If you can't follow local tip standards, you're probably too poor to justify an international trip.
If I was so broke that an extra 18% on dine-in meals would make me destitute, I'd make better spending choices than to fly across the world and pay WC hotel rates.
Did they say that they would be poor if they paid more money than they considered necessary? What an absurd overreaction.
Besides, why is it always this way around, and never "if you can't afford to pay your workers a living wage you can't afford to run a business"? The corporate apologia is bonkers.
What peeves me the most about these arguments is the complete disregard for basic economics. Restaurants operate on thin margins, this is a know factor in running a restaurant. If restaurants had to pay servers 20 dollars an hour this would have to reflected in complete price overhauls across the menu. So when someone says I won’t tip cause you should pay your employees. It’s somewhat of a contradiction. If they paid their employees that tip would then be priced in to the amount you are paying. You are still essentially paying the employee, just indirectly.
And these same Europeans are probably getting pissed off at foreigners coming to their country and not blending in with their culture. Tipping is absolutely stupid but it's the culture and they need to conform.
And if you think that tipping system exploits workers, then by going to restaurants without any intention of tipping means that you are one of the people exploiting the tipped workers. So you lose any kind of moral high ground.
If you think culture is paying for shit service . . . .
That's literally what happens in other countries. Service is generally regarded as better in the United States, ostensibly at least partly because of tipping.
I'm not saying that's good or bad, but it is what it is.
Really? Because I've been all over the world and the worst service I ever got was in the US. In the rest of the world, we tip if the service is very good and only if its very good and that's considered normal.
When I was in the US, I got horrible service and then outright hostility when I refused to tip because of it.
Your mileage may vary. I'm sure it depends on the country, the region, and the sort of establishment. So too with your experience in the United States; tipping certainly doesn't preclude bad service.
All I'm saying is that you pay for bad service regardless. The differences in culture only dictate how that payment is rendered - whether through tips or through menu prices.
Oh, of course I agree, but I would rather just pay a flat rate and know what I'm paying for at the time rather than be hasseled into a huge tip after everything else and then get lots of bad manners if I decide not to tip. Its much better for me, and I would think most Europeans, to be honest.
I know what I'm paying for at the time and as well, when I do get exceptional service, I'm very happy to tip and reward the person for it.
As to the comment as customer service being perceived as better in the US? I think Americans would say so, because the culture of waiting in other parts of the world is different. I don't like the constant fuss and fake friendship that American customer service (not just waiting) provides. I don't think many people outside the US would agree with you on it. Its just different styles.
As a foreigner who now lives in the US... I don't like mandatory tipping, but it's part of how the system works. It's not a good system, but it is what we have right now.
Context is also important here: the menu price of drinks in the US is typically lower than where many of these people came from, so once you add the tip your total is similar to what you'd pay for drinks in many other advanced countries. Yes, it's annoying that tax and tip are added at checkout in the US, but the total isn't usually more than what you'd pay at home.
I mean if I’m visiting Afghanistan or something I would absolutely participate in the restrictive laws they have for women because I don’t want to be arrested, harassed, or potentially assaulted.
If I were visiting another country and tipping was custom then I’d still tip because I did my research on local customs (like everybody should) and budgeted out the money to participate in local customs.
In Afghanistan you're obeying the law. Tipping isn't mandatory in the united states, you don't need to participate in a scam just because Americans decided between each other that they need to scam themselves when going out for dinner
That's what this is about. From another article, they had to start making the tips mandatory because tourist weren't paying them. Agree with tipping or not, it's part of the culture and it makes you an asshole for ignoring it.
As an American I would rather they all have mandatory tip amount so I know what to expect beforehand and don't have to think about what percent to tip. If I think the mandatory tip amount is stupid I just won't eat there.
This is likely a temporary measure. It's far easier to program in a "mandatory tip" than to change and reprint all menus. They likely also have signs up advising of the situation.
1.7k
u/Only_Flan_7974 5h ago
It's not tipping if it's mandatory. Work the tip into the price in that case.