As long as people insist on overtipping, servers and their bosses will expect customers to overtip.

The only way we can bring tipping back under control, is if everyone agrees to do so.

I do my part. But my input means nothing without the concerted effort of everyone else.

Sadly, the standard is 20% for service ... any service. We find excuses to not blame the server, the only one that really spends any time with you. Oh, they have so many tables, the kitchen screwd up the order, the server had to bring it out. Sorry, I said rare, not blackend. Now when waiter tells chef the customer sent it back, I'm the bad guy, when she took the order, she gave it to the chef and should have seen it was wrong before picking it up. Don't fret dear. I'll eat the shoe. It's not your fault. 20% tip.

Yep! 😉

Worse still! The restaurant is not just scamming us into subsidizing one employee, we're subsidizing the whole business? Probably the boss gets the biggest cut. After all, the boss is the boss, righ?😧😡🤬

You will be happy to know that tips are not solicited or expected at the grocery store. Perhaps rather than putting up with the poor preparation and service you should cook for yourself and do it right the first time.

It’s a bit humorous that you feel terribly scammed by being forced to choose how much tip to leave. This implies you would feel better if the restaurant simply added 25% to the price of each item. Maybe that would work the next time you eat out; “Look, I don’t agree with tipping so just add a 25% inflation fee to my bill and I’ll pay that.”

Probably part time job to pick up extra money. Student or retired or part of owners family. Not unusual.

True. So, when is National No MoreTip Day. I'm ready to reset to open and honest business practices with no pushing responsibility of on the poor, gullible and unsuspecting customer who just wants something to eat. 😋🤗🤢🤮

I suspect you might be part of the problem. The 20% that I normally leave (even though I feel like a sucker every time), you have just suggested a 25% raise to 25% from 20%.
As for grocery store, I like to choose my own food, and I enjoy cooking. I'm a pretty fair cook and familiar with several styles of cooking. My biggest claim to fame is that I haven't poisoned anyone ... yet. 😒

I don’t understand “you feel like a sucker every time”.
You could join the club “Those people who work low paying restaurant jobs should be made feel they are the suckers.”
They choose not to better themselves. Their life should be punished by taking insults, cleaning up the mess, and still smile and say thank you for the punishment.

Maybe instead of feeling like a sucker you could not tip, and smile the rest of the day, knowing you put the person, staff, and the corporation in their place. You aren’t ever going to see them again so just add -0- in the tip line. No more sucker syndrome.

I watched a table of four golfers with that mindset, leaving .31 tip, so the club definitely exists. Or maybe just eat at the drive through, that will teach those who work those restaurant jobs. They chose poorly.

This is what I was going for in my post too. If I order a burger and drink water then the waiter gets screwed. If I order a cocktail, appetizer, fancy main, and a bottle of $$ wine then I get screwed. Yeah yeah it's more work but considering the fancy meal is 4X the tip it's not even close to 4X the work.

And sometimes I honestly just want water and a burger!

Joe

So what system do you propose that won't leave someone feeling they were screwed?

1. You show above how our current system of tipping based on the price of the food screws someone.

2. We could go to a flat fee per table, maybe $40 for a four-top, but then you will feel screwed when you eat alone but get charged the same amount as the table of four next to you.

3, Perhaps a flat, per-person charge of $10 but that just reverses #1 - the diner gets screwed for ordering just the burger and water and the waiter gets screwed by the picky, needy diner.

4. Perhaps no fee or tipping at all where the owner increases prices 20% which goes directly into the hourly wage of the waiter but then they both get screwed when the diner essentially leaves a 20% tip regardless of the quality of the service and the waiter who gets the crazy busy shift earns no more than the waiter who served only a single customer who ate only a burger and water.

It feels like the push by the non-tippers is for #4 but I expect it won't be nearly as attractive when menu prices are raised to pay for it.

Tippng is optional and the amount is determined by the customer. No one needs to get screwed. If you feel like you are getting screwed, then you are tipping too much. Just reduce the tip amount.

$5 for lunch. $10 for dinner (cash) for two. That's more than enough for TV restaurants.

I fail to see how this relates to tipping. If a business fails, how is that the fault of the customer?

I wonder what would happen if tipping simply became illegal, and everyone would have to be paid the minimum wage at the least.