This question is asked so you can be aware of the sometime tough reality of business.


This is more of a dirty tactic made by one employee than a whole business, but it caught me off guard when I found out what she did.

Do you know those iPads on the white swivel stand that many small businesses use for payments?


If you’ve never used one, essentially the stand allows the iPad to swivel around to face the customer so they can either enter a tip or not and then swivel it back to the cashier.

I’ve had cashiers use this stand probably hundreds of times, but one particular instance at a Glaze location caught me by surprise. I went with a friend to get some dinner and noticed that right before he paid, his total had gone up a couple bucks, after tax. I realized that the cashier would still swivel the iPad around to the customer (because they would need to sign their name), but she would input the tip for herself very quickly before she rotated the iPad to the customer.

I was next to pay and was curious to see if she would try it again. Sure enough, I peek over the iPad to see what she does, and with lightning speed she types in a nearly 20% tip before having me sign my name.

It never crossed my mind in the hundreds of times that I’ve put in a tip and signed my name on one if those iPad stands that a cashier would try to pull this dirty trick. I actually thought it was pretty ingenious, so I let her keep the tip. Unfortunately for her, I pointed out what she did to my friend who demanded that the tip be refunded. The manager came over, and the cashier played dumb throughout the whole thing, pretending it was some sort of error in the system.

Dozens of people come in and out of that location every hour; I wonder when her boss will catch on.

Source: https://www.quora.com/What-dirty-bus...cs-do-you-know