The article makes it clear Jay Porter can’t be trusted to be telling the truth. That’s all that really matters in this case. You can’t trust any of his conclusions.
It may well be that no tips is better but we can’t conclude that from Jay Porter’s word or example.
I don’t think waiting tables is super easy, and somebody who messes up is obviously just not interested. I think that waiting tables is a tough balancing act. And some people just aren’t cut out for it. If I get shitty service, and the server fully admits that they didn’t do a good job (or explains that they’re shortstaffed, or whatever) and apologizes? I’ll still give a good tip. If they DON’T admit it (and I won’t call them out on it), well then what I’m teaching them by giving them a bad tip (it would have to be pretty horrendous to give no tip, but I’ve done it once or twice when the staff was particularly rude) is “Your service was shitty tonight.” Of course, there are plenty of servers who will think “That guy is just a cheapskate” - but enough people giving shitty tips will hopefully, eventually, get the message across that they’re not doing a good job. Consistently bad tips will cause a bad server to either quit, or strive to improve. A tip is supposed to be an extra amount of money that you give somebody as a token of appreciation for good service. Unfortunately, because the laws in some places are such that servers can be given a below-minimum-wage salary in expectation of the tips they’ll receive, servers then EXPECT you to tip regardless of the service. But just because that’s the way the job is set up, that doesn’t change what a tip is supposed to be for. If servers expect to be tipped well regardless of the service provided, then yes, just make all tips a “mandatory gratuity” and be done with it. Otherwise, yes, please don’t be surprised if shitty service (with no explanation or apology) yields a shitty tip.
For the record, when I was a server there was NEVER a shift I wasn’t hit on in an aggressive way. I think you’ll find that’s the consensus among women who work in the industry.
The idea of doing something for the reason it is “supposed” to be done rather than paying attention to it’s actual effect is how people justify for the war on drugs and anti-choice laws.
You’re right. I should give a good tip, and just complain to the manager instead. At least then, the shitty server’s boss will know that they are doing a shitty job. And then it’s just like any other job - if you do it in a shitty way, and your boss knows about it, you will get paid the amount you expect to get paid until you get fired for doing a shitty job.
As I said - I fully understand that there are situations where things are beyond a server’s control. If you apologize for the slow service, make amends when you screw up my order, are at the very least halfway attentive? I am perfectly willing to give a normal tip. But if you are rude to me, ignore me when I try to get your attention, or get my order wrong and refuse to fix it? I’m not going to reward you for that. That’s all there is to it. If you’re letting me choose how much your service was worth (which is what non-mandatory tipping is), I’m going to choose based on merits, not on how sorry I feel for you that you have a shitty job. If I’m expected to pay the same amount no matter what the service provided, I want it included in the bill as a mandatory charge. Or, do it like they do it ALL OVER THE WORLD and just roll it into the cost of the food and drinks I’m buying. Make it illegal to pay somebody less than minimum wage based on expectation of tips, pay servers a good living wage, and voila, the problem of tipping based on service is solved. I’m paying the same amount of money any way, so what’s the difference? Are restaurants going to fold because of the perception that people are paying more, because prices are higher?
And if we can’t do that, how about this question - Why can’t tips be a flat fee? Why a percentage? If I order a $30 steak or I order a $10 burger (at the very same restaurant) why should a server be paid MORE for carrying the steak to the table? It is exactly the same amount of work. And you can’t use the argument that “That’s just the convention” - you’ve already made it clear that we shouldn’t be doing things because that’s just how it’s supposed to be done.
If I get shitty service, and the server fully admits that they didn’t
do a good job (or explains that they’re shortstaffed, or whatever) and
apologizes? I’ll still give a good tip. If they DON’T admit it (and I
won’t call them out on it), well then what I’m teaching them by giving
them a bad tip is “Your service was shitty tonight.”
Really, you are “teaching” them that? First of all, you are teaching them nothing at all. At the very best you are communicating that you were unhappy with their service, which is a far cry from their service being bad. You want an apology if the service is bad - I guarantee you that there are other people who would find that apology an “attempt to make excuses” and give a worse tip. By your own description either you are an objective judge of the quality of service and have the one true standard to hold it against or you are tipping them based on their ability to read your mind.
If I’m expected to pay the same amount no matter what the service
provided, I want it included in the bill as a mandatory charge. Or, do
it like they do it ALL OVER THE WORLD and just roll it into the cost
of the food and drinks I’m buying.
Sure, let’s make it illegal to pay people sub-minimum wage on the expectation of tips, but while it is still legal to do so, let’s not pretend that it isn’t. In case you didn’t notice, I’m here in the comments about an article about a restaurant that did exactly what you are suggesting and arguing against the entire concept underlying the system of tipping. Are you wondering why I haven’t waved my magic wand to get rid of it yet?
And if we can’t do that, how about this question - Why can’t tips be a
flat fee? Why a percentage? If I order a $30 steak or I order a $10
burger (at the very same restaurant) why should a server be paid MORE
for carrying the steak to the table? It is exactly the same amount of
work. And you can’t use the argument that “That’s just the convention”
- you’ve already made it clear that we shouldn’t be doing things because that’s just how it’s supposed to be done.
I’m curious, are you trying to derail me by asking me to defend a position when you have no reason to believe that I hold it? What have I said that makes you think I would defend percentage tipping over flat fee tipping? The very fact that you can reasonably argue for flat fee tipping just goes to my point - that a server who gets a bad tip really has no idea why they got that bad tip and it is unrealistic to think that getting a bad tip will cause them to adjust their behaviour.
I would like to add to your arguments that leaving a bad tip would only “teach” the server that their service was bad if every customer was doing the same thing. The research mentioned in the article indicates that tipping correlates weakly with service quality, so the most likely result is that a bad tip “teaches” the server that the customer is a bad tipper.
Says they moved to San Francisco and are opening a restaurant called Salsipuedes in Oakland.
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