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SouthwestAirlines' Meltdown Shows How Corporations Pit Consumers Against Workers

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Re: SouthwestAirlines' Meltdown Shows How Corporations Pit Consumers Against Workers

#81

It’s the same with the tipping that seems almost everywhere these days. Instead of the workers being paid properly by the company the customer gets guilt tripped to tip and when you don’t tip the worker is angry at the customer, not the company.

The problem here is that workers now want to be "paid properly" (what ever that means) and still get tips. There have been restaurants have tried non-tipping models, consumers and staff both hate it. First the highly productive staff often make less under that model (where poor performers make more), consumers hate it because the menu prices increase, and you end up with McD's level customer service where drinks are…

I've heard these as talking points, often in a political context, but the opposite has been true in my experience. The places that have removed tips seem to be much happier on the whole.

I think as well something that would be concerning regarding the quality of service of the places that you're talking about that the quality of service depends upon how much money is being given, and less things that oftentimes help people perform on the job better (non-toxic environment, healthy egoless leadership, good colleagues, good company ethos and ethics, etc).

Obviously pay is important, it's a job after all, but people can't magic the willpower to perform well for money out of nowhere. I think that's up to the company to protect and foster that kind of a productive workplace where people can achieve their potential.

Re: SouthwestAirlines' Meltdown Shows How Corporations Pit Consumers Against Workers

#82

It’s the same with the tipping that seems almost everywhere these days. Instead of the workers being paid properly by the company the customer gets guilt tripped to tip and when you don’t tip the worker is angry at the customer, not the company.

Agreed. Not only is tipping a scourge but it doesn't even try to hide what it is, you paying the worker for doing the minimum. In a lot of apps/websites you have to enter a tip before any service is rendered and you have no option to change it later if the service is bad. For some services like Uber Eats/DoorDash I've heard that orders will just sit on a shelf because the tip isn't high enough to entice someone to "c…

>For some services like Uber Eats/DoorDash I've heard that orders will just sit on a shelf because the tip isn't high enough to entice someone to "claim" that order. Tipping is mandatory if you want to get your food in any reasonable timeframe.

Honestly this is great, for two reasons:

1. You're letting the market figure out the right price for delivery service at any given moment, which reduces deadweight loss. For instance, if you're price sensitive you can order during off-peak times to get a discount. On the other hand, if it's peak hours and you need food urgently (impatient kids?), you can be assured that your order arrives ASAP rather than 1 hour later.

2. It strengthens the case for DSPs treating their delivery workers as contractors, because the price isn't set by the DSP.

edit:

To be clear, I'm for having prices for delivery services be set by the market (ie. people who want food delivered can put in bids and delivery drivers can put in asks). I'm not for the current state of affairs where your order is "accepted" but you have to put in some indeterminate amount of tips to get it actually serviced.

Re: SouthwestAirlines' Meltdown Shows How Corporations Pit Consumers Against Workers

#83

> Southwest Airlines ticketing agents, cashiers at Nando’s Chicken, low-wage call center workers for Verizon overseas, become corporate sin eaters This is why it is a good idea to be nice to the people you deal with on the front lines, and write a very politely worded letter to the head of the department at the company you are dealing with, and potentially letters to their boss, and their boss, etc. Mail it, if possi…

How do I find the mailing addresses of the bosses? Actually how do I find the names of the bosses? Maybe from LinkedIn?

You don't need to. You address it to the corporate HQ and let the mail room deal with the proper routing within the organization.

For example, Southwest.

https://www.southwest.com/html/contact-us/index.html?clk=GFO...

    Write us
    Have extra stamps? Send us a letter.
    P.O. Box 36647-1CR
    Dallas, Texas 75235
And so:

    Manager - XYZ airport customer support
    c/o Southwest Airlines
    P.O. Box ...

Re: SouthwestAirlines' Meltdown Shows How Corporations Pit Consumers Against Workers

#84

It’s the same with the tipping that seems almost everywhere these days. Instead of the workers being paid properly by the company the customer gets guilt tripped to tip and when you don’t tip the worker is angry at the customer, not the company.

Agreed. Not only is tipping a scourge but it doesn't even try to hide what it is, you paying the worker for doing the minimum. In a lot of apps/websites you have to enter a tip before any service is rendered and you have no option to change it later if the service is bad. For some services like Uber Eats/DoorDash I've heard that orders will just sit on a shelf because the tip isn't high enough to entice someone to "c…

> For some services like Uber Eats/DoorDash I've heard that orders will just sit on a shelf because the tip isn't high enough to entice someone to "claim" that order. Tipping is mandatory if you want to get your food in any reasonable timeframe.

On the other hand, I was recently doing searches for "food near me" and the UberEats / DoorDash delivery fees were under $1.

I'm not really pleased that useful search results about what is where have been replaced by useless ads for UberEats, but there's no argument to be made that you're getting charged twice when you're asked to tip. As far as the pricing goes, delivery appears to be priced at "pay what you want".

Re: SouthwestAirlines' Meltdown Shows How Corporations Pit Consumers Against Workers

#85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Since you're quoting the part about QR codes for restaurants: I have had good experiences at bars and restaurants where I input my orders online whenever I want, perhaps multiple times throughout the meal, and the waitstaff bring them out promptly. I obviously don't have data, but it feels twice as fast since I never have to wave people down just to relay my orders. This isn't for everyone, and it's not for every sit…

I went to 2 different hot pot restaurants in the last 2 days with wildly different experiences. Both were "all you can eat" style, where you periodically ask for additional orders of meat and vegetables to add to the hot pot. The first had QR codes at the table, where you _must_ order using your phone. You cannot have multiple phones ordering at the same table at the same time. It hard-limited you to making orders on…

The all you can eat was not trying to save money on staffing. Slowing the ordering was the goal of the system. All you can eat is only profitable if people eat every little

Re: SouthwestAirlines' Meltdown Shows How Corporations Pit Consumers Against Workers

#86
The main thing Southwest's issues show is how quickly you can burn through consumer goodwill. For years their bread and butter was being the "We're not like the other airlines" airline, and now here we are. It's almost as though all that sophisticated brand theory was a load of hogwash the whole time.

Re: SouthwestAirlines' Meltdown Shows How Corporations Pit Consumers Against Workers

#88

> Southwest Airlines ticketing agents, cashiers at Nando’s Chicken, low-wage call center workers for Verizon overseas, become corporate sin eaters This is why it is a good idea to be nice to the people you deal with on the front lines, and write a very politely worded letter to the head of the department at the company you are dealing with, and potentially letters to their boss, and their boss, etc. Mail it, if possi…

> I am sure people here need no instruction on how to find the appropriate person in the corporate structure to contact with their concern.

Sounds like you live in a different world from most of us. In our world, complaining loudly on the Internet, whipping up an outrage is often the only way out; there are daily examples on this very forum.

Re: SouthwestAirlines' Meltdown Shows How Corporations Pit Consumers Against Workers

#89
post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know, I've had pretty bad service recently at places where you tip. I still top 20% out of guilt, but it might be that service in general is poorer now.

When did tipping 20% become standard in the US? I was talking to a colleague about this recently and they mentioned it but I could’ve sworn it used to be 15%

I don’t think it is just you- ten years ago I distinctly remember somewhere where the brand new POS tip screens used to have 10, 15 and 20 percent tip buttons; now I frequently see 15 20 25 or 20 25 30 as defaults on those screens when going out.

Re: SouthwestAirlines' Meltdown Shows How Corporations Pit Consumers Against Workers

#90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How does the customer know whether or not a worker is paid properly? It is none of their business, or responsibility.

If a business is pushing for tips (those dumbass Toast POS consoles that now often start tipping at 20% ), the workers are underpaid. Tipping is getting out of control, and businesses just need to pay more. Tipping is a stupid concept. Japan has the number three economy in the world and they'll refuse tips. Watch https://youtube.com/watch?v=V4sbYy0WdGQ&si=EnSIkaIECMiOmarE and tell me that he's wrong.

There are people trying to introduce tipping in Japan. https://tip-culture.com/ I hope they fail.
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