It’s happened to everyone—you’re presented with an iPad to pay for your purchase and then you’re immediately prompted to tip. The problem is, this is now happening at coffee shops, bakeries, and national fast food franchises where tipping wasn’t previously a thing.
And now, one woman is going viral on TikTok after revealing who ultimately gets the tips that customers leave behind. As of Friday afternoon, her video had amassed more than 117,700 views.
TikTok user Lisa Kilgour (@lisakilgournutrition), a registered holistic nutritionist, said she learned from “two different sources” that iPad tips don’t go to workers—but to the owners of the franchise. Kilgour didn’t reveal who her sources were, but said that they were located in Canada. She also suggested that she learned this information after a recent airport visit.
What she learned about iPad tips
“I might be behind the times,” she said, “but I live in the middle of nowhere, and I don’t actually get to franchises very often.”
When she was at the airport, she said, she ordered a $9 sandwich from a “big international chain.” Kilgour said she thought the sandwich was overpriced. But after she paid, she was asked whether she wanted to leave an additional tip.
“Up came that tip spot on the debit machine and it started at 20%,” she said. “It really took me aback at first because I was like, ‘That’s a lot to ask for a sandwich.’”
Nevertheless, Kilgour said she wanted to leave a big tip for the workers. Until she learned that they’ll never see the money.
“I found out now from two different sources,” she said, “that when you give a tip through a machine at those franchises, the workers don’t keep it.”
“It all goes to the owner of the store,” Kilgour added.
She encouraged viewers to confirm this information with workers the next time they’re prompted to tip.
“Ask [them] if there’s no boss around,” she pleaded. “If this is true, it’s disgusting.”
Do workers get to keep iPad tips?
Unfortunately, there’s no cut-and-dried answer. According to various workers, who shared their stories both on TikTok and Reddit, it varies between establishments and the ethics of their managers and/or owners.
Sara, a Starbucks worker who commented under Kilgour’s video, said that the coffeehouse’s employees do get to take iPad tips home.
“Can confirm, Starbucks credit card tips go to the workers working the floor that day,” Sarah said. “It is added to their check and is taxed.”
Another commenter said that their daughter’s jobs let her take home iPad tips, too. “My daughter has had two franchise customer service jobs. One cashed nightly and the other put tips into biweekly paycheck.”
The same appeared true for a third, international commenter.
“In British Columbia,” he said, “it’s illegal for tips to go to the owners or management. 100 percent goes to the servers and kitchen.”
Not every franchise handles tips the same way
Of course, not every franchise treats its workers the same. In a 2023 Reddit thread (r/Dallas) one commenter said that he’s worked in places where only certain employees get iPad tips.
“I’ve worked in places where only the servers were the ones who got tipped even though the kitchen was the one bending over backwards to make their table happy,” they wrote.
Another worker, on the same Reddit thread, confirmed this was also true at his workplace.
“Only waiters and bartenders get tips,” they said. “Everyone else can get [expletive].”
Like Kilgour, many commenters also encouraged customers to simply ask workers whether they’ll see the tip you leave. And if they won’t, several viewers said they had no issue not leaving a tip behind.
“I straight up ask them if they get the tips,” one Redditor said. “If so, I’ll give 10% for takeout. If they say no, 0%.”
@lisakilgournutrition Where do the tips go??? #tippingculture #fastfoodworkers ♬ original sound – Lisa Kilgour | Nutritionist
The Daily Dot has reached out to Kilgour via TikTok comment.
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