Restaurant bans tipping. Guess what happened?

[underEJ]

It has been many years since I waited tables, but I am one of the ones who made out great in the tipping structure. Worked at many places, a bunch in Westport, and then also in SF and Oakland, and just a bit in LA, and found the same to be true anywhere.

There are three kinds of tips, excellent service/good sales tips, hot/cute tips, and friend/regular tips. All three are available to just about any server regardless of gender, race, or age as long as you know your customer base and can read people well.

You cannot give the same service to all tables because different people want different things. Restaurants that train people to do the exact same thing at every table and script the experience annoy alot of potential good tippers. Business people want their needs met without much interruption, families appreciate a little slack for the few extra considerations they need, people on a date like anything that can make the meal special, girl friends often want to know a bit about you and connect a little, guys out are the same, and both appreciate good drink suggestions.

The idea that hot girls do the best seems true, but some of that is purely a confidence thing. Having confidence and carrying yourself well can go a long long way. I also never worked in a place that clothing was an advantage. Generally aimed for slightly upscale, the button down shirt and tie for both men and women type place, so low cut clothing wasn't available. If you don't want to compete with the hooters girls, don't work at hooters. Find a place where your physical attributes are best suited.

Anyplace you work, except maybe an airport or hotel, can afford any server regulars if you want to open yourself to that kind of relationship. About half the places I worked did not permit comping of any kind to customers, and regulars still come in. It is all about the bartender/server relationship and anyone can do this too.

I have seen all kinds of great servers. I was a great server. Most of us consider ourselves something like independent contractors running a smaller business inside a larger business. The bottom line is tips. To maximize the bottom line, sales must go up, efficiency must go up, and customer service must not suffer to do either of the other two.

I would definitely not prefer the no tipping restaurant solution as a server. I made more money than others because I had developed my skills.

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by underEJ

I would definitely not prefer the no tipping restaurant solution as a server. I made more money than others because I had developed my skills.

Based on the research quoted earlier in this thread, I have come to the conclusion that you were a slender white woman in your thirties with large breasts during your serving days.

[underEJ]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

Based on the research quoted earlier in this thread, I have come to the conclusion that you were a slender white woman in your thirties with large breasts during your serving days.

I have waited a long time for someone to accuse me of being slender! Though not even close to long enough to have been in my 30s 20 years ago.

I never got automatic hot tips. I am very tall, and was very athletic, so much more likely to be considered intimidating than hot. I am also an introvert, not an extrovert, so flirting for increased tips was never going to happen.

Unfortunately, that research isn't actually linked, though it was done by the same Cornell researcher. I'm going to look it up to see how the research was done. The justification by the restaurant owner writing the article that tipping doesn't lead to better service isn't supported by his quoted research.

I just read the first quoted study, out of curiosity, and I don't think the Linkery owner actually read it. It doesn't say that at all. It confirms that tipping is associated with perceived better service, and further that the incentive is increased by the incentive to increase sales. All it says is that some people increase 1% per 1 point better service rating out of 5, and some people increase 2% per 1 point better service. That it is varied does not mean that it is not an incentive.

I am curious about the discrimination argument as well and plan to read up on that. I did just as well in Oakland/ Emeryville with a clientele comprised of many more "likely bad tippers" than the other locations, like in KC. The studies seem to deal exclusively one sided. They either study the tippers or the tipped, and with extremely low sample sizes. I would like to see more information about how a study can quantify service and tip motivations in order to really assess the potential for discrimination. While I was a server, the only ones who complained about discrimination were the white men, but that may have just been they were more likely to be vocal about it.

I would also be concerned with a large scale shift to a non-tipping culture where salaries for servers start in a comparable place, but as sales and prices change with time, the salary stagnates and doesn't keep pace and it is just another minimum wage shitty job where there is no incentive for sales and personalized service.

I say that having lived in New Zealand where tipping is not required, and service is still quite good in most places. Employees are well compensated and seem pretty happy. The business environments are different though, and the social structure of flat tax and socialized medicine are very different, so I'm just not sure is correlates well.

This is an interesting time to have this discussion.

[ThaVirus]

Then puberty developed his skills.

[vailpass]

I too came up on the 15 percent rule. If service doesn't warrant I'll go lower. If it goes above and beyond so do I. I've given 50 percent tips.

[Demonpenz]

well good thing for bug, is he has loved every job since.