When ever we have a tipping thread someone chimes in that we should pay the wait staff enough in the first place so we wouldn’t need this tipping system. This got me thinking, if we actually paid them a ‘living’ wage whatever that is, and insisted, no demanded, under threat of being imprisonment in Gitmo, that no tip can be given. What would that do to the servers productivity?
Are they only working so hard in hopes of a good tip? Would the number of tables they serve go down if there was no such thing? Is the modern day semi-manditory tip just a plot to have these servers work harder?
I know I always worked harder when I thought it meant a good tip was coming.
However, I expect that as in any job, a certain standard would apply. You want to keep your job? You’d better do well, then. And no one had better complain about your service.
That being said, it would be a lot easier (and a lot more tempting) to slack off and take your time if you knew you’d get paid the same amout whether you’re hoofing it or doing things at your own pace. Also, I was always more interested in ensuring the customer’s satisfaction if something went wrong. Their food is burnt? Not my fault, but I’ll take your drinks off the bill or get you free dessert to make up for it, as well as go speak to the kitchen and get you another dinner ASAP. Why? Because a happy customer = a better tip. So I’m going to make you as happy as possible. Even if it means going above and beyond the necessary standards of my job.
If I wasn’t getting tipped and your food was burnt? I’d apologize profusely, I’d get you a new dinner as soon as possible, and that’s it. You want anything else and you’ll have to ask to speak to the management, because that wouldn’t necessarily be my area anymore.
Compare a clothing or electronics store that pays on commission to a similarly priced one that doesn’t. I think if the employee is paid well enough, they will do their best to be as helpful as they can be. Often commission sales makes the difference between a pushy salesperson and a helpful one. There’s a difference between the one who asks you if you want videos to go with that DVD player you bought because it’s in their interest, and the one who asks you if you want videos to go with that DVD player because it’s in yours.
I wouldn’t consider the tip a great motivation, as if they have time to stare at every completed check and properly evaluate their performance. Sometimes customers are impossible to please or don’t tip at all. Maybe on the way home they can say if it’s been a good night or a bad night, tipwise, but I doubt it pushes them to work any harder than they already are.
You go into an electronics store sometimes even if you’re not considering purchasing anything. You don’t want the salesperson to come by unless you have a question. But usually, you want him to bugger off and leave you the hell alone.
You go into a restaurant with the full intention of purchasing something. In fact, you WANT the server to come by and keep you happy with drinks and food.
I’ve worked in both industries. They are nowhere near the same thing.
I’m a server in a restaurant, and basically: what she said. I do care a lot more about my customers when the majority of my salary comes from them. If it wasn’t, I would only have to work hard enough to avoid getting too many major complaints.
Oh and I should qualify that statement to read “when the majority of my salary comes directly from them” (as it does with tips). Sure, ultimately in any business the money comes from the customers, but the motivation level just isn’t the same when you get paid a regular wage no matter what.
hmm, I donno. probably the people who could enlighten us most on that would be people who’ve dined both in the U.S. and overseas, in places where tips aren’t expected but are nice to get.
I have dined in several European countries and the service is definitely not the same as the U.S. Many servers just don’t seem that motivated or enthusiastic. The service isn’t usually bad exactly but the attitude seems very different. Europeans visiting the U.S. often remark that our servers are too attentive and distracting by trying to make sure everything is just so. The only major complaint I have had about European restaurants (in Italy in particular) is that they often close in the middle of the day (often during lunch ironically) and will slam the door in your face or kick you out if they decide it is temporary closing time because their pay doesn’t come from pleasing individual people.
Tipping can definitely benefit regulars at bars and restaurants. A track record of good tips can get you lots of free drinks, special meals and a very cooperative staff. That is one big bonus.
Hubby and I do, too. There are only about five resturants in town that we patronize regularly and we tip well. When we walk through the door, we’re treated like kings. (Our drinks are brought over to the table before we even ask-- the staff remembers what we like.)
Very true. There is one sports bar I’ve been visiting regularly since I moved to Dallas. I’ve been tipping well since I walked in the door the first time and they ID’d me at the tender age of 35. I can get any sporting event I want on one of the tvs. I’ll pay for most of my drinks, but will usually get at least one on the house. I stop in at least once a week, usually far more often.
I’ve dined in many places overseas, both those where tips are expected and those where they aren’t. I haven’t noticed appreciable differences in the standard of service. You get good service and bad service all over the world.
Agreed. I recently spent 10 days in southeastern France where (I was told) they have transitioned from “tips expected” to the opposite in the past 15 years. Based on my experience, the notion that a system of tipping is important to ensure good service is bunk.
Japan is pretty adamantly ‘no tipping’: taxis, restaurants, hotels, hair salons, food delivery, pretty much anywhere that tipping is customary in the US, in Japan you just pay what’s on the bill and nothing else. This leads to prices that are superficially higher than in US, but come out closer to even when you factor in the 15-25% tip.
Service is for the most part as fast, friendly and effective as I could want. Any more so and it would start crossing over into intrusive and annoying. Personally, I think this system is much more convenient, and I like a lot better than tipping.
Well, I, personally, do the best that I can in any job I have, because that’s how my parents raised me. When I delivered pizzas, I always showed up on time (unless there was a snowstorm or I had like ten deliveries in the same run) or apologizing profusely with a smile on my face for my lateness. I kept a map in my car and always looked up the route before I left. I did my job as best as I could - a tip was, of course, kind of expected in that kind of job, but pretty much anything over a dollar just about made my night and definitely put me in a better mood for the rest of my customers.
However, I did get a little grouchy after a guy stiffed me after watching me hike up his quarter-mile driveway in the snow on New Years Eve because my car couldn’t make it over the snow. Like, literally, gave me exact change. We weren’t supposed to do that - standard policy is that if the car can’t make it to within fifty feet of their doorway, I drive back to the store and we refund them their money if they paid by credit card, or just call them and apologize, but weather conditions preclude us from being able to deliver to their area that night. Obviously, he has no way of knowing that, but still - that was probably the only time I’ve actually seriously contemplated hitting a customer. I just smiled and backed away.
But I’m going to say that yes - in MOST cases - it will. When someone ordered a hundred dollars worth of pizza, and somone ordered 13 dollars worth of pizza, which one do you think wound up getting there faster, and which one do you think the drivers fought over? Yeah.
I know that my coworkers and I are more likely to bust ass if we think we could get a better tip out of it. Sometimes we have large parties where the tip is already included. The managers will not let the servers see the tip ahead of time because if the tip is lower than what the servers expect, they will not work as hard. If the customers are assholes, then the managers will need to remind us of the tip or promise a decent one to get us to give better service.
I know that I am more likely to go out of my way to please tables that tip well or ones which I will expect a high tip from. I will give them extra bread for free, get them discount drinks, and do little special favors for them.