I think this sounds great. My only concern, which was also mentioned in the video, is the removal of accountability.
I don't dread the moment that I have to figure out the tip at the end of my meal. Since my major and my restaurant experience has shown me the value of compensating an employee that did a good job, I look forward to compensating them for their effort. If they did a good job, that is.
It is rare, but occasionally people receive service that is so awful, tipping feels like rewarding the server for doing a bad job. I just hope the video was right and the pay change empowers employees to continue to do a great job. That being said, I'm all for happier servers.
I think it is a pretty good idea. I am a tipped waitress and there will be times that with a bill as much as $250 dollars for a big party and only getting a 20 dollar tip out of it. I know this is a rare situation but as a worker it makes me discouraged especially when I know I was friendly and did every request the diners asked for. Like the guy said in the video people over seas have done away with it for awhile now and when they come to America they do not tip because they think its in our salary. I have ran in to that a few times as well. My only concern is since a waitress/waiters wage is so slow to begin with would be get the simple minimum wage like a fast food restaurant server would? If that were to happen I would disagree with not tipping because there are nights I would come come with an easy $100 dollars where I wouldn't make that much in a day because of government taxes. With all that I am for it as long as we aren't just making minimum wage.
That is true. Hopefully the bad tippers will not discourage you from continuing your great service! Just keep smiling!
I think there is a lack of awareness among those who have never worked as a tipped employee that this group of workers are paid below the minimum wage and depend on gratuity left by customers to reach that minimum wage (or hopefully more).
I think it's a good idea to get rid of tips. I have had countless experiences in restaurants where the server doesn't get tipped enough. Taking away tips and raising price has to be a cultural change in america. As the video said Europe has stopped tipping for a couple years. The main problem I have with it is that the waiter has no incentive to give good service, this again is a cultural issue. One thing that raising prices would do is stop all of the issues surrounding stolen tips. In the end i think that over time not tipping can work, but you need the right way to manage people. managers need to stress that it is not this servers or that servers table, by taking away tipping any server that is on duty can help with a guest issue and the guests would pay more for better service from the entire restaurant.
I think that this sounds like a good idea. However, managers need to ensure that the menu price increases will be going to increasing their wait staff's salaries and not being put towards other expenses.
As mentioned above, I am concerned that wait staff may only do a mediocre job since they are not relying on tips at the end of the meal. I spent the semester in Prague and experienced some horrible restaurant experiences. All over Europe, it was clear that restaurants did not care about the service aspect of their business. I cannot say this trend is directly related to tips, but I would hope that the American service standard would not decrease if we stopped giving tips.
Waitresses and Waiters already have a tough job that is often thankless so we need to be careful not to take away their compensation. If restaurant managers do their job to increase salaries and empowerment, then this could be a flawless movement.
My fear with no longer tipping servers is they may be less interested to work! Saturday is the busy day and if everyone is salary less people will want to work. Now servers know what they are making. I don't see many people wanting to work such a busy shift when it has the same return as a Monday shift. Dedicated servers want great tips and put in great effort to see those returns!
That's a great point you raised, Jennifer. One of the incentive for servers to work over the weekends is the fact that customers do spend more time dining and more money (getting appetizers, dessert, and maybe a drink) on weekends compared to those who dine during the weekdays (they might be rushing just to get lunch and dinner before going back to work) which means higher average check and hopefully more tips. If it was the same all week around, everyone would want the busy weekend shifts off.
Honestly, I am not sure this will make a difference to the consumer. There will always be those people who want to tip no matter what you say. When I worked at Wal-Mart as a cart pusher many years ago, I used to have people reach into my pocket to put money in is a tip even though I kept explaining to them I was not allowed to accept it. If people want to tip, they will find a way to sneak it.
On the worker side of things, It may turn out to be a bad thing. Their salary could be high or low based on how good they did and what kind of tip they got by how good their service was. if they take away the tips, that takes away incentive to do good in say a Red Robin or Ruby Tuesday, lower end restaurants. If there is no incentive to work, and the wages are as low as McDonald's, service will be at the level of a Fast food restaurant, which is usually not good. So all in all, While it may be good for a higher end restaurant that is paying the employee very well anyway, it would not work at all for a casual restaurant that would not pay nearly as much as a high end one.
I don't think this idea will have any substantial impact on the customer experience or on the servers lives. Even though you are expected to tip, and servers salaries at dependent on that, tipping reflects the quality of service. If I receive excellent service, my tip will reflect that, and visa versa. It's generally survival of the fittest, servers that are competent, engaging, and professional can earn a good living off our current system of gratuity. I feel that if anything, servers not vying for tips will decrease the quality of service in the food service establishment.
I don't see this concept becoming "the way of the restaurant" any time soon. The whole concept of the industry is based off tipping. People are tipped for providing a service. I was surprised the video said servers liked being salary. I would think one of the benefits to serving is making more money on a Saturday night as opposed to Monday, when you do less work. I did like the point in the video about servers feeling empowered and willing to do more work, because they know exactly what they are working for. And I do agree with the video that tipping is the most awkward part of the meal. I always feel the need to leave a good tip, even if I think the service was actually lacking. I think it would be easier to budget a meal if prices were included. Also it makes life easier for large parties because everyone can just add up their own and it doesn't leave one person to make sure the tip was covered! Overall I think getting rid of tipping is a good idea, but I don't think Americans will be letting the industry change anytime soon!
I think that the concept of a tip is essential for the service industry. Just like the video stated, it holds the servers accountable. I have a personal experience with servers that slacked off in room service this summer because of an automatic gratuity. They would just stand around or take their time and showed no initiative to offer quality service anymore. We also had problems with them not telling guests about the gratuity, so they would get double tipped. This would make our guests irate. Our culture is based on the to system. Only people with local knowledge would know about the restaurants that use gratuity instead of tips. This can cause confusion and aggravation towards first time diners. I personally think that when the servers pay check is in the customers hands, then they will give them more effort than if it wasn't.
I can't see the American restaurant industry getting rid of tipping any time soon. Although the video states the feeling of empowerment ensures servers do a good job, I don't think that will always be the case. Tipping normally reflects the quality of service that a server provides. By taking away this incentive, the quality of service may go down. Similarly, if you take away a sales representatives commission, what's pushing them to put their best foot forward? Personally I did not enjoy the service in Europe. Although the service industry faces many cultural differences, I found most servers to be unfriendly. It felt like you were actually bothering them when you asked for something. These servers don't expect anything to be left on the table for them when you leave and I think that reflects the quality of their service. The video also mentions that awkward moment at the end of your meal when you determine your servers wage. I think the general public appreciate quality service and enjoy giving a server a little extra if they think its well deserved. As for bad service, it is always a little awkward because most feel bad leaving an unsubstantial amount. But how is it any better receiving bad service and knowing a server is still receiving a salary you have no control over?
As a server at a resort, I don't foresee this actually working. I work harder simply because I know my pay at the end of the day relies on it. Being honest, I probably wouldn't be as friendly or quick if it was more or less an hourly set wage. I know that is not right, but honestly, that's how the human brain works. Worker harder, get paid better. That's my favorite part about serving - that I honestly play a factor in the pay I get when I work really hard! America is used to this procedure even if it is a little awkward. I think changing it to be included would be a mistake.
I see the pros and cons of eliminating tipping. Working as a waitress, I see that tipping can be very inconsistent. Some tables will tip well and some won't. By raising the prices on the food to make servers salaried employees (or at least raising the server minimum wage), the servers will receive a consistent pay check. As a diner, I both like and dislike this idea. I like the idea of tipping because I always reward for really excellent service. I think other diners may feel the same way. But I also see that the process would be much easier knowing that tip is included. If I were a business owner, I may be skeptical depending on the type of restaurant I own. At fine dining restaurants where the price point is much higher, including tip makes sense and may not make a huge impact on the guests. However, in many restaurants, like the one I work in here in downtown State College, raising our prices by 15% may hurt our customer base. Further, it may be hard to support salaried servers in a small business where part-time, as-needed, or seasonal employees are common.
I believe going tipless is a good idea, but I'm not sure if it will ever happen in America. This is a very common practice in Europe, where servers are paid a salary instead of relying on tips from their guests. To accommodate for this food prices are usually increased. This usually leads to a more laid back service, where the server doesn't feel the need to pressure the guests into buying as much to increase the check and thus get a bigger tip. Therefore, this could actually hurt revenues because it could eliminate suggestive selling. I believe servers would be happier with this system because they would have a guaranteed salary instead of relying on tips. Also, this would solve the problem of tax fraud because many servers do not claim all of their tips, even though they are required by law to do so.
Good point about tax fraud and servers not claiming all of their tips. I did not even think about that at first, but this could be a very good solution to preventing that problem. Although servers are driven by the thought of tips, I still think this is a good idea and will really make both parties (customer and server) happy.
Going tipless in American is a great idea, but unfortunately I can never see it happening. They problems it raises is whether quality of service will go down and if the price increase is really going to raising server salaries. If all the servers are being paid a flat rate (with tips included) many people think that it does not matter if they work hard or not since they will still get the money. Also, making sure the price increase is actually given back to the servers in their salary needs to be regulated. Having just studied abroad in Australia, I learned they have already mastered this concept. The price of food and drinks is more expensive, but then you do not have to tip. The quality of service i received was never poor, but surprisingly good. I really never experienced poor service, but my server was actually willing and made sure we were happy. I can not see America adopting this attitude and change for many reasons, but if we could it would be a great idea. Overall the customer and the server can both be happy majority of the time.
I completely agree. Many other countries can handle this change, but I do not think Americans can. Also think the quality of service would not be as good with tips.
I really enjoyed this video because I feel tipping has been an issue for a while. This summer I worked at the Four Seasons where part of my salary was based on tips. I often had customers say “you were amazing, thanks for a great day” but then I would look at their bill and it sometimes would be 15% or even less. At that moment in time, I felt worthless and doubted my service. It’s hard not to take the tip they leave personal. However, I understand on their side that the meals are already costly and they’re paying a lot to be at the resort. Therefore, my salary might not be the first thing on their mind. Because of this, I feel tips should be included in meal prices. This past spring I lived abroad, and dined out at many restaurants during the semester. When my friends and I walked into a restaurant we knew looking at the menu what our total was going to be. The waitresses usually did their job proficiently. Although at a slower pace than most Americans like, they served us well. It genuinely appeared as if they enjoyed their job and still appreciated our business. Overall, I reflect Americans would adapt to this change. They would like to see tips included in the food cost. This would alleviate the responsibility off the customers shoulders. And in the end if they still feel the need to leave an extra tip, then that should be up to their discretion and allowed!
I agree with the points the Dani brought up about restaurants abroad. I had very similar experiences while studying abroad and I believe that service was still decent even without servers trying to get tips.
The main concern that comes to mind when talking about including tips in meal prices is if it will effect the amount of effort that servers give. This is a major concern because many servers give good service so they will be compensated with a large tip from customers. The main way to combat this way of thinking with servers is to hiring the correct people as managers. If an employee only acts in a helpful way towards customers to earn a tip, then they are not the type of employee that you want working in your establishment. It would a hard transition for Americans to make because we are so accustomed to tipping but I think it would be good for the hospitality industry in the long run because servers would be able to better forecast the money that they make at their jobs instead of being at the mercy of customer's tips.
I think this possibly could be a good idea. It depends how much a restaurant is going to pay the server now. If it is only 10 dollars an hour, I do not think this is a good idea. I have been a server for the past 4 summers now and I think half the fun of the job is waiting to see how much a person tipped you. I always try to do a good job with each customer I have but getting tipped definitely is an incentive to be extra sweet. I think being a server takes a lot out of a person and I don't think it is worth just a mere 10 dollars an hour. However, if a restaurant were to raise it's prices and essentially have the tip already included, many people may think that the prices at a certain restaurant are too high. I think a suitable solution would to have tip included at every restaurant and for no matter how much a meal cost. This way people don't need to "figure" out what to tip a server but the server still receive those tips.
I agree 100 percent with this. Some restaurants actually do include gratuity on larger parties of 6 or more. And that does help out a little bit because some people will not tip as much on a bigger table because the check is already high for them.
I don't really think would be such a great idea. I feel as though in America part of the incentive of being a server is that based on how great of a job you do depends on how much money you can make that day or night. I think this would cause a great challenge for many restaurants to change there tactics now. Also, from personal experience I feel as though every waitress making the same thing doesn't make sense. Some waitresses work much slower than others, some take large tables, and some only take a few tables that are 2 tops instead of 4 tops. This is all reflected in the tip and I think if that is taken away from the restaurant industry it may end up hurting them.
My counterargument to this is that if the 15% tip is included in the price, if someone delivers EXCELLENT service, they will be tipped on top of that because most customers know 20% means above and beyond service. So yes, all servers will be tipped the same regardless of the job they did, but the superior ones will most of the time receive larger tips.
Being a server for the past 4 years, I definitely think this is a good idea. I worked in a high end restaurant, and some customers would come in and because the mere cost of the food and drinks were so much, they wouldn't have extra money to tip me (this is a whole other issue of people going out to eat at fine dining restaurants when they can't afford it- if you can't afford to tip 20% DON'T GO OUT TO EAT). Some may argue that if the tip is included in the price of the food, servers won't give as good of service. My counterargument with that is experienced servers will know that even if the tip is included in the price, if you deliver excellence service, people will still tip you on top of that. I've had numerous large parties where 20% gratuity was included on the bill, but because I delivered excellent service, I was tipped on top of that.
My counterargument to this is that 20% is a lot of money to be tipping on especially if it is a high end restaurant with expensive prices. A lot of times servers do not deliver service on par to a 20% tip, but they still believe they should have received it.
I believe this could be good and bad. Bad because it would have to change a whole culture almost. As Americans we have been tipping for service for a very long time. It is part of the deal. If you are going out to eat somewhere where you will be waited on, then you are expected to tip based upon the service. I am sure most of us reading this have worked in restaurants. One problem that I run into all the time with fellow employees (wait staff specifically), is that they believe a 18-20% tip is the minimum they should ever receive, even when the bill is $300 plus.I do not believe in this because often I do not believe the server is doing the amount of work to make that kind of money. TIPS means "to ensure proper service", but far too often servers are forgetting about that part.
I agree with your point that some wait staff are so used to the standard of 20% that they sometimes expect it of customers even though they did not really provide all that much service to deserve that much. Best way is to just stay positive and don't let what you perceive as a bad tip affect the rest of your shift and the service you provide to other customers.
The issue of tipping for service has been a controversial topic in my mind for quite some time. After reading some other people's thoughts, I have forced myself to choose a side. I think the new movement of tipping being already included in the bill could definitely be a positive long term change. The majority of diners tip around the same percent every time they go out, no matter the service. For instance, I come from a family who has always tipped minimum 20% and so therefore I was brought up tipping equivalently. Also, being a student who appreciates the restaurant business and studies it, I would tip the same no matter the service I have received. This may sound hypocritical, because we as the leaders of this industry should not tolerate a server who does not take pride in their job, but my thoughts are we as the leaders of this industry should know how hard this job can sometimes be. If I have a rude or poor server, I give them the benefit of the doubt - maybe they've had a hard day, maybe the table before them were extremely rude, maybe they are new - we've all been there. But if there is that one occasional server who goes really out of their way to accommodate me, not just being friendly (aka doing their job), I will leave more than 20%. My point is even though some are disappointed in receiving a 15% tip that is sometimes all that people can afford or are in the habit of automatically giving the same out every time. If there's a "ghost" standard gratuity already added to the bill, that is fair, and you being a server go out of your way to please your customers, who is not to say they won't add a bonus for you as thanks? I would bet that many "big tippers" or appreciators of our industry would definitely feel the need to compensate for your efforts. When I studied in Spain for the semester, a non-tipping culture, I came across very poor and slow service the majority of the time. This could have been the result from lack of compensation or that service isn't valued as much in their culture. Regardless, that every so often when I had a good waiter I would leave a tip, as appreciation. The "no- tipping" movement shouldn't affect the normal expectancy of service in the US. Restaurants should thrive to excel in food quality and service quality as products that go hand in hand. A good restaurant manager and owner wouldn't hire or keep a "bad" server anyway. However, the tricky part of this whole idea is what will determine the "ideal" or fair added costs or percentage to the bill that will be worthy to the servers?
Although high end restaurants have adapted to this non-tipping movement, I don't think it's a wise idea for the restaurant industry to void it all together. A tip is a reflection of the server’s performance. If a server is outstanding at what he or she does it will most likely be shown in the tips left by customers. I have traveled in foreign countries and dined in restaurants that also have a no tipping policy. I was unaware of this when I went to the first restaurant on my trip. Being American, I left an extra 5 euros on the table and the server was confused about why I did so. I think if the restaurant industry would follow in the footsteps of what some high end restaurants in the U.S have done (with charging more for food and not requiring any tips) it would leave guests confused and servers unhappy. Tipping has been a norm for so long, and most people don't like change.
Tipping is a function of customer service. Traditionally, great customer service is rewarded with a higher percentage of tips while unsatisfactory service leads to a lower percentage of tips. Following this concept, servers will work hard to please customers and customers reward them accordingly. However, what happens is that customers sometimes abuse this practice, withholding tips as a way to save a few dollars. Foreigners who are unfamiliar or unaware of this cultural norm will also depart without leaving a tip. This can lead to frustration among wait staff who view the gratuity left by the table as a way to measure their own performance. Often, wait staff will drop customers’ check after the end of the meal and will only pick it up as the customers are on their way out, consequently, wait staff do not get an explanation for why they were tipped the amount they were tipped. Perception plays a role in the practice of tipping too; good service level as perceived by the wait staff might be different from that of the customers.
Going tip-less might be beneficial in the sense that wait staff do not have to worry about customers who try to avoid paying for customer service. Every customer pays the same 15% gratuity and at the end of the day, dividing 15% of the revenue among the wait staff seems like a fair deal. Customers are also relieved of the task of having to evaluate their dining experience and calculating how much to leave at the end of their meal. On the other hand, servers that do go above and beyond might not get rewarded for their efforts and cause them to no longer pay attention to the little things that could delight customers. Then again, if customers were really impressed by their server’s effort, they could always leave them more tips on top of the 15% gratuity.
However, I recently read this article on WSJ (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323893004579055224175110910.html). It says “starting in January, the Internal Revenue Service will begin classifying those automatic gratuities as service charges – which it treats as regular wages, subject to payroll tax withholding – instead of tips, which restaurants leave up to the employees to report as income.” The article also points out this would increase the amount of paperwork and cost for the restaurants and might affect the financial position of wait staff who depend on their daily tips but do not always report them fully . In fact, the article also states that “many servers are likely to support dropping the practice (of automatic gratuities) because they don’t like the idea of their tips being treated as wages, which requires upfront withholding of federal taxes, and means they won’t see that tip money until payday.” It was interesting to see that Darden Restaurants Inc. is testing a new system of giving customers suggestions on how much to tip, calculating the total of the bill with 15%, 18% or 20% tip but ultimately letting the customers voluntarily decide how much tip to leave, the key word being “voluntarily” as “the updated rule says the automatic tips are service charges because they aren’t voluntary.”
This age-old practice of letting customers decide how much to tip based on customer service might lead to wait staff being stiffed on large checks once in a while but seeing as it has endured the passing of time, it can be agreed that there is still a large majority of customers who knows how to treat their servers right and leave them the amount of tips due for the service given.
This is an excellent idea. To see the success of this system, one need only look to several European countries (European countries are more culturally advanced than America and are usually right about these things). Tipping is an archaic and awkward ritual which started as sympathy money for the underpaid service industry. Now, wages are adjusted down in the expectation of gratuity. This is ridiculous, having the cost of service built into the bill makes everything easier for everyone. I do not want to grade my server every time I go out to eat, and I certainly do not want to do math. People can still leave money at the table if they feel that service was exemplary. If people feel service will decline, then these people have no faith in the human race. In countries where tipping was done away with, service has not declined, in some cases it has improved. The current system of tipping does not hold people accountable because servers expect a tip simply for doing their job adequately. If they received a higher base wage, and received a tip only when service was excellent, then their efforts will improve. As a college student, my budget for food and drinks is small. It would be easer for me to calculate how much money I am able to spend if I did not have to take gratuity into account. At times, I have left a tip that I felt was too small only because I miscalculated the cost of the gratuity of my food and drinks and simply ran out of money.
I think that this idea of fully taking away tips is not a good idea. It does have some good points where it secures a steady salary for the wait staff but that means that there is a possibility that some people slack off while working. People love going into work on a Friday or Saturday knowing they will be getting a lot of people giving them money over the coarse of the night and they feel good about getting good tips. Also some people give more than 20% tips therefore only raising the prices 15% on the menu is not enough.
I think if restaurants decided to go "tip-less" the cost of labor would increase for the employers. It might also cause less motivation for servers to wow their customers because they aren't getting tipped anymore. In a society where we have grown up with the idea of tipping, it would take a few years to get customers used to the idea that they do not have to tip anymore. However, it is not impossible to switch up the paying process. In some countries you are not required to tip.
I can see that the employees feel secured, because they know which amount of money they are assured to earn, but I can understand that some people will see it as something bad. If everyone gets the same amount of tip, the employees won't be triggered to deliver a better service. Next to that, the guests won't have the ability to show their thoughts about the service, by giving the amount of tip, they think is appropriate. But including the tip in the price is maybe a bit to forced. So I would say, don't take away tipping, I think it is part of the restaurant service and mirrors the level of the provided service.
I agree with the fact that guests cant show their thoughts and appreciation about their service. Also, I think that if restaurants raise their prices, depending on what kind of establishment it is, some guests might not return if prices are raised due to the fact that the tip is included.
From my point of view, that is really good idea. For me, it is really hard to calculate the tip. I was also working at restaurant. I have experienced that I got ridiculous the tip even though I did everything from the requests. What I liked from video is that servers are feeling empowered and willing to do more work. They exactly know what they are doing and there is no underestimate of their service. From the article, this is a very common practice in Europe. I think that the tipless is to instill confidence into the servers. In my opinion, that is why the quality of service has been improved. By the way, some people do not like change, so this change would be taking so long.
I think this idea of fully removing tips would be very beneficial to the hospitality industry. As the video said they saw increases in productivity when the servers were salary based. I feel like when people know how much they will be getting paid they will provide better service more consistently. Also I could see it benefiting the customer because they don’t feel the need to tip a server that did a terrible job. No one wants to tip a server that ruined his or her night.
I really do like the idea of no tipping and having it already covered in the menu price or elsewhere. It gives the server a great sense of comfort when going about their job. It can be a mental barrier for certain people/servers the thought of how well they're doing and will they be tipped properly. I do believe every restaurant is different and has different staff. So it could possibly working universally, it just would have to be tweaked in certain business to fit their goals and needed revenue. The only problem would be that servers feel too comfortable and their level of customer service slips. This must be taken care of by management, and it shouldn't be hard to fix if proper training is applied.
I believe that raising prices to cover the cost of the service staff is a good idea. This will help keep employees and the turnover percent should go down. Also, I think if the staff is already feeling comfortable about coming into to work knowing what kind of money they will receive, this could also make the employees care less about customer service because they are already guaranteed that money. But if you train and manage your employees well enough to respect the job and what it has to offer than the idea of having guest not tip is a good one.
I think the elimination of tipping is a fantastic idea. As stated in the video, employees at locations that have already eliminated the gratuity actually like the idea of raising prices in order to cover servers' salaries. I feel that this type of system would promote more of a team atmosphere inside the restaurant and there would be less controversy of who should get a certain amount of money. If an employee can do there job better knowing they have a reliable income, and customers do not have to face the awkward situation of calculating the tip amount, it is a positive situation for everyone. Before watching the video I have know that other countries in Europe, as well as Australia, do not operate in a culture that supports tipping. I've thought that we as Americans should have gotten rid of the gratuity aspect of dining a while ago.
I believe that tipping should not be included in the food cost. Tipping gives servers an incentive to provide excellent service, and in a way it reflects the quality of their work. Although this may not always be true, most of the time people are willing to give a generous tip if the service exceeds their personal expectations. As it was mentioned in the video, some countries in Europe completely eliminated the concept of tipping. From personal experience I think that this had a great impact on the quality of service in a negative way. Since waiters knew that costumers were not required or encouraged to tip them, they did their job without much care for the customer. They were not really worried about customer needs since they did not have an incentive, which would create a major concern for management.
I believe that this is a fantastic idea. I had an internship in Chicago this summer managing restaurants for a very successful restaurant group. One thing I noticed is that the moral of the servers would be very low when they received bad tips on a decent bill. This would affect the restaurant in bad ways. Servers would be angry and grumpy, not only towards me and the other mangers, but it would also reflect their service on other tables. By taking away tips you would not only be able to up the prices, which would up the restaurants revenue, but you would could also guarantee that the servers go away with a decent amount of money for the night. This would allow your servers to concentrate on working more as a team, and making sure that each and every customer receives excellent service. The only problem with this is that your weak servers wouldn't be held as accountable for poor service. You could address this problem by offering incentives such as; free meals after work, or even a bonus payment at the end of each week to the servers who show a great effort of service to the customers. I really think getting rid of tips would benefit not only the servers but also the restaurant its self in many ways.
I would agree some of the ideas from this video, and I would also see both of the pro and con by including this 15% required tips within meals. I believe that this method would definitely be an motivation for most of servers. Especially for those servers who always provide excellent services but not receive the equally amount tips for their service. However, having tips already included into meal payments can also affect some servers' customer services. Since they already have a set salaries, it may affect the level of customers service because they will earn the same amount of salaries anyway. Therefore, I would suggest some high-level restaurant to adopt this new method because this can be both beneficial for customers and servers by avoiding awkward moment for customers and guaranteeing the servers' salaries.
I personally like the idea but I do not know if it will necessarily stick. Working for tips does give workers more motivation to provide excellent service. On the other hand having a set amount could make waiters work more as a team rather than by themselves which could provide an overall better experience for customers. I agree with the video that it would remove the awkward stage at the end of a meal. It could cause some problems with workers not putting in much effort but it could eventually give a restaurant the chance to bring in better workers. Overall I think this idea is a good one and should definitely be implemented in more restaurants.
I think the idea of increasing price to compensate for tips would take a while for the US to get used to, but could make for a better restaurant experience all around in the end. I think that due to habit people in the US feel that they should always leave a tip and people in the US are always looking for the low prices. This could cause some issues when in fact you are trying to get rid of tips while increasing prices, but overall I think that if restaurant employees knew they were getting paid more, they may be more inclined to strive at what they do and work together to make the restaurant experience really count. I agree with some of my colleagues in that getting rid of tips could cause some workers to decrease their quality in work since they are guaranteed a higher salary, but I think that it would be about the same ratio to hard works as non tippers are to patrons who tip.
Finally, the clip mentioned that removing tipping has already started in the higher end restaurants, I think that similarly having a say in what you tip is removed when you are at any restaurant and you have a large party and gratuity is included with the bill. These are slow moves away from tipping that now seem normal to everyone, so I think that eventually we can follow the European way and eliminate tipping as a trend.
since i worked as a server at restaurant, so i am kind of biased , but i know that how hard each server works for and know also that bad tips discouraging them. get rid of tips should effect to server, and their motivation will lose. servers they don't need a $100 as a tips,sometimes people get their meal take longer,overcooked, cold food, they don't want to give a tip because they did not get a services what they wanted. but at least they did get a services from server. if they do want get rid of a tips, the restaurant manager either pay better wages. but it is kind of risky to manager to pay better wages instead of not get rid of a tips
I think removing gratuity from restaurants would be a good idea. I feel that is very hard for servers these days because they do not always have a steady income. They have good days and bad days. There are also people that sit at tables for long periods of time and only order appetizers. Like the video said, employees seem to like it more because income is guaranteed and it gives them more confidence when performing their job. I also thought the video had a good point in that its better for employees who had to split there tips with other employees. Its better for management as well. I believe that raising menu prices is fair for customers. This will cover the cost of the employees raised wages. I still believe that employees will provide good service because they don't want the guest to complain. I feel that servers will still work to the same level of service without tips.
Personally I think none of the two doings is wrong. By eliminating tips you obviously save the customer that uncomfortable where they have to evaluate the service to a parameter that is non existent. But by doing it management may allocate that income more effectively and might not have to go through the whole problem of giving each employee its share of the tips, specially if the tips are divided equally no matter what. I feel like it transfers a responsibility to managers, obligating them to give better training to their employees in exchange for the rise in wages instead for the variable extra income tips might bring. I think the key to the success for a measure like this one is the standard each managers sets to the quality of service in its operation and how he or she enforces that his employees deliver it.
In my opinion, having tips included in the bill is a good idea. First of all, it saves the customer's time and trouble when they pay. They don't have to waste their times doing math and figuring out how much they want to tip or how much they should tip. Also, having no tips makes it easier for the management to fairly distribute the shares to each employee so each employee is getting a fair amount. However, having no tips might affect the quality of service because servers know they are already getting their share of tips in the bill. Therefore, there are no incentive such as a greater tip to provide extraordinary service to the customers.
I believe, although it is traditionally done in the United States it is time for a change. Tipping is an awkward time for a average customer. I have worked at places(a fraternal organization) where the customers believed the wait staff was doing them a favor, and either donating their time to the club because they themselves were members. Or their dues to the club paid the wait staff their salary. The best was places where a buffet was served, and since the buffet was paid for at the door, they would get themselves drinks and therefor not need to tip the staff anything. But I have also seen in business where an issue was had during the meal, either something was wrong on the order or ticket times became exceedingly long, that the employee was motivated and handled the situation so well a tip was given that was larger than if there had been no problem at all. Removing the uncertainly of their performance may lower standards but I believe because they know they have tips automatically coming in they will do a good job every time rather than trying to please only the table with deep pockets. It will affect prices, especially when in relation to where no tip was traditionally given, a larger gap in prices would form than has already formed do to differing processes and procedures. I especially like this because it is much more fair to wait staff than the traditional method, everyone is doing the same work for the same pay. Best way to reward better serves is to entice them to flip tables faster, and possibly get more tables assigned to them. Someone brought up about taxes, this would definitely help to relieve the tips never get claimed on taxes.
My own personal opinion is that if by taking away the tips, servers wont be a hospitable has they may be now. The video said the servers liked it and it made them worked harder because they now they have money coming in no matter what, but I don't always see that has working. My next question is then, are all servers getting the same amount salary, as an hourly kind of wage, or does each server get there "tips" by the percentage of their sales. If servers are getting more money for higher sales I think that is good for the business and gives the server something to work for by up sales. If more places started to do this I think it would be hard for Americans to get used to, but I also think guest would like this way of tipping.
As a tipped server, I believe that including automatic gratuity would be a welcomed change. I have on many occasions been tipped much less than the recommended 18%. Sometimes, especially recently, I have been given no tip on an hour of work with one table. This discourages me greatly and often causes me to care less about my other tables because I know my grand total at the end of the evening will be much less than it should. People don't understand that servers make $2.83 an hour AND tip out other employees like bartenders and bussers. I think that including the tip automatically with every check and using the server's grand total sales at the end of the evening to determine the amount they take home is a great idea. As a server (hopefully not for much longer past graduation!), when I know gratuity is added to the check, I become a better server. I know that they are going to pay a certain amount and I want them to have the best experience possible. Not to say I don't do this with every table, but I know I do act differently when my "wage" is predetermined. Including the service charge in a table's check is a fantastic idea.
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ReplyDeleteI think this sounds great. My only concern, which was also mentioned in the video, is the removal of accountability.
ReplyDeleteI don't dread the moment that I have to figure out the tip at the end of my meal. Since my major and my restaurant experience has shown me the value of compensating an employee that did a good job, I look forward to compensating them for their effort. If they did a good job, that is.
It is rare, but occasionally people receive service that is so awful, tipping feels like rewarding the server for doing a bad job. I just hope the video was right and the pay change empowers employees to continue to do a great job. That being said, I'm all for happier servers.
I think it is a pretty good idea. I am a tipped waitress and there will be times that with a bill as much as $250 dollars for a big party and only getting a 20 dollar tip out of it. I know this is a rare situation but as a worker it makes me discouraged especially when I know I was friendly and did every request the diners asked for. Like the guy said in the video people over seas have done away with it for awhile now and when they come to America they do not tip because they think its in our salary. I have ran in to that a few times as well. My only concern is since a waitress/waiters wage is so slow to begin with would be get the simple minimum wage like a fast food restaurant server would? If that were to happen I would disagree with not tipping because there are nights I would come come with an easy $100 dollars where I wouldn't make that much in a day because of government taxes. With all that I am for it as long as we aren't just making minimum wage.
ReplyDeleteThat is true. Hopefully the bad tippers will not discourage you from continuing your great service! Just keep smiling!
DeleteI think there is a lack of awareness among those who have never worked as a tipped employee that this group of workers are paid below the minimum wage and depend on gratuity left by customers to reach that minimum wage (or hopefully more).
I think it's a good idea to get rid of tips. I have had countless experiences in restaurants where the server doesn't get tipped enough. Taking away tips and raising price has to be a cultural change in america. As the video said Europe has stopped tipping for a couple years. The main problem I have with it is that the waiter has no incentive to give good service, this again is a cultural issue. One thing that raising prices would do is stop all of the issues surrounding stolen tips. In the end i think that over time not tipping can work, but you need the right way to manage people. managers need to stress that it is not this servers or that servers table, by taking away tipping any server that is on duty can help with a guest issue and the guests would pay more for better service from the entire restaurant.
ReplyDeleteI think that this sounds like a good idea. However, managers need to ensure that the menu price increases will be going to increasing their wait staff's salaries and not being put towards other expenses.
ReplyDeleteAs mentioned above, I am concerned that wait staff may only do a mediocre job since they are not relying on tips at the end of the meal. I spent the semester in Prague and experienced some horrible restaurant experiences. All over Europe, it was clear that restaurants did not care about the service aspect of their business. I cannot say this trend is directly related to tips, but I would hope that the American service standard would not decrease if we stopped giving tips.
Waitresses and Waiters already have a tough job that is often thankless so we need to be careful not to take away their compensation. If restaurant managers do their job to increase salaries and empowerment, then this could be a flawless movement.
My fear with no longer tipping servers is they may be less interested to work! Saturday is the busy day and if everyone is salary less people will want to work. Now servers know what they are making. I don't see many people wanting to work such a busy shift when it has the same return as a Monday shift. Dedicated servers want great tips and put in great effort to see those returns!
DeleteThat's a great point you raised, Jennifer. One of the incentive for servers to work over the weekends is the fact that customers do spend more time dining and more money (getting appetizers, dessert, and maybe a drink) on weekends compared to those who dine during the weekdays (they might be rushing just to get lunch and dinner before going back to work) which means higher average check and hopefully more tips. If it was the same all week around, everyone would want the busy weekend shifts off.
DeleteHonestly, I am not sure this will make a difference to the consumer. There will always be those people who want to tip no matter what you say. When I worked at Wal-Mart as a cart pusher many years ago, I used to have people reach into my pocket to put money in is a tip even though I kept explaining to them I was not allowed to accept it. If people want to tip, they will find a way to sneak it.
ReplyDeleteOn the worker side of things, It may turn out to be a bad thing. Their salary could be high or low based on how good they did and what kind of tip they got by how good their service was. if they take away the tips, that takes away incentive to do good in say a Red Robin or Ruby Tuesday, lower end restaurants. If there is no incentive to work, and the wages are as low as McDonald's, service will be at the level of a Fast food restaurant, which is usually not good. So all in all, While it may be good for a higher end restaurant that is paying the employee very well anyway, it would not work at all for a casual restaurant that would not pay nearly as much as a high end one.
I don't think this idea will have any substantial impact on the customer experience or on the servers lives. Even though you are expected to tip, and servers salaries at dependent on that, tipping reflects the quality of service. If I receive excellent service, my tip will reflect that, and visa versa. It's generally survival of the fittest, servers that are competent, engaging, and professional can earn a good living off our current system of gratuity. I feel that if anything, servers not vying for tips will decrease the quality of service in the food service establishment.
ReplyDeleteI don't see this concept becoming "the way of the restaurant" any time soon. The whole concept of the industry is based off tipping. People are tipped for providing a service. I was surprised the video said servers liked being salary. I would think one of the benefits to serving is making more money on a Saturday night as opposed to Monday, when you do less work. I did like the point in the video about servers feeling empowered and willing to do more work, because they know exactly what they are working for. And I do agree with the video that tipping is the most awkward part of the meal. I always feel the need to leave a good tip, even if I think the service was actually lacking. I think it would be easier to budget a meal if prices were included. Also it makes life easier for large parties because everyone can just add up their own and it doesn't leave one person to make sure the tip was covered! Overall I think getting rid of tipping is a good idea, but I don't think Americans will be letting the industry change anytime soon!
ReplyDeleteI think that the concept of a tip is essential for the service industry. Just like the video stated, it holds the servers accountable. I have a personal experience with servers that slacked off in room service this summer because of an automatic gratuity. They would just stand around or take their time and showed no initiative to offer quality service anymore. We also had problems with them not telling guests about the gratuity, so they would get double tipped. This would make our guests irate. Our culture is based on the to system. Only people with local knowledge would know about the restaurants that use gratuity instead of tips. This can cause confusion and aggravation towards first time diners. I personally think that when the servers pay check is in the customers hands, then they will give them more effort than if it wasn't.
ReplyDeleteI can't see the American restaurant industry getting rid of tipping any time soon. Although the video states the feeling of empowerment ensures servers do a good job, I don't think that will always be the case. Tipping normally reflects the quality of service that a server provides. By taking away this incentive, the quality of service may go down. Similarly, if you take away a sales representatives commission, what's pushing them to put their best foot forward? Personally I did not enjoy the service in Europe. Although the service industry faces many cultural differences, I found most servers to be unfriendly. It felt like you were actually bothering them when you asked for something. These servers don't expect anything to be left on the table for them when you leave and I think that reflects the quality of their service. The video also mentions that awkward moment at the end of your meal when you determine your servers wage. I think the general public appreciate quality service and enjoy giving a server a little extra if they think its well deserved. As for bad service, it is always a little awkward because most feel bad leaving an unsubstantial amount. But how is it any better receiving bad service and knowing a server is still receiving a salary you have no control over?
ReplyDeleteAs a server at a resort, I don't foresee this actually working. I work harder simply because I know my pay at the end of the day relies on it. Being honest, I probably wouldn't be as friendly or quick if it was more or less an hourly set wage. I know that is not right, but honestly, that's how the human brain works. Worker harder, get paid better. That's my favorite part about serving - that I honestly play a factor in the pay I get when I work really hard! America is used to this procedure even if it is a little awkward. I think changing it to be included would be a mistake.
ReplyDeleteI see the pros and cons of eliminating tipping. Working as a waitress, I see that tipping can be very inconsistent. Some tables will tip well and some won't. By raising the prices on the food to make servers salaried employees (or at least raising the server minimum wage), the servers will receive a consistent pay check. As a diner, I both like and dislike this idea. I like the idea of tipping because I always reward for really excellent service. I think other diners may feel the same way. But I also see that the process would be much easier knowing that tip is included. If I were a business owner, I may be skeptical depending on the type of restaurant I own. At fine dining restaurants where the price point is much higher, including tip makes sense and may not make a huge impact on the guests. However, in many restaurants, like the one I work in here in downtown State College, raising our prices by 15% may hurt our customer base. Further, it may be hard to support salaried servers in a small business where part-time, as-needed, or seasonal employees are common.
ReplyDeleteI believe going tipless is a good idea, but I'm not sure if it will ever happen in America. This is a very common practice in Europe, where servers are paid a salary instead of relying on tips from their guests. To accommodate for this food prices are usually increased. This usually leads to a more laid back service, where the server doesn't feel the need to pressure the guests into buying as much to increase the check and thus get a bigger tip. Therefore, this could actually hurt revenues because it could eliminate suggestive selling.
ReplyDeleteI believe servers would be happier with this system because they would have a guaranteed salary instead of relying on tips. Also, this would solve the problem of tax fraud because many servers do not claim all of their tips, even though they are required by law to do so.
Good point about tax fraud and servers not claiming all of their tips. I did not even think about that at first, but this could be a very good solution to preventing that problem. Although servers are driven by the thought of tips, I still think this is a good idea and will really make both parties (customer and server) happy.
DeleteGoing tipless in American is a great idea, but unfortunately I can never see it happening. They problems it raises is whether quality of service will go down and if the price increase is really going to raising server salaries. If all the servers are being paid a flat rate (with tips included) many people think that it does not matter if they work hard or not since they will still get the money. Also, making sure the price increase is actually given back to the servers in their salary needs to be regulated. Having just studied abroad in Australia, I learned they have already mastered this concept. The price of food and drinks is more expensive, but then you do not have to tip. The quality of service i received was never poor, but surprisingly good. I really never experienced poor service, but my server was actually willing and made sure we were happy. I can not see America adopting this attitude and change for many reasons, but if we could it would be a great idea. Overall the customer and the server can both be happy majority of the time.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree. Many other countries can handle this change, but I do not think Americans can. Also think the quality of service would not be as good with tips.
DeleteI really enjoyed this video because I feel tipping has been an issue for a while. This summer I worked at the Four Seasons where part of my salary was based on tips. I often had customers say “you were amazing, thanks for a great day” but then I would look at their bill and it sometimes would be 15% or even less. At that moment in time, I felt worthless and doubted my service. It’s hard not to take the tip they leave personal. However, I understand on their side that the meals are already costly and they’re paying a lot to be at the resort. Therefore, my salary might not be the first thing on their mind. Because of this, I feel tips should be included in meal prices. This past spring I lived abroad, and dined out at many restaurants during the semester. When my friends and I walked into a restaurant we knew looking at the menu what our total was going to be. The waitresses usually did their job proficiently. Although at a slower pace than most Americans like, they served us well. It genuinely appeared as if they enjoyed their job and still appreciated our business. Overall, I reflect Americans would adapt to this change. They would like to see tips included in the food cost. This would alleviate the responsibility off the customers shoulders. And in the end if they still feel the need to leave an extra tip, then that should be up to their discretion and allowed!
ReplyDeleteI agree with the points the Dani brought up about restaurants abroad. I had very similar experiences while studying abroad and I believe that service was still decent even without servers trying to get tips.
DeleteThe main concern that comes to mind when talking about including tips in meal prices is if it will effect the amount of effort that servers give. This is a major concern because many servers give good service so they will be compensated with a large tip from customers. The main way to combat this way of thinking with servers is to hiring the correct people as managers. If an employee only acts in a helpful way towards customers to earn a tip, then they are not the type of employee that you want working in your establishment. It would a hard transition for Americans to make because we are so accustomed to tipping but I think it would be good for the hospitality industry in the long run because servers would be able to better forecast the money that they make at their jobs instead of being at the mercy of customer's tips.
ReplyDeleteI think this possibly could be a good idea. It depends how much a restaurant is going to pay the server now. If it is only 10 dollars an hour, I do not think this is a good idea. I have been a server for the past 4 summers now and I think half the fun of the job is waiting to see how much a person tipped you. I always try to do a good job with each customer I have but getting tipped definitely is an incentive to be extra sweet. I think being a server takes a lot out of a person and I don't think it is worth just a mere 10 dollars an hour. However, if a restaurant were to raise it's prices and essentially have the tip already included, many people may think that the prices at a certain restaurant are too high. I think a suitable solution would to have tip included at every restaurant and for no matter how much a meal cost. This way people don't need to "figure" out what to tip a server but the server still receive those tips.
ReplyDeleteI agree 100 percent with this. Some restaurants actually do include gratuity on larger parties of 6 or more. And that does help out a little bit because some people will not tip as much on a bigger table because the check is already high for them.
DeleteI don't really think would be such a great idea. I feel as though in America part of the incentive of being a server is that based on how great of a job you do depends on how much money you can make that day or night. I think this would cause a great challenge for many restaurants to change there tactics now. Also, from personal experience I feel as though every waitress making the same thing doesn't make sense. Some waitresses work much slower than others, some take large tables, and some only take a few tables that are 2 tops instead of 4 tops. This is all reflected in the tip and I think if that is taken away from the restaurant industry it may end up hurting them.
ReplyDeleteMy counterargument to this is that if the 15% tip is included in the price, if someone delivers EXCELLENT service, they will be tipped on top of that because most customers know 20% means above and beyond service. So yes, all servers will be tipped the same regardless of the job they did, but the superior ones will most of the time receive larger tips.
DeleteBeing a server for the past 4 years, I definitely think this is a good idea. I worked in a high end restaurant, and some customers would come in and because the mere cost of the food and drinks were so much, they wouldn't have extra money to tip me (this is a whole other issue of people going out to eat at fine dining restaurants when they can't afford it- if you can't afford to tip 20% DON'T GO OUT TO EAT). Some may argue that if the tip is included in the price of the food, servers won't give as good of service. My counterargument with that is experienced servers will know that even if the tip is included in the price, if you deliver excellence service, people will still tip you on top of that. I've had numerous large parties where 20% gratuity was included on the bill, but because I delivered excellent service, I was tipped on top of that.
ReplyDeleteMy counterargument to this is that 20% is a lot of money to be tipping on especially if it is a high end restaurant with expensive prices. A lot of times servers do not deliver service on par to a 20% tip, but they still believe they should have received it.
DeleteI believe this could be good and bad. Bad because it would have to change a whole culture almost. As Americans we have been tipping for service for a very long time. It is part of the deal. If you are going out to eat somewhere where you will be waited on, then you are expected to tip based upon the service. I am sure most of us reading this have worked in restaurants. One problem that I run into all the time with fellow employees (wait staff specifically), is that they believe a 18-20% tip is the minimum they should ever receive, even when the bill is $300 plus.I do not believe in this because often I do not believe the server is doing the amount of work to make that kind of money. TIPS means "to ensure proper service", but far too often servers are forgetting about that part.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your point that some wait staff are so used to the standard of 20% that they sometimes expect it of customers even though they did not really provide all that much service to deserve that much. Best way is to just stay positive and don't let what you perceive as a bad tip affect the rest of your shift and the service you provide to other customers.
DeleteThe issue of tipping for service has been a controversial topic in my mind for quite some time. After reading some other people's thoughts, I have forced myself to choose a side. I think the new movement of tipping being already included in the bill could definitely be a positive long term change. The majority of diners tip around the same percent every time they go out, no matter the service. For instance, I come from a family who has always tipped minimum 20% and so therefore I was brought up tipping equivalently. Also, being a student who appreciates the restaurant business and studies it, I would tip the same no matter the service I have received. This may sound hypocritical, because we as the leaders of this industry should not tolerate a server who does not take pride in their job, but my thoughts are we as the leaders of this industry should know how hard this job can sometimes be. If I have a rude or poor server, I give them the benefit of the doubt - maybe they've had a hard day, maybe the table before them were extremely rude, maybe they are new - we've all been there. But if there is that one occasional server who goes really out of their way to accommodate me, not just being friendly (aka doing their job), I will leave more than 20%. My point is even though some are disappointed in receiving a 15% tip that is sometimes all that people can afford or are in the habit of automatically giving the same out every time. If there's a "ghost" standard gratuity already added to the bill, that is fair, and you being a server go out of your way to please your customers, who is not to say they won't add a bonus for you as thanks? I would bet that many "big tippers" or appreciators of our industry would definitely feel the need to compensate for your efforts. When I studied in Spain for the semester, a non-tipping culture, I came across very poor and slow service the majority of the time. This could have been the result from lack of compensation or that service isn't valued as much in their culture. Regardless, that every so often when I had a good waiter I would leave a tip, as appreciation. The "no- tipping" movement shouldn't affect the normal expectancy of service in the US. Restaurants should thrive to excel in food quality and service quality as products that go hand in hand. A good restaurant manager and owner wouldn't hire or keep a "bad" server anyway. However, the tricky part of this whole idea is what will determine the "ideal" or fair added costs or percentage to the bill that will be worthy to the servers?
ReplyDeleteAlthough high end restaurants have adapted to this non-tipping movement, I don't think it's a wise idea for the restaurant industry to void it all together. A tip is a reflection of the server’s performance. If a server is outstanding at what he or she does it will most likely be shown in the tips left by customers. I have traveled in foreign countries and dined in restaurants that also have a no tipping policy. I was unaware of this when I went to the first restaurant on my trip. Being American, I left an extra 5 euros on the table and the server was confused about why I did so. I think if the restaurant industry would follow in the footsteps of what some high end restaurants in the U.S have done (with charging more for food and not requiring any tips) it would leave guests confused and servers unhappy. Tipping has been a norm for so long, and most people don't like change.
ReplyDeleteTipping is a function of customer service. Traditionally, great customer service is rewarded with a higher percentage of tips while unsatisfactory service leads to a lower percentage of tips. Following this concept, servers will work hard to please customers and customers reward them accordingly. However, what happens is that customers sometimes abuse this practice, withholding tips as a way to save a few dollars. Foreigners who are unfamiliar or unaware of this cultural norm will also depart without leaving a tip. This can lead to frustration among wait staff who view the gratuity left by the table as a way to measure their own performance. Often, wait staff will drop customers’ check after the end of the meal and will only pick it up as the customers are on their way out, consequently, wait staff do not get an explanation for why they were tipped the amount they were tipped. Perception plays a role in the practice of tipping too; good service level as perceived by the wait staff might be different from that of the customers.
ReplyDeleteGoing tip-less might be beneficial in the sense that wait staff do not have to worry about customers who try to avoid paying for customer service. Every customer pays the same 15% gratuity and at the end of the day, dividing 15% of the revenue among the wait staff seems like a fair deal. Customers are also relieved of the task of having to evaluate their dining experience and calculating how much to leave at the end of their meal. On the other hand, servers that do go above and beyond might not get rewarded for their efforts and cause them to no longer pay attention to the little things that could delight customers. Then again, if customers were really impressed by their server’s effort, they could always leave them more tips on top of the 15% gratuity.
However, I recently read this article on WSJ (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323893004579055224175110910.html). It says “starting in January, the Internal Revenue Service will begin classifying those automatic gratuities as service charges – which it treats as regular wages, subject to payroll tax withholding – instead of tips, which restaurants leave up to the employees to report as income.” The article also points out this would increase the amount of paperwork and cost for the restaurants and might affect the financial position of wait staff who depend on their daily tips but do not always report them fully . In fact, the article also states that “many servers are likely to support dropping the practice (of automatic gratuities) because they don’t like the idea of their tips being treated as wages, which requires upfront withholding of federal taxes, and means they won’t see that tip money until payday.” It was interesting to see that Darden Restaurants Inc. is testing a new system of giving customers suggestions on how much to tip, calculating the total of the bill with 15%, 18% or 20% tip but ultimately letting the customers voluntarily decide how much tip to leave, the key word being “voluntarily” as “the updated rule says the automatic tips are service charges because they aren’t voluntary.”
This age-old practice of letting customers decide how much to tip based on customer service might lead to wait staff being stiffed on large checks once in a while but seeing as it has endured the passing of time, it can be agreed that there is still a large majority of customers who knows how to treat their servers right and leave them the amount of tips due for the service given.
This is an excellent idea. To see the success of this system, one need only look to several European countries (European countries are more culturally advanced than America and are usually right about these things). Tipping is an archaic and awkward ritual which started as sympathy money for the underpaid service industry. Now, wages are adjusted down in the expectation of gratuity. This is ridiculous, having the cost of service built into the bill makes everything easier for everyone. I do not want to grade my server every time I go out to eat, and I certainly do not want to do math. People can still leave money at the table if they feel that service was exemplary. If people feel service will decline, then these people have no faith in the human race. In countries where tipping was done away with, service has not declined, in some cases it has improved. The current system of tipping does not hold people accountable because servers expect a tip simply for doing their job adequately. If they received a higher base wage, and received a tip only when service was excellent, then their efforts will improve. As a college student, my budget for food and drinks is small. It would be easer for me to calculate how much money I am able to spend if I did not have to take gratuity into account. At times, I have left a tip that I felt was too small only because I miscalculated the cost of the gratuity of my food and drinks and simply ran out of money.
ReplyDeleteI think that this idea of fully taking away tips is not a good idea. It does have some good points where it secures a steady salary for the wait staff but that means that there is a possibility that some people slack off while working. People love going into work on a Friday or Saturday knowing they will be getting a lot of people giving them money over the coarse of the night and they feel good about getting good tips. Also some people give more than 20% tips therefore only raising the prices 15% on the menu is not enough.
ReplyDeleteI think if restaurants decided to go "tip-less" the cost of labor would increase for the employers. It might also cause less motivation for servers to wow their customers because they aren't getting tipped anymore. In a society where we have grown up with the idea of tipping, it would take a few years to get customers used to the idea that they do not have to tip anymore. However, it is not impossible to switch up the paying process. In some countries you are not required to tip.
ReplyDeleteI can see that the employees feel secured, because they know which amount of money they are assured to earn, but I can understand that some people will see it as something bad. If everyone gets the same amount of tip, the employees won't be triggered to deliver a better service. Next to that, the guests won't have the ability to show their thoughts about the service, by giving the amount of tip, they think is appropriate. But including the tip in the price is maybe a bit to forced. So I would say, don't take away tipping, I think it is part of the restaurant service and mirrors the level of the provided service.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the fact that guests cant show their thoughts and appreciation about their service. Also, I think that if restaurants raise their prices, depending on what kind of establishment it is, some guests might not return if prices are raised due to the fact that the tip is included.
DeleteFrom my point of view, that is really good idea. For me, it is really hard to calculate the tip. I was also working at restaurant. I have experienced that I got ridiculous the tip even though I did everything from the requests. What I liked from video is that servers are feeling empowered and willing to do more work. They exactly know what they are doing and there is no underestimate of their service. From the article, this is a very common practice in Europe. I think that the tipless is to instill confidence into the servers. In my opinion, that is why the quality of service has been improved. By the way, some people do not like change, so this change would be taking so long.
ReplyDeleteI think this idea of fully removing tips would be very beneficial to the hospitality industry. As the video said they saw increases in productivity when the servers were salary based. I feel like when people know how much they will be getting paid they will provide better service more consistently. Also I could see it benefiting the customer because they don’t feel the need to tip a server that did a terrible job. No one wants to tip a server that ruined his or her night.
ReplyDeleteI really do like the idea of no tipping and having it already covered in the menu price or elsewhere. It gives the server a great sense of comfort when going about their job. It can be a mental barrier for certain people/servers the thought of how well they're doing and will they be tipped properly. I do believe every restaurant is different and has different staff. So it could possibly working universally, it just would have to be tweaked in certain business to fit their goals and needed revenue. The only problem would be that servers feel too comfortable and their level of customer service slips. This must be taken care of by management, and it shouldn't be hard to fix if proper training is applied.
ReplyDeleteI believe that raising prices to cover the cost of the service staff is a good idea. This will help keep employees and the turnover percent should go down. Also, I think if the staff is already feeling comfortable about coming into to work knowing what kind of money they will receive, this could also make the employees care less about customer service because they are already guaranteed that money. But if you train and manage your employees well enough to respect the job and what it has to offer than the idea of having guest not tip is a good one.
ReplyDeleteI think the elimination of tipping is a fantastic idea. As stated in the video, employees at locations that have already eliminated the gratuity actually like the idea of raising prices in order to cover servers' salaries. I feel that this type of system would promote more of a team atmosphere inside the restaurant and there would be less controversy of who should get a certain amount of money. If an employee can do there job better knowing they have a reliable income, and customers do not have to face the awkward situation of calculating the tip amount, it is a positive situation for everyone. Before watching the video I have know that other countries in Europe, as well as Australia, do not operate in a culture that supports tipping. I've thought that we as Americans should have gotten rid of the gratuity aspect of dining a while ago.
ReplyDeleteI believe that tipping should not be included in the food cost. Tipping gives servers an incentive to provide excellent service, and in a way it reflects the quality of their work. Although this may not always be true, most of the time people are willing to give a generous tip if the service exceeds their personal expectations. As it was mentioned in the video, some countries in Europe completely eliminated the concept of tipping. From personal experience I think that this had a great impact on the quality of service in a negative way. Since waiters knew that costumers were not required or encouraged to tip them, they did their job without much care for the customer. They were not really worried about customer needs since they did not have an incentive, which would create a major concern for management.
ReplyDeleteI believe that this is a fantastic idea. I had an internship in Chicago this summer managing restaurants for a very successful restaurant group. One thing I noticed is that the moral of the servers would be very low when they received bad tips on a decent bill. This would affect the restaurant in bad ways. Servers would be angry and grumpy, not only towards me and the other mangers, but it would also reflect their service on other tables. By taking away tips you would not only be able to up the prices, which would up the restaurants revenue, but you would could also guarantee that the servers go away with a decent amount of money for the night. This would allow your servers to concentrate on working more as a team, and making sure that each and every customer receives excellent service. The only problem with this is that your weak servers wouldn't be held as accountable for poor service. You could address this problem by offering incentives such as; free meals after work, or even a bonus payment at the end of each week to the servers who show a great effort of service to the customers. I really think getting rid of tips would benefit not only the servers but also the restaurant its self in many ways.
ReplyDeleteI would agree some of the ideas from this video, and I would also see both of the pro and con by including this 15% required tips within meals. I believe that this method would definitely be an motivation for most of servers. Especially for those servers who always provide excellent services but not receive the equally amount tips for their service. However, having tips already included into meal payments can also affect some servers' customer services. Since they already have a set salaries, it may affect the level of customers service because they will earn the same amount of salaries anyway. Therefore, I would suggest some high-level restaurant to adopt this new method because this can be both beneficial for customers and servers by avoiding awkward moment for customers and guaranteeing the servers' salaries.
ReplyDeleteI personally like the idea but I do not know if it will necessarily stick. Working for tips does give workers more motivation to provide excellent service. On the other hand having a set amount could make waiters work more as a team rather than by themselves which could provide an overall better experience for customers. I agree with the video that it would remove the awkward stage at the end of a meal. It could cause some problems with workers not putting in much effort but it could eventually give a restaurant the chance to bring in better workers. Overall I think this idea is a good one and should definitely be implemented in more restaurants.
ReplyDeleteI think the idea of increasing price to compensate for tips would take a while for the US to get used to, but could make for a better restaurant experience all around in the end. I think that due to habit people in the US feel that they should always leave a tip and people in the US are always looking for the low prices. This could cause some issues when in fact you are trying to get rid of tips while increasing prices, but overall I think that if restaurant employees knew they were getting paid more, they may be more inclined to strive at what they do and work together to make the restaurant experience really count. I agree with some of my colleagues in that getting rid of tips could cause some workers to decrease their quality in work since they are guaranteed a higher salary, but I think that it would be about the same ratio to hard works as non tippers are to patrons who tip.
ReplyDeleteFinally, the clip mentioned that removing tipping has already started in the higher end restaurants, I think that similarly having a say in what you tip is removed when you are at any restaurant and you have a large party and gratuity is included with the bill. These are slow moves away from tipping that now seem normal to everyone, so I think that eventually we can follow the European way and eliminate tipping as a trend.
since i worked as a server at restaurant, so i am kind of biased , but i know that how hard each server works for and know also that bad tips discouraging them. get rid of tips should effect to server, and their motivation will lose. servers they don't need a $100 as a tips,sometimes people get their meal take longer,overcooked, cold food, they don't want to give a tip because they did not get a services what they wanted. but at least they did get a services from server. if they do want get rid of a tips, the restaurant manager either pay better wages. but it is kind of risky to manager to pay better wages instead of not get rid of a tips
ReplyDeleteI think removing gratuity from restaurants would be a good idea. I feel that is very hard for servers these days because they do not always have a steady income. They have good days and bad days. There are also people that sit at tables for long periods of time and only order appetizers. Like the video said, employees seem to like it more because income is guaranteed and it gives them more confidence when performing their job. I also thought the video had a good point in that its better for employees who had to split there tips with other employees. Its better for management as well. I believe that raising menu prices is fair for customers. This will cover the cost of the employees raised wages. I still believe that employees will provide good service because they don't want the guest to complain. I feel that servers will still work to the same level of service without tips.
ReplyDeletePersonally I think none of the two doings is wrong. By eliminating tips you obviously save the customer that uncomfortable where they have to evaluate the service to a parameter that is non existent. But by doing it management may allocate that income more effectively and might not have to go through the whole problem of giving each employee its share of the tips, specially if the tips are divided equally no matter what. I feel like it transfers a responsibility to managers, obligating them to give better training to their employees in exchange for the rise in wages instead for the variable extra income tips might bring. I think the key to the success for a measure like this one is the standard each managers sets to the quality of service in its operation and how he or she enforces that his employees deliver it.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, having tips included in the bill is a good idea. First of all, it saves the customer's time and trouble when they pay. They don't have to waste their times doing math and figuring out how much they want to tip or how much they should tip. Also, having no tips makes it easier for the management to fairly distribute the shares to each employee so each employee is getting a fair amount. However, having no tips might affect the quality of service because servers know they are already getting their share of tips in the bill. Therefore, there are no incentive such as a greater tip to provide extraordinary service to the customers.
ReplyDeleteI believe, although it is traditionally done in the United States it is time for a change. Tipping is an awkward time for a average customer. I have worked at places(a fraternal organization) where the customers believed the wait staff was doing them a favor, and either donating their time to the club because they themselves were members. Or their dues to the club paid the wait staff their salary. The best was places where a buffet was served, and since the buffet was paid for at the door, they would get themselves drinks and therefor not need to tip the staff anything. But I have also seen in business where an issue was had during the meal, either something was wrong on the order or ticket times became exceedingly long, that the employee was motivated and handled the situation so well a tip was given that was larger than if there had been no problem at all.
ReplyDeleteRemoving the uncertainly of their performance may lower standards but I believe because they know they have tips automatically coming in they will do a good job every time rather than trying to please only the table with deep pockets. It will affect prices, especially when in relation to where no tip was traditionally given, a larger gap in prices would form than has already formed do to differing processes and procedures. I especially like this because it is much more fair to wait staff than the traditional method, everyone is doing the same work for the same pay. Best way to reward better serves is to entice them to flip tables faster, and possibly get more tables assigned to them. Someone brought up about taxes, this would definitely help to relieve the tips never get claimed on taxes.
My own personal opinion is that if by taking away the tips, servers wont be a hospitable has they may be now. The video said the servers liked it and it made them worked harder because they now they have money coming in no matter what, but I don't always see that has working. My next question is then, are all servers getting the same amount salary, as an hourly kind of wage, or does each server get there "tips" by the percentage of their sales. If servers are getting more money for higher sales I think that is good for the business and gives the server something to work for by up sales. If more places started to do this I think it would be hard for Americans to get used to, but I also think guest would like this way of tipping.
ReplyDeleteAs a tipped server, I believe that including automatic gratuity would be a welcomed change. I have on many occasions been tipped much less than the recommended 18%. Sometimes, especially recently, I have been given no tip on an hour of work with one table. This discourages me greatly and often causes me to care less about my other tables because I know my grand total at the end of the evening will be much less than it should. People don't understand that servers make $2.83 an hour AND tip out other employees like bartenders and bussers. I think that including the tip automatically with every check and using the server's grand total sales at the end of the evening to determine the amount they take home is a great idea. As a server (hopefully not for much longer past graduation!), when I know gratuity is added to the check, I become a better server. I know that they are going to pay a certain amount and I want them to have the best experience possible. Not to say I don't do this with every table, but I know I do act differently when my "wage" is predetermined. Including the service charge in a table's check is a fantastic idea.
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