'It finally happened': Outraged woman calls out doctor's office for asking her to leave a tip

Author image for Isabella Penn
Isabella Penn
Sep 8, 2024 1:00 PM EDT

Tipping culture these days has gotten... a little out of hand, hasn't it? It feels like someone's asking for a tip everywhere you turn—whether it's your barista, the takeout app, or even the self-checkout machine at the grocery store. And it's not just about the ask. It's the guilt. That little screen that pops up after you pay, staring at you, daring you to pick anything less than 20%, even if you just ordered a single donut.

Sure, tipping for good service is a no-brainer. We want to support people working hard in customer-facing jobs. But now? It's like tipping expectations have crept into every transaction, whether service was involved or not. So, where's the line? Is tipping still about rewarding great service, or has it become an automatic part of every purchase? Either way, it's got us all second-guessing whether we're doing too much—or not enough—especially when at the doctor's office…

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  • 01
    MILLENNIALS r/Millennials • 10 h 1981-1996 knitoriousshe It finally happened: I was asked to tip when I paid at the doctor's office.
    via u/knitoriousshe
  • 02
    Like you guys have a lot more money than me??!! Why would I tip the doc? Or does it go to the receptionist? Now I've been waiting for half an hour and I wonder if it's because I didn't tip.
    via u/knitoriousshe
  • 03
    ETA: I didn't expect this to blow up, so here's the faq: 1. I was prepaying because I don't have insurance. The visit was already $140 USD 2. Obviously I'm in the US/
    via u/knitoriousshe
  • 04
    3. I wasn't asked aloud by a human, it was on their credit card processing tablet thingy at the receptionist desk. I do think it's likely that the machine has the tip on as a default as some suggested. That didn't really occur to me at the time, I was just really grossed out and pushed
    via u/knitoriousshe
  • 05
    $0 tip and finished paying. Didn't think to snap a pic for the internet, sorry. 4. The office seemed to have multiple other practitioners in it, some in the comments have guessed maybe the tip is
    via u/knitoriousshe
  • 06
    for an esthetician or something. I didn't take note of the other practices in the same office so idk if any of them are tip appropriate. 5. It was for a psychiatry/med check appointment, which is why it SUPER sketched me out
    via u/knitoriousshe
  • 07
    6. The receptionist was a very young man, 22 at most. I doubt yelling at him would have done anything. 7. After calming down about it, I'm going to call and let their office manager know about that happening before
    via u/knitoriousshe
  • 08
    reporting it. It's just so uncomfortable to be asked to tip at the doctor 8. No I won't be going back Second update:
    via u/knitoriousshe
  • 09
    I called and spoke with the office manager right before they closed. He says that the reason there is a tip option is because their registration workers (which I did not interact with in any way, they exist at another clinic under the same management, apparently) make minimum
    via u/knitoriousshe
  • 10
    wage and "people frequently ask to be able to tip them with a card." He said their POS system is set up to ask for tips for those other locations (idk what kind of practices those are, seems like one business man managing a lot of clinics? I guess?) and
    via u/knitoriousshe
  • 11
    no one expects a tip, so I should just skip it. I was like "doesn't that seem like an ethics violation? There must be some law preventing doctors offices from asking for a tip." He said the business man (whose name I
    via u/knitoriousshe
  • 12
    took down but he isn't a doctor so idk who to even report that to) "had his lawyers look at it" after other people complained and they reassured him it's legal. I doubt it. So, I took down all the info, the business owners name and all and I'll make a report. I've
    via u/knitoriousshe
  • 13
    found the state medical boards info and I'm sending in a report. They had their chance to fix it in house and seemed to do nothing, so I have no guilt about reporting them. The office manager made it seem like the doc has
    via u/knitoriousshe
  • 14
    nothing to do w/ it, that this is the brainchild of the office manager alone. Idk if that makes any difference to the state medical board but we're gonna find out i guess.
    via u/knitoriousshe
  • 15
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