Restaurant Kills Tipping, Service Improves
 

Well they didn't just kill tipping they replaced it with an 18% service charge and funneled some to the cooks.

Think this would work everywhere?

When I was a Waiter, my wage was $2.34. That was minimum wage for tipped employees. They took the taxes for the tips you claimed out of that. My paycheck was usually less than $20 net.

Most of the cooks made $7.50/hr plus. They got raises, we didn't. I made $30k the one full year I waited tables. When I got promoted to manager, I made $24K.

Ar the country club, thr gratuity was added to the check. none of us ever saw a dime of it. we got paid, i don't know, 6 or 7 an hour, but still...
A few of the cooler members were onto the jig and tipped individually every now and then. Later, they worked in incentive bonuses...say if you served 10000 bucks in shit a month you got a 500 dollar bonus. (that 10 grand might be way off i don't remember the magic numbers) this was good incentive to push wine sales and the like. Not so good for a non-salesy person like me, who didnt want to juggle 5000 tables at a time and make everyone buy pricey wine (usually pushing them to show off to their other snooty friends...and I ated 'presenting' wine...what a crock) I was a slowere and steadier server...this gig was not my bag. And i rarely got even the lowest bonuses.

At the neighborhood bar where i worked we pooled tips and split if someone went on or off the clock. This was so no one got screwed if they ended up cooking or whatnot. This worked out nicely. There were probably a couple cheaters but on a busy night we could really bank. Plus we also made a decent hourly.

So in conclusion i agree with sharing tips, but don't so much agree with a required gratuity. I have always been happy to overtip, but i would like to retain the right to give a lesser tip for lousy service. If I knew the tips were being divvied up to cookstaff i would have trouble remembering that crap food doesn't always feflect on the server.

Most of all, tips or not, 2-something an hour should be illegal wages

Of course, i think if we paid the more 'menial' labor (as dictated by society not byme) then we'd take care of some social ills. Not everyone can claw their way to the top as the rich types often suggest, and the world needs those ditch diggers and street cleaners and bartenders (god YES the bartenders) so why can't they make a living wage (please don't argue my examples...they're probably not the best.)

Well damn, would you look at that, I'm a socialist. ;)

When I read the title I wanted to :cheerldr::cheerldr::cheerldr:,
but when I got to the 18% service charge ... not so much. :headshake

They say their food improved when the cooks got paid more ... Well, Duh !
Maybe health benefits and a livable wage for all employees would make the whole place really shine.
After reading the quote, the only thing I would be pleased about is now meal has a fixed price.

This whole business of tips and service charges is inane.
An 18% service charge would impel me right back out the door.

Maybe the airlines will take note... an 18% service charge for each flight sounds about right. Right ?

I use restaurant.com a lot and they usually mandate an %18 tip on the original amount. Most places add this in. I don't usually mind since this avoids having me do the math.

The math?

Get a tip calculator, like MortY Seinfeld. :cool:

Let's see...10% is easy, halve it and add that to 10 to get 15, double it for 20. 18% Automatic is an insult for those try hard and a gimme for lazy servers. Not that 18 is a bad tip, but why should Cindy Slow and Rude get the same consideration, tip-wise, as Oliver On the Ball?

As i often heard after tipping "you've done this kind of work, haven't you?" Why yes, yes I have, I've waited on collosal entitled snot-noses too. Aren't us nice people refreshing?

Everyone should have to wait tables for at least 6 months to earn the right to eat out.

... and everyone should have to drive across the US at least once to earn the right to make a flight on an airline.

What I think is acceptable about tipping when there is very personalized service
... well beyond the Standard Operating Procedures.
But it seems to be our way of life in the US when it comes to food.
If it's just a matter of taking your order and delivering the plate and drink to your table, that's S.O.P.

e.g., Should "servers" making sub-sandwiches for the conglomerate Subway get a tip ?
It's highly personalized service to make each sub just the way you want it.
But it is rare, if not ever, that I see them being given a tip.
... and Subway's are an even more personalized service than the "golden arches"

The whole business of tipping as S.O.P. for food service does not work for me.
:bolt:

And yes, I do tip when it's not S.O.P. and/or someone has done something beyond their usual call-of-duty.

I tip the drive thru folks (the beer/wine/cigs/snack drive thru...your state may vary)

Not a big deal for me to leave the spare change, sometimes another buck...if everyone did they might be able to afford...i don't know, some health care?

Plus, they're not on my lawns.

I'm amazed at the supposed liberal types who bear no resposibility for helping their fellow man, when it's no real sweat off their nose, by leaving a bit of change. I think they really think they're superior: talking the talk but walking like an asshole.

And I don't do subway but when i picked some up for mom and dad i did, indeed,tip the busy as hell sandwich maker.

Abolish tips. Pay a living wage in the first place and price the food accordingly.

There you go. Dana got it right in fewer words.

eta: Question:

What would happen if management were to post (on the menu)
the way tips are distributed among the staff ?

Maybe tips would be more aligned with actual service,
quality of food, extra effort of service staff. etc.

I'd almost predict:
... some line cooks would walk away from job.
... some service staff would realize they are not getting equal shares
... some service staff would realize the owners are taking a share
... more customers would tip what in accordance with the meal and service
etc. etc.

But then...

That's like the opposite of that story where the lady cuts her hair to sell it, so she can buy her husband violin strings and her husband sells the violin to buy her a hair pin.

Gee, status quo...don't listen to me, agree with me, or affiliate with me. When i said the samesorts of things all along.

ever get tired of your self-flagellation? You should, it's embarrassing.

dana and jim excepted.

Just say no to automatic tipping.

I'll decide when I pay the check, after dinner, if anybody gets a tip, and not before.

The tip is moot, we can never even go back to Howard Johnson's again. :blush:

I like the film, Bruce.
Those Aussies really can do them well. Despite being isolated from the rest of the world. Or maybe because of it.

Infi, I'm not sure if what follows is agreeing or disagreeing with you because we see tipping very differently in the UK. 10% is sadly connsidered a good tip to my parents' generation and plenty of people will not tip unless the waiter walks over crushed glass or fire eats for them or something.

Your customer would have left you a fiver (think, good tip) because you've served them really well. But what if they weren't happy with the quality of the food? What if they sent a dish back. You get all the flack and no tip. But if everyone from the dishwasher up can help to deal with the issue of the crappy food, there's still a share to go round, and none of the other waiters have to suffer either.

Your customer simply rounds up your change to the nearest note (this can be less than 50p, think bad tip) and you've worked your socks off. Why? Because they believe you are doing a job and they don't get paid extra if they just do their job and even if they do their job well and even if anyone f**king notices the least they get is a muuted, "thanks." In a shared tip system, your lousy 50p from Angry Office Worker is added to the pot same as the £5.

Given my 'druthers I'd prefer the staff to work together as a team. The satisfaction of the customer should be the most important aim. BUT it's hard when you work your socks off when someone else is slacking and you lose out because of it.

At W, where I work there is a rewards system. Sometimes there are silly bonuses, like pitching the credit card; a good salesperson could do that while handcarving marmaade ham. I can't. I'd just as rather bring up their best ejactaculatory tip than discuss mone or credit. But I'd sell the heck out of a product if there was a potential store bonus on it; that's the good thing about being able to stand behind the products you sell, even if you wouldn't personally buy some of them. "This month our promotion is peanut butter with liquorice strips!")

But the REAL bonus scheme is profits made (after various normal minuses like etc). Every Partner (member of staff) gets a share according to their hours worked. Various levels of Management don't just because they aren't paid hourly, but it's all set out in writing fair and square and explained quite clearly in any literature or on the Partners' website. We have our secret snipes of course, but we really, really want the company to succeed. There will be loafers, thieves, malingerers in there of course. But in general, if you are asked to help another Partner, you do. Why? Because it helps your profit. And then you get to like them anyway.

Having worked as a waitress (pizzeria, London eaterie, silver service and hotel breakfast FTR) I'd rather get to keep my tips. But they were always freely given. I've had no contact from customers regarding my service so far (made to the store I mean, as opposed to my face). But although it might be flagged in my apprasial I'd rather have gennuine recognition than force it by giving a card with my name on and saying, "If you're happy with my service today...?"
[NB will probably get Mum to blag some from her friends for me instead. I deserve them.]

Bottom line, I've been there.
And I still don't know how I feel.
I just know I mentally add a tip when deciding whether to eat somewhere. And have to trust that the staff who choose to work there are happy with the system.