I've been to Japan and the service was fantastic, with no tipping expected. It's almost as if tipping really doesn't correlate with service quality.

Some of us don't want to be pampered, we just don't want to cook.

We're tired of subsidizing others' ludicrous desire for aristocracy role-playing when we just want to eat food.

The service is what it is because the restaurants haven't offloaded paying the staff directly onto the customer. A restaurant owner in the US doesn't care if 1, 25, or 50 servers are on duty. They pay almost nothing for them to be there. A french restaurant is staffed just like a retail store. Just enough staff to provide minimal to adequate coverage and nothing more. Because the owner eats the cost not the server.

Then there are countries like Canada, where economic pressures on both business and consumers (nearly all imposed by government) have resulted in a situation where restaurant service is atrocious, yet hefty tipping (15% or more these days) is still expected.

Many Canadians just can't afford to visit restaurants to begin with these days.

Lately, though, even those with the financial means to not care too much about the cost are avoiding restaurants because it's such a miserable experience overall.

The portion sizes are typically quite small compared to the cost. Even restaurants that used to offer generous portions now give less and less.

Many of the servers are low-skilled, low-cost foreigners who lack basic language/communication abilities. Even just placing an order can became an ordeal, with mistakes and misunderstandings being far too common.

The kitchen staff don't seem particularly skilled, either. At lower-end and even mid-tier restaurants, they seem to just be reheating frozen meals most of the time.

After what's often a rather negative dining experience, it's common to be prompted for a tip of 18%, 20%, 25%, or even more when paying.

Even some fast food restaurants, including ones at mall food courts, and take-out pizza joints now have tip jars, or prompt for large tips when paying.

I'm not sure if the Canadian restaurant industry can be saved at this point.

More and more people I know are learning how to cook at home, and even if it takes more time and effort to do, the cost is significantly less than going to a restaurant, and the experience can be far better in pretty much every way.

Times I've been to low/no tipping countries; service was literally idistinquishable from what I experience in the U.S.

Service quality in most countries is completely fine -- just different depending on the service culture of the country. You're probably just used to how they do it in the States (which isn't immune to lousy service in anyone's bravest fantasy).

Service is great in the south of France. Your experience seems pretty limited to Paris I guess.

These are just two countries with bad service. And the service in the US is Okay but nowhere near as a "breath of fresh quality air".

But the food in France is so good I forget about the bad service.