Originally Posted by Gator Gal
But let this be MY CALL. Don't FORCE it on me. If a tip is no longer voluntary, what's the point?
Exactly. It hasn't happened to me very often, but I find it really annoying. I usually complain and state that it's MY decision how much to tip and not the waiter's or the establishment's.
BTW I've noticed that this tends to happen more often in places which are frequented by a lot of tourists. Seems that quite a lot of non-US tourists don't know how to tip appropriately.
Why not just add the extra 15, 18, whatever percent to the menu price? I'd rather pay a couple bucks extra for a meal included in the COST of the meal when it's imposed on me than to charge me the amount anyway under the "illusion" of a tip.
If a restaurant regularly adds a tip, it should be mentioned on the menu, just like many places do for bigger parties (e.g. for 8 or more).
However I strongly prefer the US-style voluntary tipping to the all-included approach which is common in Europe. I'm not a penny-pincher when it comes to tipping,
IF I receive good or excellent service; but if I get crappy service I like to have the option to reduce the tip accordingly. Voluntary tipping is an incentive for the waiter/waitress to provide better service IMHO.
As for all those other bogus tip jars that are popping up as you all mention, I'd ignore them, too.
Same here, but once in a while they come in handy when my wallet is overflowing with pennies.
andy