Random thought of the day…

Tipping waiters a % of the bill doesn't make sense. It seems like a weird cultural norm that everyone just goes along with.

If I go to a restaurant and order a $200 bottle of wine as opposed to a $40 bottle, or order an expensive steak as opposed to something cheaper, why should the waiter automatically reap a financial reward from that choice, when it had no impact on the amount of work they did to serve the table?

In theory, they work at a higher end restaurant indicating they have more experience to make your dining experience better. Same goes for realtors who help a buyer purchase a $5 million home vs. $100k.

I guess you could view it as a salesman working on commission. Same work, but a larger sale gets a larger commission. Despite the fact the buyer is paying the commission directly instead of hidden in the contract.

Tipping is one of the worst aspects of American culture.

Any amount you tip is a percentage

I think one of the main reasons this happens is because most waiters are forced by the restaurant to tip out a certain percentage of their sales to the bartender and busboys for "helping" them during service. When I was a waiter, 3-6% of total sales for tip out was pretty common.

So whatever your tab is, the waiter is forced to tip out a certain percentage of the sales from that tab. Which means if you tip less than the standard 18-20%, the waiter makes a lot less money on your table. The restaurant doesnt care if you made zero dollars on that table, they will still take the tip out from your sales.

I remember getting stiffed on tips with certain tables when I was a waiter, which means that I literally had to "pay" to wait on those tables because of the sales percentage tip out. Not saying the current system is the right way or not, but I think the forced tip out system is one of the main reasons why it is the way it is.

I had this long drawn out response ready in my head but here's the deal: I tip whatever the hell I want. End of discussion. Want more? Reflect that in the menu pricing.

Martin Q. Blank said:

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In theory, they work at a higher end restaurant indicating they have more experience to make your dining experience better. Same goes for realtors who help a buyer purchase a $5 million home vs. $100k.

I guess you could view it as a salesman working on commission. Same work, but a larger sale gets a larger commission. Despite the fact the buyer is paying the commission directly instead of hidden in the contract.

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Obviously waiters at nice restaurants should be paid more for their high level service than waiters at Chili's…that's not my point. My argument is that even at the same restaurant, the total bill from any table is subject to a lot of variability that has no impact on the effort required by the waiter, but directly impacts the tip they're paid.

A table of 4 that orders crab claws, steaks, and expensive wine could easily pay 3x what the next table pays, which ordered salads, chicken, and cheap wine. So the waiter gets 3x the pay due entirely to diner choice. Seems arbitrary and dumb.

View it as commission. The restaurant makes more money and pays out a portion to the salesman.

You get to determine the percentage. When I was a waiter I didn't mind if I got $10-15 tip if 2 people came in and ordered an expensive bottle of wine and a couple of pricy menu items and wound up with a $150 bill. Still better than a couple sharing and entree and ordering water with lemons

I always figure I spend a lot more time at the nicer restaurants, so the waiter will have less tables during the shift.

What about nice restaurants with sommeliers? Pappas Bros Steakhouse has a 200 page wine list that servers barely know. If they call over a sommelier and the som steers me from a $200 bottle to a $500 bottle, why should the server get rewarded for it?

I think realtors making a percentage is even more egregious. It is just as simple to list a 2 million dollar house as it is a 10 million dollar house. They should charge an hourly rate. You want a good high end agent, you pay a high hourly rate. You wanna sell your shotgun shack, you get the $20 an hour hustler.

Moe Jzyslak said:

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What about nice restaurants with sommeliers? Pappas Bros Steakhouse has a 200 page wine list that servers barely know. If they call over a sommelier and the som steers me from a $200 bottle to a $500 bottle, why should the server get rewarded for it?

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Sommeliers also get tipped out.

Dont forget the manager and owner keeping their cut

Milwaukees Best Light said:

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I think realtors making a percentage is even more egregious. It is just as simple to list a 2 million dollar house as it is a 10 million dollar house. They should charge an hourly rate. You want a good high end agent, you pay a high hourly rate. You wanna sell your shotgun shack, you get the $20 an hour hustler.

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I'll agree with you on a $250k vs $750k house, but $2M vs $10M is vastly different. The realtor for the $10M house will absolutely do significantly more work as the realtor for the $2M house and deserves a higher commission. (No, I am not a realtor, nor is my wife).

100% agree with you. Have always wondered the same.

Why can't waitstaff, bartenders, cooks, and others in the service industry be paid like everyone else?

I understand hourly wages are low and tips can bring more than that hourly wage. Why not pay them like everyone else? I've heard the argument menu prices would greatly increase if tips were eliminated and wages increased. Ok. Fine. I'm still paying the same for that dinner. Just calculated differently.

• Yup. Tip should be based on level of service, not price of the meal.

EastSideAg2002 said:

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Dont forget the manager and owner keeping their cut

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I see this posted frequently and have never actually identified a restaurant where it actually happens. I'm not saying it never occurs, but if and when it does it's a rare exception and not a norm

Tip should be level of service, not price of meal. Realtors don't earn $600k for the sale of a $10mm house.

I say that about tipping but I still tip based on price of meal, just agree with the thought about tying it the price being dumb. And always negotiate when realtors.

FIDO*98* said:

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EastSideAg2002 said:

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Dont forget the manager and owner keeping their cut

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I see this posted frequently and have never actually identified a restaurant where it actually happens. I'm not saying it never occurs, but if and when it does it's a rare exception and not a norm

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It happens (at least from the server's point of view), but it's not the manager or owner just pocketing it. But servers often do pay a small percentage back to the company to cover credit card fees, usually called a "tip refund". As the company gets charged a percentage for credit card use but the server wouldn't otherwise on their credit card tip income. It's probably only done at restaurants that have a modern point-of-sale that applies it on their checkouts automatically.

I'm sure some mom and pop business skim off their employees, seen it on a few episodes of Ramsey's "Kitchen Nightmare" show. Sounds like a quick way to lose good staff though.

I thought with tipping getting out of hand we might have seen i start to go away within the next 5-10 years.

If no tax on tips becomes law, it is only going to get worse for customers.

It will be great for wait staff and there will be no incentive for restaurants and any other industry who gets tips to change

RooAg said:

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Tip should be level of service, not price of meal. Realtors don't earn $600k for the sale of a $10mm house.

I say that about tipping but I still tip based on price of meal, just agree with the thought about tying it the price being dumb. And always negotiate when realtors.

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You literally can control how much you tip. If that's how you feel, tip accordingly. I gave a $100 tip to a college student yesterday because she was absolutely awesome and made our experience outstanding. I'll tip $10 for a $9 plate of Migas on the reg. I also have no problem tipping $15 on a $200 bill if service is average and meals are expensive.

I blame the Jews.

Now that there might be no tax on tips, you should give your server just the tip.

Champion of Fireball said:

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I blame the Jews.

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This made me lol

My intention. I stand proudly with the Apple of YHWH's eye.

Athanasius said:

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Now that there might be no tax on tips, you should give your server just the tip.

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I always lost that game. It was never "just the tip."

I wouldn't say 'American' culture, i'd say Caucasian. We all know other groups don't be tippin unless they on fo fo's

What annoys me the most about tipping these days is when the receipt has suggested tip amounts and the lowest option is 20%.

Furthermore, the amount suggested includes the tax. Why would you ever tip on tax money that is given to the government to a business or a waiter.

When you go to a nice restaurant or a restaurant that automatically adds a tip because of your party size, they never include the tax on the amount for the tip in my experience.

Tipping is a scam by the restaurant industry to pressure customers into paying their employees so they don't have to.

The rest of the world got rid of the practice. We should too.

Ag9701 said:

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What annoys me the most about tipping these days is when the receipt has suggested tip amounts and the lowest option is 20%.

Furthermore, the amount suggested includes the tax. Why would you ever tip on tax money that is given to the government to a business or a waiter.

When you go to a nice restaurant or a restaurant that automatically adds a tip because of your party size, they never include the tax on the amount for the tip in my experience.

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Yeah. What happened to 15% being the standard?

What annoys me even more is when restaurants prompt for tips on carry-out orders. Who would that even go to?

This is almost every service industry.

Build a building. You're paying the GC their salary regardless plus a fee %. Doesn't matter in the size of the building just the dollar contract value. In fact smaller projects take just as much if not more work. That smaller project only gets a nominal fee.

Also the gubbermint…buy a vehicle and the the govt does zero work but takes a percentage of the cars value for no reason at all. Earn a paycheck and they take what they want.

Blood has been shed over less on the taxes part

I know people who have worked for a place you've all heard of that was a cash only establishment. The place would take all the tips and would pool them and then cut checks to the staff weekly. They always wondered if the owner/managers were taking some of the tips because there really was no way to know for sure.

I am way more opposed to realtors basically taking 6% equity in a property I sell. I had a friend who hired a person for $20/hr to promote his property on loopnet, and on social media sites, and then hired a real estate attorney to represent him in the transaction. It was over a million dollar commercial property and it sold in 6 months and cost him around $10,000.

I got prompted to tip at chick fil a in the DFW airport this morning.

That's gonna be a no for me, dawg