I hate how much tipping has expanded. Traditionally it was waiters and waitresses, the bellhop or porter and maybe a few bucks for your barber or cab driver. Tips were also less, 15% seemed to be the standard in a restaurant. Now if I go to the bakery I’m confronted with 18%, 20% and 25% where all that was done is hand me a pastry from the case. This is everywhere from the coffee place to fast casual, hell it is showing up on takeout. I think tipping needs to go back to being for those who are paid the tipped minimum wage and good service, not just handing me my coffee at Starbucks,
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Just don’t fucking tip lol it’s akin to the tip jar
I don’t, at least not for coffee nor in Ubers
Uber = cabs, and tipping has always been customary.
Working for tips used to mean “To insure prompt service”.
Now it’s an expected standard.
Rest assured restaurants and other service industry businesses (hotels) love it as they don’t have to assume a salary expense for a fair wage.
It’s also a U.S. specific phenomenon. I traveled all over Asia and discovered it’s rare at best and insulting in some cases. I left a kind woman the equivalent of ~$3 by rounding up my bill to the nearest whole currency bill interval. She chased me down and angrily gave me my change. Later, I learned in this part of Asia restaurants are often family run and treat guests as family. You don’t toss your mother in law a $5 for Christmas dinner, do you?
I’d much prefer they just pay their employees and pass it on in the bill like every other industry, but no one ever does,
That's how it is pretty mucn everywhere else. To Wolf's point, tipping in a place like South Korea or Japan is considered insulting because they feel like you're giving them pity for not having done a good enough job vs how we were taught it was a reward for doing a good job.
But I get where OP is going. Expecting a tip for simply picking up my to-go order? Or the built-in gratuity if your dinner party is six people or more so we tagged on 18%, but you can add on more if you're feeling it? Not to mention all the shenanigans that go on with tip-out at end of shift where I know that spunky little teen who gave me my to-go pick up isn't going to make sure the tip money goes back to the kitchen staff who actually did all the work? Or that you're supposed to declare that income. And if you think even a fraction of the service industry here in the US does, I got a bridge to sell you. But ironically that's how it was supposed to be, "that was great service, so here's a little extra for you. Don't tell anyone, but I hope this helps with a fun night out after work".
Honestly, this is a good example of where corporations prioritizing generating a return for the next quarter is coming at the cost of customer retention and long-term growth. Asking for a 20% minimum gratuity on handing a bagel while people are already struggling with rising costs is silly and ridiculous. Might as well buy the bagels from the grocery store instead and people will in fact change their lifestyle to do so. Many of these corporations have over-extended themselves and need a major correction in the markets.
Thank God for living in Europe.
HEI Hotels is rethinking how it encourages customers to tip because of the labor shortage, its CEO said.This includes letting guests opt-in to gratuities on arrival, which they don't pay until they leave.CEO Ted Darnall also said that raises and bonuses weren't a long-term solution to the labor shortage.
https://www.businessinsider.com/labor-shortage-hei-hotels-resorts-bigge…
It will though. If you pay people enough they will work. Hospitality has been known to have depressed wages so it’s time they actually meet the market and not use the “passion industry” excuse. That CEO just doesn’t want his compensation to be altered.
Most of my tips are above and beyond of what the person thinks to get. I like to make people's day. People who rely on tips have it rough and deserve to get a break every now and then.
I’m talking about jobs without the tipped minimum wage where tips were never common before e.g. at a bakery where they’re just handing it to you as opposed to a restaurant where you’re being served. I hate that tipping is basically an asshole subsidy, if you stiff the waiter or waitress it’s made up for by the generosity of others. I’ve also heard it creates a bad front of house/back of house dynamic where waitstaff can be making more than the chefs at high end restaurants.
Apparently (this is from googling "how did tipping start") "Wealthy Americans discovered it for themselves in the 1850s and 1860s while traveling in Europe. Tipping in Europe was born in the middle ages, a master-serf custom where servants would receive an extra gratuity for excellent performance. American travelers brought it back to the states as a way to feel aristocratic"
This aligns with my problem with tipping; it started and use to be for excellent service. Now, everyone is tipping because they feel bad if they don't, regardless of service. We just need to go back to tipping on excellent service, rather than standard service. Like most other problems, its all about how you view it. Do you tip the person who cleans your hotel because they are just making ends meet but just do their basic job, or tip them because they are an outstanding employee?
Agreed, get rid of tipping build it into the price of a product or service. I honestly think that would improve quality. Especially for a high end restaurant to go from tipped minimum wage which is $2.13 to $20 an hour assuming the average server has 8 guests and a meal is 90 minutes works out to an extra $3.35/head. I’d still tip if the service was excellent. There is value add at some places when your server actually knows the menu, I find that all too uncommon even at “fine dining”.
Why is this a big deal? Guess money must be tight these days for some
..
As Isiah mentioned, I tip well above 20% for actual services. Those who want tips from takeout or coffee will get me daydreaming about AI replacing them. What’s next? You’ll probably start seeing cashiers with a tip jar lol.. I’ll be like no thanks I got it myself dawg.
+1 SB for the point about takeout and for making a coffee. Im all for it when dining at a restaurant and even go above and beyond to tip the people I know, but get out of here with that shit. The new systems that have 20% pre-selected for takeout orders are absurd. Like every other business model, pay your workers a living wage and bake that into your product prices. Im not some sociopathic psychopath, I go out of my way to tip the people I interact with and know by name. A guy at my local sandwich shop is super cool and I tip him regularly, even on take out. But that should not be the norm.
I prefer the approach in Italy. It's percentage based (around 10%) up to certain amounts, then you use best judgement. If you have a €400, you wouldn't tip €40. It's also good because you often give it in cash, so €10-20 per table served is a good amount for a waiter who might be making €1000 a month at most with his salary. People are grateful even for €5 on a €100 dinner. Like others have said, the expectation is different. If you don't tip because you're cheap, they might think you're an asshole but won't chase you out the door demanding cash like in the US.
I’ve been to Italy several times and have had waiters refuse tips on numerous occasions or look embarrassed when I offer. In some countries I was told a typical tip is 5-10 EUR vs scaling to the food, seemed more reasonable
Danny Meyer (founder of Shake Shack and owner of several Manhattan restaurants) tried eliminating tipping at his restaurants in 2015. Menu prices were raised to cover service. I tried it a few times and liked it better, as did any friends I knew who tried it.
But ultimately in 2020 he gave up and returned to tipping. Covid was related but in his explanation below, he seems to think it was just better to have tipping even in the back-to-normal world.
Honestly, I've read it a couple times and found his logic to not be very neatly laid out. I'm still not convinced we couldn't do away with tipping and be better off.
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/return-tipping-let-them-shared-danny-mey…
Tipping used to be for service now it’s just an expectation - I’d much rather it be built into the food cost. If you’re looking to buy something and the actual price is 20% more when you get the bill, you’d rethink about buying it - it’s predatory and just an excuse for employers to pay their staff less because customers will subsidize it. Maybe retail employees should ask for a tip when they bring you your size from the back of a store - it’s no different than a waiter bringing over your plates.
Scaling the tip on food and alcohol cost is also quite ridiculous, it doesn’t make sense that someone should earn more based on a dish that I order (and often if I’m not ordering something more expensive, some servers are less enthusiastic about visiting your table).
Build it into the food cost, I’ll gladly pay more knowing the servers are paid and I don’t have to be guilted about whether I’ll make or break their night.
Some consultant or Private Equity bro just thought it would be such a great idea to push it to every payment system ever… I guarantee it
The problem is corporations not paying a high enough salary to service workers and leaving the burden on consumers, so as to guilt trip them if they leave a bad tip. I always get weird looks at when I tip 15% at a Michelin place. Like it’s annoying when you keep interrupting my dinner and describing the exquisite details of preparation that my mind can’t really comprehend. Just let me eat in peace. If someone truly goes out of their way and adds value I do 20% but 15% should be ok too. I also hate how these payment machines default to 20% sometimes.
True story, I had to tip the lady at a tuxedo rental store one time. Machine literally had tip amount and no button to say no tip. No one wants to be that guy and bark out, “how do I not tip.”
Absolute extortion…
Yep... that's how they get you. Call me an asswipe, but I'm not tipping anything unless you are literally bringing me something to my table. That's how it's set up to be designed, and it doubles the fact that restaurants just need to pay their people an actual LIVING WAGE. The tipping exception I have is if someone clearly demonstrates some above-and-beyond service, but that's usually after I get my food or drink, in which I'll just give 'em cash.
As much as I love Square/Block (in which I made an insane amount of money on the stock), they've propagated the tipping culture tenfold. The little iPads that they can just flip around with it all nice and pre-set for you just bully folks into pressing that little "20%" button. Like yeah, I get it - you don't want to feel like that guy, but when does it end? Why am I giving you more money for you to do your job? Why do you need the extra money to pull down a lever to let my beer flow in the glass?
There's a bagel place near me that kept the COVID barriers up far too long. You know, the plastic things in between the customer and the cashier. You couldn't touch the point-of-sale device, so when it came tip time they ASKED you. Like, really loud. First time caught me by surprise, and I just said "yeah, sure!" and didn't think about it. But like, why? As you stated, no one wants to be the guy that says "NO I WILL PASS ON THE TIP BECAUSE I DON'T HAVE ENOUGH MONEY" or something like that, but I just started saying no. It's out of control.
Okay, rant is over. There are problems in the world more serious than this one, but I had to do a little computer rant.
My husband is a medical worker and nobody leaves him tips, but he helps to save lives. But waiters get tips, I don't understand this world.
Waiters get tipped according to their service during your meal. Doctors just do the job they are paid for doing. If any doctor should get tips, I think it should be plastic surgeons. Doctors can also get sued for doing a bad job. So they have malpractice insurance. If a server does a bad job, they just get 0 tip or 15% for some. Doctors are more at risk and can lose their license, depending on how bad they f*ed up.
Totally agree. Don't tip more than what is reasonable/earned on a case by case basis. Businesses trying to increase margins by shifting payroll to the consumer by capitalizing on the naivety of the neo-liberal fool.
https://nypost.com/2022/11/28/starbuck-employee-slams-awkward-new-tippi…
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