When dining out, I prefer to tip in cash if I have enough in my wallet.
Why Cash Tips Are Still Common in Lubbock
Part of it is empathy for the service industry (one in which I’ve worked before), where money today can be more valuable than money later that week. I also like to keep my digital transactions “clean” as tips may be added much later, causing my daily running balance to be less accurate. I feel like plenty of Lubbockites operate this way- but there is some risk involved.
How Bad Servers Can Rip You Off On Cash Tips
I am a cautious person, so when I tip cash, I always write CASH in the tip line. It serves two purposes: it ensures an unscrupulous server can’t write in an extra tip, and it also ensures no one can put me on blast for “not tipping” when I dang well did.
Recently, a woman posted online about her elderly father allegedly getting ripped off $10 extra at a local restaurant because he left the tip area blank. You can read about it and decide for yourself here. Many people in the comments also suggested writing “cash” or a zero or scribbling the line out to ensure no extra tip is added.
I do want to be very clear that this type of theft is RARE; most servers are very honest. And it is possible it was an honest mistake- keying in a tip on the wrong ticket can happen if you’re distracted or in a hurry.
Common Ways Cash Tips Can Go Missing
The other thing I worry about is the cash failing to make it to my server. Whether another employee picks it up or an immoral customer walks by and grabs it, it drives me crazy to think my hard-working server would lose out on the cash (or think I’m a jerk). Receipt books help prevent this, but not all places have them. In that case, I hand my cash tip directly to my server…