"No Change... Just Consider It a Tip" Self-Employed Workers' 'Tip' Controversy

Debate Over Self-Employed Person's Story
71% Oppose Tip Culture Awareness Survey

A controversy arose over the story of a self-employed person who asked a customer to "consider the change as a tip and keep it." Perhaps due to the aftermath of the earlier 'American-style tip culture' debate, netizens seem to be responding even more skeptically.

On the 2nd, a post titled "People these days lack warmth" was uploaded to an online cafe where self-employed individuals gather. The author, Mr. A, said, "I went for a delivery, and the change was a little short, so I said, 'Just think of it as a tip,' but it caused an uproar," adding, "(The customer) offered to transfer the money via bank transfer, but who memorizes their bank account number these days?"

Mr. A added that initially, the customer had chosen the card payment option when placing the delivery order, so he did not prepare cash, but the customer suddenly requested to pay in cash, putting him in a difficult situation.

The photo is not related to any specific expression in the article. [Image source=Yonhap News]

He continued, "It’s annoying to see someone fussing over just a few thousand won," and said, "If that customer orders again, I will refuse the order and not deliver."

However, netizens’ reactions to Mr. A’s story were generally cold. Mr. B, who identified himself as self-employed, advised, "Since customers sometimes choose the wrong payment method, always carry both a card reader and cash."

Other sharp responses included, "If it’s such a petty amount, why bother accepting it?" and "Isn’t it common sense for someone running a business to memorize bank account numbers?" There were also comments pointing out the overall negative sentiment toward the 'tip culture' among domestic consumers.

In fact, there have been cases in various industries recently where experimental attempts to introduce 'tip culture' faced backlash. Previously, the taxi-hailing platform 'KakaoT' pilot-tested a feature allowing passengers to give appreciation tips to taxi drivers, which sparked controversy.

A consumer data platform, 'Open Survey,' conducted a survey on the tip feature within taxi-hailing platforms, and 71% of respondents opposed its introduction. This appears to be due to concerns that even voluntary appreciation tips could eventually become an obligation.

Similar controversies have occurred in the food service industry. Recently, on social media, there have been accounts of employees at famous bakeries and cafes requesting tips or 'tip boxes' being found near the cash registers.

However, as the controversy grew, a cafe owner explained in a reply on social media that the 'tip box' was installed as part of the interior design concept and that it was okay not to leave money.