What is your opinion on tipping?

I just saw a sign in our city, Chipotle is hiring, $20/hr

Since the pandemic, restaurants other hospitality industry paying way above minimum wages, In our city Walmart starting wages is $19/hr.

Do we still need to pay “tips” at restaurant when waiter get $20/hr? We have office staff in our company who makes lot less then $20/hr.

 

I tip for table service and delivery but pretty much never for take out. I also tip taxis, baggage handlers, bell hops, etc. While I never tip for professional services I will, when the occasion calls for it, send a little gift to providers of various professional services when that service goes beyond the merely professional.

 

Gas Price: You are right 3 years ago gas price was $2. Then pandemic happened and major oil company shut down production because $2 gas price doesn’t pay their bill. Nothing to do with Biden. in USA you can't drill oil and make money if the gas price is below $2.

Egg price is now $4.5 because of “outbreak of avian influenza” and killed egg-laying hens. Biden didn’t spread influenzas.

Mortgage rate was 3% , now it is 5.5. the 3% mortgage rate was too low. Last twenty years average mortgage rate in USA was above 4%. Again Biden doesn’t control US mortgage rate, Fed does.

Inflation: rest of the world has same issue with inflation. Communist China has inflation, Conservative UK has inflation, Centrist France has inflation. Conservative Germany has inflation. So you see no political system can control the inflation. Biden definitely don’t control inflation.

Unemployment – Dec 2019 3.5% December 2022 – 3.6%

World Peace: Putin invaded Ukraine. Biden didn’t get in Putin head and started the war.

But hay , just blame Biden. Why bother with facts.

 

My wife is from Europe. Whenever my in-laws are visiting, they refuse to pay tips. Their argument is “ they are getting paid for their work , why should I pay, I am already paying for the service”. And my answer always is “ they don’t get paid much, they count on our tips”.

But as my post # 26 , many of the restaurant and chain grocery store started paying higher wages like $20//hr . My question is , at what point we pay tips because we are happy with the service and not as an obligation or feel sorry that they don’t make enough money?

 

Sure. While it varies from state to state most full service restaurants still pay a lower base wage to servers. At counter service restaurants I simply don't tip because those employees should be receiving the standard wage.

 

Don't you just love when an establishment automatically adds 18% to your bill as gratuity?
I always cross it out, make it a point to complain about it and do not go back to such places. If the service was good, I tip the customary 20% rounded up and always do it in cash to the server.

 

LOL... ok I thought this thread was about something else entirely..

On giving folks a tip, only for actual service, provided at table side.

 

I agree , not every restaurant is paying higher wages, but things are changing. If the unemployment rate stay between 3.5-3.7% , we will see minimum wages rise and average hourly pay will be $18-$20.

 

Biden deliberately attacked our energy sector in order to drive up prices, in order to force the switch from fossil fuels. He campaigned on this commitment, he followed through and fuel prices are much much higher. And since fuel, especially diesel moves goods at every level of production, changes in fuel prices multiply throughout the economy.

Diesel is up 109% under Classified Joe.

The Fed is forced into this because Biden/Dems attacked our goods and services producing sectors while flooding the economy in successive waves of Red Ink Orgies, it was the perfect storm for inflation and they were warned at the time, even by Larry Summer, Bill Clinton's Treasury Secretary that run away inflation would be the result of such foolish and destructive policies. Mortgage rates under Biden spiked to 20 year highs in just two years he reversed 20 years of progress with this reckless foolishness.

Foolish political acts are nearly always the cause of inflation.

Biden green-lighted a 'minor incursion.'

Your post admits that everything sucks under Biden. If things were going well he would be scrambling to claim credit. Instead he is finger pointing and blame shifting, a confirmation that since he took over everything went to hell.

 

Can you give me one policy Biden changed since he became POTUS which drove up energy price?

Can you give me one policy Biden changed since he became POTUS which drive up inflation?

Mortgage Rate: You provided the chart yourself. The rate today is same as pre-housing market crash. Since 2008 interest rate was lower to bring us out of the recession, interest rate in USA/ EU was too low for too long.

Again, can you provide a policy of Biden which “green lighted “ Putin to invade Ukraine?

I never said last two years has been great. No Democrats ever said last two years has been great. But I remember

Summer of 2020 - School closed, All the business are closed, unemployment rose to 8%, Dow Jones lost 10k, you can’t buy toilet paper. 4000 Americans dying every day, you can’t go to hospital because they are overbooked. Cities like NYC or Miami , dead body in freezer truck because not enough people to dig grave. While president using US military to clear up street for photo-op.

Thank you Joe Biden for bringing us out of our misery!

 

I ate at a Mexican restaurant where you order, pay, then seat yourself and they deliver it to your table.
The default was 20%.
I told her to take it off.
I will never come back.
I tip in cash, on the table.

 

That is a surprisingly high rate of pay, for a Chipotle server. I doubt, prior to the pandemic, with salary & tips combined, most averaged $20 per hour, though to be fair, I've never been to that restaurant, and don't know what kind of business they do. I am assuming a moderately low priced entree average, before the pandemic, of around $15 (so now $20 or so?), with probably no wine sales, and with many servers, so few tables, each. I am also guessing at a minimum wage of $7/hr. If all of that is anywhere close to accurate, it sounds as if the restaurant is now paying waiters to work, largely without tips, as do country clubs, and such. However, those jobs are generally not for good waiters, who could earn more money, in a tip-based environment. Also, wages have risen substantially, since I used to wait tables (at generally a higher level of fine dining than is my presumption about Chipotle). I would not be surprised, if servers still expect tips.

Why this is so unusual-- and maybe this is a situation specific to your own part of the country-- is that waiters do not receive in pay, the "average" salaries, of unskilled workers or, oftentimes, even minimum wage. States can have a lower wage, for tipped employees, with the understanding that this will be augmented by tips. So, when NY state minimum wage was maybe $5 an hour, the minimum for tipped employees was something like $2.50/hr. (that is going back a little ways). I know that in CA, the minimum wage applies to all, including tipped employees. I think that was essentially the same policy in CT, but that was when the minimum was around $5/hr. (though now I couldn't swear that the minimum wage wasn't around $7, but $5 for tipped employees). But now the CT minimum is I think $14, going up to $15, later this year. I would be shocked to hear that waiters get that much, in addition to their tips.

I can see that I have been too long out of the loop, to have reliable, current info to share, to help answer your question, so I will get back to you, after speaking to my sister, who still waits tables. Again, though, what applies in one state, does not hold for all the others. So my suggestion to you would be to ask the manager, what is the restaurant's expectation, regarding tipping.

 

I tried to tip the walmart people that gathered and delivered the food to my car.
They said they could not accept it and didn't take it.

 

I have never seen this, except in the case of large parties. That has long been a standard practice, for parties over a certain number (for example, over 10 people), adding an automatic 17 or 18% gratuity. This is to prevent the server being stiffed, on a large check, and on a table which will take more of their time, so allow them fewer other tables, to make up the difference, if the tip is sub-standard. When I waited tables, I would often have customers give me additional gratuity, on top of a fixed tip (but then, I was not the average server).

If you are saying that this is something restaurants add to everyone's check, however, that seems strange to me. The whole idea of tips, is: To Insure Promptness. If everyone is going to be charged a standard gratuity, it is essentially the same as if they raised the prices on everything, by 18%, and provided the service, for free.

That does seem ridiculously high, based on my own experience which, though, may be dated. What it seems like, is that the restaurant is getting the patrons to pay part of their employees salary, since they assume that will be more palatable to guests, than a raise in food prices. Obviously, this is not true, in your case. Let me ask: if the restaurant charged nothing for service, but all its food items were 20% higher in price, would you return there? Because that is essentially how the arrangement you described, works out. While in principle, I take your point, that such a policy, seems on its face, unjustifiable, I will note, from a practical standpoint, that this sounds like a restaurant in which the food is rather inexpensive, relative to other dine-in establishments, so the 20% gratuity may not be all that much. So if the food is good, and worth a 20% surcharge on whatever their prices, I would just consider it a part of the meal cost, and continue dining there. IOW, don't let being hung up over their tip protocol, prevent you from enjoying their food, if the cuisine is worthwhile.

 

It is not wide spread, but it does exist. The last place I encountered it was in the Keys. It pissed me off.

Yes that exists too and I believe the same standard applies as for any service. Just because there are a lot of people, the server can still provide a lousy service, just like a server is not at fault if the kitchen is slow.

 

If it is part of the food price, it is on menu.
I usually tip ~ 15% - ~ double the sales tax. But in a fast foodish place like this, there is no 20% tip earned by dropping off your plate. Why not call me up by number like McDonalds !

 

That is what I had said: that, in effect, you are really just paying a higher price, for the food. The restaurant, I suggested, probably thinks that, for most customers, it will be more acceptable, if they feel their extra cost is going to the underpaid workers, than if the business paid them better, but raised the food prices, in order to do this. So I had asked if you would find that second option, of all prices being 20% higher, but no server tip required or expected (since that boost in price, would be used to raise their employees' pay), less objectionable. If so, I suggested-- since that is how it essentially works out-- why not, if you like the food, just think of it that way?

 

When a restaurant does this, they are vouching for the service. So, if you feel it is beneath the pre-fixed tip amount (of which, the diner should be informed, at the outset), you have a legitimate reason to complain, to the manager. In most cases, if the manager feels that your complaints have any merit whatsoever, that manager will (or at least should) try to ameliorate your unhappiness, with a discount off your bill, free food or drinks, or some such. But the pragmatics require this practice, for large parties, because you ignore the converse of your argument, that sometimes service can not live up to the fixed gratuity. That is, even when service meets or exceeds that bar, sometimes patron's tips are not what they should be. There is nothing forcing a diner to leave a "fair" tip. Obviously, there will always be the potential, for subjective disagreement over what is, that fair amount. On a table of four, when the tip seems a bit cheap, a server can take that in stride, as he will probably have other customers who will be overly generous. But with very large checks, that discrepancy can become a substantial amount; so to avoid problems, it is best to stipulate a percentage, up front and, if there are any complaints about the service-- instead of just reflecting your dissatisfaction, in the amount of tip you leave-- you should take them up with management.

Remember, restaurants are in the hospitality business. If a patron goes to any manager worth a damn, with a reasonable complaint-- and often even with an unreasonable one-- the manager is going to do whatever he can, within reason, to "make it right." I would therefore recommend, that, while you can certainly express your level of dissatisfaction, it is counterproductive, to be overly belligerent, when approaching the manager, with your complaint; wait to see what his or her reaction is going to be, before getting too manifestly "pissed."

 

Never manifestly, just internally.

 

When is a tip a tip, and when is it going into the owners pocket? Auto tipping goes onto the bill. Cash tips are usually distributed by some formula among staff but done by the waitstaff, AKA "Tip Pooling".
There is a difference between a tip and a gratuity. A tip is not regulated by the employer. "Choices" of tip amount implies "regulated". How do I know where the money is going?
IMO, the solution is to allow the customer to enter the tip amount from zero to whatever he feels like.
I have no doubt California labor law is on top of this. A mouse can't fart with out a commission investigating it and issuing 50 pages of new rules.

 

What the hell? I never knew restaurants had a wage like that. I used to think it was way less.

 

If you are patient with the slow beginning, the California Mouse Fart Committee's investigation report, about mid-way through, starts becoming a real page-turner.

 

Tipping came from a racist situation where the railroads didn't want to have to pay the black workers.

Or so I've heard. If I'm wrong give me evidence please.

I find it offensive when a restaurant forces me to pay it's workers for them.

 

I tip 20% times the percentage of my satisfaction with their service. Rarely under %20, but sometimes more. I avoid places who include the tip in the bill. If I can't afford to tip, I eat fast food.

 

Technically they all do. When you pay for the meal, you pay for their bills and workers and rent and electricity and.....