Really bad practice. Prices should be flat without any expected extra payments and workers should be paid fair wages.
Tipping: How Gratuity Replaced Fair Wages in U.S. Restaurants
11–20 of 150 posts
Re: Tipping: How Gratuity Replaced Fair Wages in U.S. Restaurants
#12(deleted)
You can just not tip. If you feel guilty, give the amount you save to any of the effective charities suggested by GiveWell.
Re: Tipping: How Gratuity Replaced Fair Wages in U.S. Restaurants
#13The service in most American restaurants isn't good; it is obsequious. It is disturbing how many Americans don't notice this.
Still better than being ignored like eg can often happen in German restaurants.
Re: Tipping: How Gratuity Replaced Fair Wages in U.S. Restaurants
#14As a European, I can safely say that tipping in American restaurants is one of the most unusual things I remember about America. The amount of tips is huge and they are demanded of you everywhere
Re: Tipping: How Gratuity Replaced Fair Wages in U.S. Restaurants
#151) I want all restaurant workers to just get a fair proper wage... 2) So that tipping is no longer subsidizing the restaurant owners. 3) Also, FFS, when demand is inelastic, the only way to lower prices is MORE SUPPLY (where it's needed). Build the housing, do not stop, just keep going until after we all die.
Tipping doesn't subsidize the restaurant owners.
I'm guessing they mean that without tipping, more of the restaurant's revenue would go towards wages.
Re: Tipping: How Gratuity Replaced Fair Wages in U.S. Restaurants
#16(deleted)
To be fair, tipping on top of sales tax never made sense. Tip is always calculated from a pre-tax amount. And somehow the tip percentage has gone up - when I was young 15% was the norm. Precovid it was 18%. Now it’s 20%? Why is this being inflated? The prices have already gone up, so even at 15% the tip has ballooned.
I also don’t understand why we have to tip waitstaff that is paid minimum wage - places like WA, CA, etc cannot have wage that is lower than the state minimum wage.
I’ve worked many a retail job and have had to deal with rude customers, clean up after their mess, etc. Why pay more just because someone told me what the special is and brought me the food? Isn’t that what their job is?
I don’t understand it and I just don’t eat at sit down places anymore. Take out, counter service, or bust.
Re: Tipping: How Gratuity Replaced Fair Wages in U.S. Restaurants
#17As a European, I can safely say that tipping in American restaurants is one of the most unusual things I remember about America. The amount of tips is huge and they are demanded of you everywhere
Correct. They are demanded of you everywhere.
Re: Tipping: How Gratuity Replaced Fair Wages in U.S. Restaurants
#18I hate tipping. The last think I want to do after eating is math. And don’t get me started on the inefficient payment ritual we have to endure: flag down the waiter for the check, wait for the check, wait for them to take your cc, wait for them to ring it up and bring it back, then do some math. Unnecessary.
That said, minimum wage is minimum wage. If an employee doesn’t make that up in tips, the law is that the restaurant needs to make up the difference. So it’s a complete non sequitur that $2/hour isn’t a living wage.
If that isn’t happening, the article is burying the lede: the problem isn’t tipping, it’s rampant wage theft. And I don’t need the complete history of tipping to know that wage theft is bad.
Re: Tipping: How Gratuity Replaced Fair Wages in U.S. Restaurants
#19Re: Tipping: How Gratuity Replaced Fair Wages in U.S. Restaurants
#20I hate tipping. The last think I want to do after eating is math. And don’t get me started on the inefficient payment ritual we have to endure: flag down the waiter for the check, wait for the check, wait for them to take your cc, wait for them to ring it up and bring it back, then do some math. Unnecessary. That said, minimum wage is minimum wage. If an employee doesn’t make that up in tips, the law is that the rest…
Servers at a lot of restaurants don't expect to make minimum wage, so don't let "the owners will have have to true comp up to minimum wage" function as an excuse not to tip. If you don't want to tip, don't dine at full-service restaurants in America.