It's absolutely different because a customer is not legally required to tip, and if a customer decides not to, that is directly impacting a worker's take-home pay.

And walking out with silverware is theft, I genuinely have no idea where you pulled that from as a similar example.

>It’s no different from VAT versus sales tax: same result, different math.

There's lots of evidence that tips vary significantly based on the traits of the customer (like the customer's self-esteem and sense of shame: https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/ijchm-02...) and the employee asking for the tip (e.g. attractiveness and simple demographic characteristics: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S01674...).

> walking out with the silverware; not expressly forbidden

Isn't property theft very expressly forbidden?

Then why call it a tip? It's just cynical then, which I don't know what's worse.

> when it is part of the economic transaction

Well, shit, if I made it part of the economic transaction, you'd have a point. What you're saying is that the employers are not holding up their end of the transaction.

Then why call it a tip? The cynicism is just unbearable. If it's a tip people are going to have the option of opting out, disregarding any unwritten social norm that contradicts the actual word used.

Why then 15%? Why not $10 per hour of service for all tables assigned to the waiter?

Why chef who is actually prepping your dish got fixed rate but pretty girl should get percentage of the total bill?

If I order a $100 bottle of wine, should I add $10 for the delivery from wine room? And extra 5$ for the opening? And $5 for refill?

I love that we're just like "so FYI we decided this particular class of worker is okay to pay less than a living wage but to compensate if they do really good at their job, we're going to make it a social norm that people pay more than their bill costs and they keep the difference."

Wouldn't it make far more sense to just pay them a living wage and charge what that costs and be done? It's genuinely the only part of eating out that annoys me is it ends with a math quiz.

> In America, at least in restaurants, employers are allowed to pay a lower minimum wage to tipped employees. So tips are an essential part of a servers compensation and should not be considered optional.

This actually varies state by state. In Alaska, California, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington the minimum wage does not change tipped vs non-tipped. Also in other states if the pay after tips do not meet the state minimum wage the employer is required to make up this difference.

If you actually look at the data tipped employees make significantly more vs median income in countries with tipping than without.

> If you can't afford that, then you can't afford to eat out, choose a different option.

I think this works if we're talking about a full restaurant, If we're talking about a mostly empty restaurant then even a 5% tip is money that the server would have not otherwise had, pretty certain they'd choose more money over less.

> So tips are an essential part of a servers compensation and should not be considered optional.

Actually, if tips don't bring tipped minimum wage to minimum wage, employers are required to increase pay to minimum wage.

> you need to consider (at least) a 15% tip as part of the base cost

No, I don't need to do anything. Restaurants are free to charge a service fee and state that plainly on the menu, as many already do. Otherwise it's optional and I will treat it as such.

Nah. 10% is standard, 15% is they did something good besides what's expected, 20% is amazing.

But I personally have chosen a different option because it's just exploitive all the way around. The business trying to exploit it's employees, the employees exploiting customers (10% being pushed up to 15%).

It this lower wage true for states like California?

I would not be surprised if those poor waiters make more money than their customers.

Americans pride themselves on their rugged individuality but deep down it is all very collectivist.

In Italy tips are never required as are a part of what you pay for. You leave a tip for outstanding service if you want, but it’s neither mandated nor customary.

That's just paying with extra steps.

Nonsense.

What you're referring to as "tip", is the coperto. It's a minimal, fixed, optional fee that includes service, bread and table setting.

Not every place makes you pay it, it's more common in more expensive restaurants, but still, it ranges from 0 to an average 2 euros per person.

Comparing it to %-based mandatory tips in US is nonsense.

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I never tip before receiving the service. Always hit zero. It feels a bit weird to begin with but you get used to it and i've not been treated any differently. A tip is generally not required for coffee or to-go/counter service.

>That's anectdotal. There is literally zero alignment or correlation between tipping and good service.

The correlation is simple. The better the perceived service from the customer, the bigger the tip is.

>You want to have a stress free experience the waiters tries to upsell you at every corner.

In the vast majority of restaurants the server has little interest in upselling you. The exception is, perhaps, at a place with an expensive wine list (and regardless of tipping, businesses will be looking to upsell that wine list).

>Good service comes from good training and experience not the assumed money left over in your wallet.

Speaking as someone with industry experience, this is honestly just funny to read.

Training? For a server? Lol!

These are by and large scrappy people (and I say this lovingly). Lots of cursing, dubious substances, people working hella long hours in other jobs, people who are just planning on working for a few weeks and then leaving, etc. Yet when a big table comes in, they button up and act perfectly, despite cursing about the customers in the back, and the incentive is not "up selling" (servers care about seat count and nothing else - that's how the hierarchy of the seating pecking order is structured) it's about tip money.

Good service doesn't come from experience either. The newest servers will basically give the best service (they're nice to everyone), while often the most experienced servers are the most jaded and cranky. It's a rough job to be part of long term and it breaks you down a bit.

Also, regulars who tip well are truly appreciated by the service staff, and the staff really does go out of their way to make sure they get good service. This is because of the steady, predictable income stream. I don't know what to tell you other than, yes, the tip money absolutely does play a large part in the customer experience, and there is a correlation.

As a Dutch person I despise fake smiles and servile attitude.Especially when it is bought with money.

No. You still have the right to not tip.

No, but if you gave these people extra $ to pay attention to you - on average, they would.

It's getting harder to get the drivers to accept rides in some situations. Recently, I watched some Uber driver accept my ride and then drag their heels to pick me up in the hope that I would cancel. They didn't like my destination.

This reminds me of the old Soviet union where the rates were fixed by some central committee. In order to get a cab to pick you up, you would hold up fingers that represented how much extra you would tip. The more fingers, the more likely the drivers would actually stop.

If you consider strong tipping culture to mean "severely insulted", then yes!

Living in rural Spain service is chill. Am used to it by now. Went to an upmarket restaurant in France other day and it took me ages to realise the waiter was vibing me the whole meal for a tip. Such a weird transactional space. Person literally smiling and being agreeable for money. Insane.

FWIW, it matches my experience in the three countries I've lived in and the dozen others I've traveled to.

Yeah, I don't know anything about the majority of establishments.

My single reference is the Norwegian upscale restaurant Theatercafeen, which introduced tip pooling across waiters and kitchen. It was highly contentious when introduced by the restaurant: The waiters took the case to the courts, and it went all the way to the supreme court of Norway [1], where it was decided that the employer could decide rules for tip-sharing.

[1]: https://www.arbeidsrettsadvokater.no/domstolsnytt/dom-deling...

A lot of people feel this way, but as someone with experience here, it's also not just about trying to be overbearing.

Remember, servers are dealing with the average American. A decent portion of the people that come in are extremely demanding. /Three rounds of sauce on the side in different configurations... Can I have the sauce from that dish on the other table on the side of my dish? Oh it's part of the cooking process? Can you ask the chef if he can put it in a little ramekin? Oh it's a sickly sweet glaze that needs to be cooked? I think I'll try a little bit of it anyway. Ewww this is disgusting take this back!

Dealing with this day in and day out will default you to that service state after a while, especially because the "average working class Americans" often tip the best.

Every server knows screwing up the actual food nukes their tip (and it often does). If they're working in that context and still messing that up, well, they probably can't be helped.