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Of all these functions you list, why does the customer need to be involved? These could all be abstracted away from the user. If servers were paid more (and t
by nextstep 14y ago
Of all these functions you list, why does the customer need to be involved? These could all be abstracted away from the user.
If servers were paid more (and tipping were no longer required), people could still tip on top of that. This still creates your "spectrum of competition."
If the restaurants were trying to encourage up-selling (your wine example), then they can give bonuses correlated to how much wine each waiter sells.
If tipping is mandatory, it doesn't ensure servers are polite and helpful! This is common sense. If tips are considered a guarantee, then the incentive to work harder is removed. Additionally, waiters are often rude when they feel they have been tipped poorly. So, again, tipping only when you've received exceptional service, makes more sense.
As for "transparency," I think the most transparent scheme would be customers are expected to pay the list price. No tacit agreements about tipping or service fees. If it's not a listed charge on the menu, it's not required and it is purely optional. How much more transparent and simple can you get?
- tptacek 14y agoExactly what is transparent about the "list price" on the menu? It can mean anything at all. It may reflect the cost of ingredients or track the laboriousness of prepping a dish, or it may instead track the popularity of the offering and have nothing whatsoever to do with expenses; in some cases, the list price on the menu may not even fully account for expenses and instead function as a loss leader. The tip is the only transparent part about the price of a meal; in addition to its obvious surface meaning, understanding the subtext behind tipping also gives you an idea of what the restaurant wants you to do (eat faster, buy wine, &c) and adjust your behavior accordingly (towards or against the restaurant's interests).
- nextstep 14y agoWho cares? When you order from a menu, are you concerned about what percentages went to labor vs. food costs? I usually just pick that which seems healthy and delicious and which costs less a certain price I set for the meal. The only value I need is the total price I will be expected to pay.
- tptacek 14y agoSum the menu items, and add 15%.
- seabee 14y agoIn other words, the value of service is a function of the cost of the items. The supposed transparency of tipping is tainted by the opaqueness of everything else...
- tptacek 14y agoNothing is completely transparent, even the commodities markets. But tips are the most transparent part of restaurant pricing.
- kamaal 14y ago>>But tips are the most transparent part of restaurant pricing. How and why are tips considered a part of 'pricing'? Here in my country(India) I don't tip anybody, unless service delivered is exceptional. That is very important, because for an incentive to remain an incentive, it must be paid only when good work is done. Else it looses its value. Mandatory tips don't motivate servers, it just makes them complacent that they can do job as usual while they will be tipped anyway. If tips are compulsory, they should make it a part of the bill. Something like 'Added 15% tip' and ask us to pay it as a part of the bill. In such cases fast food restaurants will flourish, because no one wants to pay somebody a reward just for doing their job, like everybody does their job. And please don't tell me how difficult servers are having it. Because every person who is working to make a living is having it difficult a way or the other. I work many hours in a month fire fighting, attending calls, working on late night issues, and sprinting towards deadlines. But I'm assumed to be OK with all that without being paid. I don't go around asking for tips. Tip is not longer a tip when its mandatory, its more like service charges. I am OK with that, And will try to avoid such restaurants because I see no point in paying a service charge, when I can carry my food to the table.