A Disturbing New Trend in Fast Food Drive-Thrus: Double Tipping
A Disturbing New Trend in Fast Food Drive-Thrus: Double Tipping
admin 2026/01/11 23:58If you’re in a hurry, this Life Hack may save you from paying 20% extra on your fast food order.
Many restaurants are now using a new tactic—either to trick or guilt customers into leaving larger tips.
This just happened to us. We recently went through the drive-thru at a local restaurant and ordered two tacos. The bill for the food alone was $12, but that’s not why we’ll never return. Imagine this happening at McDonald’s or Burger King.
This restaurant recently implemented an app that automatically pre-fills tip amounts for credit card charges: “Good” is 20%, “Great” is 30%, and “Excellent” is 40%. There’s also a very small box to enter a custom or no tip.
Normally, we just leave a couple of dollars in the tip jar. But now, if you’re not paying close attention, the app automatically opts you into an automatic 20% tip when you pay with a credit card.
In our rush, we didn’t notice—and that’s exactly what happened.
When we reviewed our credit card statement, we saw a charge of $14.40, plus when you add the $2 cash tip we left, that’s a 40% tip on two tacos! And to make matters worse, one taco was missing lettuce and tomatoes—it only had onions and grilled chicken.
This practice isn’t limited to just one restaurant—most of the local Mexican eateries in town, and even other small food businesses, have adopted it. Just last week, an ice cream shop charged us $14 after we missed an opt-out tip prompt, even though we’d already left a cash tip for two ice cream cones. They mush have had it opt in automatically to 40%.
If you’re in a hurry, be sure to double-check your receipt at the drive-thru. This restaurant’s deceptive tipping tactics and subpar service have cost them not just a few extra dollars, but two lifelong customers. Losing our trust will hurt their business far more than an extra $2 on a credit card charge. Automatic opt-in tipping is misleading, potentially unethical, and could backfire on businesses in the long run—both financially and legally.
Many restaurants are now using a new tactic—either to trick or guilt customers into leaving larger tips.
This just happened to us. We recently went through the drive-thru at a local restaurant and ordered two tacos. The bill for the food alone was $12, but that’s not why we’ll never return. Imagine this happening at McDonald’s or Burger King.
This restaurant recently implemented an app that automatically pre-fills tip amounts for credit card charges: “Good” is 20%, “Great” is 30%, and “Excellent” is 40%. There’s also a very small box to enter a custom or no tip.
Normally, we just leave a couple of dollars in the tip jar. But now, if you’re not paying close attention, the app automatically opts you into an automatic 20% tip when you pay with a credit card.
In our rush, we didn’t notice—and that’s exactly what happened.
When we reviewed our credit card statement, we saw a charge of $14.40, plus when you add the $2 cash tip we left, that’s a 40% tip on two tacos! And to make matters worse, one taco was missing lettuce and tomatoes—it only had onions and grilled chicken.
This practice isn’t limited to just one restaurant—most of the local Mexican eateries in town, and even other small food businesses, have adopted it. Just last week, an ice cream shop charged us $14 after we missed an opt-out tip prompt, even though we’d already left a cash tip for two ice cream cones. They mush have had it opt in automatically to 40%.
If you’re in a hurry, be sure to double-check your receipt at the drive-thru. This restaurant’s deceptive tipping tactics and subpar service have cost them not just a few extra dollars, but two lifelong customers. Losing our trust will hurt their business far more than an extra $2 on a credit card charge. Automatic opt-in tipping is misleading, potentially unethical, and could backfire on businesses in the long run—both financially and legally.
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