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I want to know why tipping has gotten so out-of-control? I personally believe that you start the bar at 10%, and a server earns anything above that. Otherwise, if they give me poor service, I will give them less than 10% if anything. Why is there such a sense of entitlement that patrons should pay for their cost of living? Their employers should be paying them more so they can live. Without us ordering food, those restaurants wouldn't make any money. The servers are simply bringing us the food we are paying for. As such, why should we have to tip so much? On top of that, I highly recommend people tip based on pre-tax. Lastly, I completely disagree with tipping at coffee shops. You are paying $4 for an overpriced coffee and are expected to drop another buck or two for someone who is in a clean, cakey-work environment, who usually is making ? $8/hr. I would rather tip the poor underpaid McDonald's guy who is having to deep fry fries all day. The tipping logic makes no sense!

2007-12-02 07:48:11 · 39 answers · asked by Marc M 1 in Society & Culture Etiquette

Both me and my husband make a lot of $$. Having said that, we like to eat out a lot, but I don't agree that we should have to pay out 20% plus just to eat out. It's silly. The restaurants should pay their employees more than min. wage, since they are fulfilling their part of the job - to put the food on our table. Plus, I start tipping at 10%, and then go up or down depending on service. Also, why is there an expectation to tip for a coffee at a coffee shop? What did those employees do to "service you" aside from make a 30 second cup of coffee that you already are paying $4+ for? These guys have a cakey job and usually make $8/+ an hr. I would rather tip the hard working McDonald's guy frying the fries! I even do tip the guys that deserve it. If I see a busser at a restaurant busting their chops, I'll give the poor guy $10 or so, but I hate this sense of entitlement that you should tip based on % of costs spent and so forth. Plus, everyone should tip pre-tax.

2007-12-02 08:06:21 · update #1

A few more comments - my sister is a server and there is totally a sense of entitlement among servers, that people should start tipping at 20%... . If you have a lot of drinks at a restaurant, your tip alone could cost you a fortune. Why should I have to tip $2.00 on every flavored drink that a server carries to my table? It makes no sense. I like eating out, and this is how restaurant's make their money. Simply stated, the restaurants need to pay their employees more, not the patrons. I am all about the service. I pay the big bucks where it is due, but if the service is half-***, I make sure not to "reinforce bad service" just because our society feels a minimum % of tip is cultural... . How will people learn unless you teach them?

2007-12-02 08:11:20 · update #2

I just want to clarify... , when I said "cakey jobs" I was referring to the workers that work at coffee shops like Starbucks, that do make a lot more than min. wage. I was not referring to restaurant servers. I know that is not a cakey job. I have been there, done that (didn't last long!) and served a few times. It was very hard, and I couldn't hack it. As such, I don't/didn't complain about it, and I got a different job that paid me more. For the same reason, those that feel that customers should give them more money b/c they are going to college, or a single parent -- there are lots of people out there in the same position- poor, working other jobs, and they don't expect to be compensated everytime they do something above and beyond in their work environment. I work super hard everyday, but I don't get recognition or more $$ or tipped for anything. It's called - my job. Period. If servers feel they should make more, they should get new jobs. My final 2 cents! Thanks all!

2007-12-04 15:50:34 · update #3

39 answers

It's a rather crude system and totally arbitrary on who gets the tip and why. I think many people tip to show their financial success rather than services rendered. Customarily tips ran 10%-12% for services rendered with 15% as a tip for above average service. I have many friends working at high end restaurants and they laugh at individuals who leave a 20% tip. I've worked as a dishwasher, bus boy and bartender and the amount of distribution of tips varies greatly. As a kitchen worker I never saw a penny of tips, but as a bartender I was required to give 12% of my tips to the staff pool; it varies widely from business to business. Oh... note to servers and bartenders, if you want a bigger tip make sure the place is cleaned throughly; sticky counters and a 6 month collection of dust around the table legs isn't appealing.
Why anyone would give an $.80 tip to a person who poured them a cup of coffee and took their money wrapping up this transaction within 1 1/2 minutes is beyond comprehension. I suppose this comes from working as a laborer in freezing rain and swealtering heat while maintaining high standards but never receiving additional compensation because of it. I assume this is what the other person meant as a "cake job". I worked with the public for many years and wouldn't describe it as a cake job souly from that aspect.
But this said a barista makes $8.50 an hour compared to a McDonalds counter person making minimum wage. Yet both basically push the button, place it in a bag and collect your money; so why do we tip one and not the other?
Waiters do have to pay income tax on their reciepts served as if they always get a 10% minimum tip. Inflation raises the price for costs and services, but the percentage of tip should not need to change from the basic tenets. Here is where I agree entitlement is at play if individuals feel 15-20% is now the norm. I'm old enough to remember when a tip was normally not found, asked for or expected beyond restaurants, hotels or the hair salon and barber shop. A holiday nod to your garbage man, postal worker and newspaper boy was always a good thing to do; whether in cookies or cash. Tips should be a way of giving exceptional people a leg up and thank you for energies expended for YOU... without having to ask for it.

2007-12-02 08:16:37 · answer #1 · answered by Paul G 1 · 1 4

As a customer service professional (5+ years in the service industry and counting) I feel that I am very entitled to my tips. I have earned them, by going above and beyond each and every time I deal with a customer. Yes, there are times that my personal life has interfered with that, and the level of service I give has faltered, but that is the exception, not the rule.
You seem to think that the employer should pay more, and yes you are right they should, but you have to consider what that will do to the food costs. To pay servers, bussers, host/esses what they are truly with would at least double the size of your check. Prices are already rising due to increasing transportation costs.
Under the current system you have more control over the level of service you receive, especially if you where well known at establishments you visit regularly. If you can develop a reputation as a good customer you WILL receive better service. By good customer I do not mean just a good tipper either. You should not be rude or act superior to your wait staff, or act that things that they have no control over, such as an overcooked steak is their fault. Believe it or not the server is, or at least should be, on your side. They want you to have a good experience.
Your are of course correct that tips should be figured pre-tax though many times it is just quicker to look at the bottom line and go from there.
Also, the greedy folks at starbucks and other such establishments are just being greedy by setting out a tip jar. They unlike folks in the Food service industry, are well paid for what they do.
Well, thats my $.02...

2007-12-04 11:51:26 · answer #2 · answered by Tiny 1 · 0 0

If the restaurants, were to pay the wait staff higher wages, then the costs of your dinners, would go up accordingly. They do more than just bring you food, they keep track of your order, they bring you beverages, they have to clean up after you.

Working in restaurants is hard work, anything but "cakey-work" as you put it. It is long hard hours, putting up with demanding customers, who are rude and make disgusting messes. People who let thier kids run amok in the restaruants with no regard for the other customers, or the safety of their children and the staff.

Maybe you should try waiting table for a month, you'll change your tune, about the "simplicity" of the job.

Not to mention that the IRS taxes all servers on 18% estimated tips, on each check they write. So if someone, such as yourself, tips only 10% of the total.. they are taxed the difference, on their measely $2.10 per hour. Also out of that 10% tip the server has to tip out an additional 5% to the bartender and another 5% to the busboy. In some restaurants, the servers are also required to tip 10% of their estimated tips, to the host/hostess.

And, if you didn't tip the server.. they still have to pay the taxes, they still have tip the bartender, busboy and host...

If you don't like tipping, I suggest you go to Burger King.. or maybe a buffet... but, don't think that being a server is easy work....

2007-12-02 08:45:00 · answer #3 · answered by Foggy Idea 7 · 0 3

As I former server, I never felt entitled to the 20%. I did; however, expect to be rewarded for my time and attention to my customers' needs. What most people don't know is that the government expects servers to be earning at least 10% of food/beverage sales in tips and that a server usually does not keep all of the tips. Various percentages are "tipped out" to the busser, bar, hosts, etc. So, from a 20% tip, a server keeps around 8-12%. If the restaurant is not reporting that 10% average per server then the restaurant gets audited and the servers can too. Yes, I do see the point that a server is doing the same ammount of work pouring a $10 bottle of wine as a $300- but the server is responsible for claiming a $30 tip on that bottle whether he or she made that or not. In the long run, many servers get slammed at tax time The serving miminum wage, which I believe currently is about $3 something an hour, does not cover taxes owed. It is not unusually to hear of a part time server oweing between $1,000-$3,000 at tax time. These are not career servers, but hardworking kids putting their way through school.

2007-12-02 08:15:04 · answer #4 · answered by delveintoart 1 · 4 4

First of all, many people working at McDonald's are making $8-$9 an hour, so don't feel too bad for them. Most servers in a regular sit down restaurant are making between $3 and $5 an hour. Is it right that the company doesn't pay more to their servers? Probably not, but that's the way it is. People in the service industry rely on tips to make a living, because the wage is laughable. And servers are not just bringing you the food you are paying for. They are bringing your drinks, and your refills, and acting as a liaison between yourselves and the kitchen. They are creating your dining experience. And they are trying to do the same thing for several other tables at the same time. A good server can make your dining experience much more enjoyable than just having a good meal. Whereas a bad server, or bad service in general can ruin a nice evening out. I don't know any server who thinks they deserve more than 20%. The standard is 15-20%. Do you have a problem tipping your hair dresser/barber, or the garbageman or mailman too?

2007-12-02 08:27:17 · answer #5 · answered by Janine P 1 · 1 5

Let me guess, You've never worked in a restaurant before? Your server at a sit down restaurant makes about 4.50 an hour, and they have to put up with people like you who more than likely treat them like objects or trash than another human being. Most servers don't feel entitled to 20%; however, if they give average service 15% is what they should get and 20% for very good to great service. Trust me if you don't tip then don't eat out. You don't want to mess with the people who handle the food you eat!! Tips give the server the incentive to give better service and make your dinning out experience enjoyable.

2007-12-02 08:20:29 · answer #6 · answered by Michael S 1 · 3 3

At an eating place, If I detect any slowness in a server, or preferential treatment to others in their area, I will tip 10% or less. usually, a server "decides" how they are going to treat you based on what your wearing and how you look.


In buffets, I don't see any reason to tip anyone, as I am getting all of my own food;
occasionally, someone comes by and takes a plate away or a cup and initials the reciept. I don't think anyone will read this, but it felt good to type it out.

2007-12-03 10:52:34 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1 1

I would just like to let you know that unfortunately it is not the waiter or waitresses fault if their restaurant does not pay them more than 3-4 dollars an hour. Waiters have a separate min. wage which is obviously significantly lower than regular min. wage. They are working for their tips....the paychecks that they bring home are extremely minimal. As for the bus boy, maybe you shouldn't feel so bad for them because they get paid anywhere from 6-10 dollars an hour and also collect part of each waiters tips as well. A waiter has to tip their bar tenders, bus boys, food runners, and hostesses from the tips that they make for the night. I hope this changes your view a little bit because it's not their fault the job doesn't pay more an hour!

2007-12-02 08:14:39 · answer #8 · answered by ST 1 · 3 2

I waitress part-time at a country club to help cover the cost of college, and the servers rarely get tipped. When I do get tipped, it's generally only a few dollars, even though there's nothing on the menu under $20, and most people pay for parties of five or six people. I only make $6.50 an hour, which is not that much more than minimum wage out here, and the customers can be arrogant and rude sometimes.

Where I work, the chefs only put together the main entrée and the appetizers, and the servers have to pull the potato out of the bake oven, put the dressing on the salad, and serve up the vegetables ourselves. It doesn't come already on a tray that we just pick up and carry out. Also, carrying trays isn't all that easy either, since they're heavy and awkward.

We also have to get there before the dining room opens for the evening to get everything stocked. This includes carrying the stacks of vegetable and soup bowls from the dish pit to the kitchen, putting the doilies on the saucers that go under said bowls, potato plates, putting doilies on base plates, scooping sour cream and ketchup into the small containers that you serve with baked potatoes and fries, setting up the dining room for the reservations, which includes putting base plates down under the napkins, then making new setups for after the dining room closes for the night. To make the setups we have to sort through the silverware, fold napkins, and put it all down on the tables after we change out the linen and put the candles away for the morning shift.

We also host parties, such as wedding receptions, class reunions, and at this time of year, Christmas parties. Generally we can expect to get out at 1:00 am or later if there's a party going on, and they're a lot harder to work than member's dining since you have to deal with those that think parties are a good place to get drunk. There's been more than one occasion when a drunk patron has grabbed me in a rather sexual manner, and I'm expected to politely excuse myself and not raise a fuss.

Waitressing is a lot harder than you seem to think it is, and I go home tired every night. That's why I make sure that I always tip my server whenever I eat out. I make sure that they get at least $5, and more if they went out of their way to accommodate me, or if they were busy.

2007-12-02 08:15:33 · answer #9 · answered by JFaye 2 · 3 5

While tipping may make no sense to you, be aware that the law allows for servers to make well below minimum wage. I think your feelings are shared by many who have never been a server. I have. This is not an easy job. You are responsible, in part, for the customers feeling about their dining experience. Additionally may customers are unaware that you are not responsible for errors made in the kitchen. I can hosestly say that my experience has been that most customers are exceptionally nice. On the other hand there are those that are not. Regardless of the customer, you try to provide the best service that you can. My feeling is that a minimum tiip should be fifteen percent. If the service is that bad, speak to the management. Also remember that your server depends on tips as their livelihood. Whether you like it or not these are the facts!! Merry Christmas!!

2007-12-02 08:09:22 · answer #10 · answered by ruth r 2 · 3 5

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