Live data from Hacker News

People no longer know how much to tip

wsj.com

131–140 of 186 posts

Re: People no longer know how much to tip

#131
post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

but the fear of them spitting in the food will always still be there

Choose to go somewhere else that doesn’t do that to you; if you vote with your feet, they will get the message

This is what I've done. There are a few restaurants that I've come across that have mandatory tipping, and I'll never go back. I don't think it's insensitive to believe that it is not the customers responsibility to pay for the employees.

Raise the prices, get rid of tipping, it will make everyone happier.

Re: People no longer know how much to tip

#132
post #24

Everyone on here is complaining about the tips, but I don’t see a way to break tipping culture. Are we going to keep ratcheting up tip percentages forever or is there a solution?

One way to do it is to pass a law for bidding asking for a tip on a debit or credit card charge. In other words, remove the tip line. If people want to tip, then they will have to tip in cash. Spinning around the screen is too easy and too manipulative.

Re: People no longer know how much to tip

#133

Pro tip: pay cash whenever you can. You can avoid a kiosk that asks you whether you want to tip 30%, 25%, or 20% for the $8 coffee you just bought and just throw some loose change in the jar.

As the government pushes us towards a cashless society. Australia is on the brink of going cashless, so your solution would not work.

Re: People no longer know how much to tip

#134

It can sound controversial, but can we please stop with tipping altogether? Leaving aside for a second the fact that now tipping is basically asked everywhere (even at automated machines) - as an European I consider it an extremely stupid trend. If you're "forced" to tip, then it's not a tip anymore. The concept of tipping, at least in Switzerland, has always been to show gratitude for an *exceptional* service. I tot…

> It can sound controversial, but can we please stop with tipping altogether? What does the average tip-receiving worker who isn't a bartender/waiter/waitress look like wage wise? Probably $14/hr base salary, get a split $20 worth of tips a night Say you work 6 hours a night. $104 -> $84 is like getting a 20% paycut. Reworded: > It can sound controversial, but can we cut all barista pay/takeout food baggers pay/etc.…

Just to be clear, someone in that situation does not get a 20% pay cut unless their employer is breaking the law.

What actually happens is that the $20 in tips per night is deducted from the minimum wage that your employer has to pay you. So the difference is in the immediacy of the funds, not the quantity—there is eventual replacement for everybody working minimum wage or lower, as the amount that employers are legally able to screw the person out of reduces.

Of course, immediacy is a poverty problem, the families in this situation are living paycheck to paycheck and cannot easily handle a couple paychecks that are 20% lighter. The same people who complain about tips are usually not people who want to expand social services and safety nets to allow that to change, so it's all a little bit of a complicated kerfuffle...

Re: People no longer know how much to tip

#135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I lived in Switzerland for 6 months and being originally from the US I tipped a server at a restaurant reflexively by leaving money on the table. The server picked it up and brought it back to me before I left and said “This is not necessary, I get paid to work here.” Being the typical clueless American I was stunned. But I learned over time that just as I would not tip my accountant, banker or lawyer - or plumber, c…

Where I live (New York), plumbers, carpenters, electricians and other contractors absolutely expect to be tipped. I’m not originally from the US, but I don’t get the impression that this is a new practice.

That is insane, I had not heard of that when I lived in NYC, but I also did not hire anyone to do that kind of work.

Re: People no longer know how much to tip

#136
post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't worry, you will stop feeling bad about it after it happens a few more times. You haven't done anything wrong.

It took me a few months to get over not tipping but my new rule is unless it's a sit down and food is brought, no tip.

Yep but include baristas

Re: People no longer know how much to tip

#137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

but the fear of them spitting in the food will always still be there

It's insane that we live in fear of retaliation for not giving a vendor more money while getting nothing in return.

don't ever fuck with the people who prepare your food

Re: People no longer know how much to tip

#138
post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't worry, you will stop feeling bad about it after it happens a few more times. You haven't done anything wrong.

It took me a few months to get over not tipping but my new rule is unless it's a sit down and food is brought, no tip.

I've gone back to that strategy as well, though I also give bartenders an extra dollar or two.

Re: People no longer know how much to tip

#139

Pro tip: pay cash whenever you can. You can avoid a kiosk that asks you whether you want to tip 30%, 25%, or 20% for the $8 coffee you just bought and just throw some loose change in the jar.

I am increasingly doing this as I have started to see "we are a cash-free business" signs; I don't want to lose the option of paying with cash, so I'm starting to exercise it more often.

Re: People no longer know how much to tip

#140
post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

but the fear of them spitting in the food will always still be there

Choose to go somewhere else that doesn’t do that to you; if you vote with your feet, they will get the message

This is the way. I recently got an oil change, and at the end I was prompted to tip with the default 20%. I changed it to zero - the person doing the work is certainly being paid market rates and well above minimum wage (even now, why do I feel the need to explain myself?!) and I’ll never go back to this chain.
Post reply on HN