Does anyone think tipping should be phased out of society?

I live in Australia but spent a year in the US recently. I really didn't notice any difference in service, I got some good and bad service just like I do here. I don't really buy into the tipping makes for better service, certainly not in any decent restaurant. Here because of decent enough wages they are quite competitive jobs to get into(the nice places), you produce poor service you won't get/keep your job. Perhaps in cheaper places and cafes the service may be a bit worse but if so it's not something I have noticed, once again most of those places employ a lot on casual hours, so it's the same thing.. if you give poor service you won't get hours.

 

Ugh.

Again. The people working at Sonic are making four or five times an hour more than even the best dressed servers you've ever come across at the nicest restaurant you've ever seen.

And the tired argument about, "why should I have to tip more because the food prices are higher?" Because, yes, you are getting better service. For the same reason you're paying nine bucks a ticket to see a 3D movie in a giant theatre with massive speakers, instead of watching Netflix on your laptop.

There are lifetime servers and bartenders. Those who spend their entire lives in the profession, because they've worked enough that the money is good. But the overwhelming majority are made up of people who are willing to put up with all sorts of nonsense for crummy wages because it's merely a stepping stone, all while knowing the the odd eyebrow raise could be the difference between being stiffed or getting 20 percent. Like, with me, the time my instinctual and wordless reaction to being told "bring salsa, but take all the green **** out of it" at DON PABLO'S (the worst "Mexican" restaurant in the world) got me a dressing down in front of a customer after she complained to a manager.

Or, as I watched earlier this week at another crummy chain (I was on the highway, no other choice), a couple that sat at the bar for hours "tipping" in quarters on a massive tab, all while asking the bartender for more ranch for their fries (FRIES?), to switch audio on the TVs around from various games, and attempting to get a wee more Absolut in their drinks even though chain restaurants can't free-pour ever, ever, ever.

I don't choose to put the cart back in the cart corral when I shop at 3am and nobody can judge me, just because I used to work at a grocery store.

I don't think twice before criticizing sportswriters, just because I am one.

I don't defend servers and bartenders just because I used to work both jobs.

I do it because I'm not an a-hole. I might be a [d]ick, but I'm not an a-hole.

Tip. It's a few more dollars, even after that steak that's been aged for week. If it wasn't worth it, and the service was awful, don't go back -- I don't "go back" all the time, and even in an area with a paucity of places to go, it's absolutely no bother.

(And don't credit the OP for stumbling into the argument that we should adhere to the system that every other country seems to. The argument that, "why would the server have an incentive to be good at their job?" is nutty, because just like all of us we're SUPPOSED to try to be good at our jobs, and adding tips to it shouldn't be an incentive. Yes, the system is flawed; but until it is changed, tip smartly, and compassionately.

And not to Starbucks baristas, who make 10 bucks an hour and get health insurance while working for the guy that sold the Seattle SuperSonics to two a-holes from Oklahoma City.)

 

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I tip but I don't agree with the system as it is. By law, those $2/hr waiters have to at least earn minimum wage if their tips don't make up the difference. Minimum wage sucks but their wage isn't 4 or 5 times less than the servers at Sonic.

 

Hate having to tip delivery drivers when they already charge a ****ing delivery fee. It's stupid.

 

Then order carry-out and pick it up yourself???

 

I think tipping sucks. Places that emphasize service would give good service regardless of tipping. And vice versa. It doesn't do anything besides superficially make food prices look lower.

Just pay the waitstaff, delivery boys, etc. an actual decent fixed wage. If customers are happy they get a raise. If customers hate them then fire them. Normal incentives that work just as well as tipping. And as a customer I don't have to worry about it when dining out.

 

I didn't realize the employee gets taxed when I tip by credit. I'll keep that in mind for future reference although I rarely carry cash.

 

Sometimes, I'd like it delivered. But if you're going to nickel and dime me with bull**** delivery charges, you don't deserve a tip. I don't give a flying **** anymore. I'm not going to tip. I don't give a **** about ethics when you're just going to take advantage of my money. Delivery charges were never in place before, especially from these ******* low-life pizza companies.

 

I've never had any complaints about tipping until I went on here and read some of the tipping threads. The arguments against it makes more sense since I've also been to places where mandatory tipping is unheard of in restaurants. I still leave a small tip if the waiter/waitress was nice just because I've been so used to it from the States.

 

Delivery fee is for gas.

 

A lot of stand-up comics use this topic as fodder for bits in their acts, but one theme always seems to be consistent: the aversion to tipping seems to run most strongly in the black community. That's the way they make it sound anyway. Is this true, or is it just comics being comics?

 

I'm guessing most comics are cheapos. And it's probably like one of those easy generic jokes that are reliable for cheap laughs like those gym jokes.

and black people are cheap

 

But waiters do what they do because they end up with more than minimum wage. A lot more if you're really good and/or you work at a high end restaurant. All the good waiters would probably find different jobs if they only got the equivalent of minimum wage and you'd be stuck with people who couldn't get more than a minimum wage job anyway.

I really didn't notice before I became a waiter, but afterwards, I certainly noticed a difference in service at higher end restaurants. Waiters at higher end restaurants do tend to be a lot more experienced and a lot better at what they do. And the more expensive they are, the less tolerant they're going to be of waiters that don't meet their standards.

The scam here is that from what I've heard, the delivery fee goes to the company, not the driver. So if you look at the bill and say "they're already charging me a delivery fee so I'm not going to tip", they you're kind of screwing the delivery guy.

 

Tipping really gets confusing when I go out for dim sum. You've got 8-10 cart pushers who have served you food, plus 2 or 3 different people who have cleared your empty plates and refilled your water and tea. Who do you tip?????

So....when I get dim sum, I never tip!

 

If you use your own car then you get a percentage at most places. I still tip though, I'm not cheap.

 

Eating at food courts is the way to be.

 

Or food trucks.

 

You leave it on the table??? At the end of the day they split the tips amongst themselves..

 

Um, they're supposed to be taxed on tip. It's income. It's just that when it's cash the government expects them to be honest.