In another thread someone mentioned how bad the service is in Dutch restaurants (which, being Dutch, I agree with). In the Netherlands tipping is not required b

In another thread someone mentioned how bad the service is in Dutch restaurants (which, being Dutch, I agree with). In the Netherlands tipping is not required but it's not uncommon to tip for good service. Yet the service is bad. So I don't believe tipping is such a good incentive. Unless perhaps you pay the waiters the absolute bare minimum and they basically need the tips to survive. It also doesn't really explain the fact that tipping in the US is basically mandatory, regardless of good service. If it's basically mandatory, where's the incentive to offer good service?