North American Tipping Culture vs the Rest of the World

[MoneyGuy]

Restaurants and bars, cabs and Uber, haircuts...all get tipped. Everyone else take a hike. (I don’t know if I’ve missed someone. I haven’t used grocery deliveries to my car, Skip the Dishes, etc.).

[SofaProfessor]

Tipping can't die fast enough. I'd rather pay more for a meal and be able to pay the bill that shows up on my table knowing the person serving me is making a good living wage rather than having me supplement their wage.

Some businesses are also doing shady things with tips that can actually end up negatively affecting employees rather than being a benefit to them. Restaurant staff, for example, tip out the bar and kitchen usually around 5%. If a customer no-tips then the employee often still has to tip out to the bar and kitchen making that bill an actual loss for them personally. I've also heard of situations where employees must tip out on the full price of a bill even if it has been discounted for promos or discounts. So, if the original bill was $100 but the food was bad and the manager comps the meals so the bill comes out to $50 and the customer tips 15% on that $50, the server still tips out 5% of $100 meaning that they only made $2.50 while the kitchen got $5 tip out for the bad food that ended up being taken off the bill.

Just simplify things, pay people a good wage, and let customers see the actual price they will be paying right on the menu without this invisible extra cost lurking overhead that is arbitrarily tacked onto the bill at the end of the night.

[Royle9]

Between the mandatory tip options just about every bloody place forces on you these days, as well as the "would you like to donate $___ to ____ charity" at almost every store you go to.. I feel we're in trouble.

Cost of living goes up, value of our dollar going down, debt levels through the roof...

At what point do we get to take a step back and rethink this?

I donate through proper channels direct, I cant stand companies that ask for donations but get to keep a % of it for themselves. I'm also tired of shopping myself, and then when it comes time to pay I have to tip YOU for the work I did? What am I tipping for? In the cases where they have a % or dollar amount mandatory I'll hit $ and put 0 every time.

I dont tip for fun , I tip when I'm giving exemplary service and if I'm asking someone to deliver something to my house.

[Weitz]

Who the hell tips Uber or Taxis?

Worst drivers in the city and questionable service at best.

[DuffMan]

Originally Posted by agulati

Liquor stores, I guess the justification can be on the basis of recommendations or suggestions. A few times I have gone to COOP, I have gotten good service, but I have always just approached this as part of the price I'm paying for the alcohol purchase.

actually, I think it is for people that still use cash, who don't want to carry around change can just throw it in there, I don't think it was on the card machine options.

[Charsiu]

Originally Posted by Weitz

Who the hell tips Uber or Taxis?

Worst drivers in the city and questionable service at best.

I tip them if they can drive well. If they're unfamiliar with the roads and just going by their navigation app I won't.

In Toronto it's pretty obvious when you have an uber driver who lives way out in the suburbs, they're super hesitant and timid, they get stuck behind other cars and take the GPS routes. If I have to offer instruction then it's not worth tipping.

[troutman]

I feel like I'm fortunate to be where I am in life. If someone is helpful or kind, I think $5 or $10 or $20, could mean a lot more to them than it does to me.

[Charsiu]

Maybe this is too simplistic of a thought but if a business relies on customers to support their employees through tipping in order to stay afloat, there is something systematically flawed with that industry.

[jeffporfirio]

Originally Posted by SportsJunky

We ordered a large pizza from Boston Pizza and it was about $50(!) all in. We ordered nothing but the pizza. No drinks. No sides. It was probably an extra $10 or $12 after you factor in Boston Pizza's "delivery charge" and then tip the driver when he arrives. Highway robbery.

Also, the Skip the Dishes tip prompt really bugs me. You have to tip before the order is processed. If you don't, the driver might think he is getting stiffed and you are getting a loogie burger delivered to your hotel room.

This.
I try to stay away from Skip the Dishes. What if the driver thinks my tip is to low? Am I getting 'mystery ingredients' with my food?

Also, I try, when I can, to tip pizza delivery drivers cash when I can. I just don't trust the restaurants giving them their money.

[corporatejay]

I usually tip 20% at a restaurant 22% if the service is great. I just wish they would pay a living wage and bake the prices into the menu. There's no need for tipping, it's stupid.

[Inglewood Jack]

Originally Posted by jeffporfirio

This.
I try to stay away from Skip the Dishes. What if the driver thinks my tip is to low? Am I getting 'mystery ingredients' with my food?

this has already happened, see "balls in salsa" thread. the tipping before receiving goods is a terrible system. in the old days of delivery, you handed the driver his extra cash once the food was in your hands, safe, secure and unbesmirched. now with gig economy delivery, you worry about having to pay protection money in advance just to reduce the risk of your meal getting the testicle treatment.

[Charsiu]

Originally Posted by corporatejay

I usually tip 20% at a restaurant 22% if the service is great. I just wish they would pay a living wage and bake the prices into the menu. There's no need for tipping, it's stupid.

Agreed, I would be happy to pay more if it was in support of a livable wage.

[Nyah]

Originally Posted by SportsJunky

We ordered a large pizza from Boston Pizza and it was about $50(!) all in. We ordered nothing but the pizza.

The last time we were going to order from them, we built our order online and for two medium pizzas with delivery, was was going to be ~$70. The prices Boston Pizza charges for their incredibly mediocre food is outrageous. I can't believe that place is still in business.

[Weitz]

Originally Posted by Nyah

The last time we were going to order from them, we built our order online and for two medium pizzas with delivery, was was going to be ~$70. The prices Boston Pizza charges for their incredibly mediocre food is outrageous. I can't believe that place is still in business.

I'll admit I am a sucker for BP's from time to time.

We Ordered on saturday night. Got a medium pizza, pasta entree, and a salad for $28. I picked it up though.

[llwhiteoutll]

Originally Posted by cupofjoe

Maybe it shouldn't, but it annoys me when many of the debit machines only initially give you three shortcut tipping options typically 15% 18% 21% (or some iteration of this) but no 10% option. I know you can manually enter a percent or $ amount but there is almost an implied or presumed amount to tip.

The newest trick I've seen a few times is the tip amounts have been flipped on the screen.

Usually you would see this:
15%
18%
21%

But now it shows up like this:
21%
18%
15%

No other reason for this other than hoping people have become used to hitting the top for 15% and hoping that they don't notice when they hit the higher amount.

Originally Posted by 4X4

What's next? Tipping the car dealership? Revenue Canada? I can't believe a fricken dentist had a tipping option on his machine. I can't decide whether I'd have been too stunned to say anything, or if I'd have blurted out a WTF - EAD.

There is already the option to donate your tax return to help pay down the debt. I assume only morons tick that box.

[Mickey76]

I used to be a fairly generous tipper, but since the $15 dollar minimum wage came in I have scaled way back, 10-15 percent max now, and honestly I can see myself going to 0. The argument always has been “pay a living wage and you wouldn’t have to tip” and I feel we are getting close to that now. The only exception is if I get a lady old enough to be my mother, especially at a cheaper place. (Denny’s or something horrible like that.) I figure she is definitely not there because she wants to be so I’ll often tip 100% or more but otherwise I am getting kind of stingy.

[Fuzz]

The other thing is tipping used to be on the total, not the after tax total. That's how I always did it paying cash, or when you wrote in on the slip. But every machine I have ever used calculates the percentage based on the after tax total. Not a huge deal in Alberta, but elsewhere it can add up quickly.

[Muta]

Tipping is a societal expectation that needs to vanish into thin air, especially since the minimum wage went up. It's so nice traveling to other countries and not having to do that.
Tipping is now becoming something that lots of retailers are doing (or at least giving the option), and it's becoming increasingly weird. Everyone wants a tip nowadays.

[GGG]

The one thing to remember is that restaurants will have a tip out at somewhere between 4-8% of bill total. If you tip zero your server has to pay from their other tips to make up the amount. So I don’t think it’s is reasonable to go to zero in restaurants.

[Mr.Coffee]

I'm willing to bet that >85% of servers, waitresses, bartenders, etc. that receive compensation in the form of tips fail to report true earnings. I bet they all report like 10-20% less than received and pocket the remainder.

Anecdotally, this is what I've heard from anybody that I've ever known that works in that space when it comes up in conversation.

For that reason alone society should migrate to the whole 'bake it into the price and eliminate tipping' thing. These people don't just get the 10-20% tips, they get a (sizeable?) portion of income un-taxed, and I'm doubting the CRA has the resources to audit every Tom, Dick and Harry in the service industry across Canada.

Hey- we raised minimum wages, time to contribute all you make to taxes like the rest of us. It sucks, doesn't it?