Beware of auto-tips at restaurants, etc...

[MuleyFever]

The part that boggles my mind is the auto tip suggestions at what are essentially "fast food" establishments. I'll graciously tip for good service at a sit down restaurant but why am I going to tip someone who just hands me a bag or cup of coffee? The expectation to tip is getting out of hand.

This also pissed me off. You dont deserve a tip for making my pizza and setting it on the rack for me to walk in and get it. They are asking for tips before I even get my order. I dont know what kind of service I am getting. What if the order is messed up?

 

[RMM]

The part that boggles my mind is the auto tip suggestions at what are essentially "fast food" establishments. I'll graciously tip for good service at a sit down restaurant but why am I going to tip someone who just hands me a bag or cup of coffee? The expectation to tip is getting out of hand.

The simple answer is, because they can. To expect a tip in this situation is BS. I'm not sure they're expecting a tip, but rather just putting the option there to see what they can get.

 

[5MilesBack]

I always know what the bill should look like even before the cashier rings it up. I never trust anyone's math, I always audit my receipts for totals and never use their "suggested" tip amounts.

 

[intunegp]

Carry cash..

If you really want to screw the .gov and get back to the days of 10% tip by tipping with cash

If you're tipping with your CC, that money goes to the employer first and the server doesn't see it for another 2ish weeks. That money also gets taxed because its recorded as being paid to the employee. Cut out the 2 middlemen getting their cut of that pie.

The part of your comment I bolded is not true in my experience. Everywhere I worked in my serving/bartending days got square with you at the end of each shift. Whatever you earned in credit card tips was paid out in cash before you left the building. If you happened to be carrying more cash than you earned in tips, you paid them the difference. Credit card tips are recorded and taxed, but everyone in the industry knows to fudge the numbers in their favor when it comes time to report the cash portion.

 

[cnelk]

Tips are earned - not to be expected

 

[YellCoAR]

I told myself I am done with this tipping scam going on in todays world. I will only tip if I am at a place where I am seated and served at my table.
I have a job that requires a license by the State. I pay all overhead for the business as I am the owner. I have been doing this job for 35 years. The commission paid by the companies have reduced the past few years. I am lucky to receive 10 to 12%. Most companies do not pay commissions on any fees.
I just don't understand how counter service deserves a 20% tip.

 

[roadrunner]

Another thing to watch out for; my wife and I went to a brewery and had a few beers. She treated me. Instead of leaving a tip on CC, she put cash in the tip jar. When she went out to the car, she got a notification from her CC and noticed the total did not match the bill. I calculated the difference, and it appears the bartender left himself a 20% tip on the machine.

That's CC fraud.

 

[cnelk]

A good watch about 'tipflation'

 

[ODB]

I hear what you’re saying and I agree with all of it. But that said, inflation is ripping apart many, many, mom and pop restaurant and they are simply trying to survive. The wait staff, who never had it easy, is struggling to keep their heads above water.

So I make it a point to tip generously. You can also tell that some of the older wait staff are struggling more than most, so I try to be more generous with them.

The media pretends that’s it’s not happening, but really hard times are here for many of our fellow citizens

Mate, this isn’t about servers or restaurants (or patrons, hello?) getting ripped apart etc. It’s about the fact that no matter how small the difference, if you click the 20% option and the amount is more than 20% - that’s bullshit - it’s intentional deceit. As I said, especially when the perceived specificity of the amounts (20-22-25%) are shown.

As we were leaving an older couple sat down and told the waitress they were expecting six more people. I wonder how much extra they would unknowingly tip if they just hit the % option? And if the answer is “caveat emptor” then are we saying that a business can do anything of the sort and it’s simply up to us to constantly ferret out the lie?

You know what makes a restaurant and wait staff struggle? When the restaurant pulls bullshit trickery like this. Because we will never eat there again (the food was nothing special anyway), and when we talk with our local friends, we will tell them this story and to avoid the place (or any other place that does the same). In this case, it’s caveat venditor.

 

[MNGrouser]

I share the OP's frustration with mandatory/expected/deceitful tipping practices. I've got an additional frustration with tipping. I dislike that it is percentage based. I hadn't really thought of it before because, "tips are based on percent of the check". Everyone knows that. A neighbor griped about it to me and it made good sense.
Lets say I go out for breakfast at some greasy spoon. Some little old lady gets up before the sun and busts her butt bringing me my eggs and hashbrowns and making sure my coffee cup stays full. The bill is $20. A twenty percent tip is four bucks.
Now I go out for a steak dinner with my girlfriend. The server brings us steaks and drinks. Food is good but she doesn't have to work any harder than the breakfast waitress who called me "Hun". This bill is $150. For essentially the same service, should the steakhouse waitress get $26 more???

 

[intunegp]

I share the OP's frustration with mandatory/expected/deceitful tipping practices. I've got an additional frustration with tipping. I dislike that it is percentage based. I hadn't really thought of it before because, "tips are based on percent of the check". Everyone knows that. A neighbor griped about it to me and it made good sense.
Lets say I go out for breakfast at some greasy spoon. Some little old lady gets up before the sun and busts her butt bringing me my eggs and hashbrowns and making sure my coffee cup stays full. The bill is $20. A twenty percent tip is four bucks.
Now I go out for a steak dinner with my girlfriend. The server brings us steaks and drinks. Food is good but she doesn't have to work any harder than the breakfast waitress who called me "Hun". This bill is $150. For essentially the same service, should the steakhouse waitress get $26 more???

Since we're talking in hypotheticals...

How long does it take you to have eggs and hashbrowns and a couple cups of coffee? 30 minutes? You sit down and order the first time she visits the table. She brings you one or two coffee refills poured from the pot into your mug, your plate of food, and soon enough you're gone. She can probably easily care for 6-8 tables at the same time. She's made $24-32 in that 30 minutes for carrying plates and pouring coffee.

Steak dinner with your girlfriend? You're probably sitting at the table for an hour and a half at least. Server comes to say hi and get your drink order. Comes back with drinks and takes an order. Maybe has to come back with an appetizer or some bread or rolls. Brings you a salad before your meal but after the appetizer leaving enough time for you to enjoy each one. Brings your steak when it's ready and has to come back again with some steak sauce. Has to come back within the first few bites to make sure the steaks are cooked properly. You've probably needed at least one or two drink refills during this time where she has to take the cup away, get you a fresh one, ice it and refill it. Maybe you want dessert for your romantic night out. She'll be back with that. She can maybe care for 4-5 tables at the same time while still providing good service to all. She's made $120-$150 in that 90 minutes.

Steakhouse server works harder for you, and makes more money for it.

 

[thinhorn_AK]

I never tip on those machines. I agree to pay the price on the menu. If the server is good, I’ll leave a cash tip but no way is it going to be 15-20% that is just ridiculous.

If servers don’t like that customers won’t subsidize their salaries so restraint owners can make even larger profits that’s on them. If you agree to work for 2.13 (or whatever it is per hour these days)…..that’s on you.

 

[thinhorn_AK]

I share the OP's frustration with mandatory/expected/deceitful tipping practices. I've got an additional frustration with tipping. I dislike that it is percentage based. I hadn't really thought of it before because, "tips are based on percent of the check". Everyone knows that. A neighbor griped about it to me and it made good sense.
Lets say I go out for breakfast at some greasy spoon. Some little old lady gets up before the sun and busts her butt bringing me my eggs and hashbrowns and making sure my coffee cup stays full. The bill is $20. A twenty percent tip is four bucks.
Now I go out for a steak dinner with my girlfriend. The server brings us steaks and drinks. Food is good but she doesn't have to work any harder than the breakfast waitress who called me "Hun". This bill is $150. For essentially the same service, should the steakhouse waitress get $26 more???

Exactly. This is why I don’t use those machines and just tip what I feel like tipping. If you piss them off, who cares.

 

[11boo]

Tips are earned - not to be expected

Yep, if I am standing up to order my food you better impress me somehow to hit your tip cup. There are a couple local joints that go above/beyond, so I hit their cup.

 

[svivian]

The tipping before receiving service is such bullshit... then when you don't tip you're just expecting for someone to spit in your food or deliver less quality.

 

[WV Mountaineer]

This shit started a long time ago. 25 plus years ago.


I bought a beer at a bar a couple years ago. I handed the bartender a $10. He handed my beer and stuffed my $6 in the tip jar. Turned away and went to another customer. Like it was expected.

He didn’t appreciate me taking it all back out. I don’t care. And I would have slid him a $20 the last beer of the night as my tip. Like I always had.

Somewhere along the line the meaning of tip has gotten lost. And especially in the service sector, it’s become expected. Yet the service has gotten worse. Steadily. To the point a night out to dinner will find me and my wife setting in a restaurant owned and run by immigrants with visa labor. It’s the only way to get what you pay for.

 

[ScreamingPotato]

Somewhere along the line the meaning of tip has gotten lost. And especially in the service sector, it’s become expected. Yet the service has gotten worse. Steadily. To the point a night out to dinner will find me and my wife setting in a restaurant owned and run by immigrants with visa labor. It’s the only way to get what you pay for.

100%

 

[TaperPin]

My brother in law has to be the cheapest tight asss when it comes to tipping - he always wants to look at other people’s receipts so if anyone over tipped, he feels justified in reducing his amount.

I’ve never known any restaurant staff to be living high on the hog - except for the super hot bartenders - so I try to over tip to help them pay bills. Honest, I can’t imagine kissing asses all day for people who don’t appreciate it - oh wait, that’s exactly what everyone in any kind of service job does.

 

[AK Troutbum]

I got burned at a restaurant down in AZ a couple months ago. I paid for a nice dinner for 5 people, to the sum of a couple hundred $$, I was automatically charged a 20% tip and it was on top of the sales tax. I wasn't paying attention so not only did I tip the subpar waitress 20%, but I also tipped 20% on the taxes.

 

[cnelk]

Somewhere along the line the meaning of tip has gotten lost. And especially in the service sector, it’s become expected. Yet the service has gotten worse.

Per the YouTube video link I posted earlier in the thread, the meaning of 'TIP' is...

To Insure Promptness