Tipping, automatic gratuity for large parties

[Austiger]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
However, when I hear people talk of the obligation to tip it seriously wants me to not tip at all. If more people didnt tip, then maybe they would stop "expecting" it and work a little harder.

rJ_

[/ QUOTE ]

...good thing they would still be there to wait on you if you didn't tip, since they come to work for fun and all.

-oh wait, I forgot about their wage (which is $2.13 an hour in Texas.)

[/ QUOTE ]

Are there any other industries you feel us consumers need to subsidize due to their poor business models?

[/ QUOTE ]

Poor by whose standards? It works perfectly fine. The only people who think it's a poor business model are the "I don't believe in tipping" followers who don't understand that part of the business model involves their tips. It's just a silly argument to say "okay, let's keep everything the same except I shouldn't have to tip the waiters."

[El Diablo]

Daver,

Next time you're treating dibs you can save a few bucks. At nice restaurants Diablo usually orders wines in the $60 to $100 range.

FYI, this weekend our two dinner tabs for six were $900 (500 + 240 [3 bottles] + 160 tip) and $550 (310 + 140 [2 bottles] + 100 tip).

[El Diablo]

otb,

FYI, article on service fee instead of tipping

[By-Tor]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
However, when I hear people talk of the obligation to tip it seriously wants me to not tip at all. If more people didnt tip, then maybe they would stop "expecting" it and work a little harder.

rJ_

[/ QUOTE ]

...good thing they would still be there to wait on you if you didn't tip, since they come to work for fun and all.

-oh wait, I forgot about their wage (which is $2.13 an hour in Texas.)

[/ QUOTE ]

Are there any other industries you feel us consumers need to subsidize due to their poor business models?

[/ QUOTE ]

Poor by whose standards? It works perfectly fine. The only people who think it's a poor business model are the "I don't believe in tipping" followers who don't understand that part of the business model involves their tips. It's just a silly argument to say "okay, let's keep everything the same except I shouldn't have to tip the waiters."

[/ QUOTE ]

It's amazing how these conversations always turn into the person who supports 'blind tipping' accusing the other of not wanting to tip at all.

This is about mandatory tipping, not tipping in general.

[Aloysius]

[ QUOTE ]
otb,

FYI, article on service fee instead of tipping

[/ QUOTE ]

OTB / Diablo - Another Article On Per Se Switching to Service Charge in NY Times

-Al

[onthebutton]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
otb,

FYI, article on service fee instead of tipping

[/ QUOTE ]

OTB / Diablo - Another Article On Per Se Switching to Service Charge in NY Times

-Al

[/ QUOTE ]

Both interesting articles. Something I'm sure that bad servers/bartenders are in favor of, good servers/bartenders are against. In the end, tipping (whether forced or willingly done) pays servers/bartenders their market value.

[tuq]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]

Always provide great service and it works itself out. The 'big tips' will far outweight the stiffs in the long run.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm sorry sir. This simply is not true. I worked in restaurants/bars for a long time while I put myself through school. Big tables seem to be MORE likely to stiff you than anyone else.

[/ QUOTE ]
That's not surprising, there's almost always some alligator-armed douche who shorts the tab, usually one of the first to pay and then they fly under the radar while the last guy has to overpay. This assumes it's dutch of course - which is the only way I would roll anyway since I'm not interested in subsidizing someone else's expensive wine habit.

[Dids]

All I would like to note was that the wine was [censored] fantastic. Thanks DaveR!!!

[noir]

I too will say that this is pretty standard.

It is of course my hope that the wine was treated properly and your glasses were kept at correct levels. In my opinion, this is what you're paying for, and it's worth it.

Proper wine service probably is the most labor intensive aspect of fine dining as far as service goes.

And with the auto-grat policy, consider this scenario: instead of dropping $700 on two bottles, you spent $700 on seven bottles. Your servers would have had to do much more work in terms of preparation and table maintenance and received the same tip.

In the end I think it all evens out.

[El Diablo]

All,

FYI, on a semi-related tangent, I just posted some prices for Vegas "occassion" dining in B&M. Not directly relevant to this thread, but it's something I see people ask about a lot re: going to Vegas, so thought I'd write it up.

Vegas prices