I have read that a few full-service restaurants in the United States have implemented a no-tipping policy. I have never been to one. Are tips absolutely forbidden in these restaurants? Of course, the policy probably varies from place to place. I suspect, but have no way of knowing, that some customers leave tips anyway. Maybe “under the table” in cash where the practice is strictly forbidden. And I suspect, but again have no way of knowing, that servers eventually come to expect tips anyway and customers pay them. Does anyone have any factual information about this?
Moderators: Since I am asking for factual information, maybe this post belongs in General Questions.
The one I used to frequent had a small note at the bottom of the menu and a small sign behind the bar that said a service fee was already included in the amount. Of course, with the check comes, there was still a place to add a tip, so…it evidently wasn’t forbidden.
I lived in Japan for a while, and you get used to not paying tips for things like restaurant service, to the extent that you don’t even think about it. You can tip a taxi driver a little by rounding up, but you don’t tip doormen (if they even have them) or your hair stylist or other personal service people. The expectation is that the cost of whatever service you’re getting is reflected in the price and that those people are paid a living wage out of that. (Japanese are still generally frugal, so a living wage may mean something different there than here.)
I remember that scene early in To Catch A Thief, where Grace Kelly’s mother complains about “service compris” as if she wouldn’t have given that much if left on her own. I suspect that’s how a lot of Americans would think about that. So if the plan were to switch, the better way would be to just raise the prices of the food accordingly, and have a flat no tipping/no service charge policy.
Japan is a non-tipper’s Heaven. I’ve actually heard of clueless Americans who have left a tip on the table, only to have the restaurant staff chase after them to return the money they thought they’d carelessly forgotten. (Also heard of them being chased in France, only in anger, because they don’t want any “dirty American customs” forced on them.)
That’s why I deliberately stated “it sounds a lot like” instead of “it is.” I don’t think there is a state where it could be charged as theft but I’m giving my money directly to someone with the intent of them keeping it and someone else takes it.
Wouldn’t your intent be colored by a clear disclosure? If you read the notice and leave a tip anyway, then your intent must be to tip the owner of the restaurant.
My intent is to give Bob (this nice helpful gentleman I just met) some money. My intent is to not involve the restaurant at all. That sign does not have the weight of law behind it and I don’t have any reason to be held to their policy.
Now Bob of course may be at risk of losing his job for accepting the money and breaking the rules of his employer but that has nothing to do with my intent,
I am intending for my money to go somewhere and someone else is taking it instead. That feels very wrong. Refuse to take it. Return it. Don’t take it and put it in the pocket of the owner.
Personally I would obey the sign if it says not to tip. Its their choice to work somewhere that doesn’t allow tipping. I probably would also not patronize a business that I knew was taking money that was intended for their workers.
Jurisdictions where employers are allowed to pay a lower minimum wage where employees receive tips is already tantamount to stealing from employees, IMHO.
It doesn’t matter if it doesn’t have the weight of law. If the sign discloses to you the likely outcome if you try to leave a tip is that the money will go to the restaurant, then your intent is to give the money to the restaurant.
If you have the actual knowledge that (My action X) is likely to result in (Consequence Y), then if you do X, you necessarily intend Y, whether that Y is that the money goes to the restaurant or Bob gets fired.
Surely the point is that if you want to stop the practice of tipping, you should respect whatever no-tipping system is in place and >>not tip<<.
Yes, this takes away your ability to individually reward and possibly punish your servers. I think that is all to the good. If there is a problem, you should speak to the person in charge, which has the advantage of being both more direct and more effective that a small tip. If service is exemplary, that is what you should expect for the (increased) price you are paying for the meal, or the haircut.
…thats happened to me. No tipping culture here in NZ (this was about 22 years ago though, things have definitely changed a bit) We had dinner at a local Denny’s, we got great service so we left a $20.00 tip on the table for the waiter. As we were opening the door to the car the waiter came sprinting out of the restaurant waving the $20 note in the air yelling “excuse me! You left your money on the table!”
We had to (sheepishly) explain the money was a tip: a thanks for the great service. He couldn’t quite believe it, I think he remained gobsmacked as we drove off.
In St Martin there is variation between the French and Dutch sides wrt tipping, plus there is variation from restaurant to restaurant. If I eat at a French place and the menu states “service est compris” I still sometimes leave a tip. I’ll explain to the server that I feel 15% is not enough considering how hard they worked. They always smile and thank me.
The trend worldwide AFAICT seems to be toward more tipping, which perhaps makes the greater complaining about tipping ironic, although perhaps explains it in that portion of the population that is particularly bothered by it.
I’ve also found in travelling to various parts of the world that you can’t draw as sharp a line between the ‘tip crazy’ US and ‘non tipping’ countries as some people do. Japan where I’ve lived is pretty bona fide non-tipping, Europe distinctly less so. I’m not saying the story of waiters there chasing people to give back tips (for any reason) is bullshit, but an odd situation AFAIK.
I’d also note that a lot of people who don’t like tipping approach it from POV of ‘come the revolution, people in those jobs will be paid much more by govt order, but until then I have to do my part in fighting inequality by tipping’. IOW you’re going to be tipping forever. The basic idea that serving staff would get paid more if there wasn’t tipping is an unexamined and shaky assumption IMO. More likely some would and some wouldn’t, and the average wouldn’t change a whole lot, also accounting for stuff like servers being gradually partially replaced in establishments where automation is cheaper, especially if you jack up the min wage too much.
For the record I don’t like the tipping culture, feel absolutely no need to sit in judgement of ‘the quality of service’, and I don’t. I just tip 20%, unless something earth shattering happens. I don’t like a server constantly bothering me with ‘extra service’ but I’d never complain. If I don’t like a restaurant (which is usually mainly somebody other than the server’s fault anyway), I don’t go back.
This is very silly. You have no idea if the person who left the money read the disclosure, for one.
How far should this principle extend?
If the restaurant adds a line to the menu that if you don’t say “pretty please” when you order the fish, they’ll give you the filet that got left out on the counter overnight, is that ok? You knew it was going to happen because they wrote it in the menu?
How about if you signal for the check with your left hand, they’ll give you a bill that’s been marked up 20%? It’s ok, though, because they put that condition in the menu somewhere.
The reason we have laws about this sort of thing (respectively: wage theft, food adulteration, false advertising) is to prevent exactly such anti-social behavior hidden behind bullshit fig-leaf “disclaimers”.