I don't understand tipping culture...

[Funyahns]

I don't know other countries. But in the U.S. if you do not tip you are really punishing a server. By no means should you tip 20% for crap service. But, if for whatever reason you are not happy and you don't tip a server, they actually lose money two times. Once for having the table that got messed up and because of taxes. So, before you no tip a server in the U.S. make sure any problem you have with the food is theirs and not say a cook mistake or something. Also, no one wants to hear that its not your responsibility to tip, its a businesses job to pay employees. That is not how it works, and if you cannot afford the few dollars to tip then you cannot afford to eat out.

 

[Action Jack]

Does anyone else find this tipping culture strange and weird, why do we have to give a tip 5-10% of our restaurant bill every time we have a meal even if the service is okay/competent.

I get why a person would tip if they find the waitress/waiter has been really good, but why would we give a tip for okay/competent service. It just seems like serving staff being uppity and entitled. Why should serving staff expect a tip from every single customer and expect a percentage of the bill, isn't it meant to be a voluntary thing, not some compulsory charge for the consumer.

I would tip a waiter/waitress if they went out of their way to help me when something was wrong and were very friendly, but I wouldn't tip for okay/competent service.

Am I just being stingy or do other people feel this way? Also if you do follow the tipping culture could you explain why you do so?

No, you're not being stingy. You just fundamentally don't understand the purpose of tipping.

Tips aren't "a little something extra" for servers. That is pretty much their only source of income. They're only getting paid like $4/hr, and if it's a small non-corporate place, possibly nothing at all. If the restaurant was actually paying them a living wage, your food would be far more expensive. Tipping is something you should mentally account for beforehand when looking at the price of your meal (just like tax or a delivery charge).

Your numbers are off too. The standard tip is 18-20%. You tip only 10% if you were given poor service.

Tipping is not optional. It's paying for the service you've been given. A person who receives good service and does not tip is a thief.

 

[shootthebandit]

When you consider that many tipping jobs only pay 3 dollars an hour (sometimes less)

You must be shitting me. Im assuming you can still claim welfare on a wage like that? In the uk if you work 15 hours or less a week you are still entitled to state welfare (its not much but its something)

$3 = £2...minimum wage in the UK is about £6-7 an hour or about £5 if you are under 18 (i may be wrong but thats a rough estimate). £2 an hour is dredful. JSA (job seekers allowance, which is basic unemployment benefits) gives you £50 a week. If you worked full time youd only get slightly more than that

 

[DugMachine]

I wish all waiters were just paid minimum wage so tipping would go away. As it stands it's this sort of requirement at restaurants and you're seen as stingy if you don't tip.

Personally, I will tip if the service is excellent and my food is good. Be rude to me and my food tastes like it was sitting for awhile and I'll leave no tip. If the food is good and you were rude to me, you get whatever coins I have floating in my pocket.

I don't care what the waiter is going through, when you're at work you need to leave all that aside and not treat your customers like shit. Even if your issue is the financial burdens of a tipping job, I'm not going to give you a nice tip out of pity.

 

[Clive Howlitzer]

As others have mentioned, at least in the United States, most waitresses or employees that are 'tip based' are making like 2.50 an hour. Their pay is basically comprised of tips. It is absolutely retarded. They should just get paid a normal wage and tips should just be gravy on top of that if people want to tip.

 

[DugMachine]

Why would you ever blame your server for your food sucking? It's not like they have any control over the quality of the food, how it's cooked, or really anything involving the kitchen.

Taste wise they have no control but sometimes I've gotten my meal after another table that came 15 minutes after we arrived got theirs, only to find my dish lukewarm. It was obviously sitting somewhere while the server did whatever else.

 

[Vegosiux]

Also, no one wants to hear that its not your responsibility to tip, its a businesses job to pay employees.

I'm sure people actually working service would love to hear that, and be paid a living wage by their employer just so that they're guaranteed a stable income without fear that they might not get enough tips.

That is not how it works, and if you cannot afford the few dollars to tip then you cannot afford to eat out.

It doesn't in USA, granted, and changing it would take some collective effort...but, it does work if, say, the rest of the world is any indication.

 

[The_Echo]

I get why a person would tip if they find the waitress/waiter has been really good, but why would we give a tip for okay/competent service.

I'm pretty sure the idea of tipping started as "hey, you did a good job; here's a little something extra!" But now it's effectively mandatory regardless of the service quality. Because if you don't tip, your server will think you're a huge asshole, which increases the chance you'll get spit in your drink or something.

I think it's absolute bullshit that waiting staff are paid less than minimum wage. Like... it's called minimum wage for a reason. Why has this been allowed to go on as long as it has been?

Personally, I generally don't tip because I tend to have very little expendable funds, so it's not the most feasible thing for me.

You tip only 10% if you were given poor service.

If the service was poor, why should there be a tip at all?

"You did a shitty job. Here's a couple bucks." Makes sense.

 

[Slycne]

As I understand the US tipping culture is an elaborate ruse by restaurants to make customers pay their staff's wages for them

Yes and no. The money is always going to come from somewhere.

Non-US countries where the service staff is payed a higher wage will also on average cost a lot more for a meal as well. The "tip" basically gets wrapped into the cost of the food. If your overhead becomes more costly than the product increases in price. At least with tipping a good worker is in theory rewarded more than a bad one.

 

[Winthrop]

Out of interest- do you feel the price of an item of food in a typical restaurant covers both product and service or just product?

I've been to other countries and I'm fairly certain that food in the US is significantly cheaper. The tips kind of cover the difference.

 

[shootthebandit]

No, you're not being stingy. You just fundamentally don't understand the purpose of tipping.

Tips aren't "a little something extra" for servers. That is pretty much their only source of income. They're only getting paid like $4/hr, and if it's a small non-corporate place, possibly nothing at all. If the restaurant was actually paying them a living wage, your food would be far more expensive. Tipping is something you should mentally account for beforehand when looking at the price of your meal (just like tax or a delivery charge).

Your numbers are off too. The standard tip is 18-20%. You tip only 10% if you were given poor service.

Tipping is not optional. It's paying for the service you've been given. A person who receives good service and does not tip is a thief.

Thats another thing i dont get about yankistan (please dont get offended its just an affectionate term i use for america). Why do your prices not include tax, seriously why not? Our bills include tax and the reciept then states how much tax was paid (for company expenses purposes etc)

"You only give 10% if the service was poor" Thats just such a strange concept to me but having read the responses here i probably would still tip in america if my service was terrible although ive had nothing but excellent service every time ive visited your fine country so ive never had a reason not to tip

A few myths that us brits have been told about tipping in america are they true or false:
a) if your service is poor you still tip but you leave the tip under an empty up-turned glass
b) wait staff have been known to aggresive chase after customers who have not tipped them

Edit: i know this sounds very negative towards america. I dont have anything against america in general or its service staff in fact they are probably the most pleasant people and the service is far superior to the UK also your food is really cheap so for us to eat out in america plus a decent tip we still pay the same and in most cases less. I do have a problem with the way your employees are paid and they fact they rely on tips

 

[thethird0611]

Man there are SO MANY freaking things in this thread that try to just throw shit at the U.S.. I used to be a shift manager at a restaurant that had deliveries (where our drivers were paid under minimum wage and relied on tips).

1. You will always make minimum wage. If you dont, there are government agencies to call and put in an anonymous tip. You can also quit your job and move elsewhere.

2. Tips DO help service. They absolutely do. When one of my drivers would receive a 20-30% tip, they would remember the person, and sometimes even their order. If someone calls before that person and doesn't tip well, they will be delivered to after the good tipping person. (If the time difference isnt drastic). Hell, ive had drivers seriously tell me to hurry up on an order because they tip well (and as a manager at that time I really appreciated good tippers to, because they made my drivers happy. I like happy employees).

3. Many tip-reliant workers make MORE than minimum wage. Seriously. I got paid 10 bucks an hours as a shift manager, some of my drivers may make 12-15 dollars an hour on slightly good days. IF they get a catering order they can deliver, they will most likely make 18 dollars an hour that day. But hey, during our slow slow days, they are only gonna make minimum wage after gas.

4. From many many places I know, managers are on hourly or salary and do not take a dime on tips.

5. From many many places I know, people who arent interacting with customers do not take tips. They make minimum wage (or similar).

6. Splitting tips is actually a good thing for waiters and waitresses many times. If someone has a bad day, they dont get shafted. So one day that guy will have a good day and help the guy who had a bad day.

So yeah. I like tip culture. It lowers food cost, increases employee morale (as long as people do tip), and it actually provides a lot of money for many of those workers.

snip

snip
A few myths that us brits have been told about tipping in america are they true or false:
a) if your service is poor you still tip but you leave the tip under an empty up-turned glass
b) wait staff have been known to aggresive chase after customers who have not tipped them

I shall answer these.

A. Nope. Never heard of that. Not even once. There is really no protocol for bad service tips, just tipping low.
B. Nope. People will talk about you behind your back if you ever come back, and you wont have excited servers, but nope.

 

[Doclector]

I've always been confused about this. I don't eat out often, but I'm pretty sure we don't tip much in england. I think the employers are legally obligated to pay enough that they don't need it.

But there's that nagging feeling in the back of my mind, wondering whether I'm wrong and the waiter is just seething that I had the gall to tip absolutely nothing.

 

[5ilver]

It's just one of those pointless stupid things people do just because their ma and pa used to do it.
See also: nationalism and the existence of several different measurement systems.

 

[5ilver]

As I understand the US tipping culture is an elaborate ruse by restaurants to make customers pay their staff's wages for them

Yes and no. The money is always going to come from somewhere.

Non-US countries where the service staff is payed a higher wage will also on average cost a lot more for a meal as well. The "tip" basically gets wrapped into the cost of the food. If your overhead becomes more costly than the product increases in price. At least with tipping a good worker is in theory rewarded more than a bad one.

Where are you coming up with this "non-US countries get higher wage" stuff? I live in Eastern Europe and getting 2.5$ per hour is considered an amazing wage.

 

[Strazdas]

Tipping is a stupid culture which we fetished to such degree there are actually people who earn their wages on tips. Waiters should (and are in coutnries with normal work ethics) paid normal wages (at least minimum or your work group agreement alternative). Tipping is expressing your appreciation for extraordinary service. This is the time you should tip to that person, personally, and noone else. in all other cases you are just supporting the illegal busienss practices of stealing from your workers at worst and are rewarding bad service at best.

Way to edit out the simple to follow mathematical explanation preceding the sentence you quoted. As I said, in the states not leaving a tip means your server actually loses money from their own pocket.

Yes, and you are suggesting to encourage this competely retarded way of managing pay. No, a person should not even accept a job in a position where they are forced to do what you write and if they do they are dicks to the whole country for supporting shady business deals.

Waiters pretty much live off those tips

And here we have a problem that you suggest to encourage.

So if you aren't in America and your waiters and waitresses are paid at or above minimum wage, then by all means don't tip them. But that logic just isn't applicable to the system we have here, and refusing to tip won't change how that system works.

Yes it will. You dont tip, the guy does not get paid. the guy does nto get paid, he does not work. he does not work, the owner offers higher wage to get the guy to work. cycle this till the wage offer is minimum wage and you got yourself a solution. except that there are peopel who think they are actually helping when they tip shit services.

I feel a bit torn on this subject because I simultaneously despise my customers for having to rely on them, and hope they tip me well. It wouldn't be so bad if the manager wasn't there, taking his cut.

how exactly does that work? Does the manager follow you around liek a dog and tear the money from your hands? because the money is given to you, personally, and belongs to you, alone. basically what your manager is doing is a robbery.

You NEED to tip in the states, you don't ANYWHERE ELSE. So if you don't in the states, you are a ****, but if you don't ANYWHERE ELSE you are a normal human being and tipping ANYWHERE ELSE makes you a generous human.

You dont need to tip in the states. you are expected to tip in the states. it is a bad social contruct that went even as far as ridiculous "Taxing tips as income". This has to stop. the sooner the better. and if it takes a few people beign unemployed for a bit, then so be it. I am not a **** if i dont tip. i am a **** if i tip when i should not.

You tip people in the service industry because that is part of their pay.

No. Tip is your personal gift to a person. His pay is his pay.

You know most restaurant workers are exempted from minimum wage laws and make less than minimum wage and the tips are supposed to get them to a livable wage right?

And you think this is a good system?

So when you have a sit down dinner and don't tip someone for their "competent service" you've just stiffed them some of their pay?

No. I didnt sitff them of their pay. Their employer did. their employer is the "dick" everyone seems to be naming. I paid for the product, full price, as i was suppsed to. that is all.

Also, no one wants to hear that its not your responsibility to tip, its a businesses job to pay employees. That is not how it works, and if you cannot afford the few dollars to tip then you cannot afford to eat out.

So what, apperently america is no longer capitalist? or are you just making things up?

Tipping is not optional. It's paying for the service you've been given. A person who receives good service and does not tip is a thief.

As long as it is not in a price it is optional. The service is arleady paid by the price. It is not my responsibility to be accuntable for a thief boss that wants to keep all the money i ALREADY PAID for the service.

So yeah. I like tip culture. It lowers food cost, increases employee morale (as long as people do tip), and it actually provides a lot of money for many of those workers.

Do tell me how does having to pay extra (tip) makes food price lower?

Where are you coming up with this "non-US countries get higher wage" stuff? I live in Eastern Europe and getting 2.5$ per hour is considered an amazing wage.

Come on, im in eastern europe and even though i earn around 3,5 dolalrs an hour, its a faily low (not minimum, that would be 2,5) wage. Unless you come from those few really poor countries, then yes i understand your position.

 

[teebeeohh]

here(Germany) the waiters don't live off their tips, thus i usually tip only very little and sometimes not at all when the service sucked. I tend to tip better when it's a place i tend to frequent where the waiter knows me because i really feel guilty when they give me a free drink with my food and i also really want the places that are within walking distance and serve good food to survive.

 

[themind]

If you can't afford to leave a tip, then stay home and cook for yourself. You tip a waiter/waitress because he/she takes your order, serves you coffee and refills, bring you the food. If you want to bus your own tray and pour your own drink, go get some fast food.

 

[Treeinthewoods]

Tipping is a stupid culture which we fetished to such degree there are actually people who earn their wages on tips. Waiters should (and are in coutnries with normal work ethics) paid normal wages (at least minimum or your work group agreement alternative). Tipping is expressing your appreciation for extraordinary service. This is the time you should tip to that person, personally, and noone else. in all other cases you are just supporting the illegal busienss practices of stealing from your workers at worst and are rewarding bad service at best.

Way to edit out the simple to follow mathematical explanation preceding the sentence you quoted. As I said, in the states not leaving a tip means your server actually loses money from their own pocket.

Yes, and you are suggesting to encourage this competely retarded way of managing pay. No, a person should not even accept a job in a position where they are forced to do what you write and if they do they are dicks to the whole country for supporting shady business deals.

Waiters pretty much live off those tips

And here we have a problem that you suggest to encourage.

So if you aren't in America and your waiters and waitresses are paid at or above minimum wage, then by all means don't tip them. But that logic just isn't applicable to the system we have here, and refusing to tip won't change how that system works.

Yes it will. You dont tip, the guy does not get paid. the guy does nto get paid, he does not work. he does not work, the owner offers higher wage to get the guy to work. cycle this till the wage offer is minimum wage and you got yourself a solution. except that there are peopel who think they are actually helping when they tip shit services.

I feel a bit torn on this subject because I simultaneously despise my customers for having to rely on them, and hope they tip me well. It wouldn't be so bad if the manager wasn't there, taking his cut.

how exactly does that work? Does the manager follow you around liek a dog and tear the money from your hands? because the money is given to you, personally, and belongs to you, alone. basically what your manager is doing is a robbery.

So you actually think it's that simple? They just won't work? It's a good thing that bill collectors will totally let poor people off the hook when they can't make enough to survive. You are the worst type of person, take your idea of social justice and fight it on a government level instead of punishing someone who doesn't have the power to change anything.

Seriously, you are going to fight the system by punishing the lowest level cogs in the machine? Laughable at best. Fortunately the majority of people don't think like you so servers can continue to get by instead of starving for your "ethics."

 

[idarkphoenixi]

At first I assumed tipping was something you did if you really enjoyed someone's service, as a way of saying thanks. I've done it a few times.
According to America however, tipping is almost mandatory, regardless of the service. In fact, sometimes they add the tip as part of your bill. If you don't tip, then you're seen as a horrible person.

Honestly, I find that both insulting and disgusting.

It's insulting because tipping is supposed to be a choice "I" make. I am not obliged to do it and I should not be shamed if I choose not to. When it comes to the point that you add the tip as a part of my bill, then it's no longer tipping. If I'm supposed to pay extra to have my food delivered to my table then I'd rather get up and fetch the plate myself.

It's also disgusting because yes, they pretty much live off those tips. The reason tipping in America is so enforced is basically because the people working there get paid almost nothing, that is fucked up. It's not my job to pay a person their wage, for doing nothing more than their job. Why even have a job if you rely on the customers giving you money?
I feel bad for them having to put up with so much shit but that system needs to change.

It's your money, so do with it as you please. If you want to give extra to a person then fine, it's not my business. But the way the world works (or at least, the way it should work) is if you're doing a job, then you are getting paid for that job. That's how every other industry functions.
In short - I'm not your employer. It's not my responsibility to make sure you can afford food to eat, that's the whole reason you're working a job.