"If you can't afford to tip then you can't afford to eat out"

[Rixarius]

Waiters/waitresses already have a pretty shitty job. On top of that, most of them rely on tips to make a decent salary. Sure, if they're assholes, then don't tip them. But when someone is busting their ass to make your experience a good one, give them a tip. My mom was a waitress when I was a kid and after all the crap she went through, it really pisses me off when someone doesn't do it.

[Deleted]

Not my fault your friend has a shitty job that doesn´t pay anough. I´ll tip if I feel the service has been good. mandatory tipping can kiss my big white butt.

[GoldNSilence]

Glad there's no ridiculous tipping rules in my country. I have been to America before and I have tipped depending on service because it's customary over there due to the majority of waiters' wages coming from tips. Bad servers got a penny. Good servers got 15%. Average servers got 10% or my pocket change.

[steale]

Disagree completely. Comparing America with non tipping countries it appears to have the opposite effect. I get better service in non tipping countries across the board. Tipping creates a sense of entitlement that has no place. Their job is to provide good service, that is and should be a requirement to keep that job. Just like any other job we compete by going above and beyond that basic criteria to provide excellent service to all customers is what earns that raise. If an employee is not professional enough to provide good service to ALL of their customers then they don't deserve the job.

Since I have no idea what you do for a living, let's pretend you're a plumber. (I'm going to address several arguments from different people, so some of this won't be directed right at you)

You have a customer who calls you out to fix their bath tub, and you go out and knock it out, but when you hand them the invoice, they pay you for the parts, but refuse to pay for the labor and trip charges. Not a whole lot you can do but go on about your day.

A month goes by, and they call back again because the toilet has flooded the bathroom. Do you go back out there, or tell them to swim in shit and have a nice day?

[Noomz]

Looking at these threads I can only say it's good to live in a country where the employer pays high enough wages for waiters to live rather than guilt tripping customers who already paid.

My thoughts exactly. I find the obligatory tipping in the US to be offensive and degrading.

[Prokne]

I get better service in non tipping countries across the board.

Ive only noticed that you get good service in countries with a positive view of service. Countries like Japan have a sense of honor when you serve someone else well. European countries Ive been too service was basically they leave you alone until you call on them. The US sees people in service as an undesirable job that isnt worth much so that is passed on to servers attitudes. Proof of this is the people in this thread that think they dont have to tip servers because they dont deserve to be paid minimum wage for doing their job.

[Deleted]

I don't think this at all, that is your assumption. Generally restaurant budgets are tight, so yes a change in legislation would most likely mean a markup to how much your dinner bill is at the end of the evening, to compensate for the increased labor cost of paying a server full minimum wage. I'm assuming you have never worked in restaurants, nor understand general business principles as to what happens when overhead costs increase.

That's fine, at least the customer is then paying for exactly what they're getting and looking at on the menu. Everything should be included in that price.

As for knowing what happens when overheads increase, actually, yes I do know considering I own and run several businesses.

[Noomz]

Waiters/waitresses already have a pretty shitty job. On top of that, most of them rely on tips to make a decent salary. Sure, if they're assholes, then don't tip them. But when someone is busting their ass to make your experience a good one, give them a tip. My mom was a waitress when I was a kid and after all the crap she went through, it really pisses me off when someone doesn't do it.

Then they should be payed better, not guilt-trip me. By this logic, you should tip anyone with a shitty service job. But you don't, do you?

[jbombard]

You probably eat in shithole establishments in the US. No, red lobster doesn't count as upscale.

I'm American, so I've eaten at just about the full range imaginable. Sure service is better in nicer restaurants, but that isn't unique to the United States, and has absolutely zero to do with tipping. People who are better at their job get better jobs and you end up with more professional servers working at 5 star establishments.

[Tstr88]

Disagree completely. Comparing America with non tipping countries it appears to have the opposite effect. I get better service in non tipping countries across the board. Tipping creates a sense of entitlement that has no place. Their job is to provide good service, that is and should be a requirement to keep that job. Just like any other job we compete by going above and beyond that basic criteria to provide excellent service to all customers is what earns that raise. If an employee is not professional enough to provide good service to ALL of their customers then they don't deserve the job.

There really isn't any point in comparing american to european differences in the restaurant industry. It's culturally different. In my experience, US has alot more poor service, backwater establishments based on a gratuity system and those same type of establishments in europe get paid full wage and are just considered "locally unique". Mostly due to preconceived notions that shithole places in the US don't deserve tips.

People are naturally cheap and want to save money. If you don't feel pressured to tip then most people won't, even if the service is stellar. The "competitive system" can work backwards, if people always tip bad at an establishment then servers never want to work hard if they think they will still get the same shitty tip.

"Tip" in the US isn't really a tip. This is understood by anyone from here who isn't a complete idiot. As you can see on these forums, alot of people from the US are idiots.

Everyone quitting won't change it because that's like saying WELL IF EVERYONE STOPS USING WEAPONS THEN WE'LL HAVE WORLD PEACE. Bravo, retard.

Sure, you could just pay servers a proper wage, but people will still tip, cause it's cultural now. Then servers will just be making insane amounts of money for what they do.

I guess you could just say "HEY AMERICANS LETS STOP TIPPING!". Just like you could say "HEY EXTREME MUSLIMS STOP BEHEADING PEOPLE AND TELLING WOMEN THEY CAN'T DRIVE".

That shit works out real well. Bunch of mmo-champion geniuses in here.

[tiporispit]

Can anyone guess what I do to your pizza if you're a habitual stiffer? Anyone?

[Prokne]

Only way you could do that is maybe fast food. Food in general is more expensive in europe than the us. It's more at the grocer level. So I don't see how you could create parity for food costs.

The point is that if raw food and energy cost the same in Europe and the US, a European restaurant would be more expensive on the menu because a larger part of the price of the food goes to paying the server.

[steale]

Then they should be payed better, not guilt-trip me. By this logic, you should tip anyone with a shitty service job. But you don't, do you?

How many times have you directly been guilt-tripped by a server? I'd be willing to bet that as a percentage, it's less than 3.

[Paximus]

Then they should be payed better, not guilt-trip me. By this logic, you should tip anyone with a shitty service job. But you don't, do you?

Most shitty service jobs aren't paid at a level that expects the customers to pick up the other half of the wage.

Again, it's WRONG, but it's the system. STOP PUNISHING THE WORKERS FOR IT.

[Deleted]

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Z-qV9wVGb38
Dunno if its been posted

[Prokne]

That's fine, at least the customer is then paying for exactly what they're getting and looking at on the menu. Everything should be included in that price.

Its not hard to calculate what the price of your meal will be with tip and tax before you order. Sure its nice to have them added in but not tipping because you cant do math is a bad excuse.

If restaurants started adding mandatory 15% gratuity to everything people ordered(even if it was added into the price on the menu), people would get angry. Some people already get angry that large parties have mandatory gratuity since they take up most of the servers time and cant rely on someone else to tip them so they get paid decently.

[hellosaltygoodness]

i've been a waitress for three years. all i can really say about the matter is, if you don't tip, i just hope there's a lot of restaurants in your town so you don't have to visit any of them more than once. because the next time you come to the restaurant you didn't tip at, there's about a 70% chance something will have been done to your food. we do keep track amongst each other of who the non-tippers are.

[Deleted]

Most shitty service jobs aren't paid at a level that expects the customers to pick up the other half of the wage.

Again, it's WRONG, but it's the system. STOP PUNISHING THE WORKERS FOR IT.

Why should be helping people that aren't willing to help themselves?

They opt to work in that environment and do nothing for the betterment of their own working conditions or the working conditions of their colleagues and people to follow in their footsteps.

[Coldhearth]

Can anyone guess what I do to your pizza if you're a habitual stiffer? Anyone?

This guy isn't joking. I worked in food service for many years before getting some real life skills and moving on.

If you don't tip, don't bother going back to the same place again.

Not saying I agree with it whatsoever, but it's extremely common.

[Franzy]

Raise the prices of your cheap-ass take away food (And in-turn help your country be less fat) and use that to pay the employees a normal wage like other countries