There Are A Lot Of Good Reasons To Abolish The Tipping System In Restaurants en-us Wed, 31 Dec 1969 19:00:00 -0500 Thu, 10 Jul 2014 21:44:33 -0400 Vivian Giang bob harry Wed, 07 Aug 2013 01:42:05 -0400 If a server got paid a set wage instead of getting tipped, there would be no reason for them to work harder at their job. Not to mention, their job is to serve you. So whose really getting effected then? essie Sun, 28 Jul 2013 16:40:27 -0400 Waiting tables is a job. Working behind-the-scenes, dishwasher, food prep, etc. are jobs. It's probably some of the most EXHAUSTING work. Restaurant owners need to take responsibility for their employees by paying competitive wages, whether by full-time (40 hours) or part-time (32 hours!!!!) rather than expecting employees' incomes to be paid by the very customers who are there for the meal. Tips ~ the acronym translates "To Insure Prompt Service" ~ should be "gravy" in addition to a good wage paid by the restaurant owners! There are waiters making .50 to 1.00 an hour, how pathetic is that, and they're hoping and praying their customers will give them a great tip. Many do not. It's time to hold the restaurant owners responsible for paying all of their staff for their hard work. Period. If they can't handle that, then they shouldn't be in business!! I am not a waiter and never have been because I think the salary abuse of the industry is awful. I do enjoy going out for a meal. Lots. And I ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS tip and I tip well! So I'm not a bitter employee. This story shouldn't be about tipping: it should be about restaurant scamming. MonicaS Thu, 25 Jul 2013 20:09:54 -0400 I feel similar; however, I haven't really worked as a server. While I have many friends who do or did and they have told me about a few problems in the business and how the restaurant and law treats tips and service. There are many restaurants (many large-name chains) that will automatically include X% of the bill to the server's W-2 whether or not that is the amount received or adjust the wage they pay the server because of minimum wage laws (in certain states). Further, the tip (based upon the bill) is also usually automatically divided up amongs the staff in the kitchen, buspersons, and hostess; so the server will have to pay out for this split whether or not received. Granted you would hope the server would provide good service, but without having been in their shoes and having to deal with many customers who are rude, have unreasonable expectations or very demanding, it is rather unreasonable to expect a server to provide some hallowed level of service all the time to each person. They are just humans. I think the system needs to be redone to address the issues so you can always tip more for outstanding service, but still provide the means for servers and the other staff to make minimum wage without adjusting all menu prices which would be unfair on the other end to the customer. I'm not saying I know the answer, just saying consider we aren't getting all of the info. d Tue, 23 Jul 2013 23:24:17 -0400 Tipping in America is effectively compulsory for customers, it is also basically extortion. A large % of tips are never declared or tax paid. I live in a non tipping country bad service will result in complaints and unemployment. poor wages result in no staff and lost profits. I can leave a tip as a bonus if I feel its deserved. Some waiter/ress gets snarly with me because I don't leave or leave a big enough tip I wont return. Pay the people properly, charge a proper price. Interestingly Countries that demand cash on top tips also feature high on the list of countries with serious corruption problems. Worse America is exporting this disease. dvasop Fri, 12 Jul 2013 19:33:45 -0400 That's not necessarily true--I was a server for 5 years during college. Up-selling creates a bigger bill and a larger tip (if the customer is tipping off percentages, which most do). Increased turnover means more customers that tip. It's absolutely beneficial to the server. dvasop Fri, 12 Jul 2013 19:30:53 -0400 How many times can you use the word Liberal in one paragraph? I worked 5 years in a restaurant during college and there are just as many conservatives as liberals. Please don't make this political. Hynd Thu, 11 Jul 2013 22:57:27 -0400 Tipping is an important part of teaching servers that they have done a good job or not. The fact people have started to behave to a standard that is folklore will not stop those of us reward good service and tip according to the serve that we got. I have had heated arguments with wait staff that did no think that the tip left meet the social standard, it however did meet the standard of the service received. As most tips that I give are in cash, and easily pocketed, the government does not get see it or tax it. Who do you think wants to cancel, or change tip policy. Walter Sasaidek Thu, 11 Jul 2013 17:15:47 -0400 I worked as a Food Server for over 12 years and made very good money because I studied the craft and became excellent at it. I see both sides of the issue. It will NEVER happen unless non-tipping is done by all businesses not just restaurants. Just because you own a restaurant and pay people minimum wage means you some slave-driving capitilist - every restaurant does it. BUT many restaurants offer health care, 401K, dental and many other benefits that you may be unaware of. It's the #1 failing business in America in every major city in the country. The margins are razor thin and labor is the one of the 3 biggest costs. Unless every business is non-tipping the idea is doomed. Scott Ascher Thu, 11 Jul 2013 11:55:20 -0400 Begin at the beginning T I P is from the term "To Insure Promptness" I explained this to my wife one night at a Club. I said watch this as I gave the waitress $20 when I placed my drink order... she never came back. So, it is a two fold education: 1. Servers need to know bad service will result in $0 2. Customers need to TIP based on performance... not "accepted trends." "How much do you TIP a chambermaid?" George Costanza - Seinfeld Gerry Weber Thu, 11 Jul 2013 11:24:40 -0400 The current system is ridiculous. Tips are added to the total bill which includes taxes. If I order a bottle of wine it is not the already grossly inflated listed price but 15 to 20% more. Crazy. Let restaurant owners pay their employees a decent wage and then let the customer reward them for great service at a much lower rate. theanphibian Thu, 11 Jul 2013 09:52:08 -0400 "On the other hand, servers typically get a lower wage than other workers in the industry, so they rely on tips to balance out their pay." That's not the 'other hand'! That is a great reason to abolish tipping... The true horror of this system (that is never mentioned) is that hourly wage workers are exposed to full business volatility. If few customers come, the servers make below minimum wage. Of course, in good times they can do quite well. But averages are not very comforting when you're trying to feed your family. By putting the volatility burden on servers, you encourage business owners to make sub-optimal decisions for staffing - due to the simple reason that they don't pay the cost of staffing. Tell me again, how is this defensible? Only by not addressing the issue can you argue in favor of tips. It's a pay structure designed to compete unequally in the market for hourly labor. How is anyone defending that? T-Bone Thu, 11 Jul 2013 09:50:43 -0400 TAXES! The employees prefer tipping because there's less of a paper trail. If someone leaves $100 bill as a tip how much do you think is declared as income by the average waiter? Which is also all the more reason to move away from tipping and toward fixed wages. I'm not a fan of the income tax as a concept, but it should at least be applied equitably. Dave R Thu, 11 Jul 2013 03:52:33 -0400 Tipping is simply an excuse for restaurants to put responsibility of their employees wages and behaviour on their customers. This type of behaviour by the business would be frowned upon in any other market. The worst part is tips are often pooled and split between workers evenly, regardless of their service quality. I also know from personal experience that some Hilton Hotels (and likely many other establishments too) will take a fraction of these pooled tips simply because patrons "tip too much". SpunkyBunks Thu, 11 Jul 2013 01:29:53 -0400 The Netherlands!! Ha! The worst service in the world. You're lucky if you get a menu within 30 minutes of sitting down. Then it's another 30 minutes to place your food and drink order, if you can find your waiter. When they finally bring you your food (another hour later), good luck in getting repeat service (drink refills, napkins, etc.) until you are ready for the bill. A no tipping culture = horrible service. Ask any European, they are amazed at how fast we get served in America, and with no attitude from the wait staff too. Ask any NYC server at how cheap Europeans are with tipping! They dread European tourists. katesweat Thu, 11 Jul 2013 01:16:24 -0400 all the problems noted - upselling, increasing table turnover - benefit the restaurant, not the server or the customer. bdbr Wed, 10 Jul 2013 23:41:57 -0400 You don't become the bad guy for not liking the system. You become the bad guy if you use your distaste for the system as an excuse to take advantage of an otherwise extremely low-paid worker. If you want to protest, tell the manager. bdbr Wed, 10 Jul 2013 23:32:51 -0400 I had the same experience in the Netherlands. It seems to me that the work ethic of the country/region has a greater impact on the quality of service than tipping or other policies. Probably the customers in Japan were more courteous as well. bdbr Wed, 10 Jul 2013 23:22:43 -0400 If the restaurant charged more, people might be turned off by the higher prices. Even if the price is the same as it would be with a tip included, there is probably a psychological factor of just seeing the higher price on the menu. Tipping is not a city in.... Wed, 10 Jul 2013 23:03:29 -0400 Visit Japan then you might say, "Why do I tip again?" Americans need customer services lessons, NOT MORE TIPS! Are restaurant owners doing their part by training the wait staff to be better at customer service? NO! They hire people based on experience and/or personality. These two areas mean little. I don't need a server with a sparkling personality, I need a server to remember to bring sugar with the coffee, or to pay extra attention to my situation like when I have my two year old dining with me. In Japan the service is incredible because of training and self pride, not because of tips. TheFree_Lance Wed, 10 Jul 2013 21:45:59 -0400 "In a recent TED talk, Canadian restaurateur-turned-professor Bruce McAdams..." Annd four strikes and you are out. And I didn't even count Bruce. Or McAdams. cmonster Wed, 10 Jul 2013 21:00:23 -0400 I can't make myself leave a gratuity for bad service. Jim Fabyan Wed, 10 Jul 2013 20:39:58 -0400 Add a comment... Tipping is a waste of money. On a per hour basis, just how much time is devoted to your table during a meal. The waiter hands me a menu, I order, he takes it to the kitchen, they prepare the dish, he carry's it out and sets it in front of me. He comes with a pitcher of water occasionally brings me a check tabulated by a computer, all total he spends maybe ten minutes. Generally he doesn't do the set up or clean up. Really the restaurant should rent the table by the hour, if you enjoy the ambience you stay if not you shut the meter off and leave. Put the onus on the owner to hire and pay for good help, all the rest of us business people do. Sal Wed, 10 Jul 2013 19:25:28 -0400 I'm sick and tired of the tipping custom. Why should I be responsible for ensuring a restaurant employee is fairly compensated? Pay the the employee a fair salary! Reflect that cost in charge for the meal and let me decide if I want to eat at the restaurant. How is it that I become the bad guy! Chuck Wed, 10 Jul 2013 19:12:36 -0400 I agree that tipping is unfair, the cooks and purchasers do not get recognition, either positve or negative. jollyjona Wed, 10 Jul 2013 19:12:22 -0400 In Japan there is no tipping system, and yet they still offer amazing service. People simply take pride in their work. Sadly that sort of work ethic seems to be rare here in the service industry. Dennis954 Wed, 10 Jul 2013 18:49:44 -0400 You are ansolutely correct. I have been in a few restaurants where the following sign was prominently displayed at the entrance; A 15% gratuity is automatically added to the check. On each and every occasion, the service was horrible. Needless to say, when I see a sign like that again, I turn around and go elsewhere. hstad6 Wed, 10 Jul 2013 18:37:00 -0400 What a dumb article from BI! The writer uses several anecdotal comments from a bunch of liberal writers who don't know what they are talking about. Then lo and behold, they actually talk to a restaurant owner who also had this dumb liberal idea. What changed his mind, the staff/employees who actually work there. Instead of trying to cure problems that don't exist you liberals should actually try to run some businesses. Tipping in Europe, especially France is in the price and you get some of the worst service in the world. Welfare is still alive a well in the liberal quarters of BI! eilonwy Wed, 10 Jul 2013 18:17:54 -0400 The European system still assigns the tip as a percentage of the check, so there'd still be an incentive for servers to upsell desserts and drinks and to give very little service to diners who aren't running up a big check. What changes is that there would no longer be the incentive of a voluntary tip to motivate servers to do decently by lone diners or tables with smaller appetites. It would be a no-brainer to blow off those tables because the tip's already been set by the size of the bill. The only way to prevent that would be to raise wages dramatically and remove all forms of tipping. At that point, service would revert to being set by the restaurant's wages (the lowest paid won't give a shit about customers, similar to retail), which would probably indicate never setting foot in IHOP or Denny's again if I cared about coffee refills. Greg Wed, 10 Jul 2013 18:12:26 -0400 The tipping system is a mess. Most treat it more like an entitlement. I agree at this point fair wages and higher restaurant prices makes more sense. It won't change though. The only possibility of this happening would be for some restaurants to implement a no tipping policy and pay their staff more and charge more to cover the additional costs. Sounds like suicide. rp Wed, 10 Jul 2013 18:07:22 -0400 Not feasible? It seems pretty easy to change. john1066 Wed, 10 Jul 2013 17:57:56 -0400 And maybe that could be solved by increasing their wage. kryptic Wed, 10 Jul 2013 17:55:41 -0400 In the USA the tips are effectively the income of the waiter. Changing the system is not feasible. jamesusnvet Wed, 10 Jul 2013 17:46:40 -0400 We should NOT do away with tipping, I have given large tips to outstanding servers and $.02 tips when I have had horrible service. I enjoy at least being able to express in a tangible way my gratitude or lack thereof for the server. There are not too many other systems that ACTUALLY have an impact on the person that it is meant to impact.