Overview
- Consumers in Germany are voicing fresh complaints about tip prompts at bakery counters and other retail checkouts, with a Chip.de columnist calling the requests overbearing and out of place.
- A Bitkom survey reported by BILD found only 29% view automatic tip options as helpful, 68% dislike menus that start at 10%, and 64% say the prompt led them to pay more than they planned.
- In Croatia, a widely read Reddit thread captured users skipping tips or feeling pressured by 10%, 15%, and 20% presets on card readers, even as official data recorded €52.6 million in tips in 2025.
- Tipping norms differ sharply by country, with 15–20% standard in the U.S. and Canada as part of service pay, while tipping is rare or discouraged in places like Japan and much of Scandinavia.
- Skepticism about whether digital tips reach staff and tighter household budgets are pushing some people back to cash and fueling calls for clearer, fairer terminal designs.