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No tipping means better business

tastefulventures.com

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Re: No tipping means better business

#341

Post by Jemmeh »

sharpplanar wrote: post #323
thoughtsimple wrote: post #267

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is almost certainly going to rarely happen. Almost no server feels empowered enough to insist on this. And restaurant owners will start insisting on collecting and counting cash tips so they can fully account for the wages. No server wants their boss counting their cash tips. At least in Massachusetts, declared tips is self reported.

I used to do accounting for a restaurant and I would disagree with you and say with the move to modern Point Of Sale software restaurants not doing this would be the exception now. We checked this every pay period to make sure servers were at or over the proper hourly wage because it is illegal to pay them less. Florida based for reference, tips are self reported here too but our POS system would automatically transf…

That's at a nice restaurant though. It's more common than you think that there are restaurants just using paper tickets. I think Waffle House still does paper checks only and that's a huge chain. And most mom and pop restaurants too.

I've waitressed before and when I was a little short of minimum wage several times due to us being a slow/cheap restaurant the management just said "Some weeks you make more some you make less" and didn't try to correct it. I couldn't risk loosing my job. Sure, if they fired me for reporting them they'd be in trouble, but how long would it take for me to get justice and force them to pay? I wouldn't be able to eat while I waited for some kind of justice to be doled out.

Re: No tipping means better business

#342

Post by makecheck »

Tipping is also extremely inconsistent in at least three ways.

One is the idea of a percentage: how does that make any sense? When I go out for a rare nice dinner and the tip alone ends up being $20 or so, I ask myself: did this person/restaurant really do any more than the server of the last entire meal that cost $20? Of course not, and yet somehow it would look weird to pay $40 for a $20 meal with tip, for the same service?

Another inconsistency is where to tip. Yes, tip at restaurants but what about the zillion other places that sometimes explicitly and often implicitly expect tips? Do we have to slip a dollar to just about everyone in case they expect a tip?

And finally, the inconsistency in who tips. Sometimes I tip generously because I assume there will be other people who just don’t tip at all, or tip poorly, and I feel some obligation to balance the pot. I don’t know why, it just seems like the right thing.

It would make a lot more sense to end all these charades and just show exact prices. (While we’re at it, let’s make sure utility companies do the same, up front, no fees.)

Re: No tipping means better business

#343

Post by awinder »

srinathrajaram wrote: post #73
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…

>The worker's salary is a employer's responsibility. If the the worker become underpaid without the tipping, then the worker is underpaid by the employer. This! Tipping is nothing but the employer passing the buck and guilting the customer.

It's more insidious than that, since cash tips are self-reported income, it's also a great way to shield income from the IRS and reduce taxable income

Re: No tipping means better business

#344

Post by mrob »

massysett wrote: post #119
Symbiote wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which other services would you introduce tipping to? Fast food? Buying shoes? Car wash? Repairing plumbing? Fixing a computer? I don't see why eating in a restaurant should need extra incentives to the waiters, when we expect good service without tips elsewhere.

Some of those already have incentives: commission. Tipping is not much different.

Commission is different because it's included in the price and the customer gets no say in it.

Re: No tipping means better business

#345

Post by Jemmeh »

branchless wrote: post #310
grecy wrote: post #181

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Worse still, tipping is merely a way of keeping class hierarchies, and it's disgusting. 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. Of course, they might not too. Labor laws, minimum wage, etc are all there to make this illegal in a work contract, and it should b…

I've not read this second one yet but the first was very good: http://prole.info/ Abolish restaurants. Might be interesting to you to give it a chance. I was thinking the other day that the 1800 world of servants living upstairs/downstairs has been replaced by privatised slaves who have no job security, no guarantee of lodging and nothing other than temporary masters. The situation we have right now is demeaning, the…

Honestly not trying to be rude, but is this satire?

The job is demeaning because it's made to be so. Cooking in and of itself isn't demeaning. I love to bake. I don't love to bake and be treated like crap and get paid like crap and have no financial security.

Re: No tipping means better business

#346

Post by logfromblammo »

maccard wrote: post #218
bluedino wrote: post #167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> 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.

If you plan on leaving a $0 tip, you'd better complain to the manager first.

Re: No tipping means better business

#347

Post by return0 »

illumin8 wrote: post #304
return0 wrote: post #270

Tip to americans: tipping is ultra-confusing to foreign visitors. But you dont depend on tourism so you dont see it. Its an arduous procedure and the amount changes from state to state. It leads to a lot of misunderstanding. The service is good , leaning on overbearing sometimes, but overall i think its more hassle than benefit.

It's not that hard, and doesn't vary from state to state. I agree, we would be better off if we did away with it, but it's very easy to understand. Whenever you eat in a sit-down, full service restaurant, you typically want to leave 15-20% of the full purchase price of the food as a tip. Don't feel obligated to do this at fast food restaurants or anywhere where you get the food at the counter. It's not that hard to r…

It varies, 15% in california would be considered low, and you would never know why the waiter made that weird face. It is weird in taxis. And what is the proper etiquette in a bar? And what kind of bar? A bellboy?

More generally, however, a 'tip' is supposed to be an arbitrary amount out of someone's good heart. The fact that it is a preset amount, and you need a calculator, is weird and time-consuming. Again, it may not look so from the inside. My assumption is that it's a relic from a time when workers were uneducated and by default rude. It really seems like an ancient thing nowadays.

Re: No tipping means better business

#348

Post by pavanred »

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…

Some online services (e.g. Doordash) which ask you to pay a tip upfront even before the service irrespective of the quality. And, the default option is pre-selected to 15% of the cost on the checkout page. This after a specified delivery charge, and some "fees" bundled along with taxes etc.

And I read articles about how companies like Doordash are not making profits and are riding on VC money. It is just passing the buck onto the customers to keep their uneconomical business models afloat.

Re: No tipping means better business

#349

Post by return0 »

oddlyaromatic wrote: post #238

Here's a pickle: I agree with the direction of this article, but I don't agree with most of the individual points and statements. I think the expectation of tipping in the US is in general a bad thing, but has enough upsides for business owners and some higher-earning servers (and even some customers) that it will be hard to dislodge. I also think the incentive for any business to change is probably not as high as th…

> has enough upsides for business owners and some higher-earning servers

You don't need to mandate tips from everyone and their brother to do it. High-earning servers who serve the specialty needs of the rich will always earn their high tips. It's the fact that it's expected from everyone that's annoying.

Re: No tipping means better business

#350

Post by sharpplanar »

Jemmeh wrote: post #341
sharpplanar wrote: post #323

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I used to do accounting for a restaurant and I would disagree with you and say with the move to modern Point Of Sale software restaurants not doing this would be the exception now. We checked this every pay period to make sure servers were at or over the proper hourly wage because it is illegal to pay them less. Florida based for reference, tips are self reported here too but our POS system would automatically transf…

That's at a nice restaurant though. It's more common than you think that there are restaurants just using paper tickets. I think Waffle House still does paper checks only and that's a huge chain. And most mom and pop restaurants too. I've waitressed before and when I was a little short of minimum wage several times due to us being a slow/cheap restaurant the management just said "Some weeks you make more some you mak…

That is an unfortunate position, and I doubt you are the only one to have experienced that. I was personally employed at a place that didn't pay overtime, that is why I was aware of the DOL as a tool. One of the other employees called to try to get an investigation going and shared it with us. The owners never knew.
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