I don't understand tipping culture...

[Splitzi]

American here, piping in to say that the worst part about tipping is the guilt. i grew up going out to eat alot with my dad (divorced and hates cooking) and he always tipped very generously. So now, tipping is a sore subject for me, because it's almost a compulsion to tip generously like my dad did, but I don't have nearly the money he did. That's what tipping turns into for Americans (at least for most of my friends). Taking out the fact that tipping is paying for their living wage, it has been ingrained into kids from childhood that you always have to tip. If you meet someone who doesn't that person is looked at as cheap and selfish, aka my college roommate. After a while you just automatically include a tip into the price of your meal.

We know it's not a good system but hey, a lot of Americans don't even know that the rest of the world pays people enough to live on, and tips anyway. Stop complaining when we throw extra money at you on vacation.

 

[Dr. Pepper Unlimited]

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.

This is so very true here in the US and it makes me not bother eating out or having anything delivered. I hate our tipping culture here. As it is right now, it's absolutely retarded. I'm not going to tip out of sheer guilt. I'll just avoid the whole process and not bother doing anything that requires tipping.

My culture sucks. <_<

 

[Mossberg Shotty]

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.

Well, you have to do this crazy thing called 'declaring your tips'. And at the end of the day, a chunk of your tips goes to other members of staff, and the big man himself. I agree with you, and think it's a shit practice, but your mentality of screwing over the people who depend on such generosity in order to fix the problem is wrong.

I work in retail so I don't have to worry about tips, but we have a big ol' sign on the wall that has all of the OSHA and job regulations. One of the things I always see is "Servers can be paid a little as $2.13, but must be earning at least minimum wage if tips do not cover the rest." Is this a Minnesota only law or are restaurant owners just breaking the law by not paying and nobody's reporting it? Or are people knowingly walking into minimum wage jobs and getting pissed when the tips don't give them a larger paycheck to take home?

I used to work in retail, and I'm really missing it right about now. But anyways, onto your question.

Yes, servers get a base pay of around $2.13, so your entire paycheck basically goes to taxes, and your left with your tips to survive on. It's true that they're supposed to compensate you to at least minimum wage when your tips don't measure up to that amount, and most places insist that it just "doesn't happen", even though it does. I'm not saying that they're knowingly screwing people out of even minimum wage, but I've heard it's been known to happen.

I'm sure there are some people who wander into the job expecting to make the big bucks, and they end up very disappointed.

 

[triggrhappy94]

It was weird. I came here expecting to hear about how you have to give tips in envelopes if you want to tip in Japan--the tip is already added to the bill. Instead I got a thread filled with people bickering about the minimum wage. It's like no thread today is free from R&P level of arguing.

 

[PFCboom]

Disclaimer: I've read almost nothing of this thread, beside's OP's post, in order to get a feel for the topic.

IMO, tipping is very plainly telling a waiter how well I think they did with their job. I rarely go by percentages, I think of an amount I think they deserve, and give them that. For example, a waiter that refills my coffee often and remembers the cream will almost certainly get a big tip. If they forget something and apologize profusely while trying to offer explanations and excuses will not get a big tip. If they forget something, but make a simple apology and correct the mistake, then that's a good thing.

A dining experience is hugely subjective, from the moment the customer walks into the restaurant, to the moment they leave, and every moment in between. The waiter basically represents every other employee in the restaurant, making their performance a huuuuge part of the dining experience. Now that I think about it, I'd say this limited interaction is the single biggest decider in the quality of my dining experience.

 

[immortalfrieza]

How exactly does not tipping fix anything? It doesn't. Tipping doesn't perpetuate the system because a lack of it will just hurt the severs and it will go on.

Right and so how does tipping perpetuate the system? If it doesn't matter how much or how little they're paid, then what logic tells you that tipping perpetuates it?

By tipping servers you are perpetuating the system by allowing these people to get by on those tips, and thus preventing those servers from having as much if any motivation that they otherwise would to do anything about their crap wages. True, not tipping by 1 or 2 or a few people never fixes anything, but a lot of people not tipping would. If people everywhere in the U.S. suddenly stopped tipping you'd see servers of every restaurant in the country striking and/or quitting to get jobs somewhere else, thus making server's wages to go up. By tipping you are supporting crap wages for servers.

Right, because it's obviously so simple to just do that for a job that you presumably plan to do for just a while. Not at all like by the time anything gets organized you'd be wanting to move on to something better. What an easy solution, just band together, the feasibility of the solution be damned.

Right, and I suppose all those tactics to get better wages, workers who go on strike, picket whatever place they worked at, form Unions and so on that have been going on for pretty much all industries the last 50 years or so and continuing today have all been complete failures that have not even gotten the people who've done them a single cent.

Oh wait...

Really, this is stuff that a 8th grade history book should be able to tell you. Go pick one up if you weren't paying attention the first time you were in history class.

Right, because they deserve to be punished for allowing themselves to be taken advantage of when they have little leverage and bargaining power. Totally their fault that it was this way when they came into it, totally their fault for not using their immense power to fix things by snapping their fingers.

"totally their fault for not using their immense power to fix things by snapping their fingers."
Now I know you are just B.S.ing me. I NEVER said anything that could possibly be considered that I think they'll "fix things by snapping their fingers" quite the opposite in fact. It would take time, work, and sacrifices by servers across the industry to happen. The FIRST thing that needs to be done is to stop tipping servers so they'll have enough of a reason to actually do it. Also yes, it is the fault of the servers across the industry for allowing the crap wages to go by unchallenged and not doing anything to get better wages later on despite having the ability to do so.

You're just making excuses to feel better for knowing you contribute to their poor financial situation where they have to depend on such a job in the first place. If you're not going to tip at least don't make ridiculous excuses about how you're doing good by not tipping and how they deserve punishment.

"You're just making excuses to feel better for knowing you contribute to their poor financial situation where they have to depend on such a job in the first place."

The irony? I can easily turn this right back at you. By tipping you are contributing to their poor financial situation just as much if not more than the people who don't. I don't know about you, but I'd MUCH rather have a decent and steady hourly wage that I can count on than to have to rely on something as sporadic and unpredictable as tips, especially if I had to live off of it. YOU are making excuses to make yourself feel better about the fact that you are not only allowing a problem that has plagued the service industry in this country for pretty much it's entire existence to continue, but helping it along.

 

[MrHide-Patten]

This is why trying to eat in America gave me a headache, I was glad when I got home (Australia) and it didn't have to cross my mind. It's a flawed system.

 

[MahouSniper]

If they paid minimum wage, I probably wouldn't tip like I do. As it is, they are allowed to pay less than minimum wage to servers because they get tips and those tips are taxed. So not paying a tip here isn't some noble sentiment, it's actively denying people the salary they work hard to make. I wish it wasn't the case, but it is. If they made a normal wage and tips were just little bonuses, then I wouldn't feel inclined to tip and would only include it as a reward for exceptional service. However, having worked as a serve making $3.65 an hour, I can say that when someone doesn't tip, it's a pretty big blow to your income, since that tip is included in your salary.

 

[NiPah]

Just let them know you're not going to tip, or that you'll only tip for really good service when you first enter the establishment, that way you can get the service you deserve and you won't have to worry about the servers expecting a tip.

Or are you one of those people accepts the service knowing full well you won't tip, only revealing you aversion to tipping after the staff wait on you for your entire meal.

I mean I'm all for not tipping, just tell the staff before hand, otherwise your morals aren't worth the shit hole they came out of.

 

[DarkRyter]

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?

Tipping is the best method of service compensation. For waiters, it makes a great deal of sense, especially from a restaurant's perspective.

In places where tips are socially near mandatory, waiters do not make a full wage. Round where I live, it's $2.50 an hour. They are expected to make their living in tips. In terms of hourly wage, they often make much less than busboys and dishwashers who tend to work for legal minimum wage. Tips are their REAL compensation.

When you tip a waiter, you are essentially paying their wage. In paying the bill, you're paying the chef and the restaurant, but the waiter is not compensated from that. When you don't tip a waiter, they essentially worked for free. Without a tip, there's even the possibility that the waiter PAID to serve, as employers often take a percentage of their tips based on total sales.

Tip based compensation is intended to create a better experience to the customer and the waiter. It is a job where actually working twice as hard might actually result in twice the pay, which means real motivation to create better service. With a flat wage, a waiter has no motivation to work pass the bare minimum.

On a separate, related note, since tips are based on a percentage (20%, unless you are the Devil, then it's just 15%), servers are motivated to sell more expensive items, which benefits the restaurant. It allows waiters at finer establishments, who require more training and expertise, to make more. A larger bill also usually indicates more effort done by the waiter (bringing another round of drinks, ringing in more orders, bringing out more food, etc).

With tipping, you, the diner, have complete control over how your server is compensated, but cause they don't work for the restaurant. They work for you.

 

[AnarchistFish]

Waiters pretty much live off those tips so think of it as helping out another human being in rough times. Anyone who has been a waiter will know that it is very helpful to tip good.

This is only caused by the act of tipping in the first place. Employers see they can save money by letting tips subsidise wages, so they cut the wages they pay.

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

^^^^^

Don't forget, servers must tip out their bussers, bartender and the other various behind the scenes staff (usually a guy who keeps the slide stocked and clean). It's usually a percentage of the servers sales that must be paid out (2-3%). This means if you leave no tip the server will have to pay out of their own pocket to the other employees. If you stiff a sever on a $100 tab they will still have to "tip out" 5-6$ to the other staff members.

If you don't tip you are a dick.

If you don't tip you are a dick.

And this right here is the problem.Tipping is supposed to be at the customers discretion and should be reserved for waiters who do an above average or better job.However people have come to expect a tip now for everything and customers are guilted into it and accused of being "dicks" if they don't

I'm so glad I live in a country where tips are not expected

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.

Your country sounds cheap and unappreciative. Of course there's no need to tip if the service is terrible but if you refuse to tip "on principle" you are, undeniably, a total dick.

Why? Cos people don't agree with being pressured into paying wages in certain industries cos employers can get away saving themselves money? Sure, the immediate effect is harmful, but it's the only way to change the system long term. If employees need the extra income, wages and prices should be higher.

Either way, to label an entire country as cheap and unappreciative because it doesn't have the same idea as yours on tipping is idiotic and arrogant. Cultures are different. What tipping symbolises and does in one country it doesn't in another. In some countries it doesn't exist at all, because it doesn't need to.

 

[JemothSkarii]

Well,a ll I can say is I kinda feel like a dick now. While staying in Pennsylvania last month I was told to tip 5-10% so...yeah.

 

[DarkRyter]

the customer who's already paid for the service.

You didn't pay for the service, though.

 

[Tanis]

It's pretty obvious a LOT of posters in this thread have never held down a job, or at least not one within the 'service' industry.

 

[Colour Scientist]

I'm not American but I still tip, I tend to leave quite a large one if the service is good too.

I feel pretty cheap if I don't, to be honest, and it's not going to bankrupt me to give the waiter a few extra quid. If I'm going out to dinner, I'm usually in a position where I have a bit of extra cash so it just seems like the nice thing to do.

 

[Vegosiux]

It's pretty obvious a LOT of posters in this thread have never held down a job, or at least not one within the 'service' industry.

"or at least not one within the 'service' industry in USA.".

That last bit is rather important if one doesn't want to come across as overly judgmental.

 

[Amaror]

Your not wrong. I was working at a gas station for some time. I got the same pay as waiters, without tips and way shittier customers.

 

[MeChaNiZ3D]

Being Australian, where there are basically no tips unless you can't be bothered collecting your change or you are feeling particularly affluent, which is never in both cases for me, I think it's ridiculous and stupid that there would be a mandatory tipping culture created by laws that account for tips as part of the wage and thus basically creating a system where if you tip you're feeding an objectionable practise of paying people so they're dependant on the goodwill of their customers, and if you don't you're endangering the financial security of waiters and waitresses. In my opinion regular service, even good service, should be rewarded with a positive experience and then maybe coming back, and a steady wage that covers what a wage should legally cover.