Why don't some people understand that in USA restaurants/bars, skipping out on the tip is like skipping out.

Question

..on part of the bill? I haven't been stiffed often, but it happens to the best of us. Why? because some people do not agree with tipping.
In countries where it is unnecessary to tip, the cost of maintaining the hourly employment is inflated and passed on to the customer through the food and bev. cost. This means is that in order to pay servers and bartenders the money they are used to making, we would all have to pay about double for the food and drink. As it is, servers are motivated to do a good job for each customer, because the customer is quite literally paying them for the effort. Server paychecks are laughable, they are usually barely enough to cover taxes. Bartenders fair slightly better, depending on where they work. Still both are dependent on customers paying them for services rendered. The tip is a part of the bill, if you don't want to pay it, go to a self service restaurant, don't take advantage of a service you won't pay for. Why do people fail to understand this?

A few things.
I do have a college education. I usually manage restaurants not serve them. When I bartend or serve I generally get very good tips. I make a lot of money doing what I do. Serving tables or a bar in a restaurant is one of the hardest jobs to do. Those that have not done it, couldn't even imagine what it is like behind the scenes. Those of us in the industry know that most people wouldn't be able to do it. We know this because we watch most of the newbies fail miserably.
It is ignorant to think that...
a) it is an easy job that requires little skill, intelligence or ability
b) that servers don't make good money (I managed a department for a major market research firm, and make better money in food and bev.)
c) that servers are uneducated or can't do anything else. ( I can do a lot of things, I choose this industry because I enjoy the atmosphere.)

-For those that said that they don't agree with the system. Don't participate in it, go to McDonalds.

The point is this.
In the USA, it is expected that the customer will tip the service based on the total bill. That is the system. Displaying your displeasure of the system by cheating your server out of money they earned while doing a service for you is unethical and lacks integrity. It is the equivalent of stealing.
If it were not then those of you that do this, would be offering the restaurant itself extra money on your bill, to cover the overhead not currently incorporated on your bill that you refuse to pay directly.

Something else that maybe should be common knowledge. A server has to tip out other people in the restaurant, regardless of whether or not they were tipped adequately in the first place. They do not have the option of stiffing someone. Depending on the level of restaurant there are more people to tip.
In a breakfast type establishment servers usually only have to tip a busser. Usually about 10% of their tips or 2% of their sales.
TB cont.

If there is a bartender, the bar gets tipped out by the server. Either 5% of bar sales, of 1-2% of overall sales, rarely is this based off of the server's actual tips.
If there is a sommalier, or a food runner, or an expediter, or a maitre d. They also are generally tipped out by the server.

This is why it is so important to base it off of your sales. The higher the price of the food, the smaller the section a server has to work in order to provide you with more optimal service. Generally the higher priced places also have more people the server has to tip out.
The last formal dining restaurant I worked at my tip out (the money from my tips that I had to use to pay other employees within the restaurant, generally came to anywhere from 25- 50% of my total tips. While I still walked away with quite a bit for a 5-6 hour shift, If even one table had stiffed me out of their $50-$100 tip, I would have been hurting. In a place like that you generally only have 3-6 tables a night.

Okay, I do have a college education, and I'm smarter than 96% of the population.
I have a BA in Business Management
as wel as my LPN in nursing, an EMT and a CNA I picked up along the way. I have nearly completed my Masters program in Education, and fully intend to follow it up with a doctorate. So believe it or not, I do have an education, I am more than likely smarter than you, and you are ignorant to think otherwise.
Now as I believe I have fully explained everything, and have no need of defending myself. I think I will leave off here.
Incidentally, the catalyst to this post had nothing to do with being stiffed personally. As I said I usually manage at this point and sometime bartend at parties for kicks. I decided to post this after reading an answer to a completely different question about the subject of tipping.
Beware bad tippers. Servers have great memories.

Answer 1

To Pitaman59:

I agree that the restaurants should pay their employees a fair wage and we shouldn't have to tip, but it isn't fair to take it out on the servers who need the tip income to make a living wage. With the system we are living in, you have to tip. How much you can afford and your budget are irrelevant. If you can't afford the tip, you should order takeout or cook your own food, don't go to a nice restaurant. Or go to a nice restaurant 85% of how often you go now, and use your savings for the tip.

Answer 2

I worked as a hostess and found that the waiters are taxed according to a percentage of the price of the meals they serve. Some nights with many tourists, who don't understand tipping here, waiters could go in the hole.

When we traveled to Australia, we were surprised when we ate our first meal and left a tip and then got into a conversation with the waiter, only to find that in Australia there are no tips. The restaurants pay their help enough so that tips aren't part of their wages.

Tipping is a system I don't agree with, but I don't like to punish the waiters because they've chosen to become waiters. We always leave a tip generally 15% to 20%. If the food isn't what I expected, I don't punish the waiter with a "no tip". Waiters are so dependent on the kitchen help. It's the waiters that have to greet and please the public.

I've found that waiters/waitresses are generally hard working independent people and I applaud their hard work.

Answer 3

I always leave a tip. Generally between 15% and 20% for average service. But I figure it is my right as a consumer to express to level of my satisfaction or dissatisfaction with the quality of service by adjusting the level of the tip. Exemplary service might get 25% to 30%. Very poor Service might get 5% to 10%. If you are consistantly getting very low tips or getting stiffed, it might be a reflection on the quality of service you provide. I know many servers who make a lot of money because they always provide good service. But you could also be serving a bunch of foreigners who are ignorant of our customs.

Answer 4

I'm sorry but I beg to differ. A TIP is not a part of the bill. The definition of TIP is "To Insure Prompt Service". Granted the server has no control over the kitchen staff. But does control his/her attentiveness to the table they are serving. If they take you order in an untimely manner, You do not see them at all after you have ordered and gotten your meal. You do not get refills on your drinks, or even asked if you would like another one. Do not ask you if everything is OK with the meal, or if there is anything else you would like. Does not bring you the bill, even when you have asked for it, or does not pick up the bill in a timely manner. Stands around chatting with the rest of the wait staff. And I could go on & on. THAT IS NOT CONSIDERED GOOD AND PROMPT SERVICE. No they will not get a TIP from me. Or a very minimal tip at best. If they don't like their job, they should go somewhere else to work.
I have been around for a while and have seen it all.

Answer 5

I always tip when I'm in America because i understand that tipping is part of the culture, however in my homeland of Great Britain i only tip if i think the service has been brilliant.

Some people do not tip (like me) if the quality of service has been either average or poor, i feel that you should earn a tip

Some also don't tip because they are either hard up or low on cash

Some people also have a culture of just not tipping

Answer 6

I think that those who don't want to agree with tipping system are simply trying to make an argument to justify their cheapness!!
I find that the good always out weighs the bad and it all balances out by the end of the week/month.
Don't you just love those who say "you took the job" or "why don't you get an education and a new job"?
Could you imagine the poor quality of service everywhere if all experienced servers took that great advice??
There will always be cheap people and idiots in this world, but like I said, the good out weighs the bad.

Answer 7

Sorry honey you took the job not me.
Tipping is not part of the bill, unless it says so on the menu. Tipping is a way of saying thank you for great service, and I enjoyed the place of business that you work in. If all goes well you will get a tip, but if service sucks, guess what so does your tip, If you don't want to work for slave wages or take the gamble that your wages could be less that you expected, Then I would go find a new job and stop yo preaching. There is an old saying in my house that goes like this.
Get off the Cross we Need the Wood I other words stop expecting the world to see things your way and stop be a martyr about it.

Answer 8

because some people are rude, uncouth, crass, and uncaring. Honey, we can sit here all day and ***** about the cheapos that walk through the door, but it's not going to change anything. Those people are classless jerks who think it's perfectly OK to stiff a server. Why? Well, we're getting paid already, why should they tip? Never mind we get paid less than minimum wage, or the fact the government assumes we're getting tips, and taxes us. Most of these people are jealous, no one tips them, why should they tip? They are working miserable jobs, and take it out on us whenever they can. These people should really work in a restaurant for one day, they would appreciate the work involved and start acting like decent human beings. Usually non-tippers aren't very smart though, they frequent the same restaurants, get a reputation for being trash, and then they receive the service they tip for. So it all comes back to them in the end.

Answer 9

I only skip the tip when I get poor service. I look it as feedback to the server. The service is part of the dining experience, a big part.

Answer 10

Some people don't think about tips. Me personally, Id rather control the tip rather than not get refills on sodas, etc.