But there are situations where people are reluctant to tip and do so not because the tip is earned but because they feel pressured into it. This is why one woman is being applauded for listening to her gut and refusing to give in to the pressure to tip.

In a restaurant, it’s standard practice for a gratuity to be included in the bill. In many cases, servers in these environments work for less than minimum wage, so they depend on gratuities for part of their income.

Even if they’re not contending with bizarre scenarios like tips being included at self-service checkouts, many American consumers feel they are increasingly encountering situations where they feel forced to tip when they don’t think one is warranted.

A survey of 2000 U.S. adults conducted by Talker Research found that respondents reluctantly tip $37.80 per month due to the pressure of the situation. This adds up to $453.60 a year of reluctant tipping. 26% of participants also said they are always or often pressured to tip more than they wish to.

She recounts the full details of her experience on Reddit under the handle u/CardiologistSilly926. She details her visit to the sandwich chain with her family. On the r/AITAH subreddit she asks, “AITA for having tip removed at Subway?”

As detailed in the Reddit thread: “My husband and I each ordered a pretzel and my two nieces each ordered a footlong sub sandwich.” The foundations for her reluctance to tip probably began with her order.

As a tip, in principle, is supposed to be in recognition of the service provided, simply giving a customer an empty cup to fill themselves when they order a drink immediately removes an element of this customer service that a person is supposedly tipping for.

“When we checked out they added an automatic 20 percent tip which equaled $8.51,” she explains.

She explained to her server: “I do not tip where I have to stand to order my food, get my own drink and clean up after myself.” 

But echoing a sentiment seemingly shared by more and more people these days, she felt the enforced 20% charge went too far in this instance. 

She agrees that this woman was not “obligated to leave a tip for a routine service.” Reddit users seem to echo this support, with one user saying “tipping is way out of hand nowadays” and another commenting, “The fact that they added the tip on without your permission is out of line and should be illegal.”

Tipping is fundamentally discretionary in all situations, but especially in what would traditionally be a “tip jar” sort of transaction. It’s easy to see why so many Reddit users supported this woman’s decision to refuse to pay the mandatory tip Subway added to her bill.