I'm sorry, the tipping culture has to go. I am disgusted by the optional (but really mandatory) tips. I am disgusted by the social shaming for not tipping. I am disgusted with having to make a calculation every time I receive a service. I am disgusted by the tip field in the receipt, even for things that didn't provide any service.

Before the pitchforks come out, let restaurants include the price of tip into menu items. Increase prices on the menu by 20% straight. Then pay your employees wages. It's that easy. Starbucks does it and they don't have a shortage of patrons. It makes patrons come over and over again, regardless of jacked up prices.

There have been restaurants that have tried this but both patrons and workers have rejected the change where it has been tried. Patrons hate the higher prices and workers feel they can make more money with tips. It's a no win for the restaurants. The top tier restaurants is where worker can make multiple times their hourly pay.

It's been tried many times with tipping winning every time.

The most illogical part of this is that tips already account for inflation because... They're a percentage!

But the vast majority of people can't understand math so fall for the argument of tips needing to increase to help match inflation.

Well. You pay rent in dollars not percentage so unless both their pay and the prices are raised according to inflation they will sit at a net loss.

Also since cost of living is getting higher and higher one could assume less people eat out. And then, since it is a percentage, servers loose out on tip

Its not reasonable that owners raise prices when there is less guests.

Neither is them raising pay when business is down.

Hence the least unreasonable option for workers is asking for more tip from guests. Since they spend money eating out it's fair to assume they can afford it and therfore might afford to pay more tip.

If a place tries to pressure me into a high tip, I lean below what I would have tipped.

So for counter service I would normally tip 10% (20% for table service) but if the machine defaults to 25% for counter service I'm going down to 5%.

That's the correct response. The "good" service you may have received has been ruined by excessive tip demand so the service is now "bad" and deserves smaller or 0 tip. Pay the workers a living wage, end the slavery already.

Sorry, but if I’m standing in line to order food at a counter I’m not tipping

I was at a French bakery in Portsmouth NH this summer and I felt compelled to tip for a jar of mustard I purchased at a counter. I think this was my turning point on tipping.

What made you feel compelled?

If it's a place you frequent it could be the desire not to get your food spit in. Maybe not an issue at a nice french bakery but you never know

12 Bar of peer pressure

In LA, tipped workers (i.e., waiters) now make more before tips than I did 10 years ago as a public defender, for substantially less work. Literally all they do is write down an order and carry food to the table.

And tips, by law, cannot be shared with the kitchen staff that does the real work.

Believe it or not, but things cost more than they did 10 years ago.

Tipped wages were $8 in 2010, and are now $15, and tips went from a 5-15% scale to a 18-30% scale.

Things are not 100% more expensive now than they were a decade ago.

This mentality is the reason wages are stagnant, some boomer uncle is thinking rent is still $800 and mortgages are 350k.Meanwhile they are sitting in their pre 1996 home with cars and all the shit they need. Probably same people go to city hall meetings to ban the latest affordable housing project because it ruins their view.

Thanks, not a boomer. I have no issues with wages going up. I fully support kitchen staff wage increases.

I simply don't think that the least hard-working part of the restaurant should get paid the best and complain about how much they're getting paid considering how little they actually work.

The picture in the article shows a terminal whose percentages are clearly calculated post-tax. If you're the type that traditionally tipped percentages based on pre-tax bills, this is also something to look out for. A 20% pre-tax tip could very well come in under their lowest recommended option of 18% post-tax.

I love the new default of 18% tips with no service. Had to bus my own table grab my own silverware and water. Ordered off an app so I’m not sure who even got the tip