Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Ace_O_Spades
Agreed, and I also agree that making a habit of tipping well pays dividends in the form of better service and friendly waitors / better seating.
I was just making a sideways observation.
Still though, I must confess I had no idea that there was so much animosity in the USA over this. It's rather amusing to be honest... If anything it makes me realize I should probably hide the fact I'm Canadian if there is such widespread hatred in the food service industry. Still... my standard 15% tip continues. Don't like it? Lobby for higher wages.
|
Why? Everyone in my market, "is with the program". From the OP:
Quote:
|
....Tipping: On the question of tipping, the results present a clear contrast between residents of the East and West Coasts. Restaurant-goers in Philadelphia (19.2%), Atlanta (19.1%) and Boston (18.9%) are the nation’s most generous tippers, while diners in Seattle (18%), Los Angeles and San Francisco (both at 18.3) turn out to be the worst. Nationwide, the average tip has been going up over the last several years from 18% in 2000 to 18.7% today.....
|
You visit our city, our local patrons support what we do for them, they return time and again, and you benefit from the highest level of service in the world.
We assume nothing, but we know what we average in each transaction. When you take up a table, during the time you are there, no else can be seated.
Read the comments in this thread, and in the two comparison Yahoo answers pieces. The Canadians who have posted in this thread, and in the Yahoo answers box, seem commonly to be resistant to tipping, to tip less, and to specifically mention that they are "prepared" to top less than 15 percent if they are dissatisfied with their experience in any way.
Almost no poster identified in a profile or a posted admission, as Canadian, mentions ever tipping 20 percent, but almost all mention reasons for deducting from the amount that they tip, and there are more mentions of a "10 to 15 percent" tipping range.
That just is not the way that it is done here, except by foreign visitors. Put yourself in my place, if you can. The average tip in my market is just above 19 percent, but I work in fine dining, the highest rated, best food, wine and service venue.
You come in, prepared to tip "up to" 15 percent, if you are completely satisfied. From the start, you're taking up 20 percent of my earning potential, in a 5 table station. You automatically are reducing my income from your table by at least 20 percent below what the average tip in our market is. (Remember...just over 19 prcent is average in this market, but this is a fine dining venue, so our average is higher.)
Not only are you not willing to learn or adapt to the local tipping custom, you are unapologetic, even obnoxious, proposing "remedies" for a "problem" that only you are the source of. If you didn't know, now you do.
At least give us some kind of relief, if you have to ignore how the people seated around you are tipping, here in the US. Come early, before 6:00PM, or later, after 9:00 PM, and don't stay for coffee and dessert.
I started a thread asking foreigners to explain why they tip less, when visiting the US and dining in our restaurrants, and you have posted why. You're here on holiday, why all the anger and resentment, resistance to our customs The service would suffer and meal and drink prices would be higher, if
tipping at the average US level was less than it is.
I don't encounter the service deficiencies when I dine out, and certainly not in the restaurant I work in, that so many of you have posted about as a reason to tip less.
Read your posts, if you were me, and detected your accent at one of my tables, early in your dining experience, would you be all that excited to be serving you, compared to one of our local patrons?
We don't auto grat you, haggle over the tip, we don't even mention it, because we expect that you will hold up your end of the transaction, based on how we do things here. Some of you have stated that you are satisfied that your tipping percentage is the norm, is satisfactory.
But, you post it, kind of like the way you tip. "Dodgy", in that you say it is so, but you offer nothing to support your claim. If you have data to counter the two linked article excerpts I posted, please provide it. Otherwise, you appear similarly to the way you tip.