Poll: Would you stop tipping if they made minimum wage?

[A Weakgeek]

Fuck tipping. Nobody tips me and I'll be either taking your order, making your food, or giving it out to you. Oh wait, I work in fast food - a crappy job not considered tip worthy whilst other crappy jobs are.

Fuck it.

I'm with this guy 100%. If I were you I'd be flat out insulted by the hypocrisy. You have my respect for what that is worth.

There are ALOT of customer service jobs that are either as hard or harder than being a waiter, bellboy etc. Either you should tip all of them (Which nobody does) or none. The only reason people tip waitresses is tradition, not because their "work is hard" or they make minimum wage. Either start handing out tips to grocery store cashiers, fastfood place workers and stop putting certain jobs on a pedestal.

 

[j0frenzy]

I tip good service. I've been called out twice for not tipping. My response was to tip less than a dollar and tell them to provide better service next time. I also like tipping at places I regularly return to because I like them so much. I have an Japanese place by my campus that I get food from once every week or so. I've given them some fantastic tips because I like them so much.

 

[itsthesheppy]

I would absolutely still tip. I'm frankly shocked people wouldn't. It really is quite scary, the sheer sense of entitlement people have when others are serving them. I feel like 70% of humanity would turn into Caligula overnight if they had the slightest opportunity, and there has in fact been some research to suggest I'm not too far off.

 

[BENZOOKA]

I've never tipped anyone, because we don't have that culture. Practically, no one expects nor does it here.

Not paying even minimum wage (which is a kind of an ambiguous term) is illegal anyways.

 

[DugMachine]

Well lets see. I'd still do it but only if they give exceptional service. I once gave this young girl a $13 tip for a $20 meal, she was that good. Funny, charming, and checked on our table frequently. Pretty as well

Then there was this awful excuse for a human. Rudest waiter i've ever dealt with. Couldn't get orders right and checked on our table once in a whole hour. $40 meal, 50 cent tip. Deal with it

 

[Dragonclaw]

Where I live waitresses definately get pissy if you don't tip, which is funny because there is NO difference in minimum wage here so the waitstaff is making a minimum of $10.40 an hour adn at fancier places like the one my sister works at she makes $19.65 an hour, full time with benefits...and they still want a tip on top of that. She told me once that if she has 7-8 tables in an hour and they "only" tip 15% she makes nearly $95 an hour on average. TO me that's just crazy and makes me think I'm in the wrong business. The waitstaff also occasionally lies about the wage law to make people think they don't make as much...because then they are likely to tip better.

As for the pizza delivery. I did that as one of my first jobs. I made minimum wage, got free gas and they subsidized my auto insurance. Not bad for a pretty braindead job of listening to the radio and handing people their orders in a town I know like hte back of my hand.

Meanwhile I tried to tip the guy who delivered my new TV. The guy was EXTREMELY helpful when picking it out and was able to make lots of recomendations (That had nothing to do with any comission), and in the end, saved us a bunch of $$$. When the delivery came it was the same guy and he had to carry it a fair distance. When offered the tip he refused saying he could get FIRED for accepting a tip. Meanwhile the person who's entire job is to bring me a burger, fries, a coke and the check while making almost no eye contact (it was my first time at this place) was talking with the next table about the "cheap bastard" that was in the booth before me that 'only' left an extra 15%...she said all of three sentances to me my entire visit. "What would you like to order", "Here's your food" and "Here's your check"...pretty much the bare minimum and in watching it was the way she treated everybody...yet she wants extra...

 

[Woodsey]

If they do everything fine, no tip. If they are particularly helpful/polite/fit/etc., tip.

 

[Tipsy Giant]

We have minimum wage here, so I RARELY tip,i'd say never but if the service is way above what i'd expect then sometimes, but mostly not, it makes no sense to pay extra

 

[MetalDooley]

Living in Ireland I rarely tip because

a)It's not really part of the culture here
b)Waiters here make minimum wage.I don't see why they should be treated any different than the thousands of other people working minimum wage jobs
c)A lot of restaurants here(usually the fancier kind)add a service charge to your bill which is essentially a mandatory tip.If people think I'm going to tip on top of a tip then they can fuck off

 

[Trippy Turtle]

I live in Australia so I never really tip and I don't understand why people do. If you already paid for your food why should you have to pay extra for someone doing their job? I could understand it if they done more then they really needed to to do a good job but even then it should be up to their employer to reward them.

Also I would prefer to tip whoever cooked the meal. I would imagine that is a little harder then taking food to a table.

 

[Duffy13]

In the US, tips are calculated into the "cost" associated with paying your employees and pricing your meals. If they upped to minimum wage and did away with tips they would recalculate prices which would most likely end up with food costing more than what you currently pay but tipping would no longer be expected. The total cost should remain the same.

Now consider the social dynamic of the matter. The concept of tipping better performing employees allows restaurants (which have notoriously bad margins in most areas) to increase profit by encouraging them to keep employees that regularly get tipped above minimum wage as it costs them less to keep that better employee around. It also produces a more enjoyable experience for the customer who is therefore more likely to return.

Tipping is also the most significant method of differentiating someone who is doing a job vs. excelling at a job. In most workplaces this is an incredibly important factor, why should it be different for them? If anything it gives the power of reward directly to the customer instead of the boss; who most likely cannot reward the person significantly or they would not be paying below minimum wage in the first place.

While it's easy to balance the math, ignoring the social or cultural ramifications is short sighted at best. Changing the system is fine, but just rejecting the current one out of some sort of apathy for people in general is very disturbing.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

No . But then again i personally don't understand why we tip waiters to begin with and why they don't make minimum wage . I mean , give extra money to a person that a) just takes an order and brings food and b) is doing thier job . Here is some extra money for doing what you are supposed to do . I will admit i am ignorant on this subject.

Work as a waiter for a couple months. It does sound like an easy enough job and I don't understand why they aren't paid as well as people in other positions. I haven't been part of the wait staff but working in a restaurant, it's common to be on the receiving end of a lot of abuse from ass customers.

I don't understand why its customary to tip certain food service people like waiters but not others like the guys behind the counter at Burger King. They can both take a lot of abuse after all. Maybe it's because waiters physically handle the food in more of a meaningful way than the BK guys. I would still tip though of course.

 

[suitepee7]

No. Because that's how it is in England. We just tend to tip lower, around 10-15%.

I'm a student, so all my money is on loan, yet I'll tip someone who does a good job. My girlfriend used to work as a waitress as well, so is keen on tipping people who make the extra effort.

pretty much this. in the UK aswell, and will only tip if the service was good, or to round the bill to a nice even number. waiting tables is a shitty job, and a lot of customers lack just general decency towards people dealing with their food (i currently work in the food industry, although not strictly a restaurant). if the person serving me is polite, i am happy to chip in as my way of saying thanks.

also i wasn't aware that the US was retarded in its way of working out the minimum wage. if people are paid below it, surely it is no longer a minimum wage? o_0

 

[Canadamus Prime]

In Canada Alberta, I'm pretty sure they do make minimum wage. And we all still tip. So I guess my answer is "yes."

Yeah, that. I mean I thought that was the whole reason it was called "minimum wage." As in it was the absolute bare minimum employers had to pay their employees regardless of industry.

 

[Pandabearparade]

I'm pretty sure I've seen people post a few times that these laws are in place at the federal level so workplaces have to pay them minimum wage by law if tips do not cover it.

Technically true, though irrelevant. A waiter/waitress would get fired if they actually tried to hold an employer to that.

 

[Duffy13]

I'm pretty sure I've seen people post a few times that these laws are in place at the federal level so workplaces have to pay them minimum wage by law if tips do not cover it.

Technically true, though irrelevant. A waiter/waitress would get fired if they actually tried to hold an employer to that.

And there are laws in place to stop that from happening too.

Little problem with that, you still have to pay and spend time to accuse and eventually prove that they broke the law as most cases would constitute a civil suit. The amount of effort and money required is generally not worth the amount you would be suing for.

Is it fair? No. Is it reality? Yes.

 

[Charli]

I tip for an exceptional job/attitude. But you really have to impress me, otherwise, you carried my food to me, if It's a such a hassle, I'll gladly go to the kitchen, tell the chef what I'd like and then carry it to the table myself. Really, it's no problem. At all.

Also: UK here, US I'm aware has a different system to us.

I have also worked as a waitress. It's not rocket science. It's very brain cell depleting I'll give it that, but all you have to do is jot down an order, relay it, clear up things, pour drinks and act friendly.

 

[orangeban]

In Britain waiters are covered by a minimum wage, and I still tip (it's just polite), so no, I wouldn't stop tipping I guess.

 

[Jonluw]

Hahaha!
Puny foreigners!
Tipping. What an archaic practice.

People earn livable wages over here, and we have a working social security system, so there's no need to tip.

I might tip a waiter if they do something exceptional though.