Yeah so....without getting into the various general categories of types of government....this is basically the European model. The waiters are professional people who do their jobs well, and are paid well and provided benefits. No tipping expected. They also are not going to come by and ask you how your food is while your mouth is full. They bring your food and then leave you alone.

It's just one of those things where the tablet credit card readers started putting the tip option on there and lo and behold everyone felt guilted into putting tip, even if it were completely absurd to do so. Businesses saw that people were tipping and changed the options from 0-5-10-15-20 to 15-18-20-25.

From other conversations I've seen, it's super weird for the cashiers as well. The cashier at a take-out restaurant knows that a tip isn't expected, but now they have to stand there and smile while yet another customer gets mad about it.

For what it's worth I don't think anyone is upset when you use the custom option and put in 0% if that were the norm five years ago.

I’ve been a waiter and bartender, I get reliance on tips to earn a living but it absolutely has gotten out of hand.

My daughter works in a fast food place that also encourages tipping at the time of order and I decline tipping when I go there because I know they’re already making $18/hr.

Based on what she makes a week, there are plenty that have accepted it as the norm and tip well.


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One of the best parts about travel in Europe. It feels so weird as an American to not tip but good lord it is such a better system.

Except for maybe bathrooms in Germany on the Autobahn if there is an attendant. They usually have a plate on the table by the door. You drop in a few coins. Nice clean bathrooms. (that's for the ones that don't actually charge to enter)


I'm pretty sure I posted about this before but it is worth repeating. We have a restaurant here that rounds your bill up or down and doesn't even tell you. I just happened to notice. It doesn't go to charity or whatever, it just makes it easy numbers. I guess the law of averages would have both parties equal but I don't ever plan on going back, one shouldn't have a $100 check at a pizza joint even if it is a little fru fru.

I used to have a pizza place renting space in a building I used to own.
Found out that tips paid by credit cards were not being given to the employees.
The owners were keeping them.

Since then, I will never leave a tip on a credit card.

In Washington, owners can keep the tips though most do not. Washington is also not a "tip credit" state, meaning that tips cannot be counted toward the owner's obligation to pay minimum wage. In some state, owners can include tip money as part of "wages" toward their obligation to pay that state's minimum wage.

Actually, tipping is expected in Europe, even though it is included in the bill and sometimes with a line item on the bill. You don't leave 15-20% cash on the table, but when they tell you the total, you are usually expected to round up a Euro or two. So if a waiter comes over with that big wallet they use for payments, and they say, "€25.30," you're supposed to say, "€27." If you then give him a 20 and 10 Euro note, he'll give you €3 back. And the bathroom thing in Germany is not tipping. It's the price. Some folks round up and some don't pay, but the sign usually says €.50. Some of the large chain hwy rest stops have turnstiles you have to pay €.70 to €1 to make them open, but then they then give you a €.50 coupon for use at the register if buy food or drink.

Oh lord I remember now. I was not prepared for that the first time I went to the restroom on the autobahn. I'm an American, god damnit, and I will **** wherever I damn well please!

It does remind me, though, of a public restroom at a rural tourist area in Mexico. You could use the restroom for free but if you wanted toilet paper you had to give a nice old lady some pesos and she would tear some off from a roll for you.

Local place here got in trouble for adjusting the tip after you signed the receipt. You may have written $20 on the receipt but they would add $30.

Straight scamming.

I wonder how much they made before they got busted

(small tangent)
In Kyoto there were virtually no public restrooms. Even paid. Plan accordingly. And only one downtown bank to exchange dineros where they demanded all passports etc to copy.
In Athens and Santorini the paper is put in the garbage not flushed. Big signs everywhere. Fresh water problems.

The 20 year old waitress where we go after golf for wings probably makes more a year than I do.
One of us should have stayed in school!

Yes, tipping has gotten out of hand.
I read an article about the history of tipping. It's been around for centuries. One side effect, possibly intended, was to create a permanent underclass whose income depended on pleasing the elite. The author stated that tipping became common in the US because it was used to keep the recently liberated blacks subservient and dependent. Pullman porters, who were all black men, were paid peanuts and depended on tips from travelers to make a living.
There is no reason for it to still be around and should be abolished.

Maybe it should be abolished, but there are plenty of good reasons it should not be.

That's because the calculate the tip on the final price (including tax)! I never pay a tip on tax.

I don't use a smart phone, usually pay cash, and try not to go out to eat very much if at all, so not sure I'd have a problem like some mentioned here.

I do tip well but it's always in cash and I make sure it goes directly to the waiter/ess.

I get take-out from a place here that does subs and such. Pretty good menu - mostly lunch and early dinners (they are open from 10-5).

They have a big tip jar and even though it's take out I always make sure they get a nice tip.

One time earlier this year as I turned around to leave a girl in line next to me said "I like your style!" She must have been a waitress at one time - I dunno. I've worked for tips before and remember when someone was generous - really great feeling....

Yeah but look at the bigger picture:
-Waiting tables and balancing 60lb trays through a busy maze of tables keeping a sweaty smile is only for the young.
-Have a good month, "deserve more in life", and decide to lease that $10k/mo penthouse?
-Blow the rest on vacations, nightclubs, bling, fancy car, boyfriend's bail, etc
-Everything has a price.
-Euphoria is temporary.

Long-haul turtle has been around for 100 million years for a reason.

The card reader companies get a percentage even of the tips. If they can manipulate you into tipping 15% instead of 10% they win.

Most around here prefer cash, because the don’t have to tell the feds.