Van and Calgary - Worst tippers

[V]

Oh man, do we already need another thread to bait Springs1?

[TheyCallMeBruce]

Originally Posted by V

Oh man, do we already need another thread to bait Springs1?

It's my fault. It's like I'm playing with the Ouiji board to summon the dark lord.

[Misterpants]

And the number of weird establishments offering the option to tip is going nuts. The bowling alley guy who you get your shoes from had an option to tip. For real?

Also, how can "just the tip" not be one of the tags for this thread?

[Voodooman]

Don't you just have to say her name 3 times?

Psychojuice......Psychojuice......Psycho

[Looch City]

Originally Posted by Flabbibulin

Absolutely hilarious. A spa moaning and complaining about tipping.

edit- A quick scan of google reveals that spas actually do expect tips close to 20%. Really??

Also the way he said it, it's as if he'd actually stop and tell people to tip more if he sees a 10% tip. That's ridiculous, I'd laugh in his face and walk out.

I'll tip what I want, not what you tell me!

[gargamel]

Originally Posted by Flabbibulin

Absolutely hilarious. A spa moaning and complaining about tipping.

edit- A quick scan of google reveals that spas actually do expect tips close to 20%. Really??

I think that's just the average. 0% for a normal massage, and 40% if you get a happy ending.

[mrgreen]

This is just another PR exercise from a company that wants their name out there, using a 'study' to try and make something that looks like news. CBC and other news media are desperate and have limited money and staff these days and (sadly) need easy stories that take little to no work to put out. This is the result.

[The Yen Man]

Not gonna lie, I don't usually tip more than 15%. 20% is ridiculous, and social pressure or not, I'm not going to start tipping that much.

[Table 5]

I really wish we could just do away with tipping altogether. Just price your services at whatever lets everyone go home with a decent wage, and we'll pay for it. If it was truly about good service equating to a tip, that would be one thing. Now that it's expected, and employers price it into their employees payment strategy, it's pointless.

And honestly, if we truly went by the level of service you get in this city, half the people would get 0%. And it's not just restaurants...so many people just want to get paid without actually putting in any decent effort.

[troutman]

Springs1 has condos in Calgary and Vancouver.

[Reaper]

The people who receive tips will always lean towards a higher tipping percentage regardless if they deserve it or not. Personally, I tip based on service. If you provide good service you get 15%. If you provide substandard service you get less and it is heavily dependent on attitude. If you provide poor service and you're a C U Next Tuesday then I will tip an insulting amount. If you provide above average service then I will tip 20%.

There is not the wage disparity between servers and minimum wage that exists in the United States. In some states servers' minimum wage is 1/3 of regular minimum wage. Maybe it should be that way here. Whenever I've traveled in the United States I always receive better service than anything I could receive in Calgary.

Also, I do not tip on takeout or at coffee shops. When I'm doing my job correctly no one stops by my desk to drop off some change. Why should I give you extra money because you did your job?

[jammies]

Originally Posted by nik-

That doesn't mean the question in invalid.

No, but it doesn't mean it's valid, either. I guess it's *possible* that the payment method influences the amount tipped, but I find it unlikely. It's not like we're comparing Calgary with Praetoria or Moscow, we're comparing Canadian cities where presumably the market for this method of payment is reasonably similar. If that's so, you can extrapolate from these transactions and get results that are likely to be substantially correct.

All people have to offer to the contrary are anecdotes and the irrational belief that this can't be true because they don't want it to be true. As I said, if it would have been Edmonton and Vancouver as worst tipping cities, the related but equally irrational belief that it must be true because we want it to be true would have completely changed the tenor of the thread, even with the same methodology involved, and with the same obscure payment processor.

[troutman]

What constitutes "good service" depends on the customer. Some people don't want to engage in small talk. Others want to flirt with their server. Some people expected to be treated like royalty. Others want few interruptions.

A server could do 10 different tables, and you would get 10 different opinions on the quality of service.

[macker]

Originally Posted by fotze

I learned in this very thread that square is some sort of new payment thing that some places use.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Dorsey

[rotten42]

It just means that your typical Calgarian doesn't just throw their money away regardless of the service. If the service is good. Yiou get a good tip. If the service is bad you get a bad tip.


Now I know there will be all the bleeding heart people out there that say that the service industry needs out tips to survive. Good....then give me good service or go get a better job. I worked bussing tables for one summer. Long enough to realize that I would not want to do it for a living.

[AMG_G]

Originally Posted by troutman

What constitutes "good service" depends on the customer. Some people don't want to engage in small talk. Others want to flirt with their server. Some people expected to be treated like royalty. Others want few interruptions.

A server could do 10 different tables, and you would get 10 different opinions on the quality of service.

But a good server should be able to clue in on what type of customer they are dealing with right off the bat and adjust the service level.

I think 20% is a little much to tip especially now when eating out has become pretty expensive in this city. Places are nickle and diming like mad. Tea, white rice use to be included in every meal. Now tea its like $1 per person..table of 4 want tea that would be $4 but same table and only 1 person wants tea its $1...same pot of tea....what a rip off. Steamed rice use to be all you can eat now its like $2 or more per bowl.

I have no issues with tipping well if the service is above a beyone. We went to Borgo last weekend and the server was super attentive and really good with my kids. I gave her $250 for a $200 bill because she deserved it. A lot of places just expects you to tip even if they basically throw your order at you. There is so much money in this city they don't really care if you don't come back.

[GGG]

I quit tipping based on service. It was one of the links in the last Springs debacle where an owner was talking about a restaurant he ran where tips weren't permitted at all and the psychology of tipping.

Essentially tipping doesn't work and it incentivises poor service. A waitress makes the most money on tips by serving the most tables not by providing good service. So the more tables the waiter can get into his section the better he'll do.

At this restaurant they just charged a flat 18% service fee and you couldn't leave more or less. (If you left more it just went to charity, not to the waitstaff.) So I have adopted this approach and just tip a flat 15% regardless of level of service. I don't need to be invloved in a performance review at the end of the meal. If I have a problem with the service I will do what I do at any other place of business and speak to a manager.

Tipping is really about power and control. About middle aged men controlling young women. About making a monkey dance for its food. It really is an archaic practice. It treats servers as if they have no ethics and only do a good job for money. Good servers are good servers because they are good servers, not because they want extra tips. If you get a raise do you perform better? I certainly don't. I perform at the same level.

So take yourself and your judgement out of the equation. Quit punishing people for percieved wrongs as they are likely doing their best. Pick a number before you go in and tip that number and don't worry about it.

[btimbit]

GGG, I know the restaurant you're talking about and it's worth mentioning it closed not long after that article was published.

I agree with the theory entirely, and I absolutely detest tipping, but it's here to stay unless there's some sort of massive social change that makes it unacceptable. One restaurant can't simply raise prices and remove tipping. As soon as prices go up, business goes down.

[Table 5]

Originally Posted by troutman

What constitutes "good service" depends on the customer. Some people don't want to engage in small talk. Others want to flirt with their server. Some people expected to be treated like royalty. Others want few interruptions.

I think a good server can recognize what level of service a customer wants, but I think the basics are pretty common sense.

• Be courteous. Not everyone wants small talk or fake banter, but everyone appreciates a welcoming attitude. You are not doing your customers a favor just by existing.

• Be prompt. Always check in with a customer as soon as they come in, even if it's just to let them know you are busy and will be with them as soon as you can.

• Do what you promise to do. And if you can't, don't make excuses or hide from mistakes. If something goes wrong, explain it to the customer.

• Don't make the customer do your job. If a customer has to ask for something twice, that's bed service. If a customer has to come get you (ie to pay your bill), instead of the other way around, that's bad service.

I think these things are pretty basic, and apply to all types of businesses, but it's not the easiest thing to find in town. Everyone seems to just expect the easy money, and have enough business to not really care.

[squiggs96]

Originally Posted by Flabbibulin

Absolutely hilarious. A spa moaning and complaining about tipping.

edit- A quick scan of google reveals that spas actually do expect tips close to 20%. Really??

So everyone thinks it's 10%, but the owner tells them it's really 15-20%? If the general public is telling the spa it's 10%, it's 10%. If you want 15-20%, that doesn't make it the standard. What a bunch of crock Cranberries.