Oh wow. This is just crazy. I tip here in the netherlands sometimes. For good service. Also in countries that have a tipping culture, but you always tip at the end. Never before hand. How did they ever get to this point? It's crazy..
I kind of tip at the bakery and butcher. But only some cents, because i dont like the small coins. If it's 21,86 Euro I pay 22 Euro. A real tip i do at a restaurant if the service is good. Maybe 10% , up to 20% if it's really outstanding.
I live in NYC which is already expensive enough as is. It has been out of hand since the pandemic. I go order at the counter and they want 18% for doing their job? I accidently hit tips too on those machines and it is several dollars not even change on top of the taxes and everything. I don't want to make a scene and ask for my money back, but I paid like $3 extra for a $15 take out. It adds up. Some workers say they have a pool at the end of the day, but others don't actually get the tip. On top of it, they can legally pay workers less per hour because the tip option is there.
Phil, tipping began as a little something you gave the host/hostess or maitre d' at a restaurant "To Insure Promptness" (TIP) It was given in advance of you being seated. That person would them encourage the rest of the staff to really pay attention to you.
Agreed. Just let me pay a set price that is inclusive of everything. Let me decide whether I want it or not based on that price. The system needs to changed to do a complete reset on tips. Don't put the burden on the consumer to supplement wages. Pay the appropriate wage and don't allow tipping - raise your prices if that's what needs to be done and don't guilt customers.
In Japan ♥️, that problem doesn't exist at all ; tips are not expected and are not accepted in restaurants. During my summer trip there, I saw a client in a grocery leaving a tip (?!) and the cashier went following him, outside, to gave him what he has "forgotten".... Great video and great topic ! I love your RU-vid channel and also the Phil and Deana's one ! 🙂🌼
I will not tip for take-out. Uhhh, that’s why I don’t do delivery. I hate that stupid machine, too, and I don’t care if I get a blank stare from the counter person. I live in NYC. It’s expensive here enough, already.
YES, YES, YES! Agree so much. This is what I posted on my Facebook page and it sums up my thoughts: An observation about the US: Tipping culture is out of control. This may sound controversial because I have no idea what any of you think about tipping culture. In the UK, tipping is optional and generally people tip when they've had good service. 10% is often the amount. If you take a taxi and it's £11.20, you might say "Make it £12". If you're at a restaurant, you may do something similar. Service charge is now sometimes added and you can request it to be removed. If you have a booking for a large number of people, there will normally be a service charge. All these things make more sense to me. The big difference is the workers are paid a minimum wage. Of course minimum wage is still challenging to live on with the cost of everything, but it's at least brought people up to a line. In some countries, tipping is an insult and can make people think you have mafia connections. I don't know the finer details about the US (and maybe Canada is the same, as tipping was very widespread in Montreal) except that workers aren't being paid these minimum wages by their employers and therefore the tips are a supplement to their income that is needed for them to be able to actually have a wage they can live on. Effectively, customers are passed the responsibility of doing what employers should be. I've just been on a cruise and a gratuity charge of $193 (about £150) was added to my account (and the transaction therefore pending from my bank account) completely without me realising. If you want to have that removed so you can either not give gratuity, or pay gratuity in cash (or even increase or decrease the amount), you need to queue at the guest services desk. The breakdown of this charge was for the staff in the dining room, the staff cleaning the rooms, and then an "other services" charge (without specifying what this was and who it went to). Every drink you bought had an 18% gratuity charge added and if there was tax, that had to be added on as well. A menu price means nothing and you have to work out for yourself how much everything is going to cost you. I felt very financially out of control because I felt like I couldn't predict when an unexpected charge was going to suddenly crop up. When you've already paid a large sum of money for a holiday and allocated your spending money, it felt quite shocking for all these hidden costs to start eating all that up. Most people on this cruise were from the US and many seemed to be on the side of tipping, saying it's only fair and the employees work super hard and are away from their families, and they should get even more than they do (all things that cannot be disputed). That said, there were big queues at guest services to get the charge removed and you could get envelopes to put in a cash tip for individuals you wanted to recognise (I did this and many others did, too). I witnessed people tipping insanely high amounts for no reason. Maybe just because they have the money to throw around? If this is the case, do they then inflate the amount workers expect when it comes to tips and would they then be disappointed or angry if they don't get these amounts from everyone? This then becomes more a competition as to who can afford to tip the most, which is then veiled as being some philanthropic activity for "all those poor workers!". Like when someone gives someone a fiver on the street and can't help but tell everyone about it on social media. I unfortunately also witnessed people tipping staff to turn a blind eye to bad or illegal behaviour, which raises further moral questions for me. Tipping then crosses into bribery and corruption territory. I don't think workers should be put in a situation where low wages could force them (or make them willingly engage in) criminal or immoral activity. Does it then also raise the bar of service to a level where those who can afford to tip will receive better service, regardless of whether they're kind or deserving of that? Should financial incentives be used as a way for workers to have to suffer however others choose to behave?
You're not wrong. So stupid for most situations anymore. I went to a Subway sandwich drive- thru and before they made the sandwiches we had to pay and press these buttons on some pin pad asking for tips. I'm always afraid not to tip because what if they take that out on our sandwiches... I could write a book about how much it has become pure nonsense...
Having owned a restaurant (and paid my employees above *both* the tipped and non-tipped minimim wage), here's why we asked if someone wanted to tip: the restaurant was extremely expensive to run. As owners, we barely made any money (think about $100 per week), didn't have any other source of income, and a large part of it was due to a landslide of taxes we had to pay, in addition to a ridiculous rent ($2,500 for a small location) that we couldn't do much about for several years. It wasn't about trying to make a bunch of money; it was about trying to stay open and keep our staff, because it was already expensive to retain them, and we wanted to make it a great place to work that was worth their while. Tips helped us do that (even if we had to pay taxes on those, too). Food costs, labor costs, crazy rent, and way too many taxes to allow us to stay afloat...trust me...we hate it, too.
