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No tipping means better business

tastefulventures.com

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Re: No tipping means better business

#211

Post by misja111 »

bradleyankrom wrote: post #205

Anecdotal, but there's a supermarket chain in the Southeastern U.S. (Publix) that pays their employees a living wage, provides health coverage, and makes a point of letting the customer know that staff (even the folks that load your groceries into your car) doesn't accept tips. The food costs are a little bit higher than, say, Walmart, but closer to that end of the spectrum if Whole Foods is the opposite end. I don't…

I'm from Europe so I'm not very familiar with the tipping etiquette in the USA, but if I understand you properly, you're saying that in supermarkets like Walmart, people give tips to the personell? Like to the cashier?

That's quite a culture difference with Europe, here they would think that you were crazy if you would do such a thing ...

Re: No tipping means better business

#212

Post by vostok »

imron wrote: post #196
tjic wrote: post #184

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> When a person walks into a restaurant in the USA they can waive a $20 bill at a waitperson and say if you do what I want, and if I like you, and if I'm feeling generous, I might give you some of this. So you also dislike bonuses for white collar professionals? Because it's exactly the same thing.

No, because unlike a bonus, tips make up a significant portion of waitstaff's regular income. If they don't get their tips then maybe they don't make rent. It's a completely different situation than bonuses on top of a salary that already covers living expenses.

> No, because unlike a bonus, tips make up a significant portion of waitstaff's regular income.

Bonus makes up a significant portion of my regular income. I'm sure that's true for many other HN readers.

> It's a completely different situation than bonuses on top of a salary that already covers living expense.

In many cases, salary does not cover living expenses. In some instances bonuses can be 10x annual salary or more. Even if bonus is only 3x annual salary, you wouldn't say that salary covers living expenses as few people live on only 25% of their income.

Re: No tipping means better business

#213

Post by cmdrfred »

bradleyankrom wrote: post #205

Anecdotal, but there's a supermarket chain in the Southeastern U.S. (Publix) that pays their employees a living wage, provides health coverage, and makes a point of letting the customer know that staff (even the folks that load your groceries into your car) doesn't accept tips. The food costs are a little bit higher than, say, Walmart, but closer to that end of the spectrum if Whole Foods is the opposite end. I don't…

Id like to support businesses that pay their employees a living wage but as a consumer it is difficult to find that information. I'd like to see a sign in each store along the lines of "our lowest paid employee makes X/hr, has X days of paid vacation, and is eligible for health insurance" this might be something the market could correct for if the information asymmetry was removed.

Re: No tipping means better business

#214

Post by j2bax »

dalbasal wrote: post #164
ezoe wrote: post #58

As a person who was born and living in a country which has no tipping culture. The tipping sucks. I should have been fully informed how much should I have to pay before I purchase something or some service. Any extra demand from agreed amount should be illegal. I also don't want to waste my precious time on paying the tip for calculating tax. The worker's salary is a employer's responsibility. If the the worker becom…

I don't have strong opinions on tipping either way. Personally, I prefer a culture where tips are an optional extra in culture. You do it when pleasantly surprised. That's nothing more than an "i like it this way" though. That said, who says "the worker's salary is a employer's responsibility?" Monetary culture is ancient and emergent. It's culture. Complicated, organic, varied and local. That doesn't mean that we sh…

Is there a place where "tips are an optional extra"? It seems wherever I've been they are either expected or not expected/allowed...

Re: No tipping means better business

#215

Post by bradleyankrom »

misja111 wrote: post #211
bradleyankrom wrote: post #205

Anecdotal, but there's a supermarket chain in the Southeastern U.S. (Publix) that pays their employees a living wage, provides health coverage, and makes a point of letting the customer know that staff (even the folks that load your groceries into your car) doesn't accept tips. The food costs are a little bit higher than, say, Walmart, but closer to that end of the spectrum if Whole Foods is the opposite end. I don't…

I'm from Europe so I'm not very familiar with the tipping etiquette in the USA, but if I understand you properly, you're saying that in supermarkets like Walmart, people give tips to the personell? Like to the cashier? That's quite a culture difference with Europe, here they would think that you were crazy if you would do such a thing ...

No, sorry if I wasn't clear. I used Walmart as an example for low cost but their employees typically aren't tipped. There are other, smaller (local or regional chains) grocery stores where employees can accept tips, however.

Re: No tipping means better business

#216

Post by rbcgerard »

Jobs that have a high component of tip income, generally tend to be low wage (total comp), seasonal, have high turnover, employ younger workers (again, generally), and are transaction oriented.

With the above in mind it makes sense to use tipping to align enployees and management in a situation where management can't spend the time developing/micro managing its employees

You think the average teenage valet is going to run for your car on a hot day if there is no tip?

Re: No tipping means better business

#217

Post by aninhumer »

lefstathiou wrote: post #121
aninhumer wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Based on what I've seen in the US, tipping doesn't encourage good service, it encourages noticeable service. I'd rather be served by a slightly inattentive sullen teenager in the UK, than a perky waitress with a fake smile pestering me all the time in the US.

I respect that but find it to be a bizarre tradeoff I would never willingly make. I would pick the perky attentive waiter sporting a smile that neither you nor i know is fake over a sullen inattentive person anywhere. In fact, if someone is having a bad day, I actually appreciate the effort to make it better with a fake smile than imposing it on me with a bad attitude. I've experienced overbearing waiters and the sol…

> sporting a smile that neither you nor i know is fake

If it's not fake, they're doing a bad job showing it.

>the solution is as simple as politely asking for space. Nobody walks away from a moment like that feeling angry.

Not angry, but it is an awkward thing to request, and I'd rather not have to.

>I find that tipping for service establishes a more direct human bond between me (the recipient) and the person performing the service

I absolutely disagree with that. I find reliance on tipping creates an alienating subservient relationship. No one is going to be genuine when they're depending on my opinion of them for their pay that evening.

Re: No tipping means better business

#218

Post by maccard »

bluedino wrote: post #167
ezoe wrote: post #58

As a person who was born and living in a country which has no tipping culture. The tipping sucks. I should have been fully informed how much should I have to pay before I purchase something or some service. Any extra demand from agreed amount should be illegal. I also don't want to waste my precious time on paying the tip for calculating tax. The worker's salary is a employer's responsibility. If the the worker becom…

>> I also don't want to waste my precious time on paying the tip for calculating tax. 20% is an easy calculation. Move the decimal point over one, and double. $24.30 becomes $2.43, doubled you get $4.86 which is your tip. Round it up to $5 if you want. Did you really enjoy the service? Add another $2 or $3. Terrible waiter? Subtract $2 or $3.

> Terrible waiter? Subtract $2 or $3.

Really? Surely if they're a terrible waiter/terrible service, you shouldn't leave any tip.

Re: No tipping means better business

#219

Post by facepalm »

rbcgerard wrote: post #216

Jobs that have a high component of tip income, generally tend to be low wage (total comp), seasonal, have high turnover, employ younger workers (again, generally), and are transaction oriented. With the above in mind it makes sense to use tipping to align enployees and management in a situation where management can't spend the time developing/micro managing its employees You think the average teenage valet is going t…

If it is his job, he will run for the car. Otherwise he'll lose his job?

Re: No tipping means better business

#220

Post by dorfsmay »

Tipping is about the perception of social class and giving the buyer the perception of having power over others, by giving them a mini power-trip.

In no other circumstances is a unilateral and after the fact negotiation acceptable. Would YOU work for a variable salary with no clear criteria on what affect it, no guarantee of salary regardless of your skills an effort and for which studies have shown that the colour of your skin, your sex and the mood and social background of the customer has more effect on your salary than anything else?

If the service and the food is good, I tip 15% and go back for more and talk about it to everybody I know. If the service or the food is bad, I tip 15%, never go back, and let everybody I know, know about it.

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