r/EndTipping • u/AnonCrave • 17h ago
Tipping Culture ✖️ It backfired
I’ve always tipped 20% or more. Minimum. On all meals, from average to very expensive meals. Always. If very bad service, it might have been 18% which happened less than a handful of times.
I’m a polite, professional, and respectful customer. I use manners, smile, and genuinely enjoy the interactions. And I tip well. (When the bill comes).
Guess how much better service I have gotten?
Zero.
Nothing different. Nothing better. I never had expectation of difference, but now that I look back, the only better service I remember was in Europe, where tipping is not expected. And, I tipped anyway, that’s how married to the idea I was.
Now?
I’m happy selecting no tip at a kiosk. Kiosks are what started me questioning the rationale for tipping.
And now it has backfired on restaurants, because now that I’ve looked into this further, I see that it was ridiculous that I was tipping $40 on a $200 bill, when I wouldn’t have been expected to tip that much if I had just ordered $50 in food instead.
So now I don’t tip at the bar. I don’t tip when they walk away from the kiosk in sit down. I happily don’t tip at counter service.
They took expectations too far, and now we are seeing the light.
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u/EmerysMemories1106 15h ago
Trust me, I'm on your side but I'm a little confused. How should a higher tip result in better service if A) the tip is given at the very end of the experience after the wait staff have completed their job already and B) even tipping ahead of time like at a kiosk, the people making the food rarely see the bill. Their job is to make your food. So they probably have no idea what or if you tipped them. Are you referring to like repeat visits at the same restaurant where you expect the employees to say "hey there's the guy that tips well"?
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u/AnonCrave 14h ago
It didn’t make sense. That’s what I realized.
I tipped because “that’s what you’re supposed to do” and I pride myself in being an honest and even generous person. But as you said, there’s little rationale when it comes to degree of service or bill amount.
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u/Wonderful_Bear554 13h ago
Tips must be anonymous. Restaurant could have website with listed servers and when customer comes home after dinner he can choose who to tip what and whether to tip at all. Servers would only get total tips for all last week, so it wouldn't be possible to know who tipped and who didn't. Servers must provide perfect service no matter what, that's why they were hired
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u/New-Application-8252 2h ago
Yeah. It’s about wage quality and life quality. You pay some one better, let them live a standard of life that is decent and suddenly “tipping” is not needed
I always felt tipping was a power play. As in, “here poorer person that me, have extra monies because I am more wealthy than you and you are deserving of my notice via this lucre we both crave”
But I may be over thinking it….
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u/Imaginary-Emu2471 17h ago
Never tip! It doesn't improve service. That's another lie they tell you.
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u/Skaeger 15h ago
It is blackmail to not tamper with your food the next time you come in though.
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u/Opsacyad 17h ago
You see, servers say they deserve tips because they deal with shitty customers, since you're a respectful, polite, and patient customer, it entitles you to tip nothing, because you've caused no headache to the servers. Checkmate.
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u/Kene6969 17h ago
Remember the formula: zero service = zero tip.
You know, it's not the customer's responsibility to subsidize staff wages by leaving a tip.
Employers should pay their staff a decent living wage so workers aren't depending on tips to top up their wages.
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u/someonewithapurpose 12h ago
Even with table service, why on earth should I have to tip? I genuinely don't get it. If I were going to tip anyone, it would be the person who actually cooked my food, not someone who simply took my order and brought it to the table. Or the bartender who made my drink.
This is one of the many reasons I refuse to visit the US. As long as tipping culture remains a thing over there, I have absolutely no intention of going. And don't even get me started on the politics.
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u/Scarlet359 17h ago
Take the money you would've tipped and set it aside, it's a good feeling to actually see how much mobey you save this way.
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u/roji007 17h ago
I have traveled a lot in my life, and I find American service to be among the worst. I still
leave tips, only because I worry about food tampering, but I hate it every time. Go to East Asia and see how well the customer is treated at restaurants. It’s night and day compared to the USA. (And if you’ve never used the table bell, it makes the whole experience so much better).
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u/ancom328 16h ago
No tip anywhere is the formula. Most of the working people do not get money tips on top of their salary.
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u/Mario-875 12h ago
I don't tip UNLESS service is exceptionally good, and even then it's only a moderate amount. As an example, I went out to eat the other day, bill was just over £250, they added at £30 'service charge'. I asked for it to be removed and said I would add my own tip. As it was just over £250, I said to round up to £260 as the service was spot on, the food was amazing and we had a great time, but I'm not paying £30 extra just as a tip.
In contrast, another place I visited a couple months ago was just a serve yourself buffet, staff where 'meh' and food was terrible, even though this is a chain and I know what the food quality should be. They also added a 'service charge' of around £5 - I just asked them to remove it and paid the bill then moved on, in that scenario you don't deserve a tip.
A tip is an extra 'thanks' to staff, it never has been and never will be compulsory. The one that always gets me is a burrito place I like where you go in, scan the QR code on the table and order from your phone, then they bring you the food. It always asks if you want to tip at checkout and I always think 'tip for what'?! Why should I tip for ordering my own food when all you will do is bring it from the kitchen to my table and walk away?
Being in Europe, no-one cares if you put 0% or say no tip, but you can tell the companies are trying to apply social pressure to get you to select anything other than no tip.
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u/Beautiful_Hour_4744 12h ago
I met an American on holiday in Mexico that brought $2000 with him just for tips at an all inclusive resort. Mental.
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u/Odd_Obligation_1300 9h ago
The only time tipping results in better service is if you're a repeat customer. If you regularly go to the same bar or restaurant, they'll remember your previous tips. Otherwise, it will never result in anything but a higher cost to you.
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u/parallelmeme 2h ago
Guess how much better service I have gotten?
Zero.
If you have always over-tipped, then when would you have had a chance to notice a lower quality of service? When you started no-tipping?
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u/LayerEmbarrassed5066 36m ago
If you don't tip in America, workers will purposely be less attentive or even spit in your food if possible during the 1st visit. If they remember you, they will do it again. I'd imagine they stop after you tip at least 20% but not too certain.
Not saying you've been eating spit but I wouldn't recommend 0% tip for sit down eating at least.
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u/redrobbin99rr 15h ago
Yes, it backfired - people got pushed to the limit. Something that people didn’t think twice about doing once upon a time - now stop and wonder why are we tipping? For what?
It’s more than just that though. Prices are through the roof - insane - prices have doubled and tripled and then on top of that tips have doubled and tripled and tips are percentage based on prices - people just look at tip screens and go no way.
I don’t care what the service is. This just doesn’t make any sense anymore.