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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

#241

Post by barbariangrunge »

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…

I wish you would take cash. Every other method of payment gets tracked and is used to profile people

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

#242

Post by sarchertech »

adam_arthur wrote: post #222
tptacek wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which is generally what you want: for less price-sensitive customers to subsidize the more price-sensitive customers; see: any demand curve chart. Of course, raising prices is exactly what happens when you eliminate tipping. But prices are sticky; people react strongly to price increases. They can, to some extent, modulate their tipping behavior (from 25% down to 15%), but if all they can do is take or leave prices,…

Tipping is not about price sensitivity. On average, less price sensitive people will tip more, but there are no guarantees. Somebody who’s wealthy may still tip 20% over somebody who is less well off tipping 25% because they’re feeling charitable. Or, more commonly, some people don’t tip at all, even if they can afford it. Anybody who’s worked in food service has experienced this. You wont find anything close to a li…

Price sensitivity refers to how much the price of a good impacts someone’s willingness to buy it, not how wealthy they are.

A wealthy customer can be very price sensitive.

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

#243

Post by ergvgdvgrd »

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…

The rule I was taught growing up in USA was 15% and it was really only for sit down restaurants where waiters served you at your table.

Now, tipping in USA has metastasized, but I haven't changed. You want to play a guilt trip game after every business engagement? You'll lose against me. Tip for pouring a cup of drip coffee?---nah. Tip for making fast food? Nope. I will not enable the tip-everywhere culture.

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

#244

Post by Marsymars »

kylehotchkiss wrote: post #177
scrollaway wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So when you get bad service in the US, you don't tip? I've gotten bad service while traveling in the US - how can I not tip? Someone tell me, please, because when I'm paying it's usually before I even get the service and I'm already supposed to pre-pay a 20 percent tip or some such from a checkout prompt that doesn't always let me opt out. Or when it does let me opt out, it's in plain view of the staff, of course; in…

Growing up, i've been told leave at least 15%, or 10% if the service is atrocious, but never 0% if you plan on showing up to the same place again, or if anybody you know might find out. Being accused of tipping $0 is not generally something want to carry around with them

> Growing up, i've been told leave at least 15%, or 10% if the service is atrocious

This seems nuts to me - if the service is truly atrocious, to the point where it’s questionable whether the service I asked for was delivered at all, I’m going to refuse to pay at all.

If it’s run of the mill atrocious service and I want to prove a point via tipping, I’ll tip $0.01.

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

#245

Post by pj_mukh »

ramphastidae wrote: post #217
jacktribe wrote: post #182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cash will tie up an additional employee behind the counter. One of the reasons we are able to not accept tips and pay fair wages instead, is because we don't need a person at the register. And while you can use that person for other tasks when there is no one in line, they do need to glove up each time they may handle a food item. Also, in LA cash is a safety issue if you plan on staying open late when traffic is low…

It seems like promoting a fairer society is a priority for you, given your focus on paying fair wages. That’s great! Please consider extending that desire to serving people who do not have credit cards or bank accounts (or crypto …) Plenty of them exist and like coffee too.

This seems like one more problem of policing individual behavior instead of solving the infrastructure problem, by say, having the Post Office run a free bank for the under-banked [1].

[1]: https://www.fastcompany.com/90683033/the-post-office-is-fina...

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

#246

Post by godelski »

tptacek wrote: post #81
godelski wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd rather just increase the minimum wage. Why do this pick and choose thing? If the minimum is not enough then it isn't enough for __everyone__.

Servers in fine dining restaurants make much more than the minimum wage on tips. $25-$30/hr isn't a crazy high amount for a server to be making; $50-60k/yr is also a thing.

Sure, don't abolish tips, just make it not the norm. Or rather return the custom to fine dining. We're all just upset that we're being asked for tips at places like McDonalds or takeout. That's just a push back to feudalism

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

#247

Post by Swizec »

MuffinFlavored wrote: post #208
Swizec wrote: post #176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The customer wouldn't like that. I’m already paying that much. If you keep the same total price but put it on your menu instead of making it an end-of-meal surprise, that is much preferred thanks.

I used ChatGPT to help talk through this with me: > If the average waiter works a dinner shift from 5pm-11pm, waits on 40 customers during this shift, each customer has a check average of $40 and tips on average 20%, the waiter would walk with $320 in tips. > In this example, the total cost of labor for the waiter is $55/hr for 6 hours, which is $55*6 = $330. The total number of customers served during the shift is 4…

My argument is that I’m already paying $48.25 per check and don’t particularly care about the restaurant’s cost structure.

Passing wages (and in SF health care) onto me feels about as petty as an attorney adding “$5 for pens” into a $4000 invoice. I’m still sore about that 3 years later.

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

#248

Post by janalsncm »

godelski wrote: post #30

One thing I've never understood is the argument for tipping. It has always been "because servers are being paid less than minimum wage." Which the issue with that is that that varies state by state. Most west coast states do not have a separate tipped wage[0]. So the question is, why do we tip at all on the west coast[1]? Worse, it seems to be expanding and increasing in size[2] The followup argument is often "well t…

Yes, the effect of a tipped minimum wage is that until you make it up to minimum wage in tips, the tip makes no difference in your take home pay. It only makes a difference after that, and if it can be sustained on average over all hours worked.

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

#249

Post by jghn »

bscphil wrote: post #82
pirate787 wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I worry if I don't tip, they will vandalize my food. It's a hostage situation. I limit my use of the services because of it.

Most places allow you to give specific instructions to the driver. It's intended for things like "gate locked, text ### when you arrive" or something to that effect. But I bet you could say something like "will tip cash upon arrival" and it would have the intended effect, maybe even better than a tip in advance.

Drivers will avoid these as they interpret it “I’m going to stiff you”

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

#250

Post by tptacek »

godelski wrote: post #246
tptacek wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Servers in fine dining restaurants make much more than the minimum wage on tips. $25-$30/hr isn't a crazy high amount for a server to be making; $50-60k/yr is also a thing.

Sure, don't abolish tips, just make it not the norm. Or rather return the custom to fine dining. We're all just upset that we're being asked for tips at places like McDonalds or takeout. That's just a push back to feudalism

I don't think I've ever tipped at a fast food restaurant; even the fancy ones.

(I tip at coffee shops, of course.)

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