People Who Refuse to Tip at Restaurants are Embarrassing!

by White Dove 69 Replies latest jw friends

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  sammielee24

  People should be paid for the job they do - by the employer. We can argue till the cows come home about wait staff and what they make, but most of us know that wait staff do pretty well for the most part in tips else they wouldn't stay - they'd pack up and find another service job. My niece suspended her college education for a year in order to pay down her school debt - she's making more in a day in tips/wages than people I know working in an office at the reception desk all day.

  I'm not embarrassed by the amount of tip a person chooses to leave, I'm not offended by the size of the tip and I believe a tip should be left on the amount prior to taxes being added in.

  I would much rather the price be set on the menu, the employee paid according to the laws or the employer and life goes on. In that way, you go out for a meal, just like you go to the theater - you pay one time for your goods or service, enjoy it and then go home. I think it's gotten to the point that people get tipped out - hairdresser, cab driver, cleaners, wait staff, counter staff, pizza delivery guy, paper kid - add that to the constant barrage of requests for donations passing through any Walmart or check out at the shops - the guys standing outside all the shops looking for donations - the ads on television asking for donations - tip jars on counters where all the person does is pour a coffee in a paper cup - it's never ending.

  sammieswife
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  Quillsky

  In tipping cultures --- serving staff are paid a minimum amount for being there, setting up tables, learning about the menu, attending the staff meetings and so on.

  After that they are basically freelancers taking advantage of the opportunity the restaurant provides for them to create a good experience for you. The servers that stay are those that create theater for you. It's not about the food on your plate. Keep that in mind the next time you choose to eat in any experiential environment.

  Or eat at home, or get take-outs, your choice.
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  sammielee24

  In some tipping cultures, that minimum wage is also close to $9.00/hour for liquor staff (service in an environment that serves liquor, with the minimum wage being just over $10.00/hour for most other jobs. In some tipping cultures, the minimum wage is also applied to a receptionist who must also set up for meetings, attend meetings, handle calls, perform customer service duties and maintain their professional attitude and dress. They have been know to pour coffee, make it, pick up lunch for the boss or meetings, take notes and establish a good rapport with the public. They don't get tips.

  I've done both - in fact, I once worked for free for a few days to get a step up on the competition when I applied for the job.

  You can use the analogy of a freelancer using the restaurant environment to hone their skills - I see it as the restaurant using the employee..if you are paid a wage by the employer, you ARE an employee. Not a freelancer. As such, the employer should pay the minimum wage set by law or pay a suitable living wage and price the meals accordingly. Then it becomes not an expectation of additional cash but a joy when it happens. In some countries where tipping is NOT open, wait staff can make a career out of it that include lengthy employment including benefits.

  People have a right to enter a facility and enjoy a meal and should expect to receive service accordingly. If tipping is not mandatory, then a person is under no obligation to tip. If they choose to tip, that is up to them. How much to tip is up to them - even if there are guidelines to follow - some will tip more, some less. If a tip is not mandatory, then a person should not expect a mandatory or set, tip amount. If it is mandatory, then it should be included in the bill and that's it.

  I would suggest that anyone who has a chip on their shoulder about the odd 'small' tipper in a voluntary environment, should be in another profession because quite obviously, the issue becomes that of cash and not about the service or creating a good environment for anybody. To think that every wait person should receive the same tip for the same service would mean that one believes that every wait staff actually provides the same exemplary service. They don't.

  sammieswife
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  Quillsky

  To think that every wait person should receive the same tip for the same service would mean that one believes that every wait staff actually provides the same exemplary service. They don't.

  Exactly right!

  Someone mentioned earlier tipping 1c to make a point about bad service. Someone else mentioned tipping 30%. It's all good, discretionary is the point.
• 

  White Dove

  I believe in "When in Rome, do as the Romans" in showing common courtesy and appreciation. I agree that it's horrible for servers to be paid under minimum wage and their tips expected to raise it to minimum or above. That is very bad.

  But since it is not the custom in the U.S. to pay decent wages for servers in most family restaurants, I believe in showing a gracious spirit and tipping them for their service.

  I give 20%, usually, and do it happily because it feels good to do so.

  I cannot and will not suffer a non-tipper for excellent service when it is proper to give a tip.

  Rotten service? No tip or 10% tip, which is measly to me.

  Like what was said above, I won't be eating with that relative in a tipping place, again, or any other place for that matter (for other reasons).
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  cognizant dissident

  I was shocked to know that in the US employers could literally pay only a couple of dollars and let the balance of the minimum wage be made up of tips. I thought you all were speaking metaphorically so I googled it and it's true!

  That is totally illegal in Canada. Minimum wage is just that and tipping is optional.

  One poster from Canada said that waitresses are required to pay out the kitchen a percentage out of their own pocket if they aren't tipped. The restaurant owner may require that but it is totally illegal and the server would have a Labour Relations Board case against the employer. (Splitting tips with kitchen is fine). It is also illegal to require wait staff to pay out of their own pockets for broken dishes, spoiled food or customers who stiff the bill. Many waiters and waitresses are young and do not know their legal rights. Almost every case of abuse by restaurant owners that is taken to the tribunal is settled in favor of the workers.

  Our minimum wage in BC is $8.30. Many mid level restaurants pay $10-12 and fine dining establishments could pay much higher, up to $20 especially for head waiters, wine stewards, etc. Those people make much more money than I do as a skilled office worker when you add in the tips.

  In Canada, tipping is customarily 10-20%. Some people just pay 15% everywhere. I don't because there is a higher degree of service inherent in some types of establishments. My personal tipping policy is this. 10% at coffee shops, cheap cafes/counters etc. 15% at mid-range sit down family restaurants, 20% for fine dining. A dollar per person seated for the busser clearing plates at buffets. I don't usually need to alter this for good or bad service because my expectations of the level of service are commensurate with the type of establishment. I don't expect fine dining treatment at the local coffee shop. (You'd be surprised how many annoying, demanding people I've dined with that do and try to find any little excuse not to tip, just because they are bloody cheap!) I expect average service at the average restaurant and very good service at fine restauraunts.

  I don't often drop the amount of the tip. If the service was that bad to warrant that, then why tip at all? Complain and leave no tip. Even better, don't go back. I have been to restaurants a number of times with family and they have left no tip when there was nothing wrong with the service. They are just cheap and it is embarrassing because I live in a small town and I often go back to these places many times.

  I've been noticing tip jars springing up at random retail establishments all over the place lately. I just ignore them.

  Question: How many of you tip your hairdresser? Newspaper person? Bellhops? Cab drivers? How much?
• 

  Quillsky

  Question: How many of you tip your hairdresser? Newspaper person? Bellhops? Cab drivers? How much?

  If my hairdresser or nail/beauty person owns the salon I don't tip them. But if they are employed by the salon then I do, around 10% of the total cost. Hair-washing or apprentice staff - an additional amount depending on how much time and attention they've lavished on me. Let's face it, you can have a quick shampoo, or you can have an orgasmic scalp massage and treatment!!

  Cab drivers - 10% to 20% - because it's cash and quick, I usually do a rough estimate and round upwards, depending on the actual denominations I have at hand.

  I also tend to ignore tip jars, which are on the whole a tacky little custom - unless I really have no need for the spare change.

  Hotel porters and similar - I make a point of reading up on (or asking about) the custom in the country/area and type of place I'm visiting. I have no embarrassment about going to a concierge desk at a hotel in another country and asking what a typical tip would be for a specific service. Sometimes I'm told "it's up to you", and then I press the issue to try and find out the range that the service provider would reasonably expect from a guest.

  I agree with White Dove......

  I believe in "When in Rome, do as the Romans" in showing common courtesy and appreciation.
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  cognizant dissident

  I agree Quillsky, when in Rome... I just assumed the US was the same as Canada, but when Minimus and WAC said they left 25-30% I googled tipping guides for Vegas since that's the most expensive place I've ever been.

  They did say 15-20% also, for cabbies and bartenders too. 20% for service people, haridressers, masseuse, etc. Dollar a bag for bellhops, $3-5 for a valet. That is more in line with Canada then what some of the posters were saying.

  I notice many men over tip just to show off especially to pretty waitresses. My ex used to do that too. Annoyed me no end. Like we have money to throw away so you can impress a hot 20-yr old you'll never see again!

  Don't know if I should start a new thread or not, but what's the most expensive restaurant meal you ever had and how much did it cost? Was it worth it?

  Mine was also in Vegas. At the MGM Grande. They advertised restaurant as San Fran style Bistro. Well, I've eaten seafood at bistros in San Francisco and it was nothing like that! However, we thought, what the hell, it's Vegas, live a little. So we stayed and $300 later (for 3 people) + another $100 for the wine pairings....those truffles flown in from France that morning were sure scrummy! Left a $100 dollar tip, 25% but it was the best service I ever had in my life too. So $500. altogether.

  Then we went back to our room and our teenage son promptly puked up his entire dinner. My husband and I burst out laughing because he was puking up all that money we spent, and then asked if he could order cheese and crackers from room service to "settle his stomach". That's what we get for taking a teenager fine dining.

  I think it was worth it, though, it was once in a life time food, and a once in a lifetime experience. Well unless I win the lottery or something.
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  Quillsky

  Love the story of your son puking up his $133! I think the topic of expensive meals is worth its own thread.

  In the United Kingdom, the home of the pub, if you try to tip a bartender anything at all, let alone 20%, he'll likely be confused and leave your money on the counter. Gotta love cultural differences!
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  cantleave

  I always tip good service (and often mediocre service too)- even though I have never worked in the service sector.