Korean consumers worry about emerging tipping culture

[Photo by Lee Chung-woo]

A growing number of South Korean service providers and businesses charging tipping fees has sparked debate among the consumers over the norm of tipping culture.

Some consumers say that tipping for satisfactory services may be considered if the pricing is reasonable while others argue that mandatory tipping can be an excessive practice as the service fee is already included in the total price.

The debate surrounding the tipping culture in Korea has been triggered by a social media post about an unwelcome tipping experience involving a pilot tipping option by Kakao Mobility Corp. to allow passengers to tip drivers.

The taxi-hailing platform began a pilot operation of the ‘Thank You Tip’ feature within Kakao T-Blue on July 19.

The taxi-hailing service through the KakaoT application has the option of providing a tipping fee to the driver when the highest 5-star rating is assigned to the service. Passengers can choose to tip 1,000 won ($0.75), 1,500 won, and 2,000 won.

The hailing platform said the tipping is voluntary.

Meanwhile, an online user recently posted the experience of a tipping mandate at a café in Seoul.

According to the user, the staff member who took their order at the counter asked, “Would you consider leaving a tip for our diligent staff?” and then displayed a tablet with options for tip percentages of 5 percent, 7 percent, and 10 percent on a service fee.

Some online users shared similar experiences, especially involving a famous bakery putting a cash box to collect tipping fees.

A majority of Koreans express concern about the emerging culture, many of whom cite unsatisfied quality of services as the reason for the opposition.

Some customers blame employers for using tipping as a means to avoid wage raises. “The price I pay includes all the service charges, and employers should stop passing on the cost burden of wage hikes to customers,” said a 29-year-old unnamed customer.

Under the current law, adopting a mandatory tipping practice can violate the regulations governing the food industry in Korea.

The Food Sanitation Act specifies that any food service business operator must introduce a price-tag system for commercial transactions to ensure that all prices are charged in accordance with the price-tag.

One survey found that seven out of 10 Korean customers oppose the idea of tipping.

According to a survey conducted by market research firm OpenSurvey, 71.7 percent of the respondents said they opposed the introduction of a tipping policy on a taxi-hailing service.