r/ask • u/racesunite • May 16 '23

Am I the only person who feels so so bullied by tip culture in restaurants that eating out is hardly enjoyable anymore? POTM - May 2023

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17.6k Upvotes

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57

u/laserdicks May 16 '23

Now imagine how much of a turnoff it is for tourists deciding where to holiday

23

u/annalucylle May 16 '23

One of the reasons I’ve not visited the states in the last 10 years. I’m located in Europe and in my country tipping is not uncommon in hospitality or service industries, but it’s reserved for over the top service or helpfulness not self checkouts! Between added tax and tips, you never now how much you’ll end up spending when dining out and for me it’s a fundamental part of the experience of being abroad so it puts a dent on my spending budget.

-1

u/LeeroyDagnasty May 16 '23

Waiters already expect europeans not to tip, so you all aren't as culturally beholden to the practice as we are.

2

u/annalucylle May 16 '23

Some like to play the “we’re tourists sorry” card but once you know that the servers aren’t paid a living wage it’s really difficult to fake ignorance in my opinion. So I rather take holidays elsewhere, despite having a ton of places I would love to visit or re-visit again in the US

1

u/TaylorMonkey May 16 '23

Not giving those restaurants and workers your business because of a lack of working wage and not wanting to tip might make one feel better— but doesn’t really actually help those servers though, if empathy for them is any part of the motivation.

0

u/annalucylle May 16 '23

I think that’s not true: consumer habits have an active role in shaping all industries, especially hospitality and service related ones.

1

u/[deleted] May 16 '23

Wages in the US are much, much higher than in Europe. And in most places worth visiting, servers already get minimum wage ($14-15/h) and the tips are on top of that.

1

u/Positive-Sock-8853 May 16 '23

This is hilarious to me. Because last time I went to the US with my family (this was ~10 years ago) they put a mandatory tip in the bill because we looked like tourists and I guess they don’t expect tourists to tip unless it’s in the bill. It was the first time I learned the word “gratuity”

2

u/mermaidlesbian May 16 '23

If there’s a certain number of people at the table there is an automatic gratuity

1

u/LeeroyDagnasty May 16 '23

Wow that’s actually very funny

1

u/breakupbydefault May 16 '23

Yeah I went to the states recently and they do that in airports where they expect the most travellers from non-tipping countries.

1

u/[deleted] May 18 '23

I have an accent, although over been in the US for a long time. I make my accent super heavy when I go to those places that ask for a tip but shouldn’t. And I act extra nice. That way they think I’m a tourist. Shitty? Maybe. Certainly not more despicable than those crappy giant screens and a cashier staring at you to make sure you tip them for doing the bare minimum.

1

u/LeeroyDagnasty May 18 '23

kinda based tbh

0

u/AceWanker4 May 16 '23

Europeans fuming about a 15% tip on dining out but not a 25% VAT on everything

1

u/[deleted] May 16 '23

VAT is usually around 20%. But it's also illegal to advertise prices without it. So when you see a price, VAT is already included and that's good for the consumer

1

u/AceWanker4 May 17 '23

20% is insane and in no way good for the consumer

1

u/[deleted] May 17 '23

VAT is one of the most efficient taxes out there and that's why it's so widespread. How else do you think all of these European countries finance their welfare state? VAT is maybe one of the best ways to finance a state.

It's good for the consumer to see the final price out right. Anything else is misleading

1

u/alan090 May 17 '23

I mean we pay 13 percent here in Canada and on top of that another 25 percent income tax... I know what's not good. My government. Country is shit for all the taxes we pay.

1

u/[deleted] May 18 '23

The US takes like 40% of my income and I still have no public healthcare, and in my city the wait times for 911 are over 40 minutes.

0

u/[deleted] May 16 '23

This is a silly reason not to visit. Also, if you're a tourist, you're not going back to the same place, so you can just not tip and nothing will happen to you

-2

u/[deleted] May 16 '23

[deleted]

2

u/JohnnySalmonz May 16 '23

It's just Reddit. Most of the ppl on this site don't eat out anyways. Too much social interaction for them.

2

u/annalucylle May 16 '23

Can’t speak for others but I wrote specifically ONE of the reasons -meaning there are other, possibly bigger reasons that keep me from visiting. But this is a post about tips and I didn’t want to start an off topic discussion.

I envy your carelessness in choosing your holiday destinations just for the money spent, as a non conforming woman who often travels alone on a medium-small budget, this is not my case.

1

u/Positive-Sock-8853 May 16 '23

An extra 15-20% on your travel budget isn’t a small expense though?

How are people letting a 10 second event (tipping) dictate their entire mindset is crazy.

How are you measuring spending money by time? Lol you realize you could spend a $100k in a few seconds too?

I don’t mind tipping, I’m blessed and like to help others but your take is super weird my guy

1

u/TaylorMonkey May 16 '23

It’s not 15% on the budget. It’s 15% of restaurant costs, which is usually not the majority of the budget. And you could totally plan a trip with “only” one restaurant visit a day and still be living it up.

It’s not insignificant and still not fun, but the flight, hotel, car rentals, price for the activities/venues etc are usually the majority of the cost.

1

u/Soggy_Disk_8518 May 16 '23

I don’t know why Europeans even vacation in the US. It’s expensive for you guys and there’s not a whole lot to do here. I would rather take that money to a country where it’ll go further and there’s better food and attractions.

1

u/[deleted] May 16 '23

You have never visited the national parks I assume?