on tipping

[nature boy]

i thought there was a thread on this but i can't find it (after looking for about one search).
i just read this:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/justin-le ... lp00000009
old news, i know, but i started wondering why is there such an aversion to tipping? is it because it's not mandatory? but yet, it still is? almost like a 'forced generosity'?

i tip all the time (except for this one time that i honestly forgot to). if i know the server or they were really good or i got some sort of discount, i'd tip like 20+%. if the service was just awful then i'd tip 10%. and for the places i eat, that's only a difference of like $5 or so, which isn't by any means going to break the bank. so i don't see what the big deal is?

and lol at the article's reference to church people praying before they eat. i hardly ever go out to eat on sundays unless someone specifically asks me to go out with them (which is rare), so i can't really comment on that. but i thought it was pretty funny.

inb4 someone posts the reservoir dogs clip on tipping.
inb4 i don't believe in tipping.
inb4 people and mcdonald's work hard too but you don't tip them.
inb4 you're all too late:

[se7entse7en]

I dunno. Let me preface this post by saying that I usually tip. Not a lot, probably 'not enough', but I do usually tip something.

I don't think there's really that much of an aversion towards voluntary tipping. People should feel free to tip and not feel obligated. My parents raised me to resist peer-pressure. If I'm pressured to do something, I will resist. It's a knee-jerk reaction.

Also, automatic tipping isn't tipping. It's surcharging. Call it for what it is and everybody will be happier. Don't most tips nowadays go to the establishment to be shared by all and not just the waitress?

[nature boy]

yeah, as far as i know, they're all shared between the server and the kitchen staff, but not between servers. at least, that's what ben said is the norm now.
it's weird though, because the kitchen staff gets "tipped" according to sales, not to actual tips. so, if ben rakes in $150 in tips from $1000 in sales (15%, duh), he gives the percentage, let's say it's 5% of sales (i forget what it actually is), so ben gives $50 out of his own pocket to the kitchen staff to be divided evenly among them, leaving ben making $100 in tips. however, if ben sells $1000 but is only tipped $40 total from cheap asses, then ben STILL has to give $50 to the kitchen staff, meaning he loses money over the night.
the system makes sense if people tip properly, but it could totally suck for the servers if people decide not to tip.

[Wetundies]

Don't need to tip in Asia. Especially in TW, they usually offer the most polite service, even if the customer is an ass.

[jeSteR]

It's stupid, as is many "North American" exclusive things. The practice as a whole I feel is absurd. That being said, I tip, too much according to Coleen. But that's probably because I've worked in the food industry before. I think that I have the most issues with tipping only in the food industry though with the exception of how finer dining establishments handle it.

I won't get into my rant here because I need to get some work done today.

The funny thing is that the two places where I get the BEST service consistently have both implied to me that I'm tipping them too much.

Ningtu and BP Queensborough

[nature boy]

as a north american exclusive, i think the unfortunate thing is that the north american system is set up under the guise that there will be tipping (like the example of ben). in NOT tipping, you're not proving a point, you're effectively taking away from the server's wages. THAT part i think is stupid.

i guess if tipping were what it's supposed to be, something above and beyond what is required, then it probably wouldn't carry the stigma that it does.

[geForce]

[geForce]

Another thing I don't like about tipping is that I don't know for sure where the actual tips are going. The larger restaurant chains seem to be more fair in distributing their tip, but every restaurant is different. When Daffy was working at her old spa job, she suspected that her boss stole a lot of her tips. In some cases where tips are paid out through credit card, I've heard of some restaurants deducting the 2 or 3% credit card charge from the tips, which may or may not sound fair to some people, but the fact is, customers don't know about this and if they knew, it might affect how they tip.

There are a lot of things about tips that just aren't right... makes me really despise the whole system.

[jeSteR]

I actually don't mind the service charge when it is consistently applied.

As an example, all the major fine dining establishments in NA now either say "don't tip" we already pay our staff fair wages, or they incorporate an automatic 20% service charge up front on all reservations regardless of size that goes towards the staff. This way, you know EXACTLY up front what you are paying, and also, what you are expecting in return. If you don't like it, you don't have to patronize them.

I've never had better service than in those establishments.

[nature boy]

[jeSteR]

So why have people stopped tipping other essential services? I still tip my post lady, but I stopped tipping the garbage guys since Vancouver moved over to those automatic bins.

Aren't their services more valuable than getting your extra spoon for sharing your dessert right?

And how about those guys at the sports stores making minimum who help your kid for like 2 hours trying on endless numbers of skates, all the while handling and smelling all your stinky feet? Isn't that more worthy of a tip than remembering that you wanted a lemon in your water?

Inconsistency to the rationale / application... that's what really bothers me.

[geForce]

[geForce]

[Wetundies]

Massage therapists get tipped, and facialists, but as an acupuncturist, we never get tipped. Well maybe once, but that's about it. We all work in the same clinic. So yeah, the inconsistency sucks. Also at hotels, are we suppose to tip or not tip. If tip, is it % based on the room rate or just whatever loose change you have.

[jeSteR]

You don't get tipped because you don't supply them with a happy ending. Duh!!!!