Fast-food chain Wendy’s ignites outrage on Reddit after a self-order kiosk at one of its locations prompts customers for a tip, sparking debate.
In a post on the anti-tipping subreddit r/EndTipping, a user posts a photo of their order screen on a kiosk at Wendy’s.
The kiosk screen displays “Tip our team” and offers $1, $3, and $5 tip options for the customer’s $7.09 order.
While tips are a nice gesture for service workers who go above and beyond, members of the subreddit question why a self-serve machine would ask for a tip.
Unlike servers at sit-down restaurants, fast food workers earn the federal minimum wage of $7.25 and don’t rely on tips as part of their expected compensation.
In the comments of the subreddit, users react to the “egregious” request for a tip from the Wendy’s kiosk.
“This is out of hand. Has anybody ever gotten food at a fast food place (aside from MAYBE Chick-fil-A), where you thought ‘man what great service!’ The answer is no. There is no reason to tip at fast food,” one writes.
Another says, “Like, what is the service here? I’ll ‘ring’ in my own order, pick up my own order at the counter. Yeah, someone cooks the meal, but I don’t tip the chef in a sit-down restaurant either.”
“I love Wendy’s, but tipping at a kiosk is wild,” a third remarks.
A fourth joke, “That awkward moment when you hit ‘no tip’ so hard that the screen breaks. Oops.”
Others question whether the tips from the kiosk will actually go to Wendy’s workers, despite the fine print under the text stating otherwise.
“There is no way they give the tips to employees. I just don’t believe it,” a commenter suggests.
A second wonders, “What does that mean, the name on the receipt, the manager’s friend, evenly distributed? Like it could mean anything.”