Likely. But with me, they can’t have their cake and eat it.
A banquet facility always has a fixed tip and probably in the 18-20% range. No issues there that anyone is getting cut short.
If the restaurant has established a tip amount, that’s good enough for me. It’s fairly common for parties of 8 or more. If you want to tip more, you can.
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Well, I see it more as a way to get deadbeats to contribute. I don’t see that as a reason to penalize workers, if you would otherwise tip more. I typically tip about 20%, maybe higher on a small check. Not sure it’s worth the effort to bump 18 to 20, but I wouldn’t let the fact that it’s built in stop me.
Ate lunch today at a place that added an automatic 22%. Which is plenty, so I left it as is.
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The example given was 22% not 18. I can’t remember the last time I tipped 18%. The main issue for me is if the server does a good job I’ll be more than generous with the tip. Where is then incentive to do a good job when 22% is a given?
As a consumer I can always choose to eat at an establishment without that policy. For the sake of the discussion I’m throwing in my opinion.
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Then add it to the cost of the food. My tip is reflective of the level of service I receive.
The reality is that the way servers are paid is broken, the tip economy is ridiculous. When I was in grad school, my roommate was a bartender at a very popular resto/bar/dance place near san diego state. That guy came home with probably $300 a night, plus a girl, or two. That’s like $1000 now, and 4 or five girls after inflation. Good for him, but tipping can get pretty crazy. Otoh, I drank for free, and met my wife (longer story) at his bar, so can’t complain lol.
But what I want to say is that I don’t think the majority of servers change their work ethic based on tips. Most workers, in other industries, don’t work for tips, and they provide good service. I’ve eaten at numerous restaurants that have no tipping, and their staff are excellent, no drop off from being tipped.
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Sorry. I thought you were replying to the 18% post.
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I’ll personally never understand how scrimping servers on tips is going to result in restaurants changing their policies. That attitude is just punishing the labor and not anyone who makes actual decisions at the restaurant. It hasn’t changed anything since tipping has been in place and it won’t now.
This is a pretty facetious argument. Of course if your service charge is 66% ($30 vs 18 originally) no one would go.
If the service charge is 18%, I’m probably not tipping on top of that unless service is outstanding
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Serious question: where are you guys experiencing service that deserves no tip? In decades of dining, I honestly can’t remember a case where I wanted to punish a server by leaving no tip. Am I just a lot more forgiving of bad service? Are some of you folks bringing out the worst in your servers lol? No one is perfect, sometimes people forget things, or let things slip, or get an order wrong, whatever. It would have to be something pretty egregious to get me to leave zero tip, and at that point the proper recourse is probably with the management, not the tip line.
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I’ve done it once. It was a steakhouse and my steak was way past well done, it was inedible. I mean, it looked like it was forgotten in the oven for extra 15 minutes. I mentioned that to the server, and she said it looks fine to her.
I waited 10 minutes thinking she’ll get a second opinion, nope. That was it.
0.00, that’s all she deserved.
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I get all the arguments on both sides about tipping culture, but the thing we should all agree on is that the automatic charge, which is not explained in a crystal clear fashion whether it’s equivalent to a tip or not (usually instead giving a bunch of high minded sounding jargon about living wages and health care costs etc), is the worst of all the options.
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So it’s rare?
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No, it was well done.
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I wish it was.
It’s not hard, it’s impossible. It’s nothing to do with ‘copy cat world’. It’s economics 101.
The moment one restaurant raises their prices for an ‘all-in’ model, customers are going to take their money elsewhere. Maybe not you, but 99% will.
As noted up-thread, Danny Meyer did everything he could to institute this, and ultimately had to stop, as he couldn’t make the numbers work. If Danny couldn’t, nobody else is going to, not in the current system.
Couldn’t agree more that the tipping culture in America is nauseating. And while I refuse to be shaken down for tips in ‘non-tipping’ situations, the reality is that, in the restaurant industry, servers are almost never paid a living/fair wage, because of the tipping system in place there.
While I don’t like that model, that’s the model in place, and so I’m more than happy to do my part there. None of these servers are driving Bentleys. As Nathan pointed out above, the vast majority live paycheck to paycheck.
Sure, that’s the ideal. But the government isn’t ever going to do a damn thing on this. The system is entrenched. We can hate it, we can even avoid it if we want, by not dining out.
But let’s not screw the people bringing us the food because we’re not happy with the system.
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Depends which government you’re talking about. I believe every restaurant worker in California must be paid the state minimum wage of $15. Restaurants seem to be doing pretty well here, at least in the metropolis areas I frequent.
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Good point Alan. I mean at the federal level. At the state level, I do appreciate that certain states have stepped up to make the situation more equitable. Though that has the effect of making things even more confusing, not less, for those dining outside of their own state.
I understand where you’re coming from but I don’t think the logic holds.
I’ve never had a poor experience with a server (kitchen, yes, but they bent over backwards to fix it) when in a large party where an 18% service charge is typical. I doubt that an extra 4% is going to change that behavior, regardless of party size. Are waiters in Europe all lazy because they get a decent wage and benefits, and are not tip dependent?
There is both a carrot and a stick incentive for servers to perform when there’s an included service charge, be it 18% or 22%. The carrot: a generous diner may add to the included charge for exceptional service. The stick: a diner may complain to management about rude or substandard service, especially if there’s a large mandatory service fee.
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I prefer the European way as well. But we have what we have. My tipping policy is not going to change the business model. Nor is it in the power of servers, individually or collectively, to change it. Management has tried, without success. A solution based on the European model would get into politics, so I’ll leave it there.
I don’t think there’s anything wrong with your tipping policy. It seems typical here. I explained why I’m happy to leave more.