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The worst part about mandatory tipping in the United States is that it does not improve service at all, and the service in American restaurants strikes me as po

The worst part about mandatory tipping in the United States is that it does not improve service at all, and the service in American restaurants strikes me as poor and stuck in a rut: it is mainly in North America that waiters continually circle about back to the table uninvited, asking “Are you doing OK?” or “Can I get you anything else?” when you are just trying to have a private and leisurely conversation with your dinner companions. Sometimes this must be because their boss is telling them to gently push customers out the door to free up the table. Sometimes it might be because the waiter himself releases that by freeing up the table for another set of diners, he stands to get obligatory-tipped twice that evening instead of just once. But with a culture of obligatory tipping, customers have no way to penalize waiters for such over-intrusive behavior.

Kinrany 6y ago
Tipping itself should be that mechanism. "You kept interrupting us after we asked you not to do so. No tip for you"
- Kinrany 6y ago
  I'd appreciate if someone who disagrees explained their point of view. Is that not why fixed tips exist? To reward good service? Everyone pays the same percentage, except when the service is exceptionally good or bad?
bobbean 6y ago
I've worked at a restaurant for years, same with my friends. Good servers know how to not be too pushy. You greet them when they sit down, ask for drinks. You drop off drinks, take an order for appetizers. When you drop off appetizers, you take their food order and look around to check to see if anyone needs refills. You come back with refills, and then bring over the food when it's done. You walk past the table to check if there is any empty dishes to grab, and ask if they need anything else when you do. Basically, my point is every trip that you need to make anyways, you check the table. If a table is hanging for too long, you start to get a little more pushy, because it's a business that's trying to make money. If it's a busy Saturday night and you have a table that doesn't want to leave, other people have to wait longer for that table, and also the restaurant makes less money. Imagine your annoyance if you make a reservation at a restaurant, and you get sat late because people are taking 3 hours to finish up. Your point about obligatory tipping and not being able to penalize servers doesn't make any sense. If service is that bad, you just don't tip. If a server yells at you, you talk to the manager or just walk out the door. I've put zero for a tip a few times and no one has given me a hard time, and if they do, your night was already ruined by awful service anyways. Also, if you make it out the door in time, the servers won't even see your check by the time you're gone. If you can't bring yourself not to tip someone, that's on you. It happens ALL THE TIME. Almost every other night a server will tell me that so and so didn't tip, or tipped a dollar, etc. By the way, none of this is for or against tipping, I'm just explaining my thoughts on the current system.
rhino369 6y ago
>it is mainly in North America that waiters continually circle about back to the table uninvited, asking “Are you doing OK?” or “Can I get you anything else?” when you are just trying to have a private and leisurely conversation with your dinner companions. It's probably cultural, but Americans generally like that (unless its overboard). I prefer saying "no thanks" to the alternative I tend to face in europe--where the waiter only comes to take the order, drop off food, and take the bill. Trying get a second bottle of wine or address a problem with one's food is hard in Europe b/c of that. I wonder if it America's rule that its rude to snap or point to grab the waiters attention.
anonunivgrad 6y ago
I like American table service and can't stand European table service. I am a somewhat needy customer. I want another beer, different condiments, etc. and it's nice to not have to wait for them.

Kinrany 6y ago

Tipping itself should be that mechanism. "You kept interrupting us after we asked you not to do so. No tip for you"

Kinrany 6y ago
I'd appreciate if someone who disagrees explained their point of view. Is that not why fixed tips exist? To reward good service? Everyone pays the same percentage, except when the service is exceptionally good or bad?

bobbean 6y ago

I've worked at a restaurant for years, same with my friends. Good servers know how to not be too pushy. You greet them when they sit down, ask for drinks. You drop off drinks, take an order for appetizers. When you drop off appetizers, you take their food order and look around to check to see if anyone needs refills. You come back with refills, and then bring over the food when it's done. You walk past the table to check if there is any empty dishes to grab, and ask if they need anything else when you do. Basically, my point is every trip that you need to make anyways, you check the table. If a table is hanging for too long, you start to get a little more pushy, because it's a business that's trying to make money. If it's a busy Saturday night and you have a table that doesn't want to leave, other people have to wait longer for that table, and also the restaurant makes less money. Imagine your annoyance if you make a reservation at a restaurant, and you get sat late because people are taking 3 hours to finish up. Your point about obligatory tipping and not being able to penalize servers doesn't make any sense. If service is that bad, you just don't tip. If a server yells at you, you talk to the manager or just walk out the door. I've put zero for a tip a few times and no one has given me a hard time, and if they do, your night was already ruined by awful service anyways. Also, if you make it out the door in time, the servers won't even see your check by the time you're gone. If you can't bring yourself not to tip someone, that's on you. It happens ALL THE TIME. Almost every other night a server will tell me that so and so didn't tip, or tipped a dollar, etc. By the way, none of this is for or against tipping, I'm just explaining my thoughts on the current system.

rhino369 6y ago

>it is mainly in North America that waiters continually circle about back to the table uninvited, asking “Are you doing OK?” or “Can I get you anything else?” when you are just trying to have a private and leisurely conversation with your dinner companions. It's probably cultural, but Americans generally like that (unless its overboard). I prefer saying "no thanks" to the alternative I tend to face in europe--where the waiter only comes to take the order, drop off food, and take the bill. Trying get a second bottle of wine or address a problem with one's food is hard in Europe b/c of that. I wonder if it America's rule that its rude to snap or point to grab the waiters attention.

anonunivgrad 6y ago

I like American table service and can't stand European table service. I am a somewhat needy customer. I want another beer, different condiments, etc. and it's nice to not have to wait for them.