The question of tipping waitstaff

I just finished reading this article in the Freakonomics Blog: Is Tipping Really So Hard? and while the article itself covers the question of why the heck there are so many tipping calculator applications available for the iPhone, it seems the comments have gone in a different direction, discussing the philosophies of tipping wait staff. If you would, read the article (and the first 10 or so comments) before continuing on in my post, because otherwise you might be lost on this one.

If you choose not to read the comments, I will inline a few of them here:

While I side more with the Levitt view on this, if we are to tip, why not “at the rate of five bucks per hour (or at least minimum wage) for the amount of time we are being served. Assuming the waiter is doing at least x tables, he will earn at least x times minimum wage before any fixed salary.”

Otherwise, with standard 15% rules, waiters get paid less in tips the cheaper the food served. Yes, that’s what happens now, but is it right?

— Posted by RNB



The difficulty in tipping is not with your typical two-person date or lunch meeting, it’s in the big parties where multiple people are haggling over what they owe and THEN think about the tip. Usually, two people get hosed: the person who actually takes the time to figure out their cost and the server who loses out on the tip because by the end of the haggling everyone’s so fed up at chipping in.

I’m sure there’s some game theory in here somewhere about cheapskates not pitching in on the bill. My feeling is that up to four people can split a bill easily; a fifth person makes things awkward, generally.

— Posted by Patrick
I’m not against tipping (15% for standardly competent service) but since it seems to be required now, rather than an option for particularly good service, don’t see its current purpose.

More restaurants should just fire on a service charge and be done with it.

— Posted by Eric

Do these apps give you the before tax tip of after tax tip or both?

Now, I waited tables the summer after college, and though I had ZERO experience before I started, right away I was expecting and getting 20% of my total sales per night, and I was making just enough to live off of. This is probably because I was in a large city (Boston), and because I worked hard to go that extra mile for that extra 5%. Those who gave 15% were always either tourists or people who probably couldn't afford to eat at the restaurant I was working at anyway, the cheapskates. And for whatever reason, I could tell the moment you sat down and ordered your drinks whether you fell into the 15 or 20% group.

Now, if I ever saw someone bust out their iphone to calculate my tip, I would try to remember the rich jerk-off's face, because anyone who precisely calculates these things deserves to get their food "mishandled" the next time they come in, as the server is gonna end up getting screwed by the "customary percentage" 15%, a 15% that they have to split with the busing staff and the bar (if there is a bar). Meaning that the server ends up keeping about 60% of that tip - and if you want to do out the math here, a 40 dollar tab at 15% is $6, and 60% of THAT is 3.6 dollars. And most people stay at their table for right around 1 hour. In other words, for busting my butt off to get you drinks, food and keep you all in happy spirits, I'm making 3.6 an hour - compared to 4.8 an hour if you gave me 20%. multiply that by an average 10 hour shift, and I've made 48 dollars for your table for the day. Minus the taxes I will have to pay on that, which come out of my $2 an hour paycheck (in other words, I never get a paycheck, because all the money is taken out of it). Most servers get about 4 tables per shift, and about 8-10 parties per table, so on an average day I was taking in around $153 for being on my feet 10 hours.

Drop that average to 15%, and all of a sudden I only make $115 for that same shift, a $38 difference, or a $152 difference in a 4 shift work week.

God, this is getting me depressed, thinking how little the people making 15% actually get. I mean, at the "average" $40 check per table (which may be a little high, thinking about it), if a server were to work a "regular" 40 hour week and get the "averages" they would make a measly $23,961 a year. Jump that tip by 5%, and they make $31,824, a $7863 or a 32% difference.

So the next time you think of shorting the waiter those 2 dollars by only tipping 15% instead of 20% because they took an extra 15 seconds to refill your water, realize that you are shorting them by 32% of their potential wages. That could make the difference the next time you come in. And trust me, I had to see someone 3-4 times at 20% before I really remembered their faces, but give me 15% one time, and I'd remember you every time you came in, and let it be known to all the staff in that day that you were a shitty tipper. And there if there is one thing that is consistent with waitstaff, is that if you screw with one of us, you screw with all of us.

Thank God that I'm no longer in that industry, but for the record, when I dine, my base tip is 20%, and it only goes up from there, unless I actually hear you badmouthing my table or see you screwing with my food. And if I'm with a large party, I'll make SURE you add the gratuity, and STILL give at least 15% on top of that. Because damn, large parties are a mess to deal with, and they screw up your margins on the rest of your tables while you attend to them.