Posted on 04/19/2015 7:30:39 AM PDT by Perdogg
On a busy Friday night in New York’s East Village, the friendly and efficient servers at Dirt Candy took home zero dollars in tips, but they considered it a good night. When you’re a server on salary — rather than relying on often-mercurial guests for your financial livelihood — every night is a good night.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
The restaurant likes this because the cost of tracking tips is eliminated and it keeps bar tenders honest. I imagine some places, like Hooters, the waitresses would opposed this.
In Britain, tipping percentage is much smaller. We are marks when we go to the European countries because of the generous tipping by Americans.
At Hooters, their tips may be based upon their, um, "tips."
They’re entitled to run their business as they please. And waiters can either accept this or go. This will lead to poor or inconsistent service. If you’re guaranteed a certain amount, why work any harder than you have to? Now they’re like fed employees. Some will work harder than others and get po’d. They’ll leave as a result. But...it’s up to the owner.
Tipping provides an incentive for good customer service. Ideally it should reward it too. Of course some tightwads always try to rationalize their cheapness as standing up for some kind of principle.
Mulla Nasrudin went to a Turkish Bath.
As he looked quite impoverished and was shabbily dressed, the attendants treated him with contempt in quite a disdainful manner, and gave him only a scrap of soap and an old towel.
When he left, Nasrudin gave the attendants one gold coin each.
Yes, each attendant got a tip of one gold coin each.
The attendants were perplexed.
Tips of one gold coin each for such shoddy treatment…?
The bath attendants could not understand it.
They even regretted the indifferent way on which they had treated Nasrudin as they wondered that if they had treated him better Nasrudin would have probably given them an even larger tip…maybe even a few gold coins each…! The following week Nasrudin appeared again at the Turkish bath.
This time, of course, he was looked after like a King in full luxurious style.
After being massaged, perfumed and treated with the utmost deference, and given a lavish and extravagant perfumed bath with the most expensive aromatic oils and perfumes, Nasrudin, while leaving, handed to each attendant the smallest possible copper coin and said, “These copper coins are your tip for the shoddy service you gave me last week, and the gold coins I gave you last week on my previous visit were the tip for today’s excellent service.”
Hillary thought she was in a no-tipping restaurant...I see where this article is going.
How long have you had that lisp?
In Germany the “tip” is built into the cost of the good.
It is not uncommon to round up to the nearest Euro or so. For example if the bill is 38.80 Euro tell the waiter to round it up to 39 or 40.
A good waiter would visit the table and provide update(s), illustrating that poor service delivery is not due to his/her failure to attend to duties.
Cash-only tipping is my practice. I stopped adding tips to the credit card after learning that too often, management takes an administrative cut out of credit card tips intended for the wait and bus staff. Tipping the cook is nuts.
Mr.Pink likes this idea.
“Of course some tightwads always try to rationalize their cheapness as standing up for some kind of principle.”
Like “Mr. Pink” In “Reservoir Dogs”?
I agree with your posts. The waiters can always leave if they want and seek employment in another restaurant. Personally, I wouldn’t work on salary as a waitress - I’d prefer the tips. In NYC, the money you make is wild. But this restaurant is certainly going to be popular with British tourists!
I don’t like some, maybe most restaurants combining all tips and divvying it between all servers. I pay for my server’s ability alone, not the others.
It is more incentive to do a good job, and I tip extra if they do a really good job...as it should be.
In Texas, the base pay for a waiter is the federal amount of $2.31 per hour - they need tip. In Seattle it will soon be $15.00 per hour - they’ll do fine without tips, so my days of tipping there are over (if I ever go there again).
And keep in mind that tips only happen when there are customers in a joint - the $15.00 applies equally to dead time. Bottom line - in Seattle, tips are now built into the price of the product.
Lol...good story. Thanks!
“This will lead to poor or inconsistent service. If you’re guaranteed a certain amount, why work any harder than you have to?”
I doubt that. Is it your contention that any worker who has a fixed wage doesn’t work hard? There are still incentives to work hard, just like any other job - better servers may get raises, promotions, etc.
Sorry. You’re wrong. The “incentives” would be construed as unfair by the slackers in the group. Waiting on tables is a different mentality from sitting at a desk. Job skills are the same too. On a construction site, you move up the ladder after you learn a trade. Laborers get $10 p/h. Crane operators, brick layers much more. And the laborers can see that they earn it. Nothing will be “fair” again in this restaurant.
Great tale.
Me too. I always tip cash.
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