Poll: Tipping, Gratuities, etc. and You!

[MoNKeyYy]

I don't tip period and i don't eat outside,never have never will.
This whole tradition is silly.If your job is not earning you enough money then don't do it,find something else instead of relying on charity.(cause that's what tipping is)

 

[MoNKeyYy]

On a side note, you have triggered a relapse into my ongoing crusade against the word "consumer". It is an insulting term that degrades the entire human race, please don't use it.

My apologies, I don't mean to offend. Do you mind me asking why you don't like the term consumer?

Don't get me wrong, I prefer the term "guest" whenever possible and the term "customer" or "client" more generally, but when I'm trying to speak in proper, neutral terms (like here). I usually default to "consumer" just because I've studied economics and try to use the proper term.

I tip because I'm scared of entitled people tampering with my food, and because I'm scared of what society will think of me if I don't play along.

It's a bit like leaving a gift at the altar of the GLORIOUS LEADER in North Korea. You do it out of fear and because you'll be punished if you don't.

I'm sincerely sorry that you feel that way. If it means anything I, nor anyone I know has ever tampered with anyone's food. I'll happily admit we fantasize sometimes. Watching Waiting with Ryan Reynolds can be a hugely cathartic experience for us, but it's something that quite frankly never translates to real life action. Contrary to popular belief, most servers are professionals who take pride in our jobs. We understand the ethics of doing business and would never, despite our wildest fantasies, ever tamper with someone's food. If we have in any way created an environment where you are compelled by fear to compensate us against your will, then I apologize on behalf of the entire industry. You have been wronged, and I am deeply disappointed to hear you say that.

I can't speak for society though. Obviously, it's my belief that it is unethical not to compensate servers for providing a service, so while I fully defend someone's right to not tip without fear of retribution from restaurant staff, either by food-tampering or (as we have already heard here) physical threats, I stand by the proposition that a person doing something unethical should be judged societally for doing so. I'm afraid you're on your own on that one.

 

[seventy two]

Generally I tip about 10% if the service is decent, 15-20% if they are actively trying to provided better than average service. I will also tend to add a bit to the tip if the situation justifies it, such as being in a loud group, or taking an excessively long time at the table(A locale sushi place has all an you can eat option and somehow it always ends up that I am there for at-least an hour and a half, because of this I tend to tip close to 25%). As for tipping delivery food, I just go with the keep the change route, occasionally that means a small tip but I think it balances itself out.

 

[Johnny Impact]

I tip service staff as long as service is decent. I generally do 15% but I've gone as high as 30% for truly exceptional service. I also sometimes tip folks who aren't used to it: I tip my mailman once a year at Christmas, I once tipped a guy who towed my car because he went above and beyond the call (long story).

The only server I ever remember stiffing was a snotty teenager who oozed contempt, was clearly bored out of his skull and made no pretense about it, dealt sarcastically with all of us, got four of our seven items wrong (it wasn't a hard order), got two items wrong AGAIN the second time around, and couldn't even muster the gumption to make a half-hearted apology for his astonishingly bad performance. We all have bad days, but this kid sucked like it was his true calling.

 

[Bertylicious]

Ha! Wouldn't it be hilarious if part of your your earnings were essentially hidden and based on no quantifiable measure but instead solely decided by my own personal whimsy?

What's that, Lassie? That would actually be a giant, steaming, pile of bullshit? Well gosh.

 

[sniddy_v1legacy]

Simply put

I don't like it, I personally don't agree with it.

And I don't as a rule support it

I work in customer service, I sort out claims, do I expect a % tip of your claim....no

Yet to be honest I've done a lot more work then any waiter will have if I've need to get involved beyond a simple - in register, advise, negotiate and pay, even then I've probably done more - but that's the equivalent of a waiter taking me to my table, taking my order and bringing it to me - ultimately all I want and expect

Why should a waiter get a 15% tip, and I don't.

If the pay sucks, then don't do the job.

Sorry to serving staff, it's your choice to work there, you accept the pay - I don't see why I should have to tip. The 'social convention' may say to do it, it may be the norm....but why?

Some things have 'always been done that way' and they're wrong

Service staff maybe need a pay rise, heck should always be pretty much minimum wage anyway in most places, and the tipping culture abolished

 

[ClockworkPenguin]

How do you view the tip itself? As a mandatory payment for services rendered, or a gift?

7

Well, I've sort of already talked about this. I see tips as payment, in a very pure sense of the word. My low wage and the low wages of literally everyone in the restaurant subsidize your cheap meal with huge portions. I work at a restaurant with extremely generous portion sizes and, though the food has a significant dollar amount pricetag you get a lot of bang for your buck. All that is possible because my wage, and the wages of the rest of the staff are kept low. This is also possible because food is only one half of the equation. When you eat out at a full service restaurant you pay for both the service and the product. The food obviously is the product, and the price for the food pays for of course the product, the kitchen wages, rent, utilities, management and all the other sort of normal business type things you tend to think of. So the price for the product is fixed to accommodate all of these expenses that restaurants need to consider. Service however is a different story. Service is the other half of the equation, and in this case the customer has total control over what they pay based on how much they think the service provider deserves. It's a very pure expression of capitalism, one where the middle men are left, payment is kept entirely between the customer and the service provider and the customer has total freedom to pay exactly as much as they think the service provider deserves. And this isn't just my philosophy, this is the reality of how running a restaurant works (take it from someone who's done it). So because of that, I see tipping as a mandatory (but discretionary) payment for service, not as a kindness done as a reward.

How do you view the concept of tipping? Do you think it's fair to everyone involved, or would you rather see it abolished and replaced with systems in other industries?

This is tricky too =P I like the system personally. I make decent money and I enjoy the purity of the server-customer interaction as it works in theory. Too often I think people demonize the system of tipping as being a way for restaurant owners to screw their employees when in fact the system is designed with the intention of empowering consumers to pay what they feel is deserved and expanding earning opportunities for servers. However, I fully admit that this is easy for me to say in a rich city with a booming economy, and for people in a struggling economy the employee will often be screwed by customers and management alike. I like the system. And I would likely vote to preserve it, if pressed. But I understand and empathize with the complaints leveled against it, especially by customers who find it to be disingenuous and underhanded.

With respect I disagree. I am not your employer, the restaurant is. Nor does tipping 'cut out the middle man' and serve as an example of 'pure capitalism'.

A 'pure capitalist' system with no middle man would be one where, when I entered, available service staff would be lined up so that I could choose which one to directly hire. I would select the one who offered the best service at lowest cost, and at the end I would pay them what I promised when I hired them and if I felt they had delivered sub-par service for the price would not hire them again.

To use another job as a metaphor. Say I want new kitchen fittings installed. I look around the various plumbing services available and get quotes, and then select one to work for me. They have agreed to fulfill certain tasks and I have agreed to pay them.

Say they subcontract and bring in a second plumber. We'll call them plumber1 and plumber2. I do not pay plumber2, even though to all appearances they are serving me as directly as plumber1 is. Plumber2 is working for plumber1 to fulfill plumber1's promises and as such are employed by plumber1 rather than myself.

It would be outrageous for plumber1 to tell plumber2 to expect payment from me, in addition to what I have agreed to pay plumber 1. The services of plumber2 ought to be paid for from the price of plumber1's quote, or plumber1 ought not have taken the contract in the first place.

Similarly, I do not employ waiters. The restaurant does. If the restaurant can't afford to provide a waiting service, then they ought to operate as a buffet or carvery. Don't advertise yourself as a restaurant if you think the customer directly employs your staff. They don't.

Please do not call someone 'unethical' because you don't understand who your employer is.

 

[Flames66]

On a side note, you have triggered a relapse into my ongoing crusade against the word "consumer". It is an insulting term that degrades the entire human race, please don't use it.

My apologies, I don't mean to offend. Do you mind me asking why you don't like the term consumer?

Don't get me wrong, I prefer the term "guest" whenever possible and the term "customer" or "client" more generally, but when I'm trying to speak in proper, neutral terms (like here). I usually default to "consumer" just because I've studied economics and try to use the proper term.

On a personal level, I find it insulting because it conjures an image of a mouth on legs whose only purpose in life is mindless consumption. I am not such a creature. I am a human being with dreams, aspirations, friends, family, hobbies and ideals. I am far more than a mindless eating machine.

There was a study carried out by researchers at North Western university which implies that using the word "consumer" has a detrimental effect on society at large, causing people to mentally dehumanise others by seeing them only as competitors for consumables. I believe society would be far better off if the word, and the way of thinking it represents, were no longer used.

 

[likalaruku]

I always tip based on service.

Delinquent = 15%
Average = 20%
Great = 25%

For delinquent I think "maybe this guy's having a really bad day, maybe they're understaffed & overworked." I also remember that I have anger management problems & couldn't imagine working a job here you had to kiss a customer's ass every two seconds.

I gave a nice tip to a waitress at an Irish pub yesterday. She noticed we were fanning ourselves, so she turned off the fire, cracked open a window, & when it came time for the check, she was very speedy about it.

 

[Lieju]

Tipping isn't a thing in Finland. So I don't tip. When I travel I try to learn of the tipping culture beforehand, But it's just so stressful I prefer to avoid those situations.

It's just really weird for me. I prefer to have all the expenses known beforehand. SO I know what I'll be paying when I decide to buy something, or get some service.

 

[Eleuthera]

I'm from a non-tipping culture. However I do tip taxi drivers and in restaurants, and occasionally delivery people.

I kinda picked it up when I was in the States the first time, however I tip quite a bit less than US standards, up to a maximum of 10%. (edit: in the States I have problems justifying tips over 15% to myself.)

 

[Elfgore]

I tip whenever a tip is due. Pizza delivery or waiters/waitresses usually. If the service was eh, they get about two to three bucks. Good service will land you anywhere from five to ten. I tip because I can relate to their struggle, anyone in retail or service business can. People are dicks. I don't get paid tips to deal with dick people, they do. I'm not going to be a child about it and not tip them.

In my ideal world, tipping would only be used in cases of exceptional service. Like the delivery boy made it to my house in five minutes or drove through snow and hail. Of course everyone would be making minimum wage.

 

[lee1287]

In the UK It's not customary, i do sometimes though, if i got good service or they were nice, and if the food was good, i tried to tip a bar worker once and he looked at me weird and handed it back to me.

I was working in a store, and carried a table out to a customers car, he tipped me a fiver. i tried to decline but i go by the 3 rule, deny twice, accept a third time. That was the only tip i got out of hundreds of trips to carrying things to peoples cars. Not common in the UK.

 

[Eclectic Dreck]

5. Even more infuriating is tipping a bartender. While he/she can mix drinks and does serve me, the establishment should pay them well considering the ridiculous mark up of alcohol in many venues.

At bars I frequent the markup can be absurd. Places will advertise two dollar you call it but limit you to drinks that can be made for less than a quarter. Buying brandy at five bucks a glass is silly given the brandy bars carry generally runs less than 10 dollars a bottle!