The FIFA World Cup is set to take place across many U.S. cities between June and July, and restaurants in Kansas City, Missouri, have adopted a controversial policy that has drawn criticism from locals. To prevent visitors from non-tipping countries from leaving without tipping staff, some restaurants plan to implement an automatic gratuity system.
According to reports, the Missouri Restaurant Association recommended that members add an automatic 20% gratuity charge during the World Cup. While this is not a mandate and businesses can still decide whether to adopt it, managers at popular venues have reportedly said they will implement the change.
As Bob Riekhof, general manager of La Bodega, explained during an interview with KCTV 5, this will ensure that staff continue to be paid appropriately. He also added that the gratuity fee will be listed on all menus and that businesses are ensuring servers communicate the change to guests.
Kansas Locals Are Unhappy With Proposed Tipping Changes
It’s fair to say that this proposed change did not sit well with Kansas City residents. On Reddit’s r/kansascity, many seemed skeptical of the change. One user, for example, feared that restaurants would “mysteriously forget to remove it after the World Cup.” Some also worried that “they’ll bake it into the price and then not pay their workers.”
Specifically, some locals were frustrated by what they described as a “toxic tipping culture,” saying, “The idea that the restaurant business doesn’t have to provide benefits because of some long-standing tradition, where a percentage of the cost of what you choose to eat covers that, is dumb.” Some also criticized local restaurants more broadly: “Tipping culture is out of control, 20% automatic is insane. Just increase the prices and pay your servers appropriately.”
Another seemingly irritated social media user commented, “When I was younger, it was 10%. Then, in the early 2000s, it went to 15%. Then, in the 2010s, it was 18%. Now, after COVID, it’s 20%. It’s time for tipping culture to end.”
A few people, however, did not think the change was such a big deal. “Several major tourist areas in the U.S. already do this. I was just in Miami and had 20% gratuity added automatically at several places,” one resident wrote.
It remains to be seen how these changes will affect locals in Missouri after the World Cup, but most people seem at least skeptical of their usefulness.
