Tip Jars Are Everywhere, Even Online

My editor Roger Hibbert has always been a fan of tipping big and tipping often: No one ever went broke giving money away, he is fond of saying. True, but no one ever got rich from scrounging quarters out of their tip jar at Starbucks, either. Regardless, tipping is everywhere now, and in some cases, those tip jars have moved online, where they're as mandatory as when you get a table for eight at your local Olive Garden*.

A Christian Science Monitor story (reprinted here) offers some interesting insight and invective about the rise of ubiquitous tipping. Formerly relegated to dining and cab rides, tip jars are suddenly everywhere. Author Robert Close shrewdly notes that he's even seen them at gas stations, labeled "for unanticipated expenses."

But what really seems insane is Close's "little incident" with an Internet retailer, which added a dollar to his order for "immediate replacement of lost or damaged goods." He complained and had the fee removed. (Note that these "tips" are not the same as donations that many sites accept in order to fund their site operations, usually in lieu of running advertisements.) Close's line he delivered to the company's customer support line, asking for his refund, is priceless. (His experiment showing that anyone will throw money into a tip jar, no matter what the scenario, is also enlightening.)

What to make of all this tipping? I admit I freely drop change or a buck in tip jars whenever I buy anything comestible, but I balk at tipping at the hardware store. I'm definitely partial to the "service-included" European system; I know service professionals aren't well-paid in the States, necessitating the gratuity system we now have... but isn't there a better way?

That said, online businesses are a different thing altogether, and I think Close was right to take a stand against such an absurd fee, whether or not it really is a "tip" in the traditional sense.

Have you been charged fees for no reason at all, presumably with the merchant hoping you wouldn't bother reading the bill closely enough to find out about it? Or do you think online tipping is OK, simply an extension of our offline economy? Share your tips (ha!) in the comments section.

LINK: What's up with all those tip jars? 

* The author does not actually recommend dining at the Olive Garden.