35 replies to this topic

[Oriole85]

Cincinnati Enquirer: Why Newport restaurant has 'no tipping' policy

 

"No tipping" signs are posted prominently in the restaurant and on the menu; there is no line for a tip on credit card receipts.

 

Bob Conway, owner of Packhouse, said he got "pummeled" for it on review site Yelp by people accusing him of taking advantage of employees. Said Conway: "We did it to protect the servers."

He thinks it is actually the established custom of tipping that takes advantage of servers, especially in the casual end of the market. Packhouse Meats is his experiment to find a better way.

 

Packhouse servers earn $10 per hour or 20 percent of their individual food sales per shift, whichever is larger – almost always the 20 percent. And servers have to meet certain goals – sales and service targets, for example – to get their 20 percent.

[You Play to Win the Game]

I like that, that's smart. A restaurant owner trying to motivate his employees himself, rather than putting it on his customers to do so. Furthermore, with as much as restaurants cost these days, there is no reason they can't pay them more in the first place. The onus shouldn't be on the customer. That said, I tip extremely well, because it isn't the servers fault. But I do have an issue with the system.

[Oriole85]

I like that, that's smart. A restaurant owner trying to motivate his employees himself, rather than putting it on his customers to do so. Furthermore, with as much as restaurants cost these days, there is no reason they can't pay them more in the first place. The onus shouldn't be on the customer. That said, I tip extremely well, because it isn't the servers fault. But I do have an issue with the system.

I like it and I don't like it. Initially I thought it was a terrible idea but since the owner set a reasonable baseline, I think that's fair. I do like being able to reward good waiters and take away money from bad waiters.

 

I'm not in the restaurant business so I don't really know and you realize a restaurant in Bethesda is going to be on average much more expensive than one in the middle of Kansas, so I don't think it's fair to say every restaurant should pay their workers more. The restaurant business has a hell of a failure rate -- it has to be good/stay good.

 

Just using this as an example -- the original Cava, I've been going there since it first opened and I know despite it being sold out night-after-night, they weren't making any money at first. So they had to raise the rates and they were pretty nervous about it. You got rent to pay, maintenance costs, buying the food, labor, etc.

[You Play to Win the Game]

If a restaurant can't survive because they actually have to pay their staff a decent and fair wage, then they aren't fit to be in business. It's that simple. 

[NewMarketSean]

I usually still tip 15% for poorer service.

 

if it's flat out terrible, I will tip 10% but I am really lucky when it comes to service at restaurants.

[Pedro Cerrano]

Anyone ever had service so bad they didn't leave anything or something so small as to leave a point?

[Oriole85]

If a restaurant can't survive because they actually have to pay their staff a decent and fair wage, then they aren't fit to be in business. It's that simple. 

Not trying to turn this into a fair employment debate. Like I've told you before I have ties to both sides of the issues -- being that my uncle is a management attorney and my late grandfather was a labor organizer. I'm fairly in the middle on this debate. I will say this since the unemployment rate isn't 0% and people still need jobs, bad money is better than no money.

[You Play to Win the Game]

Anyone ever had service so bad they didn't leave anything or something so small as to leave a point?

I've had service that bad where it was deserved... but it's usually hard to tell whose fault it really is. I'll still tip, but I'll make a raucous with the management, and then slam the shit out of them on their little receipt survey they offer me.

[Oriole85]

Anyone ever had service so bad they didn't leave anything or something so small as to leave a point?

Yeah, I went out to eat with my dad last year and he went absolutely ballistic like I've never seen before. He has food allergies, he asked them to take something off, they didn't. When the bill came they didn't knock it off since I ate it (one of those restaurant mistakes, you comp the customer). The manager refused to take it off the bill and my dad left nothing. And told them, he would never go back there and would tell everyone he knew not too (don't think he did that part).

[Pedro Cerrano]

One time I was in Pasadena (CA) having dinner and drinks with some friends.  The service was beyond awful.  I don't remember all the exact details but I think we left like $3 on a $55 tab or something.

[Oriole85]

I've had service that bad where it was deserved... but it's usually hard to tell whose fault it really is. I'll still tip, but I'll make a raucous with the management, and then slam the shit out of them on their little receipt survey they offer me.

Yeah, sometimes they're just really busy, understaffed... I try to give the server the benefit of the doubt more often than not. Like you said, it's hard to know sometimes.

[Dupin]

Anyone ever had service so bad they didn't leave anything or something so small as to leave a point?

 

Once, but I felt really bad.  I usually tip 20%.

[McNulty]

Anyone ever had service so bad they didn't leave anything or something so small as to leave a point?

Sure have. Ask your mom.

[Pedro Cerrano]

Sure have. Ask your mom.

 

Did she do that weird thing with her glass eye again??

[McNulty]

Sure have. Ask your mom.

 
Did she do that weird thing with her glass eye again??

Actually she didn't, hence no tip.

[Oriole85]

New York Times: Why You Should Tip More Than You Do Now

 

By tipping more, it’s true that you are effectively subsidizing the employer who pays too little. But all things considered, I would rather reward an underpaid person who provides a service to me than worry that by doing so I’m letting an employer off the hook.

Even if you tip more in an effort to get better service or to show off – meaning you do the right behavior for the wrong reasons – it’s still the right behavior. And it still makes other people’s lives better.