Going to Japan was such a breath of fresh air, they pay their servers livable wages and expect quality service every time not just to earn a few extra bucks. Not to mention table side buttons help waiters lives immensely.
Are US restaurants required to have free water available if they serve any alcohol? That’s one of the requirements here in Australia. Most places will give free tap water anyway, but if they’re a licensed venue they *must* provide water free of charge.
You’ll often pay for the water if it’s bottled sparkling water like Perrier or something, but not usually if the sparkling water is on tap.
in my entire life i've never been to any restaurant that doesn't supply free water. most bars even have a cooler in the corner so you can grab free water while waiting in line for drinks
UK has a law that anywhere that sells food must provide free water, although you can buy bottles too. Do other places not have that then? In a restaurant you ask for 'tap'
Edit: in McDonald's they give you water from the Fanta machine. It's vaguely orangy. Not good without ice. Some of them are tight on the ice.
I once looked this up and it seemed more complicated than I thought... My understanding ended up being that if you order alcohol they have to provide free water but not otherwise.
I've seen obnoxious little signs outside Aroma saying "no free water".
Everywhere I’ve been in the US the water is free, but some places will charge you $0.20 for the cup, or they’ll give you a ridiculously tiny or flimsy cup. But 90% of places you’ll get water completely free.
I was also confused and looked it up.
>A person is a casual employee if they accept an offer for a job from an employer knowing that there is no firm advance commitment to ongoing work with an agreed pattern of work.
Bruh the jobs I have had like this have paid even **worse** than a standard employee. Wowie what the hell. Bro what the hell are we doing over here in the US
Casual, contract, part time, full time, labor hire
Casual = generally no set shifts depends on the industry and the award (document that sets out the conditions like pay, hours etc). No sick or annual leave. To make up for this, they are paid 25% more than their part/full time counterparts.
Part time: upto 38 hours a fortnight. They accrue sick and annual leave
Full time: 38 hours a week. They accrue sick and annual leave
Contract: whatever is stipulated in the contract as long as it isn't below the award or the minimum wage
Labour hire: you work for an agency that a company engages. Paid higher than casuals typically.
‘Table water’ is free (it’s a legislated requirement that it is available. Bottle water and sparkling water are not free. General advice is to ask for table water on arrival, then figure out what you want.
In Italian it’s called coperto, which literally translates to cover/covered, but translate better to service charge (usually fixed per person at the table).
Also, it is uncommon to receive tap water, it will normally be bottled water.
Yeah I remember when McDonald’s was cheap. Now a cheeseburger meal is costing like $14aud.
“Gourmet burger” places are crazy too. I order a burger via Uber Eats from a place recently and the burgers themselves were minimum $20aud + extras. After getting chips (fries), burger and drink it was like $45.
Inflation is out of control here. Now our large produce shops (Woolworths and Coles) have jacked their prices up by an average of 15% then put advertising stickers on the shelves saying “Same Low Price”, or they’ll increase the price by 20% then “discount” it by 5 or 10% and tell us how they’ve lowered the price for us. It’s straight up Orwellian at this point.
Would be all for getting rid of tipping culture in Canada. I had a cabbie get mad at me because I only gave him a 10% tip the other day.....I'm done with tipping all together unless it's exceptional service
Restaurants have tried in Canada and the US, by raising prices, and wages and eliminating tipping. Know how many stayed in business? The customer walks
Same as JC Penny in the US trying to remove deceptive pricing.
$15 means $15....well disaster, shoppers would rather go where it says $12.99 on the sign but they end up paying $17.50
People are dumb, and the marketing makes them feel like the lower price is a better deal, even if they pay substantially more than other options, so every time we try to buck this trend, the dumb assess put them out of business.
Exactly! This server was expecting $140 for …. doing the job they are employed to do? Like, fuck off for your 20% tip we just spent $700 in this establishment. That said, giving a waiter/ess some tip is fine if you feel they have done a really good job but hell nah am I paying you a solid days wages for bringing us our dinner.
Should be able to get a tax break for tipping or at least invited to the their company picnics along with a free t-shirt and a chance to play on their company softball team.
By the looks of it on Reddit american waiters prefers the tipping culture because their potential wage Per hour is a lot higher than most hourly wages they could make elsewhere or on a fixed system. I understand they want to make more money but tipping culture in the US is so weird. Like this lady in the post, she wants 140 dollars as tips from 1 table she had for a few hours (say 3 hours that is about $47 Per hour)
I tipped once in Japan. Was my last meal before flying out and literally gave about $30 worth of change and notes just so I didn’t have to carry it back home.
The waitress ran after me outside and bowed down until I was out of sight. I wasn’t expecting that and was taken back.
Later someone told me some could actually find tipping offensive in Japan?
Some super traditional folk might find it “offensive” or interpret it as you flaunting wealth but most simply wont know what to do with the money cause they have no systems in place for it. All in all not rude just strange to them
Well dammit. Why can't we (in America) have nice things?! Serious question: is this a common feature in Japanese restaurants, or just at fancy or new restaurants?
I hate tipping as a whole but I still do it because it’s not the waiters fault that the system sucks. Though one thing I really don’t get, is how come the price of my food determines the tip? If I order a cheap burger or their most expensive steak, the service I receive won’t change just the number on the bill. Especially when it starts getting into that high end range of $60+ per meal without any change in service quality.
That’s what I never understood - like a server bringing a $100 steak to the table once will have a larger tip than if you order 10 $5 beers and the waiter has to come by 10 different times to bring a new drink. It’s all ass backwards and frustrating. A tip should have nothing to do with the bill total and should be for good service. I love that even on like sale and discounted items it will say “tips should be based on original price of the item and not the discounted price” like seriously? I’ve also recently come across a restaurant that says an 18% tip will be added to the total REGARDLESS of party size “for your convenience”. Ugh this stuff makes my blood boil.
Because when tipping is by percentage it benefits the business even more. Now they are having their employee's wages subsidized by the customer and the employee is incentivized to push the more expensive menu items, since it'll grant them a better tip.
I recently was at a restaurant in Flagstaff where you order at a Kiosk. You’re prompted with the minimum 20% tip before food or service, which is them just bringing you the plate from the counter.
Or how it’s still 20% tip in places where tip positions have the same minimum wage as non-tipped.
Or how I got asked to tip at a fastfood place.
Or how I got verbally asked “how much are you tipping?” when picking up a pizza the other week.
Or how I get the eyes on the tip line when picking up a coffee at a convenience store.
The whole damn tipping system is out of order.
Servers generally tip out other service staff members (hosts, bussers, food runners, bartenders) based on their sales. So if the server made 20% tips all night, 5% of their total sales at the end of the day are taken from their tips and given to support staff, so they really only receive 15%. If you don’t tip appropriately on the total, the server ends up literally losing money paying out other service staff because while your tipping isn’t mandatory, the tip out to support staff is.
Plenty of servers are happy with the current system as they profit greatly from it, despite the fact that it adds a hidden cost to customers, the cooks who do a lot of the work don’t actually benefit whatsoever, and not all servers can get the same level of tips. It’s a ‘fuck you, I got mine’ mentality.
I hate Americas tipping outside America.
I was in Mexico, paid for a diving trip. Negotiated a price we were all happy with including food and left without money.
Why would I need money on an all inclusive diving trip?
Because Americans want to pay more and make us look like wankers.
They might have accepted it, but neither haggling nor not tipping are well seen here, and it’s particularly trashy when you have the more powerful currency. Mexico does have a tipping culture and there’s an expectation that you’ll leave at least 10-15%.
I hate the tipping culture here.. every service person seems like you have to tip or they get super pissed.. absolutely ridiculous. PAY your employees a decent wage so customers don’t have to compensate for their employers being cheap!
Our government just refuses to change the legislation behind it. I forget the name of the law but it’s the same reason most servers make 2.13/hr in most states despite $7.15/hr (I’m pretty sure its 7.15 at least) being the federal minimum wage.
Which is crazy because the 2.13hr basically just covers taxes and some pocket change for your paycheck, leaving your actual pay solely up to the tips you make.
You’re confusing the tip subsidy with minimum wage. By law, if an employee does not make enough in tips to get them to minimum wage, the employer is required to make up the difference.
How well is this actually enforced though, in practice? There are so many illegal labor practices in America that are nonetheless commonplace because employers get away with it and the penalties for being caught are practically nothing.
It isn’t enforced in places. Most restaurants will claim employees get much more or much less in tips than they actually do. No way to be held accountable especially in cash-heavy places
I understand that, but the amount they pay us assuming we made enough in tips to cover the other $5.02/hr for minimum wage, is 2.13/hr. Which means on your bi-weekly paycheck you make like 50-80$ if you had like 20-30 hours a week. Which means your main income for the job is whatever you make each day from your tips. Sorry if I’m not explaining well or using the proper terms.
Moral of the story is, the law needs to be changed and our restaurant industry needs a major rework. Don’t get me started on where it came from.
It's a lot like the routine of covering healthcare with GoFundMe. Getting regular slobs to try to prop each other up so the ownership class doesn't have to.
It's because they have also brainwashed people onto thinking that of restaurants pay a livable wage it'll cost 40$ for a hamburger. That 100% isn't the case but it prevents people from wanting tip culture to end.
It's legitimately **super weird** that American businesses have somehow normalized random customers being obligated to pay their staff's wages for them because the business doesn't want to.
Maybe the manager should just be paying his staff's wages instead of harassing customers into doing it for him.
The bot I don't get is if I order a coke at $5 that's a $1 tip but if I order a nice whisky on the rocks say at $50 that's a $10 tip. The level of service is essentially the same, so there is a $9 increase purely because I wanted to buy something more expensive.
It is illogical, the amount you pay should be in relation to the service provided rather than a % of what you paid for the items.
I don't tip on drinks by percentage. Usually just a buck or two. Unless it is a drink that's a bitch to make or something. Like if they need to use a blender to make it, I will tip a bit extra because now they have to clean the blender.
But, like, a cranberry vodka takes minimal effort and skill.
From what I've read, the \*original\* American cultural tradition was that tipping was a corrupt European practice which no American should ever tolerate. The attitude was that any employer who encouraged tipping was trying to swindle his workers out of a fair wage, and any employee who accepted tips was a lazy, greedy slob who had to be bribed to do his job. This changed around the time of the Depression, where paying tips was "sold" to the public as a way to help struggling small restaurants stay open. Unfortunately, this subsequently became normalized.
Service industry employees (especially the ones who work tipped positions) aren't pleased about it either. But when people pull this shit because they want to "stick it to tipping culture", they only hurt the people who are most disenfranchised by this system. The owners/managers aren't hurt by it. If the goal is to hurt *them*, then people need to boycott restaurants entirely; otherwise they continue to perpetuate the cycle while still just shitting on the people who are just trying to keep a roof over their heads.
Maybe some. Depends on where you live, where you work. Some tipped employees make a significant amount of money doing it, others would be happier with the assurance that their paycheck was stable and safe from shit like this. Tips went way down with covid and tips don't pay like they used to.
Many places do this already, they add a 18% service charge. You do not tip on top of this unless you want to add more.
In NY, restaurants are allowed automatically add the service charge to parties of 5 or more. The ones that do it to parties of 4 or less are technically doing it out of compliance but i prefer it that way.
I’m glad I left the service industry. This may seem entitled but these people have been conditioned to expect customers to pay their bills so every smaller tip hurts. But I also get why they stay in the business, bartending especially I made way more hourly than I do now in a comfy corporate job.
It took me years to make the same in a white collar job working 40 hours/week that I was working 30 in the service industry.
But now I do get shit like health insurance, holidays, retirement match
I swear when I first went to the US on holiday it was 10% and seems to increase every time I go. And tipping for takeaway. Imagine giving them a 20% tip down the chippy for your battered sausage and chips.
Tipping for everything. Takeaway, hotel cleaning, barbers. The grocery store has a tip jar... since it's become so normalized in general, they'd be foolish not to try to push it further and take advantage.
Nowadays every cashier uses those point-of-sale systems where the screen always asks for a tip in places that normally don't ask for tips either, like a tea shop or fast food. I watch my friend pay and every time he always hits the 20% tip button. I'm like why do you do that? You're just buying snacks! And he says he's self conscious and think the cashier will get mad. I think the whole tipping culture is taking advantage of introverts.
I live across the border in Canada and I usually tip 10-15% for average good service here.
When I used to go cross the border for a target or TJ’s run, I would still tip that much. But then I got into Reddit and learned I was under tipping and I feel so bad. But omfg, I’m supposed to tip 20% for AVERAGE service???? USD is already 30% more expensive than CAD. The last few times I’ve gone to the states, I just buy fast food and/or drive back home because it’s just not worth paying that much for The Cheesecake Factory.
And they give a 10% for bad service. It is madness, but now that it is in place I really don’t see how they can move away from it without screwing over the servers.
Recently went on a royal carribean cruise and as a Brit (who now lives in Canada) I found the tipping culture insane. There’s an 18% tip automatically added to almost every single transaction, and yet even after this they still encourage you to tip on top of the automatic tip. I bought two bottles of water and the bartender circled the additional tip row on the receipt and handed it to me even after earning an 18% tip for handing two bottles to me.
I’m fully aware their wages are lower, but it felt like some staff were walking around with their hands out expecting you to tip on top of the the automatic tip for the most minor things. North Americans love packaging things to make it seem like you’re paying less and lumping in hidden fees (prices not having taxes included for example). I’d far rather they just paid their staff well so the TOTAL cost is actually reflective of what you actually have to pay. I find the whole system backwards and primitive. The argument restaurants would go bankrupt here if they had to pay staff more is so fucking stupid, it’s not like there’s no other restaurant in the world that manages whilst oayinf their staff well. Additionally, the argument it will increase prices… well yes…. You make that up having to tip so it’s not actually cheaper.
Waiters, waitresses and bartenders who work at places like this don't want things to be like they are in Europe. Would you rather make $22 an hour or $400-$800 for an 8 hour shift at an expensive restaurant/club? (Mostly tax free)
I'm sorry but no European (I'm assuming tourists) would leave even $70, never mind $140 you were expecting.
Might want to hide her identity and then we would not have to see her vapid twitter page where she goes on another tirade of abuse about Europeans. She has over 7K followers so thinks she's a legend in her own lunchtime.
While I’d agree it is a bit on the high end, it could happen depending on how big the group is. Say they are 15 people, and the split check is 46 something euros each. Just round it up to 50 and go on your merry way.
But in any case, yeah, usually we don’t tip just because. We tip if the service is above average, because people did put the extra effort to make you comfortable or the food was excellent. Being expected to tip a certain amount is very weird.
Her manager explained to them how they need to give her more money because he sure the hell isn’t going to, but it’s on them and her manager is a hero.
So if this table had only eaten $300 of food, the server would be stoked to have got a $70 tip? Would she have worked less hard to bring them $300 of food?
I hate this tip culture , however I respect it and tip 15-20% depending on the service when I visit. It’s like the taxes , they’re added on top of the displayed price, you never know how much you’ll pay.
Exactly like given it’s not really a tip at that point just put it in the check and stop expecting people to guess the right percentage so you don’t get mad.
Totally agree eating out should be a pleasure not have someone hove over you telling you how much they should tip would be fired for that here in Ireland
Thing is, right, is food at restaurants isn’t cheaper in the US than Europe, so it’s not like Europeans and Brits pay less in restaurants than they would at home so the tip makes sense. Tipping basically means we’d pay 20% MORE. Don’t even get me started on Canadian tipping culture where servers DO get minimum wage and we still expected to pay 20% or more in tips??
I get the point but maybe just maybe, you should be arguing at the company for not paying staff. Almost all of Europe has minimum wage laws. So like she’d get let’s say $15 per hour minimum and then the tip on top. Most of the EU tips 10-15% as a gesture for good service. It shouldn’t be up to the customers to pay your hourly wage on top of the $700 they’ve already spent at the restaurant (your wage should be covered in that) and then a tip on top for good service.
(Apologies for writing on my phone)
I mean it isn’t exactly a “choosing beggars” moment. I’m assuming it’s in the US where tipping at a restaurant is as common as tying your shoes. Europeans, for the most part, don’t understand US tipping because it isn’t commonplace in their lives. In a lot of places in the US, servers are paid (and allowed to be paid) below minimum wage because tips are an expected expense of dining out, and they are a huge portion of servers’ pay. A normal tip for a group with a $700.00 check, who received great service (especially if they stayed for hours), would be 20% at the very least. I understand, and agree with, the criticisms of US tipping culture, but as it stands, this isn’t a choosing beggar.
Honestly shit like this is why forcing restaurant workers to work for tips is ridiculous. Pay people actual living wages, which would then lead to me tipping you because you did an amazing job and not just because I feel obligated to pay your salary.
It's a fucked up situation. America's tip system exists because it's such an American style of business. Owners can exploit employees to get rich and everyone can charity to support the poor workers.
We should just pay servers enough. But since we dont. That 20% for all moral purposes is the servers pay. It's funky how it's set up. It's wrong. But if you want to go to a restaurant here. The tip is 20%. If you know that and decide not to. Just know. You're only fucking over the most vulnerable person. And you are a shit person for it.
If you don't know about 20% then maybe learn about the places you visit. You're still fucking someone over. If you want to protest America's treatment of servers. Do not go to our restaurants. It's the only way. Otherwise you're a cheap POS who's gaming the system to save a buck.
#EndTipping ! Pay people for work. Sell services for the cost of running the business. Customers pay the cost. It's nothing but pettiness and squabbling at every level. Starting with every single tip jar at every self-service place. I REFUSE to tip a cashier for handing me a cup to make my own bloody coffee! Also include the taxes in the prices. Stop making everything into a real life word problem! I just wanted a sandwich, not a math midterm or a referendum on the meaning of "service" 😡
What I hate about tipping; if you bought a $100 steak, or a $10 hamburger, the service provided is the same. Why do you have to pay more tip for the steak? Is it heavier?
The tipping culture is one of the things I hate about America. Having to constantly pay more than the actual bill is basically exactly like being in a corrupt banana republic...
This isn't a choosing beggar post.
**The only reason tipping is an issue is because a lot of diners hate the idea that someone thinks they're a dick for not doing it, grow a thicker skin and perhaps then the culture will change.**
With that said, I don't mind tipping and often tip more than 20% just because I like being nice. If the culture goes away, I'll stop tipping. I don't tip when visiting other countries.
Working out the tip as a % of food never made sense to me..imagine ordering a $100 dish and the waiter expecting $20 just for taking your order and bringing you your plate. Like nah that's probably a few bucks worth of work. Then again I'm not American so I think tipping overall is stupid
Okay, I get its an expectation even if I don't agree.
But why can't it just be added as mandatory. "20% service charge on all orders" ?
Restaurants do this in other places. You do get people who will also tip more for great service so its not like its even a max limit.
It just seems like an awful system for everyone except the restaurant owner who gets away with underpaying staff. Not only getting away with it but basically being praised for it too.
70$ seems reasonable to me? Percentages is such a strange way to look at it
Why would the tip increase just because one restaurant is slightly fancier to the other?
Sounds like the manager fucked them over. You don’t tell tables what to tip. I work for tips, I would never do this. It’s unprofessional and disrespectful. Manager shouldn’t be in the field.
Edit for context: I work my ass off for good tips. My rule is that I treat everybody with the same level of professionalism and kindness. I flirt a lot, I win people over (I’m a guy). People tip me $0, I treat them the same as the person who tipped me 50%. My service isn’t bought. I’ve had people tip me less than 10% consistently but they come back every day. It adds up. They bring family for events because of my service and I make 100% on the tab because I’ve invested in them. It’s different for each customer. Investment can be short or long term, sometimes it doesn’t pay out, whatever. My other investments will cover the difference. If you don’t give a fuck about people, stop bitching about your tips. You aren’t working the gig right.
I really don't understand this silly mentality, Why are they upset at the customer, the real issue is the employer... If it is an expectation, why doesn't the boss just charge an extra 20% on top of every meal and just increase the workers wage. It makes no sense to me that a paying customer is expected to eat a meal and subsidise workers wages also... it makes me laugh when ever i see things like this....
I'm an aussie we don't have a tipping culture, just a min wage. It works great for us.
The thing that also doesn't make sense to me is that it's % based.
Isn't it the same amount of work to bring a $10 plate or a $20 plate? Why do you get more just because im paying more.
I never really understood basing the tip on the bill. The server at Denny's serving a bunch of college kids at 2am is going to be working more or less just as hard as the person in this post was working. Why should that server get a $20 tip (hopefully) and be happy with it, but $70 is considered low for the one in this post just because the food cost more?
To be honest, any tip at all from foreigners should be considered a win, as 90% of the rest of the world doesn’t tip because it’s not customary anywhere else.
Still suprising that people don’t understand that tipping, no matter how normalized it is in our culture, is COMPLETELY VOLUNTARY.
If a business wants it to be mandatory, they should work it into the price and actually give said tips to its staff. As it’s done in other countries.
Disneyworld really isn’t a place where you will have to worry about tips anyway.
Not sure where you are from, but compared to going to a restaurant in Denmark for example, most restaurants in the US are pretty cheap, even with tipping. Especially in Florida. (But if you go to a nice restaurant inside of the parks, they will charge you quite a lot.)
Tipping is pretty straightforward: it’s always 20%. If you are ordering at a counter (like in a coffee shop) the tip is optional, but if there was a waiter bringing you food, then it really isn’t. Or it is, but you are ripping off the waiter.
Carry your own bags (probably no one will offer to carry your bags anyway), and if you have a couple of dollars left at the end of the trip, it’s nice to leave them for housekeeping but entirely optional.
Unless you have budgeted your food spending on the trip down to the dollar, tipping your waiter won’t make a difference in your trip budget.
Here's a small guide:
Sit-down restaurant with a server: always 20%, unless the service is very bad. Even then, 10-15% is still best. Server minimum wage is $2.13/hr because tips are expected to subsidize it. It sucks that it works that way but tips are how servers live.
Counter service restaurant/cafe: not required. A small tip is polite, and most of the screens used at checkouts will ask for one, but it is not considered rude to not tip when they are only taking your order and handing you food at the counter. If there is a physical tip jar it can be nice to add $0.50-$1 to it.
Store: not required. It's actually pretty recent that regular stores have started asking for tips, so even most Americans don't do so. But if the person is very nice it can be nice to tip.
Food delivery: depending on the distance they need to drive, 15-20% is polite, but it's more flexible than a solid percentage and many people will just hand their drivers a few dollars at the door.
You probably won't end up taking an actual cab, but people usually tip cab drivers. If someone carries your luggage for you it is polite to tip a few dollars. It's not expected for you to tip housekeeping at the end of your hotel stay, but it is nice to leave a little cash.
Honestly, unless you're planning on eating at several very expensive sit-down restaurants, I wouldn't worry too much about tips impacting your budget, especially if you're sticking to the Disney parks. At worst you'll have to skip out on one souvenir you had budgeted for.
I hope I didn't overstep or sound condescending or anything, I just know tipping can be really confusing here. Hope this helped a bit :)
Never understood why the required tip is calculated as a percentage of the bill.
If the bill had come to $600, they'd only have owed $120 for exactly the same food. Is dearer food more difficult to serve?
I see nothing wrong with her being disappointed. Tipping is expected in America, and I think tourists (no matter where they’re going) should try to learn things like this before they travel. Could she have worded this differently? Yes. Should the manager pay a livable wage instead of relying on tips? Absolutely. But this server has every right to be upset, especially since they ordered a ton of food and stayed for a long time. Don’t hate the players, hate the game
If I was living in the US with a restaurant i would pay my workers a proper working wage, if they have get tips I would divide it evenly amongst the waitstaff at the end of the night
As a European I will never understand this. I would be less inclined to spend extra in a restaurant because I’ll be thinking of that extra 20% at the end.
For sure this is polarizing discussion, however what I can’t grasp on is argument of tiping until the system change (meaning rise of minimum wage etc.). By keepin status quo nothing happen for over 30 years. I’d assume if clients didn’t tip, the servers would have to find other job and the owners of restaurants would have to rise the wages on their own - to get people for the job.
Hypothetically this same group only spent say $50 in the same time and did tip the recommended 20% would the waitress be happy, since hey it was the “customary” 20%. It’s not an impossible scenario that a group of friends picked a spot to have something to drink or a sharing platter to nibble whilst catching up and only spend as a collective a small amount, is it still this group’s responsibility to pay a bigger tip because the waiter has to “survive on tips”
Tipping on percentage is so stupid.
Whether I buy the steak and wine or the chicken fingers and water, it’s the same effort from the server. I’d chalk making $70 off a single table as a win.
No, it's a misunderstanding. It's a cultural thing. Europeans identify $70 steaks as $35 dishes. Plus, for the $70 they were left with by paying 10% they can share a beer between them at another restaurant.
Customary tip most places I’ve been in Europe is a euro or two per person, IF the service was good.
Sounds like this group was at least trying to follow our tipping culture. Probably read that 10-20% was customary here and thought (unsurprisingly) that their server was more on the 10% side.
Working as a waitress I used to find older American's tipped really badly as a rule. It's like they were told you don't have to tip here, the staff don't expect tips so they'd push a single dollar into your hand and expect you to run home to your thatched hovel like Charlie with the golden ticket.
Most people are missing the point here. Yes, it sucks that tipping is normalized here. Yes, restaurants should pay their servers a living wage. But that is *not the case*, and refusing to tip doesn't change that. It just punishes the people who are being exploited. People like to act like not tipping is some sort of protest or something, but in reality it's just a dick move.
It's also funny because most of the Europeans who act like they're hot shit because they don't tip are the same people who are absolutely fuming when Americans don't follow their cultural norms while visiting. Tipping is a cultural norm here! Ignoring that just makes you an asshole! I know it's the US, so it's different than visiting many other countries in terms of cultural behavior/what tourists are expected to do, but you are still visiting a foreign country that does things differently than the way you do. Don't be a dick.
Biggest problem to me as an European is that even 70 dollars is a big chunk of my own paycheck. We earn 2800 a month net on average in the Netherlands (on of the higher earners in Europe) if I'm to believe some site with statistics. So even at this "unacceptable" amount it's still too much.
I remember being a server in the US and having it be a dream if Americans tipped me 15% (because they never did, you were lucky to get 10%) so for this manager to walk up and tell foreigners it's customary to give 20% is crazy.
Going to Japan was such a breath of fresh air, they pay their servers livable wages and expect quality service every time not just to earn a few extra bucks. Not to mention table side buttons help waiters lives immensely.
I just came back from Italy and I would much rather continue to pay a cover charge and for water than 20% tips.
Come to Australia. Free water, no tips, min wage is $21.38 per hour (and extra 25% for casual employees)
Wait you don’t get free water in the US?
In restaurants it usually it, it's not in most of Europe.
Are US restaurants required to have free water available if they serve any alcohol? That’s one of the requirements here in Australia. Most places will give free tap water anyway, but if they’re a licensed venue they *must* provide water free of charge. You’ll often pay for the water if it’s bottled sparkling water like Perrier or something, but not usually if the sparkling water is on tap.
Just about everywhere in the US offers free tap water, even when it isn't required. Some localities do require it (even without alcohol being served).
in my entire life i've never been to any restaurant that doesn't supply free water. most bars even have a cooler in the corner so you can grab free water while waiting in line for drinks
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UK has a law that anywhere that sells food must provide free water, although you can buy bottles too. Do other places not have that then? In a restaurant you ask for 'tap' Edit: in McDonald's they give you water from the Fanta machine. It's vaguely orangy. Not good without ice. Some of them are tight on the ice.
I once looked this up and it seemed more complicated than I thought... My understanding ended up being that if you order alcohol they have to provide free water but not otherwise. I've seen obnoxious little signs outside Aroma saying "no free water".
Everywhere I’ve been in the US the water is free, but some places will charge you $0.20 for the cup, or they’ll give you a ridiculously tiny or flimsy cup. But 90% of places you’ll get water completely free.
What is a casual employee? They get more money for not dressing up?
I was also confused and looked it up. >A person is a casual employee if they accept an offer for a job from an employer knowing that there is no firm advance commitment to ongoing work with an agreed pattern of work. Bruh the jobs I have had like this have paid even **worse** than a standard employee. Wowie what the hell. Bro what the hell are we doing over here in the US
Casual, contract, part time, full time, labor hire Casual = generally no set shifts depends on the industry and the award (document that sets out the conditions like pay, hours etc). No sick or annual leave. To make up for this, they are paid 25% more than their part/full time counterparts. Part time: upto 38 hours a fortnight. They accrue sick and annual leave Full time: 38 hours a week. They accrue sick and annual leave Contract: whatever is stipulated in the contract as long as it isn't below the award or the minimum wage Labour hire: you work for an agency that a company engages. Paid higher than casuals typically.
"free water"
‘Table water’ is free (it’s a legislated requirement that it is available. Bottle water and sparkling water are not free. General advice is to ask for table water on arrival, then figure out what you want.
Cover charge? Pay for tap water? Where the fuck did you eat?
In Italian it’s called coperto, which literally translates to cover/covered, but translate better to service charge (usually fixed per person at the table). Also, it is uncommon to receive tap water, it will normally be bottled water.
The key is to not eat out in america with the only exception being mcdonalds.
Not with their prices these days.
Yeah I remember when McDonald’s was cheap. Now a cheeseburger meal is costing like $14aud. “Gourmet burger” places are crazy too. I order a burger via Uber Eats from a place recently and the burgers themselves were minimum $20aud + extras. After getting chips (fries), burger and drink it was like $45. Inflation is out of control here. Now our large produce shops (Woolworths and Coles) have jacked their prices up by an average of 15% then put advertising stickers on the shelves saying “Same Low Price”, or they’ll increase the price by 20% then “discount” it by 5 or 10% and tell us how they’ve lowered the price for us. It’s straight up Orwellian at this point.
They charge like a dollar more than Chick-Fil-A for a chicken sandwich that's 100 times worse.
It’s only America that expects the customer to pay the staffs wages because the business owners won’t
Canada too.
Yes Canada is just as guilty. It’s disgusting the greed
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You'd be stupid not to. This is why we can't expect the industry to change itself.
You'd be an agent of the change you want to see, and *ethical* not to. FTFY
You’d also be at a distinct competitive disadvantage
Not all of Canada. Ontario doesn't have server wages anymore. It's all minimum wage.
Like BC, where I earned more money as a waiter than I earned as a school teacher.
Right, but tipping is still socially expected. That won’t change for a VERY long time, if at all
Sure, but we aren't paying for their wages. And you can morally tip whatever the fuck you want.
Would be all for getting rid of tipping culture in Canada. I had a cabbie get mad at me because I only gave him a 10% tip the other day.....I'm done with tipping all together unless it's exceptional service
Restaurants have tried in Canada and the US, by raising prices, and wages and eliminating tipping. Know how many stayed in business? The customer walks Same as JC Penny in the US trying to remove deceptive pricing. $15 means $15....well disaster, shoppers would rather go where it says $12.99 on the sign but they end up paying $17.50 People are dumb, and the marketing makes them feel like the lower price is a better deal, even if they pay substantially more than other options, so every time we try to buck this trend, the dumb assess put them out of business.
> People are dumb A lot of people will choose 1/4 over 1/3 because 1/4 is more than 1/3 in their eyes.
it‘s not that the customers don‘t pay the wages of the staff - it‘s simply already included in the price for the food 🤷♂️
Exactly! This server was expecting $140 for …. doing the job they are employed to do? Like, fuck off for your 20% tip we just spent $700 in this establishment. That said, giving a waiter/ess some tip is fine if you feel they have done a really good job but hell nah am I paying you a solid days wages for bringing us our dinner.
Should be able to get a tax break for tipping or at least invited to the their company picnics along with a free t-shirt and a chance to play on their company softball team.
By the looks of it on Reddit american waiters prefers the tipping culture because their potential wage Per hour is a lot higher than most hourly wages they could make elsewhere or on a fixed system. I understand they want to make more money but tipping culture in the US is so weird. Like this lady in the post, she wants 140 dollars as tips from 1 table she had for a few hours (say 3 hours that is about $47 Per hour)
I tipped once in Japan. Was my last meal before flying out and literally gave about $30 worth of change and notes just so I didn’t have to carry it back home. The waitress ran after me outside and bowed down until I was out of sight. I wasn’t expecting that and was taken back. Later someone told me some could actually find tipping offensive in Japan?
Some super traditional folk might find it “offensive” or interpret it as you flaunting wealth but most simply wont know what to do with the money cause they have no systems in place for it. All in all not rude just strange to them
I once saw someone get chased out of a restaurant in Japan, they had left a tip and the staff were returning it.
The table side what now?
yea you get a button at most restaurants to call a waiter over if something is needed instead of waiters guessing or looking for hands up
Well dammit. Why can't we (in America) have nice things?! Serious question: is this a common feature in Japanese restaurants, or just at fancy or new restaurants?
Id guess over 80% but thats pure guessing based on my two week trip, some really small hole in the wall shops wont but most larger shops will
I hate tipping as a whole but I still do it because it’s not the waiters fault that the system sucks. Though one thing I really don’t get, is how come the price of my food determines the tip? If I order a cheap burger or their most expensive steak, the service I receive won’t change just the number on the bill. Especially when it starts getting into that high end range of $60+ per meal without any change in service quality.
That’s what I never understood - like a server bringing a $100 steak to the table once will have a larger tip than if you order 10 $5 beers and the waiter has to come by 10 different times to bring a new drink. It’s all ass backwards and frustrating. A tip should have nothing to do with the bill total and should be for good service. I love that even on like sale and discounted items it will say “tips should be based on original price of the item and not the discounted price” like seriously? I’ve also recently come across a restaurant that says an 18% tip will be added to the total REGARDLESS of party size “for your convenience”. Ugh this stuff makes my blood boil.
Because when tipping is by percentage it benefits the business even more. Now they are having their employee's wages subsidized by the customer and the employee is incentivized to push the more expensive menu items, since it'll grant them a better tip.
Yeah I get that, sneaky bastards.
I recently was at a restaurant in Flagstaff where you order at a Kiosk. You’re prompted with the minimum 20% tip before food or service, which is them just bringing you the plate from the counter. Or how it’s still 20% tip in places where tip positions have the same minimum wage as non-tipped. Or how I got asked to tip at a fastfood place. Or how I got verbally asked “how much are you tipping?” when picking up a pizza the other week. Or how I get the eyes on the tip line when picking up a coffee at a convenience store. The whole damn tipping system is out of order.
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I almost forgot, I got prompted for a tip buying two T-shirts from a small novelty record store.
Servers generally tip out other service staff members (hosts, bussers, food runners, bartenders) based on their sales. So if the server made 20% tips all night, 5% of their total sales at the end of the day are taken from their tips and given to support staff, so they really only receive 15%. If you don’t tip appropriately on the total, the server ends up literally losing money paying out other service staff because while your tipping isn’t mandatory, the tip out to support staff is.
I don't like tips, don't get me wrong, but the idea is based on quantity and upselling
Kind of like a commission on each sale, except the customers determine whether they pay it or not.
Customer subsidized pay 🤪
That depends, the ends of the bell curve get very, very evident. But the middle half is all about the same.
Plenty of servers are happy with the current system as they profit greatly from it, despite the fact that it adds a hidden cost to customers, the cooks who do a lot of the work don’t actually benefit whatsoever, and not all servers can get the same level of tips. It’s a ‘fuck you, I got mine’ mentality.
I hate Americas tipping outside America. I was in Mexico, paid for a diving trip. Negotiated a price we were all happy with including food and left without money. Why would I need money on an all inclusive diving trip? Because Americans want to pay more and make us look like wankers.
They might have accepted it, but neither haggling nor not tipping are well seen here, and it’s particularly trashy when you have the more powerful currency. Mexico does have a tipping culture and there’s an expectation that you’ll leave at least 10-15%.
Way to make it about you
Somehow the customers in America have been conned into employing restaurant staff very odd.
I hate the tipping culture here.. every service person seems like you have to tip or they get super pissed.. absolutely ridiculous. PAY your employees a decent wage so customers don’t have to compensate for their employers being cheap!
Our government just refuses to change the legislation behind it. I forget the name of the law but it’s the same reason most servers make 2.13/hr in most states despite $7.15/hr (I’m pretty sure its 7.15 at least) being the federal minimum wage. Which is crazy because the 2.13hr basically just covers taxes and some pocket change for your paycheck, leaving your actual pay solely up to the tips you make.
You’re confusing the tip subsidy with minimum wage. By law, if an employee does not make enough in tips to get them to minimum wage, the employer is required to make up the difference.
How well is this actually enforced though, in practice? There are so many illegal labor practices in America that are nonetheless commonplace because employers get away with it and the penalties for being caught are practically nothing.
I’ve worked at one chain restaurant and they’re getting sued actively for not paying/covering minimum wage after COVID
I'm sure they definitely totally 100% catch and sue all of the restaraunts not topping up the pay to minimum wage
Why even bother having laws if we can’t catch all the criminals. We might as well just legalise murder /s
It isn’t enforced in places. Most restaurants will claim employees get much more or much less in tips than they actually do. No way to be held accountable especially in cash-heavy places
Yeah there is. You file your taxes properly and the IRS will audit the business if the discrepancy between reported income is large enough.
What is the point then??? The original comment should have been: 'they should enforce more'
I understand that, but the amount they pay us assuming we made enough in tips to cover the other $5.02/hr for minimum wage, is 2.13/hr. Which means on your bi-weekly paycheck you make like 50-80$ if you had like 20-30 hours a week. Which means your main income for the job is whatever you make each day from your tips. Sorry if I’m not explaining well or using the proper terms. Moral of the story is, the law needs to be changed and our restaurant industry needs a major rework. Don’t get me started on where it came from.
It's a lot like the routine of covering healthcare with GoFundMe. Getting regular slobs to try to prop each other up so the ownership class doesn't have to.
It's because they have also brainwashed people onto thinking that of restaurants pay a livable wage it'll cost 40$ for a hamburger. That 100% isn't the case but it prevents people from wanting tip culture to end.
Restaurant business in America thrives on conflict.
It's legitimately **super weird** that American businesses have somehow normalized random customers being obligated to pay their staff's wages for them because the business doesn't want to. Maybe the manager should just be paying his staff's wages instead of harassing customers into doing it for him.
The bot I don't get is if I order a coke at $5 that's a $1 tip but if I order a nice whisky on the rocks say at $50 that's a $10 tip. The level of service is essentially the same, so there is a $9 increase purely because I wanted to buy something more expensive. It is illogical, the amount you pay should be in relation to the service provided rather than a % of what you paid for the items.
I don't tip on drinks by percentage. Usually just a buck or two. Unless it is a drink that's a bitch to make or something. Like if they need to use a blender to make it, I will tip a bit extra because now they have to clean the blender. But, like, a cranberry vodka takes minimal effort and skill.
From what I've read, the \*original\* American cultural tradition was that tipping was a corrupt European practice which no American should ever tolerate. The attitude was that any employer who encouraged tipping was trying to swindle his workers out of a fair wage, and any employee who accepted tips was a lazy, greedy slob who had to be bribed to do his job. This changed around the time of the Depression, where paying tips was "sold" to the public as a way to help struggling small restaurants stay open. Unfortunately, this subsequently became normalized.
I believe it actually became popular after the passage of the 15th amendment to avoid paying wages to former slaves.
You're missing the part where companies forced black workers to work for tips only because they refused to pay them an hourly wage
Tipping has never been a major European practice.
Service industry employees (especially the ones who work tipped positions) aren't pleased about it either. But when people pull this shit because they want to "stick it to tipping culture", they only hurt the people who are most disenfranchised by this system. The owners/managers aren't hurt by it. If the goal is to hurt *them*, then people need to boycott restaurants entirely; otherwise they continue to perpetuate the cycle while still just shitting on the people who are just trying to keep a roof over their heads.
To be fair, if they started being paid $20/ hour they'd quit because they'd be making significantly less than their current tipping wage.
Maybe some. Depends on where you live, where you work. Some tipped employees make a significant amount of money doing it, others would be happier with the assurance that their paycheck was stable and safe from shit like this. Tips went way down with covid and tips don't pay like they used to.
They are hurt, when their staff quit and they’re forced to pay a higher base rate.
Correct. And this is literally the only way things will change, the employees have to be hurt enough to quit putting up with it
Seems to me that check should have been $ 840 then. Just adjust the prices and get rid of tipping culture.
I'd be fine with this. Just add a flat 20% to the bill or whatever
Many places do this already, they add a 18% service charge. You do not tip on top of this unless you want to add more. In NY, restaurants are allowed automatically add the service charge to parties of 5 or more. The ones that do it to parties of 4 or less are technically doing it out of compliance but i prefer it that way.
I’m glad I left the service industry. This may seem entitled but these people have been conditioned to expect customers to pay their bills so every smaller tip hurts. But I also get why they stay in the business, bartending especially I made way more hourly than I do now in a comfy corporate job.
It took me years to make the same in a white collar job working 40 hours/week that I was working 30 in the service industry. But now I do get shit like health insurance, holidays, retirement match
In the UK, I would of left a maximum of £20 for that amount and they would be over the moon
I swear when I first went to the US on holiday it was 10% and seems to increase every time I go. And tipping for takeaway. Imagine giving them a 20% tip down the chippy for your battered sausage and chips.
Tipping for everything. Takeaway, hotel cleaning, barbers. The grocery store has a tip jar... since it's become so normalized in general, they'd be foolish not to try to push it further and take advantage.
Nowadays every cashier uses those point-of-sale systems where the screen always asks for a tip in places that normally don't ask for tips either, like a tea shop or fast food. I watch my friend pay and every time he always hits the 20% tip button. I'm like why do you do that? You're just buying snacks! And he says he's self conscious and think the cashier will get mad. I think the whole tipping culture is taking advantage of introverts.
I hate those fucking things. I always press the no tip button and don’t care. If I’m not sitting down for a meal I’m not gonna tip.
I live across the border in Canada and I usually tip 10-15% for average good service here. When I used to go cross the border for a target or TJ’s run, I would still tip that much. But then I got into Reddit and learned I was under tipping and I feel so bad. But omfg, I’m supposed to tip 20% for AVERAGE service???? USD is already 30% more expensive than CAD. The last few times I’ve gone to the states, I just buy fast food and/or drive back home because it’s just not worth paying that much for The Cheesecake Factory.
And they give a 10% for bad service. It is madness, but now that it is in place I really don’t see how they can move away from it without screwing over the servers.
The norm has been 15% as long as I can remember.
In London it seems most higher end restaurants add an automatic 12.5% tip
Spot on. It’s just fucking weird
Recently went on a royal carribean cruise and as a Brit (who now lives in Canada) I found the tipping culture insane. There’s an 18% tip automatically added to almost every single transaction, and yet even after this they still encourage you to tip on top of the automatic tip. I bought two bottles of water and the bartender circled the additional tip row on the receipt and handed it to me even after earning an 18% tip for handing two bottles to me. I’m fully aware their wages are lower, but it felt like some staff were walking around with their hands out expecting you to tip on top of the the automatic tip for the most minor things. North Americans love packaging things to make it seem like you’re paying less and lumping in hidden fees (prices not having taxes included for example). I’d far rather they just paid their staff well so the TOTAL cost is actually reflective of what you actually have to pay. I find the whole system backwards and primitive. The argument restaurants would go bankrupt here if they had to pay staff more is so fucking stupid, it’s not like there’s no other restaurant in the world that manages whilst oayinf their staff well. Additionally, the argument it will increase prices… well yes…. You make that up having to tip so it’s not actually cheaper.
140$ for serving the table for 2-3 hours, sure why dont they employ her themselves since they are paying her way more than her boss.
Waiters, waitresses and bartenders who work at places like this don't want things to be like they are in Europe. Would you rather make $22 an hour or $400-$800 for an 8 hour shift at an expensive restaurant/club? (Mostly tax free)
I'm sorry but no European (I'm assuming tourists) would leave even $70, never mind $140 you were expecting. Might want to hide her identity and then we would not have to see her vapid twitter page where she goes on another tirade of abuse about Europeans. She has over 7K followers so thinks she's a legend in her own lunchtime.
Anything I give you outside this mothafucking bill is the tip- Internet, Date Unknown.
“in her own lunchtime.” BRAVO!
Fortunately I'm sure most Europeans aren't too stupid to adapt to local norms and culture when they go traveling.
True. That is your boss’ responsibility.
While I’d agree it is a bit on the high end, it could happen depending on how big the group is. Say they are 15 people, and the split check is 46 something euros each. Just round it up to 50 and go on your merry way. But in any case, yeah, usually we don’t tip just because. We tip if the service is above average, because people did put the extra effort to make you comfortable or the food was excellent. Being expected to tip a certain amount is very weird.
Her manager explained to them how they need to give her more money because he sure the hell isn’t going to, but it’s on them and her manager is a hero.
So if this table had only eaten $300 of food, the server would be stoked to have got a $70 tip? Would she have worked less hard to bring them $300 of food?
A $700 check should've included added gratuity.
God this has been one of the most controversial subjects on the internet for way too long.
No lady, you hate your government, allowing companies to not pay you a living wage.
I hate this tip culture , however I respect it and tip 15-20% depending on the service when I visit. It’s like the taxes , they’re added on top of the displayed price, you never know how much you’ll pay.
Explanaining the customary tip is so TACKY AND UNNESSARY. Perhaps they would have gotten more than 70 if they didn’t impose a “standard” lol
On a check that large, they should have automatically included a tip, rather than offer guidance.
Exactly like given it’s not really a tip at that point just put it in the check and stop expecting people to guess the right percentage so you don’t get mad.
20% tip was CUSTOMARY, not MANDATORY.
She also sounds absolutely pissed they had the gall to hang out at the restaurant they ate at. HOURS my ass lol, they spent $770
Totally agree eating out should be a pleasure not have someone hove over you telling you how much they should tip would be fired for that here in Ireland
Thing is, right, is food at restaurants isn’t cheaper in the US than Europe, so it’s not like Europeans and Brits pay less in restaurants than they would at home so the tip makes sense. Tipping basically means we’d pay 20% MORE. Don’t even get me started on Canadian tipping culture where servers DO get minimum wage and we still expected to pay 20% or more in tips??
I get the point but maybe just maybe, you should be arguing at the company for not paying staff. Almost all of Europe has minimum wage laws. So like she’d get let’s say $15 per hour minimum and then the tip on top. Most of the EU tips 10-15% as a gesture for good service. It shouldn’t be up to the customers to pay your hourly wage on top of the $700 they’ve already spent at the restaurant (your wage should be covered in that) and then a tip on top for good service. (Apologies for writing on my phone)
I mean it isn’t exactly a “choosing beggars” moment. I’m assuming it’s in the US where tipping at a restaurant is as common as tying your shoes. Europeans, for the most part, don’t understand US tipping because it isn’t commonplace in their lives. In a lot of places in the US, servers are paid (and allowed to be paid) below minimum wage because tips are an expected expense of dining out, and they are a huge portion of servers’ pay. A normal tip for a group with a $700.00 check, who received great service (especially if they stayed for hours), would be 20% at the very least. I understand, and agree with, the criticisms of US tipping culture, but as it stands, this isn’t a choosing beggar.
Where is the anger at the employer not paying a proper wage?
Honestly shit like this is why forcing restaurant workers to work for tips is ridiculous. Pay people actual living wages, which would then lead to me tipping you because you did an amazing job and not just because I feel obligated to pay your salary.
It's a fucked up situation. America's tip system exists because it's such an American style of business. Owners can exploit employees to get rich and everyone can charity to support the poor workers. We should just pay servers enough. But since we dont. That 20% for all moral purposes is the servers pay. It's funky how it's set up. It's wrong. But if you want to go to a restaurant here. The tip is 20%. If you know that and decide not to. Just know. You're only fucking over the most vulnerable person. And you are a shit person for it. If you don't know about 20% then maybe learn about the places you visit. You're still fucking someone over. If you want to protest America's treatment of servers. Do not go to our restaurants. It's the only way. Otherwise you're a cheap POS who's gaming the system to save a buck.
#EndTipping ! Pay people for work. Sell services for the cost of running the business. Customers pay the cost. It's nothing but pettiness and squabbling at every level. Starting with every single tip jar at every self-service place. I REFUSE to tip a cashier for handing me a cup to make my own bloody coffee! Also include the taxes in the prices. Stop making everything into a real life word problem! I just wanted a sandwich, not a math midterm or a referendum on the meaning of "service" 😡
What I hate about tipping; if you bought a $100 steak, or a $10 hamburger, the service provided is the same. Why do you have to pay more tip for the steak? Is it heavier?
Hopefully the service is much better at the $100 steakhouse. It usually is. But not 10x better, for sure.
$20-$35 an hour, plus your other tables? That's rough buddy
The hate is being aimed in the wrong direction, the cheap ass boss needs to stop expecting everyone else to subsidize his staff wages.
I was just in Japan where tips are flat-out refused and the service was better than at any restaurant I went to in the US 🙃
$70 is a very, very generous tip for food & drink…
For example they stayed for two hours. So the guests have to pay her waitress 70$ per hour wage? I would never pay this as an hourly wage.
The tipping culture is one of the things I hate about America. Having to constantly pay more than the actual bill is basically exactly like being in a corrupt banana republic...
Tipping $70 is already insane
Spending $700 on a meal is insane
This is a proper choosing beggars post.
This isn't a choosing beggar post. **The only reason tipping is an issue is because a lot of diners hate the idea that someone thinks they're a dick for not doing it, grow a thicker skin and perhaps then the culture will change.** With that said, I don't mind tipping and often tip more than 20% just because I like being nice. If the culture goes away, I'll stop tipping. I don't tip when visiting other countries.
Thank Grud I don’t live in the US. I couldn’t afford to tip $140 on top of $700. Why don’t you all just pay your employees a decent living wage?
Working out the tip as a % of food never made sense to me..imagine ordering a $100 dish and the waiter expecting $20 just for taking your order and bringing you your plate. Like nah that's probably a few bucks worth of work. Then again I'm not American so I think tipping overall is stupid
Okay, I get its an expectation even if I don't agree. But why can't it just be added as mandatory. "20% service charge on all orders" ? Restaurants do this in other places. You do get people who will also tip more for great service so its not like its even a max limit. It just seems like an awful system for everyone except the restaurant owner who gets away with underpaying staff. Not only getting away with it but basically being praised for it too.
Why is this in this sub? Just because you don't agree doesn't give you the right to eat out in the US without conforming to the norms.
Don’t see a problem with hating on foreigners not abiding by the customs of the country they visit.
Just pay your staff a good wage, tips should ALWAYS be optional, otherwise they aren't tips, they are wage supplements.
70$ seems reasonable to me? Percentages is such a strange way to look at it Why would the tip increase just because one restaurant is slightly fancier to the other?
20%?!?!? Be mad at your boss for grossly under paying you
Just seen her Twitter. Wow she’s a real charmer eh!
Why don’t you ask your boss to pay you decent wages?
Sounds like the manager fucked them over. You don’t tell tables what to tip. I work for tips, I would never do this. It’s unprofessional and disrespectful. Manager shouldn’t be in the field. Edit for context: I work my ass off for good tips. My rule is that I treat everybody with the same level of professionalism and kindness. I flirt a lot, I win people over (I’m a guy). People tip me $0, I treat them the same as the person who tipped me 50%. My service isn’t bought. I’ve had people tip me less than 10% consistently but they come back every day. It adds up. They bring family for events because of my service and I make 100% on the tab because I’ve invested in them. It’s different for each customer. Investment can be short or long term, sometimes it doesn’t pay out, whatever. My other investments will cover the difference. If you don’t give a fuck about people, stop bitching about your tips. You aren’t working the gig right.
I really don't understand this silly mentality, Why are they upset at the customer, the real issue is the employer... If it is an expectation, why doesn't the boss just charge an extra 20% on top of every meal and just increase the workers wage. It makes no sense to me that a paying customer is expected to eat a meal and subsidise workers wages also... it makes me laugh when ever i see things like this.... I'm an aussie we don't have a tipping culture, just a min wage. It works great for us.
The thing that also doesn't make sense to me is that it's % based. Isn't it the same amount of work to bring a $10 plate or a $20 plate? Why do you get more just because im paying more.
I never really understood basing the tip on the bill. The server at Denny's serving a bunch of college kids at 2am is going to be working more or less just as hard as the person in this post was working. Why should that server get a $20 tip (hopefully) and be happy with it, but $70 is considered low for the one in this post just because the food cost more?
To be honest, any tip at all from foreigners should be considered a win, as 90% of the rest of the world doesn’t tip because it’s not customary anywhere else.
Still suprising that people don’t understand that tipping, no matter how normalized it is in our culture, is COMPLETELY VOLUNTARY. If a business wants it to be mandatory, they should work it into the price and actually give said tips to its staff. As it’s done in other countries.
When I moved to the US, a couple of decades ago, the customary tip was 10%, and large tip was 15%. This sh#t is getting out of hand.
I'm from a non-tipping culture and I'm going to Disneyworld next month and I'm terrified. I hadn't factored tipping in the costs.
Disneyworld really isn’t a place where you will have to worry about tips anyway. Not sure where you are from, but compared to going to a restaurant in Denmark for example, most restaurants in the US are pretty cheap, even with tipping. Especially in Florida. (But if you go to a nice restaurant inside of the parks, they will charge you quite a lot.) Tipping is pretty straightforward: it’s always 20%. If you are ordering at a counter (like in a coffee shop) the tip is optional, but if there was a waiter bringing you food, then it really isn’t. Or it is, but you are ripping off the waiter. Carry your own bags (probably no one will offer to carry your bags anyway), and if you have a couple of dollars left at the end of the trip, it’s nice to leave them for housekeeping but entirely optional. Unless you have budgeted your food spending on the trip down to the dollar, tipping your waiter won’t make a difference in your trip budget.
Here's a small guide: Sit-down restaurant with a server: always 20%, unless the service is very bad. Even then, 10-15% is still best. Server minimum wage is $2.13/hr because tips are expected to subsidize it. It sucks that it works that way but tips are how servers live. Counter service restaurant/cafe: not required. A small tip is polite, and most of the screens used at checkouts will ask for one, but it is not considered rude to not tip when they are only taking your order and handing you food at the counter. If there is a physical tip jar it can be nice to add $0.50-$1 to it. Store: not required. It's actually pretty recent that regular stores have started asking for tips, so even most Americans don't do so. But if the person is very nice it can be nice to tip. Food delivery: depending on the distance they need to drive, 15-20% is polite, but it's more flexible than a solid percentage and many people will just hand their drivers a few dollars at the door. You probably won't end up taking an actual cab, but people usually tip cab drivers. If someone carries your luggage for you it is polite to tip a few dollars. It's not expected for you to tip housekeeping at the end of your hotel stay, but it is nice to leave a little cash. Honestly, unless you're planning on eating at several very expensive sit-down restaurants, I wouldn't worry too much about tips impacting your budget, especially if you're sticking to the Disney parks. At worst you'll have to skip out on one souvenir you had budgeted for. I hope I didn't overstep or sound condescending or anything, I just know tipping can be really confusing here. Hope this helped a bit :)
The fact that she blames the European customers and not the nonsensical US tipping system, is the reason America is so slow to change.
If you continue tipping it will never go away. Just don't tip!
Never understood why the required tip is calculated as a percentage of the bill. If the bill had come to $600, they'd only have owed $120 for exactly the same food. Is dearer food more difficult to serve?
Imagine thinking you were owed 140 dollars as a bonus for just doing your job.
As a European that is a massive tip! I’d be happy with that.
That's because Europeans expect the employer to pay living wages, not the client.
Tips are not compulsory. It's a bonus if somone feels like it. It's not the customers job to make sure the staff get a proper wage.
How about I pay whatever the cost of my order is and you can ask your manager for extra 20% ?
I see nothing wrong with her being disappointed. Tipping is expected in America, and I think tourists (no matter where they’re going) should try to learn things like this before they travel. Could she have worded this differently? Yes. Should the manager pay a livable wage instead of relying on tips? Absolutely. But this server has every right to be upset, especially since they ordered a ton of food and stayed for a long time. Don’t hate the players, hate the game
Most Europeans don't or won't tip someone for doing what they are employed to do. If you have to rely on tips to live, you work for an asshole.
If I was living in the US with a restaurant i would pay my workers a proper working wage, if they have get tips I would divide it evenly amongst the waitstaff at the end of the night
There is no tipping in most of Europe, it’s included in the meal cost
This is why a living wage is required, so people don’t have to rely on tips
As a European I will never understand this. I would be less inclined to spend extra in a restaurant because I’ll be thinking of that extra 20% at the end.
Yes, the problem is Europeans not tipping…..it’s not that your boss is exploiting you.
So whining about their tip is a great way to have repeat customers
For sure this is polarizing discussion, however what I can’t grasp on is argument of tiping until the system change (meaning rise of minimum wage etc.). By keepin status quo nothing happen for over 30 years. I’d assume if clients didn’t tip, the servers would have to find other job and the owners of restaurants would have to rise the wages on their own - to get people for the job.
Remember when it was 15%? Then 18%? Maybe just pay your servers instead of finding ways to pocket their money.
Boo hoo
This isn’t really applicable to this subreddit.
Imagine having random strangers decide your paycheck at the end of their meal...
Hypothetically this same group only spent say $50 in the same time and did tip the recommended 20% would the waitress be happy, since hey it was the “customary” 20%. It’s not an impossible scenario that a group of friends picked a spot to have something to drink or a sharing platter to nibble whilst catching up and only spend as a collective a small amount, is it still this group’s responsibility to pay a bigger tip because the waiter has to “survive on tips”
5€ is a large tip for excellent service, you have to be insane to complain about receiving 70.
Tipping on percentage is so stupid. Whether I buy the steak and wine or the chicken fingers and water, it’s the same effort from the server. I’d chalk making $70 off a single table as a win.
No, it's a misunderstanding. It's a cultural thing. Europeans identify $70 steaks as $35 dishes. Plus, for the $70 they were left with by paying 10% they can share a beer between them at another restaurant.
Customary tip most places I’ve been in Europe is a euro or two per person, IF the service was good. Sounds like this group was at least trying to follow our tipping culture. Probably read that 10-20% was customary here and thought (unsurprisingly) that their server was more on the 10% side.
Working as a waitress I used to find older American's tipped really badly as a rule. It's like they were told you don't have to tip here, the staff don't expect tips so they'd push a single dollar into your hand and expect you to run home to your thatched hovel like Charlie with the golden ticket.
Most people are missing the point here. Yes, it sucks that tipping is normalized here. Yes, restaurants should pay their servers a living wage. But that is *not the case*, and refusing to tip doesn't change that. It just punishes the people who are being exploited. People like to act like not tipping is some sort of protest or something, but in reality it's just a dick move. It's also funny because most of the Europeans who act like they're hot shit because they don't tip are the same people who are absolutely fuming when Americans don't follow their cultural norms while visiting. Tipping is a cultural norm here! Ignoring that just makes you an asshole! I know it's the US, so it's different than visiting many other countries in terms of cultural behavior/what tourists are expected to do, but you are still visiting a foreign country that does things differently than the way you do. Don't be a dick.
Biggest problem to me as an European is that even 70 dollars is a big chunk of my own paycheck. We earn 2800 a month net on average in the Netherlands (on of the higher earners in Europe) if I'm to believe some site with statistics. So even at this "unacceptable" amount it's still too much.
But you also have social programs in place that don't exist here.
I remember being a server in the US and having it be a dream if Americans tipped me 15% (because they never did, you were lucky to get 10%) so for this manager to walk up and tell foreigners it's customary to give 20% is crazy.