tmiw

I don't know about anyone else but when I think 40 hours a week, I think enough money where one doesn't have to rely on government benefits to have an okay standard of living (whether government benefits are good is another matter and is more suited for OMNI). For instance, at $9/hr your minimum wage job still leaves you below the federal poverty line once you have kids or other people in your household who can't work. This doesn't take into account the higher cost of living in states like California either.

Anyway, foregoing tipping without raising salaries to compensate is just going to screw the waitstaff over, IMO.

Clint Bint

The problem is if you pay peanuts you get monkeys.The service industry is already populated by some people who are frankly not good enough or motivated enough to work elsewhere.
There has to be some incentive to provide good service or they won't.

DaveBlaine

"Waitressing is the number one occupation for female non-college graduates in this country. It's the one job basically any woman can get, and make a living on. The reason is because of their tips."

-Mr. White

cur

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/13/bu...last-long.html

if it aint broke dont done be fixing it

Dave737

"it fixes a math problem"

is it really that hard to figure 10-20% in your head?

tmiw

I think the low trust part is the big issue. Chains are more difficult to trust by their very nature, so it's difficult to get buy-in from customers for such a move. Abolishing tipping might work better in smaller, possibly higher end establishments.

piper28

Apparently even computers can't do it. I was out last night at a restaurant, and the bills had the suggested tip amounts at the bottom for various percentages. One of the bills at our table made absolutely no sense. Not only did the numbers seem to have no bearing upon the amount of the bill, but the amounts they listed for 20% and 15% didn't match up to each other properly (15% should be 3/4 of the 20% rate). On the plus side, at least the amounts listed were too low rather than too high.

cur

seems not to be working at high end places. it's amazing that despite the sudden reversion, owners are still saying it's the way of the future ...or does everyone in sfo and sea say that every sentence?

http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/...-to-no-tipping

the thing i don't get is that this euro style "increase wages then pass on to consumers" is being advocated by everyone but the workers themselves

all articles feature the owners, managers, ceos

not the actual people this impacts

unless maybe there's some movement of tip-dependent employees demanding the increase of wage floors that i am not seeing?

i used to bartend and i would quit if they took away tips and find a union job instead
as a customer i resent being forced to tip; i'm paying more and receiving nothing additional in return

BamaVol

I just got off a 7 night cruise. When I first started cruising, you tipped the cabin steward, waiter and assistant waiter at the end of the cruise. And they worked to earn it. Bartenders were tipped (or not) by the drink. Since then, mandatory service charges have been added and the level of service in the dining room is indifferent at best in most cases. I still tip bartenders by the drink and make some friends there, getting generous pours and unavailable wines by the glass. I didn't even see my steward until day 4 when I left laundry and forgot to sign the slip. I would love to see the lines return to the old days of final night tip envelopes.

CRAZ8

It's not that it's hard, but there's a psychology around pricing that makes 20% more feel very expensive when on the menu, but not when it's added at the end.

I was in Australia last year, and Tax and Tip are included in the price you see. This is equivalent of adding 30% to the bill where I live. It took me a while to get around this extra cost and just think of Australia as just a bit Expensive instead of Outrageously Expensive!

YVR Cockroach

Not to go OT but it may depend on line (looks like you cruise on cheap mass-market lines like I do). I notice that service on Holland America is much better (albeit on longer cruises) than on Princess (much shorter cruises) and these are in the same price league. On both Holland America cruises, cabin attendants introduced themselves as soon as you got to your cabin and dining room service - even from ad hoc staff was nearly always good. On Princess, not so much.

BamaVol

Yes, my last 2 cruises have been on NCL. Prior to that it was RCL. I would have higher expectations if I were paying more. But my first 3 were 3-4 nighters on RCL and I felt more attended to by the staff. And every bartender I encountered last week was friendly, warm and interested in conversation with passengers. For my $1/drink (many, as we had the UBP) I received generous pours, access to wine by the glass that was supposedly reserved for those buying bottles, and bar snacks the minute I sat down. And the bartenders are the most likely to still be tipped outside of the service charge. So, I am convinced that they were working for tips while the others were content to simply do their jobs (or less).

cblaisd

Topic check!

Tipping on cruises threads can be found in that forum.

For general discussion of tipping, there are several extant threads that a search will discover.

Anyone have thoughts about Joe's Crab Shack's situation?

cblaisd
Co-Moderator, Dining Buzz