Leaving money at the restaurant table ... fact or fiction ?

[mrr1]

Tipping is just a way for employers to download their responsibility for paying decent wages directly onto the shoulders of their customers.

I wish restaurants would eliminate tipping altogether, pay their employees better salaries, and just increase the cost of their menu items to make up for it. No tips required - we pay for what we agreed to at the start. Then we can do away with this awkward "tip" nonsense.

[spectre08]

Originally Posted by mrr1

Tipping is just a way for employers to download their responsibility for paying decent wages directly onto the shoulders of their customers.

I wish restaurants would eliminate tipping altogether, pay their employees better salaries, and just increase the cost of their menu items to make up for it. No tips required - we pay for what we agreed to at the start. Then we can do away with this awkward "tip" nonsense.

the overwhelming majority of service employees would disagree with you hard.

There should be a balance though. Employers should pay a living wage to employees, even tipped employees, but that shouldn't mean tips should go away completely.

[fatediesel]

Originally Posted by mrr1

Tipping is just a way for employers to download their responsibility for paying decent wages directly onto the shoulders of their customers.

I wish restaurants would eliminate tipping altogether, pay their employees better salaries, and just increase the cost of their menu items to make up for it. No tips required - we pay for what we agreed to at the start. Then we can do away with this awkward "tip" nonsense.

Joe's Crab Shack tried eliminating tipping, raising prices and paying higher wages at 18 of their restaurants. Pretty much everyone hated it. Some servers quit because they weren't making as much as before. Customers didn't like the higher prices and the lack of incentive for the servers to do a good job and sales went down significantly. They've now lowered prices and gone back to a tipping structure in 14 of the 18 restaurants.

[sk33tr]

as far as a % to leave for a tip, i start at 20% when i sit down at the table. how the service goes dictates how much the tip goes up or down from there.

i won't leave less than 12%. and i have left over 20% on a few occasions when the server went above and beyond. as well, i let those know, who went above and beyond, that i really appreciated everything they did to make it a pleasant experience.

[faultline]

Being a former server and restaurant manager, I can tell you what "should be" is irrelevant to what is. Some west coast states pay minimum wage + tips, while others only pay $4.90/hour guaranteed. If you are not making tips, which for good service is 20% of the bill, you are considering the oldest profession in history to help supplement your income... prostitution. It goes without saying, if you're not willing to tip (and the norm is not a set amount but a percentage of the bill), then you don't need to go out to get a meal. Tip yourself and throw the ol' vented meat tray in the microwave and do middle class America a favor by staying home.

Originally Posted by mrr1

Tipping is just a way for employers to download their responsibility for paying decent wages directly onto the shoulders of their customers.

I wish restaurants would eliminate tipping altogether, pay their employees better salaries, and just increase the cost of their menu items to make up for it. No tips required - we pay for what we agreed to at the start. Then we can do away with this awkward "tip" nonsense.

[pmil]

Originally Posted by mrr1

Tipping is just a way for employers to download their responsibility for paying decent wages directly onto the shoulders of their customers.

I wish restaurants would eliminate tipping altogether, pay their employees better salaries, and just increase the cost of their menu items to make up for it. No tips required - we pay for what we agreed to at the start. Then we can do away with this awkward "tip" nonsense.

That's the last thing I would like to see happen in America. Tipping encourages excellent service. It's merit pay, which is a good thing. We should have merit pay as a part of many other salaries.