Good services: 15%
Average services: 10-15%
Minimum services: $1-2

Actually, everybody not tipping will not put the onus on the employer since in North America, food service minimum wages are set by governments. What would happen is that waitstaff would wind up making less than they would on welfare, and most of them would quit.

Once we kiss professional waitstaff goodbye, the only people left will be students trying to make a little extra income to pay for school, and most people I suspect would then complain that restaurants don't hire professional waitstaff.

Most restaurants will not put prices up and pay their staff more than minimum wage, because customers would then complain that prices are too high.

That's a terrible argument for not tipping. Your gripe is with the whole concept of tipping - you shouldn't take it out on the poor person who serving you. Sorry if the concept of adding something extra to the quoted price offends you, but as islandcub stated, restaurants aren't going to raise quoted prices and adjust minimum wages. Either way, you'd still be paying more - why not just get over it and recognize that people performing a service who are paid substandard wages deserve a gratuity? You actually pay less (provided you do tip) by tipping because if the employers raised prices and paid a living wage, you'd have to pay additional tax on the now higher price of a meal.


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"Sire, it is not a revolt. It is a Revolution!"

[This message has been edited by Spiff (edited 03-28-2001).]

We all may be coming from different perspectives:

I think that many people on these boards are accustomed to different standards in terms of gratuities than many Americans.

What is commonplace in terms of gratuities among frequent travelers in large American cities is actually quite unusual elsewhere.

Sometimes I feel that the service at high-end, $100-per-plate restaurants in the US has been mediocre, and I feel strange in giving the 15% minimum that custom here dictates. (I will usually call the manager and suggest improvements the next day). Other times, I feel that the service at a moderate European restaurant has been superior, and I feel strange in giving the 10% maximum that custom there dictates. But both standards are customary in their home culture, and we travelers have the burden of learning and complying with these customs when we travel.

I've served many at many different places in the US and Canada- both buffet & entree servings in restaurants and banquets facilities. Though the buffet is a different service in that you don not deliver the food, people tend to drink alot more at the all-you-can eat varities meaning more trips to the table, and even more trips yet to clear the people who make "pigs" out of themselves http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif Generally, service standards are more likely to be higher at a plate-service restaurant, but the work can infact be much harder at the buffet. I will tip in the 10-20% range for each type of service-depending on it. Hotels reflect equal tipping, as a banuet server, whether serving food, bussing buffets, or simply setting up coffee-breaks will all split the total 15% gratutity added on.

I've served many at many different places in the US and Canada- both buffet & entree servings in restaurants and banquets facilities. Though the buffet is a different service in that you don not deliver the food, people tend to drink alot more at the all-you-can eat varities meaning more trips to the table, and even more trips yet to clear the people who make "pigs" out of themselves http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif Generally, service standards are more likely to be higher at a plate-service restaurant, but the work can infact be much harder at the buffet. I will tip in the 10-20% range for each type of service-depending on it. Hotels reflect equal tipping, as a banuet server, whether serving food, bussing buffets, or simply setting up coffee-breaks will all split the total 15% gratutity added on.

I've served many at many different places in the US and Canada- both buffet & entree servings in restaurants and banquets facilities. Though the buffet is a different service in that you don not deliver the food, people tend to drink alot more at the all-you-can eat varities meaning more trips to the table, and even more trips yet to clear the people who make "pigs" out of themselves http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif Generally, service standards are more likely to be higher at a plate-service restaurant, but the work can infact be much harder at the buffet. I will tip in the 10-20% range for each type of service-depending on it. Hotels reflect equal tipping, as a banuet server, whether serving food, bussing buffets, or simply setting up coffee-breaks will all split the total 15% gratutity added on.

I am from Europe so: if the service is nice I probably round up to the nearest dollar. If the service is nothing special I pay no tip.


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Goldlust

I travel all over the world, Indian by birth European by citizenship and American by residence! I went to Ryans last week and the buffet was $ 5.95. I decided to follow thr recommendations of my fellow FTs One dollar each tip to
1. The guy who points to the queue
2. The first waiter who hands me a fork and spoon
3. The second waiter while in line who gives me a drink glass
4. The cashier
5. The waitress who suggests a table
6. The waitress who brings me the drink
7. The waitress who brings me butter and rolls
8. The waitress who refills the soup pot
9. Go inside the kitchen and tip every cook waiter and dish washer
10. Poor Manager He is so underpaid He deserves another tip
Forgot The meal was only 5 dollars!
What are we coming to. USA is a land of free enterprise. Waiters be poroud of your job. Demand proper wages. Insist on the european way where 10% is added to the bill and evenly distributed at the end. Learn from Singaporeans where tips are politely returned.
I am not mean but find it difficult to differentiate between tipping in USA and begging in third world countries: They earn less tan a dollar a day Tip them thro charities rathe than tip by custom to anybody.

I see this has turned into a very philosophical discussion http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif.

I don't regard the American way of rendering payment at a restaurant as superior or inferior to the European way. It's just different. Drbala, comparing an American waiter to a beggar (in any country) is nonsensical.

I must confess to overtipping in Europe. After a meal with top-quality service delivered by a professional waiter, I have a hard time leaving 10% or less, even though I know it's the custom to do so. So I err a little on the high side...

Also: From reading this board, I see a lot of reasons people tip/don't tip. Prices were too high, you think the waitress is over/underpaid, you hate the whole practice of tipping, etc. I must admit that I've never factored in any of these things when deciding how much to tip - just the results delivered to me. I don't care if it's a struggling college student or a professional waiter earning high-five-figures. If I get good service, I try to tip them well by whatever cultural standards are in play.

drbala, you are deliberately misinterpreting what people are saying here. Tipping custom in North America, as you well know, is that you tip the waiter or waitress based on the bill, not every staff person in the restaurant you see.

And if I'm mistaken and you do not know what tipping custom is here, you have no right to ridicule that same custom.

Get off your high horse and don't make up "facts" to support your logic. And if you can't manage that, don't eat in restaurants.

"...If I get good service, I try to tip them well by whatever cultural standards are in play..."

Absolutely! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif And if one does not want to tip, one can usually just not dine out, right? http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

I do not want to effectively "cheat" someone for providing me good service! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/eek.gif

Lets try to put ourselves in their position! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

FWIW, my son worked at a salad/soup buffet restaurant during his first year of college, and found that only 2-3 tables during dinner time would tip, usually $1-$2, for about $8 per person meals aside from drinks. Believe he said he once got $5 from a big table of 12.

Another comment regards a previous comment in the earlier post:

"Learn from Singaporeans where tips are politely returned."

I've been to Singapore many times, and do not tip in restaurants where a 10% service charge is on the bill, which is most of them. On the other hand, when I have tipped, it has never been declined by taxi drivers, bellmen, or restaurant staff. Still it is true that tips are not expected in Sinagpore.

I'm in for 15% average service, 20 - 25% for outstanding service. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

I recently wandered through SIN with a companion who required wheelchair assistance to traverse the very long distances at Changi. Despite my knowledge of local customs, as an American it was very difficult for me not to offer a few dollars in recognition of the excellent services rendered. Three of the attendants readily accepted a gratuity, but one quite firmly turned it down. My conclusion was that those who readily accepted the tip did so probably as a result of prior exposure to visiting Americans.

In any case, I was happy to express my gratitude in this manner, be it accepted custom or not. In a restaurant, I would tend act in accordance of locally accepted norm.

By the way, when I have traveled with a companion who needed wheelchair assistance while transiting through US airports, my experiences have been somewhat different, if not stereotypical. Last year in DEN, the attendant (who showed up very late) thought it necessary to remind us no less than four times that she expected a substantial gratuity and even went so far to tell me precisely how much she expected, I dare say a lot more than I intended to give her. It brought to mind some episodes reported in the media (i.e. of uncertain veracity), in which elderly passengers had been "roughed up" and extorted for cash by wheelchair attendants before deigning to escort them up the jetway.

In our case, the attendant brought us to the gate and then quickly strode off - and it turned out to be the wrong gate, which is not a very good thing at UA's very long concourse at DEN. Ungracious and incompetent - what a combo.