Tips?

If it is on those public page with like thousands to ten thousands of like, comment wars are bound to happen. Kind of like Youtube but with your actual name (or your alt)

 

Well I don't know how it is exactly in America but from what I'm told its more depended on for a source of money because the pay is shit. If that is the case then yeah I agree, if you cant afford the service of a waiter\waitress etc don't go out to eat.

Here in aus Its not as important as they pay isn't as shitty but I still think you should tip.

 

Noooo.
Tipping is a fucking awful practice - don't let it leak out of the US.

 

Its only awful when the business owner is too cheap to give decent wages, tipping is still done in aus but your not an ass for not doing it. I believe even some places factor in the tip with the bill so you cant not tip.

Its a good practice when the staff is getting paid enough because its incentive to be friendly and prompt and all that jazz.

 

But natural selection will make it become mainstream: everyone will be expected to do it or else they won't get good service, and then the staff will be paid less because they are being supplemented by tips, and then we'll HAVE to tip to make up for it. Isn't this what happened in the US, or did they have the terrible foresight to implement it like that from the start?

Things work perfectly fine without having it at all, as far as I'm concerned.

 

I think no one is obligated to give a tip whatsoever. The waiters get paid. It doesn't matter if it's a shitty paid job or not, that is not your responsibility.
I do tip, especially if it's a good waiter, because I can afford it and I know it makes them happy, but if you can't really afford it then no, of course you don't have to tip.

 

I always tip unless they suck at their job. Since I almost always eat at home, it isn't going to break the bank to give them a few bucks on the rare occasion I eat out.

I don't think you are obligated to tip though. That's why it is a tip. It's extra.

 

Isn't the tip already included in the Bill in Europe? Sucks that you guys have to even pay for water.. :lol::bang:

 

Haha it depends on the country, Europe differs greatly from country to country. In my country it is normal to tip 10%.

And yeah, paying for water sucks haha, though you can ask for tap water in which case it is free.

 

As someone who grew up in a family living on tips, I feel that tipping shouldn't be mandatory but the U.S. pay laws almost make it.

Businesses in several states are allowed to pay people well below minimum wage if they get tips because the IRS considers tips to be income so that it may be taxed at a certain rate. They actually expect people to receive tips to the point that someone can be accused of trying to cheat the IRS if they don't report receiving a certain amount of tips; whether they actually receive that amount or not doesn't matter. My mom actually knew people who were questioned just because they had a bad couple of months without any real tips.

This isn't fair either to the employee or the customer. Tipping is supposed to be a gratuity, but in the U.S. it isn't considered that anymore. This is also why there are so many restaurants that charge a mandatory gratuity fee now a days. Honestly, things would probably be better if the practice of tipping was stopped. Sadly, I don't think that could happen without hurting a lot of lower class families in the U.S.

 

I disagree with this on all accounts. Waiters make far less than minimum wage (pretty sure it's like low 4ish an hour) BECAUSE they make tips and therefore tipping is their main source of income. To go out to eat, have a great experience and excellent service and then not to leave a tip or to leave shitty tip is beyond rude. If you can't afford to tip a server for great service, then go to some restaurant where you can take care of yourself. I may be biased on this because I was a waiter myself for two years and saw all the crap that we had to deal with.

I completely agree that the whole system would be better if tipping was eliminated and gratuity just added to one's bill. However, just because it's a crappy system doesn't mean that costumers should think it's alright to screw over a server.

 

I think the idea that the tip is paying for the fact that you're being served is at least partly incorrect. Making myself a dish at home costs maybe a fourth of what I pay for it in a restaurant. Why do we pay that instead of staying at home? Because we're being served for it, so it's worth it. So you're actually already paying for your service, that's the whole reason going out for dinner is so expensive as opposed to making your own food.

Yes, it is absolutely ridiculous that restaurant businesses pay less than minimum wage; that way the money you pay for the service pretty much goes directly to the owners of the business. But that is not the customer's responsibility.

Like I said, I do tip, because I can afford it, but there are people that simply can't afford it and I think it'd be sad and a bit rude if they were therefore automatically excluded to go to certain places. Let's not forget that just because the restaurants say their tip is part of their weige, that doesn't mean that that is the actual idea of a tip.

Also, I have been and still am a waiter. I appreciate any tips I get and am disappointed when I don't get any, but my view on this remains the same. A tip is what it is: a tip.

 

Looking back on my post I realized that I didn't quite make my point clear enough :icon_redf.

I agree that customers should tip, and it is hurting the server when they don't. I meant more that it shouldn't be that way when someone doesn't tip, but, at least in the U.S., it is because the laws are set in such a way that expects everyone to tip.

 

I was in the middle of typing a response to your post, but then started to think about the argument that we'd just be getting in and I decided it wasn't worth it. It's clear that you and I have very different views on this issue, and are not likely going to be able to change the other's perception. Therefore, I choose to respond with this:

We'll just have to agree to disagree on this one

 

Hahaha this is just too weird, I had just decided that if you responded again, I'd tell you to just agree to disagree, because it would likely not go anywhere.
So ehh, yeah.. agreed to disagree

 

And now I'm tempted to say that great minds think alike...oh the irony

 

I don't know about Europe but here in NZ, the price of what you buy on the menu is what you pay, and nothing extra - as it should be. The price of service is factored into the menu items, and the serving staff are paid properly as part of their wage. Customers don't need to decide how much the service was worth or guess how much their waiter expects from them. There isn't some surprise "Tip charge" on the bill when you get it.

I really can't see why anyone would want it any different, unless you like the satisfaction of being able to underpay someone youo you think served you badly - in which case you're just indulging in revenge!

 

Making a dish at home may be cheaper but your the one doing all the work to cook it and most people cant cook the same type or quality of food at home. At a restaurant your not so much paying for the service of a waiter then your paying for someone to cook you a meal.

Well in a way it is the customers responsibility. You get what you pay for, you want a server and a good one you pay for it. You want someone to cook you a meal that you cant cook yourself or dont want to, then you have to pay for it. whether you pay a tip or an extra charge on your bill the costumer will pay. Either way the customer is part responsible.

If you simply cant afford to tip, why are you wasting money on eating out then? Its a luxury and a convenience that you have to pay for and if its not in your budget then you shouldn't be spending outside your limits. Its not the waiters fault that they cant afford their services.