Gratuity Charges

On Wednesday post, I made a side comment about gratuity charges. While I am sure we can go on and on about how much ought to be paid in tips (called either gratuity charge or tip or service fee, etc. etc. etc.), instead, I would like to hear/read about what are your thoughts about the practice of “gratuity charges” and tipping. And, just in case, I live in Vancouver, BC, Canada and some details I will mention are specific to where I live (unless otherwise specified). I am sure some places will have different laws/regulations, hence it might not be applicable to everybody. If it does not, and were to add a comment, I will appreciate if you could include your location for reference purposes!

Before we continue, a baseline so all of you have an idea of where I come from: I consider myself an average tipper based on where I eat and, most of the time, I have no problems leaving tips. Here in Vancouver, I usually leave somewhere between 15% to 20% (with a minimum of $1, if the meal ends up below $10) rounded to the nearest dollar. For example, if the total bill was $12, I would end up usually paying $14. This is usually regardless if the food is good or bad and regardless of how the service was. In the case of bad food/service, I simply refuse to patronise that restaurant in the future (though I am a bit more lenient in the case the food is good but so-so service, as it could have been a bad day). Hopefully having set that straight…

I can’t help to wonder where this practice started. I think that, regardless of the culture, a small token is always appreciated; however, in the last couple of years I have notice this is started to balloon to almost unrealistic levels. Before I moved to Canada, in Panama, a token amount would make most waiting staff happy (back then, minimum wage was less than US $2 an hour and a dollar tip would go a long way). But, last time I was there (April, 2009), there was even a restaurant that included the “gratuity” in the bill.

Now, that amount was 10% and, since they did not leave space for me to change that number, I left it “as is”. However, I do have a pet peeve about this case: Customer service is almost non-existent and the fact it was added to the bill “automatically” creates an odd precedent – that of entitlement no matter how crappy service is. But, let’s not stop there! I have friends here who are originally from Europe and there have been times they simply don’t like the fact tips ought to be included to begin with (or even hinted in some cases). When I question about their tipping practice (if it exists), the answer was “at most, we round it to the nearest whole number”. I have even read that, in some other cultures, leaving a (monetary) tip might be an insult.

At this point, if I have to make a wild guess, I would “blame” the Americans tourists. But, after some thoughts, I am not sure if that is really true. OK, let’s go back a little bit: why American tourists? Well, for one, they seem to be the biggest tippers but, when they travel, rather than embracing how local culture on how things are done, they choose to do it the way to do it at home. Unfortunately, in some cases, some people choose to adopt it with open arms and, eventually, “force” the locals to follow suit. I am not saying this is not necessarily bad, instead is the expectation and, as mentioned above, that sense of entitlement.

Now that, for good or for bad, the practice already exists and unlikely it will go away, it would be almost unnecessary to say it creates friction between consumers and restaurant staff. However, I would like to throw an additional part to this equation: Management. After all, somebody has to set up the rules and regulations at the establishment, not to mention other factors that we usually don’t think about from the consumer’s perspective.

Wait? What? Management? Sure, after all, it is the restaurant themselves who set up some rules or, in some parts of the world, wages. I am sure you have heard stories about waiters and waitresses who work for below minimum salary (sometimes even zero. In Canada, minimum wage is enforce, though, in some provinces, if they are expectations for gratuities, it might be slightly lower but never 0) with the expectation that tips will make up for it. And despite there will always be waiters/waitresses “bragging” their $300/night tips, reality is, most won’t even make a third of that amount. But, going back to management, somebody has enter in the Point-of-Sales system and all the paperwork there will be mandatory gratuity charges… The fact management is doing that means they are almost passing operational costs to the consumer. Some might argue that might be their only way to survive as a business – if that is the case, I think there are some flaws in their business plan…

From the waiters/waitresses… I believe that, as long as you provide your basic service, I am good. Of course, the definition of “basic service” would depend on a restaurant. For example, if I am expected to grab my own cutlery but the total bill was less than $10, oh, well, there it goes. However, if I am seated in a fine dining restaurant (which I seldom do but that is not the point of this post), I would expect the (water) glass will never be empty. Then again, more often than not, I tend to tip “well” in these establishments. Anyway, the issue here is, as mentioned previously, the staff have that sense of entitlement regardless of the service. Wake up call for you: You are NOT. Tips/gratuity charges or however you want to call them are “optional” and at the diner’s discretion. (And, if you think they are “mandatory”, I hope you are giving the correct numbers to the tax collector because mandatory “gratuity charges” are taxable, according to the Government of Canada, check details here). If you feel the restaurant is understaffed, don’t take it with me. If you had a bad day, likewise, don’t take it with me. In fact, if you do take it with me, it might go against you at the end of the day. The key here is, as long as you can make customers happy, more often than not, they will tip better. Oh, on that note, if you are flirting on one table, likelihood you are disregarding other tables…

And, finally, customers… I know I will be shooting myself on the foot on this, but I am all game! Come to think about it, when the truth hurts… At this point some of you might be tired of me mention when I go to the restaurant, I don’t give too much focus on service. Having worked in the food industry in the past, I know it is not an easy job, not to mention it might be an unthankful one. So, repeating myself, if you can provide me with the basics, I am usually good. Why this line of thought? While growing up, my family almost never went out for dinner. If we bought prepared food, it would more often than not take out. No, not that my mother, who was in charge of almost everything food related at home, was cheap. Instead, my mom is such a good cook that we saw almost no reason to go out and these take out dishes were to supplement what we were eating (on that note, Costco rotisserie chicken was among my mom’s favourites). Since we had to do cleaning and so, I was taught not to demand much – after all, if I did, chances are I would have to do it myself. For example, if I wanted to something “on the side”, I would have to go to the fridge and grab it myself. As a result, I learned not to be too demanding which is why don’t trouble the staff too much – unless there is a blatant mistake. Because, unless demanded by management, I don’t want to be too much of a burden or tax the staff while I know you are busy with the other tables. That usually means I will seldom send a dish back (yes, in an odd way, that happened in a recent post…), seldom demand anything from you and will only call the staff if absolutely needed. After all, I like to enjoy my meal and the company of the people I am with. (Translation: Don’t keep interrupting us with “is everything OK”. I will let you know if something is NOT right). However, I am aware there are also customers who have a similar sense of entitlement similar to the one from waiters/waitresses. “Since I am a paying customer”, that is what they end up usually saying. Sure, being a customer, there might be some expectations but that does not mean you can make unreasonable demands. In fact, even if you leave a large tip (and, hopefully this never happens, a bad tip), on the other side, there is a person who is trying to earn a decent living not take your abuse.

At this point I am sure it is possible we might not get to a conclusion because, well, this might be the tip of the iceberg (no pun intended). From the people who can make a difference right now, i.e., waiters, waitresses and customers, let’s do something about it. In the case of waiters and waitresses, treat them the same way you would treat a guest in your home. Customers (of course, me included), try to be that guest (and, in an old fashion way, that means leaving a token of appreciation, despite you already paid for the meal). What about management? At this point, it is unlikely they will change overnight but we as customers can request changes. Otherwise, I am sure other restaurants will appreciate our business a bit more.

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