International fans visiting the US for the World Cup have become frustrated by the culture of having to tip servers, telling the BBC that tipping fatigue has set in.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/48704263

Many international fans visiting the US for the World Cup have become frustrated by the culture of tipping servers, telling the BBC that tipping fatigue has set in.

England supporter Geoff Pryor said he understood tipping for good service, but he found it “weird” when buying a bottle of water and “they try to get a tip for doing nothing”.

In the US, staff at some restaurants and bars are paid just over $2 (£1.50) an hour, and they expect customers to tip about 20% of the total cost of the bill so they can earn a living.

Frustrations have also been shared by hospitality staff, with one bar owner telling the BBC that many World Cup tourists have been bad tippers.

  • A1kmm@lemmy.amxl.comEnglish
    6·
    5 hours ago

    The quotes from the business owners in that article who feel so entitled to not pay their staff a living wage and then blame their customers for not making up the shortfall are infuriating: “If they don’t receive any tips, it’s impossible to survive in the service industry”, “It’s just to protect our staff”. Well if you really care about the waitstaff getting paid a living wage, how about this, pay them a living wage and stop trying to blame your customers for a problem you created.

    Of course, part of the problem is that they don’t want to advertise the true cost - they want to advertise a price that is lower than the actual price, and then say stuff like the above to guilt their customers into paying more than the advertised price. With their competitors doing the same, it’s a race to the bottom dynamic. So the real solution is for the local government to: 1) require businesses to advertise the actual total amount of cash customers will have to hand over and not some misleading number, with enforcement if businesses mislead, 2) set a livable minimum wage, with no exceptions, and serious and well enforced penalties for employers that steal wages. If they did both of those things, then the problem would likely solve itself quickly.