"If restaurants want to keep their staff, they need to make sure the staff is fairly compensated, so by making tips mandatory, their employees are probably more equitably compensated."

Instead of making tips mandatory, restaurants who want to make sure the staff is fairly compensated could opt to pay staff a living wage.

I did add my 2 cents on the previous thread referred to by STT. There is one glowing concern, or at least there should be, for the owners of the mandatory tip establishments. Once the mandatory tip is enacted what incentive is there for the wait staff to give that little extra that normally earns the decent tips and gives the establishment those good reviews? This is a tuff decision for the owners, I would think. Bottom line is you end up offending some people, probably good customers and tippers, in order to deal with the cheap skates. We went to Shipwreck Tavern last month and after some awesome burgers and great service we left a 25% + tip.

One reminder, always check the bill before paying. I know for certain that in the past we had added a 20% tip only to find on the next days visit that the tip was already added in. ( not at Shipwreck) It's easy to do when you been imbibing a little too much and your not accustomed to the mandatory or included tip deal. There is a distinct difference between "mandatory" and "included" by the way. Oh well! Live and learn.

Don't see how it can be mandatory. Just pay what tip you want above the cost of the product. What are they going to do?

Once the mandatory tip is enacted what incentive is there for the wait staff to give that little extra that normally earns the decent tips and gives the establishment those good reviews?

Isn't that called McDonalds? 🙁

 

I had a place on STX put an automatic tip on my bill - just me and my husband - Can't remember the name now - I think it's the place that is now the Palms. At any rate, I give good tips but was upset that she took it upon herself to add it. So I took it off and gave it to the water boy.

lee,

Feb.07 we were at Paradise Point, a place I love and visit often, when on Island, and my wife and a friend ordered Bushwackers and we had lunch. Well the waitress brought the wackers in those silly little ceramic souvenir cups instead of the usual 16oz plastic cups. I asked her why and she said most people like them and they get to keep the cup. I think it was 4 or 5 dollars more per drink that way. And you get less to boot. I objected and had her replace the drinks. When we got the bill the souvenir cups were still on there which increased the bottom line and also the 15% tip that I, for the first time noticed on the bill. The waitress got a tude when I asked her about it so I deducted the cost of the souvenir mugs and the 15% tip. Left the remainder in cash on the table and meandered out . I waited for her to pick up the bill but she did not confront me about it. I still love the place and won't hold one waitresses actions against them. Bottom line, she screwed herself out of my usual 20% + tip.

Bob, they'll do the same thing at Duffy's for the those fancy ceramic glasses they have. If you ask for any drink they just assume that's what you want. Learned my lesson last time and now I make sure I ask for plastic cups.

bobcside: I'd pretty much bet that this wasn't the waitress's call but the management's instructions which she was following. I know that's certainly the practice at Duffy's. I think the whole thing - mandatory tipping UNLESS for a large party with patrons advised accordingly, and fobbing off on unwitting customers dime a dozen "souvenir" (made in Taiwan?) containers at a huge profit - stinks.

I kind of agree that the staff should earn their tip, but I also understand that on some occasions they could bust their ass and still not be tipped, so I can see both sides. I have had crappy food but good service so do you tip for that? It is not the wait staff's fault that the cook sucks! Also I have had a wonderful steak, but crappy service, do you tip for that? I always tip, but it is not always the same amount, I look at all of the factors. I know that if I am at a busy place that the service might be spotty, because they are running around, but if I am the only table I don't want someone standing next to me the whole time circling like a buzzard. I can understand why they are forcing your hand at tipping, but I think it will only make the staff lazy, because they will no longer have to earn it, but it is not up to me, and if I am forced to pay the 18%, and the staff goes above and beyond, they they Will be rewarded with more. If the service is crappy, then they will get what I was charged as a tip and nothing more. If you are a good tipper to start with and you work some numbers then you will see that this is not really a big deal. I have done two examples below.

I am a beer drinker so I can relate to being at a bar! For every beer I get, I leave at least 1 dollar, now lets do the math. In July a Budweiser at Secret Harbor was $3.00, if they would have included 18% tip on the bill they would have received a .54 tip. That is .46 less then what I normally leave. What is the big issue with .54? Say you saw this tip was included on your bill and you didn't tip extra, you are saving .46 each beer. After 8 beers all of the money in tips you saved, would be enough for another beer, including .54 tip, plus you would have .14 extra in your pocket. All of this math is making me thirsty!

Now on to dinner. My wife and I ate at Blue Moon Cafe and out total bill was around 100.00. The service was excellent and the food was too. Now if they had forced an 18% tip I the bill would have been $118.00. We tipped $30.00, if you don't want to tip extra you would have saved $12.00. Which if you look above is 3 Budweisers plus included tip with 1.38 left over.

I guess what I am trying to say is that if you crunch the numbers it might not be that bad.

Hey Beer hunter-GREAT point,if you ask me. As I mentioned before, I too, consider myself to be a good tipper. I've been bartending for years,and even though I'm no Donald Trump, I still over tip-especially after a few cold ones!

Beer, I had to laugh and almost get out my calculator while reading your post 😀

I noticed that you have a Duffy's shark tank in your avatar. Did you want that bowl? I think that's another story because it only comes that way...right? :$)

Should have kept my mouth shut I suppose, but a great debate nonetheless.......................my ONLY point here is OFFER THE CHOICE.......

GO VOLS, Maybe a double basketball title this year.........................................

lee,

Feb.07 we were at Paradise Point, a place I love and visit often, when on Island, and my wife and a friend ordered Bushwackers and we had lunch. Well the waitress brought the wackers in those silly little ceramic souvenir cups instead of the usual 16oz plastic cups. I asked her why and she said most people like them and they get to keep the cup. I think it was 4 or 5 dollars more per drink that way. And you get less to boot. I objected and had her replace the drinks. When we got the bill the souvenir cups were still on there which increased the bottom line and also the 15% tip that I, for the first time noticed on the bill. The waitress got a tude when I asked her about it so I deducted the cost of the souvenir mugs and the 15% tip. Left the remainder in cash on the table and meandered out . I waited for her to pick up the bill but she did not confront me about it. I still love the place and won't hold one waitresses actions against them. Bottom line, she screwed herself out of my usual 20% + tip.

Bob,

We were also there in Feb 07 and they served us the Bushwackers in the souvenir glass. One of the others in my party paid that bill and now I'm wondering about the tip thing.

They were "sorry" but they were out of the souvenir glasses this past Feb. and we told them we didn't want them anyway. I guess they can't get enough people to initiate the purchase of them so I guess they just serve and charge for them now.

Lee

What constitutes good service? What's good to me or the waitress may not be good to somebody else.

To me the best service is the "service" you get at those cafeteria-style establishments in the south where you pick out your own food and drink, and don't have to wait. I can also see what's in it, so I can avoid things I don't like. The waitress keeps bringing the baskets of hot bread and iced tea, and I'm in hog heaven.

So since that's not available here, I just consider the tip as the price I pay for not feeling like cooking, and I always tip more than 18%.

STT, You may be right but I have been there many times and only once had the souvenir mug problem. This past Feb.= no problems at all but maybe that is due to the "shortage" like lee mentioned above. All in all, still one of our favorite spots.

I guess it's just the way I am but when someone TELLS me to do or not do something I will go out of my way to do just the opposite. So, Dylan, If you wish to BOYCOTT any establishment, you go right ahead. Please don't yell at me to follow your lead though.

Thank you

I was going to comment but by the end of this thread I forgot what it was about. So since it is my day off I think I will just go downstairs to the pool and have a beer. 🙂 Do I have to tip myself? As for no tip required places I still like Tickles and Hook Line and Sinker.
Jay

Toes,

I don't recall yelling at anybody for ANYTHING! I don't believe I even know you to tell you the truth...........................................Look, this is a sore issue for me just as I see it is for lots of others, and there has been great debate on this thread concerning this issue. I believe that at one point or another the majority of folks posting on this thread have been in food service, so we all kind of understand the delima (sp?) of the server. The location of shipwreck is ideal to make a bunch of money if you're a server worth your salt.

Personally, I'm with Jay, I do Tickles pretty regularly. The service is not so bad and the drinks are great, besides, I can bring my puppy!

Have a great weekend--------------------------

CAPS = YELLING
While I agree that mandatory tipping will cause me to avoid an establisment, I also avoid doing what others insist that I do.
You have a nice weekend also.

Some people simply type with all caps because it's easier for them and need to be gently told about the caps thing. That said, I was recently in Benny Iguana's and had the dreaded 18% added to my bill. I would have tipped more and, in fact, did but the drunken guys at the next table tipped on top of the 18% so it was a great day for that waitress! I would have clued them in but they were quite obnoxiously drunk at barely noon. I say just read your bill, this thread is running out.