Why is it we sift through the Sunday newspaper looking for coupons to save a few dollars, but when we go out for dinner, we spend more than what is asked for in the form of a tip? Society says some people (waitresses, hairdressers, etc) should be tipped, but others (fast food workers, retail store workers, nurses, etc) shouldn’t be tipped. See youtube.com/watch?v=enJwYaeolXc
What would happen if as a whole, our society stopped tipping?
Tipped employees would be paid more. In my state, minimum wage for a food server is less than four bucks, which is less than minimum for other workers.
We pay for toll roads as we drive, and for others in other taxes.
It’s just the system that has evolved.
I don’t know why it’s such a mystery.
When it comes to hairdressers (at least at Regis, where my wife works) they are guaranteed a minimum wage floor, but they start out at $4/hour as well. Basically what the floor means is that anything that she gets tipped over a week gets added to the $4/hour, and if the result is minimum wage (or greater) they just give her a check for $4 X hours worked. If the result of her tips plus the $4/hour is less than minimum wage (that has never happened) they increase the $4/hour to whatever amount is necessary to make it minimum wage.
Not included in this is commissions for retail sales of products. That is anywhere from 15%-35% depending on the product. She thinks that they are overpriced and there are much cheaper alternatives at any grocery store, so she usually recommends those. I think the only products from the salon she ever recommends is something-or-other for frizzy hair, some kind of special brush, and one brand of hair gel for guys.
It ends up being kind of strange because if she were to work 20 hours one week and she gets (Usually) around $125 in tips, she really doesn’t actually see $65 of that in a sense because she would get that $65 anyway had she $0 in tips.
Tipping voluntarily for good service is one thing. Restaurants that include tips in their prices though, disgust me. I literally leave the restaurant if I see that.
I agree with that 100%. I do not want to be forced to compensate someone for poor service.
I had dinner at a very nice restaurant with the built-in tip arrangement. The service was lousy. At check out I asked for the manager, explained that I felt like I had been ripped off and told him it was my last visit. He apologized, gave me a free meal coupon, and said he would personally wait my table, all I had to do was ask for him. He gave me back my 15% in cash, which I put in the tip jar on the counter. A few days later, I gave the coupon to a friend. I never went back to the place. I’m guessing, but I’d bet the wait staff was reminded that if they expected the automatic tip, they had to earn it. I have pretty low expectations of service, because most restaurants are perennially understaffed, so if I decide I’m not being “served” it’s pretty bad.
In this case, the built-in tip gave me the opening I needed to have a chat with the manager. In turn, it probably increased the quality of service for a day or two, so it wasn’t a total loss.
That’s a good point, I guess we’re just talking about a slight difference in personalities between you and I. Personally, I wouldn’t have bothered with it, I wouldn’t have told the manager, said anything to the waitress, refused to tip or any of that.
When it comes to deciding whether or not I would ever go back, if I am getting poor service I usually observe the other wait staff a little bit to determine if it is a common thread or not, aside from that, I don’t want to bother anybody.
When I was a Keg waiter (“Hello, my name’s Oughtist, and I’ll be your server this evening. Our special tonight is Surf & Turf…” …one night I spilt overheated butter on one of my hands on the way to taking stuff to the dishwasher; it was so hot I didn’t even feel it, nor notice until about half an hour later that my hand was one big milky pussball… I can’t remember how tips were that night, but I think someone got some extra sauce :-& ) we had to pay a percentage of our night’s ring-out to the kitchen crew, etc. Let’s just say the quality of my service was about as consistent as my postings on this board. There were definitely a few nights that I payed to work. My best night was serving a big group of bikers (20 or so). For some reason I let them know my dad was one of the local judges ( 
!). I was put through a ringer I’ve never experienced before or since, lots of laughs but lots of shaking knees too. But I was tipped very well!! I even ran out after they paid and assured them that they’d made an extremely big mistake. They smiled and left. Vroom!
Sure, we all vote with our feet. In my case I consider a polite complaint doing management a favor. They can be busting their butts to do a good job, and one person can screw it up for them. It’s only fair to let them know it ain’t happening. I’ve only met one manager that got defensive and I knew immediately where the problem was. Most of them are grateful if you’re polite.
A slightly off to the side story. I think faust could vouch for the general idea here. When I was in college, I was going with a girl that had the most beautiful pair I had ever seen. she was going to school and working part time as a cocktail waitress. We deliberately bought her the lowest cut allowable blouses we could find. On a Friday and Saturday night, she made more in tips than I made in a month and we’d laugh our asses off all the way home counting the money. I knew right then I was a natural born pimp and I had to be reeeeel careful to not go over to the dark side. 
Tips? You have no idea…
I can certainly vouch for this, tentative. I am an ass man myself, but my hiring practices have always kept abreast of my customers wants and needs.
The manager that got defensive might have been sticking her. I saw that often in the world of telemarketing when other supervisors would go WAY out of their way to protect low-producing reps whose quality and attendance were equally poor, and I could never figure it out.
That was until I saw an Hours Discrepancy form for an eight hour day citing, “Accidentally failed to punch in,” signed off by that very same supervisor on a day that I absolutely knew that the rep in question was not there.
It’s a shame that he was such a complete douchesicle to me, otherwise I might not have reported that to the Call Center Manager. It was easy to prove because she never logged in to any campaigns that day.
If the menu or sign says “15% gratuity added”, you are free to withhold that 15% when you pay. By law, you don’t have to pay a gratuity.