Tipping overload?

[mousefan73]

I recently cruised on MSC in Europe It was a breath of fresh air. I didn’t have a drink package but whenever I would order a drink there wasn’t even an extra tip line, the standard 15% was added and that’s it.

Unlike DCL or I feel like they’re begging for additional gratuity. It’s like you feel guilty if you don’t add an extra dollar or two for each drink you buy even though they’re adding 18% on the bill. There was no hustling for exceptional service or passing out tip envelopes because you know everyone gives more besides the standard.

We were saying this was such a breath air it’s almost worth switching cruise lines

 

[tvguy]

i'm guessing one of the biggest issues with steaks concerns the concept of 'rare' b/c when i ask for mine that way i inevitably get a full explanation from the server on what the establishment's definition of 'rare' is and asking me to confirm that is indeed what i want (yes, please just walk the cow past the broiler thank you very much)

I can appreciate their effort to ask to make sure you get exactly what you want. Our local gourmet burger place has right on their menu that all burgers are cooked medium, pink in the center, unless specified. They have signs posted with the same message. And they repeat that with every customer when they take their orders. They want to you to get what you want......although the owner will be glad to tell you the best burgers are cooked medium.
My wife's Aunt was the complete opposite of you. She wanted her steaks well done, and butterflied to make sure they are well done.
Me, I could eat steak every meal and it's a different meal if cooked differently. As long as the meat has been on the grill, and as long as it isn't charcoal, anything in between is fine.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I can appreciate their effort to ask to make sure you get exactly what you want. Our local gourmet burger place has right on their menu that all burgers are cooked medium, pink in the center, unless specified. They have signs posted with the same message. And they repeat that with every customer when they take their orders. They want to you to get what you want......although the owner will be glad to tell you the best burgers are cooked medium.
My wife's Aunt was the complete opposite of you. She wanted her steaks well done, and butterflied to make sure they are well done.
Me, I could eat steak every meal and it's a different meal if cooked differently. As long as the meat has been on the grill, and as long as it isn't charcoal, anything in between is fine.

Wahlburgers is like that and they notify you on the menu although we always ask for ground beef burgers well done for food safety, then again I grew up eating my mom's chocolate chip cookie dough that has raw eggs so I'm a contradiction there lol but a restaurant is much harder to control the elements than someone's home in terms of what touches what, who touches what, etc.

Steak is harder even at steakhouses. My sister-in-law likes medium rare and has a hard time, either it's too rare or too done a lot of the times. Between the two she prefers more rare than too done but different steakhouses has their own way of steak preparedness which can make for a frustrating experience for some.

 

[disneychrista]

There is no way to stop what cheese does on a pizza once it's in the oven or after it comes out. Also almost impossible to cut without dragging cheese onto the non-cheese side.

So what? Unless there is a disclosed allergy, what difference does it make if some of the cheese ends up on the other side? What if the person has someone in their group they just doesn't like cheese? Most people who order half/half pizza's know there is a chance that a stray item will end up on the other side. Heck, I have ordered pizza that had a stray mushroom or olive on it when I had only ordered pepperoni.

 

[ronandannette]

I’ve been thinking about this lately and ran across this thread.

I’ve never understood the bad attitudes towards tipping. 20% for good service at a restaurant is the minimum for me. More if it’s excellent service. I always tip the Uber driver, housekeeping staff, shuttle drivers if they’re handling our bags.

But yes, it’s getting out of hand. A tip option at Subway? Yeah right. Now the local donut shop asks for a tip at checkout. For what? Putting pastries in a box? You’ve gotta be kidding me.

OK - so what makes driving a car inherently more tip-worthy than whatever else someone is doing? It is their job, after all. How do you decide and why does someone who doesn’t decide the same way as you do have a bad attitude?

 

[Moliphino]

OK - so what makes driving a car inherently more tip-worthy than whatever else someone is doing? It is their job, after all. How do you decide and why does someone who doesn’t decide the same way as you do have a bad attitude?

Then there's the ones like at the airport: you're supposed to tip skycaps at the curb or you can walk 100ft further inside to a desk and not need to tip the people there even though they provide the exact same service.

 

[kymom99]

Then there's the ones like at the airport: you're supposed to tip skycaps at the curb or you can walk 100ft further inside to a desk and not need to tip the people there even though they provide the exact same service.

Skycaps typically save you from standing in line

 

[whiteness]

OK - so what makes driving a car inherently more tip-worthy than whatever else someone is doing? It is their job, after all. How do you decide and why does someone who doesn’t decide the same way as you do have a bad attitude?

Exactly. It's really the fault of the employer if people that are doing a particular job aren't getting paid enough for their work. It's certainly not my fault: I didn't hire that person or set their salary so why am I personally responsible for correcting that injustice?

What's really irritating is when restaurants in the parks also compensate their Cast Member/Servers poorly, and expect guests to make up the difference. I'm not expected to tip any of the other wonderful Cast Members that help make my visit magical, and they are all paid a fair wage for their work. There is no justification for Disney (or their in park affiliates) to treat one category of Cast Member any differently than the rest when it comes to compensation.

If Disney wanted to say, tomorrow, that there will be no tipping in the parks, and prices will fully reflect the cost of service, then maybe some people would grumble a bit, but we'd accept it and move on. Universal would probably follow suit and then who knows where it would go from there. Guaranteed Fair pay for all service workers: what a great idea, in my opinion.

 

[whiteness]

Skycaps typically save you from standing in line

So, kind of like paying for Genie+?

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Then there's the ones like at the airport: you're supposed to tip skycaps at the curb or you can walk 100ft further inside to a desk and not need to tip the people there even though they provide the exact same service.

A good idea is to take a peek inside to see if you need to first (I should note on airports where you can see the airline desks easy enough), we've used them from time to time in the past.

As far as providing the exact same service that may have been true in the past but no longer. SWA for example have a plethora of do it yourself kiosks primarily the way you're going to be checking bags. Digital self-tagging kiosks are utilized by airlines a heck of a lot more than in the past. And it's not really a service an airline desk employee is providing because it's a necessity. You have to have your bags checked in if you're doing that and weighed.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

So, kind of like paying for Genie+?

No because while it is expected to tip it's not mandatory. Skycaps don't charge a fee to use their service.

 

[dez1978]

I work in the pharmaceutical industry. My coworkers and I passionately debate what actions we can take that will result in safer, more effective products. We don't get paid a bonus for caring. We don't have any tip jars that patients can put money in. We do it because it's the right thing and we honestly care.

Sometimes, we have to argue with management if we see something that's not right. We often make more work for ourselves because we want to make sure we get the right answers, no matter how long it takes. Again, there's no tip jars, and we don't paid extra for extra effort. If we work longer hours, so be it.

I'm not saying my job or profession is necessarily special or unique. It happens to be my profession, so I can speak from personal experience. And I know for a fact that there's a lot of "unsung heroes" out there that care passionately about their jobs, stick their necks out and work harder and longer than they strictly have to because they care about doing the right thing and helping people. I'm sure the people reading this can come up with so many examples.

And none of them expect or receive any tips for what they do. For doing their job or even for doing "more than" their job.

Again, let me be 100% clear: I get a fair salary and good benefits for doing my job. Everybody deserves that. Everybody. But it's my employer's responsibility to make sure that I get compensated fairly. Not the patients that take the drugs we work on, or the doctors that prescribe them, or FDA or any other third party that might benefit from or rely on the work we do. My employer pays me a fair wage. And that's how it should be for everybody.

This is a very unfair position to put waiters in. They are required to be at their place of employment for a portion of their lives, and devote that time to working in service of their employer. No table service restaurant can exist without them. They are essential workers. So, they deserve to receive a fair wage and benefits for their service from their employer, just I do, and everyone else I work with does. It is frankly shameful that the industry doesn't do that, and instead externalizes those costs to their customers.

Rather than debating how much to tip people for doing their job well, which I'm sure most of them aspire to do, we should be demanding their their employers start paying them properly for their work. Just like everybody else should be paid properly for their work, too.

Exactly. It's really the fault of the employer if people that are doing a particular job aren't getting paid enough for their work. It's certainly not my fault: I didn't hire that person or set their salary so why am I personally responsible for correcting that injustice?

What's really irritating is when restaurants in the parks also compensate their Cast Member/Servers poorly, and expect guests to make up the difference. I'm not expected to tip any of the other wonderful Cast Members that help make my visit magical, and they are all paid a fair wage for their work. There is no justification for Disney (or their in park affiliates) to treat one category of Cast Member any differently than the rest when it comes to compensation.

If Disney wanted to say, tomorrow, that there will be no tipping in the parks, and prices will fully reflect the cost of service, then maybe some people would grumble a bit, but we'd accept it and move on. Universal would probably follow suit and then who knows where it would go from there. Guaranteed Fair pay for all service workers: what a great idea, in my opinion.

But again, I think if you asked most servers (at least all the ones I know) they would prefer to remain a tipped employee vs a flat wage. I can't think of a single restaraunt that can pay all of their servers enough to equal what they make in tips. Would you rather make a flat $20/hr and no tips or make 25+/hr including tips? I very rarely ever see a comment from someone who actually is a server say they want a flat wage vs tips. It's always the customers complaining about it and acting like they are doing something helpful for the servers by trying to replace their tips with a flat wage. And lets not forget taxes. If a server gets paid a flat wage, they will pay taxes on every dime of that wage. But tips, while I know legally servers are supposed to claim all of their tips, very few actually do that.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

But again, I think if you asked most servers (at least all the ones I know) they would prefer to remain a tipped employee vs a flat wage. I can't think of a single restaraunt that can pay all of their servers enough to equal what they make in tips. Would you rather make a flat $20/hr and no tips or make 25+/hr including tips? I very rarely ever see a comment from someone who actually is a server say they want a flat wage vs tips. It's always the customers complaining about it and acting like they are doing something helpful for the servers by trying to replace their tips with a flat wage. And lets not forget taxes. If a server gets paid a flat wage, they will pay taxes on every dime of that wage. But tips, while I know legally servers are supposed to claim all of their tips, very few actually do that.

Yeah I agree with you. I think what people really mean is they want workers to make more money than they do but misalign that with a convenience on the customer's behalf of not wanting to worry about additional charges with tipping.

 

[HashberryOTG]

I'm not expected to tip any of the other wonderful Cast Members that help make my visit magical, and they are all paid a fair wage for their work.

Many of them are not allowed to accept tips. I suspect housekeeping is part of this (technically)? But it's much more subtle to have them pick up cash off a desk than it is to hand off cash to a cast member in a park.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Many of them are not allowed to accept tips. I suspect housekeeping is part of this (technically)? But it's much more subtle to have them pick up cash off a desk than it is to hand off cash to a cast member in a park.

Housekeeeping is allowed to accept tips. CMs cannot with exception to VIP tours.

 

[mjkacmom]

Exactly. It's really the fault of the employer if people that are doing a particular job aren't getting paid enough for their work. It's certainly not my fault: I didn't hire that person or set their salary so why am I personally responsible for correcting that injustice?

What's really irritating is when restaurants in the parks also compensate their Cast Member/Servers poorly, and expect guests to make up the difference. I'm not expected to tip any of the other wonderful Cast Members that help make my visit magical, and they are all paid a fair wage for their work. There is no justification for Disney (or their in park affiliates) to treat one category of Cast Member any differently than the rest when it comes to compensation.

If Disney wanted to say, tomorrow, that there will be no tipping in the parks, and prices will fully reflect the cost of service, then maybe some people would grumble a bit, but we'd accept it and move on. Universal would probably follow suit and then who knows where it would go from there. Guaranteed Fair pay for all service workers: what a great idea, in my opinion.

Restaurants have tried this model in the US, it didn’t work so they went back to the old tip system.

 

[mrodgers]

Not really true - McDs is hiring people at $17 or $18 where I live and burgers aren't $20.

Over the last year, a Baconator medium meal at Wendy's has gone from $9 to $13. That's a 44% increase in a year.


I caught an interesting video on Youtube the other day. It was "going to McDonald's" in 1989. The guy carrying a camcorder camera around back then like the kids do these days with their phones and vlogging. He ordered a quarter pounder with cheese, Big Mac, 2 fries, 2 drinks, 2 coffee, and a milkshake. It was $7.88. I looked it up online as if I was putting an order in and it that would be over $25 today.

 

[mjkacmom]

I work in the pharmaceutical industry. My coworkers and I passionately debate what actions we can take that will result in safer, more effective products. We don't get paid a bonus for caring. We don't have any tip jars that patients can put money in. We do it because it's the right thing and we honestly care.

Sometimes, we have to argue with management if we see something that's not right. We often make more work for ourselves because we want to make sure we get the right answers, no matter how long it takes. Again, there's no tip jars, and we don't paid extra for extra effort. If we work longer hours, so be it.

I'm not saying my job or profession is necessarily special or unique. It happens to be my profession, so I can speak from personal experience. And I know for a fact that there's a lot of "unsung heroes" out there that care passionately about their jobs, stick their necks out and work harder and longer than they strictly have to because they care about doing the right thing and helping people. I'm sure the people reading this can come up with so many examples.

And none of them expect or receive any tips for what they do. For doing their job or even for doing "more than" their job.

Again, let me be 100% clear: I get a fair salary and good benefits for doing my job. Everybody deserves that. Everybody. But it's my employer's responsibility to make sure that I get compensated fairly. Not the patients that take the drugs we work on, or the doctors that prescribe them, or FDA or any other third party that might benefit from or rely on the work we do. My employer pays me a fair wage. And that's how it should be for everybody.

This is a very unfair position to put waiters in. They are required to be at their place of employment for a portion of their lives, and devote that time to working in service of their employer. No table service restaurant can exist without them. They are essential workers. So, they deserve to receive a fair wage and benefits for their service from their employer, just I do, and everyone else I work with does. It is frankly shameful that the industry doesn't do that, and instead externalizes those costs to their customers.

Rather than debating how much to tip people for doing their job well, which I'm sure most of them aspire to do, we should be demanding their their employers start paying them properly for their work. Just like everybody else should be paid properly for their work, too.

I don’t know any servers who would rather be paid a fair wage, most prefer to bust their butts for big tips. Servers also prefer to work very busy shifts for this reason. My daughter tolerates bartending until 3 am on a Thursday night over Sunday lunch service, even though she’s a full time grad student and it’s exhausting. There is no way she’d do it for $20 an hour with no tips.

 

[HashberryOTG]

Housekeeeping is allowed to accept tips. CMs cannot with exception to VIP tours.

I knew someone would know for sure!

 

[wvjules]

No because while it is expected to tip it's not mandatory. Skycaps don't charge a fee to use their service.

I pay $3 per bag to use the curbside Skycap for AA at DCA. Must be regional.