Stop Tipping

[MRG]

Please google tales from your server, that reddit is populated mostly by servers. You will find that most of them have no benefits and most are required to report to work when sick if they can't get a shift covered.

Sorry fellow Redditor, I should have used the/S flag! (Sarcasm)

 

[tmm99]

The idea that a waitress at a $15/plate diner gets paid less than one at a $50/plate place is highly flawed. Why should they get paid ~1/3 of the $$ for the same job?

My sentiment exactly. "Highly flawed".

 

[bizlady]

We tip 20% if the service is good. A friendly greeting, and a check on us after the food is served to see if everything is OK or if we need anything, and then a reasonable wait to get the check. Also recently started tipping on the total of the check BEFORE the liquor and sales tax.

 

[MichaelB]

Don't believe I said anything about the US, did I?

There is more to the world, and this website, than the USA. I live in Canada and it should surprise no one that I am interested in what happens here.

You can add location info to your forum profile. That makes it easier for the rest of us, especially when there is geographic perspective in a post or thread.

 

[pj.mask]

Another provocative thread title. This is about tipping in Canada, it doesn’t apply to the US.



US Census data shows that most restaurant servers and wait staff make less than the US median wage. If you don’t want to tip in a reastaurant then don’t eat out.

Wasn’t one of the big points that tips are frequently not reported as income? The people I knew in waiting had only 20% of their tips reported as income.

 

[aaronc879]

Wasn’t one of the big points that tips are frequently not reported as income? The people I knew in waiting had only 20% of their tips reported as income.

In the past tips were very under reported. Now, it is more difficult to get away with that because of the use of credit cards. Those tips are trackable.

 

[SmallCityDave]

We tip 20% + but we don't eat out often and when we do we generally spend $20 per outing.

 

[pj.mask]

Will clarify my ‘past’ reference point came from years 2010-2014. Its possible credit card use could have increased since then but what I see when going out is frequently people put in cash especially on tips >$20

 

[Corporateburnout]

The service would have to be poor for us to tip less than 20% of the total bill including tax. For exceptional service we tip 25% and sometimes 30% if the bill is small.

I was not aware that servers get $11 per hour in Canada. That would explain the exceptional service at our hotel restaurant in Quebec back in October

 

[Rianne]

I waited tables and bar tended in high school and through college. I was lucky to work in upper class restaurants where the average check was pretty high. It's a people-person job. I had to learn when to talk and when to back off. Sensing the friendliness of your patrons is important. The tips were great for 4 hours work. $70-$100 night on weekends isn't so bad and that was in the 80's.

I always try to tip in cash and rarely tip less than 20% for dinner.

 

[sengsational]

My solution is to just get $20 worth of quarters (for an estimated $100 meal) and put them in a bowl on the table. I tell the server they can help themselves to as many as they want each time they visit the table.

 

[Rianne]

My solution is to just get $20 worth of quarters (for an estimated $100 meal) and put them in a bowl on the table. I tell the server they can help themselves to as many as they want each time they visit the table.

That is gross.

 

[Scuba]

I don’t understand why people have issues tipping servers at restaurants. We have dined in many countries, and where tips are built into the bill (ie where servers get decent wages and don’t expect tips), service tends to be not as friendly, attentive and fast. In the US, my experience is that service is generally superior to non-tipping places. Easy to understand if you believe in capitalism. Here, servers are incented to give great service because they have potential to earn more if they do. We like rewarding great service with a nice tip. We only tip less than 20% in the US when the service has been really bad.

 

[Chuckanut]

In my area servers make the same minimum wage as everybody else. No special minimum wage for them. But, I do tip 15-20% anyway. I figure its part of the bill and if I don't want to pay it I should stay home and eat. And, given that a simple meal for two people can now run over $50 I do eat at home much more often. 10% sales tax and then 20% tip on top of that makes for a very expensive burger, fries and beer lunch.

It's the guys in back in the kitchen I worry about more than the servers. The tipping culture has really titled things out of proportion when it comes to paying cooks versus paying servers.

And why should I tip somebody 10-20% for handing me a slice of apple strudel from the display case, which I then take to my table, after getting my napkins and forks, and then bus the dirty strudel dish myself when I am done?

Just abolish tipping and let management decide who is worth what. It makes more sense to me.

 

[mountainsoft]

I hate any pricing scheme where I have to guess what I'm supposed to pay, Tipping, haggling for a car, talking down private sellers, promotional offers, etc. Just tell me the price you really want and I'll either pay it or go elsewhere.

Yeah, we tip when we go out to a decent restaurant. Probably not 20%, we just round up to the next 5 or 10 dollars. Still, it annoys me, especially at restaurants where I order at the counter and there is no "service", yet they still ask for a tip. What am I tipping for? So you'll cook the food I paid for?

Not to mention there are plenty of low paying jobs that don't get tips, including fast food restaurants, and theater staff.

 

[ERD50]

.... Just abolish tipping and let management decide who is worth what. It makes more sense to me.

Exactly.

We hear all these tales about how hard/easy the work is, how they are over/under paid, but you know what? It's not my business. I'm there to buy a product/service. Sell it to me.

I don't have any inside information as to the pay scale, benefits, or total compensation of the worker. Or how all that compares at Restaurant A versus Restaurant B. So why am I being asked to be a part of this?

Imagine you go to buy a car, and two are equivalent in all ways, but then you learn the workers at one plant don't get such good benefits. Should you include a tip on that car?

No, it should ALL be between the worker and their management. I want a dinner, not the responsibility of doing a performance review.

-ERD50

 

[easysurfer]

IMHO, there will always be tipping in one form of another.

Just my opinion again, but people like a "greasing the palm" now and then .

 

[Sunset]

Strange how we call it tips when we give cash to the serving staff , but we call it bribes when we do it for the police, and contribution when we do it for the politicians.

So who is going to tip their mail carrier ? and how much, since you cannot simply take a percentage as mail delivery is "free" ?

I'm not tipping mine, as she is losing mail and marking my house vacant when I'm on holiday.

 

[samclem]

I'm not tipping mine, as she is losing mail and marking my house vacant when I'm on holiday.

Have you got the "cause" and "effect" in the right order?

 

[steelyman]

I’ve been wondering how much to leave my newspaper carrier for Xmas. I started Sunday home delivery for the NYT (a first for me) this year. It was pretty messed up and unreliable for a couple of months and I reported those. NYT was responsive and credited my account. Digital edition was always available.

Then, magically, the delivery situation completely turned around and has been perfect and on time. Sure seems like a change in the carrier and I think a bonus/tip is definitely warranted. Plus I think it’s a middle-schooler being driven around, especially on nastier days, by parents (the Norman Rockwell viewpoint).

 

[braumeister]

When I got the paper delivered I used to give a $25 supermarket gift card as a tip to the carrier (as well as a bunch of others). Just a suggestion.

 

[OldShooter]

... So who is going to tip their mail carrier ? and how much, since you cannot simply take a percentage as mail delivery is "free" ? ...

IIRC they are not permitted (USA) to take monetary tips. Just candy, cookies, etc.

 

[Sunset]

Have you got the "cause" and "effect" in the right order?

Yes, it is a new carrier to this route, and she is bad at her job.
I don't need to reward bad behavior.

 

[haha]

I don’t understand why people have issues tipping servers at restaurants. We have dined in many countries, and where tips are built into the bill (ie where servers get decent wages and don’t expect tips), service tends to be not as friendly, attentive and fast. In the US, my experience is that service is generally superior to non-tipping places. Easy to understand if you believe in capitalism. Here, servers are incented to give great service because they have potential to earn more if they do. We like rewarding great service with a nice tip. We only tip less than 20% in the US when the service has been really bad.

In fact, easy to understand if you notice reality. No particular beliefs required.
Ha

 

[youbet]

Strange how we call it tips when we give cash to the serving staff , but we call it bribes when we do it for the police, and contribution when we do it for the politicians.

In the Chicago I've been a part of all my life, giving cash to a police officer is not a "bribe" unless the officer has it in for you and reports you for it. Otherwise, it's just an expected gratuity and the only way you can expect any service from them.

Strange post from a Chicago resident. Maybe you live in a different Chicago?