Is it fair for a restaurant to add a mandatory tip to the bills of patrons with French accents? No, of course not -- no matter how many restaurant workers in Burlington, Vermont claim to have been stiffed by visitors from Quebec. An additional 18% pour vous!! Now, that said, is it fair for restaurants to add mandatory tips to the bills of all patrons, across the board? Yes, it's fair -- and it would make everybody's lives a lot simpler, too.
Before you start in on a rant about terrible service and why should you have to tip a waiter who forgot the bread basket and blah blah blah, hear me out.
Ever notice that former restaurant workers tend to be generous tippers? That's because if you've ever been a waitress/waiter whatever you want to call it, you how hard that woman/man carrying your tray really works. Which is to say, she/he works hard for the money, so ... you know the rest.
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My brief stint spent waitressing years ago was such a spectacular failure that I've always looked at skilled waitstaff with a mix of admiration, pity, and fear: Wow, I'm incapable of doing what you do/Wow, I never want to try to do what you do again/Wow, if you can do THAT you are one tough individual.
Make no mistake, they earn the hell out of every dime. Now, I'm not implying that terrible waitresses/waiters/bartenders, etc. don't exist. Every profession has its share of bad apples. But taking the guesswork, judgment and potential mean-spiritedness away from the dining-out equation can't hurt.
If you can't afford to leave a decent tip, don't go out to eat in the first place. Simple as that.
Do you think mandatory gratuities would save a lot of frustration on both sides?
Image via Tzuhsun Hsu/Flickr
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Comments 85
If it's mandatory then it isn't a tip, it's a service charge.
Let me start with that I'm a great tipper. Not bragging but I know I am. When I was in college the drivers would fight over who would deliver to me. That being said. We are in a recession and sometimes people can only afford that one good meal for their family. Sometimes it is cheaper to take $10 and buy a meal than going to grocery stores to buy all ingredients. I think tips should just be tips. Waitstaff should get a decent wage so I don't have to worry if I should give more so my waiter can pay their electric bill. Great services equal great tips and so on. People shouldn't have to stay at home because they can't afford a 20% tip. Be grateful if you get anything.
Most places that get a lot of foreign tourists have mandatory tips built in. It isn't because foreigners are cheap. Certain cultures don't tip (In Japan it is considered offensive to tip) and In a lot of European countries it isn't customary to tip. So adding a mandatory gratuity or service charge is a good way to make sure your servers are being tipped appropriately in tourist areas.
Ah, the entitlement mentality clearly displayed. You are not owed a tip. You have to work to earn it. A gratuity defined by Merriam-Webster is "something given voluntarily or beyond obligation usually for some service". If you are unwilling to work for a tip then find another line of work.
Btw, I live in CA, and servers here are paid between 8.75 & 20 dollars an hour, depending on what kind of place they work in.
In my state, being a former server, and knowing that they get good wages, benefits, and a GOOD work environment, they will NOT get tipped unless their butts earn it.
They took the job as a server when they could have looked for a different jobs. Retail sales associates do a lot of customer service as well and deal with shitty people; They don't get tipped. It's a servers job to provide customer service so I don't tip! I don't feel guilty, embarassed, or any other feeling because it's their job!