Would it be better to have tipping replaced by fixed service charges?
By Anish Asokan
@RevivedWarrior (3239)
India
February 8, 2025 8:28am CST
The other day while we were having an office dinner, overheard a hotel staff speaking to another about the unequal tip distribution and that the kitchen workers are demotivated to do better as they never receive tips. I have always felt tipping culture led to inconsistent wages. Plus, the tips could reinforce biases based on gender or appearance rather than the actual service. We as customers would also benefits if we know the exact cost of the meal upfront without the stress of calculating the tips. Customers often feel obligated to tip although the service or food was poor.
Tipping may bring in better service in some places if not all. However a fixed charge system could benefit all and could provide motivation for staff who were not earlier covered.
Do you think tipping being replaced by fixed service charges would work better?
6 people like this
6 responses
@FourWalls (70994)
• United States
6h
I don’t think so. A tip is an incentive to do a good. However, I can also see the point about flat fees being beneficial. Still, I love to reward my favorite servers every year at Christmas with a “bonus” tip, and to me they’ve earned it through the year.
2 people like this
@LooeyVille (27)
• United States
6h
I don't know. As an American I am accustomed to tipping a lot but it's getting out of hand,.
1 person likes this
@AmbiePam (95819)
• United States
3h
Some places around here do automatically add a 15% to 20% charge to make sure a proper tip is given. Or some place, if your party is more than say, twelve people, they’ll add a 20% charge for a decent tip.
I wish everyone was just paid a fair amount, and we could just abolish tipping. Since we can’t though, I do not want a fixed rate of tipping. I never cheat anyone out of a tip, but if they were awful at their job I will pay them no more than the basic tip. If they were good, I’ll go out of my way to reward them with extra.
@snowy22315 (184720)
• United States
6h
Some restaurants do add a 20 percent tip as a fee for service. I don't like that though. I think tipping should be based on merit, and 20 percent is a lot for mediocre service.
1 person likes this
@RebeccasFarm (91565)
• Arvada, Colorado
5h
Yes it would be good if people could just earn enough to survive instead of depending on tips.
@DaddyEvil (140499)
• United States
5h
Tipping for anyone should be done away with and the establishment should pay them a living wage. Some places here try to put a tip on the receipt in their establishments. If I HAVE to tip, then giving a tip should be up to me according to the service I receive. When I get bad service, I don't tip and report the person to the manager of the restaurant.
People are carrying tipping too far since the pandemic was supposedly over and want a tip now for just running a cash register. That's stupid! I won't tip someone who is just doing their job!
1 person likes this
