What are your thoughts on tipping?

[silcnlayc]

I totally agree and have done with all you stated. I started in the serving business also. I know how hard it is to work your legs off and carry those extra heavy trays trying to be effecient and prompt.

I tip on all counts just because I have been on the other end knowing how much one appreciates a good customer. The mind set for me as a gambler is this. I walk up to a machine and throw in a twenty knowing what the odds are in winning...I pause many times when I am hungry and say to myself....the server would appreciate this twenty much more than the casino, and so it goes...I put the money back in my pocket, take the family to dinner and toss the twenty on the table...feels good knowing they will appreciate it...

Next time you go gamble, save a little for the other guy that is trying to make a living..you might enjoy the feeling just as much as if you spun the slot..I know I do..whether it is your dog groomer, hairdresser carry out restauraunt...what you share will come back double fold..Karma is very real in life I believe...

A quick response to this thread and that will be it...I have worked in food service for 35 years...

Here in my little corner of the world...waiter/waitresses MUST declare 15% of their total SALES (not tips) for the day...these are tallied and totalled for the week...they pay taxes on the total weekly sales (whether or NOT they have received a tip)...right now a server earns $5.00/hr (here...the amount is different for each state)...tips declared must make up to the minmum wage amount...if the amount does NOT make up, then the server must PAY money in...in other words, they get a $0.00 paycheck, and they get higher tax amounts withdrawn the next week...

When I started waitressing 35 years ago...minimum wage for a server was $.75/hr (yes...that says 75 cents!)...

Do I tip when I go out to eat? Yes!
Do I tip for take out orders? Yes!
Do I tip delivery? Yes!

But to each their own...and yes, it should be considered a "gift" for good/great/excellent services rendered...but our greedy government has seen to it that servers now have to depend on these tips to make a living...

 

[Stovetopp]

Chefs make a ton of money I assume the"system" figures in the long run each person will make a decent living depending on what their skills are

BUT you are so right about that vegas thing... I go 2 or 3 times per year I get up real early and go play video poker... Before yu know it , I am tipping 5 -6 dollars for 5-6 cups coffee. I ask the waitress if she could bring 2 at a time( so I dont have to wait forever) for the next one nope not allowed
So now I go to mcdonalds get me 2 senior coffee and bring it with me before i start playing. But then the other stuff restaurant tipping, door man tipping, etc etc.
One question. If you give the concierge a suitcase to check ..Do you tip him or do you tip when you go to collect your suitcase? At the moment I tip both since I am a regular at this casino and don't want any dirty stare lol Same for valet parking who gets the tip the receiver of the car or the guy who delivers the car or both?

Tipping should be totally unnecessary as proper remuneration would negate the need for such an old fashioned practice.

I worked in the catering industry in my younger life to bolster my money from my weekday job and to think that a waiter would get a tip for providing a great service does miss the point of the hard work the kitchen staff behind the scenes and bar staff that supplied / prepared the drinks have done, even when they pool the tips, the kitchen staff tend to miss out.

There are of course others that add to the mix and these are the cleaners that do their work before and after and sometimes between that never ever get to see the praise of a few coins thrown their way.

For those of you that have never done the “Vegas thing” expect the ultimate in tipping etiquette, by the time you have tipped the Bellmen, Concierge, Valet parking attendants, Front desk clerks, Cocktail Waitresses, Food servers and Taxi drivers, oh and Room Service you have either seriously depleted your bank balance or discovered a lifetime aversion to ever tipping again.

Wages should suffice, it should show the employer respects the employee enough that the work they do has enough productivity, profitability and merit to avoid such embarrassment.

 

[ksech]

@ skiny...I live in the US ...NY state (not the city)

Okay...if you had read the post, it states...total of SALES/day NOT tips per day...servers are required to declare a percentage of their total FOOD sales for the day...say I do $700 worth of sales for the day...I am required to report 15% of that (or $105)...now say this is in an 8 hour day...at $5/hour...I would need to make up $2.25/ hour (the current minimum wage here in NY is $7.25 I believe) to be "safe" and to receive a VERY small paycheck...since my sales were so high and I had to claim so much I cleared the amount I needed to ($13.12/hr)...so for that paycheck I MAY take home $11 after taxes (or for a 40 hr week...$44 after taxes)

Now, I have been on both sides of the fence...I have served and cooked...I would NEVER send a plate out to a customer that I would refuse to serve myself...People also have to understand with take-out orders...if the kitchen is busy doing take-out...it means the people dining in have to wait...take-out requires the kitchen AND the server to take time away from a customer who is sitting patiently for their meal...

Being a server can be a very demeaning job too...people think that because a person is a server they can't find another job or aren't qualified to do anything else...think again...the economy isn't what it used to be...there are many WELL-educated people out there now clamoring for food service jobs...I have been spit on, called nasty names, groped, been accused of being racist (ummm hello...I'm Korean), etc...by people who feel it is their RIGHT to be able to do these things simply because I am ONLY a waitress...WRONG...and another thing....the customer is NOT always right

 

[skiny]

Unless you work at a restaurant that charges a mandatory tip I don't understand how you can be forced to declare money that doesn't exist as income. It doesn't even make sense.

For the record, I wouldn't eat at a restaurant that added a mandatory tip to my bill.

 

[ksech]

Unless you work at a restaurant that charges a mandatory tip I don't understand how you can be forced to declare money that doesn't exist as income. It doesn't even make sense.

For the record, I wouldn't eat at a restaurant that added a mandatory tip to my bill.

Because the GOVERNMENT states that a server MUST declare a certain percentage of their daily FOOD sales...NOT tips...you CAN get around this by working under the table...no taxes, nothing reported/filed...and you don't pay into social security either..although, for the young...social security will be obsolete by the time they get to retirement age with the way govenrment is handling things...

When you go into a restaurant and they hand you that nice looking computer printout check...the computer tallies each servers activites for the day...each server logs into the computer to place her orders/drinks (or whatever else)...if the restaurant takes credit cards, it will also keep track of the servers credit card tips (these must be claimed 100%)...at the end of the week (or day) the server will do a printout of her sales (or the owner/manager...or whoever does payroll) and will take a percentage of total sales and add in the credit card tips for what is to be claimed for that week (or day)...these will be amounts will then be added to the hourly rates and then be reported to the IRS, federal and state taxes are paid (deducted) from these totals


Ack...I wasn't going to go into all this LOL It's very confusing if you've never had to deal with it...

 

[Balthazar]

It's really easy to remember folks: When you eat out or order food, the service isn't included on the bill. If you don't want to pay for the service, don't use it, period. If you use it and then don't pay for it you're stealing this person's time and income.

Not tipping IS stealing. When you sit at a table, you're basically hiring a server and it's YOUR responsability to pay for the service that you use.

If you don't agree with that, most restaurants offer carry-out and there's no need to tip there.

 

[Balthazar]

What country is this that forces you to pay income tax on money that doesn't exist?

I live in Canada (just like you) and it's the same here.

 

[Balthazar]

For the record, I wouldn't eat at a restaurant that added a mandatory tip to my bill.

Would you eat at a restaurant that would pay its servers a living wage (but with a no-tip policy) even it the price of the food was 15% higher? If yes then that's pretty fucked up to agree to that but not to a mandatory tip because it's basically the same.

You guys realize that if there were no tipping, the food would be proportionally more expensive, right?

 

[CakeKing]

Personally i rarely tip because of the prices here and cause the waitress/waiter gets a good monthly income w/o tips.

When traveling its a diffrent story.

 

[IanO]

I found a few interesting infographics on the topic....here's one of them:

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I like infographics.

 

[skiny]

Anyone who feels that a gratuity should be mandatory doesn't understand what the word gratuity means and doesn't understand what the purpose of it is supposed to be.

What is being described here has nothing to do with "tipping."

And there are people all over the city making minimum wage who are not in a position to earn tips and I don't see any of them complaining because I don't hand them 5 bucks every time they perform their duties.

 

[ksech]

So, by your standard...Tipping should be done away with...and a server should accept a $44 paycheck for a 40 hour week..and be satisfied with it because this is the job/career they have chosen/been forced into by the economy to pursue? Although, I believe 30 hours a week is now the norm for full time so employers don't have to pay benefits (i.e. into retirement packages, health insurance, etc...and this isn't JUST for food service, but for ANY type of employment now...which is another B&M topic of how employers are ripping off employees to get around government "rules" and a total derailment from this topic)
*confused*

I didn't make these assinine rules, but they are the rules I am governed by in the type of employment I have...Here are some things to NEVER ask your server ....

1) Do you use real eggs to make your omelettes?
Answer: Nope...we use plastic Easter eggs
2) It says here on your menu you are open 24 hours a day...what time do you close?
Answer: In 10 minutes, you better hurry up and order!
3) The menu says you have cheeseburgers. Do you have any hamburgers??
Answer: No, sorry...we're all out of hamburgers at the moment...you can order a cheeseburger though and I'll ask the cook if they can take the cheese off it for you.
4) Do you have a bathroom?
Answer: No sorry, we only have a restroom...
Customer: well, damn...I'm going to have to leave then, I need to go to the bathroom
5) Do you have pie?
Answer: Yes, we have apple, blueberry, cherry, lemon merangue and coconut custard
Customer: Oh, you don't have pecan? or Chocolate cream?
Answer: Uhhh, no...we have....
6) Me: How would you like your eggs?
Customer: cooked
7) Me: Would you like link sausage or patty sausage?
Customer: There's a difference?


Sorry for the derail...thought everyone could use a funny (or two)!!!

 

[skiny]

So, by your standard...Tipping should be done away with...and a server should accept a $44 paycheck for a 40 hour week..and be satisfied with it because this is the job/career they have chosen/been forced into by the economy to pursue? Although, I believe 30 hours a week is now the norm for full time so employers don't have to pay benefits (i.e. into retirement packages, health insurance, etc...and this isn't JUST for food service, but for ANY type of employment now...which is another B&M topic of how employers are ripping off employees to get around government "rules" and a total derailment from this topic)
*confused*

I didn't make these assinine rules, but they are the rules I am governed by in the type of employment I have...Here are some things to NEVER ask your server ....

No, tipping is fine. I tip often enough. Mandatory tipping isn't a gratuity. It's a tax.

Servers should make at least minimum wage just like everyone else who works. Tips should be above and beyond the minimum wage. Any rule where the tips are deducted from the wage so that the wage remains at minimum wage makes tipping completely pointless. You're giving nothing to the server and just allowing the employer to pay less. Why would I tip a waitress if her employer is going to deduct it from her wages?

The more I think about it the more of a mess it seems to be. My tip shouldn't effect the price of the food. If you have to raise the price of my dinner by a dollar to pay minimum wage to the servers and stay in business that's fine. It's a simple cost of doing business increase. It happens in every industry to balance the books. If the government wants to force all tips to go through the cash register so they can keep track of it, that's fine. As long as the waitress I left the tip for gets to tally them up at the end of the day and keep what is rightfully hers. She can pay income tax on it at the end of the year.

What should not be happening is her employer taking my tip and removing it from her pay cheque so he ends up paying less than minimum wage. There are thousands of businesses all over the city that barely make ends meet but they still have to pay at least minimum wage. And nobody should be forced to tip a specific amount regardless of service. That's not a gratuity.

The whole system of tipping has become a farce. It has nothing to do with being a gratuity and nothing to do with showing appreciation for good service. It's little better now than a scam and I choose not to participate in it. If I give you a tip it should go in your pocket and be nobody's business but yours and mine. If this is not the case, I'll just go to the drive through and eat my burger in the park.

 

[cpdnd31]

I don't know if its the same way, but when I waited in the 90s. I made 2.55 and hour plus tips. Min wage was 535. and hour. So there is a big difference in pay.

 

[Balthazar]

What should not be happening is her employer taking my tip and removing it from her pay cheque so he ends up paying less than minimum wage.

The part that he's "taking" is deducted from the price of your meal so instead of taking it from you and giving it back to the waitress you pay the waitress directly.

 

[vinylweatherman]

The big problem in all of this is the sheer deception. Everything else we buy by way of goods and services is marked with a price. Customers know in advance what they are expected to pay, and they can take it, leave it, or in some cases try to negotiate a better price. The charge for service is none of these. Instead of a customer enjoying a night out, we suddenly have to be the employer, the remuneration committee, the line manager, even the tax office, and have to evaluate the performance on the day, and decide on a wage and offer it. The employee (waiter) has no option but to accept the wage, whereas for most other types of work there is a set salary or hourly rate.

Rather than tackling this, the government have locked in this practice through the tax laws that require serving staff to declare 15% of all food sales. The government are just as "corrupt" as the employers who pay peanuts and expect staff to make it up to minimum wage through what is effectively "begging".

It would be more honest if you entered a restaurant and picked your own waiter, who you would hire for the duration of your meal, and at an agreed minimum price. After paying this agreed price, any extra would really be a gratuity, but there would also be no stigma for just paying the agreed price. This agreed price would probably have to be set to 15% of the food order so that the waiter was not disadvantaged by the tax laws.

It seems the current system punishes the honest waiter who gets on with the job, but doesn't manage to extract enough tips to bring them up to a living wage, and rewards the dishonest or "pushy" waiter who "bullies" tips out of customers who he feels are not giving enough, and who finds ways to avoid declaring the full amount to the tax office.

Restaurants could also add the service to the prices quoted (more transparent and honest for the customer), and then offer a 15% discount for "take out" orders.

The other problem I see is that it doesn't just end at tipping the waiter, it seems that in such a culture, EVERYBODY wants a slice, so one feels pressured to tip every member of staff one bumps into, and this can end up costing more in extras than the headline price you paid to start with. To be fair, you either tip everyone or no one, with the latter being both fair, and the most cost effective option for the customer.

Restaurants already charge 10x or more the cost of the ingredients anyway, so I'm pretty sure that "service" is already factored in to the price here in the UK.

 

[skiny]

The part that he's "taking" is deducted from the price of your meal so instead of taking it from you and giving it back to the waitress you pay the waitress directly.

It's not my job to pay the waitress directly. I'm not the waitress's employer. It's a horrible system. You don't see people tipping the cashier at Walmart to keep the cost of the products down.

All employers should by law be forced to pay all employee's at least the same minimum wage. It seriously is just a scam. I don't work in the service industry so it really doesn't effect me but people who are really being effected by this should be lobbying for change.