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Tipping

SalixIncendium

SalixIncendium

अग्निविलोवनन्दः
Staff member
Premium Member
I tip 20%+, often up to 50% or more, because I know how much servers make and how hard they work. I've at times had my credit card company send me an email asking me if I made a mistake.

What I find interesting is I'm now asked at Panera to tip. Maybe I'm missing something, but since Panera has no servers, how is asking for a tip ethical? Is there a change in ethics that I'm unaware of?
 
SalixIncendium

SalixIncendium

अग्निविलोवनन्दः
Staff member
Premium Member
Alien826 said:
It's very simple. Restaurants should pay a living wage to their employees and recoup that expense through the price of the food. If they want to present it as some kind of "service charge" I guess that's OK, I have some misgivings, but so long as the living wage comes first I'll not argue.

Before someone says it, I recognize that changing the system would be a huge task.

That's it. Comments please. Be polite, I intend to.
Click to expand...

As an afterthought to what I said, I think doing so would result in a significant price increase due to the restaurant's payroll expenses.

While I agree servers should be paid more, customers who care should consider when leaving a tip that they do not, and I think if one can afford to do so, they should leave what they can to compensate for the cringe behavior of people that are selfish misers.
 
Revoltingest

Revoltingest

Pragmatic Libertarian
Premium Member
Hermit Philosopher said:
A good waiter, just like a good salesman, will make you want what they want you to want, whiles all along making you feel like you are the one calling all the shots.

Perhaps you’ve just had highly skilled waiters who master the art of persuasion to a t…?

Either that
  • Or, your waiter is not the sharpest of souls and hasn’t understood that - as it is customary for us to tip in percentage - the higher the guest’s bill, the greater his tip will be.
  • Or, your waiter’s hourly pay is good enough for them not to care how little they take home in tips and therefore they have no interest in what your bill amounts to.

Humbly,
Hermit
Click to expand...
This post shows remarkable cynicism
Subduction Zone said:
Smart. That makes them easier to raise. Somehow my state avoided that one. Ten percent sales tax though. And it used to be close to seven.
Click to expand...
Our sales tax was 4%.
Then 5%.
Now 6%.
I wonder what's next?
 
John53

John53

I go leaps and bounds
Premium Member
It's My Birthday!
I love the logic of.... if we don't tip, prices will go up.
 
9-10ths_Penguin

9-10ths_Penguin

1/10 Subway Stalinist
Premium Member
John53 said:
I love the logic of.... if we don't tip, prices will go up.
Click to expand...
Reminds me of what a local restaurant chain did: a few years ago, they decided that they would add an ""Honest to Goodness" fee of 3% onto everything as a way of "keeping prices low."
 
John53

John53

I go leaps and bounds
Premium Member
It's My Birthday!
9-10ths_Penguin said:
Reminds me of what a local restaurant chain did: a few years ago, they decided that they would add an ""Honest to Goodness" fee of 3% onto everything as a way of "keeping prices low."
Click to expand...

Nice of them. An advertising agency got a fortune to come up with that.

Sounds like a supermarket chain here. My wife has blueberries with yoghurt for breakfast every morning, the frozen berries she likes were $4 a bag at the beginning of the year. They went up to $6 a bag and the supermarket has a sign on them saying "blueberries $6.50 now $6, prices are down and staying down".
 
Subduction Zone

Subduction Zone

Veteran Member
John53 said:
Nice of them. An advertising agency got a fortune to come up with that.

Sounds like a supermarket chain here. My wife has blueberries with yoghurt for breakfast every morning, the frozen berries she likes were $4 a bag at the beginning of the year. They went up to $6 a bag and the supermarket has a sign on them saying "blueberries $6.50 now $6, prices are down and staying down".
Click to expand...


todays-special-buy-one-beer-for-the-price-of-two-and-receive-a-second-beer-absolutely-free.jpg
 
Alien826

Alien826

No religious beliefs
Hermit Philosopher said:
A good waiter, just like a good salesman, will make you want what they want you to want, whiles all along making you feel like you are the one calling all the shots.

Perhaps you’ve just had highly skilled waiters who master the art of persuasion to a t…?

Either that
  • Or, your waiter is not the sharpest of souls and hasn’t understood that - as it is customary for us to tip in percentage - the higher the guest’s bill, the greater his tip will be.
  • Or, your waiter’s hourly pay is good enough for them not to care how little they take home in tips and therefore they have no interest in what your bill amounts to.

Humbly,
Hermit
Click to expand...

Well that's an interesting theory, but my experience, and I eat out a lot, is that the typical conversation goes "Have you decided what you want to order?" "Yes, I'll have the steak". How would you like that cooked?" "Medium rare please" "I'll be right back". I must have missed the mind control somehow.
 
Alien826

Alien826

No religious beliefs
Terrywoodenpic said:
I am sure some of their customers think that is a bargain.

I am astonished at the price of beer when you consider the minimal cost of the ingredients, and production costs.
Click to expand...

It's a joke.

There's a huge markup on drinks in restaurants. I just paid $4:50 for an IPA that I could buy in the supermarket for $1:50. If you want to save money, stick to water and have a drink when you get home.
 
Alien826

Alien826

No religious beliefs
SalixIncendium said:
I tip 20%+, often up to 50% or more, because I know how much servers make and how hard they work. I've at times had my credit card company send me an email asking me if I made a mistake.

What I find interesting is I'm now asked at Panera to tip. Maybe I'm missing something, but since Panera has no servers, how is asking for a tip ethical? Is there a change in ethics that I'm unaware of?
Click to expand...

Well, there is the person that takes your order and the cooks. Tips are often shared between the servers and other staff.

On the subject of Panera and ethics, there was a class action suit against them a while back. They were advertising a $1 delivery charge and not telling people that the prices on the delivery menu were higher than those charged in the restaurant. I'm not sure how it was settled, but now they tell you about the higher prices on the web site where you order.
 
Alien826

Alien826

No religious beliefs
John53 said:
I love the logic of.... if we don't tip, prices will go up.
Click to expand...

The question is of course, by how much?

One problem is that an increase in salary for the staff involves an increase in other things the restaurant mast pay, like FICA. For non-US residents, that's a tax paid by both employer and employee to fund Social Security (government pensions) and Medicare (Health insurance for retirees). That doesn't happen with tips. The extra tax just applies to income tax on the staff member.
 
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