Some Restaurants Sneaking “30% Tip” Box At Check Time
I’d like to preface this by saying I’m actually a pretty decent tipper. I seldom ever tip under 20%, I make sure to tip my hairdresser, take out food, bug guy, you name it.
But it doesn’t mean I like it.
The CBC is reporting (and I’ve seen it) that some restaurants are starting to sneakily slide in a “30% tip” option when it’s time to close out your bill. Usually the options are 15%, 18% and 20%. Then it changed to 18%, 20% and 22%. Now 30%?
It’s time to have a tough talk about tipping, the “resort fee” of dining. Now, don’t get me wrong, this isn’t an article saying that wait staff should be paid less. It’s an article about how they should be paid, and taking the duty of tipping below average service off the shoulders of diners.
BASE WAGES ARE TOO DAMN LOW
The “tipped” minimum wage here in Clark County is $10.50/hour if you aren’t offered health insurance through your job. It’s $9.50 if you are (and that health insurance might be ridiculously expensive). But believe it or not, for the country, that’s not terrible. It’s among the highest in America, with some states having the gall to pay $2.13 per hour to servers that can get tips. We know the cost of living is ridiculous – and frankly it has been for longer than the last couple years. It’s time for “tipped” employees to be eligible to get the same minimum wage as anyone else, and that minimum wage should be enough to, you know, live.
IF YOU GET BOOED IF YOU DON’T TIP…
Most of the time we dine out, the service is at least decent, if not great. But occasionally there’s that ONE SERVER that’s just… bad. This is supposed to be a tip for service. But you KNOW if you leave a tiny tip (or none at all) you’ll be a pariah, they might take a picture of the bill and post it on social media, you name it (it’s happened before). Plus, you know the business is likely paying a wage that is just tiny. So, you end up tipping more than they might deserve.
THERE COULD BE A BETTER WAY!
Why should servers have to fake-flirt with their patrons? Why should they have to grovel? Why can’t they just be pleasant, place and retrieve orders, and be compensated well? One restaurant in San Francisco did just this. “Zazie” (which has 4.6 stars on Google) has a strict no-tip policy. What the price is on the menu is what you’ll pay. Now, you might be asking yourself “but what about the servers,” and you’d be surprised to hear the labor shortage never hit them. COVID happened, they weren’t very affected and they didn’t lose many employees. Why?
They share profits with their staff. So instead of selling you things and hoping to get a 20% tip off of it, they get 12% of their sales. Automatically. It’s built in. Plus they get a decent wage to start. PLUS they get paid family leave, health and dental insurance and a 401(k) WITH A MATCH! How much will a Grilled New York Steak cost you? $60? $80? Just $46, which is only two dollars more than a chain Italian restaurant cost me yesterday before tip.
Listen, servers have some of the TOUGHEST jobs there are. High maintenance customers, high expectations, and having to balance God knows what on that massive platter. It’s time these servers have a respectable level of income at their base, and if they go above and beyond, get tipped optionally on top of that. Don’t @ me (or, you know, @ me)
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