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As 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
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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,…
That's a bit funny. Why doesn't it make sense? There is no meaningful relationship between the amount you spend, fixed brackets like 15%, 20%, 30% etc, and the job the waiter did bringing you the food. It's all made up and unnecessary. You can be expected to pay it before taxes, after taxes, 0%, 80%, only for desserts, only on your birthday... It's completely arbitrary.
And most importantly, set the percentage limit to 50%, so owner would have to raise menu price by 100% if they want to simply offset it.
This way, customer don't feel like they are paying twice, the service team still get tips to supplement their lower income.
Of course the restaurant owners won't agree to this because now they are the ones subsidizing the waiter's salary instead of the customers. Just like it should have been.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Usually 2 weeks.
Thanks. Does this basically mean that waiters are entirely free for restaurants and cafes (as I doubt any fails to reach the minimum wage in tips)?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Thanks. Does this basically mean that waiters are entirely free for restaurants and cafes (as I doubt any fails to reach the minimum wage in tips)?
The $2.13 they mentioned is the minimum hourly rate the restaurant has to pay in that circumstance (federally, it varies by state)
I 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…
An employer only needs to pay more if tips don’t make up minimum wage over the pay period. So that 2x 30 mins every shift spent cleaning is paid at $2.13 an hour
Put another way, if a waiter gets zero tips their pay calculation reduces to what a fast food worker makes.
Since I suffer from PTSD, it has been very difficult for me to discern when I was receiving bad service, disrespect, outright contempt from "the help" because of who I am or what I look like, or what my name/address was. I really just put up with it every day, as an unavoidable fact of life.
And it really came to a head during the pandemic; I was using GrubHub extensively and they were systematically stealing my drinks. I'd order one drink--missing. I'd order two drinks--missing. I was having a meltdown during each reimbursement call, 3 times a day every day!
And my friend counseled me that perhaps I just shouldn't return my business to a place that treats me like that. And I was like, hmm, could it be that easy?
And I began to test it--I switched to DoorDash and they've been fair and honest every day.
I began returning to restaurants where I had noticed they smiled to me and treated me kindly, like a human being. And the difference was amazing.
Of course this worked out to mostly Catholic proprietors around town, whether Italian, Vietnamese, many Latino-run kitchens, whatever.
And yes, "obsequious" sort of describes the experience sometimes. They really do value my business, especially at the struggling Irish Pub downtown, or when I pay cash to the elderly Vietnamese lady on borrowed time in the dilapidated shopping center.
I can still sort of put up with thinly veiled hate when I walk into a really basic fast-food joint. But I've really curtailed my explorations of new restaurants.
And I feel much better tipping the drivers and the waitresses who really do give me good service, and you know, treat me as a human person. I had begun to think it just wasn't possible.
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As a European have you noticed a recent increase in tipping in Europe as well? In Switzerland a lot of the restaurants that have moved to tablets for payment, and the payment screen pops up a "suggested tip" window with a few options. They might be a bit lower than the standard American tips but it's still there and it never was before.
I think it's software is made with the American market in mind. And local businesses use it as is and profit.
There's no custom of tipping that much at any of these places, but I feel cheap just clicking the lowest (no tip) of 4 options. Maybe all the time I've lived in the US plays a role here but it seems like it might just be the decoy effect [1] applied to tipping. It will be interesting to see if consumers see this as a dark pattern and push back.
I 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…