Tipping is stupid

[Mise]

To be fair, I think it's fine for a restaurant to charge a large group more than a small group. They're more difficult to cater for. Calling it a "service charge" rather than a gratuity would be better though.

 

[civ_king]

To be fair, I think it's fine for a restaurant to charge a large group more than a small group. They're more difficult to cater for. Calling it a "service charge" rather than a gratuity would be better though.

in the US it is six or more

 

[Huayna Capac357]

I tip 15-25%.

 

[Lillefix]

It wasn't the amount, we just found it arrogant that this guy wrote in how much he believed his service was worth - the golden rule of business is that the customer is always right, even more so in the restaurant industry.

That wouldn't occur to me at all. I usually only go to restaurans in foreign countries, and I find it practical if they tell me what I'm expected to tip(not that I know exactly what I'm supposed to tip in Norway either).

But what they're worth? I don't care. I would give the same amount of money any way.

 

[Azale]

We've had this discussion before.

And here a big discussion about it.

So? Let's have another one!


I try to tip around ~20%, I go with my family alot and I would imagine they are kinda annoying to serve (wishy washy on appetizers, always are taking out for someone who's not there so the waiter has to memorize, take an inordinate amount of time deciding on meals, little things like that).

When I go to Sonic (a fast food chain in the US), I know the waiter types get paid next to nothing and several of them are my friends. I might tip up to 30% for them.

 

[Rossiya]

edit: ignore.

 

[Zelig]

We've had this discussion before.

Can I do this for every thread?

Some places here add a mandatory 15% "gratuity" if your party has more people than some pre-determined amount. So.. say you show up in a group of 15 - some restaurants will tack on a 15% "gratuity" to your bill.

Whch is both arrogant and annoying - as a gratuity is supposed to be optional. You're not allowed to waive this fee either - it's on your receipt and you gotta pay it.

I would have less issues with it if they called it what it is "a service fee". A gratuity is optional - that's what it means.

I mean, yeah, I get that a large crowd requires more effort from the waitresses (and everyone else, I guess), but still.

Those really bug me, I tip appropriately, but if any amount is automatically added for tips, I don't tip a penny more, which generally ends up as a smaller tip than they would have received otherwise.

 

[warpus]

15 tops aren't easy for anyone involved, front to back.

Yeah, but in the end it isn't any more difficult to handle than the same amount of people spread out over a larger physical area.

I mean, the fact that instead of 5 tables with 4 people each, you have 1 giant table with 20 people should make things a lot easier to manage. Now, I'm not a customer service specialist by any means, nor am I any good at delivering food, so maybe I'm just not seeing something here.

In the end it doesn't matter to me which is easier to manage - if a restaurant wants to charge me for sitting in a large group, then they should put that on my receipt!

Instead it usually says "Gratuity" (and correct me if the times have changed, but the last couple times this has happened to me, this is what I saw)

That's not a gratuity! A gratuity is optional, by definition. If you're obligated to pay, it can't be a gratuity.

If they want to charge me for the fact that I'm in a large group, and that makes things a bit more complicated for some reason, which drives up costs, then they should just do that! That's fine! Tell me what I'm being charged for, and put that on my bill.

Don't tell me that you're charging me for some unspecified thing and that it's an optional good-will gesture from me! Call it what it is and I'll stop complaining.

In the end I'm probably wrong and they don't write "gratuity" for something like that on your bill, but it was still fun to rant

 

[Perfection]

I mean, the fact that instead of 5 tables with 4 people each, you have 1 giant table with 20 people should make things a lot easier to manage.

Absolutely not, because everything has to be done at the same time. If 20 people order, it'll take like 10 minutes to go through them all, okay in that time, you've pissed off all your other tables. Whereas with 5 tables, you can quick do an order, keep everyone else happy, do another order, keep everyone else happy, ETC.

This (plus seating issues) is why large groups need to have reservations often with a dedicated waiter (because they can't be serving other people because they'd be at the large group for long periods of time).

 

[illram]

You've also got to keep track of one large order on one tab, bring all that food at once, clear everyone's plates at once, and potentially deal with a mess of credit cards at the end of the dinner if people are trying to split things up.

 

[warpus]

Okay, that all makes sense to me. I've never served food in a professional capacity before, so I had no idea - was trying to go with "common sense"

I hereby lift my objection to such payments, but not the objection of calling it a "gratuity", which it is not.

 

[Shylock]

Ah the perennial subject, tipping.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

Correction: You can't tip a cow.

Yes, you can. I'm sure cows appreciate a little extra hay and water and whatever other things they get from farmers that make their lives as comfortable as possible. After all, should you not be nice to the cow who provides milk and cheese for you?

I tip cab drivers who help me load and unload the cab. Of course, that's provided they didn't try to take me in the wrong direction, or talk on their cellphone (which makes me very uneasy, as they're not paying full attention to the traffic), or complaining about tips or the size of my grocery order).

Sit-down restaurants where I am a regular, and the wait staff gives prompt service will get a tip. Other places don't, or if the service was poor.

I used to have a home typing business, and sometimes the students would give me tips. That was quite interesting, as the tips were not always in the form of cash. One person gave me a box of Norwegian chocolates (very yummy!) and another person gave me a peanut buster parfait (which I gave to my dad, me being allergic to most of the ingredients in said parfait). At first he couldn't figure out why I brought it to him, and I explained that it was my tip for the term paper I'd just typed. When he was still confused, I explained that I am allergic to the nuts and ice cream and the type of chocolate used.

"So what do you want me to do with it?" he asked.

"EAT IT!!!" I told him.

Sometimes my dad is a little slow to understand when he's being offered something, but he did get a good dessert that night!

But when all is said and done, a tip is still a gift from the customer to the staff person and should never be considered compulsory.

 

[Cheezy the Wiz]

Yes, you can. I'm sure cows appreciate a little extra hay and water and whatever other things they get from farmers that make their lives as comfortable as possible. After all, should you not be nice to the cow who provides milk and cheese for you?

Of course. I reward him by keeping him nice and warm. Preferably around the 145-150 degree range.

 

[Fifty]

I mean, the fact that instead of 5 tables with 4 people each, you have 1 giant table with 20 people should make things a lot easier to manage.

Depends a lot on the context (separate checks, to what extent they want all food delivered at once, etc.)

In the end it doesn't matter to me which is easier to manage - if a restaurant wants to charge me for sitting in a large group, then they should put that on my receipt!

Instead it usually says "Gratuity" (and correct me if the times have changed, but the last couple times this has happened to me, this is what I saw)

That's not a gratuity! A gratuity is optional, by definition. If you're obligated to pay, it can't be a gratuity.

This is generally just a relic of the computer systems used by restaurants and not anything specifically malicious. Many places have moved to "service charge", in any case.

 

[capslock]

I tip well. Usually, I have a few beers with my dinner, so that helps, lol.

I left a $10 tip on a 32$ tab earlier today. I usually take 10%, multiply by two and round up to the nearest $. So for a 12.78 meal, I'd usually tip 3 bucks.

 

[I'm Cleo!]

Both my wife and I have been servers, and I assert that anyone who's carried the tray will tip like we do: 20% nearly always, unless the service is genuinely bad. And in cash, even if paying for the meal on plastic -- credit card companies take a share of the money from the card transaction, and some restaurants take it out of the servers' credit card tips.

Cleo

 

[capslock]

How does that work exactly? I use a card alot, its just easier than carrying around cash all the time. How and when does the tip get to the waiter?

 

[Shylock]

Both my wife and I have been servers

Were you LAMP servers or Windows? I'd probably quit if they made me run IIS.

 

[JollyRoger]

credit card companies take a share of the money from the card transaction, and some restaurants take it out of the servers' credit card tips.

Cleo

The entire card transaction charge or the portion attributable to the tip?