People Who Refuse to Tip at Restaurants are Embarrassing!

by White Dove 69 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  jamesmahon

  As a Brit who lived in the US for a while I found the whole tipping thing a bit strange. I also worked in a pub for six years so see it from the other side as well. On the whole I find the concept of people being nice to you just because they want a tip really distasteful. Even if they would have been nice anyway I always feel like it is being nice for something in return which just makes me feel awkward. Because of this I never went out to eat much when over there.

  As an aside, my wife worked in a posh hotel in Kennbunkport in Maine with a snotty restaurant attached where because of wine bills etc. it was not unusual for a tables total bill to be over $1000. There were some waiters who could walk out with over a $1000 in tips and some very intelligent people worked there who had not ever bothered to go to college or university because of the tips. As an economist that seems a very poor allocation of resources. What do we want to encourage - more doctors, teachers and engineers or more waiters? I suppose if tips are supposed to make wages up to the minimum wage it is slightly different but still can't help feeling the whole thing is flawed.
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  cyberjesus

  What, now tipping is a requirement? I go to a restaurant to eat, to buy food. I pay the price of the food and I decide if I can afford a restaurant or not. I am not going to pay on top of the price of the food for the employees wages and if I dont pay their salaries called "cheap or an embarrasment"

  If any employee doesnt get a good salary, well that s a good incentive to get a better education and a better job. The reason restaurants pay so little is because their customers are willing to pay the salaries to their employees.

  Should I have to pay for good service? Business is business. The business who gives the best service is the business that stays in business.

  Tipping is optional. should be optional. Nobody should felt embarrased because they paid for their food and didnt pay enough salary to their server.

  I am in a business where I receive tips. I do my best and I dont care about tips. When I do get them it makes me very happy for that is not a requirement or an expectation for me to give good service. I will give good service because I like my job and I get paid well.

  When I go to a Restaurant and I dont get good service I walk out if I am not too hungry and tell the manager why. When I get service I come back to the place because thats what my money pays for.

  The employers should take care of their employees not the customers. Tipping to get good service is like bribing the employee to get treated well.

  If we are to tip then we should tip everyone we get some service from.

  Tipping as an expectation lowers the quality of the service.
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  jamesmahon

  Thanks Cyberjesus - my point exactly but better put I think.
• 

  White Dove

  If you don't tip and you got good service in the U.S., you end up looking like a cheap ass.

  There is no other way to put it.

  That is how you will look to others. You will be violating a common decency custom in front of everyone, and that is just not done.

  Period.
• 

  cognizant dissident

  The common decency violation is on the part of the restaurant owners who don't pay their workers a living wage and the laws of the country that allow restaurant workers to be paid $2. per hour. You all should revolt down there and get unionized or something.

  It also explains why I've heard of staff actually chasing after a customer who didn't tip and calling them names like cheap-ass etc. What kind of way is that to treat a customer? You've totally destroyed their experience and now you want a gratuity for that? If it is some sort of inviolable custom then they should stick the 15% gratuity on every bill and tell people in advance that they are doing that. Although, it's technically not a gratuity if you HAVE to pay it.
• 

  tec

  If it is some sort of inviolable custom then they should stick the 15% gratuity on every bill and tell people in advance that they are doing that

  A lot of upscale places do that, actually. Also smaller scale, if a large party comes in.

  While I totally understand the sentiments from Cyberjesus, I have to say that I could not afford to work as a server if not for the tips. I don't get angry at the one or two people who don't tip, and I don't get hung up on individual tips. I take it as a whole for the day, or better yet, for the week - because I don't like being in a good/bad mood depending on an individual tip.

  (I would be nice whether or not I was getting a tip - it does not affect my service in any way - but I could simply not afford to work at it if not for those tips, because they allow me to work while my kids are in school - over lunches - and be home for my kids when they get home as well)

  There are also some people who I would prefer not tip - people who I consider friends (its kind of uncomfortable then) and also, there is this one older gentlemen who comes in every Sunday for a single beer. The beer is four dollars, he tips me two dollars. Way too much, and I feel bad taking it... but on the other hand, I can't refuse it without insulting him.

  I don't consider tipping mandatory (though I do consider it a custom here), but I do appreciate the tips I get.

  Tammy
• 

  cyberjesus

  Greenland Post 6326 of 6326 Since 3/23/2007

  If you don't tip and you got good service in the U.S., you end up looking like a cheap ass. There is no other way to put it. That is how you will look to others. You will be violating a common decency custom in front of everyone, and that is just not done.

  Oh brother, listen to you, a common decency custom... so if i dont tip I am indecent? really? a cheap ass? so let me ask you, do you tip just to avoid looking bbad in front of others?

  there is no way to put it? wow who put you in charge of the rules of ethics? that is just not done? says who? why?

  Tipping should be the option of the patron and not a requirement. I tip because I want to, not because i have to.
• 

  cyberjesus

  people who refuse to tip? wow really they refuse to tip? or are they opt not to tip? embarrasing? wow just because they choose not to tip you feel embarrased? why do you make it about you and not about them?
• 

  zombie dub

  haha, this thread is US culture vs Everyoneelseintheentireworld culture it seems

  as an English chap I find your whole tipping idea pretty stupid and patronising. If I order food and it comes to $10, but in order for the staff to make a living I really need to pay $12 then... how about this - charge $12 in the first place??!

  I do tip from time to time if the service is very good, but 5-10% max, generally no tips at all, maybe because the food is already quite expensive here? A typical meal in a medium-quality place costs around $40/head, I really don't feel inclined to add another $10 to that just for the sake of it. If they can't make a business on those prices then charge more.
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  lisavegas420

  We always tip 20%.

  At our favorite restrauant when we have our favorite waiters, we also leave a scratch off lottery ticket. Just for fun. You never know.

  lisa