Money Moral Dilemma: Should I tip if other diners don't?

le_veilleur

Peter_Lanky wrote: »

Waiting is a doddle compared with some low paid jobs.

Health care assistants in hospital have far more to do, such as cleaning up incontinent patients; being looked down upon by more senior staff such as nurses and therapists, being routinely referred to as 'unqualified'; working long unsociable shifts; constantly being called for by inpatient patients who think their needs are the most important; dealing with occasional violent brain injury patients, and so on.

No tipping expected or given here.

We're really talking about a bigger and deeper problem here. There are lots of positions like that and they all should be paid more. World isn't fair.

I am not saying that health care assistants don't have a harder job or don't have more to do. If it depended on me, surely I'd find professions much more worthy for a considerable raise than a waiter.

In the end I agree with you but still think that waiters deserve bigger pay too most of the time. But in the case of prioritising they wouldn't be on the top.

Gavin83

It'll never be paid more because the minimum wage keeps a lot of wages artificially high (with no real benefit but that's another argument) and frankly waiting is a job almost everyone can do.

There will always be low paid jobs, there's really nothing that can be done about this. However just because it's low paid I don't see why the public should have to top it up. I think automatic service charges should be made illegal, although people should always be free to tip if they wish to. No pressure though.

badmemory

I'll be honest I haven't read all this - but. I really hate service charges paid as part of the bill. Why don't they just put up the prices because that is what it feels like. I would rather tip the person who has given me good service than tip the boss.

DevilsAdvocate1

I had a bit of an odd situation yesterday. There were 8 of us out for a meal. Seven of us put cash in and each included roughly £3 tip (which was around 10%). The 8th person said she would have to pay on her credit card. However, I noticed that she only added £10 on for the tip. Given that 7 of us had put £3 tip in that meant she effectively took £11 of the tip and used it to subsidize her meal.


I didn't challenged her as I don't know her or the rest of the group very well but I felt that this was wrong.

Ergates

DevilsAdvocate1 wrote: »

I didn't challenged her as I don't know her or the rest of the group very well but I felt that this was wrong.

You're right, that was wrong - she stole your money!

borkid

gloriouslyhappy wrote: »

The offer might be appreciated but not the drink, I believe they're rather have the money than the alcohol. What sort of service would they be providing if they accepted every offer, and has this 'generous tipper' considered some of the staff might be driving home, or be battling alcohol problems?

One place I know they allowed the bar staff to put the 'drink' on a separate TAB then when they had enough allowed to take a bottle of wine home. Often bar staff ask may I drink it later?

gloriouslyhappy

Here's the 'quick guide to tipping' - what a nightmare! Just banish tipping and pay everyone a fair wage!

https://www.lonelyplanet.com/articles/tipping-customs-around-the-world?utm_campaign=ENL-EMEA-UK-20191105&utm_source=sfmc&utm_medium=email&stuid=f02d518e32ff980262acf6be957bf0a5&utm_content=125730&utm_term=

Kim_kim

REJP wrote: »

Most bar and catering staff are on minimum wage, and tips are important to them. If paid a decent wage then tips might not be important to them. Of course, the cost of eating out could go up if pay went up.

I would rather pay £11 for a meal with a fair & decent rate of pay for a waiter, than pay £10 & leave a £1 cash in hand tip.
The black market economy needs to stop & people should get a fair days pay for a fair days work & be taxed on it.

Kim_kim

JReacher1 wrote: »

A lot of people don’t like to tip. They will claim it is because of some moral objection to tipping but at the end of the day these people are just a bit miserly!

Having someone cook and then serve you food to you is worthy of a small gratuity to show your appreciation.

If you are in hospital do you tip the ward orderly who brings you your hospital meal.

Kim_kim

undrop79 wrote: »

So many anti-tippers on here. As someone who has worked in restaurants in my youth, this is the reason why automatic service charges or "discretionary" gratuities are added to your bill as a standard in many foot outlets.

It can't be denied that a tipping system benefits the customer. It keeps the restaurant's wage bill and in turn the menu prices that you pay down. I wonder how many of those calling for a "proper living wage" would be happy to see a blanket 15% price hike across the board on all restaurant menus to pay for this?

Tips exist to incentivise the waiters to give you the diner a better experience. If you don't think you received this, you have the ability to not give a tip. If menu prices went up to pay for the wage increases you're calling for, you wouldn't have the option.

I would much rather have the option to tip if I feel the waiting team have contributed to a positive experience.

I absolutely would be happy for a 10% increase in prices, yes.
I would suggest anyone not doing their job to the best of their abilities for their pay should look for other employment.