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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

#121

Post by dqv »

qingcharles wrote: post #88
Karupan wrote: post #7

I 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.

I've lived here for a long time, but this stuff still gives me anxiety. I get you are supposed to tip in restaurants, but I'm unsure which other services need tipping. Is it required to tip, for instance, the HVAC repairman? Are you supposed to tip mechanics? Do native Americans have a spidey sense for which people need tipping that I just need to become sensitized to?

Any luxury service (consensus determines what a luxury is in this case, not the individual) that is personalized, intimate, and requires spending a lot of time with you would carry the expectation that you tip. HVAC is seen as a necessity in the US, the same with cars, and the same with medical care. Tipping wouldn't be expected in those instances.

The only situation where there is an unwritten expectation for a tip is at a sit-down restaurant with waitstaff and for food/grocery delivery. These are luxuries 99% of the time.

In all other cases that I know of, they will ask you outright if you want to tip. For example, when I get a haircut or a massage, they ask me explicitly if I want to tip, and, because it was a personalized, intimate, luxury service, I oblige. For simple walk-up services like coffee or take out, I wouldn't tip.

The only other times I tip are for exceptional service (e.g. in a fastfood drive through) or if it's a local business that I'm fond of.

Re: Tip pressure might work in the moment, but customers are less likely to return

#122

Post by MrHamburger »

the_snooze wrote: post #104
xscott wrote: post #6

The 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…

>This makes for an uncomfortable situation where I now have to ask the waiter or bartender if they receive this as a tip. I don't even ask. If it looks like a tip and is computed like a tip, it is one. How the owners and workers hash out their payment structure is none of my business as a customer.

Then it should not be a tip, but part of the price?

Re: Tip pressure might work in the moment, but customers are less likely to return

#124

Post by TheDong »

bdangubic wrote: post #84
TheDong wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Electricity and so on are already included independently of the payment method. Yes, the store should be charging enough to its customers that it can afford electricity, and if it can't afford electricity, it should increase its prices. It's not worth trying to account electricity use per-customer though, obviously, and it typically won't really vary by customer much anyway. Credit card fees on the other hand do vary…

none of this makes sense of course if you want electricity, you call electric company, turn it on and you get a bill for usage. you want the priviledge of using visa at your store, you call them and get it all setup and and then you get a bill for this. it is cost of doing business and you can’t pass that shit off to customers

What you're saying doesn't make sense.

If you run a cafe, and one customer orders an espresso and the other orders a latte, are you not allowed to charge them differently?

Buying milk to make lattes is also a cost of doing business, but it's a cost that is only driven by people who buy lattes, so you pass the cost of milk on to latte buying customers and not espresso buying ones, right?

Credit cards are the same as milk here, only people using them cost you money.

Should all foods and drinks in a restaurant cost the same because otherwise you're passing on the cost of buying ingredients and staff labor, i.e. "the cost of doing business" on to customers unevenly?

Re: Tip pressure might work in the moment, but customers are less likely to return

#125

Post by Two4 »

xscott wrote: post #6

The 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…

I don't get why the US doesn't have basic consumer protections, like products and services must be advertised at their total cost to consumer. Why not have supermarket prices marked with sales tax included? Why allow companies to advertise one price and charge another? Why is this not a voter issue?

Re: Tip pressure might work in the moment, but customers are less likely to return

#126

Post by xscott »

Two4 wrote: post #125
xscott wrote: post #6

The 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…

I don't get why the US doesn't have basic consumer protections, like products and services must be advertised at their total cost to consumer. Why not have supermarket prices marked with sales tax included? Why allow companies to advertise one price and charge another? Why is this not a voter issue?

As far as I can tell, it's a combination of corruption, mediocre education, and plentiful amounts of sugary foods and entertainment options (bread and circuses).

Re: Tip pressure might work in the moment, but customers are less likely to return

#128

Post by m463 »

Two4 wrote: post #125
xscott wrote: post #6

The 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…

I don't get why the US doesn't have basic consumer protections, like products and services must be advertised at their total cost to consumer. Why not have supermarket prices marked with sales tax included? Why allow companies to advertise one price and charge another? Why is this not a voter issue?

It seems to me that consumer protection strength changes on a 4-year cycle.

Re: Tip pressure might work in the moment, but customers are less likely to return

#129

Post by mhx1138 »

Two4 wrote: post #125
xscott wrote: post #6

The 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…

I don't get why the US doesn't have basic consumer protections, like products and services must be advertised at their total cost to consumer. Why not have supermarket prices marked with sales tax included? Why allow companies to advertise one price and charge another? Why is this not a voter issue?

That’s just another word for overreaching regulation.

Re: Tip pressure might work in the moment, but customers are less likely to return

#130

Post by cadamsau »

Two4 wrote: post #125
xscott wrote: post #6

The 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…

I don't get why the US doesn't have basic consumer protections, like products and services must be advertised at their total cost to consumer. Why not have supermarket prices marked with sales tax included? Why allow companies to advertise one price and charge another? Why is this not a voter issue?

There’s thousands of different tax regimes in the US - dozens to hundreds in every state, thanks to city taxes and the like. All businesses would need to advertise the right price everywhere. Doesn’t scale.

It’d be neat to see a campaign to popularize a term like “final price” or “all-in price”. It’d encourage the creation of products that always show the right price even as taxes change. And consumers would be empowered.

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