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No tipping means better business

tastefulventures.com

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Re: No tipping means better business

#481

Post by andrewflnr »

lostphilosopher wrote: post #336
vkjv wrote: post #261

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just an FYI, but if a tipped employee does not meet the minimum wage, the employer must make up the difference. https://webapps.dol.gov/elaws/faq/esa/flsa/002.htm

This idea of "making up the difference" comes up in every convo on tipping. The counter point is usually that it doesn't happen. (Debate ensues...) But even if it happened FOR SURE EVERY TIME. What an inefficient system! Rather than just paying the minimum wage up front, with predictable, projectable costs, businesses spend person hours on calculating tips, hours worked, per employee, etc. And then have to pay (poten…

  you can still try to earn a tip if you want to.
  But now it's more like a bonus, gravy
Isn't that where we started? I don't think that's stable. If some people get tips, the next tier of goodish servers is going to think they deserve tips, until you end up where we are now.

Re: No tipping means better business

#482

Post by oddlyaromatic »

angryasian wrote: post #461
demosito666 wrote: post #391

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is tipping somewhat mandatory in the US? Everywhere I've been it's up to the customer to decide if he wants to leave the tip. What if I won't leave tips?

some places will auto add tips to your bill, regardless of party size

If that's declared up front on their menu, I don't mind because I have the choice to not eat their if I'm not OK with that. I've never had to pay a service charge that I can recall on a small party. Usually over 6 or so.

Re: No tipping means better business

#483

Post by Johnny555 »

logfromblammo wrote: post #474
Johnny555 wrote: post #443

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If the manager has no idea whether or not the service warranted a 0% tip, then that's the problem right there. It's his job to know that.

My point was that if the service was bad enough to not leave a tip, complaining to the manager might result in you not paying for the food, either. You can demand that the bill be discounted or waived entirely (or that what you paid be refunded) if you didn't get what you were expecting. For instance, if you walk out of a movie because the sound was a half second out of sync and the picture was out of focus, you coul…

I don't care about getting comp'ed food (unless the order was obviously wrong and I was over charged), that's not going to make up for the 2 hours of wasted time. I'm not going to spend another 15 minutes waiting to talk to a manager while I "demand" that the bill be discounted or waived.

Fortunately, I live in an area where there is no end of new restaurants to explore, if I have bad service at one, then I just won't go back there. Problem solved (for me).

For the record, I've never tipped 0% (but have tipped only 10% for particularly bad service).

Re: No tipping means better business

#484

Post by [deleted] »

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #243

Maybe I'm ruining it for everyone, but when I've gone to New York's budding "no tip" restaurants, I've thrown a cash tip on the bill. Guess what happened next? I was asked my name, and the next times I went, I got seated faster, comped chef's recommendations and a generally friendlier interaction with my server. Same thing happens abroad, where the locals don't tip well. I don't understand how people get shocked by f…

[deleted]

Re: No tipping means better business

#485

Post by nommm-nommm »

cyberferret wrote: post #152
jay_kyburz wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Many years ago I was working in the US for a few months and went to get a haircut. I wondered why the guy looked at me strange when I suck my hand out for my change. It wasn't until I was back in my hotel room that realised I was probably supposed to tip.

Same experience on my first trip to the US. The taxi ride from airport to hotel was $12. I didnt have small notes on me as i had just changed my money, so i gave him a $20 note. I waited and he just looked at me incredulously and asked "What? Do you want CHANGE??". I apologised and said i forgot about the tip thing and perhaps he could just give me a couple of singles as change. I thought that basically 40% tip was a…

Cab drivers are notorious for "tipping themselves" (withholding some or all change unless explicitly asked for it).

Re: No tipping means better business

#486

Post by Retric »

vostok wrote: post #278
Retric wrote: post #273

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's just for tax avoidance, those 'bonuses' are mostly part of their contract.

> That's just for tax avoidance, those 'bonuses' Can you teach me how this tax avoidance works? It seems that I am missing out. Can you also specify the jurisdiction where this works? > mostly part of their contract I can think of many people whose bonuses are 3x or more their salary and who do not have a guaranteed minimum bonus or even a strict formula based bonus.

http://blog.turbotax.intuit.com/income-and-investments/bonus...

1. The Percentage Method

The IRS specifies a flat “supplemental rate” of 25%, meaning that any supplemental wages (including bonuses) should be taxed in that amount.

This works for bonuses up to 1 million.

> I can think of many people

Yes, there are plenty of idiots even in finance.

Re: No tipping means better business

#487

Post by nommm-nommm »

coldtea wrote: post #458
nommm-nommm wrote: post #388

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am from the US and I couldn't agree more. The whole fake niceness is just so draining on you to put up with all the time, day in and day out. You aren't my friend, I am just trying to get through my day.

> The whole fake niceness is just so draining on you to put up with all the time, day in and day out. You aren't my friend, I am just trying to get through my day. So, genuine unfriendliness (try France waiters) or rudeness (try a lot of Europe) is better?

Rudeness is cultural.

And yes I'd prefer whatever you consider "rude" that happens Europe, as I've never experienced anything near what I would consider rude in Europe. I'm looking to eat dinner not get a lap dance.

Admittedly, I've never been to France specifically.

Re: No tipping means better business

#488

Post by [deleted] »

anamoulous wrote: post #423
nolite wrote: post #381

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All of these things you describe, fall under what I consider "their job"

So assume that if they (and the back of the house, in the event of tip pooling) were paid a meaningful base wage it would have cost 20% more for the experience of dining at the restaurant. Do a calculation and add that to the check, because that's what you would be paying if we didn't have tip culture.

[deleted]

Re: No tipping means better business

#489

Post by logfromblammo »

dragonwriter wrote: post #468
logfromblammo wrote: post #357

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The standard tip for table service at a restaurant in the US is 15%.

There is considerable upward pressure on that, with many recommending an 18% or 20% norm (and restaurants themselves are actively part of this with the tip hints they provide on bills.)

And retail stores are now putting Christmas holiday items on sale before Halloween. At some point, you have to plant your feet, grit your teeth, and hold the m-f-ing line.

You can recommend 25% of the total if you want. Heck, recommend 40%. But as long as the restaurant business continues to operate with respect to employee pay in the same fashion that is has for decades, I will continue to consider 15% of the pre-tax total to be a reasonable tip for median-quality restaurant table service. If that ever becomes such a bad tip that servers can't be arsed to work for it, I guess I can pay higher percentages with proportionally higher service expectations. If you want me to tip 25%, you can bet your ass that if I so much as order a burger, I will be asking my server what the cow was named, how old it was at slaughter, and to identify the stockyard where it was finished. (Note: My grandfather actually asked one of those questions. At a diner.)

Of course, according to my brother-in-law, mine is "the most stubborn family that has ever lived". Recommending 18% on my bill is a great motivation for me to calculate exactly 15%, to the penny, instead of estimating and using the ceiling function to the next whole dollar. People like me are just one of the many reasons why tips are not now 80% or more of your bill, and why you can't yet buy Christmas decorations in the seasonal aisle of your local retailer on Memorial Day. You're welcome.~

Re: No tipping means better business

#490

Post by zip1234 »

rubidium wrote: post #265
zip1234 wrote: post #230

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would agree except for the fact that tips have been found to largely not correlate with performance. http://freakonomics.com/2012/12/28/do-we-really-tip-based-on...

That link doesn't provide any facts to back up your claim. As someone who has worked in the food industry, tipping is definitely correlated with performance (among a couple other obvious factors).

Yep, sorry about not good link. Here is better one: http://www.tippingresearch.com/uploads/managing_tips.pdf

Yes, there is a correlation, but it is extremely weak.

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