I think dioxide covered it all very well above, but I'll add in my two cents (and you'll owe me 1/4 of a cent for a tip).
You always have to tip for every drink in the US as well
Becomes a joke after a while
Untrue, unless you are paying for each drink individually. Otherwise, you just pay the tip as a percentage of your bill at the end. There is no customary tip for drinks. I often do a dollar per drink, but sometimes just leave the change.
Completely agree... Annoying you have to tip for everything in the US, especially when quite often those serving are rude and offer such poor service.
And quite often, they are pleasant and accommodating and offer spectacular service. The only factor joining all of your experiences is you...hmmmm.
Wow... This is a typical type of negative attitude i receive from staff and servers in the US.
Its no wonder you're paid such a low wage.
If you smile and do your job properly i would consider leaving a tip.
95% of the time, my service here is just fine, and pleasant. I get the rare unhappy server. My servers in the UK, on the other hand, were some of the slowest, most inattentive, and boring people I have ever dealt with. I worked in an area with several restaurants for several weeks and could rarely finish my meal within my lunch break because they were so slow, and getting the bill took ages because I could never find the server. Just terrible. Unfortunately, there were no fast food or convenience stores in that area or I would have gone to those instead.
Do bartenders get paid $3.25/hr like other servers?
Where I live, servers are paid $2.13/hr. I don't know how much more bartenders make, but it's still far below minimum wage.
Yeah, the automatic tab surprised me at first but it was more the whole tipping system that annoyed me most. They literally expected me to give a tip and were very surprised (taken aback to be more exact) when I didn't.
I don't tip anybody.
You don't tip anybody where you're from, or even when you're in the US?
So, then I assume you avoid restaurants and other services in the US? Otherwise, you are basically saying that you expect to be served for free, and that you don't care if you stiff your server and they lose money on you.
And yes, if you don't tip at all, you likely are costing your server money. They often have to tip out (pay a percentage of their sales) to the busboys, bartenders, and others. It's a crappy system, but that's the way it is here. By not tipping, you are literally expecting your server to pay for serving you.
From what I read in this thread, its doesn't seem to be a custom. It seems that it is more expected from those doing the serving. That, in my opinion, is not right and defeats the purpose of a tip.
It is expected, because it's considered part of the cost for service. The servers are paid a fraction of minimum wage. And yes, I know they chose this job and should just expect whatever happens, but they also expect tips as part of their salary.
If it is expected then why not include in the rates?
Oh my...you might be the first person to ever think about this?
Nowhere in this thread have I said I would not tip if I went to America, I am just trying to gain an understanding as to why it is classed as a 'tip'.
I guess it's just what it's called. You could call it a sproobleyglob if you want, but it's still a "fee" paid for service.
Gee, the service in the US is not so great, but its not nearly as bad as it is in France.
If you want some really awful service, go to France. ( Excluding higher end places of course ).
I haven't been to France in ten years, so I have forgotten anything about the service there. But, I get frustrated with the service at most places outside of the US. I understand that life is slower and enjoyed more, or whatever, but I don't want to wait 30 minutes after I'm done eating to get my bill. Or have to wait forever for my server to come back so I can order another drink or get some ketchup.
And no-ones thought about changing this? That's quite a huge flaw there.
Of course people have thought about changing it. But getting restaurant owners to agree to paying their servers more? Are you kidding me? Would never happen here. I'm sure the cost of doing that would far outweigh the cost of Obamacare, and you probably saw how big of a stink
that raised with restaurant owners. As long as they can pay them practically nothing, and have them rely on tips for actual wages, this will never change. Trust me, if it was monetarily beneficial to the owners, they would have done it a long time ago. And, for the most part, the current system is beneficial for servers as well.
Obviously, there are bad servers, and the current system allows the customer to decide how to deal with that. But stiffing the good servers is just a douchey move.
Only in America could we have such a stupid system.
Agreed.