Why this exists
A note from the person who started this
One of the most aggravating things about eating in a restaurant these days is the "discretionary" tip. Typically, after a pleasant and convivial meal shared with friends or family, you're presented with a bill that automatically adds a tip to the total. Usually 10%, often 12.5%, and increasingly 15% or even more.
You, the bill payer, must then decide: do I grin and bear it and pay up, do I request a downward adjustment, or do I refuse outright?
Unless I suck it up, I become instantly the bad guy.
If I demur, it's obvious to my guests and a black cloud descends over the happy gathering. My partner is embarrassed. I am mean. Emotional blackmail.
I grew up in the UK, and this wasn't a thing until about 2010. Sure, I could decide — from generosity, in reflection of a job well done — to add a tip. Usually 3–5%, done cash into the hand of my waiter.
The campaign
Discretionary should mean discretionary
A tip that's calculated automatically and printed on the bill before you've said a word isn't really a tip. CaRT exists to put the decision back where it belongs — with the person paying, after the meal, based on how it actually went.
Discretionary means optional.
We're not asking anyone to stop tipping. The old UK norm — 3 to 5%, cash, genuinely chosen — is roughly what we're aiming to bring back. It's not a verdict on the person who served you. It's a stance on a system that quietly stopped asking.
How it works
One card, handed over at the right moment
- 1Have the meal. Judge the service the way you always would.
- 2When you ask for the bill — before it's rung up — hand this over.
- 3The front says thank you, and states a %, written in by hand at the table.
- 4The back explains it's not personal, and asks whoever's curious to pass it on.
Front
Back
