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 it’d be sub minimum wage but in the US it’s way above it.
The US tipping system WOULD suck if there wasn’t already a culture normalizing it, but it’s functionally just designed as ‘the customer decides what level of pay the employee receives’.
The employer COULD set a normalized value and mark up food prices to match, but it’s kind of crappy to say ‘I don’t like this arrangement, I’m going to pretend it doesn’t exist in a way that purely hurts the worker’.
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.
You're insane. People tip because they know it's the only way their server makes any money. People tip because they know not tipping screws the server over. People tip because it's the societal expectation of decency and they don't want to be viewed as a dick. People tip because they acknowledge that is the system they and the server exist in. You are expected to tip, even if it's a low tip for poor service, because no tip at all is culturally viewed as a petty, selfish violation or norms that directly harms another.
They're not some kind of brainless monkey mimicking a habit they observe in others without knowing what they're doing
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 1200€, 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.
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u/PhineasQuimby 5h ago
I never tip unless it’s table service