Today more than ever servers feel they are entitled to a bigger tip.
I have zero problem with tipping but to me a tip is still earned.
The whole tipping on percentage of the bill also imo is the absolute stupidest thing imaginable.
You want me to tip more $ because I may have ordered a more expensive menu item.. Nevermind you did the exact same work had I ordered a cheaper option. Where is the logic in that?
I'll tip on job performance.

But recently I went to a restaurant and server brought bill.. I inserted cash ( I always pay cash at a restaurant or bar.. always.) she assumed it was a card and grabbed the little booklet and said " I'll be right back with this.. would you like to tip 20 or 25%". After the initial shock wore off of her asking that I explained it was cash.

Few weeks ago my wife and I were out with friends. Again I paid cash.. he paid with card and restaurant had the little hand held card readers. Waiter took my buddies card and Inserted it, waiter then held the device in front of my buddy and stood over him while he is to chose tip option … and of course the smallest % offered was 18% so if wanted smaller amount you had hit other then key in the amount or %.

The expectation from servers is beyond ridiculous.
No need for a server to ask customer " how much wanna tip " or stand over them while they key in their tip amount

You know what's worse?

Paying cash instead of using a credit card to earn points, airline miles, cashback, etc.

I don't really mind the 18% as that is basically what I was doing with my double tax and round up method. If the service sucked though, I have no issue wasting more of their time typing in whatever tip < preset amount I damn well please.

Just annoying now that I see 20% shown as lowest option too and many places. If it's counter serve, I'm not tipping.

Did you donate $5 to the charity of their choosing?

I bet your kids go behind you and tip more. That's what we do with my cash paying dad.

or you could just tip whatever you want and go about your day like pretty much everyone else who doesn't feel the need to virtue signal over things that mildly upset you

Or you could change the entire system so everyone is paid a better wage than most food servers who have to rely on tips.

Like they do in Europe - build the full wage of the employees into the cost of the meal, and be done with it. Typically the customer may round up to the next Euro or maybe 2-3, but that's it. No expectation of 20-25-30% on top of the cost of the meal.

In the US, tipping is expected. Servers are paid less than minimum wage. It is expected that tips will cover the gap between what they are actually paid and at least minimum wage. There are very few situations in which I would tip nothing.
sk me if I wanted to tip 20% or 25% would really turn me off. It's very presumptuous of them to do so.

I was asked to tip at Subway today. Lol.

I guess the "sandwich artists" are overvaluing their "art".

No table service = no tip.

FAT SEXY said:

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Do y'all tip Sonic carhops?

I always feel awkward at Sonic because it seems they are expecting a tip.

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I always tip extra at Sonic and consider it a form of tithing seeing the happy reactions I get knowing they make very little.

agz win said:

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FAT SEXY said:

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Do y'all tip Sonic carhops?

I always feel awkward at Sonic because it seems they are expecting a tip.

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I always tip extra at Sonic and consider it a form of tithing seeing the happy reactions I get knowing they make very little.

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I also tip at Sonic but only if they come out on roller skates.

No skates, no tip.

LJF78 said:

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The whole tipping on percentage of the bill also imo is the absolute stupidest thing imaginable.
You want me to tip more $ because I may have ordered a more expensive menu item..

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Agreed with everything, but especially this. For instance we took my kids to Snooze when we were in town recently. Had a bill a little over 80 bucks and the server was great plus an A&M student so I tipped $30. He was appreciative enough to come over and thank me on the way out. On the other hand, I took a customer out to Bob's on Wednesday. The service was solid, but a bit annoying with the upselling. We ran up a $300 bill yet the waiter had 2 fewer guests and less work but if I tipped the same $30 I'm suddenly a cheap a-hole so I tipped $60 as expected.

I guess I'll hop on the old man yells at cloud train because I agree it's gotten really presumptuous. If I order at your counter and then go get my families own napkins, plastic ware, drinks, lids, straws and shuttle it all to a table and wait for you to call my name where I get back up and go grab all of our food and schlep all of that over to the table too… I'm not tipping anything.

At torchys the other day the percentage options were all the same as you'd see at a sit down restaurant. I think the smallest option was 15 or 18%. I'm not tipping $8 for you to put my order in and then bring it to my table. I'm already dropping way to much on some tacos anyway.

I think this all started at the counter restaurants during Covid and just hasn't gone away.

superunknown said:

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or you could just tip whatever you want and go about your day like pretty much everyone else who doesn't feel the need to virtue signal over things that mildly upset you

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I love you so hard

I went to a restaurant awhile ago and the tip options were 25%, 30% and 35%. That's insane.

Years ago, I was at an Outback Steakhouse and when the server came with the check, I said to my wife, "5% for every time she came to the table. Isn't that the way we usually do it?" My wife nodded in agreement. The server just slinked away, knowing that her tip was only going to be 10%.

hoosier-daddy said:

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I bet your kids go behind you and tip more. That's what we do with my cash paying dad.

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This is what I do with family like the OP.

I originally said family and friends, but I don't have friends that don't understand that servers are ONLY paid in tips and don't make any money from the restaurant anymore. Don't want to tip? Get your food to go.

superunknown said:

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or you could just tip whatever you want and go about your day like pretty much everyone else who doesn't feel the need to virtue signal over things that mildly upset you

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713nervy said:

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hoosier-daddy said:

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I bet your kids go behind you and tip more. That's what we do with my cash paying dad.

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This is what I do with family like the OP.

I originally said family and friends, but I don't have friends that don't understand that servers are ONLY paid in tips and don't make any money from the restaurant anymore. Don't want to tip? Get your food to go.

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Is this true? I always understood there was a serves wage that they make but it their comp was primarily tips. The restaurants literally don't pay them at all now? How did they work that deal?

superunknown said:

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or you could just tip whatever you want and go about your day like pretty much everyone else who doesn't feel the need to virtue signal over things that mildly upset you

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I think in this case OP is upset that society is trying to shame people into paying for a service they don't receive.

customers are being pressured to behave a certain way by companies and employees and society and being told that in order to fbe virtuous consumers you must tip.

By expressing displeasure at the new standard of virtue he actually is doing the opposite of virtue signaling

Virtue signaling is where you make a public display requiring little to no effort in order to demonstrate how moral you are because u behaved in the socially pressured manner or spoke in the socially pressured way.

OP is making a public display but not conforming to social pressures of virtue.

OP is more old man yelling at clouds.

I remember when the tipping standard was 10% to 15%. I went over and routinely tipped 20%. Now the "standard is 20% to 25%. I've hosted corporate events for multi K and the servers will apply the "standard" 20% tip and then have the gall to ask if you want to tip more.

I'm starting to go back the other direction because it's gotten out of hand. Agree with others if I place the order at your counter and secure all the utensils, napkins, and stuff, plus take the trash to the bins, and all you do is bring the order to the table... I don't see where a tip is warranted. Hell sometimes they call your number and you go get the food... why is a tip deserved?

lotsofhp said:

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713nervy said:

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hoosier-daddy said:

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I bet your kids go behind you and tip more. That's what we do with my cash paying dad.

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This is what I do with family like the OP.

I originally said family and friends, but I don't have friends that don't understand that servers are ONLY paid in tips and don't make any money from the restaurant anymore. Don't want to tip? Get your food to go.

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Is this true? I always understood there was a serves wage that they make but it their comp was primarily tips. The restaurants literally don't pay them at all now? How did they work that deal?

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I'm a CPA and I have clients that are restaurants. They do NOT work for only tips. In Texas the minimum wage for tipped employees is $2.13. This is because tips are expected to get them to the minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. If their tips don't get them to $7.25 per hour, the employer is required to make up the difference. The >25% tip recommendations are being put there by the employers. They sure as heck don't want to bridge the gap.

Minimum wage for tipped employees is $2.13/hr. If tips do not bring that up to $7.25 then the restaurant must make up the difference. A mediocre server taking care if four or five tables during a lunch run should be making 20 to 30 dollars an hour.

taxpreparer said:

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Minimum wage for tipped employees is $2.13/hr. If tips do not bring that up to $7.25 then the restaurant must make up the difference. A mediocre server taking care if four or five tables during a lunch run should be making 20 to 30 dollars an hour.

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You don't say?

Two bean counters in this thread?

My niece must've lied to me then. Okay. I'll revise my statement.

I don't have friends who don't understand that servers ONLY get paid $2.13/hour + tips. Don't want to tip? Get your food to go.

713nervy said:

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My niece must've lied to me then. Okay. I'll revise my statement.

I don't have friends who don't understand that servers ONLY get paid $2.13/hour + tips. Don't want to tip? Get your food to go.

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Your niece is a stripper.

combat wombat said:

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In the US, tipping is expected. Servers are paid less than minimum wage. It is expected that tips will cover the gap between what they are actually paid and at least minimum wage. There are very few situations in which I would tip nothing.
sk me if I wanted to tip 20% or 25% would really turn me off. It's very presumptuous of them to do so.

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Even though the law requires the employer to pay them the difference if tips plus cash wage ($2.13/hr) are less than minimum wage, employers simply don't ever make up the difference and the gov't doesn't enforce it. Most people in food service can't afford to hire a lawyer to sue for that $1/hr they got cheated out of.

People can feel whatever way they want to about minimum wage, but I think cash wage needs to be abolished.

LJF78 said:

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You want me to tip more $ because I may have ordered a more expensive menu item.. Nevermind you did the exact same work had I ordered a cheaper option. Where is the logic in that?

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This is what grinds me. If I order expensive vs. cheap whisky I'm supposed to tip more for the exact same action? Or if I order doubles my tip suddenly doubles because you poured for an extra second each time?

RealTalk said:

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713nervy said:

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My niece must've lied to me then. Okay. I'll revise my statement.

I don't have friends who don't understand that servers ONLY get paid $2.13/hour + tips. Don't want to tip? Get your food to go.

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Your niece is a stripper.

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Strippers have to pay the club. She's retired.