The problem is we have generations of people who feel gratuity is negotiable. They like it that way. Putting “gratuity is included” on the menu is asking for fights. Simply raising the price of everything would be the way to go, and just say “no tipping here.”
But I suspect people would wince when they see higher than expected food prices and are confronted with a server who doesn’t care if you want an extra lemon in your water. I’m getting my $7/hour. You gets whats you ordered, bitch.
On the subject of “required service charges” I have a minor hijack; A few years ago I was at a hotel and decided to order room service. When it arrived I took the bill (which I was going to be charging to the room) and was about to add my customary 15-20% for the person who brought it up when I noticed that the hotel had already added a percentage service charge. Of course, there was still a line on the bill for a tip on top of that. This was apparently a new policy, as I had gotten room service at that hotel before without having to be required to pay extra. A later perusal of the room service menu revealed (in tiny print) that a service charge would be added to all orders. I guess too many guests had been “stiffing” the room service staff, although I doubt that they were paid under minimum wage like restaurant servers.
Well it was in 1975, so I only learnt how to program in Cobol. But the money was good. 
Of course there were later computing courses, but I was just querying what jobs even sven meant…
Just an uncitable WAG, but this is a problem with pizza delivery too. They’ll slap a service charge on that does not go to the deliverer.
That’s why I tip in cash, directly to the server or deliverer, if I suspect my tip might not make it to the person I’m tipping.
TheSuperhero - Part of a good server’s job is facilitating with the kitchen. In DrDeth’s case, it sounds more like the food sat in the pass for an extra 15 minutes. The server should’ve been on top of it.
StG
Why? The food was late to the table and cold, and it was only those served by that waiter. How could a kitchen problem only effect one servers dishes? In any case, don’t you think there was a problem here? Did we not go to the manager rather than just stiffing the waiter? And, neither the on-site “manager” nor the real manager offer that as an exucse. In the second case, the real mananger stated that server was no longer employed by them.
OK, I’ll go with that. Or the current system works also, I do tip and tip fairly. But I think that **TheSuperhero ** suggested system is a bad one.
I think tipping is a strange custom that should be done away with. In CA, the state minimum wage is like $6.75 and I expect everyone to make that much. I’m not sure if owners are allowed to lower the wage for tipped jobs
That said, I feel that a bizarre custom has cropped up in which some services are tipped and others are not. I dont want to contribute to this pointless dumb social ritual. I feel that if everyone upholds it without question, things will never change so I try to fight back against it.
I also have a lot of problems with people who say that their job is simply to bring you the food and good service is extra. I dont believe that. I think when you do a job, you should do your best. You shouldnt settle for being mediocre just because you’re not getting a handout. People who dont get tipped dont have the luxury of having their asshole behavior excused just because they didnt get a little extra so neither should service staff
However, I do tip. I hate it, and I do it mostly as a social contract at restaurants I frequent. I would rather they get paid a regular rate and me not having to tip. If that raises prices on the menu, fine. Anything to prevent this odd distain towards a completely voluntary and nebulous charity :mad:
It’s hard to explain, too. When my kids were old enough to work in my bookstore, they wanted to know why they couldn’t put out a tip jar. I explained all about what food service jobs require and what a server has to do.
My son said, “so the dude at the coffee shop pulls a cookie out of the jar and pours my coffee into a cup, and he gets a tip. I spent 20 minutes helping a customer pick out just the right book to give for a birthday present, and I don’t.”
I have no answer.
But that’s precisely the problem with tips. The waiter did the job he was supposed to do. He didn’t do it well, which is probably why he was no longer employed there, but he did the job. Why does he deserve to get paid less based on his performance? Isn’t that what evaluations and merit-based raises are for?
Does the nurse get paid less for missing the vein the first time while putting your IV in? Does the mechanic get paid less for spilling oil on the manifold while servicing your car? Does the CSR get paid less for taking longer than you think necessary while solving your billing issue? No. But if they consistently under perform and it negatively impacts quality of service or the bottom line, it comes out on their evaluation.
The point is that it’s the manager’s job to train, evaluate and take remedial action when needed to assure quality of service. It should not be the customer’s duty. The reason why is that quality of service is in the eye of the beholder and the only way to set a consistent standard for service is to leave the evaluation and reward/penalty to the employer.
This is exactly what I wouldn’t do- I won’t complain about anything, but I will pull out my tip calculator and check the percentage is correct, and then I will pay the bill and not add anything. Well, if it was truly a magical evening, perhaps, but it would have to be pretty extraordinary.
I have seen people freak out, however, and they are the same people who won’t tip more than a dollar a person, usually.
Do you expect this to be the norm or the exception? Do you really believe there’s something so different about the work ethic of food service employees that they won’t perform their jobs well unless you dangle immediate monetary reward in front of them?
How do you explain good service by people who aren’t working for tips? In your world, that doesn’t seem possible.
Presumably book store employees make more than $2.13/hr.
I’m sorry, but that’s not really a good comparison at all. When I’ve been shopping for a car I’ve encountered horrible, patronizing salesman and I leave and go somewhere else. I don’t have to buy a car from them, who would do that? If I sit down and order and the experience is terrible, why should I reward the person who kind of did their job? I have never, ever stiffed a waiter or waitress but I have tipped less and let them know why.
Now you’re just being ridiculous. The entire dinner was terrible because half of the party got their food late and cold. It is rude to eat when your neighbors haven’t been served. So the people who were served on time sat there waiting too.
The customer is in NO WAY at fault here. Why on earth would you expect them to treat this situation the same as they would any other meal that was good? This isn’t just a matter of “there’s too much cheese in that dish” or “the waitress seems to have a bad attitude today” … this is an entire meal with a big check. It sounds like the party tried to work a resolution with the manager to no avail.
So do coffee shop “baristas”.
Which leads to the question: Do coffee shop employees, or for that matter any of the employees at establishments which put a tip jar on the counter, make less than the standard minimum wage?
This is true (at least I can say it is for certain at Starbucks), but the scare quotes are unnecessary.
In these cases, I have always contended that tipping should be considered completely optional as the employees are usually paid more than minimum and rarely make enough in tips to reliably depend upon them for meeting their basic living needs. They can be a nice supplement, however; although I don’t agree that tip sharing is equitable considering it is a supplement, and tips of this nature are generally a reward that some people like to give to recognize exceptional service. It’s the same thing for giving money to your mailman when the holidays come around as a thank you for consistent service. Some people like to do this all year round, some like to do it at the end of the year.
Personally, I don’t like the jar. I feel it’s impersonal and doesn’t really serve the purpose that tips were intended to serve. However, tipping for employees that don’t earn minimum wage no longer serves that purpose either.
What does your 10% tip say differently than the 10% tip of a cheapskate who never tips more than 10%? Essentially, nothing. If you’re trying to teach your server a lesson, it’s falling on deaf ears. If you’re simply punishing your server because you felt slighted, boo hoo. Get over it. Try that with your doctor the next time he leaves you sitting in his waiting room 25 minutes after your scheduled appointment. Nope, that office visit costs the same either way.
I heard of the tipping customs in the USA only once before spending a lot of time on American boards. This only time was, long ago, when an employee asked for the reimbursement of tips paid during a work travel in the USA. She mentioned that tips were “mandatory” in the USA, but I didn’t buy into this obviously ludicrous claim and denied these payments.
Now, let’s assume I travel to the USA and have never been a regular reader of the SDMB :
I’m one of the numerous non-sophisticated travellers : I don’t know, and will never know the tipping customs in the USA. I tip like back at home, which means not much.
I’ve at least read a guidebook where tipping norms they mentioned. I didn’t pay attention to this part, or didn’t think that vague detail was of any importance. Since when tipping is important? I tip like back at home.
I’m clearly aware of the custom. However I’m absolutely unaware that waiters would be paid less than minimum wages, or would be taxed on tips they didn’t make (frankly, it’s very unlikely that a tourist would be aware of that), or that it’s socially very negatively perceived not to tip well. I might or might not tip well, well meaning much less than the waiter would expect, since it’s still much more than I would at home. Or, out of habit, I tip like I do back at home.
Same as above. Except that I feel that the American way is obviously wrong. I feel cheated (common reaction for tourists facing different habits. Ask foreign patrons in countries where the bread or the water is billed, or where they put foodstuff on your table without you asking and bill you if you eat it). Someone (the waiter, the owner, I don’t know) is trying to blackmail me in giving money that I shouldn’t have to pay. I know the custom, but it’s silly at best, a commonly accepted scam at worst I won’t play into this game. I tip like I do back at home purposefully.
I don’t know. It’s complicated I guess. People will be polite to you and do their job for minimum wage. I got my first job at fifteen as a dishwasher/busboy. I was polite to customers. "Hey boy, can I get another glass of water/fork? “Yes sir/ma’am.” Not my job, but sure I was polite.
But I’d never take a job as a waiter for minimum wage and put up with the needy whiney bullshit waiters deal with for minimum wage. I’d rather just wash dishes, thanks. Or work at McDonalds. “Burger & fries? here’s your burger and fries. Have a nice day.”
You’ll get polite service for minimum wage, but I just don’t think you’ll run across excellent service very often for minimum wage. even sven described it fairly well. For minimum wage you aren’t going to get much more than a McDonald’s automaton. A polite automaton, but not an automaton who can juggle multiple tables without the restaurant being set up a lot like McDonald’s.
I’ve lived in Europe and the food servers are perfunctory at best. You might find a friendly waiter but it’s only because that particular waiter happens to be in a good mood and likes you. There are a lot of Americans who would probably be okay with that, but I bet there’d be a lot of griping about how the price went up and the service became… hmm… more matter of fact, let’s say.
I suspect you are right, which is why I suspect waiting tables wouldn’t be a minimum wage job. It would be a job that you’d get paid poorly for at a dump and extraordinarily well for at a fine place. Because customer expectations are going to demand a better level of service than you will be able to pay minimum wage and get.
Or, I could be wrong and you could find people lining up (particularly in a poor economy) to wait tables for minimum wage.