I just had argubly one of my best counter service dining experiences in a long time. Anyone ever heard of the sandwich chain Jimmy John's? One has been open where I live for about 2 months now so it is new but I haven't tried it, but since Discover has 5% on restaurants this quarter I feel this is a good enough time as any to try them out.

I heard that they deliver and because of that going into this place I expected to see a tip jar on the counter and have a line for a tip on the credit card recept. I don't tip for counter service, but I would for delivery and I heard from someone that a restaurant POS terminal only has an option for the tip line it is either on or off and since people tend to tip for delivery I expected I would have to cross out the tip line. Besides with these tip jars and tip lines appearing at counter service places now I was prepared to see it. No biggie.

I walk in and I am actually greeted with a firm "Hello how are you today?" and a smile from the person behind the register. Now normally with counter service the person working can't ever seem to grunt a pleasant greeting so to hear actual words and a genuine smile was a welcome sight. I place my order and am told they will call it out when ready. I am then presented with the credit card recept and to my amazement there was a line for gratuity, but it was already displaying $0.00 so I didn't have to cross it out and put in the total or anything, just sign the recept. There was no option to leave a tip on the recept, the tip was already zeroed out and there also wasn't a tip jar on the counter. It was a breath of fresh air at a counter service place. Just after signing the recept they called out my order. That was fast.

So for the first time since I can remember I was actually impressed with my counter service experience and no tips at all were expected. Good food and friendly and helpful employees. It was a welcome sight.

A local counter service burger joint that I used to go to regularly I have stopped going because of the shenanigans they pull with the tip line on the credit card recept. There is nothing special about this particular burger place you just place your order at the counter then pay for it, then they make your food and call out your number, then you pick up your food then dispose your trash when finished. Of course they have a tip jar and the recept has an option for tips. I refuse to ever go back for one major reason. You pay for your food upfront when you order, then the food is made. So basically if you pay with a credit card you end up crossing out the tip line right in front of the employee who is then going to turn around and prepare your food. We all hear of the stories of what food service workers supposedly do to the food of people who don't tip and I refuse to be put in that position so I just don't go back to that burger place. Besides, a tip upfront is a bribe, and at this place you would essentially be bribing the person NOT to tamper with your food. Not like this place isn't expensive enough as it is with the large burger, fries, and a soda costing 12 bucks, plus the pressure to tip that I described above.

With food service my rules basically is you only get a tip if you bring the food directly to me, either the table I am sitting at or my house, if you just call out my name or number you don't get anything and that is how it should be.

So I was very pleasantly surprised to see Jimmy John's not pressure their customers into tipping. Maybe it could be because it is a national chain and there doesn't seem to be tipping at those places. No tipping at a McDonalds or Subway for example, while you could see it at a local independantly owned burger joint like described above. Has anyone else encountered a place like that where you were pleasantly surprised to see no tip jars on the counter or tip lines on the recept?

I really hope it stays that way though, the service and food is great and because of that I fear some people who have the strong urge to give people money for doing a job they are paid to do I really hope they don't suggest to management that they leave the tip line on the recept open. If you are a satisfied customer your repeat business plus recommending the place to other people should be enough. If there is no tipping expected don't rock the boat and try to start it. If you really feel the need to hand out money because of workers who do a job well that they are already paid to do channel that generosity towards your local soup kitchen instead.

Haha sorry for the long rant about tipping, but since there are already hundreds of posts about this topic in this forum what is one more?