I hate tipping. You know this (see Tipping At The Cash Register: Are You Bleeping Kidding?, I Don’t Tip at Lounges Either & I’m Not Tipping Uber Either!). On my recent trip to Michigan, I found two creative ways that management has addressed this issue.
Forced Tips
I was surprised to find the following on my receipt at Buddy’s Pizza (see Who Agrees? Detroit Style Pizza Is The Best).
The 20% was already included. At least the waitress was nice enough to point that out. I am not sure if this was because it was football Sunday (see Bills vs. Lions: From No Tickets to the Front Row). If not, is this the new trend? Can we opt out? Does it apply to alcohol?
Pay Through the App
The worst is when the waiter comes around with the credit card payment machine and asks, “Do you want to leave a tip?” (see Pressured Into Tipping! I Hate Credit Card Processing Tablets). A nice substitution for this is paying through the app using a scannable barcode.
Using this method of payment, I receive a breakdown of my (overpriced) bill and a handy built-in tip calculator that lets me know exactly how much gratuity is. Having the space to analyze the bill and the lack of pressure from the hovering waiter has me more inclined to leave more than my maximum 10%.
Overall
I hate tipping. Just charge more for the food and drinks and leave me the hell alone.
Tipping culture is one of the worst parts about travelling to the U.S., because pay is so inconsistent not just between states, but in cities within a singular state. In Los Angeles, or NYC, workers are paid “living wages”, while in Texas, I learned servers can be paid as little as $2 per hour by their employer as it is presumed that tips will help get actual wage to state minimum, which is still like $9 an hour. It’s quite sad. Just assume that your restaurant meal in the U.S. will run you 25% – 30% more than the price on page (between tax and tip/service fee). As long as it is called out, I support these fees and yes, it does apply to alcohol too .
I don’t support mandatory tipping. Insanity. It’s not a tip when it’s mandated.
@theboywnaderz the way it works in states with no tipped minimum wage is that the waiters are expected to “tip out” not just the bartenders (for drinks) and the host, BUT all the back of house employees. From what I’ve read/heard it’s the same in Canada where this is no tipped minimum wage. Sure tipping out other employees is technically voluntary, but don’t do it and your coworkers will hate you AND management is likely to schedule you less to include no peak shifts (with peak tipping) so everyone does it.
@thepointsoflife, I agree, mandatory tipping should be limited to parties of 6 or more, which is the long established cut off for mandatory gratuity. In areas where they get lots of European and foreign tourists, restaurants should just go with a mandatory service charge approach instead of creating an adversarial approach between diners and waiters. Think Miami Beach and the touristy parts Manhattan.
Why do you think I avoid Miami Beach? Service charge for no service. I propose being able to go into the kitchen and get the food myself.