Lets go wild.
You buy a beer.
You as the patron ask which beer they should buy.
They recommend.
You buy beer at that price.
Where does paying wage come into this? |
I live somewhere with no tipping. It’s great. And let me remind you that service in Japan is consistently 1000% better than anywhere in the USA. Hmmm...and they’re not working for tips? (Yes, it means that they are getting real wages, often salary and benefits). There might be an argument for this system from small, independent restaurants who find it hard to pay good salaries. But so many places where people eat and drink are huge, prosperous chains, who can afford to pay.
When I am back in the States, tipping at restaurants is bad enough--at a bar it is a nightmare. And woe is me should I forget to toss in that extra buck. Might get passed over next time.
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Originally posted by KyotoLefty
let me remind you that service in Japan is consistently 1000% better than anywhere in the USA.
Pretty bold statement. |
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My first job in High School was in the food service industry and I worked though college as well. I honestly like the idea of tipping rather than an increased wage for the employee and increased profits for the establishment. Just because the Sale price of a Drink or food item goes up 15-20% doesn’t mean that the employees wage will go up 15-20%. Margins on food are slim, beer and liquor higher but labor, as in any business is the highest expense. A simple 15-20% increase in Menu prices would not be enough to cover the HIDDEN expense that an employer would have in increased Federal State and local Payroll, and Unemployment compensation taxes which are base on wages PAID to employees.
The GREATEST thing about the "Tipping System" is that the Server has a skin in the game throughout the entire process. The fact that they are tipped on a Percentage of the total sale is a WIN for the Establishment, naturally if the server is smart they will make sure that your drink is full, and be encouraged to sell you apps, desert and the house specials which typically for an establishment will be lower in price but higher in margin. A good server will hopefully know the line between pushy and suggestive, if they cross that line naturally your percentage of tip will go down. By the same token, a quick responsive, and efficient server that is on the floor attending to their guest rather than standing in back having a cig or trying to hook up with the new bartender, will also earn more because they made your experience enjoyable. They have a SKIN IN THE GAME from the time you sit at their table until you sign the bill or leave the cash. The ultimate commission system where hard workers make great money and slackers don’t and go away. Sell more and increase your base deliver it well and be efficient and attentive and increase your percentage.
On the bad side of tipping is the "Pooled TIP" in places such a BW3’s where you really don’t have one particular server, this works great for slacker servers, but not for those that know how to make money. Your tips go into a bucket and get split equally at the end of the night. Someone that hustles and is good wont last long because they will catch on that their hard work is just filling the slacker’s pocket. The wings are good and the ones that I have been to have a wide variety of beers but the service is typically less than stellar.
Kind of like being the kid in school that does all of the work on the school project because they want an A, being stuck with the kid that just needs to pass the class.
Not in the "Industry" any more but I have encouraged my kids to do it during school because if your reliable you can stay hired and if your good you can truly "EARN" great part time money.
Originally posted by whaleman
Originally posted by craftycarl21
I work in the industry full time. While I would love for tipping to not be required, you also have to realize that for restaurants to pay their employees what they make hourly in tips as just a standard wage, your entree will have to be $40 instead of $24 (very rough estimate). The money doesn’t just magically appear to make an establishment be able to afford an 800% increase in wages.
If an average tip is 20% (for instance) and tipping was eliminated, wouldn’t a 20% increase in the cost of all menu items cover the increase in wages? Everybody would spend the same amount. Everybody would earn the same amount. No tipping involved.
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Originally posted by KyotoLefty
I live somewhere with no tipping. It’s great. And let me remind you that service in Japan is consistently 1000% better than anywhere in the USA. Hmmm...and they’re not working for tips?
I’d chalk that up to culture. You’ve perhaps been gone long enough to forget that American culture is all about being as lazy as you can possibly can get away with. It blows my mind when I have to make some request to some employee that will take them a total of 30 seconds extra work, and they get this look of pure exasperation on their face because they have to do extra work—which is so fucking horrible, because otherwise they would have the freedom to just stand there and do absolutely nothing. It’s the American way. |
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Originally posted by TheBeerSommelier
Originally posted by after4ever
Originally posted by mkgrenwel
Originally posted by pinkie
Also I like to remember that waiting tables is a hard job, physically and emotionally demanding. In the case of the delivery driver they work under the same conditions as the post man - rain, snow, sleet and dark of night. It’s only money. What’s a couple of bucks?
However don’t try to snow me. Pizza guy came to the door and said he had no change. I said "I’m not giving you $30 for this pizza." He went and got the change.
This is not at all about how much these employees should or should not make. Again, the premise is that they would make the same money, just from an hourly wage rather than tips.
And we would pay the same money, just in product pricing rather than tips. Don’t kid yourself.
This. Consumers will bear the monetary burden either way.
Restaurant owners will necessarily cry poverty (no matter who they are, or how successful they are), if they thought for one second they’d need to keep their prices the same, with no tips allowed.
So they wouldn’t.
Again, you people need to read my previous posts. I’m not looking to save a buck. I am suggesting that product prices are raised to a place that is equivalent to current price plus an average tip, and that that additional cost gets directly passed on to the server in increased hourly wages. On an average, typical transaction the patron pays out the same amount, the owner takes in the same profit, and the server takes home the same amount.
I am completely fine with employees making the money they make, and I am completely fine with patrons including myself paying that cost for service. I am not OK with the dynamics of how that money changes hands, and how unevenly and inconsistently those funds are often distributed.
FWIW I lived on tips for two years as a bartender. This isn’t about disdain for service industry employees. I think that tipping is actually a disservice to the work they do. An alternative system would actually be to their benefit, as the article explains. |
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I like the idea of tipping, even if the research cited shows that quality of service may not have anything to do with the tip. I am anti-union, and I believe that if Americans have no financial incentive to do their job well, they won’t. As cited in the article, servers provide poor service to those (blacks) who they know (statistically) don’t tip well. If you eliminate the concept of tipping, then all servers will likely suck.
I’m not a fan of the idea of tipping hairstylists, cab drivers, and persons who don’t earn a small hourly wage, though. |
I didn’t wade through five pages of this, because it’s late and I just got back from work. That’s relevant. I work as a bartender, at a pretty beer-friendly restaurant that pays its employees $2.33/hr and its bartenders about $8/hr. Half the time, people tip well, about a dollar or more above the standard 20% (yes, that’s the standard now, get used to it). I’m doing better that most, because I also help plan events, and get compensated for that. However...
There are people there my age and older, with children, who are trying to make a living. They work doubles, otherwise long hours, etc, and they’re barely scraping by.
Absolutely, tipping should be outlawed. But it’s not going to be anytime soon, and until then: just tip more. Believe me, we’ll make it worth your while. |
Originally posted by whaleman
Originally posted by craftycarl21
I work in the industry full time. While I would love for tipping to not be required, you also have to realize that for restaurants to pay their employees what they make hourly in tips as just a standard wage, your entree will have to be $40 instead of $24 (very rough estimate). The money doesn’t just magically appear to make an establishment be able to afford an 800% increase in wages.
If an average tip is 20% (for instance) and tipping was eliminated, wouldn’t a 20% increase in the cost of all menu items cover the increase in wages? Everybody would spend the same amount. Everybody would earn the same amount. No tipping involved.
No, because some servers only make $2-$3 an hour in wage. Let’s say with tips factored in they make $25/hour, then in order for the establishment to play an hourly wage that comes close to that they’re increasing it by nearly 1000%. There is going to require a serious increase in profit on goods in order to accommodate that increase.
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