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.
As a bartender, I have two things to say to this. Firstly, if you don’t want to tip in America then don’t go out to eat. It’s not our fault that the restaurant industry is set up the way it is; neither is it my fault that since I am a college student, the service industry is the only job that works with my schedule right now.
Secondly, if you walked into my bar and told me you weren’t going to tip me BEFORE I served you that is absolutely, 100% fine…however, you can also be guaranteed some horrible service and maybe then you will realize that a waitstaff is far more than a “conveyer belt” and should actually be paid for their services. Whether that is by a tip (which is what we do in America) or by a service charge (which we don’t do here and is in no way the servers problem).
In reply to Elise
If you give “horrible service” to a person who warns you of no tip, you should be immediately fired and escorted of the premises. If we take your advice and “don’t go out to eat”, then your business will hopefully die and you’ll be fired anyway, once a majority of customers learn it is entirely optional to tip.
I often go out to Indian Restaurants and spit in the buffet food, I think sit back and watch the indians scarve it up with their hands. what animals.
In reply to Mike
Well now, that is unnecessary. It’s unfair to attribute this mans views with his race. That’s like saying all servers are lazy, tip demanding, cry babies. Don’t be like him, you’re better than that.
In reply to Mike
Woww, That really reveals the depth of your character as to what kind of person you are, doesn’t it ? You do understand that your low depraved behavior that you’ve described is committing a criminal act of assault on a person’s business and the patrons, don’t you ? You really are that much of a worthless soulless piece of shit. Just understand that if I happened to be in any of these people’s place of business that you like to go to and commit your depraved vulgar acts on and I witnessed with my own eyes your depraved behavior then I would happily pull out my gun and blow your fucking brains out right then and there, yeah I definitely would cause a big scene but I would explain the reason for my act to the patrons and business owner and I’m quite sure they would side with me and say that I was justified in getting rid of a vile depraved worthless piece of shit from this world such as yourself.
This is a really easy argument. If you go out an spend $20 on food and drinks and don’t have an extra $4 dollars to pay the person who brought you everything (e.g., condiments, utensils, drinks, food, missing items, incorrect items) then you should be concerned about clipping coupons out of the Sunday newspaper and shopping for groceries on a budget.
I server who DESERVES a tip should be entitled to whatever the patron feels like giving. It is CUSTOM to tip 15% for GOOD service and 20% for GREAT service. No where does society put a stigma on anyone who refuses to tip a server with terrible service.
So in this world where everyone is trying to make money, of course the server will pretend to be your best friend and jump at the opportunity to get you something if you ask. They want you to perceive them as someone who as provided a GREAT service for them and should tip to reciprocate.
But hey, everyone is entitled to tip what they want, which is why the tip isn’t included on the receipt unless there is a gratuity for a large party.
Your next article should be about strip clubs and how, since you have already paid a cover charge, deserve all the free pussy inside the building.
In reply to Stevie E
Wrong. By definition, a “gratuity for a large party” stated in the menu is not a gratuity at all — it is a fee; income to the owners, not an optional tip. The owners then account for it as part of the “pay” to the servers. I tip for good service, but have to consider whether it’s wise to tip for ordinary service, since that sends the wrong message. The “ordinary service” is already in the menu price. Why pay twice for something you were getting anyway?
You’re math is sound and in theory it would work. But you’re forgetting one thing. Servers won’t work for minimum wage. To which you are going to reply “What makes them think they are worth more than minimum wage?”
Easy, If we wanted to get paid minimum wage for serving food we would go to taco bell and be a cashier where we don’t have to deal with catering to your every need. Where you seat yourself. We don’t have to come to you to get your order, you come to us. You get your own refills and napkins and side sauces and when your done you bring your trays and trash to the trash can on your own (which you probably don’t because you think that you’re $1.50 taco is for the employee’s to clean after you).
Servers can make anywhere between $10 and $100 an hour depending on the style of restaurant and how busy it is. So If the government were to enact a law that required restaurant owners to pay hourly wage’s to servers do you actually think that servers would settle for $7.25 an hour when they were making exponentially more? You sir are sadly mistaken and incredibly naive.
As for morally neutral, you’re wrong. I don’t care if you bow to me or shake my had or kiss me on both cheeks. It’s mutually courteous. Servers are not under any obligation to stay at that job just as you are under no obligation to dine at their restaurant. But they do stay, and you do dine there, everyone has different reasons for staying at their job or dining at a specific restaurant but when it comes to the server/diner relationship it is mutual, you are both there because you want something from each other. you want food and they want money to pay their bills. Serving you is to scratching your back as tipping is to scratching theirs. Scratching each others back is pretty morally neutral if you ask me. A lot like you not tipping me, and me not serving you.
And your right, It isn’t your problem that servers are often struggling students and mothers. But it would become your problem when they all quit due to an extensive pay cut brought on by your ideals. How is that your problem? Refer to my last comment where I told the story of how, with no wait staff, you would end up by yourself in the dark.
Your whole spit about customs and being ” ‘Merica” is hilarious. Slavery was a custom, it was a fucked up custom and it was abolished, but it took time. Just like The server pay system is fucked up and developing a system for restaurants where you’re tips are not needed the servers still get paid the same and the restaurant doesn’t have to raise prices too much and finding that balance will take time too. But in order for that to happen our politicians need to pull their head out of their asses. As for customs about tipping where ever you are from. Trust me, I would love to go there and eat and eat and eat and not tip because apparently it is your custom not to. After all “When in Rome” right?
“@bhagwad: Why Your Reasons for Demanding a Tip are Wrong http://t.co/WDCQnSnET6” @itsaserverslife this guy is asshole of the year.
You’re a dick. I’d explain why, but you’re too much of a fucking bigot to understand. So yea, you’re a dick, and that is all.
Let’s all take a second to just breathe. We already knew way before reading this post that there are just some people who are opposed to tipping while others tip generously. This is not going to change, so why get all huffy puffy over one man’s opinion? Breathe… Every little things gonna be ok…
I’m Indian, and I tip generously when I’m treated like a human being, and not so generously when I’m treated like “that Indian group that won’t tip us anyway”. You’re really justifying the stereotype with this post bro. Essentially, I am paying for your crappy tipping. In America, unfortunately, one bad apple ruins the barrel.
In reply to Maria Ahmed
Man, as a server, I used to hate it when a hostess would apologize to me for seating me with an ethnic group of any variety. It’s my job to win you over, not your job to impress me with your un-ethnicness. I never had a bad experience with middle easterners or Indians, btw. Nice folks, IMO.
Wonder why none of you’re friends like going to dinner with you? It’s because they know they have to compensate for your lack tiping with they’re money. Every date you’ve been on was probably the last because any women seeing you’re cheapass isn’t going to stay around. You said that any act of “generosity you expect gratitude” generosity isn’t about being acknowledged it’s about doing a good thing without your self in mind (*you selfish douchebag*) Also you said you prefer buffets, not surprising because you’re a cheap bastard and it’s all you can eat so I’m sure you order a water (fill it with sprite) and bring bargain zip lock bags and take lunch for the rest of the week home with you. Tipping is not mandatory, but it’s the right thing to do. I realize being a decent human being can be difficult so how about you just cook you’re own great tasting appetizer, meal, and dessert. Make you’re own signature cocktails and refill you’re water 8 times and STAY THE FUCK AT HOME. I would love to serve you, just saying :-)
In reply to Joseph
If everyone smart enough to know they were being ripped off by the money-grubbing servers expecting tips were to “stay home”, your business would suffer, your boss would have to foot the whole bill for your minimum wage, and you’d be fired for being a socialist tool. Just because I have the money to spend on good food and service doesn’t mean I have to put your children through college by making an ongoing contribution to your private trust fund of tips.
Well Bhagwad,
it appears you are either terrible in math or cannot grasp how a restaurant works.
We will be using the scenario you laid out. For ease, we will also be assuming there is no overlap; these fictional people aren’t working 16+ hour shifts and there are multiple employees. We are also leaving out cooks/hosts and other employees not paid on a server wage.
12 Servers.
48 tables (4 tables sections).
3-5 kitchen staff.
2 bussers.
2 bartenders.
Here is the day to day.
Kitchen staff arrives around 9am (in non corporate settings they could be arriving several hours before service officially starts to begin prep)
Servers arrive around (10) 10:30 and begin opening.
Hosts follow around 11am.
Service lasts from 11am-2am (15 hours)
Then the facilities have to be cleaned and closing duties take place. (an hour or so depending)
Base bartender wage: 3.15 an hour
Base server wage: 2.13 an hour
Kitchen wage: 3.00 an hour (food runners/dishpit–tip share)
Busser wage: 3.00 an hour (makes his money from tip share)
So 2 bartenders, 12 servers, 3 Kitchen workers, 2 bussers in around a 15 hour work day.
To compensate for the national min wage (7.25) we will go ahead and add the per hour value.
Bar: +4.10/hr * 2 (8.20$/hr)
Serv: +5.12/hr * 12 (61.44$/hr)
Kit: +4/hr * 3 (12$/hr)
Bus: +4/hr * 2 (8$/hr)
Costs restaurant now has to pay PER HOUR in order to equalize minimum wage.
89.64$ per hour.
Now we realize that this restaurant service is only open for around 15 hours of the day, yet some employees need to be paid minimum wage while service isn’t open. So lets be fair and only give an average of 16 hours of daily operations where minimum wage must be compensated.
This new figure is
1434.24$ per day
10,039.68$ per week
522,063.36$ per year.
This is the money from employers pockets if we stop tipping and give all employees a base of FEDERAL MINIMUM wage.
Now I understand you’re staunch and very opinionated. You come from a highly patriarchal culture where things that are deemed as “valueless” can be thrown to the wind and never further considered or discussed.
The above example is for a theoretical restaurant that is ALWAYS at full capacity. Meaning 48 tables ALWAYS FULL from open to close. If all 48 tables put 2$ down per hour extra, this would all even out in this full restaurant. So this is equating the 10% (which is only for the cheapest of the cheapskates) which you would place upon a 20$ meal.
–Side note…the server is actually taxed upon this 10% as well, so it’s effective that in states like california if a server didn’t get tipped, they would be making a net profit of around 5$ an hour, which is unlivable even at a 40 hour work week–
Now what happens if the restaurant isn’t always full? What if it is like most restaurants in america which only experiences 2 rushes throughout the day and pull in around 1-6 thousand in sales daily? How much of this is food cost, how much is labor cost already allocated in the budget?
Lets say that this restaurant has a bad week. they average 2,000$ in sales a day. That is 200 people average 10 dollar meal for 15 hours or…13 people PER HOUR all not tipping.
2k a day * 7 is 14k. Deduct the daily wage garnishment, this leaves you with.
3960.42$ PER WEEK before things like RENT, FOOD COSTS, ENERGY, WASTE MANAGEMENT, WATER, GAS, INSURANCE, SHRINK/SPOILAGE.
Oh wait…we forgot to pay our chef’s/cooks, our restaurant managers and our hosts too!
This model was a large corporate restaurant that is backed like a chili’s or landry’s seafood ect. This was not modeled after a small mom and pop which would be hit MUCH worse. Some of these smaller restaurants are still paying off investors and such. They are the ones which would literally have to either raise the price of food through the roof or charge a hefty service charge.
So your reluctance to tip, can either topple entire business infrastructures, completely kill small scale or “dream operations”, or put people through college.
I hope restaurants around your area in florida exercise their right to refuse service to you.
Or the next time you go into a restaurant, you can do the servers job. You know, walk yourself to your table, walk your order to the window and chefs, fill your own cup, check on your order to make sure its right, grab your own napkins, go use the POS system to complete your order and finalize your payment, then clean up the table after you’re done to be courteous to others.
I think Luby’s and Golden Corral are more your cup of tea!
In reply to I wish you weren’t so selfish
You should add the 6% employer paid FICA to your numbers as well.
In reply to I wish you weren’t so selfish
There’s no need to include people like bussers – most of them receive minimum wage: http://work.chron.com/salary-busser-2888.html. In fact, you can see in the following chart, that only waiters make the majority of their money via tips: http://www.foodservicewarehouse.com/education/restaurant-management-and-operations/employee-wages-and-benefits/c28023.aspx
So let’s take a typical scenario instead of a fringe case.
Clearly the menu price is already paying for the regular overhead costs. So we don’t need to take into consideration the salaries of the staff workers. So for calculating the extra for tipping, it remains at $60 an hour. This comes to $328,500 a year
Now as you said, this only takes into consideration a full house all the time. The actual amount that will be much, much less since they restaurant won’t need 12 servers all the time. I’m guessing around a third (fill in your own estimate if you want). So we’re looking at around 100,000 a year.
Average Chili’s sales per year = $2.9 million (http://www.brinker.com/company/Brinker2011/annualreport2011.pdf) . Which makes it only a 3% increase in sales to compensate tipped staff. At the most, it’s going to be 11% extra and change.
Finally, even if we agree to your hugely exaggerated figure of $522,063.36 a year (just for arguments sake remember. This number is wrong), it comes to exactly 18% of the sales of an average chili’s restaurant per year. So that’s how much you will raise the price. Not double. Not triple. Not four or five times the cost. Just 18%. Worst case scenario.
Stop trying to scare people.
In reply to bhagwad
Did you read the site you sourced to us when you claimed that bussers don’t need to be taken into consideration because, “Most of them receive minimum wage”? First off your information is dated from 2011. A lot changes in 3 years these days, But we’ll ignore that as it is not particularly relevant to the current discussion. Regardless, your information is based on the AVERAGE (which means that a very few highly paid can dilute the realistic numbers of the majority) hourly pay of a busser. According to the site you sourced, the “AVERAGE” Hourly pay for a busser is $9.47. I’ll admit, that’s sounds pretty decent for that position. However, you’re own “research”, the EXACT SAME SITE YOU USED, Is about to be thrown in your face like an informational hand grenade,are you ready?…
And I quote “Salaries
Bussers earned a mean $19,690 per year, or $9.47 an hour, as of May 2011, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The annual range was less than $16,260 to more than $26,060, which equaled hourly ranges of $7.82 to $12.53. Compare this to the average $20,710 yearly, or $9.95 hourly, made by waiters and waitresses; the annual $21,380, or $10.28 hourly, received by all food preparation and serving workers, and the $45,790 per year, or $22.01 per hour, earned by the average U.S. worker. At many eateries, the wait staff pool their tips and give a portion of it to bussers. Tip income is included in these figures.”
***NOTE THAT I USED THE SAME SITE NOT NECESSARILY THE SAME LINK. CLICK THE LINK BHAGWAD PROVIDED, THEN CLICK “HOW MUCH MONEY CAN A BUSSER MAKE?” You will find my source under “salaries”
Pay attention to the second to last sentence. “At many eateries, the wait staff pool their tips and give a portion of it to bussers.”
Based on that statement it would appear that the bussers might actually need to be considered when it comes to your reasoning for not tipping. But wait, According to the information you provided they get paid $9.47/hour on average. So yes, you are right, it would APPEAR that most of them receive minimum wage. However, you seem to have missed the most important sentence regarding these numbers. So at this time I would like to bring your attention to the last sentence in the quote that I copied and pasted from your information source.
“Tip income is included in these figures.”
BOOM!!!
From what you said it appears that you assumed that the average busser gets paid directly from the employer and most do not rely on tips to factor into their average pay. You are incorrect.
Now ask yourself. Are they really getting paid minimum wage? Or are they making the majority of their money from tip-share? I know the answer, not because I have an arsenal of questionable websites to refer too, but because i’ve worked the industry for 9 years. You should know that several other positions operate under a similar pay system. ( I don’t know why i have to re-iterate that, you have nearly 7500 other comments making that open knowledge to you)
I can’t deny that your so-called “reasoning” does make sense on a theoretical level. But this is real life. This is the real world. Not every “Theory” works like we think it should. I am not perfect and I do not know everything about this industry, But you have done nothing but show that you have absolutely zero experience in anything that has to do with this industry other than sitting at a table and wasting an employees time. Time is money. If you don’t want to tip us then so be it. Honestly I haven’t met a server/bartender/busser/host etc… that would disagree, if you don’t want to leave a tip then fine. That is your right. But please, Don’t waste our time.
In reply to Tim Morgan
First, it goes both ways. The very high can drag the arithmetic mean up, and the very low can drag it down. Unless you have details about the standard deviation and variance, you can’t make the claim that the figure is inaccurate.
Second, the next link talks about median wages. Median is not the same as the arithmetic mean. That renders your argument a bit vacuous.
Third, none of your data indicates that bussers make less than minimum wage without tips. You’re only comparing it to other professions that make more than that which is not the point being discussed. You’ve shown that bussers receive a portion of tips – big whoop. We already knew that. But nothing indicates that their wage without tips is below minimum wage.
Fourth, the other link specifically mentions that waiter’s income includes tips. The absence of that information for other professions implies that they do not include the tips.
Fifth, none of this takes into consideration the fact that employers are legally required to make up anything below minimum wage.
In reply to bhagwad
You are correct, it does go both ways. I don’t see you providing any information on the variances to prove that the figure is in fact accurate.
Secondly none of your data indicates that their wage without tips is equal to minimum wage. Your data only shows that is is equal to and in most cases more than minimum wage WITH tips.
I’m glad that you mentioned that it was based on median wages not “arithmetic mean”. I did miss that part. The reason i’m glad you brought that up is because it makes your information less credible. Median is a less accurate form of number analysis than arithmetic mean.
The US Dept. Of Labor even prefers to calculate annual income using a a mean analysis.
http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes353031.htm#top
And since the data gathered is as it is reported by the employer (Who are required by the IRS to report tips).
Have some fun with that site. I really don’t care what you do with that information.
In reply to Tim Morgan
Oh and be sure to look around thoroughly. there is information available through that site for every restaurant position. And As much as i know you don’t want to admit to yourself that all these thousands of comments from servers that say they have to tip out their bussers/host etc are right about them getting paid below minimum wage before tips too. Do yourself a favor. Just consider that you are wrong in many cases. you’ve done enough of assuming you’re always right.
In reply to Tim Morgan
The median is designed in such a way that a small number of outlier cases is unable to have a disproportionate effect on the perception of the average. The arithmetic mean is more easy to use in mathematical calculations and has some interesting properties like enabling the central limit theorem, but if you’re using it to get a “feel” of the representative amount it’s very easily skewed.
The median is a much better measure for this purpose since neither the very high numbers nor the very low numbers contribute dramatically. We can be sure that the number we’re seeing is representative to a much better degree of accuracy than the arithmetic mean.
Given that it specifically mentions when tips figure into the income, it’s hardly unreasonable to say that tips are not included when they’re not mentioned.
Besides like I posted in my calculations, even if for the sake of argument we make the unfounded assumption that these busser chaps are not getting minimum wage, the price of food will not triple…or double – a claim made by too many people to count. That is the main thrust of the argument.
Most likely though, the price increase will be peanuts. Minimum wage is not hard to reach.
In reply to bhagwad
If you cared to open your mind, which it appears you have no care to do, i may be wrong, i often am. you might listen to some of the people in the industry. every restaurant i’ve ever worked at we tipped out the bussers, bar, and occasionally the hostess. none of them working for minimum wage. it’s a state by state thing, and if you don’t like it change it, please don’t spread hate
Hey, so I am living out of the US right now and I wish I could tip. but since the full wage is already included in the price tipping does nothing. It is not expected from the servers so service is normally really really bad unless you are going to places with black tie dress code. I have grown to liking Asian restaurants because at least the I can get everything myself since I know no server will help me.
So move out of the US. Tips is a trade off so that the better the service the more the server gets paid. So if you get really rude service, don’t leave a tip (I sometimes still leave one with a note wishing them a better day). But understand that tips are to the benefit of the eater….
Side note: I dare you to tell servers in the US that you will not be leaving a tip…. see what happens.. :)