Current Events > Tipping based on the bill confuses me.

(+) Yeah! (+)

Does it take a waiter more effort to bring me a $10 plate of spaghetti vs a $100 steak?

The problem is that the alternative is to do it by how much they order and people would be even more angry if they ordered thirty sodas and grilled cheese sandwiches for like 50 bucks and ended up with over 100 in tips

And a second angle flate rate won't work for anyone; it will feel like too much if it's for a lot when they ordered a little or the servers will feel they worked too hard if it's too low

Then you go "oh what if it's a flate rate based on how much they spend"

And now we're back doing it the way it's done now

People have thought about this you know.

Yes, because they have to see the well-done abomination you ordered when they carry the steak.

Places with $100 steaks usually have better quality service than places with $10 spaghetti

Smashingpmkns posted...

Places with $100 steaks usually have better quality service than places with $10 spaghetti

Not to mention a place with steak that much won't be serving $10 pasta. Try $60 bucks. So you're good!

Smashingpmkns posted...

Places with $100 steaks usually have better quality service than places with $10 spaghetti

What is this service you speak off ? I come in to get my food and thats it.

If it's a non-mandatory gratuity, then that's really up to the individual. As a server myself, I always start at $5 and go up from there based off their service. For clarity, my bill could be $9 and I'd still start at 5, because I think of the server as a person and their financial needs, knowing how states fuck over servers like in TX where we get $2.13 + tips and if you don't make enough within an hour to beat the minimum wage ($7.25), then you get paid up to min wage for that hour.

For mandatory gratuity, that's them ensuring you don't fuck over the server because at the place I work at sometimes people will tip $3-5 for a $100+ bill and that's no singular steak, it's typically a family on the larger side (unless they order a lot of alcoholic drinks and appetizers) which is taking up a lot of your time and if the party is large enough in a 3 table section 2 of your tables can become just them, so yeah if after an hour to an hour and a half they only tip you $10 you possibly could have made a lot more with smaller parties and more tables.

Of course, you also get the generous tippers which justifies the time and attention. Last night 2 of my 3 first tables tipped me $20 each and it definitely was based off how much they enjoyed my service and not based off any %, however by the end of the night I still only made $108 even with that sterling start. Serving is a gamble and I don't typically order a lot just for myself so my goal first and foremost is helping ensure they're making enough money to pay their bills and support themselves.

kage_53 posted...

What is this service you speak off ? I come in to get my food and thats it.

Nobody expects anybody to tip on to-go pick-up orders. Plenty of people do, but nobody expects it.

tc, the problem is that you think the tip is somehow directly related to the effort

SaltyWet posted...

Does it take a waiter more effort to bring me a $10 plate of spaghetti vs a $100 steak?

No, and it one of many problems with North American tipping culture. And it's only getting worse.

GuerrillaSoldier posted...

tc, the problem is that you think the tip is somehow directly related to the effort

No, the problem is that it's not.

Sir Will go ahead, tell me you haven't read the topic without telling me.

I tip $2-3 dollars no matter where I go, I usually dine alone and often times the server cant be bothered to come around in a timely manner, its pretty universal whether I go to a Chilis or something like Red Lobster but mom and pop places always give much better service and I tip around $5.

Note the price of food should not be equal to the tip; Im not giving you $20 just because my meal was $100 and you did Jack shit for me.

It requires diff tech

Tipping is a means of justifying that companies pay less to certain employees.

Simple.

As.

That.

It is a culture based on the idea that customers pay the missing part of what would be a legal wage, except that they make less but get tips due to laws, lobbying, or whatever else originally resulted in the practice.

Tipping culture is bollocks.

Pay your employees a good wage and they will give good service because they want to retain their job.

Sephiroth_C_Ryu posted...

Tipping is a means of justifying that companies pay less to certain employees.

Simple.

As.

That.

It is a culture based on the idea that customers pay the missing part of what would be a legal wage, except that they make less but get tips due to laws, lobbying, or whatever else originally resulted in the practice.

This is true, however the people who don't tip their servers as a means of protest aren't sticking it to anyone other than their server.

I dont have a problem with tipping when at a sit down meal.

But Im seriously not a fan of how tips are becoming involved when Im literally just coming in a restaurant to pick up food. Ok, Im sorry, thats ridiculous. I shouldnt have to pay extrawhen I literally am driving there to make the pick up in person. The only service there is the handoff of food.

What about tipping when getting take-out.

masticatingman posted...

I dont have a problem with tipping when at a sit down meal.

But Im seriously not a fan of how tips are becoming involved when Im literally just coming in a restaurant to pick up food. Ok, Im sorry, thats ridiculous. I shouldnt have to pay extrawhen I literally am driving there to make the pick up in person. The only service there is the handoff of food.

Have any places actually forced you to tip for picking up food or do you just feel like they guilt you into it/expect it of you? Because as far as I'm aware there's no mandatory gratuity for pick up orders.

Even if servers were paid minimum wage instead of basically zilch plus tips, the minimum wage across the us is woefully insufficient to do things like raise a family and own a home in 2023, so tips are what make being a server a viable career.

Tipping is stupid as fuck. Change will only come when individual restaurants start paying waiters more while policing customers to stop them from tipping.

TheWizardOfOrz posted...

Even if servers were paid minimum wage instead of basically zilch plus tips, the minimum wage across the us is woefully insufficient to do things like raise a family and own a home in 2023, so tips are what make being a server a viable career.

That is more often than not the case, depending on the restaurant of course. At the one I work at I've made 135 in 5 hours before. To pay me the minimum instead that'd be like $36.25. If it were a livable wage like in European countries that'd be one thing, but servers wouldn't stand a chance were it not for tips in the U.S.

People are tipping self-checkout stations.

Just tip 1 cent next time. That way you can say you tipped and if they complain tell them they are entitled pieces of crap

Foppe posted...

People are tipping self-checkout stations.

Nobody is doing that.

I loathe tipping culture, personally. It's all about showing off to everyone else at the table that you're more loaded and more generous and kindhearted than everyone else. Phony to the bone.

The naked hunger for tips from staff isn't any fun, either. In one rather example, I remember going to a local restaurant in Seattle once where they call numbers and hand you your food over a counter. I paid with a card, and the cashier handed back a receipt with a blank spot labeled tip and asked me to fill it out. When I gave it back to him and that space was still blank, he gave me the stink-eye and said, "So your tip is zero, huh?" I just don't get it, his restaurant doesn't even have waiters and charges four or five times what a fast food joint does, and he still has this sense of entitlement for a tip.

I live in a country where we don't tip and it's great. Some restaurants still try to screw you over with hidden non-negotiable fees, but it's not nearly 15% and not everywhere is like that. Waiters make a monthly salary and usually get a modest bonus with it if the restaurant's business is profitable and growing. You talk to people here about tipping culture in North America, and they shake their heads at how stupid North Americans seem to be.

Revelation34 posted...

Nobody is doing that.

https://www.businessinsider.com/customers -are-hesitant-to-tip-at-self-check-out-2023-5
One customer, who took a beer from a self-service beer fridge at San Diego's Petco Park, was asked to include a tip on his order, the Journal reported.
"I was confused, because it wasn't entirely clear who I was tipping," he told the Journal, adding that he still tipped 20% anyway.

GuerrillaSoldier posted...

tc, the problem is that you think the tip is somehow directly related to the effort

It's crazy that people just expect tips without good service

If you can afford a $100 steak, you can afford to tip your waiter another $350. Don't be cheap.

BigB0ss13 posted...

Just tip 1 cent next time. That way you can say you tipped and if they complain tell them they are entitled pieces of crap

For bad service I do that. I'll throw a penny or nickel into a glass of water. There's your tip.

ai123 posted...

Tipping culture is bollocks.

Pay your employees a good wage and they will give good service because they want to retain their job.

This.

I live somewhere that does not expect tips. I still do it for great service, but the moment its expected its stupid.

Gobstoppers12 posted...

If you can afford a $100 steak, you can afford to tip your waiter another $350. Don't be cheap.

this but unironically

FL81 posted...

this but unironically

Non rich people splurge on things they can't afford as well.
So many just assume that person or group sitting at the table in Applebee's isn't making the same shitty wages the waitress is, and just isn't there to reward themselves for a long week or celebrating an event.

Unironically, tipping culture needs to die, and minimum wage needs to rise. Expecting the customers who are likely making less than the waitress after her tips, is a system that needs to die. The attitude that it should be the customers obligation or problem to make sure wherever they shop, the workers make more than themselves thanks to tips, should die.

Kradek posted...

Have any places actually forced you to tip for picking up food or do you just feel like they guilt you into it/expect it of you? Because as far as I'm aware there's no mandatory gratuity for pick up orders.

I've actually been to one place, where they included a service fee just to hand me a bag with my takeout order... But everywhere else I've been doesn't do that. I did tip on takeout during the height of the pandemic though.

Foppe posted...

https://www.businessinsider.com/customers -are-hesitant-to-tip-at-self-check-out-2023-5
One customer, who took a beer from a self-service beer fridge at San Diego's Petco Park, was asked to include a tip on his order, the Journal reported.
"I was confused, because it wasn't entirely clear who I was tipping," he told the Journal, adding that he still tipped 20% anyway.

Then he's an idiot. He got scammed.

You may not like it, but that is an average American.