Counter Employees Don't Trust You With Their Tip Jar

At right is a picture of a tip cup at a Dunkin' Donuts somewhere in this great land of ours that features a hole at the bottom that presumably leads to a receptacle under/behind the counter. The blog Consumerist received this photo from a tipster, and asked whether it encourages or discourages tipping. They also add, "The workers at this Dunkin' Donuts hope that you'll be happy enough with their service that you'll leave a tip. But doesn't trust you not to run off with the tip jar." Well, quite frankly, they shouldn't.

The summer before my sophomore year of high school, I got my first job ever at a somewhat-famous ice cream shop in Madison, Wisconsin. As the summer got hotter, the lines got longer, and we didn't always prioritize keeping an eye on the large plastic tip jar on the counter. Nor, by the way, did we trust our customers, most of whom were hot, grouchy, hyped up on sugar, and under the age of twelve.

So it wasn't the biggest surprise in the world when one day, at the end of a shift, we turned around and the jar was gone. We probably didn't lose that much money, but there's nothing like a little extra cash to make up for being up to your armpits in melted ice cream all day. Anyway, the next day there was a big, wooden tip box nailed to the wall next to the cash register, and we never had a problem again.

So, in conclusion, I guess the main point of the bottomless/affixed tip jar is not whether it encourages or discourages tips (except maybe on a subconscious level), but rather that it ensures your tips go to their intended recipient. I assume we can all agree that is a good thing.

· This Dunkin' Donuts Tip Cup Has Trust Issues [Consumerist]