Tipping and the Consumer / Server Disconnect
Image via The Georgia Straight
I think there is a massive disconnect between what servers think and what customers think. This is illustrated well by a recent Georgia Straight infographic on pre and post tax tipping.
According to the graphic, and my extra cultural perception, the majority of people in Canada are tipping on the subtotal, not the total. The issue kind of gets me going, because despite having an appreciation for good service and the difficulty of the serving job, I don’t feel like tipping on tax really makes sense. I have dined at restaurants with loyalty points and they never give you points on the total with tax, so why would I tip on tax? Also, many of my server friends have told me that their tip-out to the kitchen is based on their net sales after tax, so even they aren’t tipping out based on the taxed total.
What do you think?
See also:
How Much to Tip?
Synovate: What do you tip?
I think there is also a disconnect with how much to tip. Many of my server friends think a customer is cheap if they don’t tip 20%. When I was a kid 20% was unheard of. The tipping scale was 0% if your mad, 5% for slow service, 10% if your satisfied and 15% was reserved for exceptional service. And exceptional service tipping was really rare. Then 15% became normal and now 20%. They argue that its because of inflation but inflation is already built into the price of the food which at the same time has inflated. So we are tipping even more than inflation. This all being said we expect more from servers now. If our drink is not filled immediately upon being emptied we are mad. And they all have to be Stepford wives all of the time. If they are having a bad day they have check that at the door. They have to deny their selves. At some restaurants it can be a bit creepy.
Also I would question the legallity of tipping out. That sounds like a nice way for restaurant owners to download the true cost of kitchen staff onto the servers. If it is true tip it should be on the servers discretion. If they got her/him his/her food quick and it impressed her clientele she tips the kitchen. That way its a true incentive based tip.
Very good points. I agree that tipping seems to have gone beyond inflation and the part about it being for a job done superbly seems to have gone out the window. I don’t know the ins and outs of the restaurant business, but it does seem a way for the restaurant owners to reduce their overhead. With that said I know many servers that would not want to be paid higher and not receive tips. Many servers do very well and that would be a pay downgrade, not to mention their income would become much more concrete in the eyes of government taxation agencies.
I Like the point tipping on the food and service, not the tax, but every time I got the tip, it said like “Amount $12.95, Tip$___”, this means at least they indicate you tip on the amount which has already including the tax ($2), How could I tip on $11 ignoring the written “12.95″ in front of the server? They just make you have to tip on the tax! What do you guys do?
I typically tip on the total with tax for restaurants that I frequent on a regular basis, or if the service was excellent. Otherwise I would tip on the subtotal before tax. A restaurant I go to has a loyalty points program and the points are given on the subtotal before tax and tip. It’s like tipping in reverse. It doesn’t make sense for the restaurant to “tip” me on the tax or tip which they never see as income. The same should be true on the server side.
Hi Mark.
I was amused by your comment “If our drink is not filled immediately upon being emptied we are mad”.
I am quite the reverse. When my wife and I eat out I hate it when the server keeps slurping wine into my glass. 2 reasons, Firstly, I drink much faster than my wife and the constant attention tends to highlight that I am an old soak to other diners, and secondly, I not sure if the constant wine top up is not a disingenuous attempt to empty the bottle in the hopes we buy another.
Hmmm, each to their own I guess.