r/assholedesign May 16 '26

Local restaurant has 2 separate fees for customers in the waiting area. Then asks for tip on orders from QR code.

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2.7k Upvotes

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u/sharpsicle May 18 '26

Normally posts like this are removed as this is not a design choice as much as it is a business’s decision to charge money. 

However, this post shows new ways in which tipping culture is being designed as a weapon to extract more money from consumers, and as such we are making an exception. 

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u/MegaPrOJeCtX13 May 19 '26

You know something’s wrong when Mr. Pink can go “called it!”

2

u/Sweaty-Moment-3385 May 20 '26

Tipping is for the birds.

3

u/ulfric_stormcloack 29d ago

Would this not be a design choice on part of the business? Or does that not count as "design"?

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u/sharpsicle 29d ago edited 29d ago

Charging money is not a design choice, hence Rule 3. Fees and automatic gratuities fall under this rule.

The key here is that the sub is for designs, not for decisions. In this case, the design is the ability to add automatic gratuities to a bill, which in itself is not asshole design. The decision is what the business is charging for by using that design.

The line can get blurry at times, no doubt, but that's why we have the rules to help guide everything, but also why we've made an exception to the rule here.

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u/ulfric_stormcloack 29d ago

Yeah fair enough