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25% default tip !

25% default tip !

Old Oct 12, 2019, 12:00 am
  #1  
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25% default tip !

I couldn’t believe it. This is the same restaurant that called me during work hours to confirm a reservation I’d made online.

The service was friendly, but slow and incompetent. One wrong item and one duplicate item was served to my table. The food was nicely presented but tasted like crap. And the prices were exorbitant, but I knew that going in.

Unusual for a restaurant in the US, payment was done by handheld electronic card reader brought to the table. I was asked to sign and select from one of the precomputed tips: 18%, 20%, 25%, with the last option being selected by default. Oh, of course on the receipt a 4% surcharge had already been added for compliance with health insurance laws of California, whatever that means.

25%!

I’m likely to find the restaurant owner’s email address and e-tear him a new one.
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Old Oct 12, 2019, 12:19 am
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Old Oct 12, 2019, 11:42 am
  #3  
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25% is a bit much but I am finding that the portable readers are slowly becoming more common. I suspect they never will be as common as in, say, Europe simply because chip and signature makes them a pretty hard sell for a lot of restaurants (not to mention the general reluctance to upgrade anything due to low margins).
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Old Oct 12, 2019, 11:48 am
  #4  
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Originally Posted by davie355
I couldn’t believe it. This is the same restaurant that called me during work hours to confirm a reservation I’d made online.

The service was friendly, but slow and incompetent. One wrong item and one duplicate item was served to my table. The food was nicely presented but tasted like crap. And the prices were exorbitant, but I knew that going in.

Unusual for a restaurant in the US, payment was done by handheld electronic card reader brought to the table. I was asked to sign and select from one of the precomputed tips: 18%, 20%, 25%, with the last option being selected by default. Oh, of course on the receipt a 4% surcharge had already been added for compliance with health insurance laws of California, whatever that means.

25%!

I’m likely to find the restaurant owner’s email address and e-tear him a new one.
If these are the only available tip options, pick zero: 18% is more than the standard (in most places) and my guess is that their calculation includes tax and the lovely 4% garbage fee. Slow and incompetent service deserves less than the standard tip IMO unless it's beyond the server's fault and the server is genuinely really trying.

Please name the restaurant and location.
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Old Oct 12, 2019, 2:23 pm
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They have already added 4%, so an additional 18% would make the tip 22% - way too much even if the service is good. Always the best bet with these sorts of places is to choose zero and make it clear to the Manager why you have chosen zero.
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Old Oct 12, 2019, 2:54 pm
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That does little for the staff.

If you want to leave a tip of less than 18%, just ask the server presenting the device. There is always a way to adjust it and if you make it clear that the option of less than 18 is zero, you will find the adjustment quickly made.
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Old Oct 12, 2019, 3:01 pm
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We only use handheld devices in Canada. There is always an option for a $ vs a %. Even for those that have preset percentages on the screen, there is always an ‘other amount’ choice. Just touch ‘other amount’ and you can choose whatever amount you want, or just hit enter for $0.
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Old Oct 12, 2019, 3:51 pm
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Originally Posted by Finkface
We only use handheld devices in Canada. There is always an option for a $ vs a %. Even for those that have preset percentages on the screen, there is always an ‘other amount’ choice. Just touch ‘other amount’ and you can choose whatever amount you want, or just hit enter for $0.
Evidently at least one American is having trouble managing handheld payment devices. Emerging technology can be daunting for our American friends while Canada has had chip and pin cards for over a decade.
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Old Oct 12, 2019, 4:08 pm
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OP seems to be having a bad time of adapting to the reality of developments in the US hospitality industry. Two massive issues in a week.

Restaurants, it's bad manners to call me to reconfirm a reservation.

Bottom line is that it appears that he did not ask for assistance or try locating the "other amount" feature which is present on all of the major software devices for these packages.
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Old Oct 12, 2019, 5:27 pm
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Originally Posted by Often1
OP seems to be having a bad time of adapting to the reality of developments in the US hospitality industry. Two massive issues in a week.

Restaurants, it's bad manners to call me to reconfirm a reservation.

Bottom line is that it appears that he did not ask for assistance or try locating the "other amount" feature which is present on all of the major software devices for these packages.
This. If you don't like any of the default tip amounts, change it or ask for help changing it.
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Old Oct 12, 2019, 5:48 pm
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Originally Posted by Badenoch
Emerging technology can be daunting for our American friends
I'd like to think that the issues people are having are just more visible now because we're transitioning to chip/contactless in the age of social media. Of course, it's also possible my faith in people is misplaced.
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Old Oct 12, 2019, 6:33 pm
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Originally Posted by tmiw
I'd like to think that the issues people are having are just more visible now because we're transitioning to chip/contactless in the age of social media. Of course, it's also possible my faith in people is misplaced.
Yes, social media does provide a platform to complain about technology that much of the developed world mastered a decade ago. It's always a pleasant stroll down memory lane when visiting America and a server hands you a pen to sign your credit card receipt. It's like writing on a manual typewriter or using a rotary phone.
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Old Oct 12, 2019, 6:45 pm
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Originally Posted by Badenoch
Yes, social media does provide a platform to complain about technology that much of the developed world mastered a decade ago. It's always a pleasant stroll down memory lane when visiting America and a server hands you a pen to sign your credit card receipt. It's like writing on a manual typewriter or using a rotary phone.
This. It feels so weird to me to hand my credit card to a server or store clerk or similar and they disappear somewhere with it. Bizarre.
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Old Oct 12, 2019, 6:58 pm
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Originally Posted by davie355
I couldn’t believe it. This is the same restaurant that called me during work hours to confirm a reservation I’d made online.

The service was friendly, but slow and incompetent. One wrong item and one duplicate item was served to my table. The food was nicely presented but tasted like crap. And the prices were exorbitant, but I knew that going in.

Unusual for a restaurant in the US, payment was done by handheld electronic card reader brought to the table. I was asked to sign and select from one of the precomputed tips: 18%, 20%, 25%, with the last option being selected by default. Oh, of course on the receipt a 4% surcharge had already been added for compliance with health insurance laws of California, whatever that means.

25%!

I’m likely to find the restaurant owner’s email address and e-tear him a new one.
what restaurant is this?
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Old Oct 12, 2019, 8:53 pm
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That is ridiculous! Even 18% can be overkill, depending on where the restaurant is located and the quality of service. Some states still pay $2.13/hr minimum wage before tip credit, but others must pay full minimum wage even to tipped staff. Yet we're still expected to tip ever increasing amounts.
https://www.dol.gov/whd/state/tipped.htm
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