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Is tipping getting out of control? Many consumers say yes

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Re: Is tipping getting out of control? Many consumers say yes

#191

Post by JimtheCoder »

jmugan wrote: post #187
JimtheCoder wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Am Canadian, can confirm... I do wish there was a way to tip the drivers who deliver my Amazon Prime stuff, though. I don't want to tip someone who presses a few buttons on a screen to take my food order, that they usually mess up and sometimes add on a free side of bad attitude. I would like an easy way to tip the guy who is trudging through the snow to deliver my 2KG jar of peanut butter at 9:30pm in January. I lik…

Wouldn't that just continue to expand a bad practice? If drivers got tips, Amazon would lower their wages, and we'd just have another domain where we have to make extra decisions.

This may be true, but my calculus in this situation was limited to "Guy came through deep snow at 9:30pm to deliver peanut butter...he deserves some money, I have some money, I would like a simple and effective way to transfer it to him."

(Note: I was not home when the delivery was made...)

Re: Is tipping getting out of control? Many consumers say yes

#192

Post by acdha »

purpleblue wrote: post #124
zzzeek wrote: post #71

I can't believe these comments, what is wrong with you people? if you are a highly paid technology worker, when you go to service establishments where people are working hourly and are desperate to work 40-50 hour weeks just to pay their rent and feed their kids, you *tip*. *generously*. the US has an insanely out of control income inequality issue that is very intractible and structural. If you are so fortunate as t…

No. Workers should be paid a fair wage and all prices should be transparent. As well, different types of work deserve different types of pay. End of story. Your "oh these poor, hopeless blue collar workers that desperately need our help" is just your own classism, looking down on them and making you feel better about yourself by thinking you're helping them survive, like small swimmer fish eating the leftover from th…

Note the “for the moment” part in the comment you’re replying to. Until we have successfully voted in fair wages and robust enforcement, those workers are depending on tips to get by.

Re: Is tipping getting out of control? Many consumers say yes

#193

Post by hotpotamus »

bilsbie wrote: post #150
jacktribe wrote: post #99

I've just opened a coffee shop in Los Angeles last month, and we don't take tips. We only use self-ordering iPads (I've custom coded an iOS app w/ Stripe Terminal for it), and we don't accept cash either. We've had a few customers baffled by the no-tipping policy, and still insisting that they leave a tip. Some even left cash on the counter or on the table. We had to chase a few of them down to return their money. Al…

We had a no tipping restaurant we used to go to and the service was reliably terrible. Hopefully the rating system will work but I’d say you do need some kind of system. On the other hand Chick-fil-A is able to make their employees act friendly. I wonder how they do it. Finally I do wish you’d accept cash just for people that want to preserve their privacy.

I actually say this virtually snark free, but I've always thought of Chick-fil-A as a Christian religious group that happens to run a chicken sandwich restaurant. I've certainly had lots of experience eating their food and talking to the employees and a few owners. I suspect that's part of the atmosphere.

Re: Is tipping getting out of control? Many consumers say yes

#194

Post by barbazoo »

Jedd wrote: post #113

One Australian's anecdata follows. I hate tipping. It's an unwanted cognitive intrusion with no upside for me whatsoever. It also reflects a broken (wage / reward) system, and obviously my preference is they fix that . In Australia I may tip - iff the service is really good. And only at sit-down / eat-in restaurants. Cafes, cabs, ubers, couriers, hotels, etc - these are not tipping places. If I'm tipping at a restaur…

It's very reasonable to apply this mindset to North America and you don't have to feel bad about it either.

Re: Is tipping getting out of control? Many consumers say yes

#195

Post by barbazoo »

delta_p_delta_x wrote: post #134
plantwallshoe wrote: post #8

I’ve implemented a personal policy to make it easier for myself and reduce bias: Full waiter experience (seated, handed menu, food brought to table, plate cleared) gets 20%. If the level of service is less than that, the percentage starts to go down proportionally. Counter service is flat-rate $1 per person served. This is the same every time regardless of quality of service (unless something truly malicious happens,…

> Full waiter experience (seated, handed menu, food brought to table, plate cleared) gets 20%. I don't understand this. Why do you Americans tip for this? Isn't being seated, handed a menu, food brought to the table , and plates being cleared part of a waiter's job? Why does the customer have to 'reward' waiters for doing 'a good job'? Why do restaurants not just drop a flat 10% service/cover charge (it's 10% where I…

I think that would be considered socialism /s

Re: Is tipping getting out of control? Many consumers say yes

#197

Post by s1artibartfast »

notfromhere wrote: post #88
boomchinolo78 wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What? Who is harmed? Are we to pretend all waiters do an equally good job? Good service gets good tips, bad service, not good. It's just an incentive system. The only reason it starts to breakdown is because there are really cheap people out there who will skimp on the tip and then complain when waiters treat them like shit. If you are a regular at a place and you tip well, they'll spoil you.

Should we tip doctors then? Surgeons? Software developers? Are we to pretend all professions do an equally good job?

Here is a free tip for you: you can tip your Healthcare workers. If you have a family member in the hospital, bring some homemade cookies or treats for the staff. I can't prove that it helps, but I am confident it does.

Re: Is tipping getting out of control? Many consumers say yes

#198

Post by s1artibartfast »

purpleblue wrote: post #92
boomchinolo78 wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What? Who is harmed? Are we to pretend all waiters do an equally good job? Good service gets good tips, bad service, not good. It's just an incentive system. The only reason it starts to breakdown is because there are really cheap people out there who will skimp on the tip and then complain when waiters treat them like shit. If you are a regular at a place and you tip well, they'll spoil you.

Most places in the world do not have tipping. The US has tipping because for some reason, the law allows restaurants to pay below minimum wage. I think that tipping should be outlawed and waiters should be paid a wage supported by the market, at least whatever minimum wage is (in California, that's $15.50/hr).

I would argue that most places in the world do have tipping, it just manifests differently.

Re: Is tipping getting out of control? Many consumers say yes

#199

Post by pclmulqdq »

tptacek wrote: post #59
pclmulqdq wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And so should the tips. It makes no sense to tip someone who just hands you something from behind a counter.

That's my point: as the price declines, so too does the amount you pay in tips.

I also think the proportion of the tip should decline. They are doing a lot less work to give you the food, disproportionate with the small decrease in cost.

Re: Is tipping getting out of control? Many consumers say yes

#200

Post by tptacek »

Volundr wrote: post #154
tptacek wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When I pay people to perform services for me, I don't operate under the illusion that we've become friends. I go to my favorite restaurant in Chicago and get brought a couple dishes on the house as soon as we're seated --- that's not because we're friends, it's because I've built a business relationship with the restaurant (and its servers). It's exactly the same dynamic as exists for airline customers who pay up for…

> It costs time, effort, and money to provide better service, so I'm not from where you get the moral dimension of having to buy them. They have a cost; of course you have to buy them. It's an odd industry where you perform a service, then hope your customer decides to pay you for it.

Variable compensation is widespread across all sorts of industries; tipping is just one (limited) flavor of it.
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