LOS ANGELES — During a bike tour through Venice over spring break, Meeka Smith and her teenage son stopped for a quick snack at Gjelina Take Away.
She placed her order at the counter-service spot, which automatically adds a 15 percent service charge to all purchases, and peered down at a glowing screen prompting her for an additional tip. She tacked on an additional 10 percent.
“I tend to just see it, and I give it,” said Smith, who was visiting Southern California from Baltimore.
A month earlier, Edward Aguilar, a college freshman in the Chicago suburb of Lake Forest, picked out a jersey for his girlfriend from the gift shop at a hockey game and bristled when he noticed the high default tip amounts on the screen, including one for $20. A bit ridiculous, he thought, but the shop employee was staring back at him earnestly and a row of drunk fans in line behind him could clearly see the screen.