At $8.00 hour, the total annual salary of a waiter works out to about $16,000-- I'm guessing that your typical five-star hotel waiter doesn't take the job with that kind of wage expectation (which is what they would make if everyone stiffed them). Moreover, the tip out alone for a waiter in this position (assuming they were serving 4 tables at a time, with a $200 average check and turning them every three hours), would consume the entire wage rate, so the employee would still be left with nothing if he or she were stiffed by every customer.

The reason waitstaff in California and other places in the U.S. don't quit is that most of their customers tip them in a manner consistent with local (U.S.) customs, which enables them to be properly compensated for their service.

I understand this is not the custom in most of the rest of the world, but to punish unsuspecting wait staff in the U.S. by withholding a standard tip simply because you disagree with the American manner of compensating these people seems wrongheaded and mean. People who stiff their waiters are subsidized by other customers who tip appropriately.

Housekeepers are another issue entirely. They are hired and compensated based on a wage rate alone with no expectation of additional tips.