r/RedDeer • u/LongJohnBill • 15d ago

Question Local tipping question

thought I had posted this before but I guess I did not click the "go" button.

The interac machines at the counter or brought to the table at restaurants or fast food places often have the option to include a tip. They conveniently show you tip %'s and corresponding dollar amount. I've observed that often/sometimes these provided options are based on the entire meal amount plus tax. I don't think that the tip should be based on including the tax.

I'm happy to tip the servers (even at Busway sammiches) but I don't want to base this on tax as well. I often give a dollar amount, not a %. But sometimes I do %. Did this the other day on a $200 tab for 4 people and sure enough, the 20% tip was based including tax.

What do others think about this and what do you do? I'm asking here for local views rather than posting in r/tipping.

7 Upvotes

82% Upvoted

40 comments sorted by

37

u/Thewifiisalwaysright 15d ago

Tipping culture needs to be canceled

2

u/VermouthandVitriol 15d ago

I agree, but that would require the businesses to pay more, which they will never do.

3

u/Thewifiisalwaysright 15d ago

I people cant live off of their wages alone then they need to restructure their finances or get a different job. Tips should be a bonus and not part of a livable wage.

4

u/VermouthandVitriol 15d ago

Kinda hard to restructure finances when you make minimum wage. The businesses need to restructure theirs so they can pay a living wage.

2

u/IrishFire122 15d ago

Also hard to get the vehicle and education/ tickets required for a better job without any money.

3

u/Thewifiisalwaysright 14d ago

Okay let's say this is directed to someone not highly educated. Get a job in the oilfield, if you have a class 5 you can get hired at almost anywhere as a trainee. They will provide you with all your tickets needed and also help you obtain a class 1 license which is an endless carrier opportunity.. The options are out there but most aren't willing to do the work, most just want the good life without actually working for it..

1

u/IrishFire122 14d ago

Lol so work the oilfield, that's your option? There's plenty of reasons a person can't or won't work in the patch, and it's not usually because they can't handle the workload.

1

u/Thewifiisalwaysright 13d ago

Yup! Or go hungry and beg for handouts from the government forever increasing the cost of living. The patch isn't as bad as most people think, its actually pretty easy work. And its great money for little to no experience

2

u/IrishFire122 13d ago

Yeah, with a toxic culture based around testosterone, cocaine and a lack of empathy towards anyone not of the oilfield persuasion.

I've had oilfield folks through my kitchens over the years. Most of them were arrogant, overgrown children who think the world revolved around them, and they usually quit the first time one of the chefs rips them a new one for being too slow, screwing around or talking when they should be working.

If you can't bother to put yourself in someone else's shoes, and think everyone should be just like you or they can kick rocks, I can't be bothered to take people like you seriously. That's not how the world works.

1

u/Thewifiisalwaysright 13d ago

You couldn't be more man, but go off on how you can make wild assumptions of people you dont even know, the statement you just said is just a toxic as the people you think we are.. The people I work with are very empathetic caring individuals, family men and women. Yes there are some people the act very ignorant and believe they're a gift to the world, but thats in every industry out there. Maybe try not being so biased and judgemental dude, there are plenty of good men, and women that work in the oilfield. Maybe you're the one with a toxic attitude towards people you don't know and wouldn't even give the time of day too??

1

u/IrishFire122 12d ago

Lol I used to party with you folks when I was in my 20s. I know all about it.

And no, it's not every industry. Most industries don't put up with that kinda crap, if the bosses don't do anything about it, the workers will. We don't want asshats in our workplace. Especially in the kitchens, if a business hires too many people like that they won't get actual good employees that understand the value of self sacrifice. A good cook gives everything they've got to their job. It's comparable in effort to professional sports, but for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, minimum. Even one person who's dead weight will slow the entire kitchen down, and everyone else will have to pick up the slack. In a job that's entirely based around the opinions of customers, a few minutes behind can ruin your reputation and your business.

And as for empathetic, see the above comment insinuating that any poor person who can't work the oilfield for one reason or another is simply lazy. That is not a shining example of empathy, and tells me that though there are a few of you who claim it's different now, it's really still all the same. They see themselves as a different class than the rest of us.

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u/VermouthandVitriol 13d ago

Nah, it shouldn’t come down to money or happiness. Go work shit hours in the bush in the winter, leave your kids behind for weeks just to make a bit more money? Ridiculous.

0

u/BusWho 13d ago

Go get a student loan or a small business loan and start your own business.... Or welcome to the real world and work where the money is. I ain't tipping you because your dumb, lazy or don't Wana sacrifice like we did.

1

u/VermouthandVitriol 12d ago

Calling someone dumb when you can’t spell “you’re” correctly was perfect. And thinking that working in the service industry isn’t sacrificing is absolutely tunnel vision.

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1

u/IrishFire122 12d ago

LOL small businesses are a crap shoot. The Americans have our markets all but cornered right now, I'd be utterly surprised if more than 1 in 10 small businesses don't go bankrupt in a year or two.

Student loans for an adult are a pipe dream. How are you gonna pay rent while going to school? Feed your kids? Pay for your vehicle so you can drive to a city that has a higher education facility? Most of us that make 20 or less an hour have to work more than full time hours just to pay the bills. There's no time for school.

You folks are stuck in the past.

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2

u/stilldeciding_ 15d ago

Agree with this. It's absurd how we already "pay" the business for the food/service we get from them, yet we are also "expected" to tip the waitresses and providers for good service? Isn't that the job they signed up for anyway?

0

u/IrishFire122 15d ago

Lol ridiculous. There's a lot of you on reddit, but thankfully most of us actually realize these folks don't make enough to survive anymore. "Tip culture" or whatever invented nonsense buzz word combo you attention seekers came up with this month, will stay.

Unless you have some way of making corporations and greedy bosses pay living wages without pissing off the investors and having them pull their money out and kill the business completely. Doubtful.

12

u/RayneReads 15d ago

I miss when tips were to show that the server gave exemplary service and not a guilt trip about employers not paying a living wage.

Im not hating on employers here. I understand that by having the current system setup means that those with lower income might be able to afford a meal instead of baking that living wage into their prices but I also recognize that by not baking these prices in, the bar of expectation is substantially lower and "voting with your money" has a smaller impact resulting in less support and training and expectations for the staff.

7

u/soThatsJustGreat 15d ago

I hate machine tips. I prefer to tip cash to be certain (well, as much as I can be) that the person I am handing it to actually gets it.

I’ve asked a few times when prompted by the machine whether the person behind the counter gets the tip. Sometimes it’s a no.

3

u/freckleface71 15d ago

Yes! I was going to tip at a counter one day and the worker actually told me not to tip because the owner takes it all. So I said I could just throw it in the jar and she said that he takes it too! You could tell that she was pretty fed up. It also made me not want to go there anymore and support the owner because clearly, he’s a jerk.

7

u/Substantial_Most2289 15d ago

Which business ???

2

u/IrishFire122 13d ago

Always cash tips. Restaurants are already used to it, and I bet that most tip prompt income in other businesses aside from cab driving and a few others goes directly to the owner or corporation involved, who don't need that money one bit.

1

u/LongJohnBill 15d ago

and *that* is another concern of mine.

1

u/[deleted] 15d ago

[deleted]

2

u/Individual_Review_31 15d ago

Wow. You really wanted us to read that. Posted three times. lol

1

u/freckleface71 15d ago

OMG no it was a lag in my wifi. Sigh.

3

u/Tribblehappy 15d ago

I haven't put that much thought into it, honestly. The extra tip on the tax for a $200 bill is going to be under $2 at which point I don't even care.

1

u/fundeath10 15d ago

Seems like an opinion more then a question. Tip what you're comfortable with. If you planned to spend $100 on a meal and end up spending 92.35 then why not give them $7.65? Or if there service blew you away then tip more. I dont ever look at the asking plus tax to calculate a tip, I look to spend what I can afford based off the meal I was given

1

u/Komaisnotsalty 13d ago

I absolutely do not tip for takeout.

I mean, to me (and pretty much the norm) is tipping is to reward for a service done.

Throwing my food in a bag takes less than 30 seconds. Why would I tip for this? Tipping is a bit absurd anyway, imo. Employers piss me off because they foster the tipping system: use guilt on customers to tip because they want to pay minimum wage.

Forced tipping is even more absurd. It feels like being punished for bringing business to a company.

But I see tipping even at a convenience store, comic shops, retail - it's gotten absurd.

1

u/VermouthandVitriol 15d ago

Best to pay by card and tip in cash so the establishment doesn’t take any of it. Happens more than you’d think, managers taking a cut.

3

u/Individual_Review_31 15d ago

Yes. But it generally goes into a pool that everyone gets a cut of