Repair-It

https://www.quora.com/What-happens-if-I ... in-the-U-S

They might come after you.

Happened to me twice in one day in New York.

First in Koreatown. There was nothing wrong with the food or service. I just didn’t tip enough. They came after me on the street, and confronted me in front of lots people. They simply asked for more money. I was embarrassed, and just gave them what they wanted to get it over with. Afterwards I felt humiliated and annoyed.

Second time was somewhere close to the south side of Central Park. The food was awful. The service was terrible. I was not happy. Yet, I tipped 5%. They too came after me. I gave them 2 dollars and said the experience was bad. They looked at me in disgust. Again, I felt humiliated and angry.

I understand the tipping system in America. The minimum wages are low and waiters/waitresses survive off their tips. I’ll happily tip great food and service. But, if restaurant staff feel the need to chase people down on the street to ask for more tips, then there is something deeply flawed with the system. As a tourist, it’s very shocking and unpleasant.

I also always hear "well you have to tip because that's really the only source of income for the wait staff." But I often forget that the restaurant is required to pay the delta between the $2.13/hr or whatever and minimum wage if the tips do not cover. I mean, that's not great, but that is the contract.

Wow, I can’t believe that happened to you! I’ve worked as a waitress before multiple times @ multiple locations and would NEVER do that. Once, however, one of my tables of 2 on a busy night left without giving me a tip. My boss actually entered into the computer an $8 tip anyway. He said, “They can confront me if they have a problem with it.”

Another time I waited on a couple hand and foot - explained beers and dishes to them, gave them free samples; the whole nine yards. They tipped me five dollars. Though I felt it was unfair, I would find it extremely inappropriate to chase the customer down and demand more tip, I mean that’s just laughable.

The second part is a direct response to the pasted answer at the top. The first part is...alarming.

If you’re saying they paid with credit/debit and he added an $8 tip to their bill without their consent, he’s lucky they didn’t confront him. He could have gotten in major legal trouble for that, not to mention hurt his business.

That form of to theft happens in the UK, often it's because must tips are left on the table after the bill is paid by credit card leaving the tip box on the receipt empty. It's when they are too greedy it gets noticed. A friend had an extra £75 added to his. Not sure what happened to the restaurant when he reported it, but I think they lost their ability to use credit cards at all.

I usually tip on credit but I have left the tip field blank on two common occasions: when I do a cash tip, and when I am doing takeout (no tip). Makes me wonder. It's not like I save the receipt and compare it to the bill. I would probably notice something egregious but that's just it - if I were the restaurant I would make it something that I wouldn't notice.

I always feel weird about the fact that tips are entered after you leave the restaurant. Why can’t they set up a system where you write down your tip and then they swipe your card AFTER that. Entering your tip after you’ve left just allows too much opportunity for bad behavior, especially since most people don’t spend time comparing their receipts to their online bank record unless something big stands out (or at least I assume they don’t. Or is it just me?)

Yes. They swipe your card, bring it back with a receipt, have you fill out the tip and sign the receipt, take the receipt back and enter the information into their computer after you’ve left.

I agree with your post, i would also add that ive experienced that at every restaurant except Denny's. At Denny's they would like the tip written in before they swipe your card.

You can debate whether the price of the meal is for average food/service and anything above average is where your tip comes in. Or, that the price of the meal is literally just the meal, so ANY service at all (even bad service) is something you have to pay for. This is dumb.

But the real point is, you are supposed to be empowered to vote with your wallet about the quality of the food or service. The problem is, your tip has an ambiguous impact on the food. The service, sure. It seems like you have to make a "scene" to truly deliver the message that the food was bad. And you probably have to eat whatever they give you the first time and then just complain about it, rather than have them take it back....

It's the societal expectation here in America. The prevailing attitude is If you can't afford to tip, don't eat out. It's not ideal but I don't see it changing any time soon. I was a server for 8 years and have been both “stiffed” and tipped handsomely. To a certain extent, I began to stereotype certain groups of diners: groups of women, teens and seniors tended to tip badly. Obvious foreigners tipped poorly. (I find out later that was because the service was included and most times they didn't know about American tipping). Businessmen tended to tip well.

Of course, all of those stereotypes were tested when I got a good tip. Except from teens. Let's face it, they never tip well.

Yeah I bet that's a thing, the stereotyping.

If you don't tip your waiter they essentially paid to serve you. So who's being abused here?

They’re supposed to be paid by the manager of the restaurant. Who’s fault it is for this abusive system of paying the waiters minimum salary and expecting them to strike gold with a generous client?

I don’t believe it’s unfair and I believe your bribery analogy is not accurate. The client knows going in that the wait staff does not receive a wage to speak of. When I sit down to eat I acknowledge that the price of the meal will include an additional minimum 15% tip. That is our society’s accepted amount for satisfactory service. I never tip less than 20%. I am not affluent, it’s just what I choose to do. If you consider the service to be exceptionally poor you have the option to tip less but to completely stiff a waiter is unconscionable.

This matches my understanding, even though I don't agree with it.

No Kyle, that’s not how it works. I am born and raised in the USA. If the food and service is bad, I will not tip.

To your point though - the cooks are the one making the food - why do we not tip them when the food is GOOD? The waiters do nothing besides bring us drinks and food. I much rather tip the cooks who do the work and make the experience what it is.

It has nothing to do with being cheap. It has everything to do with what a TIP is, a reward for good performance. If you are a shitty waiter and the food is bad, I am not going to tip. Period.

Kind of hits on what I mentioned earlier. What happens in the kitchen is more important to me. Some people may have different expectations, but for me, the experience is the food. You topped my water off 4 times during the meal? Ok, that's cool, but it took 10 seconds each...

“The reason you have to pay that person is because the owner is not paying them. “

- What kind of madness is this? How is it MY responsibility because a waiter took a job where their boss doesn’t pay them? Could you imagine this in ANY OTHER industry? It’s absolutely bonkers that this is just readily accepted by you as a ‘matter of fact’ and not questioned at all.

“When you place your order you have created an unspoken contract with the waiter. Bring me the food and I will pay you. The amount you pay the waiter is left to your discretion and the waiter accepts that. The waiter understands that a better performance should result in greater compensation.”

- First off, there’s no such thing as an unspoken contract. If it’s unspoken, it’s not a contract. Second, this is exactly what I’m saying, although if the performance is bad my payment will be $0. Now, I’ve eaten out thousands of times and I only stiffed the waiter 4 times. All 4 I was being treated rudely or the food was so bad and they did nothing about it. These are outliers and not the norm but when it happens we do reserve the right to pay nothing. If not, then it’s not a tip anymore, it’s a service charge and should be stated as such.

“What you cannot do is refuse to pay the waiter. If the waiter delivered the food and drinks, the waiter deserved to be paid (something).”

- Actually I can. That’s what tipping is. If you don’t like this arrangement, you’re free to not take that job. That’s how capitalism works.

Yeah, none of this bleeding heart bullshit. But let's be honest - I might think this way, but I tend to tip 15-20%...

I believe what really drives you crazy is that the whole concept of tipping is actually tolerated by the public. The Libertarian mind seems to focus only on self and cannot understand why rules and laws should apply to him if he doesn’t agree. Example: “75% of the county voted for that new bridge. I voted against it so I shouldn’t have to pay the taxes for it. I don’t believe in or care about the common good. If it doesn’t benefit me, or even if it does benefit me, I should be excluded.” It’s gotta drive a Libertarian crazy.

Fair. I guess that embodies the Libertarian mindset though I think the example is not accurate.

I guess this is the bottom line (aside from the part where they have to make up the difference until they get to minimum wage):

I have waited tables before and it’s not the customers responsibility. It’s the business owner’s. He is responsible for paying your wages. But he puts the burden on you as the server and the customer to pay the difference. I always feel guilty going out to eat if I tip or not (and I usually always do). Someone asked, “Why does tipping feel like you’re doing something wrong?” It’s because you’re being made to feel responsible for the underpaid server while the business owner doesn’t have to pay his employees a decent wage.

Pretty much the two ways you can feel about it...

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/bus ... /75571432/

http://ny.eater.com/2016/3/10/11195626/ ... ing-profit

Blanchette explained that, in addition to servers being more likely to stick around for the long haul with a higher hourly wage, they'd also be guaranteed the same pay whether they worked a dead shift on a Monday afternoon or a busy Friday night, per National Restaurant News. And service would likely improve, too, he noted, especially when servers start sharing table duties for large parties (instead of getting territorial over a table for an anticipated big tip). The wage increase is paid for by raising menu prices 12% to 15% — which could still save customers money if they usually tip 18% or more. Results so far have been positive. "What makes us optimistic is the restaurant that has been in test the longest is gaining the most traction,"

So everyone will help more because there is less competition for a big party? Or everyone will help less because they are not dependent on the tips for a decent wage? Couldn't the turnover problem of people leaving because the tips don't pay enough turn into turnover from management firing people who thought they'd take the job, do not much, and then get fired? Turnover is turnover...

After a long sabbatical, I remembered the forum and have returned. So reading this (to be honest, I didn't read everything that you quoted kevin) but I did read the first post and I'll chime in with this (since I now live in NY and will eat within NYC every now and then). First off, my tipping habits are basically just do around 15-20%. Not an exact science, but just look at the bill, move the decimal point over, take the first number and double that, and typically that's how I'll leave a tip. At some places, if they leave the exact amount at the bottom of the receipt, i'll use that. However, if I left a tip at a restaurant and a waiter came and chased me down on the street to ask for more money, I'd simply do my best to ignore and just keep on walking. What I left on the table is what I left. I technically don't owe a tip, hence the word "tip". However, if the waiter did that then I might not go back to that restaurant for 2 reasons, 1) because the waiter did embarrass me and 2) I'm not sure I'd want to go to a restaurant where a waiter would chase me down on the street.

Now, while we're on this topic, months ago, I was back in RI and went out for drinks with a friend of mine at a restaurant in East Greenwich and my friend and I were having a few drinks sitting at the bar and the bartender comes up to us and says "hey, you see that guy over there, he's probably going to walk out without paying his bill" and within 5 minutes, the guy gets up and just walks out. The bartender called the manager over and I guess the manager decided it wasn't worth the hassle of chasing the guy down, but maybe he got a license plate or just took a mental shot of the guy and figured he would not be allowed to return. Apparently, they guessed that the guy was on a date that didn't go well and after the girl left, the guy was just starring at the bill without really going towards it (as if he was going to pay) so that's how the bartender guessed correctly that it was going to happen. In this instance, I wouldn't have blamed the restaurant one bit if they had chased the guy down and required him to pay.