Could the United States ever end tipping? Should it end?

[Lamb]

Tipping is a gratuity that we give to others for a service well performed. In the US it's expected to tip people such as your waitstaff, your barber or beautician and taxi/uber/lyft drivers among other service providers.

Some countries have never embraced the tipping practice. Are they right in doing so? Does tipping really help a person or does it help the company to pay their employees less money?

 

[tango]

Tipping is a gratuity that we give to others for a service well performed. In the US it's expected to tip people such as your waitstaff, your barber or beautician and taxi/uber/lyft drivers among other service providers.

Some countries have never embraced the tipping practice. Are they right in doing so? Does tipping really help a person or does it help the company to pay their employees less money?

I must admit I prefer the idea of tipping for service that's particularly good rather than what seems to be a growing expectation that a server is somehow entitled to 20% of your check when dining out even if they show utter disinterest in doing their job.

One thing that irritates me about eating out in the US is the way the menu item marked as being $20 ends up being $20, plus $1.20 in tax, plus another $3-4 in tip. The price you actually pay is, give or take, 25% higher than what the menu says.

Two things really annoy me with the tipping culture in the US. One is when you buy something that's literally nothing more than the server getting something out of the fridge and putting it on the counter but you still get invited to tip. One place I frequent is good - it's a standard system but the servers will specifically say that they don't expect a tip for getting something out of the fridge for me to take away. The thing that annoys me even more is when you get the "suggested tip amounts" on the check but they don't measure up. One place I went to a while back suggested a dollar amount for 15%, 20% and 25% but the dollar amounts actually worked out to be much more than the listed percentages.

 

[psalms 91]

I personally would like to see a set price and forget the tipping. Also since when is 20 per cent of a bill a tip, thta can be highway robbery if the place is upscale at all. Red lobster could be outragious. What ever happened to 10 or 15 per cent? Figure out how many tables a waitress is waiting on at once and figure a 20 per cent tip and they would be making more than most people.

 

[tango]

I personally would like to see a set price and forget the tipping. Also since when is 20 per cent of a bill a tip, thta can be highway robbery if the place is upscale at all. Red lobster could be outragious. What ever happened to 10 or 15 per cent? Figure out how many tables a waitress is waiting on at once and figure a 20 per cent tip and they would be making more than most people.

I don't recall a time that 10% was considered anything other than a stingy tip, but the first time I ever set foot in the US was in 1996. It seems the expectation of how much to tip slowly rises - during my first visits it seemed 15% was pretty much expected, then it became 18% and from what I read on a lot of blogs it seems that, in some circles at least, anything less than 20% is considered an insult. Personally I consider 20% to be quite a good tip. I don't typically visit places where the difference between 15% and 20% is enough to worry about and, particularly at cheaper diner-style places it often seems that putting an extra $1 on the tip means more to the waitress than it does to me, even if it does mean that the tip nudged from 18% to 23%.

I've known some people who regard 20% as a minimum tip even if the service is utterly appalling. Personally I've never gone for that approach. One time I tipped $2 on a $40 check because the waiter was more interested in chatting with a group of college girls than serving us. Another time our waitress was so bad she dropped the plates on the table and had turned her back before they landed. That time our check was something like $50 and I tipped her 25c. My wife didn't think she deserved that. I didn't either but didn't have anything smaller. The only reason I left her a quarter was to make it clear I hadn't forgotten to tip - that's what I considered her service to be worth. (On the flip side, if the waitress is clearly having a bad day and doing her level best not to take it out on us I usually nudge the tip up a bit).

I sometimes wondered just how much wait staff can make in tips if they are at least reasonably good. If you've got someone waiting on 6-8 tables at a time, checks per table average $50-60 and they leave 20% tips, that could easily mean the waitress is bringing in $40-50+/hour. I guess that's why Friday night is a more desirable shift than Tuesday afternoon.

 

[vince284]

According to Business Insider the average American tips 16.5%. And it depends were you live, some ares tip as low as 14.5% for the average. But not many places if at all... is the average 20%. So even though you sat there and gave 20% plus, the next table probably tipped 9%.

 

[Josiah]

I don't think any governmental agency of the USA could end this practice....

While I think it has lost much of it's significance by becoming "expected" and ordinary, I still think it can be a good thing. It is nice to say "thank you" for exceptional service - and often appreciated that such is tangible. Also, I have often felt very good saying "thanks" in this way.

 

[tango]

I don't think any governmental agency of the USA could end this practice....

While I think it has lost much of it's significance by becoming "expected" and ordinary, I still think it can be a good thing. It is nice to say "thank you" for exceptional service - and often appreciated that such is tangible. Also, I have often felt very good saying "thanks" in this way.

I wouldn't want to see it ended to the extent there was no option to offer the waitress something extra for exceptional service. What I object to is the sense that even if the service is shoddy the waitress is still somehow entitled to a significant fraction of the check for not even doing her (*) job. It would be nice if it was regarded as a truly optional way of thanking someone for going above and beyond rather than an integral part of the cost of eating out.




(*) I routinely refer to waitresses using the feminine gender simply because in my area most wait staff are female. Obviously the same applies to wait staff of any, all or no gender.

 

[tango]

According to Business Insider the average American tips 16.5%. And it depends were you live, some ares tip as low as 14.5% for the average. But not many places if at all... is the average 20%. So even though you sat there and gave 20% plus, the next table probably tipped 9%.

I guess I'm more generous than most then, although most places I eat the difference between 15% and 20% is seldom more than a couple of bucks. For the sake of a couple of bucks I'd rather my regular waitresses remember me as the guy who tips well.

 

[JRT]

I would much prefer that every employer pay their people enough that tipping would not be necessary for them to make a decent living. A gratuity should be reserved for service above and beyond what is expected.

 

[Josiah]

I wouldn't want to see it ended to the extent there was no option to offer the waitress something extra for exceptional service. What I object to is the sense that even if the service is shoddy the waitress is still somehow entitled to a significant fraction of the check for not even doing her (*) job. It would be nice if it was regarded as a truly optional way of thanking someone for going above and beyond rather than an integral part of the cost of eating out.

.... and nearly every other service.


Yup.



.

 

[psalms 91]

.... and nearly every other service.


Yup.



.

Yes and I did tip 20 per cent today which is unusual but she was atttentive without being a nuisiance and provided excellent service. I still think that 20 per cent is to much and if it was enforced I wonder how many restaurants would go out of business because I for one would never eat out

 

[tango]

Yes and I did tip 20 per cent today which is unusual but she was atttentive without being a nuisiance and provided excellent service. I still think that 20 per cent is to much and if it was enforced I wonder how many restaurants would go out of business because I for one would never eat out

I can't help thinking that if a tip is in any way enforced it ceases to be a tip at all. If the menu prices went up by 20% but it was made very clear you weren't expected to tip at all I wonder what would happen - whether people would be happy that the waitresses were paid a decent wage, or whether they would still tip 20% and grumble about the increased prices because they can't get their heads around not tipping at all.

As I mentioned before, the difference between 15% and 20% tips is 5%, so for every $20 of bill you're looking at an extra $1. If I'm regular enough that I want the waitresses to remember me for the right reasons, for the sake of a couple of bucks I'll nudge their tip to 20% unless they really don't deserve it.

 

[Lamb]

I almost always tip 20% to waitstaff but I don't order expensive items so 20% is only a few dollars generally.

 

[vince284]

I have never worked as a server, but my daughter has. I've also known many servers and have been close friends. I have always considered that line of work as contractors to the restaurant with a few exceptions. Most don't have benefits such as insurance and 401k accounts. They make a minimal amount from the restaurant for their idle time to help the cleanup staff and to make sure their area (tables) are presentable. They sometimes share their tips with other wait staff and bartenders to help them do their job. I see that their main objective should be to service their customer, not to work for the restaurant. If they are doing their job, then I should get the right food I ordered at the right time and in good condition. I shouldn't have to send anything back, they should inspect the product and refuse it for their customer at the kitchen. I was once served bacon that was burnt, it was black, totally inedible. Wait, the cook saw it, whoever plated it saw it, and at the minimum the server saw it. That bacon should have never come to the table. Anyway, I consider servers as independent contractors providing a service, not a product. If I pay $15 for dinner, then I expect good service, but those servers are not at the level that a server would make at a $300 per person restaurant. I was at a $120 per person restaurant, and the server took the order of 15 people without writing anything down. And he got it perfect. And he actually served the food making sure everyone was happy. At a $15 restaurant, I'm lucky if I see my server and they never bring out the food, it's always someone else that has time and just drops it on the table. If I ask for anything, they always say... "I'll get your server".

Yesterday I stopped in for a beer, the service was outstanding, the beer was okay. The server made sure there were no water spots on my glass, when she filled the glass, she rinsed the outside of it, and dried it. She took time to explain their beers and I saw this for every customer that was there. I didn't tip on the beer, I tipped on the service... it came out to about 34%.

I will always be an advocate for tipping, but if it's a requirement, I don't tip above that. I let the server know. I personally know many people who do not tip, and I have also gone back to the table and added to the tip, when other people offer to pay the bill.

 

[tango]

Interesting what you say about the $15 restaurants. There's a little place near us where my wife and I can routinely have a leisurely late lunch/early dinner for around $30 for the two of us, and where you have an assigned waitress who looks after you for the whole time. Even at that price point the waitresses are friendly and efficient without being intrusive.

 

[vince284]

Interesting what you say about the $15 restaurants. There's a little place near us where my wife and I can routinely have a leisurely late lunch/early dinner for around $30 for the two of us, and where you have an assigned waitress who looks after you for the whole time. Even at that price point the waitresses are friendly and efficient without being intrusive.

We don't have anything like that around here. There maybe a restaurant at that price point that caters to the customer like that, but it's a secret. Anything around $15 is a chain and they are all notorious for their disappearing server and someone else bringing the food. The smaller restaurants are just breakfast and lunch places and some of them only have one or two servers, they do bring the food out and refill the coffee cup, there is a more personal attention given at those places. The chains usually get the normal tip from me, because they do a normal job. We have a few restaurants that have a slightly higher price point that the service is a bit more personal, but not many.

I was at one this past weekend with my wife, we had gone there because it's also a wine club and I was going to put my membership on hold. I already own too many wines for my space. Anyway, it is a pricey place for our part of town, we sat down and ordered our drinks, and no one came back. Finally, I flagged the server that originally took my drink order, she apologized and told me she didn't know it was her table. We ordered just and appetizer, soup and salad and bread from the same server. Someone else brought the appetizer and yet someone else brought the soup and salad he bread never came... finally we flagged someone down since no one came to check on us, and they were very apologetic and even comped us a bottle of wine. But that shouldn't have to happen!

I've been to restaurants (not here in the USA) that the waiter/server meets you at the door and guides you to THEIR table and from then on, they take care of you. The check doesn't come until I ask for it. Here, the check is dropped off and that is the only other time I see my server and they say "no hurry". I've entertained associates from other countries that find the check delivered at the table before it's asked for rude. But yet here in the USA, a tip is expected. Of course, these are bad experiences, I've for the most part had some great service.