If you asked any Aussie who has visited the United States what most annoyed them, I'd bet that at least 75% would say tipping. When one is accustomed to the advertised price being the actual price you pay (no tax or tips to add) it seems a completely unnecessary complication for the customer to decide how much those providing the service ought to be paid.
I had assumed that the practice of tipping was so deeply ingrained in the American psyche that I had resigned myself to it basically forever. But now I see signs of sanity on this issue, and most amazingly it comes out of New York.
I've heard all the arguments about how tipping guarantees good service. I don't buy it and the studies that have been done do not support that view either. Nor does my own experience. Some service in the US is good and some is bad. Like everywhere else it seems to have a lot more to do with the management and culture of the establishment than the individual's expectations of a tip which they are going to pool with their co-workers anyway.
If it makes sense to tip servers in restaurants, why not extend it to every face-to-face service? Why isn't it customary to tip the cashier at Safeway or Wal-Mart? If it's appropriate to tip a taxi driver why isn't it appropriate to tip a bus driver? If I'm expected to tip my hairdresser why aren't I expected to tip the clerk at the shoe store who has a much less pleasant job in fitting me for a pair of shoes?
2 comments:
Great Blog .. up until the tipping comment.
First off; I didn't read the NYTimes article you linked to. I went to the NYTimes website, it told me that I had to register, I registered, so now another untracable spammer has my email address .... but when I get to the article .... I get to see the first 3 sentances ... or pay US$4.00 for it! Nice.
As for the tipping thing .. I think I know what was in that article .. the manditory 20% tip factored automatically added to your bill.
If that's the one, I'm shocked that you think that's a good idea. Why should I pay for crap service?
Other than that .. great blog .. I'm equally upset with the deterioration of service and have been considering starting a blog.
Regards,
John
Some newspapers have this crazy model where you can access content for free while it's new but you need to pay to access the archives. I don't understand it.
As for the tipping, I don't really mind tipping in restaurants because I know what's expected. It's all the other places where I am never sure whether I should tip or how much that really piss me off.
Glad you liked the rest of it.
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