Go Back  FlyerTalk Forums > Travel&Dining > DiningBuzz
Reload this Page >

A new tipping concept: tipping on amount of time waiter spends on you

A new tipping concept: tipping on amount of time waiter spends on you

Old Feb 25, 2016, 8:02 am
  #31  
 
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Phoenix
Programs: AA Platinum
Posts: 14
I loved Steve Buscemi in Reservoir Dogs
Daedalus214 is offline  
Old Feb 25, 2016, 8:20 am
  #32  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: California USA
Programs: AA Million Miler, AA Lifetime Gold
Posts: 384
Originally Posted by charlinator
Saying derogatory things about waiters speaks volumes about the poster, not the waiters.

It does not.
The tipping system is wrong and the Restaurant Association need to make sure that the staff is paid by the restaurant owner.

Why don't the wait staff go on strike as other professions do to demand a proper wage? The reason is that if they go on strike they can be easily replaced as anybody can bring food to a table.
Brahmin is offline  
Old Feb 25, 2016, 9:58 am
  #33  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: San Diego, CA
Programs: GE, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 15,486
Originally Posted by Brahmin
Why don't the wait staff go on strike as other professions do to demand a proper wage?
McDonald's isn't sit-down, but there have been a few fast food walkouts there lately IIRC.
tmiw is online now  
Old Feb 25, 2016, 10:44 am
  #34  
 
Join Date: Feb 2012
Posts: 1
Love the concept

As it relates back to the person serving you and not the price of the food or beverages. We almost always tip 20% and sometimes it makes me mad that I'm tipping on the wine that is already marked up 50%. The price of the food and the price of the beverages doesn't have anything to do with the quality of service you receive. Food and beverages would be priced accordingly and the TIP (to ensure prompt service) should be based on the server.

The real question is, how much should you pay the server? If they're handling more than one table, they will/should receive money from every table. So maybe the minimum wage works as they'll receive it from all parties and thus make more than the minimum wage (on top of the minimum wage they are receiving from the restaurant).

It should also be paid in cash DIRECTLY to the server. Having $15-$50 in cash for this purpose is very doable for most everyone, I would assume.

That said, you should pay more/less based on your level and quality of service, but the base that you work from should be consistent.

Yea, you're not getting your air-miles when you pay cash and don't use your credit card, but it's going to a good cause!
PALTravel is offline  
Old Feb 25, 2016, 11:40 am
  #35  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: San Diego, CA
Programs: GE, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 15,486
Originally Posted by PALTravel
The real question is, how much should you pay the server? If they're handling more than one table, they will/should receive money from every table. So maybe the minimum wage works as they'll receive it from all parties and thus make more than the minimum wage (on top of the minimum wage they are receiving from the restaurant).
Only seven states and territories require restaurants to pay full minimum wage regardless of the amount earned in tips. Wouldn't OP's proposal cause customers to subsidize most restaurant servers' wages even more than tipping arguably does?
tmiw is online now  
Old Feb 25, 2016, 11:51 am
  #36  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: California USA
Programs: AA Million Miler, AA Lifetime Gold
Posts: 384
I am all for no tipping at all. The restaurant owner is responsible for the wage.

McDonalds at least pays a minimum wage with benefits.
Brahmin is offline  
Old Feb 25, 2016, 12:13 pm
  #37  
 
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: LGB
Posts: 1,204
Originally Posted by Brahmin
I am all for no tipping at all. The restaurant owner is responsible for the wage.

McDonalds at least pays a minimum wage with benefits.
I am also for no tipping at all, but I think you're way out of line with the attacks on waiters as a profession.

And the suggestion that no single one of them is worth more than $20,000 per year is absurd. Go eat dinner at any T.G.I. Friday's. Then have dinner at any Michelin-starred restaurant. When you've finished, report back to us that both sets of waitstaff should be paid the same. And try to do it with a straight face.
lhrhappy is offline  
Old Feb 25, 2016, 12:28 pm
  #38  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: California USA
Programs: AA Million Miler, AA Lifetime Gold
Posts: 384
I have never eaten at a Michelin starred establishment as paying a percentage tip there would not be acceptable to me.

Even at these establishments the major work is done behind the dining area. I am sure that a lot of points is given to the actual food itself along with other factors.

I do not want to give the illusion that I am degrading the servers. However, ordering a $400 bottle of wine or a bottle of aerated water and paying a percentage of that as a tip is absurd.
Brahmin is offline  
Old Feb 25, 2016, 12:44 pm
  #39  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: California USA
Programs: AA Million Miler, AA Lifetime Gold
Posts: 384
In today's Los Angeles Times.

View "A tipping point for restaurants?" article at http://eeditionmobile.latimes.com/Ol...F25&id=Ar02303
Brahmin is offline  
Old Feb 25, 2016, 1:07 pm
  #40  
 
Join Date: May 2011
Posts: 2,378
Originally Posted by Clint Bint
Yup,indeed.
Bring me a menu,take my order,answer any questions I have in a polite manner,don't tell me your life story or what you think I ought to eat and then leave me alone.
I'm old enough to fill my own wine glass and if I want something I'll discreetly attract your attention.
It's amazing how many of these wait staff expecting large tips don't understand these basic rules.
As evidenced by others, plenty of people love the pageantry of being waited on by a subordinate (which will no doubt be denied, but I see no other way of describing the fake relationship between someone who is effectively asking for charity and the diner who is obliged by social contract to provide it).

If it's not something you like yourself, a simple "thank you but I'd like to be left alone" would do. You can hardly blame them - it's how they get a significant proportion of their wage.
callum9999 is offline  
Old Feb 25, 2016, 5:45 pm
  #41  
Moderator: Manufactured Spending
 
Join Date: Jul 2011
Posts: 6,576
Originally Posted by Philatravelgirl
The US definitely has a problem with tipping (it's gotten worse IMO) - I earned $2.01 an hour
I don't know how old you are, but ever since 1991, tipped minimum wage has been $2.13 or higher in all states, so your employer was breaking the law by paying you $2.01.


Originally Posted by Philatravelgirl
and had to declare to the IRS a % of sales whether or not the table covered the % or not.
No, you didn't. You could have kept track of your tips and declared the actual amount received. Most servers don't, because it works out to their advantage to declare a flat percent of sales.

Originally Posted by Philatravelgirl
I paid taxes on the whole pile of tips, not the net after paying out to the others.
Not sure why you did that. You should have found a more competent tax preparer.

I understand your point about how hard it is as a server. But the fact is that most unskilled jobs are equally hard. If a cashier at a supermarket is making minimum wage, why should a server at a restaurant expect anything more?

In states like California, where servers are paid full minimum wage, I don't see the need to tip, although I usually do so anyway. In states where tip credits are allowed, it may be more necessary.
cbn42 is offline  
Old Feb 25, 2016, 8:29 pm
  #42  
 
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: SFO
Programs: UA 1P
Posts: 280
Please tell me the full cost of the goods, product or service up front. Let me decide if I want to pay it. And be done with it. Don't understand why I must hire extra staff, evaluate their performance and then give them a salary to get the product delivered to me in addition to the cost paid for the product or advertised service.
1K wannabe is offline  
Old Feb 25, 2016, 8:31 pm
  #43  
 
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: West Hollywood, CA, USA
Programs: AA, SPG GLD, DL FO, VX, UA, US, ICH, Hyatt, Avis Pref.
Posts: 478
All I can say is wow. I can't imagine the amount of server saliva some of you have probably ingested at restaurants. Most experienced servers can read a "bad table" a mile away.
If you think all servers should just get minimum wage then I hope you enjoy your experience as a teenager, chewing gum on their cell phone asks you "what you want?" when they take your order at Fig and Olive.

Last edited by bstndance; Feb 25, 2016 at 8:51 pm
bstndance is offline  
Old Feb 25, 2016, 11:25 pm
  #44  
 
Join Date: Aug 2013
Posts: 5
I find the tipping system empowering. It's all too often that I'm in a country where tipping is not the custom and there's nothing I can do about poor service, aside from cause a big scene.

A good waiter/waitress adds a lot of value to the overall dining experience. Very often, I ask for recommendations and ask questions about the menu. Tipping is great because I can determine what I want to pay for a the service I received, after I received it, and without negotiation.

OTOH, what I cannot stand are service charges. In places such as Singapore, service charges are often added to the tab automatically. To make matters worse, servers are often uninformed and unpolished.

I also don't understand positions like the OP's. Why patronize restaurants that he knows follow a tipping system, and then refusing to do so? If he really hates the system of tipping and wants the owner to change it, why are you still giving the owner money?
Scottotoo is offline  
Old Feb 26, 2016, 12:35 am
  #45  
Moderator: Manufactured Spending
 
Join Date: Jul 2011
Posts: 6,576
Originally Posted by Scottotoo
I find the tipping system empowering. It's all too often that I'm in a country where tipping is not the custom and there's nothing I can do about poor service, aside from cause a big scene.
So what can you do if you're in a country where tipping is the norm and you receive poor service? Do you really think that anyone is going to notice or care that you tipped less?

Studies have shown that there is little, if any, correlation between service quality and tips. Things like the server's gender and ethnicity, the weather, and other random things are much better predictors of tips received.

Originally Posted by Scottotoo
I also don't understand positions like the OP's. Why patronize restaurants that he knows follow a tipping system, and then refusing to do so? If he really hates the system of tipping and wants the owner to change it, why are you still giving the owner money?
In the US, there may not be too many other options. However, if the state allows tip credits and tips come short, the owner is required to make up the difference, which might in theory motivate him to change the system.
cbn42 is offline  

Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Manage Preferences - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

This site is owned, operated, and maintained by MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Designated trademarks are the property of their respective owners.