When did this start?? [Restaurant tipping on total bill]

Questions on how we spend our money and our time - consumer goods and services, home and vehicle, leisure and recreational activities
User avatar
HomerJ
Posts: 21246
Joined: Fri Jun 06, 2008 12:50 pm

Re: When did this start??

Post by HomerJ »

TheDDC wrote: Fri May 25, 2018 12:30 pm I tip based on service which is defined as work needed to accommodate my table based on consumed food and beverage. The state enforced rape/pillage on that service has no bearing on said tip. Therefore I don’t include it in the calculation. If you have particularly good service then tip 25% or hell, just double your bill and pay it for all I care. I have done this (when the bill was under $10).

- TheDDC
Is that you, Mr. Pink?

:)
"The best tools available to us are shovels, not scalpels. Don't get carried away." - vanBogle59
User avatar
Epsilon Delta
Posts: 8090
Joined: Thu Apr 28, 2011 7:00 pm

Re: When did this start??

Post by Epsilon Delta »

Jags4186 wrote: Fri May 25, 2018 11:53 am It's not about penny pinching, it's about the ever moving goal post and, as you just so perfectly exemplified, the browbeating of people for questioning the ever moving goal post.
There is an economic reason for the ever moving goal posts.

In an industrial economy things get cheaper but labor does not. So one would expect the cost of wait staff to be an ever increasing fraction of a restaurant bill. In a system where much of the labor cost is from tips the tipping percentage must increase.

This is also a reason that portions get bigger. Over time the cost of the food has become a smaller and smaller part of the cost of a restaurant meal.
chevca
Posts: 3473
Joined: Wed Jul 26, 2017 11:22 am

Re: When did this start??

Post by chevca »

Jags4186 wrote: Fri May 25, 2018 11:53 am
chevca wrote: Fri May 25, 2018 11:45 am A question for the penny pinching tipsters.... why even go out to eat then, if worried about mere penny differences in tipping protocols? I mean, going out to eat is certainly not a way to spend less on food.
It's not about penny pinching, it's about the ever moving goal post and, as you just so perfectly exemplified, the browbeating of people for questioning the ever moving goal post.
There's a moving goalpost to everything we spend our money on, right? As you brought up, one can buy from WalMart, Amazon, or the local store and buy the same thing for different prices. Same with food... you can cook at home, go to McD's, or go to a nice restaurant. If going out, especially to a nice restaurant, one has already chosen the more expensive goalpost, why fuss over a few pennies difference in tipping style? It a fairly silly battle to pick, in my and many others' opinion.

And, if one would rather not get browbeaten, they probably don't have to post their tipping style or what penny pinching battles they choose. Also, just because someone disagrees with you or asks a question of why, it doesn't mean you're being browbeaten. :beer
chevca
Posts: 3473
Joined: Wed Jul 26, 2017 11:22 am

Re: When did this start??

Post by chevca »

HomerJ wrote: Fri May 25, 2018 12:00 pm We went to Top Golf the other day where it costs so much per hour to play... But they also have food and drinks.

So at the end of the two hours, I get a bill for like $120. Which includes $60 for playing, and $60 for the actual food and drinks.

Yet the tip suggestion was on the entire amount. So they were trying to trick me into paying a tip to the waitress on the $60 we paid for golf.
That'd be an easy one for me. It would even out at best. I'd say, the service on the golf part, which was me, was bad to terrible, but the food and drinks were good. Even to, they may even owe me some for how bad I was. :happy
User avatar
Darth Xanadu
Posts: 1107
Joined: Sat Jan 27, 2018 12:47 am
Location: MA

Re: When did this start??

Post by Darth Xanadu »

I get the sense that the bad tippers are the same people that pretend they don't see the suggested donations box when they go to the free museum or conservatory.
User avatar
Blueskies123
Posts: 736
Joined: Sat Nov 15, 2014 6:18 pm
Location: South Florida

Re: When did this start??

Post by Blueskies123 »

Like others said most of the people on Bogleheads are either now or will become some of the most lucky and fortunate people on the planet. I had a couple of health scares this year and the last thing in the world I am worried about now is a few dollars going to hard working waitress.
If you find yourself in a hole, stop digging
User avatar
roymeo
Posts: 1278
Joined: Sat Apr 28, 2007 7:19 pm
Location: Oakland, CA
Contact:

Re: When did this start??

Post by roymeo »

I read a while ago that most waitron and others that work for tips figure out pretty quickly that there are good tippers and bad tippers and the service you give can only nudge people a little bit in one direction or another. There are exceptions who really use it to rate service, or reward behavior (I used to get tips offered to me when I did over-the-top vocals working the McDonalds drive-thru, but I wasn't working for tips and always put them into the McDonalds donation box below the window while the customer could see it).

Does that "people are preset" differ from people who've done years of experience in tipping industries?
The sewer system is a form of welfare state. | -- "Libra", Don DeLillo
Jags4186
Posts: 8198
Joined: Wed Jun 18, 2014 7:12 pm

Re: When did this start??

Post by Jags4186 »

Epsilon Delta wrote: Fri May 25, 2018 12:35 pm
Jags4186 wrote: Fri May 25, 2018 11:53 am It's not about penny pinching, it's about the ever moving goal post and, as you just so perfectly exemplified, the browbeating of people for questioning the ever moving goal post.
There is an economic reason for the ever moving goal posts.

In an industrial economy things get cheaper but labor does not. So one would expect the cost of wait staff to be an ever increasing fraction of a restaurant bill. In a system where much of the labor cost is from tips the tipping percentage must increase.

This is also a reason that portions get bigger. Over time the cost of the food has become a smaller and smaller part of the cost of a restaurant meal.
You must be living in a different place where restaurants are constantly getting less expensive. Every place I eat at the prices go up over time. And of course, the tip goes up proportionally.
User avatar
LadyGeek
Site Admin
Posts: 95466
Joined: Sat Dec 20, 2008 4:34 pm
Location: Philadelphia
Contact:

Re: When did this start??

Post by LadyGeek »

This thread has run its course and is locked (general rant). See: Personal Consumer Issues
Note that topics must be directly connected to your (or your friend's or family's) life as a consumer. General comments or complaints about these topics will be locked or removed.

Note that this subforum has a much lower threshold for locking or removing posts than the financial and investing subforums. In general, controversial, offensive, pointless, divisive or mean-spirited posts or topics may be locked, edited or deleted (with or without notice) at the discretion of the moderating staff even if they do not otherwise violate forum policies.
Also see: A reminder that non-investing general comment threads are OT
Wiki To some, the glass is half full. To others, the glass is half empty. To an engineer, it's twice the size it needs to be.
Locked