New Credit Cards May Make Tipping More Awkward

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Thankfully, most of us tip according to the service we receive so this won't be an issue. Right fellas? ;)

This new technology may force a consumer to write their waiter's tip before they charge the card. Typically, people can avoid an awkward conversation by having their card charged, giving the tip, and then leaving the restaurant. Soon, low tippers will be found out immediately.
 
Welcome to chip technology ... you get the good with the bad ;)
 
20% minimum for me. Unless in super rare occurrences the service was bad.
 
How about we get rid of tips entirely like the rest of the world works might make it a bit easier.
 
I tip on the high-side most of the time, unless service is horrible. So, pretty much a non-issue.
 
Macross said:
How about we get rid of tips entirely like the rest of the world works might make it a bit easier.
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no no no, that's just communism. in capitalism service staff needs to get paid almost nothing to make the owner more money. screw the staff, they should be glad to have a job at all. and proper wages would increase the prices. no, that's not good. /sarcasm
 
Macross said:
How about we get rid of tips entirely like the rest of the world works might make it a bit easier.
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Having visited countries that don't tip... the service is horrendous.

The funny thing is, when those foreigners come here to work in a restaurant, I had one waitress tell me "you forgot to leave a tip" when I intended to leave cash separate form the credit slip.
 
The whole tipping in the US food industry is a bit of a scam. You shouldn't feel like you have to tip them for just doing their job. Yeah, the wages are low, but the tips more than make up for it, and hardly any service staff that has the means to will report all of it on their taxes. Food industry workers need to be paid a fair wage and tipping for every meal or because they refilled my water within a few minutes should go away.
 
AeonF1 said:
Having visited countries that don't tip... the service is horrendous.

The funny thing is, when those foreigners come here to work in a restaurant, I had one waitress tell me "you forgot to leave a tip" when I intended to leave cash separate form the credit slip.
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The two foreign countries I visit most, Germany & Japan, have excellent service and no tipping, and I really haven't had noticably worse service than ordinary in any country without a tipping culture.
 
If you are going to stiff on the tip, then honestly you should be willing to back it up with a reason. If service was terrible, then have enough balls to say so. I tip quite well when I go out, but I don't do it based on %. Many times I will be eating breakfast in a small diner and only have $5 worth of food, It doesn't matter that I only spent $5 that person serving me worked just as hard as if I had ordered $15 worth and $1 tip is pretty pathetic. I almost never tip badly, but I won't hesitate when service sucks and nor will I hesitate to tell them why. Those who tip bad service are doing a disservice to themselves, others and the person they tipped. Those who tip badly or don't tip because they dislike how the system works are just assholes. I don't like the system anymore than anyone else, but I'm not going to sit there and screw over someone who may not have a choice in the job they are working.
 
I travel extensively and have never noticed any lack of service in countries where tipping is not the norm (and some you just don't do it in as it's considered an insult). Generally it's excellent, provided you understand the cultural norms at work.

For example, don't get impatient that you're not being brought the bill in France - you're expected to ask for it.

In the U.S. I tip according to service, which is HIGHLY variable; far more so than in any other country I've spent a lot of time in.

Fortunately, in the US, the places I frequent the service tends to be excellent and the tips run 25% or so, more on smaller bills or when half the bill isn't an expensive bottle of wine. Pizza deliveries I generally tip $5/pizza, which tends to work out to about 25% also.

If you can't get my order straight, are surly, impatient, can't manage to check-in that things are correct and that drinks aren't empty, or just acting like an entitled little shit, well, you'll see the results of that in your tip.
 
Tips? Who does that anymore? :p

I think what's going to happen at first is people are going to flat out forget to tip in the first place. The transaction is going to be closed after the cart is swiped and people are going to wonder why they can't write in a tip.

After thinking about it I think it's best to start keeping ones for cash tips.

But yeah, the whole tipping system sucks in the first place.
 
grunwald said:
The two foreign countries I visit most, Germany & Japan, have excellent service and no tipping, and I really haven't had noticably worse service than ordinary in any country without a tipping culture.
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And I'm sure the waitstaff in those countries are paid minimum wage (or below since it is legal for tipped staff)...:rolleyes:
 
Dekoth-E- said:
If you are going to stiff on the tip, then honestly you should be willing to back it up with a reason. If service was terrible, then have enough balls to say so. I tip quite well when I go out, but I don't do it based on %. Many times I will be eating breakfast in a small diner and only have $5 worth of food, It doesn't matter that I only spent $5 that person serving me worked just as hard as if I had ordered $15 worth and $1 tip is pretty pathetic. I almost never tip badly, but I won't hesitate when service sucks and nor will I hesitate to tell them why. Those who tip bad service are doing a disservice to themselves, others and the person they tipped. Those who tip badly or don't tip because they dislike how the system works are just assholes. I don't like the system anymore than anyone else, but I'm not going to sit there and screw over someone who may not have a choice in the job they are working.
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Well put! Tipping on % is ridiculous. People are just trying to live, and if they do a decent job, they deserve it. It's not their fault that these tip-heavy industries evolved into what they are. Anyone saying they don't deserve a tip for doing their job is a fucking asshole. I've never even worked in this type of industry (only tech and broadcast) but fuck. These people are serving you, putting up with your bullshit half the time, and other peoples' at the same time. Cut 'em a little slack. I do much the same as you. If I go get one drink for $10 somewhere, I typically tip 50-100% just because. If it's a place I frequent, then sometimes they'll even buy me a drink because I treat them well.
 
Dekoth-E- said:
If you are going to stiff on the tip, then honestly you should be willing to back it up with a reason. If service was terrible, then have enough balls to say so. I tip quite well when I go out, but I don't do it based on %. Many times I will be eating breakfast in a small diner and only have $5 worth of food, It doesn't matter that I only spent $5 that person serving me worked just as hard as if I had ordered $15 worth and $1 tip is pretty pathetic. I almost never tip badly, but I won't hesitate when service sucks and nor will I hesitate to tell them why. Those who tip bad service are doing a disservice to themselves, others and the person they tipped. Those who tip badly or don't tip because they dislike how the system works are just assholes. I don't like the system anymore than anyone else, but I'm not going to sit there and screw over someone who may not have a choice in the job they are working.
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I sit pretty much right there with you on that one. I will say that tipping well has lots of benefits if you're a regular to a place as well. For example, I go to a bar down the road pretty much every weekend out here to shoot pool (I rarely drink), and because I tip $5-10 on a $20-30 tab the first 3 or 4 times I went, drinks are now free refills and only ever get charged for the first hour of pool. They love me because I tip well, and I now actually pay far less than if I hadn't tipped at all. Can't beat spending 15 bucks for 4 people having a few hours of fun.
 
Talic said:
Tips? Who does that anymore? :p

I think what's going to happen at first is people are going to flat out forget to tip in the first place. The transaction is going to be closed after the cart is swiped and people are going to wonder why they can't write in a tip.

After thinking about it I think it's best to start keeping ones for cash tips.

But yeah, the whole tipping system sucks in the first place.
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I try to leave cash tips and prefer to give it directly to the waiter/waitress where appropriate. Once in a while I will be carrying an insufficient amount of cash, so I'll add it on the receipt. I don't mind if I have to do that one step earlier on the rare occasions that it happens. I can't remember ever having service that was so bad I didn't tip in a formal dining setting, but if I did, I don't mind that the waiter/waitress would know immediately.
 
I actually didnt tip for the first time in my life over the weekend. I just ordered a steak and potatos at a cracker barrel with my g/f, nothing special, however the waitress forget to bring the potato. Ok no harm no foul, then she forgot to bring the biscuits. Believe it or not I still didnt care, but failing to bring me drinks is something else entirely. My coke ran dry and I was literally sipping on melted water, when she finally cruised by (not stopping at our table) I had to flag her down verbally to get her attention. I asked for a refill and lifted my drink in the air to show the absurdity that I had nothing, she says "ok" the enters a full blown fucking conversation with the table next to us. I mean she's standing there, gabbing away, listening to them, laughing, etc. Finally after 5 minutes (yes I timed it) she interrupts them and says "hold on ill be right back", drops off someone's TAB, and THEEEEENNNN goes and gets my drink. Except she put it in a styrofoam togo cup, like she knew I was about to bail and was just giving me one for the road. I had literally finished my meal, hence the reason she knew we were leaving.

And trust me she didnt neglect us thinking we were assholes who already blew her tip or something. I'm always very nice in restaurants and play everything off like it's cool when they fuck up.

Oh and FYI, anyone who doesnt tip on a regular basis is just a cheap piece of shit, quit trying to defend yourself with the tired copout's about how "ermagherd they get paid anyway.... zuhhhh i shouldnt have to do this" and whatever other lame shit I already saw spouted twice in here so far.
 
Why do they ask for tips for online or takeout orders?
 
I will say that, if I'm going to be giving a tip below the expected norms then you, as the wait-staff, will already be WELL aware there is an issue; if you've not corrected it by the time the bill is paid then you've no reason to be surprised or upset.
 
Will all these states / cities trying to boost minimum wages to $15 / hour, I suspect there will be a commensurate drop off in tipping to go along with it.
 
I've always hated the idea of tipping for something I'm paying for in the first place. When you pay at a restaurant, it isn't just for the food itself, it is to be waited on too. If the owners don't actually want to pay their staff, then they need to close.

Tipping someone who goes out of their way to help you is one thing. Tipping to get the basic service you're paying for in the first place because of cheap employers is disgusting.
 
Koolthulu said:
I've always hated the idea of tipping for something I'm paying for in the first place. When you pay at a restaurant, it isn't just for the food itself, it is to be waited on too. If the owners don't actually want to pay their staff, then they need to close.

Tipping someone who goes out of their way to help you is one thing. Tipping to get the basic service you're paying for in the first place because of cheap employers is disgusting.
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That's still not the fault of the person who's serving you though. No need to punish them for how their employers pay them. Until some major sweeping change occurs, if you like the food and service at a given place, you should really tip your server. A lot of times they tip out other underpaid staff too like bussers, kitchen staff, etc. You're really keeping the backbone of the place you frequent alive by doing this.
 
I live in one of the cities that passed the $15 minimum wage; it's having some interesting effects.

One example is people asking for fewer hours as the new wage is making them ineligible for various low-income benefits, programs and credits. To accommodate that an employer has to have more staff working fewer hours each, which in addition to the increased cost of the minimum wage hike adds to their management overhead. That's not going to be sustainable for very long ...

Another is the reality that there's a crossover point between where using human labor is sufficiently cheap that it's not worth bothering to automate. McDonalds is already at a point where it would be relatively trivial to automate the entire thing, excepting a lone person to deal with issues/failures.

It's not like you even need someone to clean the bathrooms ... all over Europe there are self-cleaning toilets that are much nicer than the alternatives. Just need someone to keep the paper stocked ...

Some jobs are just not worth $15 an hour and where that's the case business will find ways to automate or eliminate those positions.
 
That article is cobblers. Complete rubbish. The usual practice over here (UK) is to charge the meal to the card and then leave a cash tip. This is preferred by the waitstaff as some companies charge a 'processing fee' if a tip is added directly.
 
It always amazes me the people who try to calculate a tip down to the exact percent. It's one thing if the service or product was sub-standard, but otherwise, I just don't get the whole cheap-bastard approach.
 
Koolthulu said:
I've always hated the idea of tipping for something I'm paying for in the first place. When you pay at a restaurant, it isn't just for the food itself, it is to be waited on too. If the owners don't actually want to pay their staff, then they need to close.

Tipping someone who goes out of their way to help you is one thing. Tipping to get the basic service you're paying for in the first place because of cheap employers is disgusting.
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This ^

The entire tip based service industry needs to die. I worked in a bar and witnessed bartenders making 500-1500 a night while girls carrying trays through the crowd all night struggle for 60 bucks.

None of it makes any sense, it hides millions from tax collection, it is unfair to everyone and only profits owners and beautiful staff the most.

Offer me a product at a set price that includes service cost and pay your staff a decent living wage that isn't a tax loophole (that puts more pressure on everyone else). I will decide if its worth buying or not. Period.
 
I've left low tips for poor service.

Once, at a convention, a group of friends had come with me to a restaurant.
It was a busy BUSY evening for the place. And our group wound up being split in two.
The first group, with me, got seated sooner. They took our order right away.
The second group came in about 10 minutes later and immediately gave their order.
The second group was served, ate, and left.
We called the waitstaff over and asked what the hold up was.
They apologized and promised out food was coming soon.
Forty minutes later (2 hours from the time we were seated) the food still hadn't come.

We dropped a penny in a waterglass and left.
 
VIC-20 said:
Offer me a product at a set price that includes service cost and pay your staff a decent living wage that isn't a tax loophole (that puts more pressure on everyone else). I will decide if its worth buying or not. Period.
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Well, that's the problem now isn't it? Wake me up when the world has changed. In the meantime, I will continue to tip very well those who deserve it, and I will continue to get the royal treatment for being a good tipping regular at places that deserve it.
 
I really hate tipping for anything less than good service but I do it anyway because my wife was a waitress/bartender and I've exhausted myself arguing my case with her.

Thankfully we kinda see eye to eye on when someone does a shitty job, they should get a shit tip. But shes still very much about tipping a percent.

I'm of the opinion that my ordering a NY Strip costing 30 dollars doesn't warrant anymore of a tip than if I were to order a Chicken salad at 15 dollars. The effort is the same.

I also hate when I feel like my server expects a tip or feels they are entitled to one for doing their job.
 
ChedWick said:
I also hate when I feel like my server expects a tip or feels they are entitled to one for doing their job.
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In such cases, you can factor their attitude into the level of service you're getting. If they're friendly, outgoing, get you everything you need, stay out of your way when they aren't needed, and do a generally good job, then great. If they don't serve you well, try to guilt you into a tip somehow, or have a generally poor attitude, then factor that into what you give them.
 
I tip 15% accordingly. I think tipping should be a completely optional thing, and not the forced "you better tip or you're going to get shit service next time" instead, a way to award employee's whom actually work hard for EVERY paying customer. I believe the stigma around tipping has been cultural manipulation between the service industry and the public.

And before you tell me my waitress makes 2.14/hr, that shit doesn't fly here in California.
 
DrinksPurell said:
I tip better than most, but I have never had sympathy for service industry employees complaining about pay. No other industry I can think of pays so well for so few hours of unskilled labor. Bringing me a plate of food isn't worth 40 an hour of untaxed wages.
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Partially agree, but when was the last time that you just had "a plate of food" brought to you? (without say, drink refills, other people at the table, mixed drinks from the bar, etc.) How many people is this person tipping out on top of their own? There are a lot more factors involved. Still though I do agree to some degree about the pay. However, a lot of customers are just total assholes too. You shouldn't have to compensate for them, but tipping a decent waiter well, especially when it's obvious they're being royally screwed by some other asshole makes their day a little better. (as long as that other transaction isn't rubbing off on your own service of course) I don't know. I've always tipped well, and it's typically come back around at many times. Free drinks, a waiter running out of the restaurant asking if it was a mistake, and thanking me profusely. Kinda makes you feel good sometimes.
 
I never got the big deal wither way, either you pay for it with a tip, or you pay for it with the base price, either way you pay
 
Tips shouldn't be counted as part of their wages. Taxed? Sure. But, it shouldn't be to make up for lower than minimum wage. Tips are extra for good service. If I get great service, I tip very well. If I get good service, I tip standard. If I get shit service, I don't tip. What's the point of tips if it's just part of your wages? That's dumb. That needs changed, then there will be less of a focus on tipping, I think. Take the guilt out of tipping due to poor wages. They get paid minimum wage (or more), plus tips. That'd be better.

Plus, I leave cash tips most of the time, even when paying with a card.
 
The whole chip thing is a cluster.

If the POS readers has a chip slot most are not enabled. (Confusing consumers) If the chip slot is enabled, you have to put your card in and leave it there dangling there. very awkward IMHO. Counter-intuitive to all past ATM, Swipe, and NFC implementations. I'm sure tons of people are going to forget their cards...
 
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