More Greed to hit the Olympics

[VanIsle]

Sad. How many foreign visitors will come away from the games thinking that a mandatory gratuity is a Canadian tradition? Jeez, you'd think the idea - at least in part - would be to give them a real local experience. Nope, they're all circling around like vultures, waiting for the "meat" to arrive in town. Nice.

Restaurant owners have lobbied governement to stop the HST. It didn't work. I think this is their way of attempting to blackmail government and it won't work and it's just plain wrong. I know there are places that the tip is added into the bill but it has never been so in Canada. On a personal level, for any restaurant that builds the tip into my bill, will find I won't be getting a bill as I won't be going to their establishment. I think people should write to the editor's column of the Vancouver Province and make their feelings well known now. For years restaurant owners have paid cheap wages counting on customers to fill the void. Now it's time they paid their workers' a reasonable wage. Tips will drop from the current 15% back to around 10% or less. I think the best part is that people will start eating at home more and we'll be healthier in the end for it.
In the past 10 days I have arrived at my work place to find that one person from the Deli (in her early to mid 50's) has had a heart attack with arteries 90% plugged. Maybe she eats a lot of the deli food but I doubt it. Two days ago I arrived at work to find that a woman from the bakery (probably in her late 40's) has not yet had a heart attack but they have found her arteries are also 90% blocked and she was off work instantly and will be going right in for triple by-pass surgery. The oldest one is not much over-weight and appeared to be in pretty good condition. The younger one is overweight and smokes but the main thing here is - as Canadians with a right to choose, we are making bad choices.

 

[EagleSmack]

You communist bassterd! ;-)

Just spreading the wealth.

 

[TenPenny]

If a restaurant wants to add a 18% gratuity onto the bill, they'd better make sure they state that clearly on the menu.

 

[EagleSmack]

I'm sure it will be posted...at the bottom.

 

[VanIsle]

Well I think at the end of the day the waitress still gets ripped off if there is no tip. How does the waiter/waitress know if they are going to get tipped or not? She or he is going to bust their butt and when they pay the tab then they find out what they got. The only way the wait staff can get pay back is if they come in again.

I've always been a good tipper. 20% each time and it is not because I am made of money its just that I most likely make more than them. My own brand of socialism!

You may or may not make more than them. In an up scale restaurant, a good server should make no less than $125.00 per day on tips alone - tax free. They are supposed to report their earnings and if the Vancouver restaurants build in the tax they will be hurting their staff more. Right now they report a small portion of what they actually make in tips but with mandatory tipping, the server will have no choice but to declare it all on their income tax. You remind me of my son who thinks that he should pay no less than around at least 20% because he has worked in restaurants as a chef and feels the staff doesn't get paid enough. His ex-wife is a restaurant manager who earns $18.00 per hour and takes tables when she wants more money. I know that as managers go that isn't much money but she really isn't capable of being in the position. That's not being mean either. Just honest. She has the job just because she is willing to pretty much live there other than the few hours sleep she goes to her apt. for.
As "consumers", we are en-abling restaurant owners to fatten their own pockets rather than pay the staff a decent wage. Paying a higher than normal tip really enables them.

 

[EagleSmack]

Well your son knows exactly what it is like to be in that type of business which is why he tips well to this day. I am the easiest customer but some people can be nasty. My friends wife ALWAYS sends the meal back and is short and pompous to the wait staff.

 

[VanIsle]

If a restaurant wants to add a 18% gratuity onto the bill, they'd better make sure they state that clearly on the menu.

You should probably ask before you are "seated". At the very least, before you order. Show your disapproval by leaving if the "gratuity" is included in the bill. We do not owe any tip to any server. Server's will become sloppy and rude when they know they do not have to earn a tip. Chef's will become the same. In all the restaurants I know of, part of the servers tips go to the kitchen.

 

[AnnaG]

Some people have more guts than a slaughterhouse. Just heard on the news that restaurants in Vancouver during the Olympics will be charging a minimum of 18% gratuity for tables of 6 or more diners. Where do these people come from with all these balls? Tips are supposed to be a voluntary show of good service. 10-12% is plenty. Especially considering the cost of meals these days.

People are surprised that they'll be gouged during the Olys? If they'd pay their staff well enough in the first place, the staff wouldn't mind not getting tips so much. If the staff work extra hard (never complain, do more than they are asked to do, etc.) and don't get tips, they should be getting bonuses.
I tip when I think I am treated very well, and I am not a stingy tipper. If some bonehead demands I tip, they'd likely see me not tip and then leave permanently.

 

[VanIsle]

Well your son knows exactly what it is like to be in that type of business which is why he tips well to this day. I am the easiest customer but some people can be nasty. My friends wife ALWAYS sends the meal back and is short and pompous to the wait staff.

We go out with a couple where the woman is the same. They are my brother's best friends (the man is, the woman for the most part is just a pain). She sends her meal back constantly and she does it so rudely. I have sent meals back but I see no need to make a spectacle of myself in the process or to embarrass the server. I also see no reason at all that I should not get what I am paying for and it's plain foolish to eat the food like you are a guest in someone's home. You are a paying customer - not a guest. It's no different then if you bought a shirt with a tear in it. You would return it and you should return an ill cooked meal. As restaurants go - You pay for what you get. Not the "you get what you pay for".

 

[JLM]

Well, if a restaurant is making an 18%, 15%, or 10% tip mandatory, such as in European countries as has been discussed in here, then obviously, they 'proper wage' is roughly that much more than they were making. Basically, rather than raising the prices on the menu 15%, they're calling it a 'tip'. It just seems silly to me.

Yep, and unfortunately the people who are going to be hurt the worst are the waitresses. About a month ago my bro-in-law and I went to a restaurant for lunch where the food good and very cheap and the waitress was just flying between the kitchen and tables like she was jet propelled, all the while keeping a smile on her face - she was literally running. We just hit teh place at a bad time five other tables were seated the same time we were. Anyway we left her about a 25% tip and were glad to do it and everyone was happy. If we'd have been told at the door a tip of any size was mandatory we' d have walked away. What they are proposing at the Olympics is nothing short of crass ignorance. Most people have a reasonable amount of class.

 

[JLM]

People are surprised that they'll be gouged during the Olys? If they'd pay their staff well enough in the first place, the staff wouldn't mind not getting tips so much. If the staff work extra hard (never complain, do more than they are asked to do, etc.) and don't get tips, they should be getting bonuses.
I tip when I think I am treated very well, and I am not a stingy tipper. If some bonehead demands I tip, they'd likely see me not tip and then leave permanently.

Competent and friendly waitresses don't seem to find their pay a problem- they have the confidence to know that over the long haul they will "get paid" what they deserve.

 

[AnnaG]

Competent and friendly waitresses don't seem to find their pay a problem- they have the confidence to know that over the long haul they will "get paid" what they deserve.

Do they have a choice? It's not that easy to just quit because of poor pay and go find another job these days from what I hear.

 

[karrie]

I have to ask, if it is pure greed driving this decision, why aren't those restaurants simply placing a mandatory tip on ALL customers.?

 

[JLM]

Do they have a choice? It's not that easy to just quit because of poor pay and go find another job these days from what I hear.

Maybe not a choice, but at least a little control over the situation.

 

[petros]

I'll tip the staff but be damned if I'll tip the owner.

 

[AnnaG]

Maybe not a choice, but at least a little control over the situation.

They don't have control over the situation, they only have control over how they do their jobs.

 

[AnnaG]

I have to ask, if it is pure greed driving this decision, why aren't those restaurants simply placing a mandatory tip on ALL customers.?

That's what I was just wondering. Why discriminate against groups of 6 or more in favor of couples, singles, etc.? It seems strange to me.

 

[JLM]

They don't have control over the situation, they only have control over how they do their jobs.

Bingo- exactly what I meant- if you can get people to like you, that's half the battle.

 

[VanLucas]

What a lot of you may not know, due to perhaps not working in the service industry yourselves, is that the industry standard for servers is only $8.00 an hour in Vancouver. This is minimum wage, and studies have shown that serving is one of the most stressful jobs in our modern society, and to top this off, during the Olympics most restaurants in the vicinity of the games with be exponentially busy, perhaps the busiest they have ever been and the busiest they will ever be. So when you think about it this way, is it really fair for servers to work long hours of difficult and strenuous work for only $8.00 an hour? This is why tips are mandatory in Vancouver.

Yes, people do not tip in other parts of the world, but their servers are compensated differently. In Australia for example, it is not customary to tip your server, however they receive an average of $20.00-$23.00 an hour. Therefore justifying not tipping.

I do not agree with restaurants choosing to charge an 18% automatic gratuity, however. The national standard for tipping is 15% and I believe that restaurants should abide by the norm. I hope that this gives you more insight into your discussion, and into the life of a Vancouver restaurant employee.

 

[talloola]

The 18% is OK to me for the large groups, just during the Olympics, as I can imagine some of those restaurants at that
time, they will be totally packed.

My grandaughter works at a restaurant, and comes home with
stories of the behavior of many people and also those who are part of
large groups, it is a very stressful job at those times.

If people don't want to pay the 18%, split up into groups
of 5, and try to sit near each other. lol

It is disgusting that our servers are paid 'basic' wage,
and we have to top that up, and also pay a large price for
quality meals.

I've never wanted to go to europe, and now that I know about manditory
tipping, makes me very happy 'not' to go.