Hey, Lazy Lunchers: The Default Tip on Your Seamless Orders May Have Gone Up

Love Seamless? If so, you may have spotted a new change to the food delivery service's tip mechanism.

The company has quietly increased some users' default tip from 15% to 20% as part of a test. On top of that, the custom tip field, where users can enter their tip amount of choice, now requires users to click the wording in order to open the box. It is also positioned in the top right corner, unlike before.

I wondered what had prompted the change. Had restaurants complained to the company that customers like me weren't tipping enough? I decided to get on the horn with Meghan Gage, manager of public relations for GrubHub, the Chicago-based owner of Seamless, to find out.

Seamless' new tip mechanism sets the default to 20%.

According to Gage, Seamless is always iterating its online service for user experience, and the change that I noticed is part of that. The test, as she called it, began in recent weeks.

A screenshot of Seamless' older tip mechanism.

I asked if restaurants had complained about customers' tips, to which Gage replied that they hadn't. "We're not seeing restaurants complaining," she said. The company is only concerned with "making it easier to find food you love ... we're constantly iterating."

She added, "When we roll out a new feature that’s a permanent part of the experience, for example our Future Order function or the addition of Apple Pay, we share these exciting updates with our diners."

While there is something to be said for tipping delivery people fairly — and I don't blame Seamless for trying to make its experience more, well, seamless — the change serves as a reminder to review your payment page carefully. A few bucks here and there can really add up, and the last thing you want is to hamper your dinner budget.

[Full disclosure: This reporter uses Seamless roughly three days a week. You can learn more about cutting your lunch budget here and see how your Seamless habit has been affecting your finances by viewing a free credit snapshot on Credit.com.]

Image: Antonio_Diaz