I’m going to be honest here, I don’t tip for any service that I “order” in …
Do you tip at the drive thru? I’m willing to bet that you don’t, and if you do then you are a rare person. Do you tip when you order out, but pick up your own food? Again, probably not…
When you order from “any” of the delivery services, Uber Eats, Skip the Dishes, or even Door Dash. They ALL charge a delivery fee to cover the cost of bringing the food to you. Hell even Panago pizza charges a $4.50 “delivery fee”.
The only person, in my opinion, who deserves a tip is a waiter or waitress. But, the amount of the tip is mine to decide on. I won’t tip for slow service, I won’t tip for crappy food, and I definitely won’t tip if the order is wrong in any way. A tip is a gratuity for exceptional service, it is NOT meant to be an addition to their wages.
So, to demand a tip before you have even had your food delivered, well that’s asinine as far as I’m concerned!
North America’s tipping system — practiced here, and pretty much nowhere else — is not doing any favors for customers & servers. All it does is help restaurants, and delivery services run low overhead. The cultural practice of tipping allows them to unfairly transfer risk to the servers, because they make their money (on the bill) without paying their workforce a real wage. That part is up to the customer’s subjective assessment of the server’s performance, and pretty much requiring “blind faith” that you are going to get your order hot, complete, and within a reasonable amount of time from a delivery service.
This willy-nilly “let’s-make-a-deal” tipping culture is actually screwing servers (and bartenders, and any other tipped employee you encounter) even worse.
At a fundamental level, I do not understand why I should have to pay twice. We’re already paying for the food and its preparation. To be honest, it’s ridiculous that we should also pay for the service! It’s not as though people tip teachers, bus drivers, or any number of other service workers.
What’s happening is restaurants are unfairly passing on the cost of employing a server to the customer. I do not agree with being called upon to subsidizes someone’s wages because a business owner chooses not to pay a competitive wage to their workers.
Basically, if you’re not tipping for truly great service, you’re tipping to avoid having your peers perceive you as a truly lousy butthead. Buttheads being what they are, that’s an understandable rationale, but it’s still an unfair one, and it’s costing us money.
So, Stop tipping. I know it’s easier said than done. You’re going to feel bad about it. Waiters are going to HATE you. Your fellow diners, mistaking your proletarian stand for stinginess, may look down on you. All horrible outcomes, I agree, but until the North American dining public stops subsidizing restaurant payrolls, you’ll get screwed, your waiter will get screwed, and that shit wage/hour will stand.
Tipping is not required in every circumstance. Point of fact, there is no law that specifically states that we are required to tip, that I am aware of, here in Canada or in the US. Nor is there a set of standards anywhere that dictates what amount is an acceptable tip… Restaurants requiring a minimum tip is stupid. Shaming someone because they don’t leave a tip is utter crap as well… People talk about bullying and peer pressure, well telling me I have to tip a certain amount comes across to me as bullying…
Until tipping is mandatory or becomes law, stop crying about the shit! You signed up for a job that pays a crappy wage, not me…
Now a few simple explanations to back up my point of view
Myth 1: people say, “We only Pay for the Food. Service is Extra”
As a person who has worked both as a server and a cook, I can safely say the following; The menu price doesn’t just include the cost of preparing the food and paying the chef. It includes the restaurant setting, the tables, the cutlery, the effort and investment that the restaurant owner has put into the dining area.
Now guess what? Since I’m paying for it, the restaurant has to give it to me. And how do they accomplish this?
Ding ding! Waiters, and waitresses.
See without waiters, the restaurant has no way of delivering the dining experience to me that I’m paying for. I’m paying for sitting down in a nice place. I’m paying for the air conditioning. I’m paying for the nice tablecloth and for my food to be delivered to me in a reasonable time. The menu price covers all this. Waiters are just the restaurant’s way of bringing me my food. Of fulfilling their part of the contractual obligation.
Bottom line. Servers are not independent contractors. They’re not an “extra” that you have to pay for. By hook or crook, the restaurant needs to deliver the product. Whether they use waiters or conveyor belts, is not my business. I don’t care. The waiters can just melt into the background and let me enjoy my food in peace. If the menu includes free refills or whatever, then waiters are required to deliver that as well.
Why? Because…wait for it…. I paid for it!
Myth 2: It’s the custom!
Yeah right. You do realize that not all customs are created equal, don’t you? Slavery was a “custom” back in the day and so was race and sexual discrimination. Anyone with an ounce of integrity does what they feel is right. There are many harmless customs in the world like bowing instead of shaking hands, or using chopsticks instead of forks etc that are morally neutral. It really makes no difference if you follow them or not.
But tipping? Hell no! It’s not morally neutral. If you get better service because you’re a good tipper, then you’re essentially paying a bribe to servers to get them to do their job properly next time. All customs have a limit. And tipping is such a convenient custom, isn’t it? Hell, I wish I had a custom in place for people to just throw money at me…
I just don’t like being forced into tipping. It’s not as if a person has to blindly accept everything in a country without judgment. There are good things. And there are bad things. Just like everywhere else.
Myth 3: The cost of food will increase dramatically
Someone needs to do basic math. Increasing the price of food to pay minimum wage to waiters will not double the price of food. Some have even gone so far to claim that it’ll increase 4-5 times. Ridiculous. Totally, utterly ridiculous. Let’s dissect this rubbish.
As an example, I’ll take Chili’s. A waitress at Chili’s was so kind as to comment saying that the price of food at her restaurant will increase by 3 times – $30 for a $10 burger…?
Using the statistics, she herself gave in her comment, there are 12 waiters (at full capacity) who need to be paid minimum wage. That’s $5 extra per hour per waiter making it a net total of $60 per hour that has to be added to the price of food on a full day.
$60/hr.? For 12 waiters. That’s it! It’s peanuts. If you assume even that each waiter is serving just four tables. That’s $5 an hour extra they have to make from four tables. Even if we say that each table sits for a massive two hours, the extra paid per table is way less than $5. On the total bill. Worst, worst-case scenario.
You know what? Customers won’t even notice. So, stop the garbage about the prices of food going up several times to pay minimum wage. It’s utter nonsense. The only reason waiters don’t want this system in place is because they earn a hell of a lot more than the minimum wage using our tips. And they come across as the victims.
Waiters are Struggling Mothers/Students
Look, it’s not as if I don’t have sympathy for those who struggle in life. I’ve been there myself. I just don’t think it’s my problem. And I especially don’t like it being impinged upon me. Generosity is one thing. Having money demanded from you is totally something else. Any tip I give is out of the generosity of my heart and I expect some gratitude for helping those in need. It’s not something I have to do since…refer to Myth 1.
Bottom line: Socially mandated tipping is a scam. I can’t believe how intelligent people have been hoodwinked into it. Probably because they like to come across as “nice” people and feel sorry for servers who hover around looking expectantly. Well, I find that irritating and I won’t buy into it.