Shame on Aramark…Let Us Tip!

Shame on Aramark.

Cash used to be king. It still may be, but it’s kingdom is definitely diminished. According to a 2014 Consumer Payments Study, upwards of 78% of all consumer transactions take place via plastic instead of cash.

When asked their preferred payment type, 43 percent of Americans chose debit cards compared with 35 percent who preferred credit cards and just 9 percent who preferred cash, according to a 2014 TSYS online survey of 1,000 consumers who owned both a debit card and a credit card.¹

9% PREFERRED CASH TRANSACTIONS!

We are a plastic consumer society for whatever reasons: conveniences, miles, rewards, etc. Why does this matter and how does this relate to Aramark?

When I buy a beer or food at Citizens Bank Park I usually tip $1. However, if I use my credit/debit card, I do not. That’s not because I don’t want to.  It’s because I can’t. There is no tip line on the credit/debit card receipt. Actually, there is no receipt. When my buddy asked the kiosk worker how we tip on debit cards, she said we can’t. That’s a violation!

What that means is that these vendors, who are paid below living wages and provide friendly, good service, are not able to supplement their income with tips upwards of 78% of the time, if the statistics hold true. That’s unacceptable. Since Aramark runs the concessions at Citizens Bank Park, we have no choice but to call them out for this.

If a kiosk worker loses five $1 tips a game, that’s $410/season. $5 of lost tips a game is probably a conservative estimate. That number could be as high as $5/hour of each game in lost tips. For our purposes, let’s stay conservative.

$410/season may not seem like a substantial amount, but in some people’s world that is plenty. $410 can pay for two months of Comcast cable (maybe), buy an Xbox or PS4 for their kids, buy a month’s worth of groceries.

The vendors/kiosk workers aren’t the only ones who feel the pinch. The city of Philadelphia feels it. If there are 60 beer station workers (that’s probably conservative, too) who are losing out on $410/season, that means the total amount lost could be $25,000. That $25,000 of lost tips would most likely be injected into our local economy through the purchase of goods/services from local businesses.

If we get crazy and figure 5 people an hour might tip $1 on their credit/debit purchase, if able, that brings it up to $1640/season and almost $100,000 in lost revenue to city local businesses.

Come on, Aramark. Tweak the Point of Sales system at the ballpark and let us tip these hardworking folks on our credit/debit card sales.