My rule has always been tipping 15% IF the service was well above average. If the service was fantastic I usually tip 20%. I don't tip for normal service. And if the service was REALLY shitty I would leave them a penny. I still tip for exceptional service but I have been wondering why we should tip at all.
A taxi driver takes you from point A to point B and you give him a tip. Why? Isn't his JOB to drive you? Yet you don't tip the bus driver.
A waiter takes your order, brings your food and drinks. Isn't that their job? What about the people that cook the food? What about fast food restaurants? Don't they deserve a tip?
I have friends who tip at buffets back home. At a buffet!?!? They seat you and clear your dishes. What the kimchi!?
I understand in the past tipping may have been necessary. The minimum wage was much lower and in some cases all the persons earnings were tips. But those days are gone, at least in Canada. According to some of what I have read most people in the US, and probably Canada, don't claim their tips at tax time. So we are giving them extra untaxed money just for doing their job.
One of my old friends used to work at a place that got a LOT of business Friday and Saturday nights. On a good night she usually made over $100 in tips on her shift. There were some great nights where she made $300-400. On top of her of her wages. Tax free.
It seems that we are forced, by society, to give tips for average service. If you don't you are a miser, cheap, an asshole. I recently saw a commercial for beer on a US channel that actually chided viewers not to forget to tip. I already pay for your over priced beverage don't be lecturing me about tipping.
The main argument for tipping that I have heard is because the job doesn't pay enough. Well, I have worked a lot of minimum wage jobs in my life. Some of them in the service industry. If I found it didn't pay enough I LOOKED FOR ANOTHER JOB that did. Why should I supplement someones income for just doing their job? Why should I expect someone to supplement mine?
Others say that tipping means that the staff will work harder to please you. So they have to be bribed to do their job properly? That is pretty much what they are saying. Please explain Australia, South Korea, and all the other places where there is NO tipping. I can get great service there without being expected to bribe someone to do their job.
Add to that the fact you aren't REALLY tipping based on the quality of service. You are basing on the PRICE of the meal. One waitress brings you a meal worth 50$ and you tip her $10. Another waitress with the same level of service brings you a meal worth $100 so she gets $20 as a tip. Same service but you base your tip on the price of the meal. That sounds a little stupid.
While looking at tipping and its origins I found an interesting article in The New Yorker. While I like that Keller got rid of tipping I am not sure the service charge is any better. It just goes back to the issue of rewarding someone for doing their job. Pay them more and just increase your prices to cover it. Don't say you got rid of tipping and then force people to pay a service charge. You didn't get rid of tipping. You made it mandatory by doing this.
I try to avoid places that FORCE a gratuity on me. The hotels and restaurants that add 10-20 gratuity to their final price. What if I had crappy service? Why should I be forced to pay? Well, I choose not to go to those places so I don't pay it. When I tipped it was because I wanted to and I decide dthe amount.
I guess when I get home I just may start being an asshole and not tip at all.
We don't really have much of a tipping culture in Britain. I mean, you tip if get really great service, but it's not like it is in the States - you don't HAVE to tip, just because someone brought you a plate of cold food without a smile.
ReplyDeleteIn Korea I never really tip because I never really get good service. If somewhere really makes the effort though, I'll leave something.
My math is too shitty for percentages, though...
Sure. After 8 years in Korea, tipping should be a strange phenomenon.
ReplyDeleteAfter 2 years in Korea, I assume tipping shouldn't be done anywhere.
Hey! We're not assholes. We're a concerned citizenry that espouses any money earned be taxed. If tips ain't taxed then say no to tips. We're just being honest with the government. No! We ain't commies. :)
KRD
ReplyDeleteThat is how I feel. If they make an effort and give above average service I didn't mind.
I have worked in the service industry too, as a cook. We never got a share of the tips. Yet we cooked the bloody food. It went to the wait staff. Even at places that said the tips were shared. Which is why I am also against this extra service charge. Just pay them more and reflect it in the price.
In Korea, if the taxi driver wasn't an ass, I let him keep the shrapnel by rounding it up to the next cheon won.
What you said about Britain pretty much applies to Europe from what I read. In many Europeans countries they add a service charge but there is no tipping.
Ajay
ReplyDeleteI agree. I think tipping has outlived its usefulness. I don't get extra money for doing the job I am hired to do from the customer. Why should anyone else?
In the US waiters and waitresses make $2.13 per hour, well below minimum wage and often times after taxes there will be no paycheck, only tips. When I waited tables I had to give 2% of my total sales to tip share (for the host, bartender, cooks, etc that don't get tips). So if someone didn't leave me a tip, I was out 2% regardless.
ReplyDeleteSome people make lots of money on weekend shifts, but it's not safe to assume that is the norm and waiters and waitresses are making tons of untaxed money. Most struggle to get by.
Meagan
ReplyDeleteThat sucks. I would never take a job that paid that little and had to rely on tips.
It is different in Canada. They make minimum wage plus tips. Minimum wage is $8.0 to $10 an hour depending on what part of Canada you are in.
http://canadaonline.about.com/library/bl/blminwage.htm
It is not fair to expect people to pay extra money to make up for the shitty pay. Conversely, it isn't fair to expect people to pay extra money when they make $8-10 an hour.