Lab
See how this opinion breaks down by gender, political spectrum and generation — and who shares your view.
Gender
18 comments
TL;DR: Even adequate service still merits an adequate tip.
Regardless of your personal opinion on the relative morality of an employer not paying his employees fairly, the fact remains that our culture has a very strong expectation for guests to tip certain service providers.
If you truly feel that such things are morally wrong, you should not be spending money at the hotels, restaurants, and other nonessential service providers that engage in this practice. Taking advantage of a system you believe to be unfair is usually considered morally wrong and no one has put together a convincing argument to suggest otherwise.
That being said, the only time you should not tip your waiter, bellhop, valet, etc, is when the service is so exceptionally bad that their manager needs to be notified.
Adequate service still merits an adequate tip. Claiming to hold out for perceived 'outstanding' service fools nobody except possibly yourself, as your service prover could be breaking their back behind the scenes in ways you never notice.
So if you are fundamentally opposed to poor employer practices you are disqualified from eating out? Seems wrong.
We have GOT to get rid of the tipping system in America... But until we do so, yes, you as a matter of fact HAVE to tip your waiter. Yes, even if they did a dogshit job. You don't get to treat people like slave labor just because you disagree with their professionalism or whatever.
It’s not the non-tipper who is treating the staff like slave labour; it’s the employer.
Maybe it’s because in the UK tipping isn’t as custom as it is in the US, but I have never understood the idea that you should ALWAYS tip your waiter
- Yes, if I have received great service from a waiter or anyone in general, I would tip them. However, this is completely my choice and I am under no obligation to do so.
- If employers are not paying workers sufficient wages, it is not the responsibility of the customer to make up for this. What this instead highlights, is a change that is needed in the hospitality industry. Change in respect to a workforce that should be paid a sufficient living wage.
- Having worked in the hospitality industry myself, I have too received tips. However, this is not something I expect. I don’t believe any customer holds an obligation to tip me for a service that is in my job description.
- Please feel free to argue against because again, I feel that in the UK tipping is not as customary and maybe a differing perspective may help in understanding opposing sides.
TL;DR -- When you go to eat at a restaurant, you are paying for a service in addition to your food.
When you go to the grocery store, all you are paying for is your food. No one is cooking it for you and bringing it to you, you're doing it all yourself. You do not need to tip the cashier, stockers, or anyone at a grocery store.
When you go to a restaurant, you are paying for a service in addition to your food. You're paying for the experience of friendly service, for a break from cooking your own meals, and for the convenience of someone bringing your food to you. You need to tip your waiter to pay for the service in addition to the food.
It's the same concept as a delivery fee. You don't expect someone to come out to your house with a truckload of groceries for free, so why would you expect a waiter to just hand you your food for free? It's a ridiculous double standard, and people need to realize that already.
And your waiter does more than just bring your food to you. They are at your beck and call, they make sure your order goes in right and comes out right, if there's a mistake they do what they can to fix it, they clean up after you, they restock condiments, they wipe down seats, and they take your abuse with a smile on their face. On top of that, they're likely serving 4 - 5 other tables at the same time. If your waiter doesn't deserve a tip, then no one deserves a paycheck for anything that they do.
All of these things you describe are part of the waiter’s job. In most countries in the world they get paid a fair wage for it. If you go to a hospital emergency department, you will find nurses who take temperatures, restock supplies, wipe down beds and counters and take more abuse than I’ve personally ever seen in a restaurant. Do you tip nurses? So many other examples.
Basically my point is that in return for a person getting to sit comfortably as they are being served, people ought to tip because they are receiving not only the food, but also a service. They are buying two separate things, essentially.
Some restaurants require a tip and include it in the bill. This is the exact same as a delivery fee. The only difference is that in most restaurants, they put customers on the honor system that they'll do the right thing and tip, but don't force it because they're too scared it'll discourage customers from eating there (even though this is obviously not the case, as the restaurants who require it are doing just fine).
I might also point out that delivery service workers also get paid a FULL wage in addition to the delivery fee, and no one bats an eye at this.
Since a lot of places put their tips in a pot to divide among the service people, I'd always recommend leaving a tip. Even if you're waiter is a total jerk, you'll be screwing over employees who didn't have anything to do with your bad experience.
The tip should be included in the price, it should be earned the alternative would be to just not go to the restaurant at all if you don't like tipping then the business loses out on revenue. If you keep tipping the poor employees on slave labour the employers will never decide to pay them a decent wage.
Make the case or invite a friend to comment!