Has the tipping culture reached a breaking point?

In BC the minimum wage is $17.40. The server makes the same amount as an employee at Walmart or a drug store. It goes up significantly for the server getting tips.

BTW, I tip well. I irritate myself when I tip on the total, not just the food/drink tip total. Why am I tipping on the total with taxes.
 

We go out to eat maybe twice a year so we tip then. Oh, I used to tip at Starbucks and other coffee places when I worked because I was there like everyday, but have eliminated that since retiring. We live in a condo so don't have to tip a mailman. I do my own hair so no tipping there. Oh, we do tip when we order out which is about once a month and that is it.
 
We still get home mail delivery so I tipped my postal gal $30.00 at Christmas time. And I almost always tip 20% or more to the waitstaff at Pubs and Restaurants.
 
Beezer said:
We still get home mail delivery so I tipped my postal gal $30.00 at Christmas time. And I almost always tip 20% or more to the waitstaff at Pubs and Restaurants.
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Yes, I leave a big Christmas tip to my mail person and my trash collector every year. I told my trash collector once that he was a hero and he just laughed, but I really do appreciate those guys.
 
Jeni said:
i think more people are upset that the card readers point of sale machines often come programmed to ask for tips .....
not like there is a different program for each type of business..
i think many who were purchasing the often cheap and portable card machines were service type business...and tips were just part of it.
seems like someone could program a more realistic approach to not ask for it in all situations.

the below minimum wage for tipped staff .......law Varies by state .... and yes it has been legal and a known practice for decades ....not a secret....

many people in a good restaurant made a lot and often the cash tips are not or under reported for taxes.
IRS has a formula stricter now but when i was younger waiting tables ........many only claimed a portion....

I feel the expectation of tips has really lowered the bar on service and doing a good job at serving .....
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I claimed 10% of my tips. Was that lying to the government. YES and I donā€™t care. At least I claimed something. My gay friend claimed nothing and got busted.. I made good money waitrasssing but I worked hard to earn that. I was working in order to put myself through school
 
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No one ever tipped me for doing my job, even when I would start earlier than my assigned hours, or work well beyond them just to meet someoneā€™s personal convenience. I have cut lunches short, ate at my desk, or even done without lunch to accommodate some people. Yet when time came to negotiate a new contract, members of the public would send letters to the editor of the local paper decrying members of my profession as ā€œgreedyā€ or ā€œunion thugsā€ for seeking cost of living raisesā€¦

That being said, I do tip people in service jobs if they treat me as human, are halfway pleasant to me, and render service in a reasonable and timely fashion. I do wish that the going attitude would be, however, that ā€œtips are appreciated, but not expectedā€¦ā€
 
PeppermintPatty said:
I claimed 10% of my tips. Was that lying to the government. YES and I donā€™t care. At least I claimed something. My gay friend claimed nothing and got busted.. I made good money waitrasssing but I worked hard to earn that. I was working in order to put myself through school
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when i was working some of my mentor waitresses told me 20- 25% would keep us safe ... it is hard work and being good at it could be lucrative.
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electronic tipping is easy to trace as opposed to cash as well....
From what I have been told it is harder now then it used to be...
 
PeppermintPatty said:
I claimed 10% of my tips. Was that lying to the government. YES and I donā€™t care. At least I claimed something. My gay friend claimed nothing and got busted.. I made good money waitrasssing but I worked hard to earn that. I was working in order to put myself through school
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I worked as a waitress to help pay my college tuition, too. I made 45 cents an hour plus "tips" which I rarely got at all because all the older ladies assigned me to the customers who they knew didn't tip.

I worked very hard, but not half as hard as I did at my minimum wage, bank teller job where I had a steady stream of drive thru customers, was on my feet constantly, had no breaks, and had to concentrate every single second or I would make a mistake -- we were required to balance to the penny every day at closing.

I often hear people say waitresses deserve tips because they work hard but, like @Fyrefox says, many of us work hard and there are far worse jobs than waitressing out there.
 
Jeni said:
when i was working some of my mentor waitresses told me 20- 25% would keep us safe ... it is hard work and being good at it could be lucrative.
.
electronic tipping is easy to trace as opposed to cash as well....
From what I have been told it is harder now then it used to be...
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Surprisingly, I made my best money waitressing , manly due to the tax break I gave myself. Many waitresses donā€™t claim; one of them being a gay. The tax people came directly to the restaurant where he was worked demanding their share. It made me glad I claimed. I claimed the electronic tipping knowing it ā€˜couldā€™ trip me . I enjoyed waitressing; cause I got good exercise, no time to eat which kept me in shape, I was always so busy that time flew by. On top of that, I made great money. I put myself through school.
 
Della said:
I worked as a waitress to help pay my college tuition, too. I made 45 cents an hour plus "tips" which I rarely got at all because all the older ladies assigned me to the customers who they knew didn't tip.

I worked very hard, but not half as hard as I did at my minimum wage, bank teller job where I had a steady stream of drive thru customers, was on my feet constantly, had no breaks, and had to concentrate every single second or I would make a mistake -- we were required to balance to the penny every day at closing.

I often hear people say waitresses deserve tips because they work hard but, like @Fyrefox says, many of us work hard and there are far worse jobs than waitressing out there.
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The biggest plus for me was that time flew and the harder I worked the more I made. Busboys and girls would fight to work with me cause I gave them a percentage of my earnings and tipped generously. Like yourself , it put me through school, paid my rent.

Waitressing was good on my back injury . Sitting down doing electric assembly paid well but was really hard on my back. By the middle of the day I was always in a lot of pain and would have to swim it off.
 
I'm a good tipper and now that the going rate is usually 20%, I don't mind tipping that or more if the service is very good or excellent. I have tipped up to 50% for wonderful service. If I have a little change left over, say at Dunkin Donuts, I'll put it in the tip jar. If it's close to a dollar or if the server wasn't particularly nice, I won't.

I have yet to see a checkout machine asking for tips but I have seen solicitations for donations to different causes tacked up near the registers, sometimes with individual cut outs (ie: in the shape of shoes) where a person can add his/her name. Sometimes cashiers ask if (I) want to donate.
 
At a recent hotel stay they offered an QR code to tip the room cleaners. While I think they should be paid fairly by their employer I tried to leave a tip using the code. Then up popped a messge informing me that the QR service provider was taking 50 cents of the tip, AND WOULD I LIKE TO ADD ANOTHER 50 cents to compensate the cleaning staff for that deduction from the tip. I did not respond. I assume the cleaning person got some of what I left her. I hope so.
 
Brookswood said:
At a recent hotel stay they offered an QR code to tip the room cleaners. While I think they should be paid fairly by their employer I tried to leave a tip using the code. Then up popped a messge informing me that the QR service provider was taking 50 cents of the tip, AND WOULD I LIKE TO ADD ANOTHER 50 cents to compensate the cleaning staff for that deduction from the tip. I did not respond. I assume the cleaning person got some of what I left her. I hope so.
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Wow. I leave cash. The cleaning staff can keep it all and the QR code can go ā€¦. Paying to leave a tip???
 

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