3 ms·
Seattle recently passed $15 minimum wage and now a lot of restaurants are charging a "service fee" and putting up signs that discourage you from tipping. A much
by LordHumungous 10y ago
Seattle recently passed $15 minimum wage and now a lot of restaurants are charging a "service fee" and putting up signs that discourage you from tipping. A much better system imo.
- nommm-nommm 10y agoWashington State specifically doesn't allow tipped employees to be paid a lower hourly wage!
- toomanybeersies 10y agoWhat's the point of a service fee on top of the cost of your meal though? Why not incorporate it into your meal, since it's non-optional. I noticed they did this in Singapore. You'd be charged a service fee on top of your bill, I can't remember if they popped tax on top of that too. If it's non-optional, it should be included in the cost.
- ddeck 10y ago>What's the point of a service fee on top of the cost of your meal though? For the same reason airlines don't include mandatory charges in their fares - humans are not particularly good at rational pricing evaluation. It's known as partition pricing and generally results in higher revenues - from "The Effects on Perceived Restaurant Expensiveness of Tipping and Its Alternatives": [1] "Furthermore, participants ordered more expensive meals when automatic gratuities were added to the bill than when the costs of service were built into menu prices" [1] http://scholarship.sha.cornell.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1162&context=chrpubs http://scholarship.sha.cornell.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?artic... See also: http://www.msi.org/reports/divide-and-prosper-effects-of-partitioned-prices-on-consumers-price-recall/ http://www.msi.org/reports/divide-and-prosper-effects-of-par...
- LordHumungous 10y agoBecause if you raise menu prices by 20% customers will balk. Maybe eventually when people are used to the new system that will happen.