show_me_the_points

I cant understand why a simple job of serving food has to be complicated by tipping? I can hardly recall any instance where a waiter served food "incorrectly " and did not earn their 15% tip. I am sure you have your horror stories, but these are the exception, not the rule.

Why can't restaurant owners pay waiters a decent hourly wage and pass the cost onto the customer?

By the way, I just returned from a month trip to the Far East, where there is no tipping. Much more enjoyable dining experience in my opinion!
Receive bill , pay it then leave. No mental arithmetic to determine whether this waiter deserved 12%, 16% or 18.5% tip based on how precisely they served your food. I can't imagine anyone who enjoys doing this! Then you have to constantly worry if the waiter hates you because you only tipped them 13% instead of the usual 15%.

All it would take is some big chain restaurant to abolish it and all others would follow suit. Can you imagine the buzz/hype it would create for the first restaurant to do so?

Italy98

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry8310/4.5.0.110 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/102)

How can we get everyone to like hot and humid weather? There will be one group who will agree to a certain % automatically added to the bill while another group wants to determine themselves how much, if anything, to leave. All in favor of four seasons . . .

sonofzeus

Old Country Buffet is your friend.

cordelli

I would think one reason is the size of the party. Why should a waiter make the same for serving a party of 8 as he does serving a party of two? Both are in the restaurant about the same amount of time.

The other reason of course, if they did that they would have to raise the cost of the food to cover the meals. People wouldn't like that. For whatever reason, they don't look at a restaurant as the total cost to get out the door, they look at the cost of the entrees.

show_me_the_points

With a flat hourly rate, these are all included. So the owner needs to have a good feel for how much the average work is at their place and pay accordingly.

If all restaurants abolished tipping then this would not be an issue. But you are right it is an issue if only some restaurants do it and not others. On the other hand, only frugal/cheap type of people look at menu prices. These are the type who would appreciate not having to tip.

Paolo01

Tipping in America is a calculated portion of Waiter and Staff compensation, written into our labor laws. That is why waiters are not required to earn minimum wage (in most states).

I have always laughed at the 'it's too hard to calculate' argument. Really? Middle School math still throws stumbling blocks into your daily life.

I think that we would find that if we abolished tipping and required a minimum wage to be paid, that the demographics of waiters would change. Also the ability to find employment would change, for the worse.

Finally, tipping (in my mind) should never be used as some sort of illustration of how much you did not like something. If you did not like it, tell the manager. but leaving a few pennies or turning into 'Mr. Pink' does not do anything except make you look petty.

Fredd

Now there's a good tip for the OP.

rjque

This made me laugh. If those who look at menu prices are "frugal/cheap," what do you call the 1% of the population who does not look at prices?

Showbizguru

Tipping should be a reward for GOOD service and not simply perfunctory. If you get rid of tipping then service will deteriorate.

I can see that this is much more of a problem in the UK than the US where service is normally excellent.

I still think there is a residual class stigma about people " serving " in Britain and even in top-flight restaurants service can be quite appalling. The problem is there is also still a reluctance among people to complain.

If I receive bad service in a restaurant I will insist the manager remove the service charge from the bill - likewise I will always cause a scene if a tipping line is left blank on a bill in addition to the service charge already added.

My family used to get embarrassed by it - now they make sure they have a full drink at the end of a bad meal so they can sit back and enjoy the fun.

airport_monkey

I stopped tipping for bad service. Like waiting too long to order. Thats my biggest pet peeve. I dont decrease tip if the food came out cook wrong, but I will if it has for example, tomatoes when I said no tomatoes. I think the waiter should look at the food before they bring it out. I can't stand when they dont apologize for a bad experience. Its like "well ef you too." I think waiters and mostly waitresses just expect a larger tip now they try less.

Paolo01

Arguments against tipping have always just appeared so petty to me. It is as if people have no concept as to how tips are treated by the staff and what they go to.

Tipping has some flexibility and yes it is perfectly appropriate to adjust based on the entire dining experience. But to zero out a tip based on having received tomatos on your order instead of holding them is just strange to me.

I am embarassed to say that the tipping of hotel staff, in particular, housekeepers, just occured to me a few years ago as my flying really upticked. I now leave probably $5 a night by the TV with a note to housekeeping. I think that housekeeping probably earns a minimum wage, so my previous argument is out the window, but it just seems like the right thing to do.

About the only thing that really annoys me now are the Starbucks tip jars. And that is only because Starbucks published corporate policy is 'No tipping allowed.'

alex0683de

I think the problem that most people have with tipping as it's practiced in the US is the total disconnect of the current situation with what the idea started as in the first place.

In most countries on Earth where tipping is practiced, a tip is a small consideration or reward for good service, whereas the bulk of employee's earnings come from their wages. The idea of tips is to inspire people to deliver a better service in the hopes of getting more money of out the same job (sort of like performance-based bonuses in employment contracts).

The fact that the US has allowed people in service industries to be paid a pittance and have their income almost entirely dependent on tips, is, in my opinion, a grotesque perversion of what tipping used to be about.

N965VJ

I would always leave a buck or two for the person that had to clear the 6-8 plates that I've cleaned off.

Palal

I think we need to start a movement to pass a law (laws?) that would require all prices to include tipping, taxes, etc. like they have here in Europe. I want to see the all-in price. Otherwise it's deceptive marketing.

Anyone up for starting a petition?

thegeneral

It's easy to get rid of. You'd just need to take all of the people who have class and make them like people who don't tip.

Go to Australia. No tipping there. Of course, there's no great service either. The US does have the requisite service that goes to tipping. Should the math be so hard, perhaps you should spend more time in a library than in a restaurant.

The tipping culture in the US is much the fault of your government. They charge waiters for tips based their sales. That's why tipping in the US is higher than elsewhere.

Have you talked to your physician about the possibility of an anxiety disorder? I don't see why this would cause you so much stress. I'd bring it up with your GP the next time you're in there. It sounds like some Paxil would make you enjoy dinner a lot more.

It's that way by design. If I bring in a large group and someone takes care of them all night, I want that line in the receipt. Whining about it when you can just line it through is sort of stupid. Other guests want it there. Should it bother you, don't use it. In some cases, it is a limitation of the machine that runs the credit card. It's a tad anal to say that it bothers you and make a scene out of it. Hopefully you do this with customers around so they can get a full view of your personality.