LMAO 30%?!?!
Biiiiiiiiiiiitch.
this post was submitted on 21 Jul 2024
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Make it stop.
There's a "No tip" button.
The way I see people just panic and hit things without reading is so bizarre. Just breathe. Pause. Read the screen. The line can wait. You are not being a burden on those around you by taking a moment.
I read the screen and panic cause I have to do calculations in my head instead of having a reasonable tip option. Then, I end up tipping too much anyways cause I'm sitting there, staring, and they know I don't want to tip them as much as they want.
Tldr: I panic because they're watching me.
I just click No Tip and then remind myself "It is not my responsibility to subsidize the business owner paying their employees."
I always hated tipping culture, this device's creator may be the hero we need to end it.
This whole system is designed so that the public subsidizes poorly run businesses.
The only way to make it stop is to force such businesses through legislation to pay their employees more, and to do that you have to get past the "but my business will close / but they'll replace us with AI / but the market says..." crowd.
That's a weird way to phrase it. Customers are always "subsidizing" businesses by paying for their goods/services. That's how businesses work, whether they're well run or not. What tips do is hide the cost of what you're buying. It was at least possible to calculate it yourself when everyone agreed on the standard 15% and only at places like dine-in restaurants. But that's no longer the case, so how much you're expected to pay is a mystery until you're handed the machine.
In California, restaurants were sneaking in 3% upcharges. They started out as "we're adding 3% to pay the state-mandated health care costs for our employees." It quickly progressed to "we're add 5% to your total bill because fuck you."
California recently mandated that practice illegal and requires all "extra fees" to be reflected in the prices instead.
Multiple restaurants stated (in public... recorded on TV, no less) that they "would lose business if they stopped this practice because then customers would know how much they're paying up front."
I was amazed at their candor. These "entrepreneurs" don't even know how to be embarrassed by their greed anymore.
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I'm from the UK, and while we do have tipping, it's not expected and is usually given as a sign of good service.
With that said, surely there is a market here for some tech bellend to create an app/service that allows you to put a restaurant name in, get an abridged menu, and to replace the prices with "actual" prices if you consider a living wage tip. Provide some breakdowns of how much money goes to the serving staff, put red flags against businesses that pool/steal tips, and rate businesses that provide value for money.
The culture is bad, but one benefit is that at least the money goes to staff - albeit only often serving staff rather and not BOH staff.
Pooling tips is fine, as long as none of the tip pool goes to management. Tipping out the busboys, and BOH is better for everyone at a high end restaurant. Sure it means as a server I didn't get to keep the entirety of the rare large tip that I got, but it also meant I didn't walk out empty handed when I had a night full of stiffs.
If even $0.001 is going to management, however, that is stealing tips.