To find it hard to leave tips in restaurants these days?

[RubyFlax]

Went for a nice meal out this week with DH, to a restaurant we’ve not tried before. Food was really nice, atmosphere and service both good. All in all a lovely time.
However am I the only one who finds it hard to leave a tip these days?
I know some places will add a service charge to the bill… no issue with this (assuming the meal / service has not been a disaster), but many others do not, and I’ve found a number of times, as happened this week, the server will just hold out the card machine for you to tap contactless with the amount already on, with no mention of a tip, and no way to add it yourself as you can’t see the screen / are not holding the card reader.
What do you do in these instances ? Ask the server to amend the amount / add a tip?
Like a lot of people we hardly ever have cash on us, and often pay for stuff via Apple Pay on phone so I don’t have cash I can leave on the table afterwards.
Interested to know what others do as I feel a bit bad for not leaving one this week. Should I be verbally stating I want to add a tip before they hold out the card machine (in my opinion a bit awkward) or should I be making sure I’ve taken some cash out to leave as a tip !?
I used to work in hospitality/ waitressing as a teenager & know how appreciated tips are so it doesn’t sit right with me to not leave anything.
In the UK by the way, as I know tipping culture varies by country!

How often do you eat out? You could go to the bank, ask for a stack of fivers, use them for tips.

I agree it is marginally more annoying than it used to be but it is so easy to solve by either asking to add a tip or taking some cash.

Yes we just say 'Can you make it £X please?' when they come over with the card reader.

There's a small restaurant chain near us that has banned tipping altogether in a big 'We pay a living wage' campaign. It's irrationally put me right off the place. I don't care if you're paying £100 an hour, if the waiting staff have enhanced my evening and the kitchen staff have made amazing food then I'd like to thank them for it at MY discretion.

I pretty much don’t tip anymore. Service is usually included in the bill these days. I haven’t carried cash for a few years now. I don’t even a purse these days. Just a card holder.

I would much rather my tip got shared equitably amongst the staff.

I’m going to start always having cash, because when I’ve asked them if they get the tip off the card they say yes but there’s something that makes me think they’ve been told to say that! Also twice recently splitting the bill, only one of us could pay the tip, computer said no to another one (might have been user error).

Money and sex. Two conversations that are the most difficult for people.

This.

I had the opposite of finding it hard to tip last week.
We went to a pub for a meal. You order your food and drinks at the bar and take your drinks with you back to the table, along with a round buzzer that goes off when it's ready to collect from the bar.
The card reader was presented to me after I placed the order and asked for a 5, 10 or 20% tip ( tbf, also a "No Thanks" option).
There were no waiting staff, and it was asked for BEFORE any food was consumed.
So the food could have taken ages to come, the food could have been poor or cold, and you have been put into an awkward position.
I will tip if the service/food is good, but beforehand?... that riled me a bit.

We tip. But if thr bill has a service charge I don't, or ask for it to be removed then tip.

It is no issue for me. If I'm paying by card i ask them if the staff get the tips if i add the amount to the card machine. They are always happy to cancel and re-enter the amount if that is the case.

If they say they don't get the tips, then i either give it to them in their hand, add it to the tip jar or leave it on the table, depending on situation.

ask them.