Tipping

I was at the new Hoboken location of Village Pourhouse with Jayshawn and Marty.  It was a decent bar, but the service was a bit lacking, especially the eye candy behind the bar.  She seemed very new, and ended up charging for Marty’s food when he ordered, not when the food came or after he was done eating.  Since the food was paid for before it was actually served, I thought tip should be given at the same time, but Marty disagreed and said he would tip after his meal.  (Now that I think about it, I think Marty forgot to tip.)  This post is not about how he is wrong, but about how I wish tips weren’t involved in the first place, thus avoiding the whole situation.

America is a tipping nation.  I bet it is one of the major questions tourists have when visiting our country.  Heck, even I have trouble with non-restaurantl tipping customs when traveling, such as bellhops and tour guides.  Some people aren’t aware that hotel maids get tips.  Taxi station attendant, buffet busboys, concierge, casino dealers… does everyone know how to tip these people, or would most of us have to look it up?

I once went to an upscale French restaurant in New York called La Grenouille.  When I got the bill, I was faced with two lines for tips.  I don’t recall why there were two lines, but it was something like one for the maitre d’ and one for the waiter, or host, or captain, I’m not sure.  But there I was, at a fancy restaurant, not knowing how to tip.  I had to ask our waiter how to tip.

(About a week ago on the bus, I sat in front of a man who cleared his throat every ten seconds.  It was annoying enough that I knew I couldn’t stand hearing it for the rest of the trip, so I actually moved to a different seat.  Well, that man is now sitting next to me.  I got the window seat so he has me boxed in.  Bus is getting pretty full so I don’t think getting up is an option.  I just put on my headset to play some MP3s and I can still hear him, unless I crank up the volume too loud for the comfort of my own and those sitting around me.  This is going to be the longest commute of my life.)

I wish US did not have this tipping culture.  I wish restaurant owners would raise the salaries of the employees, and raise the food prices accordingly.  There are some, Marty included, that argue this system would lead to poorer service, and we as guests deserve the right to pay however much we want depending on service.  I’ve also read that European servers, who rely much less on tips, if at all, are more rude than their American counterparts.  I can’t really argue against these points, but my opinion is that tips don’t encourage good service as much as we think they do.  Not counting obviously horrible service, I think most servers think they provide a good service.  Plus, some customers may be picky, and their definition of a good server may be different from that of the server.  And the way we tip based on these services is also different – to some, 15% is for below average service, while others may pay 15% for good service.  Plus, I think most servers would just call the customer cheap for leaving a bad tip instead of thinking about what they did wrong to get a small tip.  All of that boils down to this: amount of tip speaks more about the tipper than the tippee.

So, does this tipping culture encourage good service?  Would all servers stop smiling, stop refilling our drinks, stop getting us extra napkins if they received a flat pay, instead of living on tips?  I can’t imagine service getting better, but I don’t think it will be noticeably worse.  But I admit this is the weakest point of my argument, especially since I’ve never had a job that relied on tips.  But there are many situations that require mandatory gratuity.  If a party of 6 gets an automatic 18% gratuity added to their bill, would the server provide worse service than had the table been a party of 5?  Why put in extra effort when 18% has been guaranteed?  That is a rhetorical question, of course, since I believe most people would say no.  I think servers generally try to do a good job, regardless of tips, for the same reason the rest of us do: get promoted and/or not get fired.  And for general sense of responsibility.  I don’t think restaurant servers completely lack this characteristic and are entirely driven by tips.

As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, gratuity is involved in venues beyond restaurants and bars.  Wedding reception halls usually add an automatic gratuity of 18% or 20%.  Considering these places cost at least $100 and over $200 per guest, gratuity can be thousands of dollars.  What is the point of gratuity if it is automatically charged?  Captain and maitre d’ are also expected set gratuities, which I gave even though their services were less than satisfactory.

I also do not like gratuities at places like open bars and all-inclusive resorts.

Wow this was a long post, I’m already at work.  Maybe I will continue this later, but this will be it for now.  Conclusion: tipping sucks.

Tags: Gratuity, Jayshawn, Marty, Tipping