Why are we all so glum?

[Minn. Fatz]

If everyone, everywhere, just decided to STOP leaving tips for waiters and waitresses then restaurants would either be forced to PAY GOOD people a LOT more money (which is not likely and would therefore lead to a lot of restaurants folding)....or restaurants would hire trained monkeys.    OR they would convert to self serve cafe or buffet joints.If people just stopped tipping in casinos, it would convert to self serve booze and beer vending.   No one would ever work such a job for minimum wage.

If minimum wage in this country were a living wage maybe things would be different. The best servers might lose out some. Another solution might be for properties to charge service fees to cover payments to servers, like cruise ships do. A lot of places are charging "resort fees" for stuff like access to the pool and phone calls; that would be similar.

I tip drinks servers, hand pays, housekeeping and even wait staff myself; but I understand taking that into account when working out expected return. If there's not enough return out there these days to allow tipping a reasonable amount, well...

[BillyJoe]

[QUOTE=DaBurglar] If everyone, everywhere, just decided to STOP leaving tips for waiters and waitresses then restaurants would either be forced to PAY GOOD people a LOT more money (which is not likely and would therefore lead to a lot of restaurants folding)....or restaurants would hire trained monkeys.    OR they would convert to self serve cafe or buffet joints.If people just stopped tipping in casinos, it would convert to self serve booze and beer vending.   No one would ever work such a job for minimum wage.

If minimum wage in this country were a living wage maybe things would be different. The best servers might lose out some. Another solution might be for properties to charge service fees to cover payments to servers, like cruise ships do. A lot of places are charging "resort fees" for stuff like access to the pool and phone calls; that would be similar.

I tip drinks servers, hand pays, housekeeping and even wait staff myself; but I understand taking that into account when working out expected return. If there's not enough return out there these days to allow tipping a reasonable amount, well...[/QUOTE]
If minimum wages were increased drastically, you would see a significant and immediate cut in staff. Employers will not absorb that extra cost. The people left behind may make more, but they will be doing more work.

I, for one, do not support any kind of automatic tipping. A tip is commensurate with service. If it's automatic, then it is just part of the cost of whatever you are doing or buying.

[Tedlark]

  I don't support automatic tipping either, not even when it may be automatic depending on the size of the party. I routinely tip well over 15% whether it be automatic or not but I don't care for someone telling me what to tip. 

[olds442jetaway]

  When I am staying more than one day I will tip (to insure prompt service) housekeeping each morning. Las Vegas is easy; they have an envelope in the room for just this purpose and if there is no envelope I will leave it in a conspicuous place such as next to any trash I want thrown out. I am a generous tipper by nature.    I agree with billyjoe that if you tip it will better ensure no service issues.

     Probably beating a dead horse to death here, but I thought some would like this little story. A couple of years ago my wife and I stayed over at Mohegan Sun for our 40th anniversary. Expecting nothing more than a nice room and maybe if lucky a small cake or a rose or two, we were totally shocked to find the following....
    We checked in normally. The hotel check in people did not act any different than normal even though they knew to keep the secret a few more minutes. I didn't recognize the room number and it was on one of the highest floors which is what we like anyway. Anyway, down the far end of the hall we started to wonder. Opened the door to find they ( the concierge staff ) had booked us as comp the best Sky Suite in the place which is about twice the size of my house. Glass views all around, special tub and bath ,the works. The huge bed was decorated with rose petals in a big heart and the petals were all over the floor. There were chocolates, flowers, balloons, personal notes and cards from employees, little battery candles everywhere and some good coupons for food etc. There was a personalized cake from their own famous bakery, extra robes and a few other things I probably forgot by now. We had a great time and were so thankful to that staff and one person in particular. I did get upset a little with them when I found out that some of the decorations etc. were at their own expense. Anyway, I made up for that with them over the next couple of months with little gifts, gift cards etc. so they wouldn't get offended. We never asked for any of this and were really really quite surprised.

[chattycattty]

If I get really crappy service I still tip 10%. Average service 15%. Exceptional service 20% sometimes more. Unless I am eating at one of CET's overpriced steakhouses, where a $15 steak cost $60. I figure 15% of the total bill is more than enough. Although I cannot remember the last time I paid for a meal at a CET property, still what would normally be a $100 tab for 4 people can easily be over $500. On occasion I have gotten weak and tipped more than 15% but I try to show self control and keep from overtipping on overpriced meals.

[OTABILL]

Mostly we play locally. We always tip $5 per day when we travel and stay in a room regardless of whether we are comped or not. Always tip at buffets again whether comped or not, usually $2 per person which is usually more than 10%. Additional $1 at omelet bar. Usually 20% of what the bill would be at any restaurant, $1 for soft drinks/water when brought by a hostess. As far as hand pays, where we go any VP progressive over $300 is a hand pay so it varies from $5 - $20. Same with bingo where all pays are hand pays. Most casino employees are not highly paid and wait staff depend on tips.

[olds442jetaway]

Forgot to mention the buffets in my post. At least 2 bucks per person for us and 1 dollar per person for the Omelet gals. Sometimes we actually get better service from the servers than regular restaurant service so we tip more. They all know my wife and I and are very pleasant from the check in people at the buffet, to those who seat you, to the servers. They will even offer to move us if we get stuck seated next to some Rowdy kids or worse some drunks who shouldn't even be there. That is rare though. We are never rushed, they find time for a little pleasant conversation, and even have our drinks ready sometimes when they see us coming. Some of them in my opinion deserve better jobs at the casino, but for whatever reasons they stay there for years. I have no complaints or issues with them at Mohegan Sun.

[BillyJoe]

If I get really crappy service I still tip 10%. Average service 15%. Exceptional service 20% sometimes more. Unless I am eating at one of CET's overpriced steakhouses, where a $15 steak cost $60. I figure 15% of the total bill is more than enough. Although I cannot remember the last time I paid for a meal at a CET property, still what would normally be a $100 tab for 4 people can easily be over $500. On occasion I have gotten weak and tipped more than 15% but I try to show self control and keep from overtipping on overpriced meals.
You are right, CC. That is the one issue with being comped meals in overpriced restaurants. Throw in a comped, overpriced, French red wine, and you better hit quads in the casino fast just to cover the tip.

With my frequent gaming trips, I always wondered how much I spend in tips during a typical year.

[chattycattty]

I do not know exactly how much my wife and I spend on casino tips each year but we usually set aside $200 each per gambling trip. This money is for tips for housekeeping, restaurants, cocktail waitresses, and limo drivers. Hand pay tips are handled separately and come out of the jackpot. We each would normally tip in the range of one percent of the hand pay amount. We normally do about 20 three to four day trips each year. I do most of the tipping and at least some of my wife's tip money usually gets comingled with her gambling money and gets eaten up by the slot machines.

[Minn. Fatz]

If minimum wages were increased drastically, you would see a significant and immediate cut in staff. Employers will not absorb that extra cost. The people left behind may make more, but they will be doing more work.

I don't see it working that way in food service. Say I own a restaurant. Today, I pay my wait staff minimum wage. They depend on tips to make something more than that. I charge my customers some amount for their meals. Because I pay wait staff minimum, I can charge them less than I might otherwise.

Tomorrow, minimum wage goes up so my wait staff can make a living on what they earn from me. I have to charge my customers more for their meals. But they don't have to feel obligated to add on a tip to make up for the lower minimum I used to pay my staff; arguably, their meal costs the same as it used to.

The best servers might be earning less than they did from their old low minimum plus tips, but they could also negotiate for a higher wage based on the business they bring in.

Makes sense to me.