It never fails to shock me how a tip is demanded in the US. People simply refuse to listen to reason when we (yes, there are others!) tell them that leaving a tip isn’t necessary. Well, I’m hoping for too much here, but if you’re a waiter, here are 5 reasons why I will try my best not to give any money to you and why the reasons for tipping are crappy.
1. You act as if you’re my best friend
Just leave me alone ok? I don’t want to bloody chit chat with you. I want food. FOOD! Get it? It’s a restaurant. I go there to eat. I go because I want either Italian food, Chinese Food or something else which I can’t get in a McDonald’s. So I come to a restaurant to fulfill my cravings for it. I will pay for what I value – food. Not you.
Christ, you offend me – kneeling down next to my table, pretending to like me and chatting as if you’re my best friend when it’s obvious that all you’re after is the tip! I’m not a bloody money bag you know. I will pay the bill which includes the cost of the food, the environment and the salaries of the people involved – nothing more.
The only way to get money out of me that I don’t have to legally pay is by prying it out of my cold dead hands…
Bottom line: I don’t want to know your name, or interact with you for any longer than I have to in order to place my order. As far as I’m concerned, you’re the equivalent of a conveyor belt that brings me my food and a computer into which I input my order. Of course, I won’t be rude. But don’t expect me to interact with you any more than I would with some stranger.
Image Credit: cafemama
2. You don’t get paid enough
And this is my problem how exactly? It’s astonishing that customers are expected to make up for your employer’s cheapness in not paying you a decent wage. Please include the full cost in everyone’s bill thank you very much. I’ll pay it because I have to and the charge is there for me to see.
What’s really funny here is that no one seems to criticize the employers! All criticism is reserved for non tipping customers instead of the owners of the restaurant for not paying a decent wage. Wtf! Could it possibly be because you guys know you can make much more by tips and under report your income to the IRS?
3. You’ll spit in my food if I don’t tip you?
And I’ll shoot your kid if you don’t give me a million dollars. Seriously, am I even hearing this right? You’re actually using the threat of blackmail to make me pay you? Well as long as you’re openly claiming to be a criminal it’s all right I guess.
Fortunately that’s why I prefer buffets. Listen apart from it being illegal, this shows your poor integrity. But if you spit in someone’s food because they didn’t give you money you didn’t earn, then you’re a loser and deserve to be a waiter for the rest of your life.
4. Bringing me my food isn’t worthy of being paid extra
Did you cook it? Did you invent it? No. You picked it up and brought it to me. While it might not be easy, there are plenty of jobs which are much worse – shop floor workers for example. And I’ve been a shop floor manager, so I know. Face it – compared to other jobs, being a waiter is unskilled. You get paid what the market will think your services are worth. You don’t deserve more for your work over and above what your employer should pay you.
5. Money doesn’t grow on trees
I expect you to be grateful and pray for me at night if I tip you 10%. Be happy I gave you anything at all. I worked for the money in my wallet and by giving you some I didn’t have to, I’m doing you a favor. Learn to remember that when people give you something they don’t need to, it’s a favor. You don’t complain that they didn’t give you more!
By the way, the same thing above applies to all professions that demand tips including those on cruise liners.
So now that you understand why I won’t give you money you don’t deserve, stop with the “oh how could you?” attitude. I can. And I will.
Update: Here’s a rebuttal of the many silly justifications for tipping that people have given in the comments section.
I realize I'm a little late to the game, but I have two points to make.
One, if you think the system of tipping is wrong then you should lobby to have the system changed. It is currently legal for employers to pay waiters $3 an hour because it is expected that patrons will tip, thereby making up the vast majority of the waiters income. In some cases, tips are a waiter's ONLY income. Yes, many restaurants do not pay their waitstaff what they are legally required to.
If you want restaurants to fairly compensate their waitstaff in lieu of a tipping system, then tell them so. Choosing not to tip, or tip poorly, because you don't like the system doesn't hurt the restaurant in any way. You're essentially punishing the person who has the least control over the situation.
Two, if you think the waiter is simply a "conveyor belt" from the kitchen to you, then take them out of the equation. In other words: get take-out. Call up the restaurant from which you would like food, place an order, and pick it up yourself. In that situation everyone who has had a hand in preparing your food has been compensated for it without your tip.
If you should elect to get your food delivered tip the delivery guy, because the cost of the meal does not include a delivery cost.
In reply to Victoria
But Victoria, why should the customers lobby to solve the waiter's problems? I recognize that there's an issue here, but the group that's affected – namely the waiters should be the ones who need to try and fix it without pushing their burdens on to other people.
Take out isn't an option, because when I pay the bill I pay for the ambience, the table, the cutlery and the works. And I also pay for the food to be brought to me. Just conveyed to me. Not served politely or anything. It's really no business of mine whether the waiters get paid or not. They're part of the restaurant. If not, I want a separate bill for the additional services the waiter provides me – which should be included in the menu.
In reply to bhagwad
You're taking part in an unfair system that you don't like, and then choosing to penalize the person who is already victimized by it.
That doesn't make you a reformer, it makes you cheap.
Waiting tables is difficult, unpredictable work. Work for which people are not compensated by the management of the establishment in which they ply their trade. The system is such that waiters don't have a choice about their payment – you can either work for tips, or not work at all.
Waiters are essentially freelancers who are working for YOU. The restaurant arranges the relationship in which you buy something from them, the waiter supplies it, you pay for the goods, and then give your waiter a fee for brokering the exchange. If you do not intend to pay the fee then you should tell the waiter that up front. Is it ok for someone who hires you for a job to stiff you at the end?
Frankly, I'm having a hard time understanding why you think it's ok to ask a person to work for you and not pay them. You know you are expected to, and that the management isn't compensating them –you know that *no one* is paying them for their work– and yet you are perfectly comfortable engaging their services.
In reply to Victoria
Why does the waiter not bill me for their services? If they’re rendering me a service I have the right to a receipt. And why isn’t the quantity of the bill shown to me up front? If waiters are truly freelancers, then I want to get a bill just like I get a bill for the food.
Basically, why should I pay for anything when the provider gives it to me and doesn’t bill me for it? Just because someone isn’t getting paid doesn’t make it my responsibility. I just want my food. If the waiter tries to give me more service, then that’s their choice. I don’t ask for it.
In reply to bhagwad
Ah, I see! So it's not that you're unwilling to tip, you just didn't get your waiters bill for their services.
It is customary, meaning it is implicit in the arrangement, that you will tip a waiter for a their services. That it is an established custom -one you admit you're fully aware of- indicates no bill is required for payment to be due.
The fact that you have changed your argument from "waiters don't deserve to be paid extra," to "they haven't billed me so I'm no obliged to pay them," reinforces my belief that you are just very, very stingy. You're cheap. And if you were capable of empathizing with the person who took your order, brought your food, and cleaned up after you, leaving some extra cash on the table for their hard work wouldn't take convincing, it would be natural.
In reply to Victoria
You're right of course. The reason I want a bill is because I refuse to pay anything I'm not legally required to.
Customs are well and good. I follow customs whenever I can. But I draw the line at spending money. I'll use the correct spoons, greet the correct way etc as the custom demands, but I won't spend money :)
Everyone works hard. The arrangement the waiter has with the restaurant is hardly my business. I just want to eat and pay the bill.
In reply to bhagwad
I get it. You’re not going to tip. You don’t want to. But don’t say you’re not tipping because you’re not billed for it, you know you’re expected to do it.
And don’t say you follow customs except when it comes to money, it’s a cop-out.
Why not re-title this post “I’m cheap” and be done with it?
In reply to Victoria
Come on. I don't have to give money just because I'm expected to! There are beggars who try and guilt me into giving them money. That doesn't mean I'm obliged to support them somehow. Life is tough. I have my own problems.
In reply to bhagwad
You’re absolutely right, you don’t have to give someone money just because you’re expected to, and that was never the premise of anyone’s argument. You don’t have to pay waiters for their services, but morality and ethics are measured by the actions we choose to make whether or not we’re forced to; doing what we deem to be right. Apparently, you, in full knowledge, engage someone’s services, then refuse to pay them for the service simply because no one is making you. Victoria’s right, if you don’t want to tip, don’t, but don’t try to guise it under some sanctimonious rationalizations of principle. Simply admit that you’re cheating someone out of money they’ve earned because, as you said “I can, and I will”. Would you commit murder if it were legal? Robbery? Rape? If you could legally do these things, would it make them right? Arguing that you’re not going to do something because you don’t have to has nothing to do with ethics, it’s a matter of might over right. How does making the fee for a service optional render that service worth any less, or in your opinion, worth nothing?
In reply to Kristi
Comparing not tipping to murder or rape is a false equivalence if I ever saw one. The waiter is employed by the restaurant. Not by me. There’s no contract between me and a waiter. Hence I personally owe them nothing. I only owe the restaurant.
In reply to Kristi
Rape and murder are not the same as failing to tip in degree of wrongdoing, but the principle remains the same-you’re willfully wronging someone because you’re legally able to. And you are employing the server. You’re engaging their services by entering a full service restaurant. Your argument that there is no contract, no bill, to require you to compensate the server only re-affirms the argument that you are cheating the server because you can rather than that you should. A bill serves 2 purposes: to inform someone of the amount they are to pay and to legally enforce the payment if necessary. You admit that you know the system of tipping and the expectation to tip before you enter the restaurant, so a bill would tell you nothing you don;t already know. A contract would only force you to compensate a server for their work- something that you should do anyway. It’s still an argument of what you can do versus what you should.
In reply to Kristi
Just so you know, I apologize for any offense I may have incited by comparing failure to tip with rape and murder. I never intended to equate the two, I was merely making a hyperbolic analogy to illustrate that hostile or exploitative behaviors towards another are clearly wrong regardless of their legality.
In reply to Kristi
Rape and murder are not the same in degrees of wrong doing. In those, you are violating a person’s right to life and liberty. In this…what?
“And you are employing the server.”
I’m pretty sure that’s not true. Just like I don’t employ the cashier at walmart.
In reply to Kristi
So..when you go into a restaurant, honestly believe the server could decline to serve you? By engaging services of one, you are employing them. You are insisting that they serve you, yet paying them nothing for it. This is wrong. When you go to walmart, you are paying that cashiers’ salary. It is built into the cost of the items you’re purchasing. When you go to a restaurant, you’re paying for the food, the server is obligated to serve you, and then you’re given the *option* of whether is not to pay them for their work, and simply because you can opt to cheat them, you do. For this to be analogous to your walmart example, you would have to be presented 2 prices for the merchandise at walmart, one including the cost of the cashiers’ salary, and a lower one excluding the cost of the workers’ wages, but entailing the expectation for you to volunteer some compensation for them. By using someone’s services and then decling to compensate them, you are exploiting them. Also, it’s not even really your action that bothers me, and I suspect many of the people commenting here-it’s your attitude regarding it. Everyone does things they don’t believe are right in the interest of self service, but most accept them as these actions as human shortcomings. You, however, knowingly exploit someone, take enough pride in it to write an article justifying it, and only announce plans to continue doing so.
In reply to Kristi
“So..when you go into a restaurant, honestly believe the server could decline to serve you?”
No more than a cashier at walmart can decline to serve me. I don’t care about the cashier’s salary so why should I care about a waiter’s? The waiter is employed by the restaurant and has to do what the restaurant tells them to do. Just like a cahier.
“When you go to walmart, you are paying that cashiers’ salary.”
It’s not my job to probe the internal salary structure and finances of companies I purchase from. I couldn’t care less if a cashier was working for free or was getting paid. I have enough problems on my plate without having to worry about someone else’s finances.
According to you I only pay for the food and not the waiter. Are you denying that the waiter is an employee of the restaurant? Am I their employer? No. Ergo, when I pay the restaurant, it’s up to them how they want to disburse the funds. Again – not my problem.
In reply to bhagwad
I think if you should tell your server that you do not intend to tip in the beginning, that way they can choose to only give you the bare minimum of service!
In reply to Victoria
I wish you could see me laughing. Now you're comparing waiters to beggars.
You're right. Life is tough, everyone has their own problems. And yet, I tip waiters because it's how they make a living. I also give beggars money because, like my mother always said, "if they ask they probably need it."
I don't do it because I have to, I do it because it's right.
In reply to Victoria
Personally I think if someone guilts another into giving them money, then that person is a sucker. Moreover, it takes a different turn when the beggars begin to demand money!
In reply to Victoria
I don't feel guilt when someone asks me for spare change (or when I get the bill at the end of a meal), I feel empathy. I imagine it takes great humility to ask a stranger for help when you cannot help yourself.
I'm actually beginning to wonder about you. That you view charitable souls as suckers, and are so vehemently opposed to parting with loose change is strange. I feel good when I hand a homeless person a dollar.
In reply to Victoria
The problem is that waiters demand a 15% tip. I usually leave them the coins they bring me as change and they should be happy with that. But they demand more, and that is what I'm opposed to.
In reply to bhagwad
What I usually find is that the waiters don’t even bother with returning the change, and take it upon themselves to round it UP to the next dollar, whatever the amount is. Try that at your local supermarket and see how far that gets you at the cashier.
In reply to bhagwad
waiters demands 15% tip what they tell you and if you don’t then what?tell that waiter if you didn’t come the waiter wouldnt have a job
In reply to bhagwad
Waiters don’t demand anything. That figure is just what is set for good practice. You can and should leave less or more depending on the type of service you receive. Leaving the server just the coins from your change is almost worse than leaving nothing at all. If you have a $20 bill, leave $3. $30 bill, leave $5 or $6. It won’t kill you and would make someones day. Also, think of it as adding to your karma bank. Not every server is just giving you good service because they want good money. A majority of servers just actually enjoy their job and serving people. The tips are an added bonus. Also, the state mandates what servers make per hour, just like they mandate minimum wage. If you don’t like it, petition the government, don’t punish the servers. You say these people should find other work, well if every server did that we would have no one to wait on us at restaurants. A servers schedule is flexible and they can often just work Thurs, Fri and Sat nights and make $300 +. For people in school, who have kids or who work full time during the day this is ideal. Servers work hard, just as hard as anyone else works at any other job. I think you’re outlook on the situation is very rude and close minded. It’s 2014, get with the times. Help thy neighbor. Stop being a dick.
In reply to bhagwad
Waiters don’t demand anything. That amount was just set for good practice. You can and should give more or less depending on the service that you received. If you have a $20 bill, leave $3. If it’s a $30 bill, leave $5 or $6. The server will appreciate it and that’s usually not enough to break your bank. Also, think of it as adding to your good karma bank. Not all servers are nice to you because they want good money. A lot of servers just enjoy their job, enjoy interacting with people and enjoy making people happy by providing good service. The tips are just a bonus. Servers work just as hard, if not harder than any of the rest of us who work for a living. You say they should work somewhere else, well if every server did that, who would serve us when we went out? Also, servers schedules are flexible. A lot of them can work just Thurs, Friday and Saturday nights and make $300 +. This is helpful to those who either are in school, have children or work a full time job during the day during the week. If you don’t think you should tip, fine. Then don’t go to a sit down dinner. Don’t participate in something you don’t agree with. It’s 2014, get with the times. Help thy neighbor. Stop being a dick.
In reply to Victoria
Waiters don't demand a 15% tip. They hope for a 15% tip. They hope that taking your order, making your drinks, clearing your dirty plates, and facilitating your enjoyment of your meal will result in gratitude from you in the form of money. And when you leave them pocket change, the change you just can't be bothered to put back in your wallet, it's a slap in the face.
Do you want to know why? Because they feel they just got suckered. They just did all that work for you, and you didn't even say thank you. Your coins left behind aren't a thank you. They're so worthless you couldn't even be bothered to take them with you, and so you left them for your server to clean up.
Now, can you tell me why they should be grateful for the pocket change you left behind? You're only leaving it on the table because it's too much trouble to put it in your wallet. Why should they be grateful to receive what you consider valueless?
In reply to bhagwad
I feel that waiters should just do their job, bring me my food and leave me alone. I don't care about them as people when they're serving me. If I meet them outside, then yes – they're people. Otherwise I focus on the food and couldn't care less about them.
In reply to bhagwad
Next time you go out to eat, ask the waiter where the soda gun is so you can get your own drink. Then ask where the computer is and figure out how to ring in your own order. Then pick it up. Then clear your own table. Then print your own bill. Then GTFO.
We don’t work for free.
In reply to Nora
You don’t get a salary? Oh you poor thing! No wonder you go begging to your customers for some extra cash.
In reply to bhagwad
Then lets see you go work as a freaking waiter and lets see who is going to be complaining now.
In reply to bhagwad
So…they’re not people when they are working? I think you just need to check your morals! This article should just be called “I Don’t Tip Because I Don’t Care”!!
In reply to Leilita
If you read my post, you’ll see I had written that “I’m not rude”. Of course waiters are people. Just not my friends.
In reply to bhagwad
I hope I get to meet you some day. I really do.
In reply to bhagwad
So I can just chuck it at you and avoid the manners while you choose not to even look me in the eye like the “conveyer belts” you perceive us to be? No India. No caste. Look me in the eye to disrespect me.
In reply to Victoria
You know what the problem is? The problem is that there is no established standard here. Many restaurants pay their waiters a standard minimum wage salary, many restaurants pay waiters below minimum wage and expect them to make up the income with tips and there are also some restaurants where the waiters practically work as freelancers.
How is the customer supposed to know what’s the standard being followed at which restaurant? I most definitely want to compensate a person for services rendered but NOT when he is already getting paid a fixed salary for it. No other professional in any other field expects a tip for services rendered if they are already drawing a fixed salary. I am willing to tip the waiter if I know for sure that he/she is a freelancer. This is exactly why a bill for services rendered is necessary to let us know that the price of service isn’t already included in the food bill. If we don’t get a bill, we can always assume that the waiters is already being compensated by the restaurant.
I am also against this percentage based tipping. Just reading some of the comments here from servers, I am aghast at what they have to say about customers who tip less than 15%. If I order $300 worth of meal, I am supposed to pay the server $45 for just bringing this expensive dish to my table?
In reply to bhagwad
You make me SICK. “You just bring the food” PSSSHHHH. I get paid 2.13 an hour plus tips to run back and forth and back and forth at pizza hut getting your water with no ice and hearing you whine about your veggie lover pizza when we arent even required to put it on the buffet. And the entire time I’m doing this I’m taking care of about 5 other tables at the least who are at least going to tip me. We clean the table your fat butt sits at so you can enjoy your lunch. Hahahahahah I laugh at your idea that someone like me ONLY brings food. I make sure everything I need is being taken care of in the back so you get your food on time. And daily I cook my customers food. I don’t let glasses go empty. I have to constantly answer phones when my team members won’t I have to clean up after you pig out and make a mess. And what does our 2.13 and hour have to do with you? Well it could be that WE are YOUR servers. Serving is a JOB. And you get PAID for a JOB. You don’t work for free do you? I don’t think so. Not tipping is stealing service. Why should you receive service if you can’t pay for it. Obviously you know absolutely nothing about anything if you don’t fully comprehend how money making works. If you hate servers so damn much here is a simple solution do got out to eat. And saying you’ll take your service elsewhere…LOL…like they would even give a crap. I’m sure they’d rather not have a table than have one they wasted their time on just to get stiffed. Your parents must feel real proud of the “man” they raised. This is America damnit I know people are constantly trying to get free shit I know some are low lifes and pathetic but I’m not trying to get free money I’m accepting the hard earned money someone leaves me on the filthy table I have to clean up. And If you don’t like how things are here then I’m with Victoria. GET YOUR OWN SHIT AND GTFO!
In reply to bhagwad
A tip indicates that good service was given. If servers just got paid a good hourly and didnt need tips, there would be no incentive to give good service especially to ignorant people like yourself. If a part of 6 or more people come into where I work an automatic gratuity of 20% IS added to the bill.
In reply to bhagwad
All I have to say is Mr. Respectable Bagwad is comparing silverware, tables and ambience to servers who are LIVE PEOPLE! Shows what an ignorant selfish piece of shit he is. Are you really still going to think you are right if 99% of the people here think you are an asstard? Really? Wow.
In reply to bhagwad
Tell me that you don’t ask for more napkins, tell me that you never want more water in your glass or maybe more of that sauce that is homemade… or you know what some soda that you after ordered decided sporadically get it, then, maybe you don’t want those plates that you’ve done while you’re eating on your table
cuz that doesn’t make it the restaurant… waiters do that and hear every silly question that you have about the food how does it taste is it serves cold? if you know that much about food
please stand in front of a restaurant, read the menu find it in google what you don’t know and then don’t make people let you know what the food has in it
oh! wait what if you allergic to something because that’s not my job, or you invite a friend because is it’s birthday… oh sorry is mothers days… i also have a mother… you know what… i’ll give you face because i couldn’t spent my time with her…
you just don’t know what are you tipping.
maybe the restaurant aren’t paying good, is true, no body has said it isn’t but 5 things against to the waiters directly,there is no excuse, you have no right to defend yourself, by the way you choose to talk about this.
god bless you and hopefully you’d never work for a restaurant… but karma is a bitch and you’ll have someone close to you who always got something related.
In reply to bhagwad
Bhagwad, you’re actually admitting that you are paying for your experience! You’re contradicting your earlier statement that a sever is a conveyor belt. The tip, in my opinion, allows for variability according to how good your server is at contributing to and enhancing the atmosphere. You are within full rights to tip less if your server detracts from your experience, but if he or she helps to facilitate you having a good time, it would be courteous to compensate that server for the services beyond the price of the meal. (Just an FYI, the vast majority of a server’s wage does not come out of that price, it is a few cents at most)
In reply to Victoria
http://www.dol.gov/whd/state/tipped.htm
The federal government ensures that all service staff make AT LEAST minimum wage. Be clear.
Tipping in restaurants is one thing. I do tip, especially if the waiter/waitress offered me good service. It's begrudgingly sometimes, because I don't like doing it. What gets me is that they feel entitled to a tip. I recall several times when eating out when the waiter/waitress was rude to me, failed to re-fill my glass of water, and then had the nerve to bring me the bill and tell me how much the tip should be. Seriously!!! But, it's getting to the point where everyone is wanting a tip, you go to coffee shops there's a little tip jar. I know it's optional, but why are they even asking? O_O
In reply to RenKiss
One of the reasons why I think tipping is demanded is because people feel that being a waiter is a somewhat "menial" job and a tip is a way of assuaging the guilt of the customers for having someone wait on them.
In reply to RenKiss
Please DO NOT tip because you feel guilty!!! That is silly! Tip because the service was good! No server should openly complain to a guest either about a tip, that is unprofessional! Please don’t judge all of us based a bad experiance…Some of us take great pride in our jobs!!
wow, first of all tips are tips for a sevice that was nice, if i didn’t like the service i am not required to tip. i done both served and was served so please spare me the bs. the fact that now all the owners depend on tips to pay the servers. the place should pay the server not me. tips supposed to be extra cause u made an effort to make me feel good. so fuck u all that think tipping is mandatory. they can’t pay the server alot cause then the price of the staek would go up. so the bottom line here is not the server or the customer its the business owner payin 2 bucks an hour. fuck u owners. and no i don’t pay more then 10% . fuck you to that doesn’t like that. i am coming to eat food so if i see the price thats why i eat there. if i have to pay extra 20 dollars i wouldn’t be there. this culture is so fucked up adding tips in the bill and forcing people to pay. fuck u all
In reply to killer
Man, you sure got some anger inside you!
In reply to bhagwad
Go back to Karachi where the Taliban can kill you.
In reply to killer
Killer,
“Tips are for service that was nice”? What about doing your job? Aren’t you supposed to be professional and “nice” when you take employment at the restaurant? There should be no “liking or disliking” the service, the service level should be the same among ALL of the staff, because as a WHOLE, they represent the restaurant. Imagine that kind of thinking!
Imagine a world where when you walk into a restaurant, ALL of the staff greet you and are ALL there to serve whatever you need, because that is their job. If you especially liked the service of one individual, tell the manager. The same holds true if you didn’t like the service.
With this concept implemented, people are paid based upon feedback from the customers. If the pay does not increase because management is too tight, they risk losing you.
Remember, people come back because of the restaurant as a whole, not just one server.
I don’t buy into your philosophy that owners depend on the tips to pay the servers. The price of food on menus has increased significantly over the years. They are turning a fair profit and can easily afford to pay all of the staff like every other establishment, if it is managed well.
The owner/manager’s job is to ensure a superior customer experience. He trains the staff…all of them, to deliver this. His reward is a full restaurant from new and repeat customers.
This is nothing more than basic business.
In reply to killer
How long did you hold that service job? I doubt it was long if you communicated to your patrons the way you did here.
no anger my man i called it how i see it. what is good service i had this issue before, what are they doing special. they bring me the food and drink thts in the menu , some later then earlier. so what is the purpose of the server they don’t wait there for u and u only. u not taking their time away from work , that is their work to serve. the issue here is the customer and waiter(S) are the ones that have to deal with this. not the business owners. as i said again if i go to eat something i don’t want to be obligated to tip. to get good service and good food. its like if i go to the place every week i have to tip good or they won’t serve me well since they know i am not a good tipper. clubs do the same shit. if they know u not a good tipper the drinks are more then what they usally are cause they include a tip in ur drink. so now u are the one that has to kiss ass to get good service. shouldn’t it be no matter what i tip i get the same service.
i can understand to give a waiter or waitres extra if they went out of their way and brought me a drink on the house or didn’t charge me for the dessert or gave me on extra. just like u just misread me cause i used the fuck word manny times lol. well as i always say fuck them all
In reply to killer
I agree with just about everything you say!
In reply to killer
Hands down, the smartest poster on this forum.
In reply to Dossier
Judging by “killer’s” grammar and lack of knowledge about the service industry (clubs cannot force a tip unless they do it to everyone, you cannot get singled out), I would have to respectfully disagree.
In reply to killer
So you only tip if you get something for free?
I had a customer like this once. I was working a shift as a cocktail server as a bar downtown. A guy came in, ordered consistently throughout the the night, and was tipping. (Not particularly well. He left MAYBE a dollar per $15 round – this was during happy hour so each round should have been $30. Again, after mandatory tip-out this leaves me a quarter.) I continued to serve him promptly and efficiently, as I was every other customer. He proceeded to get a little drunk and then got angry with me for not giving him drinks for free. I tried to explain to him that I am not allowed to give things for free – only the manager can and this man gave me no incentive to do so anyway. He started telling me that I’m not good at m job and he was going to tell the manager that I need to be fired and replaced with someone who understands customer service.
My manager kicked him out.
Don’t be a dick.
(also, buy a grammar textbook)
In reply to killer
You aren’t obligated to tip! But if the server is on top of things, get you your food while it’s hot, brings you your drinks without you having to ask. Making sure all your extra requests are met then yeah, I think you should tip. It’s still not obligated. Most servers won’t give you shitty service because they know you don’t tip. That’s just what people say.
Hahaha! So you’re that uptight snot who’s car ends up parked under a bird infested tree, as opposed to the garage or right by the front drive. Oh, and if you drive a manual, it’s even better cause I can destroy your transmission while I’m at it too. Karma is a bitch, huh?
You know what? If you just think of people as machines, then you deserve to have your food spat in. You’re that guy who smells his own farts too. We’re not waiters or valets because we’re lazy and can’t get any other job, it’s because most of us are trying to get an education. Not everyone starts at the top, jerk.
@killer: This isn’t the Post Apocalypse. You can show a little compassion towards others. Though you seem like you smell your own farts too. That’s fine asshole, I don’t know how that scratch ended up on your car, either. Complain to the hotel.
In reply to Angry Valet
I’m cool with blackmail – as long as you’re honest about it.
I treat waiters with as much respect as I show to any other person – hardly like a machine. Remind me again why I should pay for your education?
In reply to Angry Valet
Angry Valet,
Why don’t you tip every person you come into contact with, as they provide you service, right? Why don’t you? Tough for you to explain?
They all provide service like yours and maybe they are trying to get money for university too. Ever thought about that? Why should I tip you and not the person who spends time at the grocery store to ring up all of my groceries. The time spent by the clerk at the register is greater than the time you spent to get my car. What gives there? Any ideas?
Everyone is paid to do a job. Tips are where America has gone wrong, and it gives management an edge to pay you only minimum wage mandated by federal law.
By the way, are you declaring your tips to the IRS? It is income, and the rest of have to do so, including the poor guy making the same amount of money as you working the register at the grocery. Think deeper.
Why don’t you tell all this to your server up front? Obviously, in this country, you do enter into a social contract when you sit down at a restaurant table. If you don’t consider the contract valid, let your server know so they will provide you with the basic minimum of service that you desire ( and of course they will, they don’t want to get fired) but at least the terms of the interaction will be “on the table” so to speak, and no one will feel “ripped off”. Seems only fair to me and respectful, as well…..
In reply to Wendy
Probably because so many servers have threatened to not provide even the basic minimum of service unless they get a tip – just read some of the comments!
In reply to bhagwad
No no no. Servers are angry when they run around, getting you refills, doing whatever you need or rushing at every bizarre or over the top request you make, in the hopes that you will leave them a tip, only to be stiffed at the end of your meal.
I am sure, if you told the waiter up front that you do not want service, but only the food, they will not try to interact with you and work their asses off for a tip. They will give you the basic minimum service you requested, and I’m sure that they will actually be grateful that you did not JIP them out of their hard work.
As a prior server, I would much rather be told up front by the non-tipping customer that they, in fact, don’t intend on tipping me, than try so hard to please someone who doesn’t even value my service enough to compensate it.
In reply to Brittney
The default is to pay exactly what’s on the bill. After all, I don’t pay anything to the walmart cashier do I?
So if the server/restaurant expects a tip, they should be the ones to state that explicitly upfront. It’s not enough to say “it’s understood” – cause that’s not how a business works. Either it’s in black and white on a bill and I have to pay it or I don’t have to pay it.
In reply to bhagwad
Your logic is flawed, though. It is American Custom to tip a waiter or waitress for their service. It is the polite thing and moral thing to do, whether you like the laws behind how a server is paid or not.
Your only defense is that you only have to pay exactly what the bill states. And by law, you are correct. But by a morale point of view, you are being a shitty human being who is stealing service from someone who is going out of their way to cater to YOUR particular needs. Someone is doing their job to serve you, and you are cheating them out of money they’ve earned. If the tip system weren’t accepted, it wouldn’t be in place, nor would anyone voluntarily work for only 2.13 an hour, nor could someone live off of that.
So you believe that THEY should be the ones to state upfront that they expect a tip? Once again, flawed logic. Because by repeating back to me that you are AWARE that they are expecting a tip for their service, you are knowingly accepting their service KNOWING that they are under the belief that they will be compensated by you. So the only person who is under a different assumption is yourself. You know fine and well what is expected and morally right on your part, but because law doesn’t REQUIRE you to do it, you don’t. So therefore, you are cheating a hardworking person out of their money, and the least you could respectfully do (as stated before) is let them know that you do not plan to compensate them for their services. In America, the tip system is strongly understand, so it is PLENTY enough to say “it’s understood”. That IS how to restaurant business works in America.
Law doesn’t REQUIRE us to help a person stranded on the side of the road with a broken down car, but we do it because it is morally just. Let alone when someone HELPS US, we help them in return.
Your money for your food does not compensate the waiter, and should a law be passed that waiters make minimum wage, the price of your meal increases. It’d be cheaper just to tip. Why not just be a decent person who does the right thing, than wait until someone legally FORCES you to?
In reply to Brittney
If I don’t help a stranded person on the road, they will not claim that I “cheated” them since I never owed them anything in the first place.
Customs are all well and good up until the point where it involves money. Then self interest takes over. Sorry, but you cannot have a custom that requires people to randomly give you money.
So again, let the restaurant management make tipping a formal policy beforehand and then I will gladly pay extra.
In reply to bhagwad
I will point out a few things, and then agree with you on something.
When I brought up the point of a person being stranded, I brought it up for the fact that it is courteous to do, and many people would do it (not expecting anything in return) out of the goodness of their heart. My point is that people don’t need laws to do good things, so saying that unless you are legally bind to pay them you won’t doesn’t make it socially or morally acceptable.
I was not comparing the act of helping someone on the side of the road to an equivalent act of accepting the service of a waiter. Because UNLIKE helping someone stranded on the side of the road, a server IS NOT a random person who has not done anything for you, and any money you give them would not be “random” but in a sense, expected because they waited on you.
Now that I’ve clarified that, I do agree that the money that the waiter makes should be automatically included in the customers bill. The only difference in our views is I believe they should not have a set minimum wage, because every waiter is different, every customer experience is different, and waiting on a table of 15 customers ordering every course deserves better pay than waiting on a table of 2 ordering only coffee. I believe it’s the customers job to pay their waiters, because it is the waiter’s who create the experience at a dine in restaurant. Their job is to cater to the consumers every whim, unlike other jobs. The owners of the restaurant charge you for the food they give you, and the servers, in the form of expected tips, charge for their waiting service.
Expecting that every person will honor that socially accepted act is of course, naive to say the least.
So, I believe a mandatory 15% gratuity should be added to every tab.
I do not believe in minimum wage for the waiting industry, because every table and dining experience, and customer is different. One job does not equal the next in the waiting world. Nor does one tab or table equal another.
Unlike Wal Mart jobs and such, where the employees work is consistent, and they don’t experience personally serving the Wal Mart shoppers in the way that a waiter serves their customers.
My 15% automatic gratuity would be so beneficial. It will benefit everyone and solve the problem. It would prevent the waiters from being stiffed for their services, it would stop the argument and criticism of bad tippers, because they would be FORCED to pay with their tip along with their food. And according to you, you would be happy to pay a forced bill.
I believe that’s the most realistic route that a “Waiter-Formed Union” could take to guarantee that they get their pay everytime, and even more… If every waiter had a set “15%” gratuity, it could be added to taxes and counted by the IRS.
In reply to Brittney
<3
You read my mind love!!
In reply to Wendy
Wendy,
A “social contract”? Let me read that, unless you drafted it in your head. Where does it say in your REAL contract that you have to provide “basic service” unless you are ensured a tip? If it does, you may have legal recourse.
It appears that you have twisted everything around in your head to create this scenario to work best for yourself.
You are hired to represent the restaurant as best as possible, and at all times. I am quite confident about this. If this is not so, your restaurant will not be in business now. In business, everything counts.
You attitude is nothing short of getting a pink slip to your next job opportunity. Please wake up and think about how you can serve the customer as best as possible with the wages you are paid by federal law. Don’t forget to declare all of your income (including tips) to the IRS too, and that is not a “social contract” between you and the US government, either.
I concur! We should all tell those superficially sycophantic waiters to F.Off.
Bhagwad, you give Asians a bad name. While your job salary is protected by minimum wage, waiters/waitresses are not. They are incentivized to ensure that you have a pleasant dining experience, through the tipping system. So, if you have enjoyed your meal, you should tip them.
I come from a country where wait staff earn minimum wage and I’m not required to tip them. They don’t have to treat me well either because they will get paid the same amount whether they work hard or not. Hence, the service industry here sucks and I much prefer the american tipping system.
Just because the country you came from didn’t tip doesn’t mean that tipping is bad. Don’t be a cheap Asian, tip your waiter.
In reply to NotACheapAsian
This has nothing to do with Asians. If waiters don’t get a minimum wage from the employers/government then let them form a union and solve their problems by themselves by changing the laws. I’m not interested in their problems and I don’t want them to be like beggars whining for my money. After all, isn’t this the US? – the place where “socialism” is a dirty word?
So tell me why as an Indian and an Asian, I’m supposed to care about other people’s problems? Let them go help themselves. It’s not my job.
In reply to NotACheapAsian
YOU have the choice to eat at any place you want, if that business doesn’t treat you well then don’t eat there. tipping is not going to change anything in your country. If you are being treated poorly and still eating there then you are just feeding the system.
If you were a restaurant owner and is losing tons of business because of your poor service, wouldn’t you change your business practices and make sure your staff is doing their job? Reason why many business like Nordstrom and Macy’s have good service is because they enforce it in their staff members with incentives. It is the business’s job to ensure quality service and not the customers job to ensure their own service. You are not going to tip a Nordstrom worker are you? even though their service is spectacular ?
In reply to NotACheapAsian
NotACheapAsian,
I think you are confused about job salary protection. Wait staff ARE protected:
http://www.dol.gov/whd/state/tipped.htm
It is federal law.
If the service is poor at the restaurants you visit, due to no tips (as you say), why do you go back?
In Japan, there are no tips, and the service is excellent everywhere. I am confused with your logic.
The problem with poor service is not lack of tips, but poor training of staff by management, nothing more.
Management will feel the impact of their training efforts, or lack of, at the end of the month. If the restaurant is empty most of the time, what does this reflect? The market is providing feedback about their business and they won’t remain in business for long if they continue to provide poor service.
Tips should be eliminated.
In reply to NotACheapAsian
Now you are being ridiculous. Yes, even if the waiters drew a minimum wage as mandated by federal law, they would still have to treat you well and serve you well. You know why? Because if they don’t, customers will complain to the manager and they will get fired. It’s like any other job. I get a fixed salary to fix your TV and fridge when its under warranty. I don’t get tips from you for doing my job and yet if I don’t do my job properly, you will complain to my company and they will fire me.
Waiters would like us to believe they are doing a special job, a job so difficult that it requires special skills and compensation in the form of tip. Come back to me with your “difficult serving job” sob story when you have to visit 10 different houses in a day under the hot sun to fix people’s problems.
I rest my case:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKqdIDxoWBE
In reply to Sigh
In this case, cheap = smart and is also ethical. In any case, nothing wrong with being a cheap bastard!
Just shows how easy it is to get money out of people. Make them feel that if they don’t give you a tip, then they’re labelled as cheap. And no one wants to be cheap right? That’s convenient…so take out your wallet!
In reply to bhagwad
Hey Ballsack, what part of Florida do you live in? I’d like to come pay you a visit.
I have a great idea, do the job for a week or 2, you wont be talking the same shit then…..you are an ignorant, rude spoiled rotten thinking the whole world owes you something asshole…..If you dont know how to treat people in their country, stay in your own….
In reply to hardworkingserver
I’ll never be a waiter because it doesn’t pay me enough for the work. And I’m not going to beg strangers to make up for the shortfall.
In reply to bhagwad
I don’t understand where you are getting this begging idea from. No servers have ever begged me for a tip.
In reply to Steph
It is pretty rare, you’re right. I guess those are just the ones I remember more. I’ve eaten at many restaurants, all across the country, and world. But it is pretty subtle even if they do, and it might be just in my mind, so I’m probably wrong. Apologies to everyone if I am. Personally, I just love to see the smile on someones face when I get them a 30% or more tip. I forgot to leave a tip once, and have thought about it almost every day since. Some people love to give, and some people are selfish. This world will always have both, and most likely more of the selfish. Can’t really change that..
In reply to hardworkingserver
You’re right, he would quit after 2 weeks and find a better job. And you can too.
“you are an ignorant, rude spoiled rotten thinking the whole world owes you something asshole”
Wow, look who is talking. In that case, why don’t you go around tipping everyone who’s been doing their job correctly?