Tipping: why is 10% not perfectly adequate?

[fuji]

Then again there are a lot of countries that don' t have it at all, and gee, somehow they still have waiter/waitresses as good as the rest.

You've never tried to get served in a regular priced UK restaurant have you?

Sure in the high end restaurants they pay staff enough you get great service, but in the lower end joints--good luck getting served. The staff don't make any more or any less whether or not you get your food and it shows.

That said wait staff are sales people they SHOULD be paid on commission, it's their job to sell you more food and more drinks and make sure that you come back again in the future. Their income should be tied to the size of the bill, and tipping does that. Just most sales people are paid with a kickback from management rather than a tip from the customer. If you think about it in those terms tipping is a little less offensive, but for bill simplicity I would prefer they added it on the bill automatically.

 

[zz000ter]

Also I tip on the tax in amount although same say it should be on the tax out amount.

I just pay the amount I pay in tax (13%) plus whatever loose change is left over.

Most of the time I go to all you can eat chinese buffets with friends so noone can spit in our food if we don't "tip enough".

 

[FOOTSNIFFER]

I agree. I wish they'd just pay staff a proper wage, build it into the price of the food. Then if the service was great we could tip a little extra, if we wanted to.

There are several countries in Europe that operate this way. You pay a bit more up front but they either tip a very small amount, or not at all.

I find it just horrible the way restaurant management takes advantage of their staff. In Australia too the staff is payed quite well for serving meals, as I understand it. Same canuck belief that the staff should, for some strange reason, suffer for their company and its customers.

 

[capncrunch]

I don't WANT better service. I don't want BAD service, but I don't want them pretending to be my best friend, chatting about this and that, laughing at everything I say as though I am Chris Rock - take my order, bring me my food, bring me my bill, take my money, give me change. iIf I go to dinner with someone, I want THEM as company, not the restaurant staff.

Well, you may think this odd, but I absolutely 100% agree with you. I'm not the wait staff's new best friend, I'm a customer that is paying good money for good food and good service.

You can bet your last hors d'oeuvres that the wait staff have been instructed by their $30,000/year pimply-faced manager to be Joe/Jane Friendly to customers. Well, I don't want that. And I tell them that. The wait staff has no way of knowing how you like to be treated - as their new best buddy or just a client - so if it's in question I'll make it clear to them right at the outset. I tip them well.

And it works.

 

[Mervyn]

A percentage can only be a guide, and even then you have to consider different things.

If you go into a cheap, greasy spoon that serves meals for under 10 bucks, but you get great service, 10 % is a shitty tip.

If you go to a fancy, pretentious restaurant with 200 dollar dinner menu, and the service sucks, then 10 % percent is too much.

 

[LateComer]

A percentage can only be a guide, and even then you have to consider different things.

If you go into a cheap, greasy spoon that serves meals for under 10 bucks, but you get great service, 10 % is a shitty tip.

Agree - I tip 20 to 25% for low priced (under $10) meals.

 

[zz000ter]

I work hard for my money - why should I throw it around wantonly?

Everyone wants a tip - my barber, taxi driver, bartender, waitress, pizza delivery guy - and the list goes on and on.

I wonder what would happen if I asked my boss for a TIP.

 

[james t kirk]

^^^ Do you make minimum wage?

 

[simon482]

To me that is the reverse of how you should do it, i.e, a smaller bill should have a higher percentage tip as it is almost as much work to serve a $20 meal as a $100 meal. I tip 20% on the first $20 and 10% on the remainder.

$20 meal = $4 tip
$50 meal = $7 tip
$100 meal =$12 tip

Also I tip on the tax in amount although same say it should be on the tax out amount.

i just add the 5$ for every 10$ so i don't have to think. there are times when it is like 18$ and i just round that to 20$ and add the 5$ so they end up with a 7$ tip. usually just round to the nearest 10$ (20,30,40,50) then add what needs to be added.

 

[djk]

well tipping is part of dining out you can always cook your own food at home much cheaper!

Agreed.

I rarely eat out now. I love the feeling of bills in my wallet.

 

[xcites]

^^^ Do you make minimum wage?

i just travelled all over asia, tipping in resturant is... non existant (except for tourist areas - thanks americans for starting the trend)! and i can gurantee you they get much much less in wage. yet i still get fast service.

japan, drool... the work ethic and service over there is 10x better. tried a 10 course fugu meal once, it had a lot of cooking steps and i didn't know it, a female server decided to sit with me and help out throughout the meal. in north america, the server would probably roll her eyes and give me a dirty look and still expect a tip.

this industry has to change. the wage should include the service.

 

[Blue-Spheroid]

What is most annoying though is how everyone moans and groans about low tipping of waitresses - yet we don't tip the staff at numerous other places who are alos earning low wages, like the person at the fast food joint for instance.

The person in the fast food restaurant makes more than the waitress in a sit-down shop.

The concept is that the restaurant provides you the food and the wait-staff serve it to you. You pay the restaurant through the bill but your payment for the service is via the tip. You may get away with short tipping if you don't return to the same restaurant too often but if you frequent the same place and consistently tip low you've probably swallowed a lot of poo.

 

[burt-oh-my!]

Well, you may think this odd, but I absolutely 100% agree with you. I'm not the wait staff's new best friend, I'm a customer that is paying good money for good food and good service.

You can bet your last hors d'oeuvres that the wait staff have been instructed by their $30,000/year pimply-faced manager to be Joe/Jane Friendly to customers. Well, I don't want that. And I tell them that. The wait staff has no way of knowing how you like to be treated - as their new best buddy or just a client - so if it's in question I'll make it clear to them right at the outset. I tip them well.

And it works.

Well, midniteflite thinks you are a dick apparently!

 

[Master_Bates]

It seems pretty obvious which posters have never worked as a server.

I think most anyone that has never tried it will be surprised as to how much 'skill' it does take to handle so many situations and people.

You may also be surprised by how often people will speak down to you, and how much manners they lack.

 

[Danolo]

Get over it... tipping is here to stay... its the custom in this country and nothing is gonna change that. If you don't like to tip, then eat at a fast food joint.

The fact is, that if you do not tip where its appropriate, you have a major impact in the server's income.

So, stop your whining and just tip.

And don't weasel out by tipping 10%. That's just being cheap. If your meal is $50, then the tip should be 15%.. or $7.50.. if you are such a cheap asshole and wanna leave only 10%, you've saved $2.50! Big deal!

I routinely tip 15 to 20%. In the above scenario, I'd probably drop three twenties on the bill, and say "thanks" to the server.

Now, if the service was bad, or the server was rude, or dismissive, then I tip nothing, and I also tell the server AND the manager why.

But quit trying to "nickle and dime" your way through life by tipping a measly 10%. Change your attitude towards tipping and you'll be a happier person.

 

[papasmerf]

Americans tend to tip more.

Give it up if you have a good meal and give nothing if you do not

 

[SKINHUNTER]

SO become a server...

 

[GotGusto]

Social coercion. If you don't tip, it means you're cheap. What a racket!

 

[papasmerf]

servers here make 4 something an hour.

When you travel south you should tip

 

[Vixens]

I am very happy to tip a server or barkeep when the service is good.

What's more, I've been able to get tables at times when the restaurant is "full" because waitstaff and bartenders remember that I tip well (min. 20%).

Point is you're tipping them so the next time you go you'll get even better service.

For the record, I've never worked in a restaurant or bar.

*edit to add*

Wasn't there a restaurant in Toronto some time ago (like, years) where the owner of the establishment would not pay his waitstaff, but they could keep 100% of their tips? I remember hearing something about it on the radio but have no idea if that actually took place.

I believe the restaurant was Centro and in fact I think the waitstaff used to pay a fee to the restaurant to work there because the tips were so good....

Steph