Tips for "Service" Industry Workers

if someone does not want to tip and still eat out, that is their choice. i was a server and started out at 2.13. i know all about living on wages. but if a person does not tip-you need to first look at the server, then the establishment. and not just assume its because people dont tip.

but regardless they can still eat out and not tip if they want and should be treated no different than tipping customers.

there have been many times i would not have tipped based on service but hubby always leaves a tip regardless

I learned a lesson, as a waitress, about the automatic gratuity for large parties. I had about 8 people having a business luncheon. The menu stated that 15% may be added to parties of 6, or more....Well, the whole luncheon experience was great. They enjoyed their lunch, enjoyed their service, etc. I chose NOT to add the 15%. I figured I would do better letting them add whatever they wanted. Backfired.....not a cent of tip. I know, since the menu said it may be added, they probably assumed it WAS added. Oh well...

From then on, I either made a point to tell large parties the service charge had not been added, I was leaving that up to them, or, if I wasn't feeling sure about how they would tip, I would add the 15%, but then would tell them it was added, but they were free to adjust it, either way, as they wanted. That usually worked pretty well.

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These are showing up in Seattle. Pretty douchy move since restaurant workers are not included in minimum wage. Save your politics for your own kitchen table.

I think this link is more informative, sparty.

http://www.eater.com/2015/3/31/8300981/seattle-minimum-wage-law-15-restaurants-suttonomics

This year seemed like lower income families... I think for cruising - they've made it so cheap that lower income families can afford to cruise but can't/don't afford to tip better.

Yep. I miss the days when tourists to the V.I. were financially well-heeled and cultured. With the commercialization of cruises--the "McCruise" effect, cruising is mostly a low-income affair.

The tourism Dept should also can those ridiculous timeshare-esque advertisements on late night TV. They cheapen the VI and attract a demographic that leaves much to be desired.

I was just discussing this with a friend. STT/STJ can still mostly attract high income tourists and transplants. STX, because of the lower cost of living, now mostly attracts lower income people. We've seen a great deal of low-income transplants as of recent.

and probably more to come

If servers were paid $15 an hour, I wouldn't be tipping. However, the sad part about a $15 per hour minimum wage in general is that some people aren't that productive and are not going to get hired if they have to be paid that much.

And, when self serve kiosks and service bots replace these types of jobs, as they are now starting to at places like McDonalds, where are these under-performers going to work?

There is a huge displacement of workers coming in the very near future.

1. Yep. I miss the days when tourists to the V.I. were financially well-heeled and cultured.
2. I was just discussing this with a friend. STT/STJ can still mostly attract high income tourists and transplants. STX, because of the lower cost of living, now mostly attracts lower income people. We've seen a great deal of low-income transplants as of recent.

1. With all due respect how can you possibly "miss the days" when you're only in your mid 20s and those days were decades before you were born. By the time you were born circa 1990, cruising was very much geared towards the less affluent middle class. However, the middle class has rapidly deteriorated in at least the last 20 years as has its disposable income. Cruise ships offer the best "bang for the buck" vacation and that rapidly declining middle class simply doesn't have the wherewithal to spend thousands of $s on expensive jewelry in port calls.

2. As far as land vacationers go, STT and STJ continue to become less and less a desirable vacation for the more affluent looking for that pristine getaway. You haven't been around long enough to remember what STT and STJ were like 20-30 years ago.

Maybe you don't read travel forums too much but one of the most common complaints from longtime visitors now is that on St John in particular, the days of finding a beautiful beach pretty much to yourself are rapidly fading. "Get there early!" is the perpetual admonishment - not because of the cruise ship visitors but because the island is simply being "discovered" by those who can afford the airfare and the price of a condo stay. Meanwhile the rich continue to build expansive multimillion dollar villas which only the affluent can afford. It doesn't take a brain surgeon to see the dichotomy and the likelihood that in 10-20 years many of those villas will become virtual mausoleums of abandoned extravagance. Unless of course the US economy does a complete turnaround and the middle class is regained.

The super rich can afford to vacation in equally beautiful spots worldwide where they're blessed with that peace and tranquility - and they do.

As far as your comments concerning "low income transplants", they've always been coming here for the comfort and security they perceive having under the US flag and most stay only a brief period. The reality quickly sets in that they'll not only make less money than they can make elsewhere but that they'll spend all that money just on basic day to day living and with not one penny left over to put away. You may see them disparagingly as "low income" and "uncultured" but the majority comes with little and leaves with less.

Kudos to the professionals - the teachers and the physicians, etc. - who come here even for a while to share their knowledge. Too bad that the USVI has so little to offer its youth whose families spend an arm and a leg to provide them with higher learning in a stateside institution but gives them no incentive to come home.

Most cruise lines make sure their workers are tipped, either by having tips included in price for cruise, offering pre-pay as an option, or giving tip envelopes before last day. They have some control over collecting tips and do a good job.

If cruisers are not tipping on land, IMO, the tip should be included in the price of the meal or excursion. That way everybody who eats or goes pays a tip. Workers shouldn't have to sacrifice their income when employer/owner isn't.

That would be difficult to implement and discriminatory.

I'm opposed to the tipping concept. It doesn't improve the service so what are we paying for?

If cruisers are not tipping on land, IMO, the tip should be included in the price of the meal or excursion. That way everybody who eats or goes pays a tip. Workers shouldn't have to sacrifice their income when employer/owner isn't.

So you're opposed to tipping, but think tips should be included?

To quote a recent Facebook meme-
You are absolutely welcome to refuse to tip waitstaff at restaurants if that's how you feel you should behave. The only condition is that you must tell your server at the beginning of the meal- before service begins. If you don't have the balls to do this, then you really don't have a moral objection to the gratuity system…you're just a cheap piece of (expletive).

I am opposed to tipping, but I still tip.

stx-most people do tip based on service. so a person would not know until the end of the evening if the service was tip worthy.

if you are a server-do your job. be polite, make sure you actually check on the customer once meal is delivered, be observant and know that the drinks are getting low and refills are needed-should not have to beg someone for this,make sure extra napkins are offered-especially when sitting outside and drink glasses sweat, when the meal is done-bring the check and cash out quickly-dont wait 20 minutes

it is not that hard to be polite and serve.

also, if you are a female-speak to both the man and woman. same if you are a male server. was waited on one time by a woman who only looked at and talked to hubby-seriously, that does not get you a bigger tip.

I always find it really irritating when, after an otherwise great service, the server makes you wait forever for the check. I can't tell you how many times I've had to reduce a tip because of this.

The faster the check is issued, the faster the table can be turned for the next diner.

I always find it really irritating when, after an otherwise great service, the server makes you wait forever for the check. I can't tell you how many times I've had to reduce a tip because of this.

The faster the check is issued, the faster the table can be turned for the next diner.

Bingo! I am the exact same way. Even had long waits between the bill and coming back to pick up the CC. It's become a habit for me to time them.

One was so long once that I just let cash - for a few cents under the exact amount. And I did write on the receipt why I did it.

huge pet peeve

speee1dy- Im not a server, but if i was, I'm sure i would appreciate your tips (ha) on how to do my job.
I would suppose that quote has more to do with people who are opposed to tipping more so than someone who received actual bad service.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/24/business/economy/as-minimum-wage-rises-restaurants-say-no-to-tips-yes-to-higher-prices.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&_r=0

I'm pretty sure that article ran somewhere else which is one of the reasons I started this thread. This article exposes some of the inequities of the tipping policies.