Tipping seems to me to be a waste of money. I pay the restaurant who pays the waiter whatever their previously-arranged salary is. Whether or not it's minimum wage the waiter gets what he's entitled to.

I have no responsibility to fund the waiter's quality of life. If at all possible I'd even prefer to serve myself in restaurants - that is, collect my plate/tray from the kitchen, cutting out the oily middle-man.

So, what do you think about tipping? Should tipping be mandatory, should it be illegal, should it come out of the staff's normal wages, should all tips be collated and split at the end of the day?

EDIT: Something I forgot to ask but meant to: many have strong opinions on whether or not you OWE wait staff a tip. If you do, why?

I usually tip 20% unless the service was less than acceptable. In that case I tip whatever I feel they deserve... Sometimes nothing if it's that bad, but that's rare. I think they should keep tipping how it is... You don't have to but it's the appropriate thing to do.

gomerkyle9:
I think they should keep tipping how it is... You don't have to but it's the appropriate thing to do.

It's only a tradition, or if you don't want to dignify it to that extent, a common social convention. Why would it be inappropriate to neglect to tip?

I only tip when the service was very good to exceptional, but then again in my country there's nothing about that whole appropriate percentage thing, most waiters/waitresses get enough salary (well over the minimum wage...except maybe when thier employer really sucks)

I go with the Mr. Pink philosophy on tipping.

If they put forth the extra effort, I'll tip them. If they don't, I wont.

Molikroth:

gomerkyle9:
I think they should keep tipping how it is... You don't have to but it's the appropriate thing to do.

It's only a tradition, or if you don't want to dignify it to that extent, a common social convention. Why would it be inappropriate to neglect to tip?

You know... I don't think appropriate was the right word to use. What I mean to say is that in our culture it's the customary thing to do and it shows etiquette.

It depends on where I am. I'll tip occasionally if it's in one of my favourite cafes, or if I actually decide to go to something like a fast food place. I don't tip at poncy restaurants.

The first is because if I like the cafe, I'm more generous, and I get along with the staff.
The second is because of pity.
The third is because of arrogance.

The video basically sums up my opinion, except for the parts where he says he gives a damn about tips being taxable.

If minimum wage doesn't get you by, it's because you're a moron. I get less than minimum wage, have to pay extortionate utility bills and my internet/phone bill, and still have enough left over to fill my home with trinkets and junk.

Besides which, assuming minimum wage wasn't enough to get by on, it'd be none of the client's business. You go to a restaurant for a meal, not to save the starving waiter. Unless you're rich, bored and famous, in which case you pay $500 for a mushroom with some urine drizzled around it - in which case tipping is probably mandatory, because the waiters in those places drip off snobbiness rather than greasy pandering to your every want.

Usually through in a pound or two. Depends heavily on service though, have left 3 pence on a £30-odd bill. Most waiters/waitresses seem nice though, they get money for amusing me also

I used to work as a porter for a fancy hotel. So i generally fall on the side of always tipping. But having said that i only tip a small percentage. People who add more than 1/5 of the price of their meal as a tip are just show-off arses. Oh and i always tip cash, otherwise manages have their hands out and NI gets added and the people who served you; waiters, porters and kitchen staff get very little of what you give.

And i never tip at fast food places.

i tip because i know a lot of people who work very hard at restaurants. i also know that they remember everyone who doesn't tip, so if you ever plan on going back to that restaurant again, prepare to unknowingly eat saliva. bon appetit!

Living as I do in Australia, there is no expectation to tip, so I gladly don't. I don't want to have any part in bringing that stupid custom to this sunburnt country. Firstly, when tipping becomes endemic in a culture anyone who doesn't is considered rude, which I consider the opposite of how things should be: if someone tips, they're nice and think the service was good, because (ideally) there was no social compulsion for them to do so. Instead, most people tip in a country that habitually tips because "that's how things are done, and the waiters might pee in my soup if I ever come back (exaggeration)". There's a certain stigma attached to expecting that the price on the menu is the actual cost of a meal.
It's not my job to pay a restaurant's waiters/waitresses beyond what comes out of the meals themselves. I've worked in service myself and I never expected a handout because I put on a smile and treated customers well - that's what my pay check was for. You shouldn't need an income on the side to twist the edges of your mouth up and give a damn about those you're serving.

The only thing I hate about tips is how they are almost mandatory. I have nothing against tipping, its a good way of showing you appreciated their service but it should not be automatically expected. Also I hate places that have a service cherge AND a space for "gratuity".

EDIT: Forgot about regular haunts. Tipping is fine there but it probably balances out the few free drinks you get every now and then :P

Very rarely and only small amounts. And only if I felt the waiter provided some extra level of service. The reason for this is that I've worked as kitchen assistant (bottom of the restaurant business food chain) a few different places, and they handle tipping very differently. Some places have a pool that they put all their tips in and share once a month. Other places simply let the waiters pocket the cash. I personally don't feel it's fair that the waiter (whose job may be demanding, but not so much more than everyone else in the restaurant) gets extra money simply for serving the food, perhaps chatting a bit and recommending a wine, when the actual work put into the meal is done elsewhere. If the meal was excellent, tell the waiter to pass your compliments on to the kitchen staff. If the waiter provided some sort of bonus waiter-y service, go ahead and tip him/her. But don't give waiters credit (and cash) for something they didn't do/deserve.

I used to be a waiter, and a bartender. And trust me, from that side, every single customer is a total wad and does not deserve your service. So the tips are your way of thanking them for not poisoning your food or setting you on fire or something. I always tip, never really a percentage, just like $5 or more if the service is good.

EDIT: Also, tipping makes them like you more when you come back. I'm a regular at my local pub, and I'm fairly certain I wouldn't be nearly as welcome if I never tipped.

Double Edit: This might also just be how it is in North America, our people ARE generally more idiotic and painfully ignorant than most other areas of the world.

CoziestPigeon:
I used to be a waiter, and a bartender. And trust me, from that side, every single customer is a total wad and does not deserve your service. So the tips are your way of thanking them for not poisoning your food or setting you on fire or something. I always tip, never really a percentage, just like $5 or more if the service is good.

Don't you feel the previously-arranged wage your employer provides is all you're OWED? Sure you can have tips, and many may feel you earned a tip, but I don't see how you have any leg to stand on when it comes to feeling entitled to a tip.

Waited tables in college. You really get paid absolute piss in America if you're a waiter (my checks were typically zero or in change), so I empathize and always drop 20%. You might as well ask the waiter for ten bucks if you're not going to tip them, because you basically just robbed them of their time they could've spent making money. Got sick of the unsteady pay because of people thinking they didn't have to tip though, so I switched to being a line cook.

And yeah, the waiters definitely dictate the quality of your food if you're a repeat bad tipper.

I once tipped a taxi driver in New York for a journey from Newark Airport to Central Park. I think the bill, including the tolls, came to $66. So I thought it was reasonable to round it up to $70.

You'd think I'd shat in his hand, the look he gave me! So instead of his $4 tip, he got nothing. Tipping is optional, people shouldn't expect a tip unless they give a service that was in excess of what I was expecting.

Molikroth:

CoziestPigeon:
I used to be a waiter, and a bartender. And trust me, from that side, every single customer is a total wad and does not deserve your service. So the tips are your way of thanking them for not poisoning your food or setting you on fire or something. I always tip, never really a percentage, just like $5 or more if the service is good.

Don't you feel the previously-arranged wage your employer provides is all you're OWED? Sure you can have tips, and many may feel you earned a tip, but I don't see how you have any leg to stand on when it comes to feeling entitled to a tip.

The company owes you your wage, the customers toss in something extra for you putting up with them. The company only pays you to bring out food and drinks, the extra customer service is entirely up to you, and most of the time the customer doesn't deserve it. So they toss you a few extra bucks as a thanks.

Milford Cubicle:
I once tipped a taxi driver in New York for a journey from Newark Airport to Central Park. I think the bill, including the tolls, came to $66. So I thought it was reasonable to round it up to $70.

Right...but you cost him a lot of money in small 4 dollar tips because he spent all that time driving you around rather than taking multiple customers over smaller distances. You might as well have taken a dump in his taxi while you were at it.

L.B. Jeffries:
Waited tables in college. You really get paid absolute piss in America if you're a waiter (my checks were typically zero or in change), so I empathize and always drop 20%. You might as well ask the waiter for ten bucks if you're not going to tip them, because you basically just robbed them of their time they could've spent making money. Got sick of the unsteady pay because of people thinking they didn't have to tip though, so I switched to being a line cook.

And yeah, the waiters definitely dictate the quality of your food if you're a repeat bad tipper.

Still, it's not really the customer's fault that your employer is paying you too little. The restaurant business is brutal, but it seems wrong to me that the customers are expected to artificially keep a business going by paying more than you are asked for. Imagine the same set-up in any other business.

i have no problem with tipping, it shouldn't be mandatory though that's just stupid. ill tip if i feel i got good service.

We dont tip in NZ. As the OP said they get paid a set wage. Plus if I were to tip anyone it would not be the waitress. Not unless she does something really freaking special but ususally its "oh wow, you carried a plate 20' without fucking it up. Good for you"
Waitresses tend not to share their tips with anyone let alone the kitchen and they do all the real work soooooo.

CoziestPigeon:
The company owes you your wage, the customers toss in something extra for you putting up with them. The company only pays you to bring out food and drinks, the extra customer service is entirely up to you, and most of the time the customer doesn't deserve it. So they toss you a few extra bucks as a thanks.

Your extra service was unasked for. You choose whether or not to provide it.

I'm not one-sided on this though. If you act like an asshole to a customer because he never tips, that customer will undoubtedly complain about bad service.

I feel that anything further than ferrying food from the kitchen, and plates to the kitchen, is an imposition on the part of the waiter. You choose whether or not to kowtow though, and don't arrange how much kowtowing will earn what beforehand with the customer, so you don't have any excuse to complain when your unasked-for "service" (inane chatter, unasked for recommendations) goes unpaid.

CoziestPigeon:
I used to be a waiter, and a bartender. And trust me, from that side, every single customer is a total wad and does not deserve your service. So the tips are your way of thanking them for not poisoning your food or setting you on fire or something. I always tip, never really a percentage, just like $5 or more if the service is good.

See, this is what I'm talking about. No offence, but I feel that poisoning or otherwise violating my food is something you should be punished for doing, not rewarded for not doing. We don't reward people for not murdering hobos.
I'm always as polite as I can be to bartenders and waiters, so I don't think I'm a "total wad", and if you think I am...well that's why you're being paid for serving me. It's to motivate you to do something you wouldn't otherwise want to

EDIT: Also, tipping makes them like you more when you come back. I'm a regular at my local pub, and I'm fairly certain I wouldn't be nearly as welcome if I never tipped.

I don't expect my waiters to like me, just to extend the same level of courtesy I extend them - and would extend them if the roles were reversed.

L.B. Jeffries:
Waited tables in college. You really get paid absolute piss in America if you're a waiter (my checks were typically zero or in change), so I empathize and always drop 20%. You might as well ask the waiter for ten bucks if you're not going to tip them, because you basically just robbed them of their time they could've spent making money. Got sick of the unsteady pay because of people thinking they didn't have to tip though, so I switched to being a line cook.

And yeah, the waiters definitely dictate the quality of your food if you're a repeat bad tipper.

This is the crux for me. If you're really getting paid that much, why should customers be propping up the unfair wages your boss is giving you? Tipping only supports the terrible wages that mean everyone is expected to tip that means wages are terrible so tipping is expected... In other words, I don't want to have to pay for your boss being a douche.
I understand it's not the waiters' fault (the bosses are the ones making the moolah off tipping really) but still. I don't support corrupt systems if I can help it.

poleboy:

L.B. Jeffries:
Waited tables in college. You really get paid absolute piss in America if you're a waiter (my checks were typically zero or in change), so I empathize and always drop 20%. You might as well ask the waiter for ten bucks if you're not going to tip them, because you basically just robbed them of their time they could've spent making money. Got sick of the unsteady pay because of people thinking they didn't have to tip though, so I switched to being a line cook.

And yeah, the waiters definitely dictate the quality of your food if you're a repeat bad tipper.

Still, it's not really the customer's fault that your employer is paying you too little. The restaurant business is brutal, but it seems wrong to me that the customers are expected to artificially keep a business going by paying more than you are asked for. Imagine the same set-up in any other business.

I'm not on a moral stump or anything man, I get why people don't tip and if I get exceptionally bad service I punish the waiter for neglecting me. But that's the thing, if you're not going to tip someone, accept that you're screwing them over. Do so with intent, not moral outrage at a corrupt system. The tipping system may be stupid but it's the one everyone is chained to.

L.B. Jeffries:

Milford Cubicle:
I once tipped a taxi driver in New York for a journey from Newark Airport to Central Park. I think the bill, including the tolls, came to $66. So I thought it was reasonable to round it up to $70.

Right...but you cost him a lot of money in small 4 dollar tips because he spent all that time driving you around rather than taking multiple customers over smaller distances. You might as well have taken a dump in his taxi while you were at it.

Fair enough, but he could've told me he wasn't prepared to take me into the city. Ultimately, he should've been happy he got a tip at all. If he wanted paid $80-90, why didn't he just ask for it?!

Molikroth:
Tipping seems to me to be a waste of money. I pay the restaurant who pays the waiter whatever their previously-arranged salary is. Whether or not it's minimum wage the waiter gets what he's entitled to.

I have no responsibility to fund the waiter's quality of life. If at all possible I'd even prefer to serve myself in restaurants - that is, collect my plate/tray from the kitchen, cutting out the oily middle-man.

So, what do you think about tipping? Should tipping be mandatory, should it be illegal, should it come out of the staff's normal wages, should all tips be collated and split at the end of the day?

EDIT: Something I forgot to ask but meant to: many have strong opinions on whether or not you OWE wait staff a tip. If you do, why?

Except established social norms means that every employer offers waiters a salary based on the expectation they will be tipped, that the employee excepts the salary based the he/she will be tipped. This means you actually do have a social reinforced responsibility to tip, just like you have a socially responsibility to not litter, or not run stop signs, or not murder your neighbors and eat their corpses. The difference being that the punishment is less extreme (i.e. spit in your food).

I also hope you realize that there are a variety of under-payed people who work hard at expense to themselves who rely on tips. You should tip just about anyone who is providing a service for you, including cab drivers, shoe shines, hotel bellhops, barbers and the guys in fancy places' bathrooms that give you a fresh towel and clean your piss off the floor.

I suggest you try one of these jobs for a few seconds, and see how rude and demanding people can be when they are paying for a service.

Finally, tipping serves a purpose: they encourage the personal providing the service to be quick and personable. If tipping was not a social norm, then you'd be lucky to get a good haircut or get your food in a restaurant in a reasonable time.

If you are not tipping these people you are an ass and a social parasite. That is not a personal attack on you, sir, but rather the judgment call of your society; I am merely the messenger vessel.

Milford Cubicle:

Fair enough, but he could've told me he wasn't prepared to take me into the city. Ultimately, he should've been happy he got a tip at all. If he wanted paid $80-90, why didn't he just ask for it?!

Because it's extremely rude to ask for a tip. That's like me farting in your face, and then arguing that you shouldn't be upset since you never asked me not to.

Wow. Some of you guys are really weird. You are paid to do a job. Just because someone is not giving you extra money does not give you the right to treat them poorly. You are paid to tend to their needs by the company. You are paid to take their order, deliver their food, carry their plates and all the other shit that goes with the job.
Why should the customer give you extra money for doing what you were hired to do ?

Employers should be paying minimum wage.

Here in NJ, restaurants pay 25%-30% of minimum wage, and are expected to make up any shortfalls that the tips fail to cover. Furthermore, tips are pooled, and management gets to decide how it's divvied up among waitstaff, hostess, busboys, bartenders, etc.

There was an issue in NYC over the past few months, where european tourists, who are completely unused to our system of servitude, failed to tip the local waitstaff, which made the news.

I'll say it again, employers should be paying minimum wage. I know it'll make my restaurant tabs more expensive, but at least it'll make for more honest tabs all around.

Of course, the one place where I don't tip is for counter service. I mean, really, people.

Uszi - Like I said earlier, the one-sidedness isn't how I work. I'm all for it being illegal to take tips into account when arranging a wage. However, like someone said earlier, I'm also against rewarding someone beyond what they're expected to do as an employee and member of a society. That is, spitting in food should result in you being fired, whereas not spitting in food should have no result at all - it's expected of everyone, not just you.

avykins:
Wow. Some of you guys are really weird. You are paid to do a job. Just because someone is not giving you extra money does not give you the right to treat them poorly. You are paid to tend to their needs by the company. You are paid to take their order, deliver their food, carry their plates and all the other shit that goes with the job.
Why should the customer give you extra money for doing what you were hired to do ?

Because we're from a totally different culture? They pay you less than 5 bucks an hour in most states in America if you're a waiter because they expect you to survive on people's generosity. The theory being their waiters will now be a lot nicer because they have to live on generating people's kindness.

I have only once never tipped when I have gone to a restaurant. Otherwise, I always tip. I don't really see why it is considered unnecessary. Ask your mother if she enjoyed serving you breakfast, lunch and dinner and cleaning it up because it was "her job". I'm sure she would have wanted a little something to show appreciation. You go to a sit down place to get service, so why should you not pay for it? Otherwise you should just stick to fast food. The price you pay for the food is just that, the price for them to give you that slab of meat, clean it up, cook it and let you eat it. It is not easy managing several tables at once and having to run around at the diner's whim, while not being allowed any alloted break time for shifts that are generally longer than 8 hours.

And I hate to break it to people but 2.50 an hour is not going to feed ANYONE.(By the way that pittance is still taxed.) You can say that you seem to manage your bills and still buy stuff for your room on wages such as these so any moron can do it. Utility bills and phone/internet are fine, however, pile that on with car payments? Car insurance? Gas to get to work? Rent for your house? Food? Clothing? Cell phone? My friend is a waitress and a phone and internet are luxuries she hasn't seen in a long time. Giving your all to make sure a table is happy and then coming up short when it's time to pool tips and having to PAY the restaurant is a shame.

Wow... US laws are fucked up. I just checked each states minimum wages and quite a few a low however each one is above $5 so should it not be illegal (if it was a real country) to pay below minimum...

bkd69:
Here in NJ, restaurants pay 25%-30% of minimum wage, and are expected to make up any shortfalls that the tips fail to cover.

So the company only pays up to minimum wage if you dont get any tips ? Id want to refuse any tips just so the damn company had to pay its due.

avykins:
Wow... US laws are fucked up. I just checked each states minimum wages and quite a few a low however each one is above $5 so should it not be illegal (if it was a real country) to pay below minimum...

So the company only pays up to minimum wage if you dont get any tips ? Id want to refuse any tips just so the damn company had to pay its due.

Yes, it is often the subject of lawsuits.