So it’s 22% tips now

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Look, I get that these automatic tipper buttons on bills are ubiquitous and annoying AF. I hate them as much as the next guy. But putting them aside, what I’m seeing here are a lot of posters who don’t want to tip generously as a matter of principle. They suck just as much as a tip prompt.

I think you are vastly over-simplifying. I think you are seeing several things:

1) People pushing back against the idea that the "standard" tip is now over 20%. As a couple posters have pointed out, there is no reason for the tip percentage to go up with prices are already rising -- tipping 20% on higher priced items will naturally result in a higher tip. So people are pushing back on the idea that continuing to tip 20% is suddenly no longer generous, when inflation means that it's already a higher tip than people used to leave.

2) Restaurants charging various service fees without making it clear whether that money goes to staff, and people feeling pressured to leave tips on top of service charges, which can add up to 40% to the cost of your meal. There is a feeling of being swindled in this -- where is the extra money going? Who is it for? Why not just raise prices? The lack of transparency and the feeling that you are suddenly being asked to pay much more than advertised at the end of your meal leaves a lot of customers with a bad taste in their mouth, which can make them feel "ungenerous."

3) People frustrated with an overall decline in quality of service. A lot of this is due to things beyond the servers' control -- lack of adequate staffing, for instance, can diminish service even if the servers are working hard. But there's no question that service isn't as good as it was pre-Covid, and to then also be expected to tip more for worse service feels wrong.

4) Related, but the shift towards more automated ordering makes people question what exactly they are paying for when they tip. If I use a QR code to get the menu and order my food, shouldn't I be tipping less than back when I used to have someone bring my menu, take my order, and offer a human touch to the process? It's strange to not only expect the same tip for less interaction, but to expect a higher tip than before.

I also think a lot of people are just tired of the idea that it's up to individual customers to make sure a restaurants employees are adequately compensated. A lot of people are saying they would be fine with higher prices that would enable restaurants to pay their employees more, if it meant getting rid of tips. So the restaurant pays its workers, and then customers just show up and pay the restaurant. Just like at most other businesses. It's a fair argument and has nothing to do with being ungenerous -- it has to do with not wanting to be directly in charge of compensation for someone. Going to a restaurant should feel like hiring an independent contractor.

All stupid. Costs are up at restaurants but so is living costs servers, waiters don’t get the service fees, service reflects on the crappy customers. I went to a fancy steak house as a child men in fancy suits, women in dresses, limos dropping off people, everyone very well polished dresses in their best best and in best behavior. Service was impeccable.

I went back 50 years later and screaming kids, guys with baseball caps, women with pink hair and tattoos. I swear half did not shows it shave. Snapping fingers at waiters, talking loudly, spilling things. Guess what service not the same.

Are you sure you should be eating steak at your age? Apart from that, guess what.. the place is way more busy than it was 'back then', prices have gone up by like 10 times and the 'normal' tip is has now doubled from 10 to 20%. What are you complaining about?

I only went once. Was my holy communion and since we had no party dad took us out

Going to a restaurant was reserved for rich people. It was only time I went to a nice restaurant. But no food was not cheap. My mom made $40 a week as a waitress. Her best tippers always were two business men on an expense account at lunch buying drinks. One was selling other something. And they on expense account order more expense items and drinks and tip big and never complain.

The person getting a salad with glass of water was worse. It would make her lose money. She only gets a certain amount of tables and a dead table is a killer

And no she never once ate in the restaurant she worked at she could not afford it.

Cheap tippers should get take out or go fast food or make own dinner at home.

Guess what- those guys in ball caps and people with tattoos are rich people

[Anonymous]

Went to Silver Diner today and their system starts you at an automatic 22% tip, with 20%, 22% and 25%? shown as the 3 options on the screen. I had to press the button to switch it to 20% and I'd have to enter a dollar amount for lower, while the person stands there and waits for you to hand back the mobile pay device. Annoying.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Look, I get that these automatic tipper buttons on bills are ubiquitous and annoying AF. I hate them as much as the next guy. But putting them aside, what I’m seeing here are a lot of posters who don’t want to tip generously as a matter of principle. They suck just as much as a tip prompt.

I think you are vastly over-simplifying. I think you are seeing several things:

1) People pushing back against the idea that the "standard" tip is now over 20%. As a couple posters have pointed out, there is no reason for the tip percentage to go up with prices are already rising -- tipping 20% on higher priced items will naturally result in a higher tip. So people are pushing back on the idea that continuing to tip 20% is suddenly no longer generous, when inflation means that it's already a higher tip than people used to leave.

2) Restaurants charging various service fees without making it clear whether that money goes to staff, and people feeling pressured to leave tips on top of service charges, which can add up to 40% to the cost of your meal. There is a feeling of being swindled in this -- where is the extra money going? Who is it for? Why not just raise prices? The lack of transparency and the feeling that you are suddenly being asked to pay much more than advertised at the end of your meal leaves a lot of customers with a bad taste in their mouth, which can make them feel "ungenerous."

3) People frustrated with an overall decline in quality of service. A lot of this is due to things beyond the servers' control -- lack of adequate staffing, for instance, can diminish service even if the servers are working hard. But there's no question that service isn't as good as it was pre-Covid, and to then also be expected to tip more for worse service feels wrong.

4) Related, but the shift towards more automated ordering makes people question what exactly they are paying for when they tip. If I use a QR code to get the menu and order my food, shouldn't I be tipping less than back when I used to have someone bring my menu, take my order, and offer a human touch to the process? It's strange to not only expect the same tip for less interaction, but to expect a higher tip than before.

I also think a lot of people are just tired of the idea that it's up to individual customers to make sure a restaurants employees are adequately compensated. A lot of people are saying they would be fine with higher prices that would enable restaurants to pay their employees more, if it meant getting rid of tips. So the restaurant pays its workers, and then customers just show up and pay the restaurant. Just like at most other businesses. It's a fair argument and has nothing to do with being ungenerous -- it has to do with not wanting to be directly in charge of compensation for someone. Going to a restaurant should feel like hiring an independent contractor.

All stupid. Costs are up at restaurants but so is living costs servers, waiters don’t get the service fees, service reflects on the crappy customers. I went to a fancy steak house as a child men in fancy suits, women in dresses, limos dropping off people, everyone very well polished dresses in their best best and in best behavior. Service was impeccable.

I went back 50 years later and screaming kids, guys with baseball caps, women with pink hair and tattoos. I swear half did not shows it shave. Snapping fingers at waiters, talking loudly, spilling things. Guess what service not the same.

Are you sure you should be eating steak at your age? Apart from that, guess what.. the place is way more busy than it was 'back then', prices have gone up by like 10 times and the 'normal' tip is has now doubled from 10 to 20%. What are you complaining about?

I only went once. Was my holy communion and since we had no party dad took us out

Going to a restaurant was reserved for rich people. It was only time I went to a nice restaurant. But no food was not cheap. My mom made $40 a week as a waitress. Her best tippers always were two business men on an expense account at lunch buying drinks. One was selling other something. And they on expense account order more expense items and drinks and tip big and never complain.

The person getting a salad with glass of water was worse. It would make her lose money. She only gets a certain amount of tables and a dead table is a killer

And no she never once ate in the restaurant she worked at she could not afford it.

Cheap tippers should get take out or go fast food or make own dinner at home.

Guess what- those guys in ball caps and people with tattoos are rich people

No they are not. Just more new money people spending and more trash people.

Back in the day was old really rich money on these place. Now it is McMansion, two income leased car crowd in debt up to eyeballs. Like the Gilmore Girls parents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is it that many European countries have lower prices for restaurant food yet manage to pay their employees a living wage? Do their governments subsidize restaurants to keep prices low?

A living wage in Europe is not the same because they don’t have to worry about healthcare costs. Also, “Europe” is a big place. Dining costs are astronomical in London.

DP. They are astronomical in SF and New York as well. "Europe" is a big place and so is America.

[Anonymous]

I think I’m old fashioned but I tip for service not by genre. My local coffee shop lets my toddler daughter watch the barista make the latte flowers for ages. Yes they get $5.00 on my $10.00 order— the Starbucks at the airport does not.

My manicurist gets $40/visit because she always does my daughters toenails for free (total services for me probably $150).

We don’t go out to eat much but I start at 18% at a restaurant and go up or down accordingly, but if we find a place that’s especially accommodating I imagine we will “over” tip there as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is it that many European countries have lower prices for restaurant food yet manage to pay their employees a living wage? Do their governments subsidize restaurants to keep prices low?

A living wage in Europe is not the same because they don’t have to worry about healthcare costs. Also, “Europe” is a big place. Dining costs are astronomical in London.

Are you unaware of the taxes that people pay overseas for the medical and retirement? It’s not free. And again - restaurant food is cheaper (yes, except for fine dining), there’s no tipping, and restaurant staff live a real middle class life.

Btw I know you think you did something with “Europe”. But in your race to the usual DC schooling to remind posters that Europe is a continent of many countries, you missed that I said “many European countries”. Work on your reading comprehension.

[Anonymous]

My only complaint is that tips were normally pre-tax and the 22% being offered now is with the tax. Yes it is usually only a few dollars, but it is still annoying.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think I’m old fashioned but I tip for service not by genre. My local coffee shop lets my toddler daughter watch the barista make the latte flowers for ages. Yes they get $5.00 on my $10.00 order— the Starbucks at the airport does not.

My manicurist gets $40/visit because she always does my daughters toenails for free (total services for me probably $150).

We don’t go out to eat much but I start at 18% at a restaurant and go up or down accordingly, but if we find a place that’s especially accommodating I imagine we will “over” tip there as well.

$150 to get your nails (and toes) done!!! That’s crazy stupid.

[Anonymous]

Tip what you like but remember you are bailing out the rich private equity firm that owns the restaurant - if his servers don't get tips, he will have to pay them more and that hurts his bottom line. Also, Howard Schultz - the owner of Starbucks - is notoriously cheap. He would not tip so neither should you.

[Anonymous]

My only complaint is that tips were normally pre-tax and the 22% being offered now is with the tax. Yes it is usually only a few dollars, but it is still annoying.

How big are your bills? How high is your tax? On a $100 bill with 5% tax, the difference on a 22% tip is $1.10.

I agree that anything over 20% is stupid, but pre/post tax makes very little difference on most normal-size restaurant bills.

[Anonymous]

A bunch of rich people complaining about tipping. Classic DCUM.

[Anonymous]

It's 22% only if YOU decided to give 22. If you don't want to then DON'T. I still give 15% for dine-in, 0% for take outs. Perfectly okay with it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A bunch of rich people complaining about tipping. Classic DCUM.

Hmmm, you can troll if you want but that’s not really what this is about. It frankly represents a real debate on what an appropriate tip is and in what circumstances. It’s all kind of up in the air right now culturally so this is reflective of that.

I’m pretty much of the view of 20% pretax for wait staff or drivers or hairdressers, a buck for a barista, a couple of bucks for a bartender, and -0- for everything else.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Went to Silver Diner today and their system starts you at an automatic 22% tip, with 20%, 22% and 25%? shown as the 3 options on the screen. I had to press the button to switch it to 20% and I'd have to enter a dollar amount for lower, while the person stands there and waits for you to hand back the mobile pay device. Annoying.

You should have left 22 percent cheap ass. I’m sure you had your kids with you and they slobbered all over everything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is it that many European countries have lower prices for restaurant food yet manage to pay their employees a living wage? Do their governments subsidize restaurants to keep prices low?

A living wage in Europe is not the same because they don’t have to worry about healthcare costs. Also, “Europe” is a big place. Dining costs are astronomical in London.

Yea such bullshit.
Since when is it cheap to eat out in “Europe?”