Why tip at all? You don't tip at Walmart, Sears, McDonalds or Costco.
If the business can't afford paying a reasonable wage, then raise prices. If I get lousy service because of no tipping, then I would go else where for a meal.
Tacking on 18% for a group of 6 or more is highway robbery.
There is often a mandatory tip for groups because statistically, groups are most likely to stiff the waiter. They are also often very demanding of a waiter's time.
I agree with you that it would be nicer if the waiter's entire salary would be built into the cost. OTOH, it does give the customer some flexibility to reward good service (or not.)
When I was a culinary school intern in a restaurant, the servers would tack their paychecks up on the wall of the employee bathroom because after taxes and benefits, they would be less than $5.00, so really not worth anything more than wallpaper. It astounds me that people don't know that servers live off their tips. I always tip 20%. The acceptable range is 15 to 20% of your bill. What has happened in our society that we think CEO's have every right to cheat their employees out of their pensions and otherwise break the law and get paid like kings for it, but we complain about the "greed" of waiters and teachers?
I've never worked in food service, but early in life I worked a series of thankless, minimum wage retail jobs where mean-spirited corporated bastards take all the profit and treat their employees like crap. Very often, the customers treat their servers like crap. Not only do I always tip well, but I also try to be very respectful of the people that serve me. My regular servers always get treated extra well at Christmas time.
And here's another point of view: I love to cook. I've studied cooking from an amateur perspective, and I have collected over 200 authoritative cook books. I am fascinated by both the science and the art of cooking, and If you come to my house for dinner, you are treated to the best I have to offer, from planning, to cooking, to presentation. It's damned hard work, even when you love doing it. I can't even imagine having to do it for a hundred customers, night after night.
I was amazed to read that a business owner can factor-in anticipated tipping as part of the minimum wage.....thus paying peanuts and expecting customers to throw a banana or two to the poor sap waiting staff.
thus, while the business owner is happily paying sweet FA, the waiting staff are judging the customer as a potential enemy or friend. nice system
When I was a server, it was $2.06 an hour. If you're working in a busy, high-dollar restaurant, you can actually make good money from tips. However, the minimum wage was not appropriate for all the hours we worked, because we weren't being tipped when we were doing side work or closing work. Also, you have to claim 8% of your sales as tips, whether you actually made that much or not.
In about 1999, my daughter moved from Tennessee to Utah Valley where I was living. She just transferred with Applebees, but soon found out she was taking about a 50% cut in pay.
First of all, a 10% tip was the norm. She figured that people had that exact mindset, if that's good enough for God, it's good enough for a waitress. But she did good to make 10% overall, meaning many people tipped less than that. But it usually gave her minimum wage, which all the other UV jobs were anyway, and that's all the restaurant had to guarantee. The only days she got good tips were the Wednesday lunch crowd when out-of-state people would be in town to take their kids to the MTC and they'd be having the last lunch before they dropped them off.
The other big hits to her check were no more large alcohol tabs and families with a buttload of kids that took so much of her time and left even worse tips. She said that if people had coupons or 2 for 1 meals or something, they'd still only tip their 10% on the amount of the tab, not what it would have been if they'd paid full price.
My father is a horrible tipper, usually leaving $2, whether it was a $100 bill or not. I always have cash on hand when we go out to eat with them so I can leave it when he's not looking. I dated a guy in Utah Valley who was that way also. The first time he left a dollar and I had no cash and I was mortified. I only went out a couple more times with him, but I made sure I had cash to leave.
Wow. That's one of the most dickish responses I've ever read. Seriously?
"If wait staff does not make enough money, they need to go back to school and get their doctorate in something. Just like many of us did."
How cold and presumptuous can you get?! For one reason, not everyone can afford higher education. Also, a lot of people have to take low-paying jobs as wait staff to get themselves through school - those are the jobs that generally have the flexibility to work around daytime classes. And just as importantly, some people genuinely enjoy the work! It's not their fault if they live in a place where the law says their boss isn't required to pay them a better wage.
Lastly, do you have any idea how many people with higher degrees are unemployed or underemployed? Education is not a guarantee of a good job.
Concerning tipping: Whenyou go to a restaurant there is an implied contract. The restaurant agrees to furnish you with prepared food from a priced menu for a fee. It is the responsibility of the restaurant to do this. If the person who takes the order and delivers the food does more than that, such as refill water,coffee, rapidly remove used dishes etc. then in gratitude for the extra service it would seem to be appropriate to give that person something to demonstrate this gratitude. If there is nothing extra over and above the implied contract then I see no need to give extra money to anyone. Even so I not the establishment shall decide the amount. Some of you are going to jump on me. I dont care that is how I operate. That is also my premise for donating to religious organizations.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/07/2013 02:35PM by thedesertrat1.
A wise saying.... Do NOT piss off the people who make your food. Think about it. Waitresses live off of tips... We don't even get paid minimum wage. Is that a flaw- YES. But it is what it is. If you can't afford the tip- go to the grocery store. You're paying for service. You don't get that at home...it's extra. You have to pay for extra. 15-20 Percent is acceptable. Anything under 10 Percent is a waste of my time that I could be waiting on a table that gets it. TIP YOUR SERVER...WE WORK DAMN HARD. Sincerely, A pissed off, tired, and broke Waitress.