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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

#311

Post by [deleted] »

taberiand wrote: post #284
dumpsterdiver wrote: post #253

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Also, some customers seem to think that the screen froze at the very end because it didn't ask for a tip. Haha, I think that's totally reasonable of them. As a consumer I would appreciate a notification informing me that I couldn't tip, no matter how much I thought they deserved it. Edit: I wanted to add that there are a lot of places we're not expected to tip at whose employees deserve it just as much as the ones…

Maybe a section on the payment page for adding a tip with a single radio button already selected, titled "No tip required, we pay our servers well"

[deleted]

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

#312

Post by maerF0x0 »

tptacek wrote: post #76
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…

Tipping is a system in which customers explicitly, optionally, and variably share some of the cost of labor. It has the features of allowing individual patrons to modulate the labor subsidy they provide, based on their current price sensitivity, the value they place on warm fuzzies (don't dismiss this!), the relationship they want to build with the business, and the service they perceive themselves to be getting. You…

It also allows game players to simply avoid tipping entirely, thereby getting a much cheaper set of good across all of the places that take tips.

Reinvest the savings and get rich off the stupidity of the system. Belligerence seems to be the only way to fix the system.

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

#313

Post by xyzelement »

I personally love tipping. When you can tell that someone actually makes a real effort to take care of the customer and do their job well, there's nothing better than being able to make their day (or at least, make it better and show your appreciation) by going above and beyond.

Most of the situations in which you tip are already signs of you not being too frugal. If you are eating in a restaurant, buying coffee out, valeting your car - you are not penny pinching so you can give someone a few extra bucks without breaking your bank.

Of course you have to be culturally sensitive. In the US tipping is expected and appreciated. Other cultures don't expect it and would think it's rude.

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

#314

Post by maerF0x0 »

moomoo11 wrote: post #186
kylehotchkiss wrote: post #178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here's a tip: report this to the department of public health!

Sure, but this is an isolated incident. I don't want to attribute to malice what could have been a total accident that day, maybe the kitchen was just busy. However, it was coincidental that it happened at a time when I didn't tip. I'll keep that in mind for next time though if it ever happens again! Now I kind of want to do a social experiment.. go to a restaurant like 4-5 times and then don't tip once to see what h…

Malice or not, a trend is found by data. Report it, if it's one off it's fine, if it's not it's a trend.

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

#315

Post by Analemma_ »

expensive_news wrote: post #275
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…

Somewhat of a meta-comment but I’m shocked at how many people are complaining about you not taking cash. Has anyone ever walked out of your coffee shop because they only had cash on them? I can’t remember the last time I paid or even saw someone pay cash for anything.

Remember: this is HN, where the bubble effect is strong. On Hacker News, everybody "knows" that Google Search is useless these days and that Amazon results are all counterfeit junk, even though in the real world I have never heard anyone bring this up and these services are still incredibly popular. It's the same thing with cash: I don't think I've seen anyone pay with cash in years. Even the old people at the grocery store use chip-and-PIN cards.

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

#316

Post by tptacek »

maerF0x0 wrote: post #312
tptacek wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tipping is a system in which customers explicitly, optionally, and variably share some of the cost of labor. It has the features of allowing individual patrons to modulate the labor subsidy they provide, based on their current price sensitivity, the value they place on warm fuzzies (don't dismiss this!), the relationship they want to build with the business, and the service they perceive themselves to be getting. You…

It also allows game players to simply avoid tipping entirely, thereby getting a much cheaper set of good across all of the places that take tips. Reinvest the savings and get rich off the stupidity of the system. Belligerence seems to be the only way to fix the system.

https://www.amazon.com/How-Win-Friends-Influence-People/dp/0...

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

#317

Post by maerF0x0 »

johnp314 wrote: post #171

A few years back I attended the RSA Conference in San Francisco and stayed at an AirBnB in Haight-Ashbury district. I discovered a nearby restaurant, Zazie, that advertised on their web site they were "proud to be tip free" so I tried it. I had dinner there more than once over my week stay in SF and it was so nice to get a credit card receipt with no space for tip and a reminder from the server that no tip was wanted…

And the advantage of no tips is a-holes like me cant game the system for a 20% discount.

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

#318

Post by dyno12345 »

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…

the short answer is for wait service it's customary. this thing where you're now being asked to tip 20%+ for any product or service as long as there's a touchscreen POS terminal is the new thing everyone is getting rankled about.

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

#319

Post by koala_man »

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…

I used to round up back in Europe, but after living in the US for a while I never tip anywhere else. I don't want this cancer to spread.

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

#320

Post by tptacek »

lxgr wrote: post #303
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…

> Servers have competing incentives: to serve the interests of customers (better service) or the business (reduce ongoing costs). Tipping shifts the incentives around. If that were true, we'd empirically be able to observe better service in countries with a tipping culture than in those without. In my experience, that is not the case at all.

I don't want to start a nationalist flame war here, but: you and I should agree to disagree on this one. (Austria was lovely, though, from one end to the other.)

It is not, for what it's worth, my contention that tipping is the only way restaurants can work, or even the best one; only that it is a rational system.

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