The debate about tipping has flared up again, after new card machines where tipping options are presented to the visitor spread.
“Cheeky and greedy”, the author Lotta Lundberg calls the new machines, in an interview in The morning studio. Another who has criticized the machines is James Savage, publisher at The Local and chairman of Sveriges Tidskrifter. In a post on X, he writes:
“Suddenly, card machines in Swedish bars and restaurants try to force us to tip. This is not okay. We are not the United States. There are collective agreements here and the prices of food and drinks should reflect that. Stop.”
The risk: “Expected to live on tips”
James Savage believes that with the machines they want to get people to drink more. He believes that there are risks if tipping becomes a matter of course in Sweden.
– The more you tip, you move to a culture where service personnel are expected to live on the tip, it becomes a larger part of their salary in principle.
Yesterday 22:19
Do you usually drink? That’s how the Swedes answer
“Now I’m panicking a little”
James Savage says that he usually “gets a bit of a panic” when the pay box with the tip options appears after dinner.
– I am a person who in Sweden has always tipped by rounding up or giving an extra penny if the service was great. Now I’m getting a little panicky, I probably tend to drink more than I normally would, you can press continue to avoid drinking, but when it’s not clearly stated, it’s easy to press five percent, or ten, if five feels stingy.
However, he understands why the Swedish restaurants use the system and mentions that it has been a tough time for the industry and difficult to get staff. But James Savage warns against turning a blind eye to long-term consequences:
– Do we want a system where you undermine collective agreements in the restaurant industry and move towards a system where tips are a large part of the salary? That’s a big question mark.
1 in 4 Swedes never drink
And also among other customers there is dissatisfaction with the restaurants’ new tricks.
– I think that’s boring. It is not fair, says Erik Kotschack.
At the same time, there is an understanding among some.
– If I were a restaurant owner, I would probably have done the same thing, says Jonas Backman
However, far from all Swedes drink after a visit to a restaurant. It shows a survey that has been carried out by Sifo, on behalf of the payment service PayPal, writes Godare.
25 percent of Swedes do not drink at all. It also varies a lot in the country. In Norrland, 44 percent do not tip.
Stockholmers are the ones who drink the most. Only 14 percent of Stockholmers do not drink at all. 19 percent answer that they tip 10 percent or more.
– I usually play dumb and ask if I need a drink. Then I have been given another choice not to drink, they must have understood quite quickly, says Zhanna Zozulak