Should You Always Tip 20% At (U.S.) Restaurants/Bars?

[Mega_Cabbage]

I tip good service, but at the same time I don't want to tip. I don't like supporting the idea that business owners can pay their employees below minimum wage just because they get tips.

 

[N a t]

I try to tip well if mt server does a good job, but often times I'm so broke that I have to give them smaller tips anyways. I mean, I'm still learning how to handle and budget my money right now I guess. So i might have enough to eat and then barely any for a tip. Sorry guys! D:

 

[Kristenn]

People don't understand that waiters make money completely on tips. Even if they do a crappy job they still SERVED you. As a waitress, I worked completely off tips at a very busy restaurant. Sometimes I would have 30-40 tables AT ONCE. Some people didn't tip because of how busy I was which completely is messed up considering I still spent time serving them when I could of been helping people at my other tables. Unless your waiter obviously ignores you for no good reason, you should always tip 20%. If you can't afford to tip that much than don't eat out point blank.

 

[Sion]

unless the waiter is straight up being a jerk then always tip
don't expect them to bend over backwards for you it's just food

 

[Yaezakura]

People don't understand that waiters make money completely on tips. Even if they do a crappy job they still SERVED you. As a waitress, I worked completely off tips at a very busy restaurant. Sometimes I would have 30-40 tables AT ONCE. Some people didn't tip because of how busy I was which completely is messed up considering I still spent time serving them when I could of been helping people at my other tables. Unless your waiter obviously ignores you for no good reason, you should always tip 20%. If you can't afford to tip that much than don't eat out point blank.

How kind of you to tell other people how to live their lives and spend their money. I'm sure that attitude went over super well with the people you served. Maybe that's why you kept getting crappy tips.

 

[Twisterheart]

I don't have any money of my own yet, so I have no idea how much my family tips when they go out.

I just wish that it was illegal for restaurants to pay their employees so badly. I just don't understand how they can get away with it. They should be forced to pay their employees the same as everyone else.

 

[Twisterheart]

Double post

 

[Soigne]

How kind of you to tell other people how to live their lives and spend their money. I'm sure that attitude went over super well with the people you served. Maybe that's why you kept getting crappy tips.

I mean, 20% isn't even that much. Even if you alone had a $50 meal, a 20% tip is only $10. If you can't afford to spend $60, you probably shouldn't be spending $50 on food. But that's just my line of thought.

 

[Yaezakura]

I don't have any money of my own yet, so I have no idea how much my family tips when they go out.

I just wish that it was illegal for restaurants to pay their employees so badly. I just don't understand how they can get away with it. They should be forced to pay their employees the same as everyone else.

Essentially, restaurants argue people are going to tip anyway, so the tips should be considered the server's official income. Then they go on about how having to actually pay their staff would be higher prices for customers. So since this tipping=expected mindset is so entrenched in US culture, it's hard to move past it now. Despite this kind of setup existing basically nowhere else on earth.

Heck, in Japan, where I'm originally from, tipping someone is considered flat out rude, unless they truly went above and beyond their job description for you. It's showy and implies you think a person makes so little money they need extra help. But even restaurant servers earn a living wage in Japan, so this idea of "if you don't tip your waitress, she's going to starve" just doesn't exist there.

 

[Trent the Paladin]

I always try to tip 15-20% because why not? I've only not tipped/low tip 5% twice, one of which was because the waiter was trying to rush me and a friend out the door. I'd understand if it was near/after closing but it was the middle of the day and we were his only table. :/ Giving us togo boxes roughly five minutes after giving us our meal is incredibly rude.

 

[Yaezakura]

I mean, 20% isn't even that much. Even if you alone had a $50 meal, a 20% tip is only $10. If you can't afford to spend $60, you probably shouldn't be spending $50 on food. But that's just my line of thought.

If you have money to burn, sure. But let's take an example of someone living paycheck to paycheck. They get paid tomorrow, and have $50 spare in their budget this week. Hey, they could go out to eat and have a nice meal! But, oh wait. You and the tip police say they're not allowed to actually spend that $50 on food--they have to reserve at least 20% of their final total to give to the server, regardless of how good the service was, or they're some kind of inhuman monster, simply for being just as, if not poorer than, the server is.

I don't like that mindset. And I certainly don't like the mindset of any server who just expects a tip. If you want a tip, get out there and earn it. If you think you're getting 20% off me for doing the bare minimum required to say you did your job, you are going to be sorely disappointed.

 

[Oblivia]

20% is my standard, though I've no issues tipping more than 20% if the service is stellar. I remember having a hilarious chat with a waitress a few years ago and left her something like 60%.

That being said, I'll also tip less than 20% if the service unjustifiably awful. By that I mean if the place isn't busy in the least and I'm waited on by a rude, snarky person who acts like I've thrown fire ants in their underwear, then no, at that point I don't think they've earned a 20% tip. I'm more than understanding if a place is slammed and they don't coddle me and check on me every few minutes or refill my water as soon as it's half empty, but if someone isn't able to offer even a fake smile and treats me like I've ruined their month regardless of how friendly I am and how many thank yous I offer up, I'm not going to do them any favors by leaving them a normal-sized tip.

I'll also say that I spent about half a year working as a waitress at one of the busiest restaurants in my city, and it's really not that difficult to offer a decent level of customer service to people despite a slammed dinner rush or a nasty case of PMS. No, servers don't make peanuts for base pay and yes, we rely heavily on tips, but people aren't obligated to tip 20% and oftentimes won't, even when we give outstanding service. In the instances where the service was somewhere between standard and amazing, I think leaving 20% is absolutely the right thing to do.

 

[Bubblebeam]

These wages are obscene - I knew the US in particular was terrible in this regard, but the $ I had heard previously were in the $7+ range. Still abysmal in 2017, but $2???? I'm genuinely shocked.

- - - Post Merge - - -

The minimum wage in Australia is currently $17.70 - and for hospitality workers, tips are extra. By law they CANNOT be counted in the wage given by the employer. This is true for other jobs that might earn tips, too.

There are some very dodgy places out there that do pay "cash in hand" under the table to circumvent the rules. Immigrants, backpackers, and international students are particularly vulnerable to being forced to accept such an arrangement. But we have a fairly robust set of organisations and agency that look out for dealings like that. So that kind of cash-in-hand work is usually - anecdotally, and only in my experience living in a major capital city - extremely lucrative for the workers in order to a) disincentivise them from reporting the employer and b) keep good staff who would otherwise just move to a better job.

- - - Post Merge - - -

http://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2016-05-31/minimum-wage-how-does-australia-compare/7461794

Forgot to share the link - it lists the minimum wages of countries around the world in their local currency as well as converted to $AUD.

I get mad sometimes living in Oz (mostly because of the weather LOL) but it's true it's one of the better countries to live in. Just don't be on Centrelink where you're treated like garbage, have good aircon, and you should be fine. xD

 

[toadsworthy]

today I went to my server job and one of my first tables stiffed me.... I have no idea why?
people are jerks...

 

[Goshi]

Considering this the sort of state, of course. Unless the person is like, really bad.

 

[animalcrisscross]

20% would be for truly exceptional service only. Average service is a 15% tip.

Piss me off and you get nothing.

"Pissing me off" does not include making mistakes, so long as the server is polite and does their best to fix things quickly. The moment a server is rude, for any reason, they've forfeited any tip.

Being a lesbian, and not living in a major LGBT stronghold city, a whole lot of servers around here end up with nothing from me.

how exactly are they rude to you? i have a hard time believing that "a whole lot of servers" deserve nothing from you. but even then, how do you know it's because you're a lesbian? how do they even know you're a lesbian in the first place?

 

[Yaezakura]

how exactly are they rude to you? i have a hard time believing that "a whole lot of servers" deserve nothing from you. but even then, how do you know it's because you're a lesbian? how do they even know you're a lesbian in the first place?

Because most of the time when I eat out, I do so with my girlfriend? It's not exactly rocket science, figuring out when two people are a couple. And when a server is doing things like being dismissive of complaints, intentionally avoiding our table while everyone else in the section gets regular check-ins, etc, it's not rocket science to figure out when your server is snubbing you.

It's not a universal thing. There's plenty of servers, especially at places we frequent, who are excellent. But new waitstaff, or a new restaurant, are always a gamble when it comes to this kind of thing.

 

[Jake]

I've never tipped anyone in my life. Tipping isn't a big thing in Australian culture since we actually pay our waiters a proper wage where they don't need to rely on tips to make up most of their paycheck.

Maybe I'm just naive in saying this because I've never been exposed to it and I don't understand the proper reasoning, but to people saying "if you can't afford to tip then you can't afford to be eating at a restaurant" to me that's the same as saying if you can't afford to pay your staff properly you shouldn't be running a business. I mean, I don't get why the US seem to rely on tips, so many other jobs have people serving and helping others, yet they don't have to rely on tips, so I don't get why it's only in food related industries where they have to rely on tips? Checkout people, receptionists, and even people in repairs go out of their way to give people good service, yet they rarely get tipped because tipping culture is so immersed in food related industries. It doesn't make any sense to me and just seems really dumb that they have to rely on tips to get their proper wage.

 

[KaydeeKrunk]

I've never tipped anyone in my life. Tipping isn't a big thing in Australian culture since we actually pay our waiters a proper wage where they don't need to rely on tips to make up most of their paycheck.

Maybe I'm just naive in saying this because I've never been exposed to it and I don't understand the proper reasoning, but to people saying "if you can't afford to tip then you can't afford to be eating at a restaurant" to me that's the same as saying if you can't afford to pay your staff properly you shouldn't be running a business. I mean, I don't get why the US seem to rely on tips, so many other jobs have people serving and helping others, yet they don't have to rely on tips, so I don't get why it's only in food related industries where they have to rely on tips? Checkout people, receptionists, and even people in repairs go out of their way to give people good service, yet they rarely get tipped because tipping culture is so immersed in food related industries. It doesn't make any sense to me and just seems really dumb that they have to rely on tips to get their proper wage.

Outside of the food industry the only other people I tip are any kind of artist. Like if I get my hair cut, my nails done, or most frequently, a tattoo, I will tip them. It's not necessary but I was taught to tip for these services so I do, also dependent on how good of a job they do. I gave my tattoo artist a $50 tip because he sat and worked on me for 9 hours straight, on his usual day off, so yeah it was well earned.

 

[shrekluvsme]

Unless they're especially awful, I would still tip them. Being a server can be really difficult.