this post was submitted on 01 Oct 2023
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We dug into how American tipping culture got so broken, and the fight to fix it.

It turns out that your tips are subsidizing the payrolls of multi-billion dollar chains, while they pay their workers under minimum wage.

It's a system rooted in slavery, and pushed by a wealthy restaurant owners onto the rest of us.

But there's a growing movement to change it.

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[–] [email protected] 51 points 1 year ago (1 children)

How about just paying food service workers a living wage, so that tipping isn't critical for basic survival?

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago

No no, don't you know that it is your responsibility as a customer to make sure other people's employees make enough money to live? What are you, some kind of europoor?

[–] [email protected] 31 points 1 year ago

Speaking for the rest of the world, who are saner, F%$^ your US uber etc software trying to normalise this toxic BS 'culture' in other countries.

[–] [email protected] 27 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (15 children)

People that get tips should make at least minimum wage like everyone else. The employer should not get to pay less because someone gets a tip.

I always try to tip in cash. First so the person getting the tip can decide if they want to declare it as income. Second so it goes where I intend it to go.

20% is a good tip. More is not necessary.

I always decline tipping on the screens.

Never pre-tip. Tipping should always happen after service. You won't get a refund on that tip if the service is bad.

Edit: A word

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago (1 children)

My fear of not tipping before I get my food/product is the fear of a resentful employee tampering with it before I get it. So then I'm left in a situation of feeling like my food is being held hostage if I don't give a tip. It really feels like a shakedown, and I don't appreciate it. It has made me stop frequenting places that ask for a tip before I even get my food.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

That doesn't happen. The companies want you to think that happens, but anywhere that you're tipping before receiving service is a place with employees that don't get paid in tips individually. It's either split evenly or the owner takes a large cut of what you "tip." So the employees really don't care enough to fuck with your food, which could get them fired or prosecuted.

Tips like that are an excuse for the owners not to pay their employees a fair wage and tell them during hiring they could make "up to x" amount.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

How pathetic. So much mental gymnastics here to justify it all and avoid admitting that tipping to begin with is the problem.

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[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Owners don't want to charge more for the food that people eat at Restaurants fearing it will tip the scale and less people will eat there, so they lowball the menu prices, and leave earning up to each individual server for each individual table instead of paying wait staff a living wage. This is further exacerbated by serving staff being allowed to be paid far less than the meager minimum wage in most, but not all (CA) states.

[–] [email protected] 23 points 1 year ago

I don't believe that's really true. Don't get me wrong, I know they'll raise the food prices. But it's not because they're using lower wages to buy better ingredients. Don't let them convince you paying people a liveable wage isn't possible. Somehow other countries all around the world are able to do it just fine.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago

It was never not broken. It's always been broken and flawed. It simply went from bad to worse and SUDDENLY people wake up and realize it was stupid all along. The fact people ever bought into tipping of any kind and felt it was justifiable is pathetic. Anyone who defends tipping is an idiot. Paying fair wages, expecting the same service every time, and having clear prices makes way too much sense to ignore. Tipping has variability that makes no sense and is not justified.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It always amazes me how business owners are portrayed as greedy monsters instead of the pants pissing cowards they most likely are. If you need to raise the prices of your products to give your employees good wages, do it. And customers need to understand that better paid employees means higher prices.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago (1 children)

That's the thing. They don't need to raise the prices to be able to give good wages, they just bribed all the politiciants to make restaurants to be excluded from minium wage requirement to able to pocket all the money themselves.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (8 children)

You make it sound like they're pocketing millions a week, when the typical profit margins for restaurants are less than 5% and max out at 10%.

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

I’ve started giving 1 star review for anyplace that asks for tip for preorder before I’ve even received anything or for drive thru. Please join me… They use shame and guilt as a weapon. We can also.

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