Adding A Tip Onto The Bill

Well, they don't automatically receive a large tip even if they do a good job, so that's why it's included. There are many times that people have tried to stiff a server after her keeping him or her running for hours and keeping her station full, (leaving her with no other customers, if her tables are all pushed together for one party). She deserves to be paid for her time. I definitely agree with tip being included on large parties. Absolutely!

One of the restaurants I worked in left it up to the server. The menu said "gratuity may be included on parties of eight or more." Many times, the servers would leave it off, hoping that by doing so, the people would be generous. Yeah, that very rarely happened. Most times, they were lucky to get the standard percentage. Some got stiffed completely. I've found that the generous people usually tip on top of what is added.

 

This is a tricky one. While i think its absolutely right that people should tip their waiter or waitress in a cafe or restaurant, I don't think a tip should be automatically put on to the bill.

I cant help feeling that this is the companies way round paying their staff a decent wage. They can pay them less than the minimum wage required by the law because they can add a surcharge on the bill. And that is obviously paid by you, the customer.

 

I have no problem with having the service included on the bill for parties of 8+, it's only normal, in a way. But if I'm alone in a restaurant (and then don't really block anything nor do I need or get much attention), I for sure would not want to be forced to pay a precise amount. My bf said when he had foreigners who are not used to tipping, he would add in pen the usual amount of tipping given.

 

I don't mind having a standard tip amount added to the bill. We usually add cash on top of that because it's usually not 'enough' in my mind unless the service was REALLY bad. I was a waitress for a few years in college and I know how much they need that tip money so unless they're really angry, surly, or do stupid stuff (one tried to share their religion with us, for instance) we try to tip well.

 

I think a rip should be just that...a 'tip' as in something you do for exceptional service or if your waiter or waitress as gone above and beyond what's expected. If she's done a decent enough job then you probably tip the minimum that expected, the better they are the more you tip.

That's the way I always do it anyway, when a bill says service charge included I often feel the need to tip less because I know there tip is included in the bill, and I'm not sure that should be the case.

 

In the UK the tip is different as it is usually 10-12% and if it's a party then you should pay at least that because of the extra work and usually everyone wants a separate bill too.

I find in the US it's more complicated and there are no rules, some add it on, some work out how much the tip is for different percentages and you tick which one you want to pay and fill it in. I really think it should be left blank so you can fill in what you want. I don't think it should be percentage based either, but on what you think. I mean if you spent more on drink, why pay a tip for a $100 bottle of wine when the food was $40?

 

It's all word play and psychological - really not worth getting so worked up over. The server deserves to be compensated for their time waiting on you, that tip on the check is pretty much 100% of their wages when all is said and done. Either the restaurant can pay fair hourly wages to their servers and not make them dependent on tips as their sole wages, or they can take advantage of labor laws in the US and pay them next to nothing - which is what they do instead - making them entirely dependent on their tips for earnings. The restaurants could easily raise the prices on their menu items slightly and just pay their employees proper wages, and customers would not be so offended by seeing an extra "tip" (which is actually the employees wages) added to their check.

It's not a "tip", it's their wages. If they want to line item everything like that, they should really have a separate line item for "servers wage" which was automatically calculated based off the total of the check, just as tax is, then what would be a real "tip" if the customer wanted to leave any for particularly good service.

The restaurants get away with paying about $2-something per hour, well below minimum wages, because they argue the server will make well more than that in total once you factor in tips. Legally, if a server gets stiffed too many times or not tipped enough during a shift to account for at least 8% of their total sales, the restaurant is supposed to make up the difference to bring them up to at least minimum wage earnings for that shift - but they never do. In fact, to add insult to injury, they lie to their servers and tell them to claim at least 8% in tips on their sales each night when they check out, or else they run the risk of being audited by the government. So the servers will punch in that they made 8% even if they didn't and get taxed on money they didn't earn.

If that wasn't bad enough, many restaurants illegally tell their servers that they are required to give a portion of their tips over to the bartenders, food runners, bussers and other employees - another practice which is illegal - just so they can get away with paying them low hourly wages as well.

As for why many restaurants impose an "8 or more, automatic gratuity" policy, is largely due to stingy customers. Large parties are notorious for stiffing over servers - either the whole table asks for separate checks and most of the guests see a few others leaving a tip and they feel that's "enough" so they don't leave any tip themselves because they are cheapskates. The other scenario is one person is paying for the whole check, and get's sticker shock at the thought of leaving 15-20% on a check of like $300. So instead of leaving at least $45 tip (15%), they will toss a $5 or $10 bill on the table and leave - totally screwing the server who waited on them for the past couple hours.

So to avoid backlash from the servers when this happens, many restaurants implement this policy as mandatory and (usually in fine print) add a disclaimer somewhere to their menu. And from what I've been told, legally, it's considered discrimination if they only selectively enforce it - meaning they have to do it for everyone or not do it at all, so you're not going to get far complaining to a manager about it.

I'm guessing the restaurants are also fearing higher turnover from servers (which will cost them more to hire and train new servers as well as a decrease in overall productivity), or the servers themselves looking into the legality of their practices and busting them with a class action lawsuit, if they did not at least include this auto gratuity.

 

Eating out is supposed to be fun and sociable and the tip part ruins many meals, which is why in other countries it is included or not imposed.

It's been a source of friction for many outings for me and why should the diners after a nice evening out have to think about whether the servers are making enough in tips to make up their minimum hourly wage? They should be getting it anyway and what a guest leaves should be extra.

In NYC busboys can make $150 a night in a fancy restaurant, that's more than the minimum wage, but as a result most will only work the busy nights to make it worth their while, so the restaurant will get short staffed when people only want to work the busy evenings. Isn't it better to pay a good flat rate so you get staff constantly with tips on top?

 

This doesn't sit well with me at all. I don't think it's fair to the diner, and I'm glad I've never come across it anywhere. Like pwarbi said, it should be left to the diner to decide if they tip or not, based on the quality of the service. The quality of the service determines how much I leave for the tip. If it was standard they get the bare minimum, if they were outstanding I give a substantial amount. If I feel it was terrible, they get nothing. I would be inclined to give a very small fee where I'm dictated to on how much to give.

 

Good post, Ohio. I guess this bugs me, because of having worked in the industry. It's hard work, and people doing it deserve to get paid. Once, I had a large party. They then added a couple more people in and it was really a squeeze, but we didn't have any other open tables. It was difficult to move around one end of the party with big trays.

I gave the typical warning, "I'm right behind you, ma'am," as I began to serve a drink. As often happens, she completely ignored me and continued telling her loud story, complete with hand motions. She threw her hands into the air, striking my tray of drinks. I ended up wearing more of the drinks than she did and cut my hand cleaning up the glasses.

I was mortified, even though it really wasn't my fault, because I always tried to do a good job. I decided not to add the mandatory gratuity, because I felt so bad. I offered to pay to have her coat cleaned (luckily she still had her trench coat on). She threw a hissy fit instead. She also stiffed me.

The party took up every table in my station and stayed for half of my shift, and they weren't easy to please. They ran me like crazy, and I got nothing.

Trust me, it isn't the customers who get the short end here.

 

Most restaurants add that gratuity onto checks, but customers can always choose to not give that amount or to give no amount at all. It's not that big of a deal, as long as you pay attention to what's on your bill. There's no reason that a person should just blindly pay the bill and miss an added gratuity, which is often stated right on the bill.

 

I don't think restaurants should be charging a fixed amount of tip after the meal and if they do so they should at least make it known so customers wouldn't be surprised by the time they get their bill. I'm more in favor of restaurants just fixing their system to make it so that their employees wouldn't have to rely on tips but I'm sure the reason for it still existing is probably more complex than I give it credit for.

 

To the latter part of your statement: If restaurants changed to paying straight minimum wage, I think you would find that you'd get the same service you get from the minimum wage earners in fast food restaurants. There would be no reason to go above and beyond to make the experience as pleasurable as possible, if there was no reward for doing so. I tried to be very professional when I worked as a server. I would still give good service, but I guarantee that after a while, I'd give up doing all the special little extras and do just what I had to do to collect my check.

 

I've never (in my adult life, at least) eaten at a restaurant in the US so I'm not too clued up on the tipping side of things there, although I certainly don't agree with automatically adding a tip onto the bill. Maybe employers should just pay for their staff properly instead.

Here in the UK waitresses and waiters are paid an hourly wage which yes is usually equivalent to national minimum wage. As far as I know there's none of this "tips are your wages rubbish". Tips are tips here. Which is why some people give generously and some don't give at all. Here, general restaurant ettiquette is to tip between 10%-20%, 20% is absolutely exceptional service whereas 10% would be "good" service. If the service is bad, slow or not of decent quality then the waiter or waitress shouldn't expect a tip at all.

 

This is the main difference between the UK and US. I am from the UK and have lived in the US, so 10% tips are average in the UK, but in the US that is given for poor service. I was told 20% is average and 25% is if the service is good.

Regardless I still tip as I like, but my US counterparts think I am mean, but ultimately as most of us have repeated; if we were obliged to pay the servers wages, it should be at the bottom of the bill as in written plainly. Obviously not all Americans tip, hence the instagram pictures of bills where people don't tip and the sides get divided again.

 

I know exactly what you mean @Theo and I kind of feel for the tourists who visit America who kind of aren't accustomed to the tipping procedure. If I had gone over there a year or two ago (before I was seeing these pictures pop up on social networks), I would've probably left a 10%-ish tip for a waiter or waitress and thought it was a decent tip, possibly leaving them pissed off with me and with a sour taste in their mouth, neither of which I'd like.

 

I agree with a lot of the posters above in the sense that it is really not fair for a restaurant to make you tip a certain amount. A tip is to help show the quality of the waiter or the waitress, in my eyes. I always will leave a tip, but if someone is rude to me or just has a bad attitude, then they are getting a very low tip. If they are really busting their butt and doing a good job, then they will receive a nice tip.

 

I've thought about this too but I've heard of a few countries where tipping is disallowed or at least frowned upon and it seems to be working for them. Of course I'm oversimplifying the comparison but this is also why I tend to be more of a believer that it is a system that can work.

 

France and Japan usually include service and it's rude to try to leave anymore. As the menu prices in say New York are comparable to London, restaurants can still make a profit in London, pay servers a minimum wage and the UK has higher taxes than the US. That's why I don't get it. If the menu prices were much cheaper than other countries yes, but it's only marginally cheaper, not enough to justify a large tip.