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Comment by mxfh | Hacker News Reader

Tipping is the "trickle down"-myth's small scale cousin.

It doesn't only take away responsibility of paying, but adds emotional and mental load cost to the customer. It's hilarious that people accept that in exchange for an illusory level of control (you being the mini manager/boss of your service task) over quality of service.

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I think many people just haven't traveled to for e.g. many European countries where tipping culture is mostly non-existent because over there people the service industry receive appropriate wages and the prices of things are adjusted accordingly. The quality of service is good, and the people working seem much happier. They have a guaranteed income for their time.

As a customer tipping culture is highly annyoing to me, I don't want to be upsold three times per dining at least. The attention given, coming form european non-tipping culture, just feels absurdly fake to me.

I feel sorry about this, but from my experience, the only other business that comes to mind, that is so build on 1-on-1 flattering "good choice sir" and selling attention to me is prostitution. I mostly don't need that much attention, when I just wand to have a beer or lunch.

>The attention given, coming form european non-tipping culture, just feels absurdly fake to me.

Agreed.

In Europe the cultural meaning of a tip is also different than the US -- you tip for superb service, and it's generally only in restaurants.

And also (in Europe) most of the time you just add enough tip to round off the number. E.g. if it's 390 you pay 400. Locals (mostly) never tip too much. Particularly in countries where people eat outside often, e.g. Italy. You add that little extra to round up the total, never mind how many people you are in the group. Tourists usually tip way too much.

There's no tipping in Japan, and people get offended if you try to tip. If the taxi is 1963 yen, you pay 1963 yen (or get back the change to make it so). It's lovely. And the service is great.

Why do they get offended?

It's better explained on this page than how I can explain it: https://www.tripsavvy.com/tipping-in-japan-1458316

> In countries such as Japan where gratuity isn't commonplace, leaving a tip inappropriately is almost like saying: "This business probably isn't doing well enough to pay you a proper salary, so here's a little something extra."

> On the rare occasion that you actually need to give a tip in Japan, do so by putting the money inside of a tasteful, decorative envelope and seal it. The tip should be presented as more of a gift than simply additional cash or payment for services. Hand it to the recipient using both hands and with a slight bow.

> Don't insist that someone accept your tip; it may be forbidden and a condition of employment.

This raises more questions than it answers

There must be some different kind of worldview here.. I guess it must have something to do with coming from a tipping culture vs a non-tipping culture. If I imagine myself, in my current job, dropping by a customer and deliver the updated product, and then the customer tries to hand over a fiver. I would go, in my mind, "What? What am I supposed to do with that? Do I look like a beggar that just happened to bring the product? I have a wage, I don't need to be "supported" with breadcrumbs by someone who think he's above me. I'm not a dog." And so on. It would definitely put a sour taste on everything. And actually my company's code of ethics (we're a worldwide company) do forbid receiving anything from customers, with the exception of the occasional shared lunch.

as a European I must disagree about the quality of service. I only was a few months in the US, but the quality of service was much better than here. I don't know if there's a correlation with tipping though.

As a European who regularly experiences atrocious QoS in restaurants, I'd be willing to bet it has something to do with the fact they get paid a decent wage whether or not they even notice the customer.

As a customer I prefer "fake" service over being ignored, but as an employee I would prefer the European system.

As an American I also agree, since restaurants in Europe have to pay a higher wage, they can only afford a couple wait staff, which definitely makes it harder to get service.

Waiters in Europe also seem to be less interested in coming to your table.

Not being flippant but as a genuine question, besides just bribery, remnants of colonialism or heavy tourism destinations for North Americans, is a tipping culture existent anywhere besides North America?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gratuity#By_region

We love traveling and I have yet to see local tipping culture anywhere besides North America (besides cheeky let's-get-more-money-from-the-foreign-tourist type).

Most people - traveled or not - would be okay with this if they knew the service person was making a fair wage. The problem is that service workers are not fairly compensated in the current system so our options are (a) hurt the service worker by not tipping to make a point, or (b) tip so the service worker is fairly compensated.

The only real way this changes is if we first make sure service workers are fairly compensated, but for most people this isn't a big enough issue to prioritize it - we only discuss it in forums like this when an article this appalling gets posted - but it is a big issue for the millions of restaurants in the US who would have to increase wages so they will all lobby against it.

I think it's easier to keep the tipping culture because everyone in the USA is already used to having extra random fees added to the sticker price of things.

In places where the tax and all other costs are already factored into the price, tipping is reserved for truly exceptional service.

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