America's worst tippers get their just dessertsFollow

maybe it is the math that is confusing you... Next time you go to a restaurant, pretend everything is 15% more expensive, and then you can decide if you want to buy or not, or maybe you need a "tip calculator".

I don't tip.

Very few here in Australia do tip. Then again we pay the vast majority of our workers a decent enough wage, that they don't need tips, to live.

Tipping is a foreign thing to us.

These days our waiters and other service people, who you would normally tip, in America, are now clued up with what is going on and will except a tip from a person on holidays.
But a few years ago, if you had given the same person a tip, they would have looked at you funny and tried to give it back, unless you explained what it was.

The closest thing we have to tipping is the change jar at the register, at some restuarants. At the end of the night, the jar is split beteen the staff.

That is the way Australia is right now. A non-tipping industry... and we have an excellent service standard. Most of our service people are hard workers who do their job well. If the workers are being payed a fair wage, then they will at most times, do a decent job. If they don't, then there is always someone else, who will take their place.

As for paying extra for food, due to higher wages. I can take my wife out for a three course dinner and a few drinks and normally pay around $70 - $80, depending how many beers I have, with dinner. That includes GST.
I'm happy to pay $80. The service is normally good, the portions are usually large, to the point you have trouble finishing your meal and the beer is cold and I rarely have to wait to long to get a refill.

Edited, Sat Feb 5 01:14:44 2005 by lagduff

Funny you should say that, I was just thinking something along the same lines. Expecting me to keep my ***** out of your drink the second time you come into my establishment is kinda ridiculous too. ^_^

I'm glad we agree here. =)

Tipping well, says alot about you, and has a direct impact on future service.

The same can be said of not tipping well.

Good service deserves a "moderate" tip. Great service deserves a bit more. No tip says "***** you" to the staff.

If you don't leave a tip.. I would hope you don't plan on returning to that establishment. If you didn't like the service when you didn't tip.. You'll HATE the service when you return.

You are sooooo smart, I would have never figured that out on my own.

By the way, I was referencing Seinfeld, genius.

ps In canada we have a 7% sales tax, so I just double that and round up to the next dollar.

Damn! Tavarde.. Take a trip to the Jersey side... We take care of our 7-11 folk.. maybe we dont tip em all that well, but we know em on a first name basis.. We see em every day gettin to work.. comin home from work.. etc..

Sounds like you got a huge influx of people who are just passin thru and could care less.. They know they'll never see you again.. Thats a shame that people can be that way.. Human nature I spose.. Get out of that situation before you wind up on the roof with a "belt fed" weapon!

Threads like this remind me of when I delivered pizza's for Domino's. A majority of people that order pizza are regular customers, or were at least for the store I worked for. There were always the dozen or so very good tippers....and they got the best service possible. Then there were the cheap ************ got crappy service.

One week our store ran a special. Any pizza, any size, any number of toppings for $9.99. One of everybody's "beloved" ultra crap customers asked for a pizza with everything...so they got everything. As usual, the driver didn't get a tip but at least everybody got the satisfaction that the f*cknuts got a horrible tasting pizza.

I can't remember exactly how the law is phrased, but it's something along the lines of "tipped employees must make at least this much" (must be THIS tall!), so most employers pay them just that much. And the minimum is $2.13 an hour. It's been that way for years, and the last minimum wage hike didn't change that rate. It's not carved in stone, though. Occasionally you will find places that pay a bit more than the minimum, but it's rare. The most I ever made an hour was $4, and that was because I was tending bar and there's a bit more involved in that than waiting tables.

And yes, servers and bartenders are expected to pay taxes on wages plus tip. Servers have to claim their tips, which are then taxed. The amount they have to claim is based on their sales for a shift. If they don't claim as much as the law thinks they should, they are allocated (tips are added by management or higher up), then taxed on those tips. The minimum you can claim is 10% of your sales for a shift.

" I can't be nice to idiots on principle."

i hope this means that when you wake up in the morning you slam your head in your car door a few times, because you sound like the biggest idiot right now. if i was your server, and i gave you good service and you didnt tip me. the next time you came in would possibly be the last time you went out to eat again. all i can say is i hope you like your food "salty"

Let me start by saying that in my experience, we serve because you CAN (not will) make more money for the hour than any other job you don't have to have a degree/extensive training for. However, if people decide that a server is automatically making a lot of money and tips less or not at all, that lowers the amount of money the server makes. It's basic addition and subtraction.

In America, where I live and work, tipping is expected. The better the restaurant, the higher the percentage you are expected to tip. An upper level casual or lower scale fine dining restaurant carries the expectation of 18-20% tip MINIMUM. This is the current trend in restaurants. Prices of things go up and the amount a person is paid should go up accordingly (damn inflation). So, while my parents may have only been expected to pay 10-15% base tip, today that will not cut it. The only excuses for paying less than this are if the server was rude, physically injured you, or simply was not around for long periods of time (at the table next to you for 20 minutes because the people there don't know what they want and won't let him/her leave doesn't count). Tipping higher than 20% is certainly welcome, but should reflect service and/or attractiveness.

We do remember you. We tell stories about good and bad customers and will point them out if they return to our restaurant or we see them in public. While I would never spit in food or do any of the other actions mentioned or alluded to in this thread (except the Visine, that piqued my interest), it does happen, albeit infrequently. We just might be out of things, or be unable to cater to your desperate need for no parsley (sarcasm intended).

Many restaurants cannot afford to pay more than minimum wage. Most jobs are like this, actually. If you raise the price, you lower your customer base. Don't try and make yourself feel better by passing the buck when you should be spending it.

Servers generally are in school or have other jobs. For whatever reason, getting a different job is not feasible in many if not most cases. Getting a higher paying job simply can't happen. For me, the bottom line is if you cannot or will not conform to society's rules, do not partake of them. In other words, if you don't want to tip, don't eat in a sit down restaurant. Go to Burger King or the grocery store.