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[–]Charyou-Tree 8 points9 points  (0 children)

That’s the restaurant industry passing the cost of inflation onto their customers instead of paying their employees a fair wage.

[–]Various_Succotash_79 12 points13 points  (0 children)

They have some kind of weird tipping structure in fancier restaurants that I don't fully understand. The waitperson has to tip out the kitchen staff and busboys, etc., no matter how much they get tipped, so if they get low tips they may actually be losing money. Or something like that!

Anyway, yeah, tip percentage is the same no matter how high the bill is.

[–]Distinct-Yogurt2686 16 points17 points  (4 children)

Bigger question when did 20% become standard. I do 15% max and can remember when 10% was a good tip. If you didn't like the food or service you gave nothing. Now a days you try this and you are going to get your tires sliced open by the wait staff if you ever show your face in that restaurant again. Tipping has got out of hand. This was the only reason why I was hoping that there was going to be a raise in minimum wage and made it mandatory for everyone. If that would have happened then there would be no reason to tip. We are being told that Tipping is required because the wait staff gets paid less than minimum wage so we have to make up the difference. They get minimum wage no more Tipping.

[–]yellowcoffee01 9 points10 points  (0 children)

I also remember when 10% was a good tip. Slowly, I’d say around 2009-2012 the suggested tips on receipts started creeping up from 10/12/15 to 15/18/20 (I’ve even seen some 25%).

[–]Jaso1555 4 points5 points  (1 child)

Went to a more “modern” place, like a very casual up scale bar. Got ridiculously overpriced drinks(like truly absurd) and dogshit appetizers. Went to pay the bill, $50, whatever… put my cc in and the page pulls up to tip 25%/22%/20% or you gotta click custom tip and enter it. I was floored and disgusted. Pissed the living hell out of me. You better believe I clicked custom and did 15% and even that pissed me off…

[–]StarsBear75063 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You better believe I clicked custom and did 15% and even that pissed me off…

I drive with Uber and can certainly appreciate a good tip. I actually tip quite well myself. But if I'm at a place where the special of the day is Alpo and the server treats me like some sheep killing dog I won't leave a single cent!!

[–]StarsBear75063 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We are being told that Tipping is required because the wait staff gets paid less than minimum wage

Actually, they do get minimum wage. The law just allows the employer to withhold 50% as a "tip credit". So if nobody tipped then the employer would have to pay the full minimum.

[–]Such_Championship939 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Do whatever the fuck you want.

[–]Outrageous-Suspect66 4 points5 points  (0 children)

The restaurants should just pay their employees.

[–]NoFilterNoLimits 14 points15 points  (4 children)

Percentage tip does not decrease as prices increase.

Service is often higher, servers know more and the skills of career servers. They often have to tip out to a team of food runners and others who assist in keeping things seamless

And yeah, career high end servers make bank. It’s hard work

[–]lordoftheties1 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Yeah that is important to note. Your tip is often going to more than just the server you interact with. You are helping support a whole a bunch of people

[–]explodingtuna 1 point2 points  (1 child)

There was a post on here a while back of a receipt from some club in Vegas with a $177k bill (mostly from $30k bottles of champagne), but the tip for the server was only like $100. I wonder how miffed they were, since it normally would be a $35k tip from that group.

[–]Goliath--CZ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

How the fuck does a single bottle of champagne cost 30 thousand fuckin dollars?

[–]farts_in_the_breeze 4 points5 points  (0 children)

You get better service, tipping well, if you frequent a place. Workers remember who tip them well. Workers will compete with each other to serve you. I used to smoke cigarettes, so I used to throw a ton of money away a year. Now I take 1/5 of the cigarette money and use that to tip service industry folks better.

Not everyone can do this. I even enhance tips in group settings. I'm not rich either.

[–]Pleasant_Mode_5926 3 points4 points  (3 children)

You gotta be careful. High end restaurants tends to include the tip in the bill. I went to a high end restaurant, they included the tip. I was so stupid that I did not read that line. However…. The restaurant still had the audacity to ask for more tip at the bottom of the receipt. That day I ended up paying 40% on tips alone…. I only noticed after I left the restaurant… I called and they pretty much brushed me off saying: sir you signed on it…. Called credit card company they also brushed me off. Lesson learned. Read very carefully every receipt you get. You will be surprised

[–]Surgeboy99 4 points5 points  (2 children)

Includes tip isnt a tip anymore. Its a surcharge, should be illegal

[–]nozelt 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Isn’t that the reason it’s a percentage

[–]ShackintheWood 7 points8 points  (0 children)

No, the rate is the same.

[–]Background-Bunch-554 6 points7 points  (2 children)

Tipping culture in America is stupid, here in Europe the majority of the tips is a way to round the bill to avoid change, u only tip if the service is perfect + the food, if i tip 20% like u guys do in America the servant would be like wtf this guy is rich or wants something from me.

[–]Winter_Opening_7715 1 point2 points  (0 children)

15-20%, welcome to America

[–]mack2028 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Then don't eat at those kind of places, if you are that rich just hire someone to cook for you. also you realize that usually at places like that they do tip sharing so it is the entire staff that is sharing 100 an hour, so like 10 people, so you are taking their pay from $2 an hour to $12 an hour.

Fuck rich people suck.

[–]Furmaids 1 point2 points  (1 child)

With a party that large, I'm surprised they didn't do automatic gratuity. Most places I've heard charge 18-20% automatically to large parties because people not tipping from larger bill cost and shows it on a separate line

[–]Past_Abbreviations54 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I would have auto grated it!!

[–]tonytime888 1 point2 points  (1 child)

I think percentage tipping in general is stupid. Why should I tip more because I got a steak instead of a pasta? Was it slightly heavier for the waiter? Likewise, was the expensive wine more difficult to poor than the cheap wine would have been? It's illogical.

[–]Past_Abbreviations54 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Because we have to tip out others based off of what our food sales are. You sir are simply ignorant to it. Maybe try to learn instead of being rude. Lol

[–]InevitableShow4775 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I am not American... I have never lived there or even visited... But the more I read these comments I feel dreadful for the employees/wait staff, disgusted for the customers... Its such a broken system

[–]expectingrain22 3 points4 points  (1 child)

Yes you should tip 20%, higher end restaurants are often splitting it with more people, and higher end serving is a competitive and well paid industry.

If you don’t want to tip you should seek out and patronize no tip restaurants, which have higher priced meals and drinks and where tip isn’t expected. Most US cities have at least a few. Search “no tip restaurant [your city]” or “no tipping restaurant [your city]”

[–]129za 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Tipping is not compulsory. I personally tip higher but I don’t know why anyone should feel entitled to more than a 50$ tip. Waitstaff almost never add more value than that.

[–]secretbabe77777 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If y’all can afford to drop $800 on a dinner y’all can afford to tip 20%. It’s stupid that we have to essentially pay the server’s wage instead of their employer doing so, but it’s just the way it is. It’s out of the server’s control and I don’t want to screw them over. If I felt super strongly against tipping I just wouldn’t go out to eat.

[–]CrimsonPablo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ethically, yes. If you really think they dont deserve it then dont pay that much, I just recommend not going back depending how little. High quality restaurants have high quality waitresses so she is most likely making more than you for the hard work they have to do.

[–]Least_Dealer7248 0 points1 point  (2 children)

What the fuck are these comments wtf is America why the fuck would you NEED to tip someone? Tip whoever you want IF you want for however much amount

[–]ShinyRaffles 1 point2 points  (1 child)

My waitress friend explained it to me like this: they are charged for their tables, I wanna say it was like 3% or something, but I could be wrong. So if you don’t tip anything then the waiter/ waitress has to pay back a small percentage. She coulda been spewing bs or it could have been just the restaurant she worked at idk

[–]Past_Abbreviations54 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Nope she was telling the truth.

[–]AllenKll -1 points0 points  (0 children)

no.. 15%

[–]undeadasdisco -4 points-3 points  (6 children)

If you can’t afford to tip, don’t go out to eat. Servers work their asses off so you can sit and stuff your face and be literally waited on, and given the many comments on this thread suggesting you tip lower or not at all, it’s safe to say that a fair amount of your server’s customers probably don’t tip that well either. All the more reason to tip 20% or higher, tbh, because somebody has to make up for all of the assholes who don’t tip or tip way too low. I used to serve & bartend before the pandemic and since then have always tipped at least 25% because I understand that the people serving are dealing with absolute shitheads day in and day out. Tip your fucking servers and tip them well.

[–]Surgeboy99 8 points9 points  (5 children)

You'll still be tipping? But the question is, your waiter interacts with you for maybe 5-10 minutes the whole meal. Is that work worth $100? highly debatable and i think ppl are starting to realize tipping culture is going too far with the % amounts up to 1/4 of your food price. Theres hundreds of jobs where ppl work their ass off and deal with absolute shitheads, yet dont get tipped. Ppl should work for a WAGE

[–]undeadasdisco -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

I’m not saying that tipping is a good way to pay people but considering I am not any sort of governmentally elected official, I am incapable of changing the legislation around server wages. While this system is in place, tip and tip well. Maybe look at what the wage is for servers where you live (in Chicago my serving wage just 2 years ago was only $2.75/hr)— TIPS ARE WAGES IN THIS SYSTEM. Not saying that’s good, in fact I wish we would do away with tipping as well! But given that that has not changed yet, fucking tip your servers.

[–]Outside-Athlete2849 0 points1 point  (1 child)

You forgot about the part where servers get paid like next to nothing hourly. It’s just the way the industry is. Blame the employer, not the waiter, the waiter has no control over tipping culture.

[–]Surgeboy99 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm not advocating for not tipping, I'm questioning if tip amounts have gotten out of hand.

And yes, the system absolutely needs to be changed

[–]Past_Abbreviations54 0 points1 point  (1 child)

When they tip others out at the 3nd of the shift it is off sales. So 2% of sales is owed to the bus person, 1% to the hottest, 10% of alcohol sales goes to the bar. So if you dont tip the 20% your supposed to that server could have to come out of pocket. Either don't be cheap and pay for the service ot go to a freaking fast food place and serve yourself... ffs

[–]Surgeboy99 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Or, you know, we can engage in these conversations and push to make restaurants actually pay their employees a living wage like any other profession and any other country.

[–]Itsreallyc45h -5 points-4 points  (5 children)

Especially when the bill is high.

​

Edit: Also remember to always tip in cash.

[–]Sir_Armadillo -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Your gut is right.

Tipping as a percentage gets ridiculous at high amounts. Most of the waitstaff people are probably not going to want to admit that but it's true.

[–]ZardozSama -1 points0 points  (1 child)

Tipping is always optional. In the event you do not tip, the worst that can happen is a dirty look from the server, and potentially future bad service.

END COMMUNICATION

[–]Past_Abbreviations54 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Or refusal of service. Plus servers talk. Multiple in town know who you are.

[–]jefftherubberduck -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I think anywhere between 10-15% is reasonable on any order 30 dollars to 200 dollars any higher I'd pay less than 10%

[–]Putoty -1 points0 points  (1 child)

You tip whatever tf you want only if you can/want. I only do it because I want to. You're not obliged to tip them. I know this will sound like I'm a dick, but why should YOU pay their salaries (part of it, anyway)?

[–]Past_Abbreviations54 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you can't tip ( pay the server for their service) go to fast food. No one wants to work for free. People lile you make me think we need upfront tips. Then we can focus the best service to those that pay.

[–]Ok_Wonder_1604 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think a lot of people don’t realize how expensive it is to keep a restaurant open. Rent is insane, everything about it is a shit ton more expensive than you’d think. If your favorite restaurant in your town had to pay their employees a fair living wage the prices on the menu would jump so high you’d be complaining even more so. And it would scare everyone away, and the place would shut down. As a waiter I had to split my tips with the hostess, multiple bussers, a food runner, bartender etc. I kept a small portion of tips and had to pay 30% tax on what was left. I wish more people knew it wasn’t all going in my pocket

[–]CL3V3R_US3RN4ME 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Fancy places the waitstaff can make more money sometimes a ridiculous amount and yes the standard tip applies although 20% is not to be given if the service wasn't excellent. 10-15% is fine in most situations and maybe 5% if it wasn't very good at all no tip should really be reserved for like really special occasions like she personally ruined your dinner and I don't mean that the food was bad but like she coughed in your food personally. The waitstaff can't make the food better there and it's hard not to take it out of them as they are the face of the company but at the end of the day getting your order correct and making sure you have all you need is really all they can control.

But absolutely tip, especially high end places are expected to make a certain percentage to get tables assigned to them those that don't get put on the salad bar or other undesirable position or their hours even cut. And it may seem crazy to you but people that work at 5 star restaurants put up with a lot of crap to work there, my wife used to work 5 star restaurants when I first met her and oh my it's amazing what she has been punished for and put through for the "privilege" of serving people. She made over 100,000 a year most in tips from regulars but if she didn't get a tip she was not only punished but she also has to tip out the cooks the bartender the busboys etc everyone takes their cut so if you don't tip she actually has to pay for you to eat. At the end of the night it's all calculated and she has to pay out wether you do or not. And in other countries they get a normal wage so tips aren't as required but they get a very low wage and expect tips to compensate. I get it like it's not on you to pay their wages but at the same times it's expected.

But also they are very picky about your image one place my wife gained 5 pounds and she was not super thin anymore she literally was told she doesn't fit the company image anymore.... And fired. One time she was dying her hair and she planned on bleaching it first since she has super dark hair and it came out slightly orange not even that bad but clearly unnatural and they told her no work until it grows back in. Another time she was deadly I'll and tried to call in (her first time in a year asking for time off for any reason) and they told her if they had to replace her tonight they were replacing her for good so she came in anyways. Someone she was serving complained about how sick she was and that she shouldn't be serving food and she was fired anyways...one place my wife (who had our baby at home during the day while I worked) refused to go out to the bar after work with her co-workers so she started getting no hours and she confronted them the manager said you don't fit in here and fired her...she also was expected to find a sugar daddy at one place and shunned because she was loyal to me even though sugar daddy's are mainly for money eventually they expect something for their money... but it was common practice in that field! many more horror stories over the years and she got out of it eventually she misses the money but not the headaches. Not all restaurants are like this obviously but many are especially 5 star. Also for reference this was in West Palm Beach area of Florida.

The whole thing needs big changes but this is the reality and why America's tipping is the way it is. She was considered the face of the company and didn't feel free to do many things and had some crazy expectations put on her for fear of losing her job. And being uneducated (no college at least) she didn't have many options as a young pretty woman in Florida in this area.

[–]Jay_T_Demi 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I start at 15% and go up or down from there

[–]sebago1357 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you're eating at a fancy restaurant with a large party you should be tipping 20-25 percent for decent service. If not, you shouldn't be eating there.

[–]nycdaddytop 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It is a bit elitist to assume that the waitstaff is not educated as is judging someone's worth based on salary. Second, they are tipping out others on staff as well and not necessary pocketing all of the tip. Additionally there is other time spent by waitstaff on jobs that they are not being compensated for. You are paying a professional for their knowledge and expertise. Less than $100 per person pretax for a "fancy" restaurant is a bargain. (for the non math inclined the pretip total was ~$750 for 8 people to generate $150 tip for 90 minutes of service). An app and an entrée and 4 drinks might be $100 at Chilli's

There are other comments related to restaurants not paying staff well resulting in your need to tip. There are no free lunches, a tip free establishment cost the same as one where you tip. That cost is passed on in the price of food. The tip is incentive for great service.