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After working several months in the service industry (at a large chain restaurant), I noticed that . . . well, a lot of guests don't seem to understand how tipping works. Or they struggle with math. Or the state is just so poor that the majority of customers are dead-broke, and can barely scrape together enough cash to have a $20 night out on their anniversaries.
Curious, I turned to Google and asked, "Why are people in Arkansas such bad tippers?"
This link explained it all. It's not, as some of my coworkers have suggested, that southerners only tip people with thick southern accents. It's not that the state is filled with extremely poor people. This is just the way things are in Arkansas.
Overall, I don't carry a lot of resentment over it. I won't be working in the restaurant industry much longer, I own my home and cars, and my bills are low, low, low.
But here's what I do resent. I live here now. I made Arkansas my home, and I'm embarrassed that my home state is being reported as the "stingiest" in the nation. Every time an Arkansan in a Razorback shirt leaves $2 on a $40 bill, after receiving perfect service, I cringe. The Razorbacks deserve better than that. Arkansas deserves better than that. You wear the shirt, you should have some pride in how you conduct yourself.
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I feel obligated to note that, obviously, not every single person in Arkansas tips badly. Some families do leave 15-20%, and they are doing their part to keep the economy in NW Arkansas strong. But those who don't . . . I feel like they're throwing mud on the entire community.
And that's a shame, because from what I have seen, Arkansas has some of the best food and the best customer service in the nation. My coworkers aren't teenagers fresh out of high school, with bad attitudes and a lack of etiquette. They are college graduates, some attending grad school, others seeking permanent jobs. These are young professionals working hard, who intend to stay in the community. When I see the community treating them poorly, I don't have a lot of confidence in the future of the state.
So, I'm just putting this out there . . . not as a complaint, but in hopes that a few people will read it, pass the message along, and Arkansas will join the rest of the nation in making 15% the standard. Because this article, and the unfortunate state of things, does nothing positive for the state.
I don't know where you work and if what you say is true, I feel sorry for you, but let me explain something: first of all, these studies are as phony as they come, they are based on overall tipping, not just one region of the state and I, personally do not know anyone who doesn't tip 15% or more unless it is a buffet.. In fact most people we know, family and friends leave 18 to 20% for good service. I might add our friends and family include the age range of 20 something to 80 something. I am sure, there are college kids that really do not have a lot of money and there are some seniors who are still living in the days of no tips or 10%, but this isn't the overall population in NWA and saying people in Razorback shirts leave $2 on a $40 check, I think is an exaggeration. May I also explain, you say people do not understand tipping, well though we are average to better than average tippers, you might be the one that doesn't understand tipping. Tipping is totally voluntary and no one should feel obligated to leave a tip.
EVERYONE should feel obligated to leave a tip -- especially in states like Arkansas where the minimum wage for tipped employees is $2.63/hour. If you don't feel obligated to tip, I really don't feel obligated to give you good service.
Not to be rude, but I want to address something: you had the audacity to show up and announce that "these studies" (I don't know if you mean all surveys, or just the ones conducted by that particular website) are phony, and that it's an exaggeration to say that people in Razorback shirts have shown up and left 5% tips.
Based on that alone, I don't really care to have a long, drawn out conversation with you. You don't know anything about me, and you certainly don't know every single individual in the state who wears Razorbacks merchandise. So, I don't even know where you're coming from, but it's obviously not a very nice place.
I didn't say, or otherwise insinuate, that EVERYONE IN ARKANSAS is a bad tipper. That's ridiculous. There are plenty of individuals who do tip 20%, but at the end of the night, there are enough people who tip 5-10% that, at the end of the night, myself and the majority of my coworkers average 10-15%. To me, that confirms what the article said: Not that EVERYONE in Arkansas is a bad tipper, but that on average, people tip 10% in this state.
Also, the article is about the entire state. It's not regional, so I don't see how it can be phony because it's not regional when it never claimed to be in the first place. I mean, seriously. It's like you didn't even read the article.
I have worked in the restaurant industry in three states, including Georgia, and so far this is the worst when it comes to tips. I'm not pointing it out to insult anyone in particular, and I really don't see why anyone who does tip 18-20% would take such personal offense to it. I would think that people who know how to tip appropriately would take issue with the 5-10% tippers who create the situation, and not an article that draws attention to it. But to each their own.
As to the argument that tipping is totally voluntary: It's mandatory. This is America. We have laws in place that allow businesses to pay employees below minimum wage, on the assumption that customers will make up the difference by tipping. If you don't like it, move. Or start voting to change things. Or only visit restaurants that pay their staff the full minimum wage, and not $2/hour.
You know what happens at restaurants where customers don't tip appropriately? The restaurant is obligated, by state law, to pay the difference -- a friend of mine works in a low volume restaurant, where the tips frequently don't add up to minimum wage over the summer. This past summer, the owners had to compensate so much out of their own pockets that, in addition to canceling their vacation plans, they had to raise menu prices. And now you, the 18-20% tippers, are paying for your cheap neighbors who, like you, feel that tipping is a kind, voluntary gesture and not the social contract that it is.
But you go ahead and presume that every anecdotal story is an exaggeration, and studies are all a conspiracy to make you look bad. Sure. Keep living in la-la-land, where only the elderly and broke college students are bad tippers -- because that isn't reality. Not in Arkansas, and not in any other state. There are plenty of middle aged individuals who choose to tip poorly -- maybe they aren't educated, maybe they don't know any better, maybe they're just cheap . . . regardless of the reason, they exist.
And something tells me that you already know that, and that you really don't need someone to tell you.
Last edited by strangecasualty; 09-14-2013 at 08:34 PM..
Reason: Posted before finished -- thanks, laptop!
Just to point out, tipping actually IS voluntary...otherwise, it would automatically be added to a check on all parties, not just to large parties.
Having said that, I was a server for many years. I think the largest problem is that many people have no idea that servers are not paid minimum wage by the employers (although you are correct that the money has to be made up by the employer if the wages don't equal minimum wage). My last serving job paid a base rate of $2.35 an hour, and many of my friends were shocked when they heard how little I made as a base rate. People just assume that servers make minimum wage as a base. Once friends/family heard how little servers make, they started tipping better (assuming the service was up to par, of course). I myself start at 20% as a base rate, and adjust depending on the service. If they are amazing, it's probably more like 30-40%. If they are rude or just don't care, then it goes down to 10%. I don't feel comfortable leaving nothing...except for one server I had in St Louis. This person not only got my order completely wrong, but then argued with me when I very politely pointed out that I did not order what I was given...and we're not talking about a small mistake, but a totally different dish than what I had ordered (and they spent the whole time flirting with one of the other servers, so I can see how they got it wrong). That was the one time in my life I left nothing, and also said something to the manager when I left.
The expectation set, both by the laws of our great nation and by the business owners who make up a significant portion of the American dream, is that people are expected to tip. If it was voluntary, there would not be a separate wage category for tipped employees. They would be paid the same minimum wage that others are. Since tipping is, essentially mandatory, restaurants (and other businesses with tipped employees) are able to set wages below the national minimum.
When I say that it's mandatory, I'm saying that it's a social contract. It's on par with basic etiquette -- excusing yourself when you have gas isn't mandatory, but really, it is. Or it's on par with running a stop sign when there's no traffic, and no police officer present -- it can be done, with no real repercussions to the driver, but neither is it appropriate. It's also not mandatory, but I'll tell you what, if servers only did what was mandatory to not get fired at the end of the night, it would be the restaurant from hell, both for the guests and the staff!
Seriously, though, I think this is a little difference in opinion, and we're close enough to agreeing that it's not worth worrying about.
I tend to tip 20% or above. If the service is mediocre to poor, then it's 15%. When the service is bad enough that I would consider stiffing the server, I request a manager and then ask for another server -- that only happened once, when I ordered a mixed drink and the server brought me a glass of wine, then tried to argue with me that it wasn't a glass of wine. She was sent home on the spot -- I would have felt bad, but she was also rude to an elderly gentleman at the table beside us, who was there alone on his birthday. Some people don't belong a customer service oriented job.
I love that both of our bad restaurant stories involve someone being argumentative after bringing out the wrong order! It's so much worse than making a mistake, it's willful rudeness. One of my very first tables, on my first night serving, was a six top of teenagers who sent everything back, saying it was wrong as a prank. They did it three times! (Fortunately for me, a manager went out to take their order, and they sent that one back too. So she knew it was them, not me.)
I'll tell you what, if I could keep my big mouth shut through that experience, then there's no excuse for arguing with a customer. I might take someone's head off out in public, but when I walk into work, I'm the nicest person on the face of the earth. So when servers are rude, or argue with guests, it really gets on my nerves. It's like, the cardinal sin of the restaurant industry, the one thing that you can't screw up and still keep your job.
You can no call no show because you were arrested and keep your job, you can get caught having a relationship with your boss and keep your job, you can come to work slightly drunk and still keep your job, but when you mouth off to a customer . . . that's the line, right there.
Couple things.
1- I used to be a waiter. Certainly there are some stingy tippers (regardless of how excellent the service you provide is) but I still can't complain overall about how I was tipped. I worked hard to earn a tip and overall got good tips in return.
2- It's not an accent issue, but I do think it could be an economic issue. It seems logical that the less money you have to spend on eating out, the less likely you are to leave generous tips. That said, wait staff and other tipped employees often view tips inappropriately. Although tipping is customary in the US, it is still an indication of appreciating good service, not a "thanks for doing your job/the bare minimum" as some waiters seem to think it is. It's also ridiculous to think you deserve a certain percentage (which seems to keep creeping up, by the way) of the bill for providing typical service. If you provide the same service for a couple that ordered a $50 meal as you did for the couple that spent $20, why should the people eating the $50 meal feel obligated to tip you more highly? I always believed in being tipped based off quality, not percentage, and I often came out way ahead on smaller bills by doing so. Anyway, from your description I doubt this is the case with you, but I did see this with fellow employees who believed as long as they took a customer their food and made sure their drink didn't get empty too often they should get 18% (or more). As for the minimum wage for tipped employees, people also misunderstand that. They are required to pay $2.63 an hour regardless of tips, but they are required to ensure you make at least federal minimum, so if you are a terrible waiter and get no tips, they still have to make sure you make the $7.25 or whatever federal minimum is now. If you're making $20 an hour off tips, they're still required to pay that $2.63 an hour on top of that, so it's really just a law to keep restaurants from hiring you on as a tipped only employee, it's not legally possible for a person to actually be paid only $2.63 an hour for their work... So when people say waiters only get paid $2.63 an hour, that's totally incorrect. They all make at least minimum, but the majority of their wages are typically tips so keep that in mind when filling out the tip line.
Anyway, rant over. From experience I did not find most customers to be stingy tippers. Provide good service, get good tips, it was that simple for me and it wasn't a nice restaurant or a fancy part of town. It may not be the same where you are, but it's not a statewide problem of hilariously low gratuities as you're implying.
Let's look at it another way - how many tables can the average server handle in an hour? Four? Five? Eight? Let's go with four....and an hour for people to have a nice meal, not set up camp at the table (in which case the server should be compensated for the tip they COULD have made from turning the table one more time).
Four tables for one hour that generate $30 for each tab. That's a pretty low tab for a decent meal. All four tables leave a 15% gratuity. $4.50 each, x 4 tables - $18/hr. Plus the $2.63/hr. from the employer. So a server is grossing $20+/hr.
One table falls out and leaves a 10% tip. $16.50/hr. plus base.
Two tables leave 15%. One leaves 10%. One bails out altogether and leaves nothing. $12/hr. plus base.
In Arkansas, there are people that would KILL for a $12/hr. job...or any job at all. I will grant you that there are lots of hours servers are doing things other than collecting tips. But the math stays the same - and sometimes you luck out and get couples (like us) who tip 20% or more if the service is good. Note I did not say "excellent", I said good...why is that?
Listen, I've been a server - and in Arkansas - and I did pretty well. It is harder work than people think it is....if you haven't ever been a server, you don't know how hard your waitperson is working for the money. Actually, there's a certain skill and rhythm to waiting tables. I have never forgotten my experience and I appreciate my wait people. Actually, much like military service, I think everyone should have to do a stint as a server. You certainly see the human element face-to-face when waiting tables. Sometimes it ain't pretty. But it does teach the art of negotiation - and also of sucking it up.
I think it is what it is. People tip poorly all over - people tip well all over - it's the luck of the draw just which group you get.
ok, let me explain it from the customer side and from my side about surveys or studies: most of them do have an agenda to prove and will slant a study the way they want or this same study can be done a month or year later with different results, depending on what criteria they are using and who is taking the survey. We see it all the time: heck, there are studies done all the time that say, Bella Vista is the best or one of the best place in America for seniors. I love it here, but I don't know there is anyway to measure the BEST place to live. The same with best city for small business or best city to raise a family: we can go on and on about this. Even many scientific studies are only that: studies...
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Tipping is not mandatory, absolutely not in any way. It is very much up to the individual how much they want to tip and whether they want to tip at all. Yes, socially, it is expected people will tip and the % has gone up in the past few years. For so many years it was 10 to 12%; Then in the 70s it went to 15% and now 18 of more is expected. In the resort areas of Florida, maybe the entire state, the % is tacked on to the bill because of foreign countries that do not have tipping policies.
It might surprise you to know, I was a wait person in college, as were 2 of my 3 kids, one of my granddaughters and one of their spouses, so I do understand. And BTW, our granddaughter was a wait person here in NWA while attending U of A. So, as you see, I have been on both sides of the fence. I just don't think anyone should feel they should tip a certain amount or at all, especially if the service is not up to par. I realize the wage you make is very low, I also realize what was said in the posting above mine, you do work for less than $3 an hour but you are working several tables at once, so you are making pretty good money..
Last edited by Sam I Am; 09-18-2013 at 03:57 PM..
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