I Couldn't Believe My Ears!

[wtccheermom]

I despise the tipping practices in the United States. It boggles my mind that not only does your government allow businesses to pay employees far less than minimum wage, they seem to encourage it, AND make presumptions on tax payable based on sales, rather than how much somebody actually received in gratuities! Unfreakinreal. Somehow, in Canada, we manage to pay our waitstaff minimum wage (at least in every restaurant, in 3 different provinces, that I have worked in) and our restaurant prices are not much different than yours.

However, when in Rome, I do as the Romans. We just eat very few table service meals at WDW because, frankly, it bothers me to have to tip $15-$20 for our meals. We do it, but I don't like it, so as a result we only eat 1-2 TS meals. Have never booked a character meal or buffet because they are not worth the money (and the corresponding inflated tip) for my family. We suck up the cost for 'ohanas because at least there we are being served our meal, and we enjoy the entertainment.

Well many of us Americans prefer not to have the Federal government control our every move. It works here and it has for years. I am all for tipping the 18% and usually the waiter (especially in WDW) makes more from tips then they would if they were getting paid and hourly minimum wage at least I did when I worked in a restaurant. I guess if things were so peachy in Canad then there would be far less Canadians visiting AMerica to receive adequate and timely health care.

 

[PrincessMentality]

Really? I thought the whole point of this thread was the amount of the tip. Silly me.

The thread was about auto gratuity on parties of 6 or more. Not the amount of tip the OP should or should not be leaving. Easy mistake to make. You're excused.

 

[Bunnyfeather]

The thread was about auto gratuity on parties of 6 or more. Not the amount of tip the OP should or should not be leaving. Easy mistake to make. You're excused.

Well, but as soon as the OP said she would split the tables to save money by not having to tip 18%, it sort of begged the question of how much money she was going to save since she was willing to go through an inconvenience for that amount. If she was going to tip 15% instead of 18%, that's a very small sum. If she is planning to tip 10%, that's a little more. I think it makes sense to wonder how much money she was saving with this adjustment. It is entirely relevant to the thread, and generally people who are private about financial matters and don't want to be asked questions about financial matters don't start threads about financial matters since financial questions are almost certain to follow.

 

[pixiefairy]

We fall into the automatic gratuity area with our family of 7, so I understand where you are coming from. But I understand the flip side as well...that servers can get stiffed on big parties being cheap. We always tip well during meals out, and especially well for outstanding service. We even tell the manager how great he/she was, in hopes that maybe that helps get them better pay (hey...one can dream, right?).

We usually have wonderful service at the World...we have encountered truly bad all around service (as in, not just the waitress, but the hostesses, bartender, etc) at Coral Reef. We were so disgruntled, I emailed the manager, but we didn't do anything about it at that time. I honestly don't think that anyone would have told us that we could adjust our tip. Strangely enough, a friend dined there as well on a different trip and had a small party, and had the "suggested tips" area pointed out to her by their server. Beyond rude.

I know most of the servers bust their rears for little pay, and it takes some special ones to do that with a smile and a hope that their hard work will not go unnoticed.

 

[daisyyy]

I will say that each person needs to decide what percentage they are going to tip. Noone is going to change the miond of others whether it be in the give more or give less spectrum. I have already said I tip between 18 and 20%, but I did not say that is what everyone should do.

I just wanted to point out to those of you thinking it is unfair for Disney to charge a tip for those not eating. Think of it this way, those not eating are spending $0 even a 25% tip of $0 is $0. You are not paying for those not eating, but it may cause you to receive the auto tip status. Lucky you. Just remember, you can ask to have that auto tip adjusted, if you find there is a problem with your service.

I know.. when we went last year... and again on our next trip, one of the people in our party is under 3... so, we (in the eyes of Disney) have a party of 6.... even though the little guy didn't eat, and so therefore took up a space at the table, and put us in the auto gratuity status. At first I thought the same thing, why are they counting him, but after thinking about it, it makes sense. We took up the "space " of what could have been 2 different parties, so our wait staff might of had a certain amount of tables or a section assigned to them that day. If we came in with a large party, they are going to spend more time with us, and have less tables in thier shift. I guess let me put it this way.. If I were a waitress, I would rather have 30parties of 2 people rather than 10 parties of 6.... I would speculate that the smaller parties would turn their tables around quicker, and therefore allow me to make more tips. I just think the larger parties are more work, and take up more space and time. I don't know if I am making my point.. but I hope so.. In the end, I agree that the 18% that was automatically figured out for us (no math) was very fair. We even left extra and plan on it this next trip as well. We never felt the service was compromised. On the otherhand.... I do have a pet peeve about the gratuity they charge at the pepper market in CSR. I don't think that is fair... but that's another thread.

 

[es45]

I just learned some new American English! (though I had to Google to find out what it meant). Does anybody know why you call it bussing?

The verb comes from the noun busboy: the young boy who would assist the waiter by clearing the dishes from the table using a cart called a bus.

 

[lacrosse_lady72]

My biggest pet peeve about tipping threads is when people from other countries come in here just bash our traditions and nothing else.

I don't go into forums based in your country and bash your customary practices.

 

[FayeW]

Well many of us Americans prefer not to have the Federal government control our every move. It works here and it has for years. I am all for tipping the 18% and usually the waiter (especially in WDW) makes more from tips then they would if they were getting paid and hourly minimum wage at least I did when I worked in a restaurant. I guess if things were so peachy in Canad then there would be far less Canadians visiting AMerica to receive adequate and timely health care.

HA HA! You're funny!

By allowing the restaurants to pay their employees less than minimum wage, and expecting taxes to be paid on some anticipated income rather than actual income, your government has forced and encouraged a climate where the patron is expected to pay a certain percentage in gratuity to offset the low wages! Letting employers pay less while expecting patrons to pay more to offset the difference sounds like they are controlling how you spend your after tax dollars!

And what exactly has health care got to do with tipping?

 

[diberry]

The verb comes from the noun busboy: the young boy who would assist the waiter by clearing the dishes from the table using a cart called a bus.

Thank you es45. I'm very interested in languages so I 'm always intrigued when I come across something like this.

 

[wtccheermom]

HA HA! You're funny!

By allowing the restaurants to pay their employees less than minimum wage, and expecting taxes to be paid on some anticipated income rather than actual income, your government has forced and encouraged a climate where the patron is expected to pay a certain percentage in gratuity to offset the low wages! Letting employers pay less while expecting patrons to pay more to offset the difference sounds like they are controlling how you spend your after tax dollars!

And what exactly has health care got to do with tipping?

Nothing just trying to show the socialist ideas that you and your country have by allowing the government to have control over EVERYTHING and well that it is not always as great as some would lead you to believe. I will gladly pay an 18% - 20% tip when dinning out then to have more than half my income taxed by my government.

 

[FayeW]

My biggest pet peeve about tipping threads is when people from other countries come in here just bash our traditions and nothing else.

I don't go into forums based in your country and bash your customary practices.

But you could if you wanted to...we've got a Canadian and UK sub-boards on the DIS. Feel free to pop in whenever you like.

My post was in response to the poster who said something about there being such a low profit margin in restaurants as it is that to pay your waitstaff a living wage would mean prices would jump to make up the difference. I believe her example was a $28 meal increasing to $35. I was just pointing out that our restaurant prices are very similar to yours, yet our hourly wages for servers is much higher, so it certainly can be done.

Personally, I think there is a segment of society that enjoys the idea that their lowly server has to rely on their largesse for their basic financial needs. Keeping the hourly wage low and puts the onus on the more affluent citizens to basically pay the servers' wages.

It's funny how the Canadian tax system is deemed by some to be "socialist" because they think that using my tax dollars to pay for someone else's social benefits is seen as "taking from the rich to give to the poor" and "income distribution"...but isn't that exactly what your current tipping system does? The server makes less than me so I will give him a bigger tip to make up for it?

 

[dizneechic]

I will gladly pay an 18% - 20% tip when dinning out then to have more than half my income taxed by my government.

Sadly with ObamaCare and the way the govt is overspending this looks like the direction were going.

Back to the regularly scheduled discussion...

 

[maxiesmom]

The thread was about auto gratuity on parties of 6 or more. Not the amount of tip the OP should or should not be leaving. Easy mistake to make. You're excused.

Once the OP posted that she changed her ADRs around to get out of paying the 18% standard tip, how much she thinks is a fair tip does come in to play. No one needs you to excuse them for a mistake that was not made.

If someone doesn't want to discuss what they think is a fair amount to tip, they shouldn't start a post that is all about tipping, or how they plan on cutting down on the amount they have to tip.

 

[fey_spirit]

I regularly tip 15 - 20% (That is the norm in this area.)
Usually it's the 20, unless our server was just really lackluster and then it's 15... I only go below that if they really go above and beyond to ruin my day.

All of that said - I don't really like the tipping system (I play along as well as I do because I recognize that this is what I agree to when I step through the doors of an eating establishment where tipping is expected. I want to eat there, so I shut up and pay.)

Again, all of that said...
I think part of the reason the system is the way it is does in fact fall on the server... is servers refused to play this game and refused to work without minimum wage - then the system would be discarded. But servers don't want to change the system (according to my friends who are servers) because they make way more money with the current system then they would making a fair hourly wage.

Given that I can see an argument being made that punishing the server by withholding tip is in fact punishing the "guilty" party...

So, put all that together and what it means is that I agree that if you want to stop this bad enough to "punish" someone for the system, do so by withholding your patronage (that way neither of the guilty parties are getting your money), but the server is hardly a victim of the system.

Yep, and if you don't like it you should punish the restaurant by withholding your patronage. Don't punish the waitstaff by withholding the tip while lining the pockets of the restaurant owners you say are doing the wrong thing.

 

[lacrosse_lady72]

But you could if you wanted to...we've got a Canadian and UK sub-boards on the DIS. Feel free to pop in whenever you like.

But the thing is... I wouldn't as I think it's pretty rude to do so.

 

[FayeW]

Nothing just trying to show the socialist ideas that you and your country have by allowing the government to have control over EVERYTHING and well that it is not always as great as some would lead you to believe. I will gladly pay an 18% - 20% tip when dinning out then to have more than half my income taxed by my government.

So would I! Good thing we don't pay anywhere near that kind of taxes!

BTW...how are you making out south of the border with that recession of yours? We've come out of ours pretty well...might have something to do with all those pesky "government controls" of ours...you know, the ones that don't allow us to borrow more than 95% on our homes, or go bankrupt because of medical expenses.

 

[MastaMind]

Sadly with ObamaCare and the way the govt is overspending this looks like the direction were going.

Back to the regularly scheduled discussion...

If I could give you a high five via the internet, I would. Oh, and don't forget the student loan "reform" that was attached to the ObamaCare bill.


I tip 20%+ for the great service we almost always get at WDW.

 

[blu3d3vil]

So would I! Good thing we don't pay anywhere near that kind of taxes!

BTW...how are you making out south of the border with that recession of yours? We've come out of ours pretty well...might have something to do with all those pesky "government controls" of ours...you know, the ones that don't allow us to borrow more than 95% on our homes, or go bankrupt because of medical expenses.

There are many good rebuttals to this snarky statement but I don't want to get this thread locked, it's too interesting.

 

[chuckml]

There are many good rebuttals to this snarky statement but I don't want to get this thread locked, it's too interesting.

As a University of Maryland alum, it's really rare that I agree with a Duke fan, but I'm with you on this one.

 

[FayeW]

There are many good rebuttals to this snarky statement but I don't want to get this thread locked, it's too interesting.

Yes, well, I was merely responding to a poster who was very rude to me, and brought health care and socialism to a thread about tipping!