Waiters are understandably upset about why I don’t tip and have given many illogical reasons in support of this ridiculous practice. Here’s a rebuttal of the most common ones.
Bullshit 1: We only Pay for the Food. Service is Extra
The menu price doesn’t include just the cost of preparing the food and paying the chef. It includes the restaurant setting, the tables, the cutlery, the effort and investment that the restaurant owner has put into the dining area. Now guess what? Since I’m paying for it, the restaurant has to give it to me. And how do they accomplish this?
Waiters. Ding ding!
See without waiters, the restaurant has no way of delivering the dining experience to me that I’m paying for. I’m paying for sitting down in a nice place. I’m paying for the air conditioning. I’m paying for the nice tablecloth and for my food to be delivered to me in a reasonable time. The menu price covers all this. Waiters are just the restaurant’s way of bringing me my food. Of fulfilling their part of the contractual obligation.
Bottom line. Servers are not independent contractors. They’re not an “extra” that you have to pay for. By hook or crook, the restaurant needs to deliver the product. Whether they use waiters or conveyor belts (a term that many seem to object to), is not my business. I don’t care. The waiters can just melt into the background and let me enjoy my food in peace. If the menu includes free refills or whatever, then waiters are required to deliver that as well. Why? Because…wait for it….I paid for it!
Bullshit 2: It’s the custom. It’s ‘merica!
Yeah right. You do realize that not all customs are created equal don’t you? Slavery was a “custom” back in the day and so was race and sexual discrimination. Anyone with an ounce of integrity does what they feel is right. There are many harmless customs in the world like bowing instead of shaking hands, or using chopsticks instead of forks etc that are morally neutral. It really makes no difference if you follow them or not.
But tipping? Hell no! It’s not morally neutral. If you get better service because you’re a good tipper, then you’re essentially paying a bribe to servers to get them to do their job properly next time. All customs have a limit. And tipping is such a convenient custom isn’t it? Hell, I wish I had a custom in place for people to just throw money at me.
And just in case someone feels I don’t appreciate the US, there are many great things about this country that I love and I’ve blogged about repeatedly. Freedom of expression, the way Americans show respect to their armed forces, the politeness of people as you walk by on the road, the work culture, the individuality.
I just don’t like tipping. It’s not as if a person has to blindly accept everything in a country without judgment. There are good things. And there are bad things. Just like everywhere else.
Bullshit 3: The cost of food will increase dramatically
Someone needs to do basic math. Increasing the price of food to pay minimum wage to waiters will not double the price of food. Some have even gone so far to claim that it’ll increase 4-5 times. Ridiculous. Totally, utterly ridiculous. Let’s dissect this rubbish.
As an example, I’ll take Chili’s. A waitress at Chili’s was so kind as to comment saying that the price of food at her restaurant will increase by 3 times – $30 for a $10 burger. Using the statistics she herself gave in her comment, there are 12 waiters (at full capacity) who need to be paid minimum wage. That’s $5 extra per hour per waiter making it a net total of $60 per hour that has to be added to the price of food on a full day.
$60/hr? For 12 waiters. That’s it! It’s peanuts. If you assume even that each waiter is serving just four tables. That’s $5 an hour extra they have to make from four tables. Even if we say that each table sits for a massive two hours, the extra paid per table is way less than $5. On the total bill. Worst, worst case scenario.
You know what? Customers won’t even notice. So stop the garbage about the prices of food going up several times to pay minimum wage. It’s utter nonsense. The only reason waiters don’t want this system in place is because they earn a hell of a lot more than than minimum wage using our tips. And they come across as the victims.
Waiters are Struggling Mothers/Students
Look, it’s not as if I don’t have sympathy for those who struggle in life. I just don’t think it’s my problem. And I specially don’t like it being impinged upon me. Generosity is one thing. Having money demanded from you is something totally else. Any tip I give is out of the generosity of my heart and I expect some gratitude for helping those in need. It’s not something I have to do since…refer to Myth 1.
Bottom line: Socially mandated tipping is a scam. I can’t believe how intelligent people have been hoodwinked into it. Probably because they like to come across as “nice” people and feel sorry for servers who hover around looking expectantly. Well, I find that irritating and I won’t buy into it.
I get that you “don’t want to tip” but I figured I would do you a favor and dissect your little “philosophy.”
You’re under the assumption that you are entitled to the service that you get. You claim to “pay for it” and yet you do not tip (the optional amount for the optional service of courtesy.) You can easily choose to dine at places that do not have servers and there you can get your own drinks and pick up your food at the counter, simple and you will get what you pay for. The issue of raising prices for food to pay specific servers additional pay, is the concept of contribution. One server may be more skilled than another, and the market can decide very easily how to properly reward them by giving that power to the consumer. If you think the sever did an exceptional job , then you may “tip” them the amount you think they deserve. Or to put it more plainly, pay the additional amount you think the meal was worth. Some waiters/waitresses work harder and they should be rewarded more, now in the restaurant business (This is the important part here. I own a few restaurants so know that this comes from decades of experience on the matter, so you are in luck as I am going to give you this information for free. You are most welcome by the way.) in the restaurant business, it is difficult to judge the satisfaction of a customer on every level so you must use every tool at your disposal. Poor responses on exit can give you a tell, repeat customers is important but, more often than anything else, TIPS tell you how satisfied the customer is. A server does so much more than just drop your food at your table and slap a drink in your hands. You (as the customer) do not realize the level of expertise it requires for a server to do their job properly. They must judge the customer on who they are as a person (often within moments of entry) they need to monitor the customer and be ready to take care of them at a moments notice, and the must stay in contact with the kitchen, and floor managers to ensure their customers are taken care of, without incident. Now, as difficult as that seems, you would be surprised by the small number of complaints you get as a restaurant owner, no, the customers simply stop returning, if they receive, poor or inadequate service. Therefore it is important for the restaurant to know how well the server is doing, and that is the most powerful and clear connection that a restaurant can have with their customers, and that is with their wallet. If a customer has a problem with the restaurant but leaves a good tip then you need to look internally, whether it be with the dinning experience or the kitchen. If the customer has a problem but leaves a poor tip then it may have been the server. Since the entire product is such social experience you can’t pay everyone the same, as some will be better than others and that wouldn’t be fair. (It’s the same reason that athletes and actors are paid on different scales.) Tipping allows the customers to decide how much the servers are worth as a service. Since most menu items are priced at their base value (some carryout items or even delivery) it would make no sense to release a menu with (up to) 3 different prices on them just to cater to people who refuse to tip on these flimsy reasons. Not to mention, if they did, it would defeat the entire purpose and you would be tipping regardless of what you thought of the service, which would be a far worse system.
You stated that “servers are nothing more than conveyor belts to bring you the food” Though I should point out (again from decades of experience, so you would do well to listen, too many young people tend to speak without listening these days.) if you were to get your own refills or pick up your own food at a counter you would consider yourself “ill used” or “demand better service” so obviously you prefer servers over self service. Otherwise you would go to restaurants with self service and this article would be about convincing restaurants to switch to that style, but that is not what you have written so I can’t post about that. Following this we must both accept that you do NOT want to take care of these things, but rather prefer that someone else do that for you, which (if you have been reading up to this point) means you need to pay for that additional (optional) service.
I would like to expand on this previous point, your statement is incredibly insulting, these “conveyors” are actually people, someone’s brother or sister or child or parent. You should, in no way, every consider another human being as you would an object. They are doing a great deal more, for you, and the business, but we’ve already covered that. That being said, the fact that you would say that brings me to another point. Waiters and waitresses also have to deal with difficult people and in a timely manner, this often leads to a level of disrespect for the servers, often tips are used to pay the server for dealing with problems and issues that go beyond their already intricate job requirements. How often have you entered a restaurant in a poor (or “off”) mood and left in a better mood? There were several factors involved in that, more than just the food. After all you do not generally ‘see’ the chef, and it is the server that interacts with you as a human being (a largely ‘social’ creature) and they are right there, dealing with your poor (or “off”) mood seeing you through it by doing simple tasks for you, so you can remain seated and relax, or get your mind set right. It seems almost to slip into the background, which is why this thought of “never tip” come into play so often, people tend to forget or misunderstand the point of tipping in the first place, and often ignore how important the work of their server was in their enjoyment of their meal. (If you come back to the option of paying the servers more and increasing the prices to reflect that, then I advise you to read the above paragraphs again to help with the matter.)
Now, I must reveal the reality of this article to you. You aren’t saying you shouldn’t have to tip people, you already choose not to tip people. That’s a really important part, you don’t tip people, no one is forcing you to tip anyone. That is the rather the point of a tip based system actually. No. What you are actually saying is, you don’t want to tip AND you don’t want to feel ‘guilty’ or ‘bad’ about it. Though, you must accept this fact, just as no one is forcing you to tip, no is forcing you to feel bad about not tipping. That is something that you are doing all on your own. YOU are deciding to feel bad, to feel guilty. Though, that is a psychology that I do not want to go through at the moment, it is something that you need to soul search, for yourself.
Finally, I will bring up a solution that some restaurants are going for, a solution that you may find to be pleasing. Some places are putting a mandatory gratuity of (15-25%) on dine-in orders, I personally don’t like this system because I prefer to see the customers, voluntary tips, but it is something that you would prefer, as they are doing exactly as you ask, and simply adding the amount to the ticket. In that sense it is clear, you order a 10 dollar meal, you pay 12.50 and the waiter gets their tip. All calculated for you, added to the price of the meal and you get exactly what you always wanted. Though in my mind, it is a lot simpler to just tip the amount you think the server deserves.
This isn’t about culture, or customary actions, it’s an incredibly efficient system and it has lead to amazing customer satisfaction. That being said, servers are not required for every restaurant, it all depends on the market that you are in. Some would do better, and even have higher customer satisfaction if they were built on self service, it is a case by case basis that this should be considered.
I want to point out that I am not trying to anger you, but rather enlighten you on the reasons “Why you should tip.” so you can better understand the situation. More than just arguments of “You’re a horrible person” (Wrong, you are just a person, just like everyone else) or “Tips are customary” (To some degree, yes, but mostly it is based on a system that is used for so much more than just payment, it is a connection that allow for restaurants to improve.) So Hopefully, you, and anyone else reading, can learn from this comment and have an amazing day.
If I have left anything out, or didn’t cover something adequately enough, please let me know, and I can help as best I can. This whole post was kind of ‘off the cuff’ so to speak.
In reply to Jack Lowe
Another restaurant owner and your bias can certainly be understood.
But, if servers are so wonderful and great, why are you prioritizing customer satisfactions “surveys” over your “employees'” existence and salary. Why do restaurant continually get away with this form of bribery and other businesses don’t?
Yes, people are continually conditioned to feel guilty for not overpaying their bills because of people like you. Business owners who refuse to pay their employees’ salaries and try to put that burden onto someone else.
Well, you can’t have cake and eat it. In your position, I’d rather be quiet and enjoy this form of extortion while it lasts.
I wrote employees in quotation marks earlier because your post and the way your treat them does not seem to reflect that.
Honestly, I feel bad for you. When it comes down to it, your a relatively cheap person who is stingy with their hard earned revenue, which is expected because you did work hard for it And it’s your money to spend , tipping or not. But I wonder if you would still not tip if you were making seven digits a year ?
In reply to Fenway24
HELL NO HE WOULDNT !! HES A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT BREED OF A PERSON!
In reply to Fenway24
No, I would not. I am not responsible for your salary. Your employer is.
The part I’m not sure you understand is wages. There are two types of minimum wage- one for non tipped employees and one for tipped employees. The only reason waiters get paid the lower, tipped employee minimum wage is because they are TIPPED employees and the rest of their wage is to be made up in tips. If a servers never received any tips at all, the employer would have to make up the difference, having to jack up the price of food and the quality of service would drastically decrease. Something is wrong with your order? Want more coke? Forgot your appetizer? Want more ketchup? Tough. Luck. You can claim it’s a cultural norm all you want but in reality it’s the structure of the majority of the hospitality industry. It is in the labor wage laws, you should look it up! If you’re too cheap to leave your waiter a couple bucks, you shouldn’t be going out to eat. Say for example you and a couple friends go out to eat and order a few drinks, you don’t tip because you think you’ve paid everyone already in the total of your bill. Then your waiter gets the bill and begins to calculate what he will tip out the bartender and back server. Oh wait. There’s nothing there to tip out, now the waiter has to pay the other employees who made your meal possible out of his own pocket. Because you’re ignorant enough to assume that everyone involved already got paid from the price of your meal. Often times, managers will give servers who have been stiffed coupons for free items. So the next time a customer pays cash, they use those coupons and take the profit to make up for you not tipping. You’re not just “not giving money” to your waiter when you don’t tip. You’re taking money away from others wether that be another customer, the business or the waiter themselves. In most cases when you don’t tip, the waiter has to pay to serve you! I know of two restaurants in particular that will automatically add gratuity to checks of those who fit the description of certain populations who are known not to tip, just so these things don’t happen. It’s sad, they have to go out of their way to make sure they get paid because people like don’t want to understand how restaurants work. You can deny and defend your illogical “reasoning” all you want but until you know for a fact how things work, you’ll never gain credibility.
We are doing YOU a favor the ENTIRE duration of your visit. We’re your servant. Period. We sure as hell aren’t doing it for the $2.37 an hour, the majority of us ACTUALLY WANT YOU TO HAVE A GOOD TIME AND BE COMFORTABLE IN THE ESTABLISHMENT. HENCE, WE ACTUALLY CARE
In reply to Rachel
Hey, are you retarded?
Serving your customers is your job, just like other people’s job is something else. We all get salary for our professional services and we are all trying our best during ENTIRE work session (at least that’s what it would be nice to believe). When people think they should be making more, they ask for a raise. They sometimes get it. If they don’t get it, they look for another, better paying job and leave if they find it. If they can’t find it, they unhappily stay where they are because they have no other choice.
I am writing this because you seem not to understand this concept. You work for a restaurant and that restaurant pays you for your services. Customers pay that restaurant. How complicated is that? Why would a customer have to pay $40 when the bill is $32.15?! If you find that acceptable, do you do that everywhere – like in stores, gas stations,…? If so, I think you need few lessons on how to be financially responsible. Even more, do you go out of your way for saying how people are bad for not OVERPAYING wherever they go?
I will tip only if you provided EXTRAORDINARY service that I usually do not receive, for going out of your way rather than simply doing your job. Certainly not because you and your cheap restaurant owner simply expect me to overpay my bill. And no, asking me “How is everything” with my mouth full or interrupting the conversation right in the middle of the sentence does not mean extraordinary. Far from it, it is downright RUDE.
Customers are here portrayed as bad guys. But you forget the fact that your employer expects you to basically work for free and rely on charity. That is between your employer and you, not the customer.
Customer sees the price and pays for it. Don’t get me wrong, I have no problem paying $40 (from the previous example), but only when the bill is $40.
And yes, I understand this is how it is “done” even though it is completely broken. Protest, ask for a raise, raise awareness how this is unfair, do something. We live in a free country. If enough people refuse to tip, restaurants would have to change this extortion model. But I also understand it is easier to point fingers and say “Mean people”.
In reply to nonTipper
UR A DUMB F@@K !
In reply to Truth
Nice argument you have there :)
In reply to nonTipper
U R THE ONLY 1 NOT MAKING ANY DAMN SENSE..WHAT HAPPENED DID YOU GET HELD BACK IN SCHOOL 2 OR 3 GRADES.??..KIDS STARTED MAKING FUN OF YOU SO U STARTED SKIPPING SCHOOL REPEATEDLY AND DUE TO THAT YOU MISSED THE WHOLE SECTION ON READING COMPREHENSION SKILLS ! OR DID THE WEED JUST FRY UR BRAIN CELLS ? SAY WHAT U WANT UR ARGUEMENT TELLS YOUR WHOLE STORY !! LOL
In reply to Truth
They certainly did not tease me for my intellect and especially not grammar, something that you must have traumas from childhood. Judging by your writing, a missing front tooth is probably a good candidate too.
Be nice to your customers. You do rely on charity after all.
In reply to Truth
Well I see your arguments are compelling :)
After reading few posts here, you servers are such stupid fucks. But then again, if you want to work for charity, your choice, not mine. Just know who to blame – your employers, not people who pay their bills.
More food for your thoughts
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_vivC7c_1k
No problem. I’ll just auto-grat you the second time you show up in my restaurant (if the owner doesn’t kick you straight back out the door, which is quite likely). The auto-grat will appear on your bill as part of the charge, so you’ll happily have to pay it.
You’re still not getting it! Demand from your employer a decent salary!!!
Kicking out? For paying my bill? Are you serious?! Calling the cops comes to my mind.
You can try auto grat, but unless you mentioned that before the order, you will be breaking the law.
Why is it in your mind people so easy to extort people who already pay their bills and not simply ask for a decent salary from your SUPER cheap restaurant managers? It is out of any reason!!!
In reply to nonTipper
UR NOT GETTING IT NONTIPPER! IT IS UR OPTION TO TIP ITS NOT DAMN MANDATORY! WHEN U GET UP IN THE MORNING U HAVE THE OPTION TO GET DRESSED OR WALK DOWN THE STREET WITH UR BALLS HANGING OUT !! TRY IT ! WALK DOWN THE STREET BUTT ASS NAKED AND SEE WHAT PEOPLE THINK ABOUT IT..THATS EQUIVALENT TO WALKING OUT THE RESTARAUNT NOT TIPPING SOMEBODY THAT JUST WORKED FOR YOU..THEY WORK 2.13 FOR THEIR EMPLOYEER..THEY ALSO WORK FOR THE GUEST FOR THEIR TIP ! SAY WHAT U WANT THATS JUST HOW IT OPERATES ! U CAN BE A JACKASS AND TIP 2% BUT IT TAKES A PERSON JUST LIKE U AND BAWGDOG TO TIP NONE..UNWANTED NOBODYS!
In reply to Truth
Bwuahaha. What a nice argument. What are you, 12?
So one more time, would like to use font 200.
!!!!!!!!!!!!TIPPING IS NOT REQUIRED!!!!!!!!!!!!! Damn restaurants, start paying your employees.
Chili’s must be this guy’s fav. restaurant. I doubt they like him so much. LOL.
>>Kicking out? For paying my bill. Are you serious?!
I am serious. The short answer is that if you don’t tip, the next time you try to walk in the door, you will be told to leave, and if you don’t, the police will escort you to straight to jail for trespassing. I have the right to refuse service to assholes and your kind of bottom-dwellling scum.
Maybe you can repeatedly pull this shit at some bad restaurants. You certainly won’t get away with it more than once where I work. We don’t exist to provide any service to your kind of trash.
In reply to Hi Redneck
The short answer is if customers don’t overpay their bill, you will not accept them. Great business model! :-) I wish all business would work like that. Fortunately, there are so many restaurants that no one is going to miss yet another failed restaurant.
Let me remind you, not tipping perfectly legal. Your employer not paying your salary – now that should be illegal!
Straight to jail for tresspassing… for entering a restaurant?! Ha ha, good luck with that. You are very frustrated and also live in a fantasy man…
You are fighting the wrong battle here. Instead of insulting your customers for not willing to overpay their bills, how about you demand a salary from your employer, like… you know the rest of us. It is something that you guys just don’t understand. Then again, that is why you work as a server. But please, for the love of God, know who is the bad guy here – your restaurant manager, not a customer.
In reply to nonTipper
.GO LOOK UP INFORMATION ON HOW THE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY OPERATES…PAY..WAGES ETC.. AND ONCE U DO THAT THEN WHAT U SAY WILL BE LABELED AS A REAL CONVERSATION BUT IN THE MEAN TIME U SHOULD REALLY STOP TALKING OUT OF THE SIDE OF UR NECK !
In reply to Truth
How it operates? It operates that restaurants have a free labour, that free labours hopes to get some charity from customers and not pay taxes on it.
That obviously works for restaurants, from the comments here it seems that it works for servers (or they are simply dumb as fuck so they don’t know the difference) and certainly does not work for customers. Yet, they are demonized for not overpaying.
Keep in mind that how “this works” is only characteristic for few countries in the world, certainly not all. In most European countries, servers are EMPLOYEES and no tipping is expected. Nobody is going to have problem if you do decide to tip, but that is sign that you are super, super happy with the service that you generally do not receive. It is certainly not expected (it is not required in the US either).
Why is this bribery practice present in the US? Interests and greed are only few things to begin with.
In reply to nonTipper
HMMMMM….SO “BAHGDOG” AND “NONTIPPER” IS THEE EXACT SAME PERSON ! THAT DESPERATE TO GET MORE PEOPLE ON UR SIDE THAT U INVENTED A FAKE PROFILE(or 3 or 4) FOR A BLOG ??? WoW !LOL…. Have fun in your fantasy world… ! WiErd0 !
In reply to Truth
Who is BAHGDOG?
Getting people on “ur” side? For a blog? How insignificant is your life to even think that is worth the trouble for a random blog? :)
Anyway, be nice to your customers. You do rely on charity after all :)
HES INDIAN NEED I SAY MORE FOLKS ????
In reply to Truth
What you need to do is learn some proper grammar.
In reply to nonTipper
YOUR GIRL DONT MIND IT :;)
In reply to Truth
WOW, is that even English? Dear Lord.