ksixnine t1_ja9iapt wrote on February 27, 2023 at 8:54 PM

Reply to comment by wandering_engineer in What's your experience with Initiative 82? by UncleLongHair0

I did say it was optional in Scandinavia.. and in Germany they bake in and bang you for both a service fee and a VAT, so yeah your leaving a few Euros if you care to is really at your discretion.

My prior comment wasn’t clear: in most EU countries a service fee is included, and leaving extra isn’t necessary; however, if a service fee isn’t included a 5-15% is expected ~ Switzerland on the other hand wants 10% on top of their service fee.

wandering_engineer t1_ja9lb9e wrote on February 27, 2023 at 9:13 PM

Yes that was my point - tipping is nice but generally not expected. Compare that to the US where 20% is now apparently the bare minimum and you're considered nothing short of a monster if you don't tip (and many people will roast you for even 15-18%, I've seen it happen).

I am hoping that the new initiative will nudge people towards the European model but am afraid it's too ingrained.

EDIT: and again service fee and VAT is rolled into the price. If that burger is €15 on the menu, you pay €15. None of this deceptive adding a service charge, then adding sales tax, then expecting over 20% more on top of all that. You get banged both ways in the US too, the only difference is Germans are at least transparent about it.

ksixnine t1_ja9w7t6 wrote on February 27, 2023 at 10:23 PM

It isn’t that ingrained, and people will adjust; however, the financial compensation isn’t there at present.

Too many people thought of/ wanted to treat this job like any other 9-5 where you get paid X/hr with a chance to make extra — the problem is that they didn’t want to put in their apprentice time and expected to make Four Seasons type of money while working at a Cracker Barrel.

Yeah.. no.

The other problem is that you’ve people that were earning $30-$50+/hr on the old system — very few places can honestly charge enough to actually make that type of financial compensation.

I do understand the frustration of feeling cheated here in the US- it sucks for you and the server. I also understand the fear that restaurants have over profit margins being thin.

Ultimately it’ll be a hybrid system similar to San Francisco (although DC doesn’t have that type of expendable cash..) where QR codes & fast casual fills most of the void, and going out to eat at a regular restaurant becomes a special treat vs a normal experience.