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cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/48704263
Many international fans visiting the US for the World Cup have become frustrated by the culture of tipping servers, telling the BBC that tipping fatigue has set in.
England supporter Geoff Pryor said he understood tipping for good service, but he found it “weird” when buying a bottle of water and “they try to get a tip for doing nothing”.
In the US, staff at some restaurants and bars are paid just over $2 (£1.50) an hour, and they expect customers to tip about 20% of the total cost of the bill so they can earn a living.
Frustrations have also been shared by hospitality staff, with one bar owner telling the BBC that many World Cup tourists have been bad tippers.
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The quotes from the business owners in that article who feel so entitled to not pay their staff a living wage and then blame their customers for not making up the shortfall are infuriating: “If they don’t receive any tips, it’s impossible to survive in the service industry”, “It’s just to protect our staff”. Well if you really care about the waitstaff getting paid a living wage, how about this, pay them a living wage and stop trying to blame your customers for a problem you created.
Of course, part of the problem is that they don’t want to advertise the true cost - they want to advertise a price that is lower than the actual price, and then say stuff like the above to guilt their customers into paying more than the advertised price. With their competitors doing the same, it’s a race to the bottom dynamic. So the real solution is for the local government to: 1) require businesses to advertise the actual total amount of cash customers will have to hand over and not some misleading number, with enforcement if businesses mislead, 2) set a livable minimum wage, with no exceptions, and serious and well enforced penalties for employers that steal wages. If they did both of those things, then the problem would likely solve itself quickly.
I went to a place last week where dinner for two was over $150. I shit you not, on the credit card receipt they had a line that said “donation” between tip and total.
I love how this is also a culture shock for Americans that the rest of the world doesn’t have mandatory tipping and expects workers to be treated with some dignity (such as paying livable wage). And as American as it can get, they just blame the foreigners for doing it wrong instead of questioning if maybe there’s another way to do things.
What a preposterous idea! Next thing you’re going to tell me they don’t have orphan crushing machines in the rest of the world?
Some people don’t know that the U.S. runs on slave labour.
Tipping isn’t normal, yall
Tipping kind of is but this “socially mandated gratuity that’s a percentage of the bill” certainly isn’t. 🤷
Tipping is not normal.
Tipping is an exception that follows exceptional service, and bringing plates to a table isn’t exceptional, it’s part of the job.
I get it that servers aren’t being paid enough to live, but look at your boss making bank with your work,.not at me, I’m not Social Security.
I get it, I get it, what I meant is “leaving some change cause the server was smiley and competent is pretty common but the American understanding of tipping isn’t”. 👍
Again this isn’t true in most places outside the US. Many places I’ve traveled the only way a server would get a tip is if they did MORE than their job required which necessitated some sort of need for it. If your job is to greet, take an order, deliver said order and refill drinks there isn’t much opprotunity to go beyond.
Massive groups, staying late, resolving a problem the establishment created, those are times when a tip might occur but even then it really is just an extension of your job. And this is coming from someone who has worked in many high profile service jobs.
ok this is like the 30th article on this topic I’ve seen. enough.
Did you forget to tip?
This is the first one I saw when I read it two days ago.
What is wrong with Europeans? It’s a simple system. First move the decimal then double the price, oh we’re splitting? Oh ok, then divide the bill, remember Jess didn’t get anything, and yes Tim is pitching in if he wants a ride home. Anyway move the decimal back then minus the members in your party and finally times it by 20% and you have how much you should tip.
But I didn’t have any wine, so multiply everyone else by 1.122.
just out the price on the price tag - it isn’t that hard! 😅
If they included it in the price, then nobody would complain about this price gouging/scam in everything but name, but then they wouldn’t be able to advertise with such low prices. Even a blind man can see what they’re doing, there’s no way to defend it. Sadly, I’ve seen a lot of Americans on YouTube arguing for it, minimizing the great annoyance that can come from feeling like every business is trying to take you for a fool/the uncomfortable feeling from being socially pressured (that ain’t me but that’s just because I’m neurodivergent and I’m very comfortable with conflict, lol)… I’m just gonna assume they’re bots and not actual people for the sake of my sanity. 🤣
The problem is it has become a catch 22. Some places in the US have tried to do the right thing, increased wages to livable levels and told customers not to tip, but everyone who has tried it ultimately gets forced to undo it. The customers end up hating it because a) prices are higher on paper and b) a lot of them get off on having the power to fuck with the workers income by refusing to tip and you’re taking that away from them. The customers then end up going to other restaurants that still do tipping. Additionally some of the staff hate it as well because they feel like they’re making less money due to the odd tipping whale pushing their average salary up (this is highly variable but they’ll tend to remember that one table that tipped $1000 a lot more than all the ones that only gave them $15).
I honestly think the only way you’re going to be able to eliminate tipping in the US is if it was outlawed at the federal level. Any action by individual restaurants just ends up getting punished by the market and forcing them back in line.
Maybe they should have not supported it then
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Oh no, who forced them on the airplane and made them attend it?!
I’ll just go on vacation in a militarized fascist state and see some futbol!
They are obviously fine with the fascism.
Exactly. I have no respect for anyone that travelled to the US for the world cup. Fucking shame on anyone that supports that fascist country with spending money there
And rich enough to buy tickets, travel, and survive the gestapo inspections without getting sent to a camp.
