Has the tipping culture reached a breaking point?

Brookswood

Brookswood

Senior Member
Most of know that tip jars have proliferated like rabbits. Worse, those electronic screens that ask us to tip just about anybody who sells us anything are all over the place. And the tips usually start at 10 to 15%. I remember when restraurants tips were about 10%. Now they are twenty percent or more at times.

Are we reaching the breaking point? I am hearing over and over again from people who who simply refuse to tip or do a custom tip of maybe 10% max. Then there is this:
One night this summer, her Chevy Cruze got towed at a local ice rink. She and Reed went together to the impound lot: forms, cashier, the tablet. They owed more than nine hundred dollars, including a “convenience fee,” the spiritual cousin of the tip. Reed swiped his card. On the screen, additional gratuity options appeared. “A tip?” Reed said. “You must be out of your mind!” The cashier averted her eyes.
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Nathan said:
Some people are 'bothered' by tipping. I have always tipped 20% + for the below minimum wage food service wait staff.
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It’s always wise in any discussion of tipping to remember that state’s treat the minimum tipping wage differently. My state pays tipped employees the FULL minimum wage. There is not reduced minimum wage for traditional tipped jobs. OTOH, some states have a tipped minimum wage well under $10 an hour. If I lived in a state like that I might tip more generously. OTOH, why we have to tip at all is a mystery to me. It’s the employer‘s job to judge the value of each employee and what that is worth. Why I have to do their job does not make sense to me.
 
I don't eat at restaurants. I haven't got a coffee in years except to use a card I got from work for Starbucks.

If they ask me to round up, I don't. I will donate my change at PAWS thrift sometimes. Depending on what I got and my mood at the time. I never round up at Goodwill. Not even 2 cents. They ask but their prices are premium enough. Plus I'm getting cheaper with 6 cats I feed. My 2 and 4 ferals.
 
-Oy- said:
How can staff get paid below minimum wage?

Here we have a minimum wage and also a slighly higher living wage. Anyone who pays less than a living wage shouldn't be in business.
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Here in Canada, paying waitresses below minimum wage is against the law. The restaurant would be shut down if they were caught paying below minimum wage.
People getting paid under the table might be getting below minimum wage but it’s usually favourable to both sides.
 
I would love to see tipping culture come to and end. It's as outdated as haggling in the marketplace.

Everyone should be paid a dependable minimum living wage. They should never have to depend on the kindness of strangers or the mood of the public for their livelihood. Wait staff have trouble getting loans and buying houses because their income is so unstable. Just a simple thing like monthly budgeting is impossible.

There is a also a whole lot of ageism, sexism and lookism that the waiters have to put up with, causing the pretty young girl who still lives at home to make more money than the older woman with a family to support.

Restaurant owners have been getting away with asking their customers to pay their staff for long enough. Stores and other businesses don't do this and the public isn't conditioned to hand the store clerk cash no matter how good the service -- thank goodness, because it's demeaning.

I eat out a lot and I tip well, but I'm always a uncomfortable when I do it. It makes me feel a little like Lady Bountiful condescending to the servant.

I would definitely choose a restaurant that doesn't allow tipping, but has higher prices on the menu and a well paid staff.
 
Della said:
I would love to see tipping culture come to and end. It's as outdated as haggling in the marketplace.

Everyone should be paid a dependable minimum living wage. They should never have to depend on the kindness of strangers or the mood of the public for their livelihood. Wait staff have trouble getting loans and buying houses because their income is so unstable. Just a simple thing like monthly budgeting is impossible.

There is a also a whole lot of ageism, sexism and lookism that the waiters have to put up with, causing the pretty young girl who still lives at home to make more money than the older woman with a family to support.

Restaurant owners have been getting away with asking their customers to pay their staff for long enough. Stores and other businesses don't do this and the public isn't conditioned to hand the store clerk cash no matter how good the service -- thank goodness, because it's demeaning.

I eat out a lot and I tip well, but I'm always a uncomfortable when I do it. It makes me feel a little like Lady Bountiful condescending to the servant.

I would definitely choose a restaurant that doesn't allow tipping, but has higher prices on the menu and a well paid staff.
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Actually food store owners are starting to allow food servers to accept tips. Isn’t that 1/2 the reason you go to a fast food place to begin with ? For myself, it takes the pleasure away from eating out. Something I rarely do and even less so now. I dislike people assuming I am going to tip them.
When we go to a restaurant, we pay for our meal before we leave and make sure our waiter gets our tip. I put myself through school serving others and made very good money.
 
I tip at restaurants according to the service; anywhere from 10 to 15%. My son tips the uber driver 15% and when he pays for our meals at the restaurant (when it is a special occasion like a birthday) he tips 20%.
 
I tip well when I go to a restaurant as my son worked as a waiter while in shcool. I am also aware of those that maybe single mothers. If they are a senior I will often tip in excess becuase I know they must struggling if they still have to do this when they are older. I know I could not do it.

That said, I don't go out at all if I can't afford the meal and a proper tip. If there is something that I am really craving, I will get it to go and leave a small tip.

Many restaurants these days have tip share. All the tips go into that nights receipts. The tips are then shared equally thru all the wait staff. I do not think that is fair. You have many that work their heart out to give service while others are standing in a corner playing on their cell phones.
 
I always pay in cash at restaurants and tip 20%. I don‘t like to tip with credit card payments in stores, but sometimes go along if it‘s reasonable.
 
I tip in restaurants, because that's at least half of their pay. And, unless the server was the one responsible for the
"lousy" service, I leave the server a tip. Some people feel that a restaurant has to treat you like a Roman Emperor, and if the slightest thing is wrong means they don't tip. My ex sister-in-law never left a tip in her life.
I don't like being asked to give to charities at checkouts. I won't give.
 
We need to get rid of tipping altogether. Restaurants should be paying their employees a living wage and the best workers should be paid accordingly. If I am not mistaken we are about the only country that does this.

Having said that, this is the procedure we have for now and I don't punish the waitperson for that. I generally tip 20%.
 
I ignore tip jars. I tip my wait-staff at restaurants. (and cocktail servers separately)

If I get a bill that has a separate line where the register entered a tip amount, I cross that out so I only pay for the food, and then I leave a cash tip on the table.

Same with anyone who delivers my food. I tip the driver, not the restaurant.
 
Pinky said:
One thing I found it difficult to get used to when I lived in Australia, is the "no tipping" .. especially when the service was very good.
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I'm glad you adhered to our custom though and did not tip
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I don't like to get into tipping discussions because what you do and what is the norm is so culturally different from place to place - and I don't live in USA and their wage structure is so different - but Please please let tipping stay there , we don't want it in Australia, wait staff are paid proper wage here.
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Some people here round up for pizza deliveries, taxi drivers etc, in a 'keep the change' type of way not a percentage.
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and some eateries have tip jars on the counter, some people put their change into them, just the coin change though - so less that $5 total, if that (5 being smallest note here)
That's as far as it goes here.
 
I typically tip 20%+ and always over-tip breakfast servers and my barber. Learned that from my grandfather.

It doesn't bother me at all that someone who is conscientious and courteous takes home more in a week than someone who is lazy and rude.
 
It seems the store I use for delivery make it almost a demand to tip. I do but feel they should pay them more. The same situation with a big nationwide store that puts it on your total to pay but do let you adjust it.
 
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 .....
 
About the "below minimum wage" question, I'm not sure but I believe that certain types of businesses are allowed to pay below minimum wage for that state, if their staff can collect tips. That obviously includes restaurants, bars, etc. but other types of businesses also.

It's a way for the owners to avoid paying a living wage, but I guess their answer would be that if they were forced to pay their staff more, their prices would go up astronomically, so the customers would end up paying the same amount, anyway. Maybe more.
 

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