now, though, he said diners are pulling back.
“Self-service, drive-thrus — people don’t want to get hit up for a tip in those areas anymore,” he said.
He added that inflation and surcharges are adding to tip fatigue.
“Buyer beware,” Kharasch said. “This is a bad practice that restaurants are doing, and they should be ashamed.”
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