A growing number of travelers say they’re being prompted to leave a tip at fully automated, self-service kiosks in airports — with no employee in sight to receive it.
Conservative commentator Michael Knowles filmed himself encountering the issue at an airport convenience store. In a Facebook reel titled “They expect me to tip a robot?,” Knowles scanned a Perrier sparkling water himself, priced at $4.29, and was met with a prompt asking him to leave a gratuity.
“Would I like to leave a tip? I have not seen a single employee, I have scanned my own Perrier and now the robot wants me to tip it,” Knowles said in the video.
The clip drew a wave of comments from people frustrated by the request. “I tip only humans,” one commenter wrote, while another joked, “I’d ask for a discount for doing its job.”
Other viewers pushed back, arguing the tip may still go to workers behind the scenes who stock shelves and maintain the store even if no cashier is present. One commenter wrote, “I understand but think about this — someone stocked the shelves [and] kept everything clean. Would the tip be for the people behind the scene??” Another noted that the tipping prompt is likely baked into the checkout software used across many of these kiosks regardless of whether staff are present, adding that customers can simply decline: “Just say no and be on your way.”
Knowles’ experience follows a similar incident posted weeks earlier by Dr. Clay Moss, a longevity specialist, who shared a TikTok showing an automated payment terminal at another airport store nudging him toward an 18% tip after he purchased a bottle of water. The terminal gave him preset options of 10%, 15% or 18%. As with Knowles’ encounter, the store was entirely self-service with no employees nearby.
Dr. Moss asked his followers whether tipping culture has gone too far and where exactly the money collected through these automated prompts actually ends up. It remains unclear, based on these accounts, who receives the gratuities generated at fully automated checkout stations.
What is clear is that the trend is fueling frustration among customers who object to being asked for a tip on transactions they complete entirely themselves — part of a broader pattern of tipping requests expanding into grocery stores, airports and fast food chains well beyond traditional table service.
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