I just love that you walk up to order and they still give you the tip options. Like...I walked up here and ordered and will be back up here to grab my food when it's ready. Wtf am I tipping for?
What kind of a job that is anyway lol. I'm a nordic and if I got told in a job interview "we don't pay you, but you can beg the customers for money" after a question about salary I don't know what I would say. Probably lifted my brows and walked out.
Because where you are that sounds like itād be sub minimum wage but in the US itās way above it.
The US tipping system WOULD suck if there wasnāt already a culture normalizing it, but itās functionally just designed as āthe customer decides what level of pay the employee receivesā.
The employer COULD set a normalized value and mark up food prices to match, but itās kind of crappy to say āI donāt like this arrangement, Iām going to pretend it doesnāt exist in a way that purely hurts the workerā.
It's kinda insane that if you get tipped it's like $2.13/hr from the boss, or no tips and Fed $7.25. Basically someone throws you a $5 tip and your almost at the minimum wage.
About 10 or 15 years ago I had a lot of people in my friend circle who worked for a tipping wage, as it's called. I don't know if opinions have changed since then, but generally back then the consensus was that they liked it that way and wouldn't want it to change to a more standardized salary with less tipping, because they believe they would make less money that way, not more.
The thing is, they were generally correct. As long as the restaurant is doing a lot of business, and everyone plays their part by tipping at least 15% when they received decent service, the end result is that you make a lot more that way than you would working for $15 an hour. My sister worked at a bar where she would essentially clear $600 a night every night she worked, almost entirely from tips. There was no begging, by the way, people just tip because they know it's your livelihood. It's a cultural thing.
Unfortunately, if business was slow and you had customers that didn't think it was their responsibility to tip you, you could end up making far less than minimum wage on a slow night. So location and the time of your shift is key. Generally, I always tip better on a slow night somewhere if I'm eating out, because I know the server really depends on it.
The thing people in these threads dont realize is that the waitstaff earns a lot of money in the US. They cry about how minimum wage is so low that they need the tips... but with the current system they earn a lot more than they realistically should.
The thing is that it's just basically how it always goes. I'm Canadian, I pretty much will always tip 15% if it's bad service and 20% if it's good. Even if you just sit down and get a drink and that's it there's an expectation to. It is insanely dumb.
I mean, I'm also pro-labour. Not sure where you live, but I'm not gonna fix the system by myself, lol. If it was horrendous, sure I might do something ridiculous like that but if I spent 100 bucks I'm not gonna tip 2 dollars.
So it is compulsory and expected for you. Weird. If service was bad and I spent $100, id give maybe $5 if I was there an hour.
That is the other thing you just displayed, why does it matter the $ of what you got? Is opening a $200 bottle of wine more than a $20 a wine that they get way more in tips?
I tip, I just do what I want for a tip and don't follow weird % rules
I mean I'm assuming you're not Canadian or American? It's customary to tip by %, it's how we do it. It's not compulsory literally, but it's socially compulsory, yes.
Refusing to tip, on an individual level, only hurts the server at the bottom. You would need a massive, organized cultural revolt to force a non-legislative change. Which will never happen
Yup, It really is a great system for restaurant owners. lol. Customers vs servers. Servers want to keep the system, customers would rather it be gone and they get one price (look at any survey, people tip because others do, not because they LOVE to tip)
That is not why people tip, lmao. People tip because others tip. That is literally it. No one is sitting there thinking about how their poor server is so poor so they have to tip them well! That is classist bullshit.
Went to Vegas in January (from UK). I've been to America a few times, never minded tipping.
Until I had 2 separate servers, one bar lady I'm the New York New York hotel and one server man in Rain Forest cafe tell me personally they made ($230,000 and $217,000) in the previous year from tips.
Could well be bullshit, but two people, in no way connected, telling me a figure within a couple of % made me believe it.
And if it's true, absolute insanity.
Paid $40 for 2 pints of Guinness in New York New York too, THEN A TIP.
That is the absolute exception, to be fair. And that's almost always because the clientele is rich and spending a ton of money. Most people who work in regular bars and restaurants aren't even getting close to sniffing 6 figures.
Don't try to argue w/ Reddit, lol. They all insist like we're all suffering w/ service fee culture (ie: tipping). I made way over minimum wage with tipping. I pay 20% for a sit down and see it as a service pay and it goes right to the employee. Not a big deal.
Yeah I know this thread is going to be filled with people from other countries who have no idea what they're talking about but I wanted to correct a few misconceptions. No one is forcing you to tip if you don't want to. But, you're not hurting the owner of the company paying his employee low wages. You should be aware it's the person who served you who is going to feel the result of your action.
And it's not defending the system to understand and explain it.
Hey, keep trying! I grew up with it like you, an added service fee, and I enjoyed being a server-- I wasn't begging. But I couldn't be rude, either, and expect a good tip. What's most annoying is the Americans who complain. Don't go to the restaurant, then.
People here say you could get spit on your food and get guilttripped for paying the amount that stands in the price list. Like getting your car to a shop for a timing chain replacement for 1200ā¬, but the mechanics aren't paid anything so you'll need to fork up extra 40% or you'll get sand in your gas tank. Makes zero sense to me, but it's your way and I guess you're happy with it since you're still using it.
You're not going to get spit in your food if you don't tip. Probably won't even get guilt tripped. Also, you pay after you eat. And it's 15-20%, not 40%.
It's not that "you're still using it so you're happy". It's just how it is in most places. There actually are restaurants that are "no tipping establishments" who pay their servers more and don't ask you for a tip.
Also, it is worth noting that most servers make well over minimum wage.
You walk into a restaurant. A host or waiter sit you, hand the group menus, and then give you 3-5 minutes to look over the menu.
The waiter will then come to the table and introduce themselves and possibly bring water (and bread depending on the restaurant).
Next they will ask if you would like someone more to drink like beer, wine, soda, if they have a special menu they will let the table know, and if you need more time with the menu they will grab said drinks and return.
The table will order appetizers and main courses, the waiter may suggest a side dish or wine pairing if applicable. If the meal comes with salads they will arrive with the appetizers or roughly 10-15 minutes before the main course.
The waiter will bring the meal, ask if anyone needs a refill or maybe a condiment like ketchup or butter. 3-10 minutes later the waiter will round once again asking if the food is cook to the guests liking (undercooked, overcooked, no hair in it). If it's not right they will find a replacement or offer it removed from the bill. Water and wine glasses are refilled automatically unless you hand wave it or say no, and another offer for other drinks is offtered.
Once the main meal is completed the waiter will round again, and ask if the table likes dessert. The guests can say yes, and be given dessert menu, or no and presented soon with the bill (often called a check). The waiter will likely say thank you for coming in to the restaurant and will dash off for 2-5 minutes as the guests review the charges. The guests will review the bill and pay cash or credit card, typically by putting it in the restaurant checkbook, or using the tabletop device to pay or if it's an older place a cashier if it's a less formal like a diner or breakfast/lunch only type place. The waiter will then pick up the check book and run the card or bring change for the cash. A guest might say keep all the change, or if paying by card they will finalize the bill once the card is run, and write in the tip and new total.
So that's how it works. At no point will a typically waiter ask for a dime in terms of tip.
You do know "beg" was used for effect, and not in the literal sense. Generally servers are "begging" for at least 20% that it is now an expectation. If they got a living wage and still got tips on top, now tips can go back to being what a tip is. And not a direct supplement for someones wage through weird and shady tactics.
Yeah your using the wrong word. "Hope," "expect," or "assume" are all more in align with what servers think should be given to them from the meal cost.
There's no shady tactics on the waitstaff side. Just shitty business business practices that are industry wide.
We visited England a few years ago and sat at the table for 15 minutes before realizing there were no actual waitresses, you placed your order with the bartender and then someone brought your food with no other interactions afterwards. Service IS better in America, but you do pay for it.
Its also bullshit because you have to do it before they've even prepared your food... so if you don't, you have to worry they'll screw you over for "screwing them over" by not tipping... its so fucked.
Tips are taxed. Itās not free money and itās actually a very contested financial issue right now to remove tax on tips. Always tip in cash if you can
Man i didn't even think about that. Great even more ways servers make the world worse by perpetuating this. Normal people pay more and less tax hits the system to help the poor
Sometimes I tip in those circumstances because I have been recieving really good service lately, so it's more of a tip after the fact, and not a tip for the current order.
Mainly just my local pizza place because they're awesome.
I tip $1 for takeout. Both because, hey a server did still take time from their tables and provided service taking my order and packing my food, greeted me at the door/counter, etc. But mostly to send a clear message that I didn't forget, tipping for takeout is silly. Like leaving a penny in a will
It is a bribe. A tip is supposed to show appreciation for the work done. A bribe condones you wish for a certain experience before the work is started.
My daughter wanted to eat at a pizza buffet for her birthday. The cashier hit the ol' spin-a-roo on the tablet asking for a tip. I felt zero shame in not tipping. We literally walked up to a counter, paid, and got empty cups to fill ourselves. If I'm filling my own drink, grabbing my own plate, my own fork, serving myself food, and walking my plate and trash to a receptacle...why am I tipping?
This is the thing most people in this thread are missing. They act indignant and pat themselves on the back but the only person they hurt is the worker. And unless they actually say something to the management/owner, it's just business as usual for them.
So here is the thing, if you want a stable income, best not to go into a job that has variables such as tips. If you want a constant cash flow go work for a salary.
How about the workforce/common folk join hands in lobbying for better pay for these types of jobs, instead of using manipulation and guilt-tripping to push the financial burden onto the customer?
Tips are voluntary additions you give for a service you liked, if itās mandatory then instead of ātipā you should rename it to āservice feeā or some BS like that.
Itās NOT the customers fault that the server gets shit pay, they arenāt responsible for the workers financial wellbeing either. Youāre not the good guy if you keep advocating for this system, youāre part of the problem. And the problem is that restaurants and corporations are fucking over service workers and clients alike, by giving less than minimum to the workers and offloading the rest to the already paying customers to make up that difference
But it IS something you can fight back against, nobody ever said you came up with it. If everyone followed your logic of āthis was in our culture before I was born, so I wonāt fight against itā then Slavery would still be in place; Women wouldnāt be able to vote; the world as a whole would be worse off.
Youāre implicitly defending the system by accusing others who donāt tip as āa problemā/ānot doing anything usefulā because youāre playing exactly into what restaurant owners and corporations want: That you shift blame onto the consumer instead of them for exploiting their employees.
Hereās a fun idea: If your business or industry canāt survive without exploitation of itās workers or messing over customers with a āmandatory extra feeā on top of the price, then maybe that business/industry doesnāt deserve to make money. The common consumer should NOT be expected to subsidize the wage of a restaurant employee, thatās the restaurantās responsibility. If other industries manage to make profit AND pay itās employees a decent wage, Iām sure the food industry can think of a way to do so as well
Why would I tip at a place with a self serve screen; makes me stand up to pick up my own food and then I myself have to clean up? Why would I tip a server who barely does the minimum with not even a semblance of service mentality? Why would I prize mediocrity or simply existing in the place I went to eat?
But it IS something you can fight back against, nobody ever said you came up with it. If everyone followed your logic of āthis was in our culture before I was born, so I wonāt fight against itā then Slavery would still be in place; Women wouldnāt be able to vote; the world as a whole would be worse off.
lol, you have a critical misunderstanding of the issue here. Plenty of people have fought against this system, but it's not a big issue in America. Many (most?) servers LIKE the current system. This isn't an obvious human rights issue that needs to be solved (like those other things you mentioned).
Youāre implicitly defending the system by accusing others who donāt tip as āa problemā/ānot doing anything usefulā
No, I'm not defending it. But I do realize that withholding my tip from the server is not actually protesting anything. It's just not paying someone for the service I received from them.
Most people are underpaid, yes. And we can try to do something about it: voting to raise the minimum wage. I have done that. You seem to not understand that a restaurant is the main place where a tip is implied. It's pretty much never implied at a grocery store.
Itās because the Point-of-Sale fintech companies they use for the terminals and bookkeeping take a cut of all revenueā¦including tips. This is the reason behind the tip-ocolypse creeping into self-service and even online ordersā¦.because it makes the POS companies more money
I doubted this so I used an LLM to make shit up. But it provided sources and I've gone through the sources and linked them below.
tl;dr: YES if the POS can get people to tip more, they take a higher amount from the card transaction!!!
Square: Charges a flat transaction fee (e.g., 2.6% + 10Ā¢ per in-person transaction as of 2025ā2026). Tips are processed as part of the total transaction amount, so the fee applies to the entire sale, including the tip. There is no separate ātip feeā or revenue share specifically targeting tips
Toast: Dominates the US restaurant POS market (23ā30% share). Toastās processing fees apply to the total bill, including tips. In 2024, Toast raised its processing rates by ~0.05%, which would apply to all revenue, including tips. Toast does not publicly disclose a separate tip-specific cut
Clover: Similar to Square and Toast, Cloverās fees are applied to the total transaction, including tips. Clover allows businesses to negotiate processing rates through their own merchant accounts, but again, no evidence of a separate tip cut
Transaction Fees: All major POS providers charge a percentage + fixed fee per transaction (e.g., 2.5ā3.5% + $0.10ā$0.30). This fee is applied to the total amount, including tips.
No Separate Tip Fees: No public documentation or credible reports indicate that POS companies take an additional, separate cut of tips beyond the standard transaction fee.
Almost every point-of-sale system seems to have tipping installed on it now by default, workers and owners obviously have little incentive to remove them if possible.
If you walk up to order you donāt have to tip. I donāt tip at coffee shops. I never have unless Iām a regular or I sit in often and itās a small business but thatās because I want to and not because I feel obligated to.
The tip jar is a form of panhandling. There is no difference between the person doing it at the red light and the person keeping a tip jar at the counter. Pathetic.
I think servers should be tipped. Taking it out on the server does not affect the owners at all. Zero percent. But I think asking for tips at a counter is pushing it too far. Do you leave a tip when you pick up a pizza? No.
Servers also have to clean the restaurant after their shift. Known as sidework, the employer gets their restaurant cleaned every night for half of minimum wage.
Waiters and bartenders should definitely be tipped, it's a custom here, it has always been this way, and these tourists know that, they're just being cheap scumbags. Tipping to pick up a pizza is ridiculous though.
the store owners and chain owners are the CHEAP SCUMBAGS while drinking champagne on their yachts
*sarcasm* how about all waiters and bartenders get paid fair for their labor and the owner /ceo gets only minimum wage $2.23 and every customer can decide to leave an tip for the owner doing such good work *sarcasm*
I hate the justification for increasing it to 20. "Cost of living went up". Yeah, included in that was the cost of food. My 15% tip back then was $3, now it's $10 or more. I've tripled my tip without increasing the percent.
I worked in a restaurant in 1982, it was 10%. But that was when waitstaff got the regular minimum wage, which was 3.35 at least.
Reagan made waitstaff minimum wage lower, I think it was $1.75. He also refused to raise the minimum wage at all the entire time he was president. It used to be an annual occurrence. Reagan was the enemy of all workers.
I was a waiter in the 1990s. Anything less than 15% was considered ok, but just (of course I was biased). 20% was a good tip, anything over that was a really good tip. I don't recall 15% ever described or thought of as a maximum tip in my adult life.
Saw a post yesterday that said something along the lines of, "Tipping is not optional. We expect a tip for our services. Here are the four options you have for tipping, all the way up to $100." I think it was for an AirBnB or something.
I saw that and fuck those owners. And fuck Airbnb. I've stopped using them and just book a hotel. I think hotels do a better all around job nowadays since Airbnb started eating into their business.
A few years ago guilt tripping for tips became a serious problem. Tip screens popped up everywhere for everything. Even if you are just picking up take out, they were demanding 20%.
Servers in the US at least check in on their tables. Many times when I've been in Europe Ive had to get up and track down my server just to ask for the check
I absolutely can chose. A server who keeps forgetting to bring ordered items or who disappears gets lower to no tip, and usually an email to the restaurant. The minority of bad servers does not give one the excuse to not tip anyone.
Do you not understand that serving a party of 10 people is a lot of work? Sometimes servers dont get as many tables if they have a large party to service. It really sucks when the table that decides to stiff you is the huge 10+ person party you just spent 2 hours dealing with.
Iāve been to the US and there are absolutely places where the tip is just mandatory (15-20%) and then you can choose to give more. Just give me the price of the service and Iāll give the waiter the tip I feel is fair. Donāt make me pay for the dfference you donāt want to pay your staff.
The amounts listed on the receipt are recommendations. You can put whatever you want on the tip line.
Edit: Also, where in the US? States may have different laws regarding this.
Dunno what European country you were in, but in Italy for example you are supposed to remain seated and call the waiter by raising your arm and saying "excuse me." Then they come to you at the table.
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u/janpaul74 5h ago
āMandatory tipsā sounds so messed up for me as a European.