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World Cup fans frustrated by 'confusing and expensive' tipping in US (www.bbc.com)
submitted 3 months ago by to c/news@lemmy.world
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Many international fans visiting the US for the World Cup have become frustrated by the culture of tipping servers, telling the BBC that tipping fatigue has set in.

England supporter Geoff Pryor said he understood tipping for good service, but he found it "weird" when buying a bottle of water and "they try to get a tip for doing nothing".

In the US, staff at some restaurants and bars are paid just over $2 (£1.50) an hour, and they expect customers to tip about 20% of the total cost of the bill so they can earn a living.

Frustrations have also been shared by hospitality staff, with one bar owner telling the BBC that many World Cup tourists have been bad tippers.

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[–] 23 points 3 months ago (14 children)

Just remember, tipping is optional. Don’t feel like you need to be guilted into doing it.

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  • [–] 11 points 3 months ago (6 children)

    In the US servers cannot make anywhere near a living wage without it. It's a catch 22 and either legislation or businesses adopting policies is the only way to break it. One off opt outs are just futile protests at the expense of workers.

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  • [–] 5 points 3 months ago (3 children)

    We're all making less than we should. Why is it my job to fix that for the dude that brought me a cheeseburger but not for the dude that fixed the curb in front of my house? One of those was way more useful to me than the other.

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  • [–] 4 points 3 months ago* (2 children)

    Why should it be? It shouldn’t.

    Why is it? Because the dude who brought you a cheeseburger makes a fraction of the hourly wage of the curb dude, and you chose to participate in the broken system by going to that restaurant.

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  • [–] 3 points 3 months ago (1 child)

    Maybe business owners can pay full wages, advertise full prices, and pay full taxes, but you and I know that's not going to happen in USA.

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  • [–] 3 points 3 months ago

    Agree it's really unlikely. We are dug in very deep with this. As these businesses start to get more aggressive with hidden fees and tip inflation I do think more people are getting fed up with it though. There may be some opportunity for political attention and legislative change. But yeah, it's pretty damn silly to be optimistic about much of anything in a shit hole country like the US.

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  • [–] 4 points 3 months ago (5 children)

    In the US you're not breaking any laws by not tipping servers at a restaurant/bar, you're just being a dick.

    In this capitalist hellscape, the minimum wage laws do not apply to restaurant/bar servers. Since these laws do not apply, it has become industry standard to not pay them based on their hourly wage, but on their predicted amount of tips. In most cases, this means paying them below minimum wage and their tips make up the difference. Not tipping does not affect the business and the people who control the business will not give a fuck. The only person you're harming or sending a message to is the worker, the wage slave.

    This is supremely fucked up and there should be legislation to prevent it. It's difficult for fair business owners to compensate for this issue on their own because it means increasing menu prices by 20% and having clear messaging that explains why their prices are higher and that you should not tip. This is an extreme oddity and I (as someone who lives in a major city and eats out most meals) have only encountered it twice.

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  • [–] 5 points 3 months ago (2 children)

    Are companies breaking the law by paying below minimum wage or are the laws useless? In both cases people that are not tipping are not the problem.

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  • [–] 5 points 3 months ago (1 child)

    So, just like a general strike, if people stopped tipping in masses it would have a profound downstream effect that would force change. But instead the owner class keeps the people fighting and subsidizing each other.

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  • [–] 8 points 3 months ago

    Yes. If people stopped tipping in masses, it would have a profound effect. In order to do that, you need to build up a movement large enough to gain attention. That's going to take time. All of the time that it takes to do so, you're actively harming people who usually have skills that are difficult to transfer to another industry. You have to convince a lot of other people to do harm with you in order to make a difference. It's a tough ask. This method, if successful, has an eventual benefit, but the cost of that benefit is difficult to justify, especially considering that success is both not guaranteed and requires participation on an unprecedented scale.

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