When Did "Tips" (Gratuities) Become So High?

[Spot's Meow]

Here, most people drink soda (soft drinks) with their meals, so if you drink what's in your glass your server has to take it back and fill it up again (some places just bring you another glass, or refill you from a pitcher.) But generally speaking, you can't get your own refill at a casual dining restaurant.

It is customary for refills of soda, tea, or coffee to be free.

It seems like a vastly inefficient method, purposefully designed to make it difficult for waiters and unsatisfactory for customers.

Well, I think a big part of it is that the soda and often lemonades they bring you don't come from bottles or pitchers, they are from the soda fountain machines (I can't think of the proper name for them so here's a picture: Soda thing). And refills are free; I rarely need a refill, but most people drink at least two glasses, sometimes many more when they eat out. So, the server fills up glasses using the machine, brings them to the table, then when they are getting low brings out another round from the machine, sometimes clearing away the old glass and sometimes just leaving it there to be cleared away with the rest of the dishes at the end of the meal. The machine is hidden away in the back area so that customers can't get the refills themselves. Beer, wine, and other alcoholic drinks, as well as specialty drinks like milkshakes, often do not have free refills and you would need to let the server know you'd like to buy another one.

Based on all this, customers here have come to expect that before your first drink is empty, the server will have remembered which drinks everyone ordered and automatically bring you a refill; you shouldn't have to ask for one.

 

[beamMe]

Go in expecting great service and be prepared to tip 20%.

No.

If you have no intentions of tipping, maybe you should tell your server up front that way they won't go out of their way to do anything special for you..

Who wants special service?
Who said I don't have any intentions to tip?

The way American servers are supposed to do their jobs seem was to intrusive into the dining situation and downright annoying, hovering around the table, refilling glasses all the time.
A good server is fast, friendly, reacts to the customers signals and otherwise stays away from the eating and talking customers.

 

[beamMe]

Go in expecting great service and be prepared to tip 20%.

No.

Good job ignoring everything else I said.

How you went on about your expectations and entitlements?
Yeah, I tried to ignore that.

 

[Amaris]

If it weren't for my wife I would never eat (sit down) in a restaurant. The experience is virtually never worth the price in my opinion. Too much entitlement.

The entitlement is expecting someone else to not only cook your food for you, but serve it to you and your wife at your table.

I enjoy going out to eat, and on top of that I don't have to go to the grocery store, nor know how to cook a variety of meals that I enjoy. Also, the experience of being waited on instead of having to do it yourself is worth the tip to me. You're not just paying for the prepared food, you're paying for the person who brings it to you and makes sure you're enjoying your evening.

For everyone who complains about the tip, why don't you save even more money and just stop going out to eat at restaurants?

If that's your stance, there are restaurants/cafeterias-style/buffets and even places like Buffalo Wild Wings or carry-out where you not only go up to a counter to pick up your food, but some places even have trashcans/bins set up for you to bus your own table. No tip required.

Um, that's not an entitlement. The whole purpose of going to a restaurant is that someone will be cooking your food for you. When you pay for your meal, that is what you're paying, for the food and the required preparation and all it entails, including the server bringing it to you. Granted, the server is getting a pittance of that, but that's where good service steps in. If your drinks are filled, and your food arrives to you hot and ready to eat, and the server is polite, then a tip for good service is certainly in order. Expecting a tip even if you've done a horrible job? THAT'S an entitlement. Expecting everyone to supplement your income because you chose to work a $2.35 an hour job on the hopes of making tips, while giving poor service? THAT'S an entitlement.

 

[tighr]

Um, that's not an entitlement. The whole purpose of going to a restaurant is that someone will be cooking your food for you. When you pay for your meal, that is what you're paying, for the food and the required preparation and all it entails, including the server bringing it to you.

No, you are paying for the food. That's it.

That's why I suggested going to a place like Buffalo Wild Wings. You order your food at a counter. You pick up your food at a counter. You get your own drink from a fountain machine. You refill your own drink when you're thirsty.

If you want a server, there are sections of that restaurant that have servers, and you can be seated if you like. But if you choose to sit in those sections, you should be prepared to tip for the service. You pay the same price for the food no matter which method you choose, i.e. there is no discount on the food for doing it yourself. That's where the tip comes in.

It's no different than valet vs. self-park: If you want to park your own damn car, that's your prerogative. If you choose to partake of the service the establishment offers, then you tip the valet. If the establishment only valets and you're not comfortable with that, then don't frequent that establishment.

 

[Scout101]

And in some of these restaurants, it's the equivalent of the valet adjusting your seats and mirrors, screwing with your radio presets, and maybe dinging your bumper, and then being shocked he didn't get a nice tip!

Bring me the car, you get the standard tip. If I don't have to wait long, or if it's been cleaned, or warmed up/cleared of snow in winter, or whatever, there's a big tip. If it took you 30 min to bring it to me because you were chatting with the other valet, don't hold your hand out at the end...

 

[sbk1234]

I don't have a gripe against either rotten customers or servers. But I wonder...

When did it become the customer's obligation and responsibility to provide a tip, rather than a courtesy for the server to earn?

It seems that a customer is expected to leave a 20% tip to be a good guy and a 10% tip makes him a dick-- nothing about what the server did or did not do to deserve it.

The onus is on the customer to do right, pay a decent tip, or else be a scumbag customer.

The server? The server deserves a generous tip regardless because of the economics of food service minimum wage yadda yadda yadda.

The argument seems to be--customers have an obligation to pay a decent tip regardless, servers deserve a decent tip because of how they get paid.

Oh I've worked food service myself, I've lived both sides. I know.

But with the obligation of the customer to pay large tips or else, what's the incentive for any server to earn it?

Well put.

 

[An Officer]

I tip 10% at least, even though the tipping rules don't seem to be as serious as they are in the states. When I go out with a friend/friends now and again, we usually go the whole hog with starters several drinks and such, so I think it's well-deserved if everything went smoothly. The shoe could easily be on the other foot... there by the grace of God go I. Waiters are paid at least a minimum wage here, but that's very tight in the current climate. I don't tip if I have been treated badly though, which has only happened once so far. If something was forgotten or I was waiting an especially long time, there is usually a sincere apology or something complimentary, so all's well in the end.

If you're not eating out every day, a little extra on top when you can afford it doesn't hurt anyone. Why shouldn't they be little more comfortable. Wouldn't you like someone to be making you more comfortable if you did well? If their chosen industry allows for that, good for them! Probably wouldn't miss it if there'd been a hole in your wallet for a while.

And I do like to tip a little more to especially hot or charismatic waiters, but then I feel bad and try to give a little more to the shy not as noticeable ones, because they would certainly be more in need of it, if everyone's busy tipping the eye-catching staff...

Having said all that, I am glad it is usually tipping by choice or already included in the bill, there doesn't seem to be such a gospel law of expectation here... which probably accounts for less resentment from customers residing in the European side of the pond.

 

[Squiggy]

I hate this shit about being too cheap or not being able to afford eating out because I'm a really generous person in RL, and I resent these sorts of implications.

GOOD DAY, SIR.

 

[RoJoHen]

That's why I suggested going to a place like Buffalo Wild Wings. You order your food at a counter. You pick up your food at a counter. You get your own drink from a fountain machine. You refill your own drink when you're thirsty.

I have never seen a Buffalo Wild Wings with this setup.

 

[Kestra]

I hate this shit about being too cheap or not being able to afford eating out because I'm a really generous person in RL, and I resent these sorts of implications.

GOOD DAY, SIR.

 

[tighr]

I have never seen a Buffalo Wild Wings with this setup.

Every BW3 I have ever been in has a cashier and a pick-up counter, and a fountain machine in the general seating area.

The bar is a different story.

 

[RoJoHen]

I have never seen a Buffalo Wild Wings with this setup.

Every BW3 I have ever been in has a cashier and a pick-up counter, and a fountain machine in the general seating area.

The bar is a different story.

Odd. Never seen that before, and I go to Buffalo Wild Wings a lot. Maybe it's a regional thing?

 

[Amaris]

Um, that's not an entitlement. The whole purpose of going to a restaurant is that someone will be cooking your food for you. When you pay for your meal, that is what you're paying, for the food and the required preparation and all it entails, including the server bringing it to you.

No, you are paying for the food. That's it.

No, when you pay for your food, where do you think that money goes? If it only goes back to the food, then how the hell do restaurants (of any kind) pay for the building, the employees, and the supplies?

 

[1001001]

I'm a big tipper.

You have to take care of your people.

 

[Colonel Green]

I typically tip 10-15% depending on the quality of service. I'll go up to 20% if the server goes above and beyond, below 10% if they actively suck.

That said, where I live servers are entitled to only a little less than minimum wage ($9 vs $10.25) and the service sector suffers a perpetual labour shortage even in this economy. As such, I've never met a waiter here who makes minimum wage, nevermind less. I'm aware that wait staff isn't as well compensated in most of the US, so I tend to tip a bit more when I'm down there.

 

[datagal]

Wow.

I have a funny feeling that some of the people here who are pissing about tipping have never work as waiter/watress.

I have no problem with tipping. I would either tip the 15% gratuity or whatever I have enough to tip. I even tip if the service was sub-par (it might be less).

Is it just me or does most Americans have an entitlement complex?

I'm entitled to get a tip.
I'm entitled not to tip you, whether the service was good or not.
I'm entitled to get a 20% pay raise but beggers can't be choosers, right?

 

[tighr]

Um, that's not an entitlement. The whole purpose of going to a restaurant is that someone will be cooking your food for you. When you pay for your meal, that is what you're paying, for the food and the required preparation and all it entails, including the server bringing it to you.

No, you are paying for the food. That's it.

No, when you pay for your food, where do you think that money goes? If it only goes back to the food, then how the hell do restaurants (of any kind) pay for the building, the employees, and the supplies?

I could just as pedantically point out that you never mention the building in your original post. But since you brought it up, I will amend my statement by saying that "the food and the required preparation and all it entails" includes the building, the employees (cashiers, cooks, managers), and the supplies, but not the server bringing it to you.

As has been pointed out numerous times, the waitstaff are not making minimum wage. Everyone else in the restaurant who is not serving you is.

 

[IndyJones]

The way American servers are supposed to do their jobs seem was to intrusive into the dining situation and downright annoying, hovering around the table, refilling glasses all the time.

It's really not. And it's what we're used to.

-Indy, who always makes sure his biggest tip of the night is when the bartender brings his first drink.

 

[Amaris]

No, you are paying for the food. That's it.

No, when you pay for your food, where do you think that money goes? If it only goes back to the food, then how the hell do restaurants (of any kind) pay for the building, the employees, and the supplies?

I could just as pedantically point out that you never mention the building in your original post. But since you brought it up, I will amend my statement by saying that "the food and the required preparation and all it entails" includes the building, the employees (cashiers, cooks, managers), and the supplies, but not the server bringing it to you.

As has been pointed out numerous times, the waitstaff are not making minimum wage. Everyone else in the restaurant who is not serving you is.

The server gets a wage from their employer, even if it's a low wage, and that is part of the overall cost you pay when you pay for your food. This is really simple math, here.