Practices · Observable
Tip requested before service
The tip was requested before the order was prepared, served, or delivered.
Counter, drive-thru, and app checkouts collect the tip before any service happens. Research on pre-service prompts finds they raise the amount tipped and lower reported satisfaction.
This record notes the order of events as reporters describe them.
Spot it on your receipt
- Note whether you paid before or after receiving your order.
- Note whether the screen or app let you tip afterward instead.
Figures
Pre-service prompts for specific amounts raised tips but left customers reporting they felt manipulated (Purdue and Temple research, 2022 and 2025).
Source: The Conversation
On the record
Locations with a published claim that fits
Ordered by the number of independent reports behind the claim, keeping only claims where at least one linked report describes this practice.
No published record fits this practice yet.
Law
The federal baseline
No federal law requires or forbids a tip prompt at checkout. If money collected as a "tip" is retained by the business rather than paid to workers, the federal tip-ownership rule and federal and state deceptive-practice laws may apply.
Source: FTC Act §5; FTC v. Amazon (Amazon Flex), 2021 · Verified 2026-09