‘Customer-unfriendly’: Dutch hospitality visitors irritated by on-screen tip requests
With warm weather drawing crowds to terraces, many Dutch hospitality businesses now present customers with on-screen tip suggestions of 5, 10, or 15 percent—or none—when they pay by card. The practice has reportedly been generating some annoyance among guests. The digital prompts aim to make tipping easier, but many customers view them as pushy.
Three-quarters of respondents in an RTL Nieuwspanel poll said the prompt makes them irritable, and half reported giving less of a tip because of this irritation. Only 10 percent of those surveyed said it prompted them to give more than they had originally planned.
Service quality remained a key factor. “If the worker is extra enthusiastic and visibly does their best to make the experience more pleasant, I gladly give a generous tip,” one panelist said. Another took a different view: “Tipping is completely unnecessary since everyone is supposed to receive at least the minimum wage. You don’t give the garbage collector a tip either.”
The shift comes as 95 percent of hospitality bills in the Netherlands are now paid by card, ending the era of casual cash phrases such as “keep the change.”
Ilyan Tonneman from Pindirect, a company that handles payment traffic for businesses, said the option delivers results. In his client base, the tip prompt increases turnover by about 2 percent per card payment.
More than 40 percent of poll respondents said they had already faced the digital tip choice at least once, though it is not yet universal. Some establishments deliberately avoid it.
Nirvana Flier, who runs two hospitality venues in Amsterdam, is among those who reject the practice. One location emphasizes self-service. “We find it not chic to ask people for a tip right away,” she told RTL. In her other establishment, where service is more prominent, the approach is the same. “We assume that if people want to give a tip, they will do it themselves,” Flier added.
Poll participants echoed the discomfort. One wrote, "If you pay by card and an automatic tip screen appears, I give NO tip. I find this so customer-unfriendly!” Another added, “Often you see such a tip screen even before you have experienced the service. Then I give nothing at all.”
Some customers appreciated the convenience. “I find the percentages shown easier precisely because I don’t have to calculate the tip amount myself,” one respondent said. Others said it depended on context, such as after a quick coffee versus a full dinner.
