Tourist to DC here. No tipping at restaurants or anywhere else is appropriate, right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We had a hostess tell us they couldn’t add an extra tip on the mandatory gratuity and gave us her Cashapp code. It was weird.

Haha- I was with you on the first part and then the second part, like WHAT?

I was just downtown and when I was presented with a bill that said "Gratuity 20%" I just circled it, drew a line through the extra tip and signed as-is.

Was that right?

[Anonymous]

Oh please. What tourist posts on DCUM?

[Anonymous]

I’m so confused too. I see all kinds of service charges, no idea what they are for and tip lines. I actually hate going out to eat anymore. I also think this is a very backhanded way of ripping off customers.

Skip all service charges, skip the tip line and increase the cost of food to cover the wage increase.

Between DC taxes on eating out, service fees and tipping going out to eat is ridiculously expensive and we are not eating at fancy places.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC Food industry workers make a base wage of $10. The minimum wage is $17.50, but there is a tip credit of $7.50 applied. It baffles me that people do not want to tip when someone is literally tending to their needs and wants. If the service was good or great, I tip 20% or more. If not, then 15%.

Someone is also literally cooking the food. Someone is literally mopping the floor. They don't get tipped.

I don’t believe this is true. Aren’t tips all combined at the end of the night and divided up amongst the staff. That’s how it used to be done.

[Anonymous]

I think people who look for reasons not to tip are sending out bad karma that can poison their lives. I can’t really explain why that’s logical but it’s how I feel. Years ago, I took a long cab ride and realized at the end that I was short on cash and could only to pay the driver the fare plus a very minimal tip, and the guilt I had was awful. I’ve been trying to make up for it ever since by tipping generously and honestly it’s one of the best mental health decisions I’ve ever made. Staff at most restaurants are underpaid and mistreated by their employers, regardless of whether they work in a higher minimum wage place like DC or CA. Absent bad service, I feel like I’m lucky to be able to afford the pleasure of eating out, and also feel like it’s a decent gesture to help these young servers out at a financially vulnerable time in their work lives. Even if I might be paying more than I absolutely have to, it’s worth the risk to help try to make sure I’m not adding to an abusive dynamic, and even to maybe help them out with a little extra cash, and just to send some good vibes out into the world. I might get flamed for this for being self delusional or a “sucker” but it’s my choice and I’d highly recommend it for your overall enjoyment when you sit down to break bread. There’s more to life than approaching meals with suspicion as if everyone’s trying to put one over on you. Maybe look at it as an opportunity to make sure you are being kind, even at the risk of being overly generous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think people who look for reasons not to tip are sending out bad karma that can poison their lives. I can’t really explain why that’s logical but it’s how I feel. Years ago, I took a long cab ride and realized at the end that I was short on cash and could only to pay the driver the fare plus a very minimal tip, and the guilt I had was awful. I’ve been trying to make up for it ever since by tipping generously and honestly it’s one of the best mental health decisions I’ve ever made. Staff at most restaurants are underpaid and mistreated by their employers, regardless of whether they work in a higher minimum wage place like DC or CA. Absent bad service, I feel like I’m lucky to be able to afford the pleasure of eating out, and also feel like it’s a decent gesture to help these young servers out at a financially vulnerable time in their work lives. Even if I might be paying more than I absolutely have to, it’s worth the risk to help try to make sure I’m not adding to an abusive dynamic, and even to maybe help them out with a little extra cash, and just to send some good vibes out into the world. I might get flamed for this for being self delusional or a “sucker” but it’s my choice and I’d highly recommend it for your overall enjoyment when you sit down to break bread. There’s more to life than approaching meals with suspicion as if everyone’s trying to put one over on you. Maybe look at it as an opportunity to make sure you are being kind, even at the risk of being overly generous.

This is the right answer.

Yes, all of the things other pp are posting about lack of transparency, confusion, fleecing are (most likely) true.

But *I* don’t want to be a part of *that*. It’s a choice to be a part of an upward spiral versus a downwatd one.

So. When I choose to eat out, I do so knowing that a lot of the rest of the world has lost its mind recently. I know it’s going to be expensive.

And, DH and I have modified our behavior in the sense that we DON’T eat out as much as we used to.

Is it unfortunate? Yes.

But we do have a choice, and we choose how often we want to have the experience that restaurants seem to want to offer these days, which is generally mediocre food (we can and definitely do better cooking at home for most things), with increasingly shrinking portions, and often questionable service.

The one place I do draw a line: if I am paying you to be of service, you do need to do your part. I tip, but only minimally, if I receive bad service from the waiter.

If the food is bad, I don’t take it out on the waiter - I address the manager.

[Anonymous]

To the extent possible, we just avoid eating out in DC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think people who look for reasons not to tip are sending out bad karma that can poison their lives. I can’t really explain why that’s logical but it’s how I feel. Years ago, I took a long cab ride and realized at the end that I was short on cash and could only to pay the driver the fare plus a very minimal tip, and the guilt I had was awful. I’ve been trying to make up for it ever since by tipping generously and honestly it’s one of the best mental health decisions I’ve ever made. Staff at most restaurants are underpaid and mistreated by their employers, regardless of whether they work in a higher minimum wage place like DC or CA. Absent bad service, I feel like I’m lucky to be able to afford the pleasure of eating out, and also feel like it’s a decent gesture to help these young servers out at a financially vulnerable time in their work lives. Even if I might be paying more than I absolutely have to, it’s worth the risk to help try to make sure I’m not adding to an abusive dynamic, and even to maybe help them out with a little extra cash, and just to send some good vibes out into the world. I might get flamed for this for being self delusional or a “sucker” but it’s my choice and I’d highly recommend it for your overall enjoyment when you sit down to break bread. There’s more to life than approaching meals with suspicion as if everyone’s trying to put one over on you. Maybe look at it as an opportunity to make sure you are being kind, even at the risk of being overly generous.

All of this just highlights why tipping as a practice is bad. Guilt, feeling lucky, feeling bad for other people, etc should not need to be part of financial transactions. I assume you don’t feel all of these things in everything you do (do you feel this same level of responsibility for the cashier at Safeway, for example?) so I don’t understand why it needs to be part of the dining experience. Price the food fairly to cover the costs of fair wages for all the staff and that should be the end of it!

[Anonymous]

Dc is probably the best place to try to abolish tipping as a practice. Whether you’re at the wharf, or tenleytown, or the waterfront, shirlington or downtown Gaithersburg, just about every restaurant is owned by some corporate hospitality group. The servers are not working for some up and coming chef with a dream, or a sole proprietorship owned by an immigrant that built his loyal following on outstanding food and service. These people are employees of corporations and should be getting full pay and benefits. If they don’t like the deal they could go work for another corporate owned restaurant. It shouldn’t be the customers burden to make sure employees of a corporation make enough to pay their bills.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oh please. What tourist posts on DCUM?

thank you

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh please. What tourist posts on DCUM?

thank you

Seriously!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think people who look for reasons not to tip are sending out bad karma that can poison their lives. I can’t really explain why that’s logical but it’s how I feel. Years ago, I took a long cab ride and realized at the end that I was short on cash and could only to pay the driver the fare plus a very minimal tip, and the guilt I had was awful. I’ve been trying to make up for it ever since by tipping generously and honestly it’s one of the best mental health decisions I’ve ever made. Staff at most restaurants are underpaid and mistreated by their employers, regardless of whether they work in a higher minimum wage place like DC or CA. Absent bad service, I feel like I’m lucky to be able to afford the pleasure of eating out, and also feel like it’s a decent gesture to help these young servers out at a financially vulnerable time in their work lives. Even if I might be paying more than I absolutely have to, it’s worth the risk to help try to make sure I’m not adding to an abusive dynamic, and even to maybe help them out with a little extra cash, and just to send some good vibes out into the world. I might get flamed for this for being self delusional or a “sucker” but it’s my choice and I’d highly recommend it for your overall enjoyment when you sit down to break bread. There’s more to life than approaching meals with suspicion as if everyone’s trying to put one over on you. Maybe look at it as an opportunity to make sure you are being kind, even at the risk of being overly generous.

You're a lunatic.

Try traveling to Japan. There is no tipping. In fact, they get insulted because no one needs your stupid charity.

Absolutely delusional brainwashing here.

A sucker is born every minute. You fell into the trap of believing the Kool aid restaurant owners push. As if it is the customer's responsibility to ever be concerned about employees' wages. Totally insane.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think people who look for reasons not to tip are sending out bad karma that can poison their lives. I can’t really explain why that’s logical but it’s how I feel. Years ago, I took a long cab ride and realized at the end that I was short on cash and could only to pay the driver the fare plus a very minimal tip, and the guilt I had was awful. I’ve been trying to make up for it ever since by tipping generously and honestly it’s one of the best mental health decisions I’ve ever made. Staff at most restaurants are underpaid and mistreated by their employers, regardless of whether they work in a higher minimum wage place like DC or CA. Absent bad service, I feel like I’m lucky to be able to afford the pleasure of eating out, and also feel like it’s a decent gesture to help these young servers out at a financially vulnerable time in their work lives. Even if I might be paying more than I absolutely have to, it’s worth the risk to help try to make sure I’m not adding to an abusive dynamic, and even to maybe help them out with a little extra cash, and just to send some good vibes out into the world. I might get flamed for this for being self delusional or a “sucker” but it’s my choice and I’d highly recommend it for your overall enjoyment when you sit down to break bread. There’s more to life than approaching meals with suspicion as if everyone’s trying to put one over on you. Maybe look at it as an opportunity to make sure you are being kind, even at the risk of being overly generous.

Beautifully put and I agree. You will likely get a lot of criticism, but keep doing this. I will as well.

[Anonymous]

I will reduce tips accordingly as wages increase.

The math is simple. Before, servers were what? Making $2-3 per hour?

Let's say it's a $100 bill. I will be generous and assume a server only serves my table for 1h. They would be compensated $23 for waiting on my table for that hour (20% tip + hourly wage paid by the house).

That $23 compensation won't change for me. If they now get $16/h wage, I will tip $7 so they they'll once again get $23 total from my table. It makes zero sense to tip $20 while they earn $16/h. Their compensation will have ballooned from $23 for the table to $36. That's a 56% increase. Nope. Just gross inflation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We had a hostess tell us they couldn’t add an extra tip on the mandatory gratuity and gave us her Cashapp code. It was weird.

Haha- I was with you on the first part and then the second part, like WHAT?

I was just downtown and when I was presented with a bill that said "Gratuity 20%" I just circled it, drew a line through the extra tip and signed as-is.

Was that right?

There seem to be two different issues:

1) should people tip if servers are now making closer to or above min wage? I don’t care so much about this, happy to continue to tip.

2) should people tip if the restaurant adds a service fee of like 20 percent? This one is where I’d get annoyed. I wouldn’t anticipate paying 40 percent on top of the cost of the check.