Tipping expectations getting unreasonable

By Lethbridge Herald on October 29, 2022.

LEAVE IT TO BEEBER
Al Bieber – Lethbridge Herald

It’s becoming a hot button topic and I’m sure you know what I’m talking about – not the city budget deliberations but rather the sensitive subject of tipping.

A cartoon we ran on our editorial page last week pretty much summed it up with a debit machine offering various options including “last nickel or dime.”

In an era of high inflation which means higher costs for everything from gasoline and groceries to utilities, everyone I would imagine is tightening their belts and trying to reduce personal expenses.

That has to include restaurants, fast-food outlets and bars which are also seeing their costs rise. We are all getting hit hard.

So people, when they can afford to treat themselves to a restaurant or pub visit – or even to a fast-food place for a quick lunch – are getting frustrated with the increasing amount they are being asked to tip.

Some will say that because servers may make minimum wage that customers have a moral obligation to tip more generously given the higher costs we are dealing with. But they overlook the fact we are all paying higher prices. And often with no increase in wages.

Tipping used to be considered a reward for good service. A higher tip would show greater appreciation for the job the server did. 

Of course, some people are just notoriously cheap and don’t want to tip which is why I can see that mandatory minimum gratuities built into a meal at a sit-down restaurant possibly could be a good idea – if that gratuity is reasonable and gives flexibility to customers to make their own choices.

But it could also be strongly argued there is no fairness having the customer pay a set minimum amount regardless of the quality of service.

When you’re already paying $12 for a sandwich or a burger and fries at a fast-food place and some debit machines have tip suggestions of 20 or 25 per cent, it’s getting hard to stomach seeing those suggested amounts. 

When you’re paying $20 or more for basically the same thing at a sit-down restaurant, the preferred tipping amounts can be totally indigestible. 

While food businesses certainly have a right to ask customers to treat their staff fairly, there has to be a balance. Customers don’t employ restaurant staff – the owners of those businesses do.

When does the tipping point – so to speak – come that prompts people to decide that eating out is not worth the price given the higher suggested tip amounts?

If people start eating out less frequently, businesses are going to suffer and perhaps shut down. It’s inevitable. We all only have so much we can afford to spend and with higher prices for the essentials, dining out is an option that we may all be considering less frequently.

If I’m in a restaurant, I always tip well, more if the server is running off his or her feet and still managing to provide a quality experience for guests. I do the same if the server is friendly and helpful. I’m sure others take the same approach. 

But like the rest of us can’t be expected to be rewarded for a poor job, wait staff shouldn’t expect a handsome reward from customers if their work isn’t up to quality. 

Those who believe in tipping fairly- which hopefully is the majority of us – are being taken on a guilt trip by the suggested tipping amounts on debit machines.

The scales are increasingly tipping against fairness to the consumer who is justifiably getting frustrated and angry. And that eventually is going to cost businesses customers.

Follow @albeebHerald on Twitter.