I effing hate restaurants that automatically add tips to your bill.
It really fucking annoys me. Especially when the service isn’t up to much.
Tips should not be a right, they should be bloody well earned. If you spend $120 on a meal for two, and not only was the meal only so-so, but the service wasn’t even outstanding, then I think it’s a damned cheek to add the 18% gratuity charge.
Of course we could have refused to pay it, but who wants to cause a scene?
Bah pissing humbug.
Rosie
September 19
9:46 am
I am soooooo with you on this one. I have no problem being generous when the service deserves it, but don’t dictate the tip. Freaking annoying. BTW, GG has been know to just quietly cross it out and write in his own tip and request a new bill.
vanessa jaye
September 19
12:25 pm
You got my vote. I’m well past my teen-aged years, where, being a smart ass, I’d leave a $0.01 tip for bad service/food, or once (infamously) wrote “Tip: red is not your color.” to the surly waitress on a bill.
I always leave a tip, but my tip reflects the service/food (emphasis on the service, because i realize the wait staff has no control over what’s coming out of the kitchen and they shouldn’t suffer for it). If the service was truly atrocious. No tip. No ifs, ands, or buts.
Kat
September 19
12:33 pm
Are you still in the US? Because I used to feel the same way until I started reading Waiter Rant. If I understand correctly, in the US waiters are shafted and don’t even get minimum pay. Employers assume that waiters will get tipped at something like 12%, so the employers pay them less than the baseline wage. Don’t know why Americans ever let that happen because it seems horribly unfair. That said, gratuities aren’t expected here in Oz, and there’s nothing more satisfying than putting a big fat zero on the receipt when you’ve been on the receiving end of shite service.
BevQB
September 19
12:55 pm
I can see it for large parties. A good wait staff will hustle their asses off for groups. However, the fact is that I tip at least 20% and often more, so when a 15% or 18% gratuity is automatically added, they are actually screwing the wait staff out of extra money because there is seldom a space for additional tip on the CC receipt. However, if I have cash on me (I seldom do), I’ve sometimes left bills on the table as additional tip for EXCEPTIONAL service.
And Kat, yes, here in the U.S., wait staff is paid under minimum wage in most places because it’s assumed that tips will make up the rest. That’s a double edge sword, however, since generous tips mean you can get away with only reporting the minimum for taxes (of course, I would NEVER encourage that practice ;-p), but inexpensive restaurants mean it’s tougher for the wait staff to make even the minimum.
Anon76
September 19
3:25 pm
Oh, this subject has so many sides to it. And I can come at it from both sides, having been a waitress for many years.
I myself, hate hate hate, having the gratuity tacked on automatically. A tip should be in direct proportion to the level of service received. In years past, many half-assed servers would quit the biz because they couldn’t even make minimum wage, giving customers a more likely chance of having a pleasant dining experience with the staffers that remained.
HOWEVER, in the US at least, many odd factors came into play that mucked the whole thing up.
1) Used to be, wait staff did not have to report tips on income tax. While that sounds highly unfair, it made up for the individuals who wouldn’t tip at all. A worker would recieve 2 dollars an hour from the employer, and would need to make up the other 2-3 dollars to meet min wage with tips. And no matter how hard you worked, a bad mix of tables could leave you well short of that goal.
2) The US government, in their wisdom, decided to tax those phantom tips up to the minimum wage level. It didn’t matter if you actually made those tips or not, it was now reported as a percentage. This showed up right on your W-2. And I may be wrong, but at some point it was bantered about that each server’s table checks would be tracked and and an automatic 15% of that check would be tallied for the tip section of the W-2. (Whether this was ever enacted, I’m unsure.) This would mean that if you got stiffed on a tip for a 100 buck check, you’d still have to claim you made 15 bucks.
3) The US became more of a “dine-out” society. But while that should have been a good thing for wait staff, it wasn’t. You see, the number of people who A) inaccurately believed servers got paid minimum wage anyhoo, and B) those who knew better but were of the “ME” generation and felt that being able to afford to go out to dinner should NEVER include a tip, well, those numbers grew by leaps and bounds. And yes, getting a twenty dollar tip at a fancy restaurant for a table of eight became more and more common.
So now, here we all sit being forced into tipping well for a service not received. While I hate the practice, many people are to blame for the whole mess.
(Getting off my soapbox now. LOL)
Sparky
September 19
3:36 pm
If they automatically add the tip then it isn’t a tip. It’s part of the bill.
I prefer the system here in the UK where wait staff actually earn a living wage (in so far as minimum wage is a living wage, anyway) WITHOUT tips so tips aren’t regarded as an essential part of the income but as what they are – a bonus. I’ve had American friends tell me that if the service is really awful they only tip 5-10% and I boggle – if the service is awful isn’t that when you don’t tip?
If the waiters are paid under minimum wage and NEED tips to bring their pay up to a basic level and if, therefore, tips are EXPECTED and even DEMANDED from diners (and you can’t blame the wait staff for that – it’s a very stupid system) then it ISN’T a tip – it’s a crafty way of being able to advertise your prices at 20% lower than they actually are.
Anon76
September 19
3:48 pm
Sparky said:
“If the waiters are paid under minimum wage and NEED tips to bring their pay up to a basic level and if, therefore, tips are EXPECTED and even DEMANDED from diners (and you can’t blame the wait staff for that – it’s a very stupid system) then it ISN’T a tip – it’s a crafty way of being able to advertise your prices at 20% lower than they actually are.”
Very true. And it also means that as you watch the table next to you recieve course after course, their server wil be compensated in the same manner as the gum snapping doofus who took your order twenty minutes ago and hasn’t even brought your drinks yet.
Fair for anyone? Hardly.
Anon76
September 19
3:55 pm
Let me also add this.
When the tip is mandatory, unless the restaurant has VERRA low cost food, a piss poor server can make well OVER minimum wage. One table, one 100 buck check, and the server has made 15 bucks on top of the base pay.
WTF
Tuscan Capo
September 19
5:00 pm
OT from the discussion, but that is one cute, cute baby!
Seressia
September 19
6:31 pm
I consider myself a decent tipper. Generally 20% at restaurants, more for salon treatments. I tip the delivery driver and when I do takeout.
I have no problem with restaurants adding tip to parties of 8 or more, which is usual practice, though I’ve seen some that do four or more. I also like the eateries that have the tip guideline along the bottom of the receipt.
Most people know not to mess with me when it comes to my food (as anyone who remembers the RT Pie Incident can attest to.) I’m low maintenance once I’m served. Refill my glass without me having to look for you, check on me once after I’ve started eating, then leave me alone until it looks like I’m done and have started thinking about dessert. And by all that is holy, bring my dessert out with everyone else’s. Do that, you get 20%.
The wage system for wait staff sucks. Don’t they also have to give some of it to the bus boy? Bartenders and the malnourished hostesses are probably the best paid in most restaurants besides the head chef. Sucky service gets you 10% and a critique. But I don’t stiff anyone. If they’re having a bad day, sure they should suck it up while they’re at work, but shouldn’t we all?
Alexandra
September 19
8:29 pm
As my mom always told (tells) me:
In the case of bad service, tip the waiter and complain to the management.
As mom was a waitress from 16 through college, and my grandma was a waitress all her life, I take her advice. My average tip is 15%, great service gets 20% (or more, because having worked minimum wage I know getting good service means the waitress has to have the patience of a saint).
If the service (not food) absolutely sucks, I still tip at least 15% and I will leave a very calm, nice complaint with the management. For all I know, the person’s have a bad day. And seeing some of the customers, I can imagine.
veinglory
September 19
11:31 pm
I am with Sparky. No matter how crap I am at my job I get my wage. But wait staff often don’t even get minimum wage but are left dangling at the mercy of the general public. Why?
I would rather people just got paid via their salaries. If they don’t do a good job I will be a big girl and complain–not choose to make it hard for them to make a living wage.
Kristie(J)
September 20
1:50 am
it’s somewhat the same here in Canada. Serving staff are paid quite a bit below the minimum wage and I think that’s terrible. I had a friend who had a second job as a server and she pointed out something to me I didn’t realize – parties who stay and linger at the table aren’t what wait staff like to see. The more people they have in their section – the more tips they make.
But they don’t make the tip an automatic part of the bill here – I think that’s wrong. And I would hate to be told how much to tip. I usually tip 20% but it seems not that long ago it was only 10%.
Karen Scott
September 20
1:57 am
I think it’s terrible that waiters don’t get minimum wage, and have to rely on tips, (although I guess it means the average customer has a better chance of getting a good service.) Saying that, I still prefer for them to be paid a decent wage, and for tips to be a bonus rather than part of their salary. During my university waitressing days, there’s no way I would have gotten out of bed for less than the minimum wage.
Sam
September 20
5:25 am
I’ve never been to a restaurant that does that for parties of 2 (or 4). I think it has been parties of 8 – 10 that have gotten the tip pre-added.
I have to agree, though, that it would make me angry. Especially if I had not been satisfied with the service or meal.
Sam
kirsten saell
September 20
5:45 am
Speaking as a waitress, there are tables and there are tables. You have ten people who all drink water and bottomless coffee–we’re talking 5 or 10 trips to the table just to refill beverages that add maybe $10 total to the bill. Or they have little kids who eat cheap off the kids’ menu (or in some hotel restaurants like Holiday Inn, eat for free), and leave a hideous mess to clean up. Cases like that, 20% is the minimum I would leave. Or if the kids eat free, I would figure out what the bill would have been had I had to pay, and tip a percentage of that.
Most of the time, people just aren’t thinking that way–that the tables with the smallest bill per person are often the most work for the wait staff.
Emmy
September 20
1:20 pm
I don’t like to feel compelled to tip if I’ve been ignored and left to wait for my meal or drinks. I’ve actually written on a napkin “here’s your tip: come by more often”.
Slavery being outlawed, nobody is required to work as wait staff. Get an education or get a better job elsewhere. I’m not responsible to make sure that everyone’s bills get paid. I have bills too, and my finances don’t include giving away money for half assed service.
Delivery…here in Hawaii, there are delivery charges and fuel surcharges, in addition to the expectation of a tip. If I have to pay for the pizza, the privilege of having it delivered, and the gas that brings it to me, that’s all the cash I’m willing to lay out. I ordered two medium pizzas and a 2 liter of soda for my son and his friends and was charged $50. That’s ridiculous.
Sparky
September 20
2:00 pm
That’s another thing, I agree with Kirsten on the amount I tip.
I don’t agree that it should be a bill percentage. A server in a swanky restaurant that charges the EARTH but has a server for every 3 tables is going to do a lot less work to give me quality service (which is partially included in the VAST prices I’m charged) than an overworked cafe server during lunch hour when half the wait staff rang in sick.
I know these are extremes, but I prefer to base my tip on quality of service not prices in the restaurant. I don’t think the waitress in the greasey spoon cafe who kept my coffee full, smiled even though she was rushed of her feet and generally was perfect should get less money than moderate, marginally grumpy service in an expensive restaurant simply because the bills are higher there.
Anon76
September 20
3:45 pm
Rmmy,
Oddly enough, pizza delivery personnel DO get paid at least minimum wage, and often higher than that. (At least they do at all of the places in my neck of the woods.) I too, have a dilemma when it comes to tipping for this service. I mean, none of us tip the UPS people, right?
In the instance of delivery food, I usually tip based on the weather. If it’s a frigging blizzard outside, then yeah, I tip well. Otherwise just a couple of bucks no matter the bill total.
HOWEVER, I can’t agree with your philosophy of:
“Slavery being outlawed, nobody is required to work as wait staff. Get an education or get a better job elsewhere. I’m not responsible to make sure that everyone’s bills get paid. I have bills too, and my finances don’t include giving away money for half assed service.”
No, you should not have to mandatory tip for half-assed service. However, there are different levels of service and tips should run accordingly, especially when armed with the knowledge that the server does not make minimum wage.
Honestly, when tipping, it should be done like critiquing. Perhaps it’s not always that the service is particularly horrid, but that the individual being served is not in a particularly good mood. Maybe the customer had a tiff with any of the following: A significant other, his/her child/children, the lout who cut you off at the traffic light and almost caused you to wreck your car, the telephone company, and on and on and on. I would prefer that an editor judge whether to purchase my material at a time when all in his/her day is sunshine and pink carnations, not in any of the above instances.
ALSO, many people don’t have the choices for change that you describe. A better job and a better education aren’t attainable for all. And definitely not just at the drop of a hat. Plus, in my neck of the woods, a college degree guarantees NOTHING. Many people who spent big bucks attaining those degrees sling hash right next to the young mother who attained her GED after getting pregnant at an inappropriate time.
The economy here, as in many places, cannot support the influx of graduates. Why? Because the economy has dived into the shitter, and the big paying companies have almost all moved out. They move in, get their tax cuts, then move on. Commuting is an option, but less and less so with the cost of gas. People do what they have to do, so please don’t look down on them because your situation is better at this point in time. 50 bucks for pizza for a teenager and his friends is a luxury many cannot afford.
And no, I am not attacking you. I so understand your frustrastion. In turn, I’m just showing you mine.
Emmy
September 20
5:16 pm
a) The pizza was for my 7 year old and two of his friends, not any teenager. He can buy his own dang pizza when he gets that old, lol. Spending $50 for pizza whose ingredients cost maybe $10 annoyed me. If I were more of a stay at home mom, I’d prolly get my friend Pillsbury to help the kids make their own next time. Unfortunately, my cooking usually consists of re-heating leftover takeout.
b) I absolutely respect ANYONE with a job, regardless of pay. Beats me having to support them via public assistance. Runs me nuts that I bust my ass and get taxed to pay for people who sit on their ass and make babies.
c) I don’t want the responsibility of making up the difference between what a company pays their employees and minimum wage. Why should I have to feel obligated to pay above the cost of the service? I don’t pay the mailman for bringing me mail. I don’t tip the maid service for cleaning the house, or the pool company for cleaning the pool. Why pay someone to bring me food that I’m paying for? Sounds like something lazy bosses made up to justify paying their employees less.
d)I work in the healthcare field. I get pooped on and puked on and bring people food and drinks and pills and whatever else they ask for. Nobody tips me, nor would I accept if they tried.
I *know* the economy sucks. My 401k is more like a 201k lately. But I’m not a socialist or a communist. I don’t feel like it’s imperative for me to give money away to people who aren’t making what I do for no other reason than they did their job.
Karen Scott on Hols
September 20
7:13 pm
I totally agree with this, and I still maintain that grats should be a bonus rather than a way of making up the server’s salary.
kirsten saell
September 20
7:16 pm
Actually, if I could afford a maid service to clean my house (or the pool I can’t afford, lol), and I paid a large company rather than an independant contractor, I would tip. If I hired an individual to do it, I would pay them what I thought was fair, even if it was more than they might make working for a larger company. But that’s kind of beside the point.
Tipping for food service is traditional, and the way companies pay those employees has evolved along with the tradition. And things go all wonky when you mess with that tradition. I know one restaurant in town where the boss insists tips are shared equally between all employees–waitresses, cooks, dishwashers, everyone. Lucky her, she now no longer has to pay her cooks what they’re worth, because her minimum wage waitresses subsidize their pay. She claims this way, “everyone works as a team”. In reality, one waitress ends up doing everything, while the others sit on their ass and still make money–and the kitchen staff are no more helpful or cooperative than anywhere else.
I work in a town where only about half the customers even tip at all. And many think two bucks is okay no matter how big the bill is. I’ve gone out of my way to please people–comping food that was perfectly good, just “not what I was expecting”, had the customer compliment the service and STILL only leave me 3 bucks on 50. I had a table of 30 with 11 small children walk in unannounced, ring up a bill of $350, and leave five dollars–and think he was being nice for doing it. And you just have to smile and say “Thanks”, because that’s your freaking job, even when it makes you want to rip someone’s face off.
Part of me would love my boss to institute a no tip policy, raise my pay by $10 an hour and just bump the menu prices accordingly. Unfortunately, he’d lose customers left and right–even the few people who would come out paying less in the end.
Anon76
September 20
8:15 pm
Wow, Emmy, I hate to say this, but after discussing the issue, you are the EXACT person the mandatory tip placement in some restaurants is made for.
Calculating how much the ingredients are, and how you could make it for much less at home (but didn’t) has no bearing on tipping. If you can make it for much less, don’t take it out on the server. It is your choice to dine out or carry out. By all means, cook at home.
This directly goes back to one of my original points about people wanting to eat out, but not pay the servers. Frig them. They are just the working poor, aka, slave labor.
I personally would love to see restaurant owners pay their staffs well, really well, and have it reflected in the cost per item on the menu. Then maybe some would reconsider before going out to eat.
Emmy
September 20
8:35 pm
Anon76, I don’t particularly care what restaurants charge for items on their menu. If they want to charge $20 for a burger, whatever.
I just don’t want to be on the hook to pay somebody else’s employee’s wages. I don’t think I owe anyone a gratuity if I don’t feel gratified. At the very least, don’t call it a gratuity if it’s mandatory.
kirsten saell
September 20
8:43 pm
Work in general is one thing I think has been devalued over the last few decades. “Work smarter, not harder.” “Let your money work for you.” That’s fine and dandy for people with brains and luck, or assets to invest.
And it’s infuriating to hear some say, essentally, “Well, that person never bothered to better herself by getting a college degree so she doesn’t deserve to earn a decent wage.” Time was, you could go from high-school (or even drop out at 16) and get a job in a processing plant, pulp mill, heck, even the mint, and make decent money for hard work. Now some companies want you to have a highschool diploma and/or college degree to drive a bloody back-hoe.
But promoting betterment through post-secondary education for everyone is a false economy. If everyone had a college or university degree, some would still end up working as servers/maids/laborers because there are only so many “good” jobs to be had. And here in Canada, post-secondary education is still 50-65% subsidized by tax money. It costs everyone to have someone spend thousands of taxpayer dollars on school unless that college degree has a reasonable chance of translating itself into a higher income (and tax) bracket.
Many people would be surprised to know that for an average restaurant, 30% is the maximum percentage of ingredient cost vs menu price when allowing for a reasonable profit. Anything more than that, and the restaurant is basically giving food away. Meals can almost always be made cheaper at home. If money is such a huge deal, there are ways to save other than stiffing the wait staff. I rarely go out to eat–I simply can’t afford it. When I do, I tip well, depending on the service.
AztecLady
September 20
8:58 pm
*applauding what kirsten just said*
Kat
September 21
12:03 am
I’m curious whether wait staff are the only workers who make less than minimum wage (on the assumption that the difference will be covered by some other means). Knowing that they need x% gratuity to get them up to minimum wage, I don’t quite understand why US diners don’t just do the mental calculation to get at the *real* price of a meal. Arguing over whether or not to call it a gratuity seems like nitpicking when these people might not be earning enough to keep them out of poverty.
I don’t understand this. Everything we buy has the cost of labour factored into it. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t think it’s right that customers see $10 on the menu and are expected to pay $11.50, but that’s not the wait staff’s fault either.
I think the pay disparity also works against customers because I just can’t see waiting tables as an attractive career choice in the US. But in a country where you get minimum wage, perhaps extra if you’re doing whatever is the team leading equivalent for wait staff, and tips are incentives for better service, then you’re more likely to get experienced, capable wait staff who love what they do and are happy to provide the service.
Emmy
September 21
2:38 am
I don’t even know why it’s legal to not pay people the minimum wage. Isn’t that why there’s a minimum wage?
It guess it comes down to each individual’s social politics. I’m not a communist. I don’t believe I should give away money I earned to people who don’t make what I do for no other reason than their boss refuses to pay them a fair wage. Not my problem.
I worked two jobs while going to community college full time at night and taking care of my then 6 month old son so I could support us. I didn’t ask for or expect handouts, nor did I receive any. Thankfully, we live comfortably now, but life sucked for a while. So what? That’s life.
Anon76
September 21
7:07 pm
Emmy, I totally commend you for drive and accomplishments. You worked your ass off to get where you are.
But might I ask if you did All of this alone? That circumstances were such that you could pay for child care and your tuition on just the earnings from your two jobs? No government grants or family assistance (with child care and housing especially) or anything of that nature?
You see, what scares me most about our society now is that many who have faced these adversaties, and conquered them, become hard-shelled to others facing similar situations. I don’t feel it’s a Communist approach to have sympathy for others, nor to remember where you were back when and keep that in mind when dealing with the under-paid.
I remember to this day, a woman who sat on my DIL’s porch with her bestest friend, bitching about the poor people trapped in Hurricane Katrina. “They deserve it. They should have gotten out. They are all welfare cases anyhow.”
This she said while willingly pregnant and unmarried. Why? Because she well knew she was a high high high risk for complications with her diabetes type, and if she didn’t marry the father, all those social services things would pay the hospital in full.
This she said while sitting next to her best friend, who’d just had a baby, but wouldn’t marry the father so she too could recieve services.
They both thought all those left-over souls in New Orleans were getting what they deserved.
There are two sides to the fence, and it sucks when a person jumps over and won’t give a hand up to the person left on the other side.
Is that Communist thinking? Not in my opinion.
Lynne
September 21
7:34 pm
Amen, Anon76 and Kirsten. One of my least favorite phrases in the English language: “Not my problem.”
This whole Law of Attraction is a funny thing. Whatever energy you put out in the world is generally what you get back. If you think other people suck and are greedy lowlifes and should fend for themselves, that’s the type of energy you attract to yourself.
Maybe it’s purely selfish of me, but damned if I want that kind of energy in my life. 🙂
Aline de Chevigny
September 25
2:50 pm
I know I’m chimming in a little late, but I don’t agree everyone deserves a tip. Tips are earned not expected.
I went out for super as I do every 2 weeks just before returning to the mine site and our waitress decided to ignore us for the table of 10 teens and the bussiness men in the private room. I admit I was dressed comfortably and not fancily but I was tired and about to leave for 15 days of working 12-14 hours shifts with no days off in between so I opted for comfort over style.
2 Men were seated at the table beside us and they had 3 waitresses show up to serve them within 2 minutes of sitting while we hadn’t even gotten our drink orders taken yet after 10 minutes. I was livid and spoke to the manager who gave me his word that our waitress would be right over. I demanded to be moved sections as I didn’t want that waitress serving me.
The new waitress was impecable, our service top notch so we left her a noce tip. On a 60 dollar tab she made 20 bucks. On our way out we heard the (original) waitress ask the girl how much tip we left her, then demand she give her the moeny as we were supposed to be her customers.
Turns out the teens left her 75 cents, the business men left her 5 bucks in total anf there was 5 of them and the 2 men that came in only tipped the bartender. I was very proud to hear te young girl tell her in no uncertain terms “Then you shouldn’t have ignored them. Seriously the one woman is wearing nursing scrubs and the other works at the diamond mine and they always tip well if they get decent service.”
At least she was paying attention to more than just numbers. So No I don’t believe that tips should be given automatically regardless of how much they make as a salary and I have stopped my friend from leaving tips out of guilt when the service has been extremely horrid.
Aline