How Much Do You Tip At Restaurants?

[mikeads66]

A world without tipping exists in many parts of the world, and is doing just fine, thank you. Don't spread your doom and gloom thoughts without doing some research.

I'm sure they do. But again, like I'm saying for the 10th time in this thread, either the service is worse or you are still paying the waiter's salary, just indirectly. Through the price of food for instance.

Great post. I forgot about that "under the table" money angle for this thread. My ex-gf was one of those people who was more than happy to not declare all her tips to the Fed. So yeah, that is a great add to this thread, for sure.

Which is actually not correct. Tips are counted strictly, at the end of the work shift every waiter is expected to "cash out" with the manager by handing over all the money and receipts. You can try to occasionally "hide" some money, but it will become obvious quickly and you will be fired.

Everything is recorded and counted.

 

[Griller]

20%ish

If you go back to a restaurant with any regularity at all (more than twice a year) and don't tip or tip poorly, you'll be put in the section of a waiter/waitress who is just starting or isn't very good at what they do. Restaurants reward those who know what they are doing when they wait tables.

Also, if you want a good looking waitress, don't go with a girl to the restaurant lol.

 

[MaverickonRoids]

No, it's not. The quality of service employees (waiters) are willing to provide to customers is proportional to how much effort they're willing to exert. Oddly enough this effort is also proportional to how much money they make. Who would have guessed right?



There is no magic "service job" out there somewhere where people exert the same amount of effort and just get paid less. It doesn't exist, you're talking out of your ass.



And like it has already been said, there is a trade off everywhere. They either don't provide good service, don't provide any service, pay their employees more, the minimum wage is higher, they give their employees benefits...etc and so on. There is no magic.

If the tipping system was abolished nothing would crumble. The employers would just be forced to pay their employees more, and the only way they'll do this is by raising the price on your food. So you end up paying for their salaries any way, it's just significantly less flexible for you. You are the person who gets hurt, nobody else.



You should. If you don't want to pay for the service you receive at restaurants where you're expected to tip, then don't use that service. Go stand in line at Burger King.



If it's so common sense, then why do you have so much trouble understanding it?

Now you have opened up a new can of worms, and I am going to generalize against "my own people". I am from Canada where we have pretty much the same kind of folk you guys do down south, and from what I found, I noticed that a majority of people from North America are so damn naive to the stuff going on around the world, that they take the news they read/watch as the end all of discussions.

Most don't have a clue as to how things operate outside of your precious "life walls". Me coming to China and being here for the past 10 years really opened my eyes to things in Canada I would know nothing about, if I just relied on hearsay and news clippings. You my man need to get out into the world, and experience various cultures, and see how their systems work, and work well for the most part (service industry stuff and so on).

Then you would have built enough cred. up with me in order to talk more about how life is outside your walls, man.

 

[MaverickonRoids]

I'm sure they do. But again, like I'm saying for the 10th time in this thread, either the service is worse or you are still paying the waiter's salary, just indirectly. Through the price of food for instance.




Which is actually not correct. Tips are counted strictly, at the end of the work shift every waiter is expected to "cash out" with the manager by handing over all the money and receipts. You can try to occasionally "hide" some money, but it will become obvious quickly and you will be fired.

Everything is recorded and counted.

LOL Counted strictly, eh (sorry, force of habit for us Canadians)? Wow, you really are living in a bubble. You need to educate yourself, and if not, I am sure more people will come to this thread to do it for you, as to the "reality" of how many people in North America actually declare 100% of their tips.

This should be fun.

 

[jazzc]

I'm sure they do. But again, like I'm saying for the 10th time in this thread, either the service is worse or you are still paying the waiter's salary, just indirectly. Through the price of food for instance.

Sure, you only get the best service in the whole world, why not?

Of course we pay the waiter's salary indirectly (what do you think we are, freeloaders?), exactly as we pay the cook's salary and the food cost and the owner 's profit and everything else. That 's what business is about - paying for a service - the restaurant is happy to take our money in exchange for a nice dinner and we are happy to part from our money for having a nice time. Anything socking here?

 

[mikeads66]

Now you have opened up a new can of worms, and I am going to generalize against "my own people". I am from Canada where we have pretty much the same kind of folk you guys do down south, and from what I found, I noticed that a majority of people from North America are so damn naive to the stuff going on around the world, that they take the news they read/watch as the end all of discussions.

Most don't have a clue as to how things operate outside of your precious "life walls". Me coming to China and being here for the past 10 years really opened my eyes to things in Canada I would know nothing about, if I just relied on hearsay and news clippings. You my man need to get out into the world, and experience various cultures, and see how their systems work, and work well for the most part (service industry stuff and so on).

Blah blah more anecdotal evidence. I can do that too. I've also lived in Canada. For 11 years. I currently live in the states. I've also lived in Russia, Ukraine, been in Amsterdam, Germany, and Korea. I've also managed to go to school on two different continents.

Oddly enough i don't really need all of that knowledge to know that what you are saying is wrong. I could have told you that when i was 12.

LOL Counted strictly, eh (sorry, force of habit for us Canadians)? Wow, you really are living in a bubble. You need to educate yourself, and if not, I am sure more people will come to this thread to do it for you, as to the "reality" of how many people in North America actually declare 100% of their tips.

This should be fun.

Lets compare experience in this field.

I worked as a host, busser, server, and cook in multiple restaurants over the course of 6 years.

How much experience in the food&beverage industry do you have?

 

[stefan_v]

Here(Macedonia, it's small country in South Europe if you didn't know), we don't give TIP. You are expecting a good service. Tipping it's odd here. Well in some parts.
It's about the culture. The tourists are giving tips, Macedonians - rarely. If you give them more money than the bill, they will return the change. Let's say that the meal it's 12 euros, and you give them 20 euros, they will return you the difference, except if you don't explain them that they need to keep the change. Only in one part of the country(big tourist place you should give tip - the prices are high and the service is unsatisfying, and they yet want tips). Let's say here in the main city of Skopje, tipping it's really unusual thing. When you are giving tip all around you look you rude. They think - hey it's something wring with you?
Giving tips mostly depends of the county(culture) you came from. I had never accepted tips for my job even when I over deliver(I'm web developer), and some people from counties like US and Australia and New Zealand were giving me always tips. Probably they thought that not giving tip it's rude, and for me was unusual.

 

[MaverickonRoids]

Blah blah more anecdotal evidence. I can do that too. I've also lived in Canada. For 11 years. I currently live in the states. I've also lived in Russia, Ukraine, been in Amsterdam, Germany, and Korea. I've also managed to go to school on two different continents.

Oddly enough i don't really need all of that knowledge to know that what you are saying is wrong. I could have told you that when i was 12.



Lets compare experience in this field.

I worked as a host, busser, server, and cook in multiple restaurants over the course of 6 years.

How much experience in the food&beverage industry do you have?

Ok, let's do that.

I worked as a busperson, kitchen staff above and in the basement, security guard, and delivery driver, for about 4 - 5 years. Good enough? Or do you want me to dust off my resume and fax it to you?

Regardless of if someone has worked in the industry, an "outsider" can tell if something is flawed, and you have your head so much up your ass that you couldn't read that earlier in the thread, where I posted it numerous times. Yet you try to "dare people" into seeing who has the bigger resume in the biz.

Go and play outside with your friends son, this is not the place for you.

 

[MaverickonRoids]

Here(Macedonia, it's small country in South Europe if you didn't know), we don't give TIP. You are expecting a good service. Tipping it's odd here. Well in some parts.
It's about the culture. The tourists are giving tips, Macedonians - rarely. If you give them more money than the bill, they will return the change. Let's say that the meal it's 12 euros, and you give them 20 euros, they will return you the difference, except if you don't explain them that they need to keep the change. Only in one part of the country(big tourist place you should give tip - the prices are high and the service is unsatisfying, and they yet want tips). Let's say here in the main city of Skopje, tipping it's really unusual thing. When you are giving tip all around you look you rude. They think - hey it's something wring with you?
Giving tips mostly depends of the county(culture) you came from. I had never accepted tips for my job even when I over deliver(I'm web developer), and some people from counties like US and Australia and New Zealand were giving me always tips. Probably they thought that not giving tip it's rude, and for me was unusual.

Surprise surprise, another functioning food industry around the world without a tipping culture. Shocking, isn't it?

 

[Roparadise]

Do you even do research? Do you know how lucky you guys are in the US to have fuel prices the way it is? Have you even checked to see what the petrol prices in Europe are?

Once again, plain ignorance fuels this post.

Looking at the effect of fuel prices in Europe vs America has to be looked at more then just the actual cost of fuel.

Paris $7.52/gallon
New Orleans $3.69/gallon
Looks like fuel is going to cost you 103% more in paris compared to new orleans,but.
Average mpg France 46mpg
Average mpg USA 29mpg

average ppm Paris $.16
average ppm New Orleans $.12
Which comes out to a only 33% increase

And then you have to factor in average distance traveled by car users and % of population using public transportation as well as access to public. And there are vehicles available in Europe that get 65+mpg that are not allowed to be sold in the United States.

 

[Blueprint]

By the way, do you know where the term "TIP" came from? Actually, it was
originally an acronym, T.I.P. which meant "To Insure Promptness". Many years
ago, a customer would pay the tip BEFORE they got served "To Insure Promptness".

This is still true to in Bars and with Bartenders. Not that you TIP before a meal, but if you TIP a good amount on your first round of drinks and you're in a busy bar, watch how the bartender comes back to you if you've tipped them well on your last round of drinks - To Insure Prompt Service in action

 

[MaverickonRoids]

To the OP, great conversation going on here. Thanks for starting the thread.

But to all you non-believers of a world without tipping, why is it that there are COUNTLESS threads everywhere and COUNTLESS questions about how much to tip this person, and that person, and to who, yet in the places without tipping, life goes on as normal.

Makes you think, doesn't it?

 

[mikeads66]

Ok, let's do that.

I worked as a busperson, kitchen staff above and in the basement, security guard, and delivery driver, for about 4 - 5 years. Good enough? Or do you want me to dust off my resume and fax it to you?

Regardless of if someone has worked in the industry, an "outsider" can tell if something is flawed, and you have your head so much up your ass that you couldn't read that earlier in the thread, where I posted it numerous times. Yet you try to "dare people" into seeing who has the bigger resume in the biz.

Go and play outside with your friends son, this is not the place for you.

There was no dare. I'm interested in how much (or little) experience you have in the industry because it may help shed some light as to why you are so confused about how the system works. I was willing to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that it's just because you have no experience, and not because you're a complete idiot.

But seeing as you obviously have experience, or at least you claim to, then there is only one option.

 

[MaverickonRoids]

There was no dare. I'm interested in how much (or little) experience you have in the industry because it may help shed some light as to why you are so confused about how the system works. I was willing to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that it's just because you have no experience, and not because you're a complete idiot.

But seeing as you obviously have experience, or at least you claim to, then there is only one option.

Read my post above yours, and then look in the mirror. You will see who you SHOULD be calling an idiot.

Bubble boy is my new name for you, my man.

 

[Hadouken]

Lets compare experience in this field.

I worked as a host, busser, server, and cook in multiple restaurants over the course of 6 years.

How much experience in the food&beverage industry do you have?

Sure, you want to play the experience card when it comes to tax evasion? I have prepared the tax returns of over 10,000 people (Including thousands of restaurant employees). And yourself? Surely your restaurant experience knows more about tax evasion than me, right? Most managers are only concerned about their employees reporting up to minimum wage, so the rest can be pocketed. Experienced wait staff know how much to report, and how much they can pocket without upsetting management or the tax man.

So I have read every reply in this thread, and I have come to this conclusion:
The argument isn't about tips. The argument is that people don't think waiters/waitresses should receive minimum wage. They believe that IF the waiters and waitresses should be paid minimum wage to start, they should be expected to give very bad service, because nobody in the world is proud of their minimum wage job, and nobody will try their best.

If a waitress or waiter is only trying because they want a big tip, honestly, I don't want their service. I like people who take pride in their job and will do their best, because that is why they are employed. I take pride in every job I do, regardless of wage. Why should I expect different from restaurant staff?

 

[dudemike]

i always tip, i used to work for tip and i had some people that pretended they dont know what that was, and i dont condone such a greediness. the worst think they think that people in industry are so gullible they dont know they are getting s...e