arcahic

As someone who worked in restaurants (7+ years), I think we need to get rid of tipping altogether. I'm happy to pay more for something than to have the weight of someone's livelihood placed on my shoulders. Servers/baristas/bartenders tend to get mad at customers for not tipping but they never point to their employer for not paying them a livable wage. Tipping culture is also very discriminatory. I worked in a popular restaurant in Gastown and I remember many times when my colleagues would make offhand remarks towards certain ethnicities for not tipping. Many customers would not get the same kind of attention as a group of white people dining. There was also a time when a man placed 20$ (in 5 dollar bills) on the table and told me that he will take away a note each time I didn't meet his standard of service. I just smiled and bit my tongue....because the customer is always right and almighty. Cringe. Also, not to mention the unfortunate kitchen staff who work their asses off. Long hours, very little money, and little/no tips. The "finer" the establishment is, the more screwed the kitchen staff is. The cooks are there to get "experience" and are barely paid.

14 Comments

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Fine Dining Server

Jun 1, 2020 at 1:50pm

I can make $60+/hr in a shift. I’m not trading that for $18 so the guests can bitch that their sandwich was $28. Thanks though.

0 0Rating: 0

Yep

Jun 1, 2020 at 2:08pm

I'm not a super-experienced traveller, but when I travelled to France, they don't tip; it's just factored into the price.

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Mr. Homer

Jun 1, 2020 at 2:28pm

Tipping is a nuisance, however what you say about preferential service towards whites because they tip is untrue. Europeans and Aussies were terrible with tips. They just don't have tipping, making it a cultural thing, not a skin colour thing.

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Tipping is like begging

Jun 1, 2020 at 3:12pm

It’s kind of a humiliating way to earn money. Was I fast/pretty/funny/jovial/cheerful/subservient/smiley enough for you to like me to want to drop me a toonie? I’ve gone to two different spas and the one that charges the set service charge is more comfortable to be at than the spa with 5 different attendants all begging to be liked and of service to get extra money out of me.

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Former owner

Jun 1, 2020 at 3:24pm

"There was also a time when a man placed 20$ (in 5 dollar bills) on the table and told me that he will take away a note each time I didn't meet his standard of service. I just smiled and bit my tongue....because the customer is always right and almighty. Cringe." I wish I was sitting next to that customer. I would have told him what a power-tripping dick he is and proceeded in eating with my mouth open, belching and farting while you gave him the stellar service he feels he deserves.

Everyone in the restaurant industry is underpaid. The kitchen staff are modern-day slaves trapped in an industry due to the lack of skills to do anything else earning a wage that makes living in Vancouver impossible. If you can't negotiate in life, you're a slave! A raise in wage they do get is near useless in this city. I've seen kitchen staff resort to stealing food from the restaurant to feed themselves, which drives up food costs and only exacerbates the problems. It also attracts unsavoury and unstable people to kitchen work because the wages are low and it's hard to find good people leading to a level of drama that shouldn't happen in 2020. Racism, homophobia and bulling was normal in the 1980s and persists in kitchens today. I'd day it's back to 80s levels. I personally do not want to revisit the 80s, thank you.

My advice to young people thinking of a career as a chef, don't! If you don't feel you can complete a degree or diploma in something get a good trade in anything but cooking. If you're service staff, don't get hooked on the fast cash to party, use it to get some real skills. The industry is a trap. Get out while you are young.

I owned a restaurant and hated the business. Far too much bullshit for too little money. The cost of running one has become astronomical. You're better off with a food truck.

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Anonymous

Jun 1, 2020 at 3:37pm

Ugh to the guy with the $5 bills. What a sorry and disgusting excuse for a human being.

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you gotta order the whole enchilada

Jun 1, 2020 at 3:45pm

You can just see the servers face drop and give that disapproving look if I order a glass of water only with the meal, then they take off and hard to track them down for the rest of the night.

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Agree!

Jun 1, 2020 at 6:49pm

Tipping has become so onerous that it’s a big factor in why I rarely eat out anymore. I get that it’s a competitive market for the restaurants but that’s not my problem. They chose to get into an industry with a huge percentage of failures. Now that they’re all going to try to pass on their Covid losses to their customers, I’m probably never going to go to another restaurant unless someone with big bucks is planning to pay the bill.

19 3Rating: +16

The practice of tipping also

Jun 2, 2020 at 9:57am

emboldens the customer into thinking they can do whatever they want and get whatever they want which puts the waitstaff in a shitty and vulnerable position. I hate the whole culture of tipping. Its gross.

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Merit based tipping

Jun 2, 2020 at 12:03pm

That's my issue, it's not merit based any more, it's expected. I always thought the point of tipping was to say thanks for exceptional service. When I was wait staff in my younger days, I made a lot of money in tips because I delivered on the service, big time. It was highly motivating and the main the reason I loved those jobs. Scored! And I made it happen!

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