Tip pressure might work in the moment, but customers are less likely to return
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Re: Tip pressure might work in the moment, but customers are less likely to return
#2Let’s have restaurants raise prices to cover employee salaries, and make it illegal for them to ask for tips. Customers who want to tip need to do so without solicitation. (Not sure how this would work with credit card terminals though).
Re: Tip pressure might work in the moment, but customers are less likely to return
#3Tipping is a tough problem: if you pay customer facing employees more, you'll need to raise prices. If your competitors still have a tipping expectation, their menu prices will be lower.
And let's be real, most customers aren't savvy enough to think about that ahead of time, which is why most restaurants that have attempting no-tipping systems in North America have failed (or reverted back to accepting tips).
There's also a segment of the population that enjoys the perceived power of holding a tip over an employee's head.
Re: Tip pressure might work in the moment, but customers are less likely to return
#4I'll never tip on those things if it's not your typical tipped position, like a bartender, waitress, etc. Pay your employees.
Re: Tip pressure might work in the moment, but customers are less likely to return
#5I'm more likely to pay cash at those type of businesses. As then there is no tip screen. And as the article states I have also avoided some businesses because they have them.
Re: Tip pressure might work in the moment, but customers are less likely to return
#6The other one I'm seeing lately is a semi-stealth "service charge" on the bill. Something like 18% to 20% added to the bill without really standing out. This used to be something they'd do for "larger parties", but now I'm seeing it even when I'm eating solo.
This makes for an uncomfortable situation where I now have to ask the waiter or bartender if they receive this as a tip. Then I need to decide if I want to tip something like 5% to 7% extra, which would be a good 25% tip in total, but looks like a crappy 5% tip.
So after dealing with that, I just don't go back to those pubs or restaurants.
There was one bar where the waitress told me she doesn't get that service charge. It just goes to the house. So if she was telling the truth, all of the prices on the menu are just a lie.
Re: Tip pressure might work in the moment, but customers are less likely to return
#7I dread the day I have to eat at US restaurants, or even get something delivered. Part of the reason is cultural: I’ve never lived in a country where a tip is mandatory and you’ll be called out if you don’t. The other reason being it involves a degree of social pressure and shame, if one doesn’t tip enough. Both don’t sit well with me.
But I can attest that if I’m forced to tip, I’ll not return to that establishment.
Re: Tip pressure might work in the moment, but customers are less likely to return
#8The worst service that I ever received was in France, where tips were mandatory and could not be varied. I've never been so offended at being asked to tip as when it was done by the smug jerk who had just arranged to make sure that I didn't enjoy my meal, and who knew that they would get their full cut of my unhappy experience.
I have no problem tipping in the moment. And sometimes for very different amounts than expected. But if you expect a tip and didn't earn it...?
Re: Tip pressure might work in the moment, but customers are less likely to return
#9I dread the day I have to eat at US restaurants, or even get something delivered. Part of the reason is cultural: I’ve never lived in a country where a tip is mandatory and you’ll be called out if you don’t. The other reason being it involves a degree of social pressure and shame, if one doesn’t tip enough. Both don’t sit well with me. But I can attest that if I’m forced to tip, I’ll not return to that establishment.
It's a broken system but it will never go away since tips are tax-advantaged (there's no sales tax on the tip).
The mental block can be helped a little by adding 1/3rd to all the menu prices as you read them.
Re: Tip pressure might work in the moment, but customers are less likely to return
#10Customers actually do have a way to retaliate against establishments they feel are abusive: leave a bad review. Businesses depend on the organic traffic they get from Google and Yelp listings, so sustained feedback against abusive tipping pressure will get noticed if people start to make a point to write reviews about it.