Money Manners: 'Am I meant to tip for takeaway coffee?'

Money Manners is Honey Money's weekly column that deals with money etiquette matters that can be the cause of many an awkward encounter.

Submit your Money Manners questions to Jo Abi at jabi@nine.com.au

This week's question comes via a 9honey reader who received a shock request during a recent trip to the shops.

Dilemma: 'Am I meant to tip for takeaway coffee?'

I ordered a takeaway coffee from a new cafe that opened at my local shopping centre from their special counter that serves foot traffic. It is a raised counter so at first I couldn't see why my payment wasn't going through.

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I assumed it was because I was holding my card in the wrong spot. I never know where to hold them anymore, front, side, top right. Why they don't make them uniform I have no idea.

The waitress was holding the digital payment device but was looking away and I told her it wasn't working. I just said, 'I don't know why this isn't working.' And she just looked at me for a moment, then held the device lower and I saw that it was asking if I wanted to leave a tip.

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There was a 'no tip' option but why even ask for a takeaway coffee? I always thought tips were for good table service. The waitress seemed to expect me to leave a tip of a small skim cappuccino which was already costing me $4.50.

Was I wrong not to leave a tip?

Advice: That's an expensive coffee, and nope, no way.

It seems unreasonable to me that you would be expected to leave a tip for a takeaway coffee. I agree that tips are for excellent table service.

Takeaway coffee is pretty pricy at the moment, for many reasons. Having to pay $4.50 for a small one is costly enough. Leaving a tip on top of this would probably make it unaffordable for most.

The waitress could have made a mistake in leaving you to select "no tip" (cafes do get pretty busy). But you definitely didn't do anything wrong.

Everyone is feeling the pinch at the moment: business, customers, just everyone. And you deserve to enjoy your coffee without feeling guilty about it.

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Perhaps next time you eat out, you can have a meal and leave a tip for excellent table service.

But times are definitely tough. The $4 spent on takeaway coffee is a treat for me, a splurge. I love it, and thankfully my local doesn't request a tip. In fact, they even give me a free cookie.

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