I don't understand tipping culture...

[Ronald Nand]

Does anyone else find this tipping culture strange and weird, why do we have to give a tip 5-10% of our restaurant bill every time we have a meal even if the service is okay/competent.

I get why a person would tip if they find the waitress/waiter has been really good, but why would we give a tip for okay/competent service. It just seems like serving staff being uppity and entitled. Why should serving staff expect a tip from every single customer and expect a percentage of the bill, isn't it meant to be a voluntary thing, not some compulsory charge for the consumer.

I would tip a waiter/waitress if they went out of their way to help me when something was wrong and were very friendly, but I wouldn't tip for okay/competent service.

Am I just being stingy or do other people feel this way? Also if you do follow the tipping culture could you explain why you do so?

 

[Wickatricka]

Waiters pretty much live off those tips so think of it as helping out another human being in rough times. Anyone who has been a waiter will know that it is very helpful to tip good.

 

[Glongpre]

No you are right, I think people feel guilty if they don't, it has been ingrained as what you just do. I only tip if the person does a good job or whatever, but I don't eat out often either. So I could be way off.

 

[The Funslinger]

Waiters pretty much live off those tips so think of it as helping out another human being in rough times. Anyone who has been a waiter will know that it is very helpful to tip good.

Which makes it quite disgusting when you find the manager of a place pocketing a large percentage of tips taken in before dividing among the staff. :I

 

[shrekfan246]

Your first problem might be being Australian, where the average wage is high enough that people in the service industry can actually get by on just their normal pay.

In the US, people who are in "tipping" jobs can get paid as low as $2.50 an hour, though their employers are supposed to be legally required to ensure they get the federal minimum of $7.25 an hour if their tips don't cover it.

 

[shootthebandit]

I live in the UK were tipping is more of a courtesy. People in the service industry get at least legal minimum wage same as a lot of shop assistants who dont get tips

I will tip if the service is good or if ive got a lot of smash in my wallet i want to get rid of

 

[Vegosiux]

Here, tipping is a courtesy as well, as employers are legally obligated to pay waiters at least the minimum wage. I sometimes leave a tip, but nothing exceedingly huge. I'm not trying to impress anyone, and I need to manage my own finances carefully, so...a tip for exceptional service, but I'll tell them "have a nice day" in any case.

 

[Thaluikhain]

Yeah, very strange to me. Pay the person a decent wage and don't muck about with this?

 

[Nickolai77]

I don't tip as a matter of principle- and i have a worked in restaurant before. When you pay money in a restaurant you're paying for a product and a service which is covered under the price of the food you order from the menu. Unless the food is priced in such a way that it doesn't include the service then i have no objections to tipping. Otherwise you are just paying twice over for a service you paid for when you ordered the food. As a customer, it feels like deceitful behaviour.

Your first problem might be being Australian, where the average wage is high enough that people in the service industry can actually get by on just their normal pay.

In the US, people who are in "tipping" jobs can get paid as low at $2.50 an hour, though their employers are supposed to be legally required to ensure they get the federal minimum of $7.25 an hour if their tips don't cover it.

This is why i would tip in America, but not anywhere else that pays it's staff at least minimum wage. I don't think it's a fair system at all though. I'm even told you're expected to tip the barman every time you order a drink.

Out of interest- do you feel the price of an item of food in a typical restaurant covers both product and service or just product?

 

[scorptatious]

Yeah, waiters, at least here in the US, live off of tips. Especially considering how tough times are right now.

Sorta on-topic: I was watching this one episode of Kitchen Nightmares where the owner of this one restaurant actually takes the waiters' tips for himself.

 

[shrekfan246]

This is why i would tip in America, but not anywhere else that pays it's staff at least minimum wage. I don't think it's a fair system at all though. I'm even told you're expected to tip the barman every time you order a drink.

Out of interest- do you feel the price of an item of food in a typical restaurant covers both product and service or just product?

I don't think it's fair either, especially with the prices that restaurants generally set.

Personally, I feel the price covers a bare minimum of service along with the food, and then the tip is extra for if the server went above the 'standard' call of their duties; If they were affable, if they kept their eye on you to ensure you were satisfied, etc. I've had plenty of servers who never swung back around to ask if I wanted another drink or if the food was to my liking, and with that type of service I don't feel compelled to give a generous tip.

But all the same, the service industry is terrible around here and cheaping out on $3-5 would really just make the server's day worse rather than making mine better, so at the end of the day I'm more than willing to provide a tip unless they were really just that bad at their job.

 

[Drakane]

I tip, and generally it is in the 15-20% range. I have worked as a cook/delivery person/waiter for a small pizza place in the US. We were so small the legal minimum wage didn't come into play so even as a cook I was making far below minimum wage. I am now in a place in my life that the tip helps the wait staff more then it hurts my personal finances. Also, if the waiter/waitress is having a shit day getting a decent tip can make help pick them up and maybe get better tips from other people.

I wouldn't say I feel bad if the service was so bad I don't tip but in general I always give something.

Also, I almost always give a dollar to the bar staff that bring me a beer/pitcher... it helps ensure they notice when my beer is empty and I am more likely to get quicker service. Flawed system but hey I get more beer.

 

[Dryk]

As I understand the US tipping culture is an elaborate ruse by restaurants to make customers pay their staff's wages for them

 

[WoW Killer]

Waiters pretty much live off those tips so think of it as helping out another human being in rough times. Anyone who has been a waiter will know that it is very helpful to tip good.

Why not get rid of tips, increase the cost of all the meals by 5-10%, and then pay the waiters more?

I know why, it's because that way you'd be advertising the cost of your meals to be 5-10% higher than the next restaurant, and you always need to compete. That's basically all that tipping is: false advertising. In another industry you wouldn't be allowed to do it.

 

[Treeinthewoods]

Don't forget, servers must tip out their bussers, bartender and the other various behind the scenes staff (usually a guy who keeps the slide stocked and clean). It's usually a percentage of the servers sales that must be paid out (2-3%). This means if you leave no tip the server will have to pay out of their own pocket to the other employees. If you stiff a sever on a $100 tab they will still have to "tip out" 5-6$ to the other staff members.

If you don't tip you are a dick.

 

[generals3]

Does anyone else find this tipping culture strange and weird, why do we have to give a tip 5-10% of our restaurant bill every time we have a meal even if the service is okay/competent.

I get why a person would tip if they find the waitress/waiter has been really good, but why would we give a tip for okay/competent service. It just seems like serving staff being uppity and entitled. Why should serving staff expect a tip from every single customer and expect a percentage of the bill, isn't it meant to be a voluntary thing, not some compulsory charge for the consumer.

I would tip a waiter/waitress if they went out of their way to help me when something was wrong and were very friendly, but I wouldn't tip for okay/competent service.

Am I just being stingy or do other people feel this way? Also if you do follow the tipping culture could you explain why you do so?

Tbh i'm happy we don't have a tipping culture over here. The tips are basically included in the prices of the restaurant because instead of needing tips waiters have a higher salary.

I find the whole "let's include as little as we can in the prizes and charge them later on" thing that is going on in certain countries to be really annoying.

 

[Greg White]

Waiters pretty much live off those tips so think of it as helping out another human being in rough times. Anyone who has been a waiter will know that it is very helpful to tip good.

Which makes it quite disgusting when you find the manager of a place pocketing a large percentage of tips taken in before dividing among the staff. :I

Dividing tips among the staff always seemed like bullshit to me: I tipped THIS guy because he did a job, the rest of them didn't earn it.

The rest of the staff isn't just other waiters(who get different levels of traffic depending on which section they're assigned), it's also the cooks, bus boys/dishwasher, and various other people in the back.

If a waiter/waitress pulls $200-300 on a busy night(not all that uncommon in some places) then it's only fair that at least some of that goes to the staff in the back since they're not making very much either.

 

[MetalDooley]

If you don't tip you are a dick.

And this right here is the problem.Tipping is supposed to be at the customers discretion and should be reserved for waiters who do an above average or better job.However people have come to expect a tip now for everything and customers are guilted into it and accused of being "dicks" if they don't

I'm so glad I live in a country where tips are not expected