5 ms·

I hate tipping culture. When I was young and a waitress in college, I noticed horrible racism from waiters who treated minorities badly due to tipping stereoty

by MollyR 9y ago

I hate tipping culture. When I was young and a waitress in college, I noticed horrible racism from waiters who treated minorities badly due to tipping stereotypes. Please just get rid of it for living wages.

ex3ndr 9y ago
Have you been in countries without tipping culture? Almost all of them have much worse service quality.
- autarch 9y ago
  I've been to four places without tipping in restaurants, Italy, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Japan. I would say all of them had better service than here in the US. In particular, the East Asian countries I visited all have _excellent_ service without tips. I suspect quality of service has a lot more to do with cultural factors unrelated to tipping.
  - Para2016 9y ago
    Italy? I don't believe your experience was universal.
    - thecompilr 9y ago
      I experienced nothing but exceptional service in Italy.
      - toyg 9y ago
        As an Italian, I'm happy that at least somebody did get great service :) To be fair, it really varies so much between regions and even towns. Restaurants are usually ok, but regular shops in big cities... eh.
        autarch 9y ago
        I was just referring to my restaurant experiences, which ranged from fine to excellent.
- kakaorka 9y ago
  I disagree. Tipping in the UK for example is not as popular as in the US, and the service quality for me was better in the UK.
  - Para2016 9y ago
    I've had reverse experience. Service was better in US than UK.
    - umanwizard 9y ago
      Better in what way?
      - Para2016 9y ago
        The servers returned more often in the US than in UK to just check on the table, they returned to get drink orders more often. They brought the check more quickly in the US when we were ready to leave. As someone who has waited tables as a kid, I know why they did all those things in the US more often. People often tip more on alcohol and you can also get your table turned over more quickly during your shift. In the UK there's no incentive to get more alcohol to tables nor to turn over the table. Now, I'm not going to explain myself or reply any further, as I'm getting DV.
- alistairSH 9y ago
  This has not been my experience. I’ve found service in Western Europe at least as good as the US.
- fiblye 9y ago
  American restaurant service is by no means good, despite waiters/waitresses supposedly being motivated by tips. It's expected that people are paying the tip regardless, so there really isn't any motivating factor anymore. America has the problem where calling a waiter over is rude, so you have to wait for them to come over to your area. I can't count the number of times I've been waiting 15-20 minutes just to start my order, and this is often in restaurants that are fully staffed and barely busy. I don't encounter this elsewhere.
- mikeash 9y ago
  I lived in France for years, have visited China maybe ten times for several weeks each, and traveled around other European countries. None of these places has a tipping culture for restaurants, and all of them have excellent service despite that.
- Fede_V 9y ago
  I lived in France for a year before moving to the US. Even though French waiters are notorious for having terrible service, I always received excellent service by being very polite to the waiters. The idea that you are entitled to excellent service because you are paying is pernicious. If you want excellent service, treat people excellently.
  - PostOnce 9y ago
    Excellent service should be the default, and you only lose it by being an asshole; in other words, I'm not paying for the privilege of having to work extra hard just to get decent service. Literally the only thing you are paying for is service (the services of cooking and waiting on you), otherwise you'd be eating at home.
    - m_t 9y ago
      > I'm not paying for the privilege of having to work extra hard If being polite to people is working extra hard, that might be the cause of the bad service you receive.
- astura 9y ago
  This is entirely false. I've even lived abroad in a non-tipping culture and never had bad service in any non-tipping country. Even if it were true cultural expectations would be the major deciding factor of how employees act.
- glibgil 9y ago
  I don't remember any time that I've had bad service anywhere in the world. I'm sure I have, but I don't collect that memory and press 'save'. People who have strong opinions on service are too uptight
- kolp 9y ago
  Of the countries in which I've lived, 2 stand out as regards tipping culture, Spain and France. Spain has a tipping culuture and the service is mediocre; service is sometimes chaotic (eg food arrives before drinks) and slow, eg asking for bill, paying bill, getting the change takes a long time. France has a no-tip culture; service is correct, friendly and efficient, despite the stereotype of Parisian serving staff. My theory is that quality of service isn't related to the tip, but is related to the cultural acceptability of shit service.
- manicdee 9y ago
  I live in Australia where tipping is either frowned upon or reserved for exemplary service. Perhaps your idea of “good service” is coloured by your own culture. For example in the USA it is rude to summon a waiter while everywhere else it is rude for the waiter to intrude. There are also different signals such as ROTW putting cutlery together to signify “I am finished” and crossed to signify “still eating”, or whether to place your napkin yourself or have the waiter help you. Then there are different habits such as paying staff a proper wage and not relying on a hangover from slavery to support waitstaff.
  - chrismcb 9y ago
    You are the second comment that claims it is due in America to soon a waiter... As an American that is complete news to me, and I would think many other Americans would be shocked to discover it is rude. How else are you supposed to get something?
- King-Aaron 9y ago
  Here in Australia, I find the service is generally quite good, and staff are paid fairly adequately.
oceanghost 9y ago
Everybody knows, African Americans tip the worst, Native Americans tip the best-- and tips are based on cup size. The world is not fair.
tzs 9y ago
There have been quite a few articles on this. http://www.ebony.com/news-views/are-black-people-really-bad-tippers-981 http://www.ebony.com/news-views/are-black-people-really-bad-... http://freakonomics.com/2008/03/20/the-racial-tipping-point/ http://freakonomics.com/2008/03/20/the-racial-tipping-point/ https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1329241 https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=132924... http://scholarship.sha.cornell.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1043&context=articles http://scholarship.sha.cornell.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?artic... (This one is a survey of the research literature on this) Summary: there are racial differences in tipping in the US. They persist even after controlling for socioeconomic status. Servers (both white and black) treat expected poor tippers worse than expected good tippers. No one is sure why there is this difference.

by MollyR 9y ago

ex3ndr 9y ago

Have you been in countries without tipping culture? Almost all of them have much worse service quality.

autarch 9y ago
I've been to four places without tipping in restaurants, Italy, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Japan. I would say all of them had better service than here in the US. In particular, the East Asian countries I visited all have _excellent_ service without tips. I suspect quality of service has a lot more to do with cultural factors unrelated to tipping.
- Para2016 9y ago
  Italy? I don't believe your experience was universal.
  - thecompilr 9y ago
    I experienced nothing but exceptional service in Italy.
    - toyg 9y ago
      As an Italian, I'm happy that at least somebody did get great service :) To be fair, it really varies so much between regions and even towns. Restaurants are usually ok, but regular shops in big cities... eh.
      - autarch 9y ago
        I was just referring to my restaurant experiences, which ranged from fine to excellent.
kakaorka 9y ago
I disagree. Tipping in the UK for example is not as popular as in the US, and the service quality for me was better in the UK.
- Para2016 9y ago
  I've had reverse experience. Service was better in US than UK.
  - umanwizard 9y ago
    Better in what way?
    - Para2016 9y ago
      The servers returned more often in the US than in UK to just check on the table, they returned to get drink orders more often. They brought the check more quickly in the US when we were ready to leave. As someone who has waited tables as a kid, I know why they did all those things in the US more often. People often tip more on alcohol and you can also get your table turned over more quickly during your shift. In the UK there's no incentive to get more alcohol to tables nor to turn over the table. Now, I'm not going to explain myself or reply any further, as I'm getting DV.
alistairSH 9y ago
This has not been my experience. I’ve found service in Western Europe at least as good as the US.
fiblye 9y ago
American restaurant service is by no means good, despite waiters/waitresses supposedly being motivated by tips. It's expected that people are paying the tip regardless, so there really isn't any motivating factor anymore. America has the problem where calling a waiter over is rude, so you have to wait for them to come over to your area. I can't count the number of times I've been waiting 15-20 minutes just to start my order, and this is often in restaurants that are fully staffed and barely busy. I don't encounter this elsewhere.
mikeash 9y ago
I lived in France for years, have visited China maybe ten times for several weeks each, and traveled around other European countries. None of these places has a tipping culture for restaurants, and all of them have excellent service despite that.
Fede_V 9y ago
I lived in France for a year before moving to the US. Even though French waiters are notorious for having terrible service, I always received excellent service by being very polite to the waiters. The idea that you are entitled to excellent service because you are paying is pernicious. If you want excellent service, treat people excellently.
- PostOnce 9y ago
  Excellent service should be the default, and you only lose it by being an asshole; in other words, I'm not paying for the privilege of having to work extra hard just to get decent service. Literally the only thing you are paying for is service (the services of cooking and waiting on you), otherwise you'd be eating at home.
  - m_t 9y ago
    > I'm not paying for the privilege of having to work extra hard If being polite to people is working extra hard, that might be the cause of the bad service you receive.
astura 9y ago
This is entirely false. I've even lived abroad in a non-tipping culture and never had bad service in any non-tipping country. Even if it were true cultural expectations would be the major deciding factor of how employees act.
glibgil 9y ago
I don't remember any time that I've had bad service anywhere in the world. I'm sure I have, but I don't collect that memory and press 'save'. People who have strong opinions on service are too uptight
kolp 9y ago
Of the countries in which I've lived, 2 stand out as regards tipping culture, Spain and France. Spain has a tipping culuture and the service is mediocre; service is sometimes chaotic (eg food arrives before drinks) and slow, eg asking for bill, paying bill, getting the change takes a long time. France has a no-tip culture; service is correct, friendly and efficient, despite the stereotype of Parisian serving staff. My theory is that quality of service isn't related to the tip, but is related to the cultural acceptability of shit service.
manicdee 9y ago
I live in Australia where tipping is either frowned upon or reserved for exemplary service. Perhaps your idea of “good service” is coloured by your own culture. For example in the USA it is rude to summon a waiter while everywhere else it is rude for the waiter to intrude. There are also different signals such as ROTW putting cutlery together to signify “I am finished” and crossed to signify “still eating”, or whether to place your napkin yourself or have the waiter help you. Then there are different habits such as paying staff a proper wage and not relying on a hangover from slavery to support waitstaff.
- chrismcb 9y ago
  You are the second comment that claims it is due in America to soon a waiter... As an American that is complete news to me, and I would think many other Americans would be shocked to discover it is rude. How else are you supposed to get something?
King-Aaron 9y ago
Here in Australia, I find the service is generally quite good, and staff are paid fairly adequately.

oceanghost 9y ago

Everybody knows, African Americans tip the worst, Native Americans tip the best-- and tips are based on cup size. The world is not fair.

tzs 9y ago

There have been quite a few articles on this. http://www.ebony.com/news-views/are-black-people-really-bad-tippers-981 http://www.ebony.com/news-views/are-black-people-really-bad-... http://freakonomics.com/2008/03/20/the-racial-tipping-point/ http://freakonomics.com/2008/03/20/the-racial-tipping-point/ https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1329241 https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=132924... http://scholarship.sha.cornell.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1043&context=articles http://scholarship.sha.cornell.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?artic... (This one is a survey of the research literature on this) Summary: there are racial differences in tipping in the US. They persist even after controlling for socioeconomic status. Servers (both white and black) treat expected poor tippers worse than expected good tippers. No one is sure why there is this difference.