Stiffed on a tip

[Tea Earl Grey Hot]

"Stiffed on a tip"...who came up with that title? Tobias Fünke?

[Doubting Thomas]

And if they really think that "There are some things better than money" then they better tell that to Pat Robertson, Creflo Dollar, Paul & Jan Crouch, Joel Osteen, Ken & Gloria Copeland, and everyone else who got rich preaching the prosperity gospel.

[downbeatplumb]

I worked for tips for years and would have been furious if some shitbag had left this in lieu of proper consideration for service rendered. The pricks had better hope they're not remembered by the staff because payback in the service industry is a bitch.

Tipping sticks in my craw.
If something costs an advertised amount then that is what you should pay.
You should not be expected to volunteer an extra payment just because someone is doing their job.
I know that often the pay is shitty but that is not the customers fault and where do you draw the line? do you tip at Macdonalds if not why not?

[Crossless2.0]

I worked for tips for years and would have been furious if some shitbag had left this in lieu of proper consideration for service rendered. The pricks had better hope they're not remembered by the staff because payback in the service industry is a bitch.

Tipping sticks in my craw.
If something costs an advertised amount then that is what you should pay.
You should not be expected to volunteer an extra payment just because someone is doing their job.
I know that often the pay is shitty but that is not the customers fault and where do you draw the line? do you tip at Macdonalds if not why not?

Tipping sticks in my craw too. The advertised amount is what one should pay. However, I wasn't the one who decided that certain establishments could indirectly pass along the cost of their labor to the customer. It's a lousy situation, but it has been in place since well before I was born.

The point of my rant was just that if one avails oneself of such services, knowing what the convention is, and then comes across with something like the fake bill with the Bible verse, there should be a special place in Server/Bartender Hell for such customers.

And no, I don't tip at McDonalds for the same reason you don't: it is not conventional, Mr. White. Or is that Mr. Pink?

[rexbeccarox]

I worked for tips for years and would have been furious if some shitbag had left this in lieu of proper consideration for service rendered. The pricks had better hope they're not remembered by the staff because payback in the service industry is a bitch.

Tipping sticks in my craw.
If something costs an advertised amount then that is what you should pay.
You should not be expected to volunteer an extra payment just because someone is doing their job.
I know that often the pay is shitty but that is not the customers fault and where do you draw the line? do you tip at Macdonalds if not why not?

The most I ever made hourly as a waitress was $2.90. Some weeks there would be no paycheck at all because the US government taxes based on sales in tipped positions, and it came directly out of my paycheck. I don't tip at McDonalds because the workers there make minimum wage or more, and those aren't tipped positions.

No, it's not the customer's fault, but the customer shouldn't go to restaurants to be waited on if they can't tip. Stiffing waitstaff (in the US) is equivalent to theft in my book. If tips weren't involved, costs would be higher, and passed onto the customer anyway.

[Anomalocaris]

Tipping sticks in my craw.
If something costs an advertised amount then that is what you should pay.
You should not be expected to volunteer an extra payment just because someone is doing their job.
I know that often the pay is shitty but that is not the customers fault and where do you draw the line? do you tip at Macdonalds if not why not?

Tipping sticks in my craw too. The advertised amount is what one should pay. However, I wasn't the one who decided that certain establishments could indirectly pass along the cost of their labor to the customer. It's a lousy situation, but it has been in place since well before I was born.

The point of my rant was just that if one avails oneself of such services, knowing what the convention is, and then comes across with something like the fake bill with the Bible verse, there should be a special place in Server/Bartender Hell for such customers.

And no, I don't tip at McDonalds for the same reason you don't: it is not conventional, Mr. White. Or is that Mr. Pink?

Indeed. One should tell the the waiter to expect no coventional tips up front. If you string him/her along to obtain his/her services without setting him/her right about what is likely to be the reward, then you are a fraud.

[Tonus]

Tipping sticks in my craw.
If something costs an advertised amount then that is what you should pay.
You should not be expected to volunteer an extra payment just because someone is doing their job.
I know that often the pay is shitty but that is not the customers fault and where do you draw the line? do you tip at Macdonalds if not why not?

I think that expecting a worker to make up their pay in tips is pretty lousy, myself. But it's also not the worker's fault that it works that way, so I tend to tip pretty generously unless the service is really bad. I like to think that many of them are waiting tables to help pay their way through school and that the extra money is a nice boost. I still remember the look on the face of a particularly good waiter when he realized that we'd handed him a 90% tip (on a relatively inexpensive meal, I must add).

[Jackalope]

I know that often the pay is shitty but that is not the customers fault and where do you draw the line? do you tip at Macdonalds if not why not?

No. It is not customary to tip in the US at such establishments. The counter staff at fast food places are paid either the federal minimum wage, or the state minimum wage, whichever is higher (always at least $7.25/hr).

Federal law allows tipped employees to be paid a different minimum wage (as little $2.13/hr). Most states allow tipped employees to be paid less than minimum wage, many allow the $2.13/hr wage. A handful require them to be paid an hourly wage at or higher than the wage for non-tipped employees.

I don't recall the details, but employees who are classified as tipped get taxed on a certain percentage of their gross sales whether they actually receive a tip or not, creating a situation where their entirely hourly wage can be deducted as taxes.

Yes, it's a fucked up system - but it isn't the employee's fault, and not tipping literally takes money out of their pockets.

[genkaus]

Here's what I gather from the discussion so far:

Employers' are screwing over their employees by paying them less than minimum wage and the customers are expected to bear the burden.

Being from a place where tipping is an exception rather than a norm, I don't get how the system got so fucked up. It isn't the employee's fault, but it isn't the customer's fault either and yet, as far as I can see, the expectation is that the customer would continue to regard it as a moral obligation and keep on bearing the burden? If money is being stolen from the employee's pocket, then it is the employer doing the stealing. For someone who is accustomed to thinking that tipping is the extra appreciation given when the service is better than expected and to expect that he'd have to pay only the advertised amount, having to pay 20% extra with every meal is not an obligation that goes down easy.

[Jackalope]

Here's what I gather from the discussion so far:

Employers' are screwing over their employees by paying them less than minimum wage and the customers are expected to bear the burden.

Not quite.

Congress has fucked over those employees by allowing some food service workers to be paid slave wages. The employers are happy participants, of course.

In a society where tipping is customary, it's just another added cost like sales tax.

It's not entirely bad for the employees - a good server can make very good money in tips. The bad ones, not so much.

Honestly, I have no idea how the practice started.

As fucked up as the situation is, I wouldn't feel right being served by some poor schlub working for two bucks an hour without leaving a tip. I'd stop eating in restaurants before I'd do that.