Serious question for those who are pro-tipping...where do you draw the line? How do you choose which products/services are tip-worthy and which aren't?
Some people who are pro-tipping are that way because they think the people are worth it. Maybe they have worked in a position that relied on tips. Maybe someone close to them did or does. Maybe they know that a dollar or two actually makes a difference for many people.
Wherever it's accepted by society, I also generally tip.
I don't tip anyone and tipping is not a common practice where I live. In fact, most people would feel insulted if you gave them a tip here.
You're going to end up paying for it either way. But yes, I agree - I'd rather get rid of the culture of tipping and just pay a reasonable price for a service.
The thing that really sucks though, is per federal law an employer paying the 'tipping minimum wage' is required to make up the difference if an employee makes below the normal minimum wage - they almost never do from what I can tell. By choosing to not tip not only am I just being an asshole, but the employer won't change anything either because the chance of them being caught being a douchebag is slim.
If you pretend to care about me and my company while we eat at your restaurant (or whatever) and do all that you can to make the experience a good one for us, then we will tip you well and we will more than likely come back. 20% is usually my minimum, but I've tipped 50-100% sometimes.
Treat us like shit, and you'll get tipped equivalently. (I've tipped 5% before for really crappy service. I don't like doing that, though.)
I think the bar for someone to not get paid for working should be really fucking high.
The guy/girl says "i'm gonna be your waiter tonight", and that's the last time you see them, others bring the dishes and clean the table. And by law, they cannot share the tip.
When I pay for service, I'd like the employer and the market to figure out for me what's a fair wage. Don't put it on me, 1) I'll most likely be wrong and unfair, and 2) I just cannot tip the cook.
The cooks all made more money. Front of house people made like $2.25/hr (mid 90s), the line cooks made $12.
That's absolutely not true.
Looks like the front of the house can pool their tips in many states in the USA indeed. But according to Nolo, they cannot pool with people who typically get no tips.
"Only employees who regularly receive tips can be part of the pool. Employees can't be required to share their tips with employees who don't usually receive their own tips, like dishwashers or cooks."
http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/tip-pooling-credits-s...
A bunch of others expand with a communal tip jar, but it's very rare for anyone to care about putting something in the jar. You don't tip cafe workers, convenience store workers, retail workers and so on even though they get paid the same minimum wage.