why tip by percentage?

[justleesa]

I get it...

A friend of mine used to work in this fancy, fancy restaurant (a little castle in Germany with a mote around it...very nice)...anyway when she got tipped she had to put it in the big pot and it was split among the shift. She could not do her job if the others weren't doing theirs. I found that fair. FWIW tips were already included in the charge - these were extra tips.

 

[SteveC]

I agree with all4scuba. At a causal restaurant I usually tip a flat fee like 5 bucks or so. I kinda look at it from the other side. Why should I short change a server just because my meal cost less than the next table.
My latest pet peeve is buffets. I have been asked several times lately, when paying before I eat, if I want to put the tip on my credit card!!! First of all, what service am I getting at a buffet, and why would I want to tip before I get this service???
The whole meaning of tipping has been lost. In the old days a tip was meant to reward exceptional service. Not just doing ones job. Then the tip evolved to be a motivator for good service. If we are tipping before we eat, why not just raise the price of the food and forget about the tip.
We are at the point now that everyone wants to be tipped, even dive boat operators. I’m a machinist, and no one has to tip me to make me do my job. Maybe we should go back to the old days where everyone got paid for their work, and a tip would only come by if you did something exceptional.

 

[O2BBubbleFree]

My latest pet peeve is buffets. I have been asked several times lately, when paying before I eat, if I want to put the tip on my credit card!!! First of all, what service am I getting at a buffet, and why would I want to tip before I get this service???

A friend of mine was in a local diner where they asked for the tip up front. They explained to him that 'tips' stands for, "To Insure Prompt Service," and without a good tip he could expect to be there for a while.

He actually wasn't there long at all, since he left immediately after the explanation...

Howz that for screwed up?

 

[L.A.Dave]

I think it makes sense to tip on the basis of a percentage, as that protects the waiter or waitress from inflation as the compensation is tied into market rates.

When I was a kid tips used to be 10%, but the industry sucessfully convinced the public that the % needed to go up to keep up with infaltion, a decidedly false proposition.

But, hey, DeBeers convinced society that engagement stones shouldn't be emeralds, they should be diamonds. Gee, I wonder if DeBeers isn't in the emerald mining business but the diamond business.......NOT!