You Should Tip

[thejackyl]

Only read the first post, so bear with me:

Here's another thing... If you are working a job where you work for tips, you aren't even paid minimum wage. (it's not required by law.) So that person serving your table may only be making $2 an hour, but their paycheck is still taxed based on minimum wage (which is close to $7 unless it went up again). So in the end they're REALLY only making like $1-$1.50 an hour. (but they're tips are not taxed, and they get to keep all of them, afaik)

Also, 99% of fast food jobs (and in fact, most corporate owned businesses in general) state that any tip you receive is property of the store, not the employee it was given too. I've even had to forcibly tell a customer that I can get fired if I accept a tip. (I told her calmly about 6 times, and I just got fed up and told her: "If I take this I can get fired."

This isn't just food service that does this. It's everywhere. Management doesn't care. Once you get a high enough job title you are pretty much free to do nothing and get away with it. Spiders in the flour? "It was never brought to my attention." And a lot of people who get these sorts of jobs are the type that will abuse that.

Spoiler: Rant

I'm a middle-manager at my local Wal-Mart (I have the title: Customer Service Manager, but apart from cashiers and cart pushers, I have no managerial authority.) And the "real" managers blames the cashiers for being short handed during rushes...

We have about 6 people on medical leave, and 4 people on maternity leave, and being a small store that's roughly a third of our cashiers. And they're off for the next few months. What should the manager over the front end do?(Yes, there's management above me that "handles" the behind the scenes stuff.)

A good one would hire some temp employees, get them trained, and have them cover. What does mine do? Nothing... These cashiers have been on leave for about a month already, and last week, we had a day where 8 of them were scheduled DURING OUR BUSIEST TIME OF DAY. Any of the shifts covered? No, because he was too lazy to hire some temps in time, or even post the hours for anyone to pick up. (Technically he DID post them, but he posted them about 3 days before they needed covered, which everyone had already made plans by than, so it was pointless.)

 

[Smolderin]

I'll do if they're nice and respectful. Otherwise, gtfo of my site. What baffles me however is that I know people that are rude all the time but yet they still expect a tip. Not me, honestly being a very introverted, anti-social dude with Aspergers, I can't help but be annoyed by everyone I serve, I naturally come off as rude or abrasive without even trying, but I don't expect a tip from that, nor do I expect them to understand. Wish I could find different work, but its the only type of industry I know that is always hiring. I hate customer service...soooo much.

 

[Zyst]

I tip everyone everywhere, fuck, I tip the mail people every time they come, I recently learned that's not normal but they fucking adore me for it and I get my packages super fast so I keep doing it.

Overall I like to tip places who have exceptional service, but if it doesn't I can usually turn a place into a place that gives ME exceptional service through tips so yeah.

 

[TakerFoxx]

No one should ever tip anyone.

Corporations and restaurants should pay them a living wage and determine which employees should be rewarded more than others. Tiping as a practice is retarded. Make me pay more for a hamburger if that's what it costs to pay the employees more.

What about delivery people? My paycheck's decent, but thanks to gas prices and regular car maintenance, I lost anywhere from 40-70% of it just keeping my truck running, and the couple bucks they give us per delivery don't make up for it. Without tips, I don't earn enough to get by on.

 

[DugMachine]

I would bet that I do considerably more work than a waiter. I have to wait on people, operate the drive-through, and make drinks all at the same time. Much tougher than asking people what they want and having other people make it.

Well whether it's more demanding is debatable but that's not my point. If you make minimum wage or even above, tips shouldn't be expected. Provide outstanding service and I'm sure people will tip just like I do. You sound like you take your job seriously so that's probably a good indicator that you do it well and I hope you are in fact tipped but it shouldn't be expected is all I'm saying.

 

[madster11]

I work in the fast food industry (I make $21.98AU per hour, more on saturdays and sundays), I deliver pizzas, and while tipping is not as prevalent or expected as it is in America, we do occasionally get good nights in tips. I'm in Australia, and unlike what Evil Smurf said, tipping does happen, it's just not as common.

In Aus i've noticed that generally only the pizza delivery guys and the high end restaurant workers get tips, and only on occasions.
For example, when my pizza and drink comes to $24 i'll be like 'fuck it' and let the driver keep the $1, and when the servers in a restaurant where you're paying $300+ for a large meal with lots of people at your table have done a good job, keeping up with drink orders and such, generally you throw a $10 or a $20 their way.

 

[w9496]

I would bet that I do considerably more work than a waiter. I have to wait on people, operate the drive-through, and make drinks all at the same time. Much tougher than asking people what they want and having other people make it.

Well whether it's more demanding is debatable but that's not my point. If you make minimum wage or even above, tips shouldn't be expected. Provide outstanding service and I'm sure people will tip just like I do. You sound like you take your job seriously so that's probably a good indicator that you do it well and I hope you are in fact tipped but it shouldn't be expected is all I'm saying.

Yeah, I get your point. It shouldn't be expected for every sale, but if somebody drops $20 on coffee, I'm thinking they could spare a quarter.

 

[AngloDoom]

I only tip for exceptional service, or for a particularly nice transaction. If someone serving me isn't going out of their way for me then I shouldn't feel obliged to go out of my way for them.

That and many establishments where I've been won't allow their staff to keep their tips, but just pour it into the till or similar so there's often no reason to tip in the first place. Then again, as many have said, England gives a significantly higher wage to serving staff because it assumes they're not going to get tips.

 

[thiosk]

Removed for wrong post.

I tip traditionally tipped employees 20%. I don't go out of my way to give every person a buck.

 

[Mycroft Holmes]

No one should ever tip anyone.

Corporations and restaurants should pay them a living wage and determine which employees should be rewarded more than others. Tiping as a practice is retarded. Make me pay more for a hamburger if that's what it costs to pay the employees more.

What about delivery people? My paycheck's decent, but thanks to gas prices and regular car maintenance, I lost anywhere from 40-70% of it just keeping my truck running, and the couple bucks they give us per delivery don't make up for it. Without tips, I don't earn enough to get by on.

I said they should pay you a living wage. If they can not pay you a living wage which includes your costs on gas and maintenance then they should raise the prices and pay you a decent wage. You would not be getting less money by not getting tips, you would simply be getting it directly from the same source without all the added math for everyone, the random fluctuations in pay, and the advent of random variables that have nothing to do with service. Like 'that waitress is cute here have a larger tip.' granted usually everyone on a shift puts all their tips into a pot and then splits it evenly but its still a retarded criterion. And if prices need to go up to pay for it, then they should. Think of it as a mandatory tip included in the price increase and distributed through your pay check in an even amount based on how valuable you are to the company(and/or how strong your collective bargaining skills are.)

 

[Kefo]

I tip if the waiter deserves it. If we get dismal service or screwed up orders then you get jack all(unless you are new and learning the job, then some slack is cut as everyone makes mistakes)

As for your examples about not using flour that had spiders in it. Congradulations you did absolutely nothing of worth. As someone else said you are just a part of the problem. Next time you take photo proof or show other coworkers who have a backbone and contact your local health department.

For those who may get angry about tipping, yes I have worked in a restaurant setting for 3 years and currently I am QA in a meat plant where we do constant Listeria, salmonella and E. coli testing among other things to make sure people dont get sick or die and you dont see me demanding a tip for making sure your food is up to standard.

 

[lunavixen]

In Aus i've noticed that generally only the pizza delivery guys and the high end restaurant workers get tips, and only on occasions.
For example, when my pizza and drink comes to $24 i'll be like 'fuck it' and let the driver keep the $1, and when the servers in a restaurant where you're paying $300+ for a large meal with lots of people at your table have done a good job, keeping up with drink orders and such, generally you throw a $10 or a $20 their way.

That is what happens in most cases, I work in a gourmet pizza shop, i'm the only female driver there, but I do work in shop as well, the only thing I don't do is make pizzas because of my seafood allergy. Getting off track here, I tend to get tips on pretty much all the nights i'm working, and I've had some decent nights in tips, and the section i've bolded of your text is pretty much what happens all the time, but on some occasions people who pay with credit cards will tip us anyway. I've always believed not to expect tips, that way it's not a disappointment when you don't get them, but a surprise when you do

 

[MiriaJiyuu]

Tip the cashier for having to deal with your complaint. It wasn't the cashiers fault the fry cook sucks.

The cashier doesn't have to deal with my complaints, they just don't have to get my money again when there are other places to buy food.
And whilst its not the Cashiers fault that the burger is falling apart, it is their fault that there's icecream leaking out of my McFlurry, sticky sauce all over the sides, half my drink down my cup and various other problems that are becoming more and more common at my local fast food chains. People there these days don't care as much, and will just pump out stuff as fast as they can with little care for the quality. Doesn't happen every time, but these days its about 1/3 of the times I go, which is far too often for me to continue to use such services.

You know that if a person isn't nice when they order their food or whatever the person behind the counter doesn't give two shits whether it's right or not? In fact I've had people who were so rude when ordering their food I PURPOSELY screwed it up just so they would never come back, and if they did, well they certainly don't get better service but I will usually subtly, or perhaps rudely, suggest that they treat me like a human being if they want to be treated like one.

See here's my thing, you pull up to the speaker, I say "Hello, Welcome to (wherever), may I take your order?" From there, if you are nice, I will steadily be nicer to you, if you are rude, I will slowly be more rude to you. You start off neutral, and you get service in accordance with how well you treat me, I'm not going to smile to your face if your an asshole, I'm going to flat out tell you to leave. Golden Rule people, golden rule.

As for tipping myself, I always tip wherever I go, and I leave a good tip, and hey guess what? I get good, friendly service every single time I return. Anyone who expects good service for being an asshole is seriously fooling themselves.

 

[Joccaren]

You know that if a person isn't nice when they order their food or whatever the person behind the counter doesn't give two shits whether it's right or not? In fact I've had people who were so rude when ordering their food I PURPOSELY screwed it up just so they would never come back, and if they did, well they certainly don't get better service but I will usually subtly, or perhaps rudely, suggest that they treat me like a human being if they want to be treated like one.

See here's my thing, you pull up to the speaker, I say "Hello, Welcome to (wherever), may I take your order?" From there, if you are nice, I will steadily be nicer to you, if you are rude, I will slowly be more rude to you. You start off neutral, and you get service in accordance with how well you treat me, I'm not going to smile to your face if your an asshole, I'm going to flat out tell you to leave. Golden Rule people, golden rule.

As for tipping myself, I always tip wherever I go, and I leave a good tip, and hey guess what? I get good, friendly service every single time I return. Anyone who expects good service for being an asshole is seriously fooling themselves.

I am far too shy to even contemplate being rude. Indecision is the worst people get from me, but normally I'll be cheerfully ordering whilst talking with friends. I end up with sub-par service, along with everyone else who uses the restaurant at the very least during that shift, because the people behind the counter are either incompetent, even though they know what they're doing, or lazy. One night it was only half the shift being lazy. If you ordered from two of the five people serving, they would tell you the soft serve and milkshake machine was broken - right as the other 3 people decided to use it to get milkshakes/sundays/30c cones for their customers. I don't call them out on it, as said I'm too shy to be confrontational, but they didn't get my service again.
If I were to break social convention and actually tip someone, it would be for good service, or if I caused something to go wrong. Sub-par service is not deserving of a tip - your golden rule works both ways.

As for tipping everywhere you go, that's unconventional here. Few places even have a jar for tips, and absolutely nobody actually expects any. Good service is something that in all respectable restaurants you're expected to give if you want to keep your job. Sadly, in most fast food chains in my area, both the managers and the workers don't really care. I have sat beside people I know who work in such places whilst they proudly proclaim and laugh about what they did on shift last night, i.e: turning the radio up for "I just had sex" and dancing around back to it with the manager rather than doing their job.
As I'm sure I've said, it hasn't always been this way. Once upon a time, probably 2-3 years back, I got decent service at McDonald's, and I put any change I got into the donations box instead because of this. These days I don't even go to McDonald's because of how their service has changed. There are two fast food chain shops I go to now. One being a KFC that manages to provide good service, and the other being a Hungry Jack's that my friends work at as either managers, servers or fry cooks, and in doing so they try to keep the quality good when their on shift. When they're not, it does noticeably decrease.

 

[Creator002]

Being brought up and still living in Australia, I don't tip very often. If I get a pizza delivered to my door and it's $38, I'll give the guy $40 and tell him to just keep the change. At fast food restaurants like McDonald's or Hungry Jack's,[footnote]Australia's Burger King[/footnote] I let them keep change if it's a dollar or less unless the cashier's service was appalling, in which case I'll wait for even 5 cents change.
I use my debit card quite a lot, however, so there's usually no chances to tip in the first place.

EDIT - I just realised that if I tip for fast food places, the cashier and staff don't actually get the money I tip. It just goes into the register and then into the store's profits. I think I'll get that change back from now on. Put it into the charity boxes they have at the counter or something.

 

[ATRAYA]

Are you freaking kidding me? You think people should tip you because you work at a place of business that shouldn't exist in the first place? If the profit margins are too low to even keep a minimum level of acceptable standard, the place should be shut down. Either by the owners themselves or by the authorities. Places like that are the reason we need more regulation.

So your solution to his whining is that instead of making a little extra pocket money, he should LOSE HIS INCOME ALTOGETHER? Sounds like a plan to me.

No, I'm saying he shouldn't have a job there in the first place because that place shouldn't exist.

There are other jobs.

If there are so many other jobs available, why on EARTH would he still work there? Sorry, but some communities are so bad it's either pain and suffering for minimum wage or death.

Sweatshops in Indonesia shouldn't exist either, yet they persist. And you know what? If you closed them down, all the kids that work themselves to the bone for almost nothing would most likely have to be killed (so the family doesn't have another mouth to feed), or sold, since the family NEEDS the pitiful amount of income the child brings in.

 

[SushiJaguar]

Having worked at my first job for a while now and recently being fired for moving storefront displays around to aid disabled customers, this thread makes me feel so much better about the whole affair and my subsequent hard-on for tipping every damn person in the world. It's not always a lot, usually just whatever change comes out of a note, but now I can feel happier in going the extra mile and tucking a spare tenner in the waiter's sleeve when I go to a restaurant.

 

[Starik20X6]

It's my understanding that the 'tipping culture' only exists because the minimum wage in the US is so appallingly, catastrophically low. I think it's terrible that part of the reason wages are so low is the assumption that the workers will make up the difference in tips.