A month ago, Uber rolled out optional in-app tipping nationwide, which made it look a little more driver-friendly while stuck in a traffic jam of terrible publicity. We’re sure that change had nothing to do with what happened in New York’s City Council today: A bill that would require ride-hailing apps to let customers tip within the app passed the transportation committee and is on its way to the mayor’s desk. [More]
the tipping point
Survey: Male Republican Baby Boomer Northeasterners Are The Best Tippers
By 7.11.17
Among Americans, who are the most generous tippers? If you believe the results of a recent survey, if you’re in the service industry, you should hope that your next customer is a male Republican from the Northeast who’s a member of the Baby Boomer generation and pays on a credit card. [More]
Uber Will Soon Let All Drivers Accept Tips
By 6.20.17
Amid increasing tensions between Uber drivers and its “Always be hustlin'” corporate bro-verlords, the currently CEO-less company has decided to institute a big change that could result in drivers taking home more money: For the first time, drivers nationwide will be allowed to accept tips from passengers via the Uber app. [More]
One State & One City Voted To Eventually Do Away With Sub-Minimum Wages For Tipped Workers
By 11.9.16
If you’ve never worked in the foodservice or hospitality industry, you may not know that employees who rely on tips often earn base pay that is significantly less than minimum wage (the federal minimum is currently $2.13/hour). Tips can certainly add up to much more than the minimum wage, but they can also be cyclical and unpredictable, which is problematic for people living paycheck to paycheck. Yesterday, voters in one state and one city decided it was time to phase in wage increases that will eventually get tipped workers earning base pay that is at least the minimum. [More]
Grandfather Of Waitress Confronts Customer Who “Only Tips Citizens”
By 8.22.16
A Virginia restaurant customer not only refused to tip her waitress after a recent meal, but left a note on the receipt that implied the server was not a citizen and therefore somehow not deserving of a living wage. When the waitress’s grandfather heard about it, he called the customer out online and confronted her in person when she complained to the restaurant after the picture of the receipt went public. [More]
Drunk Customer Returns To Restaurant The Next Day To Take Back $1,000 Tip
By 6.15.16
Usually when someone leaves an exorbitant tip at a restaurant, folks ask things like, “What made them so generous? What’s the heartwarming story behind it?” But one restaurant owner was a bit more practical after a drunk customer left $1,000 on the table for servers, asking instead, “Did he even mean to do that, or will he just want his money back?” It turns out she was right to ask those questions, because he didn’t, and he did. [More]
Joe’s Crab Shack Backs Away From No-Tipping Policy
By 5.13.16
Six months after Joe’s Crab Shack became the first national full-service chain to test a no-tipping policy, the company is ditching the idea. [More]
Joe’s Crab Shack Tests No-Tipping Policy, Raises Server Wages To $14/Hour
By 11.10.15
Joe’s Crab Shack will become the first national full-service chain to test a no-tipping policy, following in the footsteps of several prominent New York-based restaurants that ditched gratuity last month. [More]
Parent Company Of 13 Prominent NYC Restaurants Decides To Eliminate Tipping
By 10.14.15
Union Square Hospitality Group isn’t a household name nationwide, but it’s the parent company of 13 prominent restaurants in New York City. It was also previously the parent company of burger chain Shake Shack, which has since left the nest as a separate company. Today, USHG announced that they’re going to eliminate tipping in all of their restaurants, instead raising prices to give all employees a raise. [More]
Restaurant Group Behind 17 N.J. Houlihan’s Sued For Allegedly Pocketing Workers’ Tips, Not Paying Overtime
By 10.2.15
A New Jersey company that operates 17 Houlihan’s restaurants in the state is being sued by the U.S. Department of Labor over claims that bosses were skimming tips from employees, to the tune of $40,000 that should’ve gone into tipped workers’ pockets, but instead were allegedly “unlawfully” distributed to non-tipped employees. [More]
Lawsuit Filed By Former Pizza Hut Delivery Drivers Claim Company’s Fees Cut Into Workers’ Tips
By 8.24.15
It’s not easy being a delivery person — you’re entrusted with getting hot food to its proper destination quickly, and then have face-to-face interactions with customers. The better you perform at your job, the more likely you are to get a nice tip for all that hard work and driving around. Two former pizza delivery drivers who worked for Pizza Hut are suing the company, claiming that their work wasn’t always rewarded as it should’ve been. [More]
Workers Say UK Restaurant Chain Keeps Their Tips, Makes Them Lie To Customers About It
By 8.21.15
When you’re eating at a restaurant and they impose a “service charge,” where do you assume that money goes? While laws regarding the pay of tipped workers are different in the United Kingdom than here, they do have the custom of tipping. Except at the chain restaurant Côte, which reportedly imposes an optional service charge which isn’t distributed directly to waitstaff. [More]
One Of World’s Most Expensive Restaurants Caught Keeping Tips From Waiters
By 7.2.15
Celebrity chef Thomas Keller’s Per Se restaurant in Manhattan is one of the world’s most expensive eateries, with diners paying a minimum prix fixe of $310 each for dinner. And yet the restaurant has been caught charging certain customers for “service charges” that didn’t go to pay the people performing that service. Now it faces having to pay $500,000 in restitution to employees who should have received this money. [More]
Customer Grateful For D.C. Restaurant’s Gumbo Leaves $2,000 Tip On $93 Bill
By 5.28.15
It’s always nice to be appreciated for your hard work in any form, but when someone goes out of their way with a hefty chunk of change, you better believe it makes people excited. Thus was the case with a regular customer at a D.C. restaurant who loved his gumbo so much, he tipped $2,000 on a $93 lunch bill. [More]
Art Collector Leaves His Two Favorite Steak House Servers $50K Each In His Will
By 5.11.15
Being appreciated in your profession is always a good feeling, but when a tip comes in the form of a very generous bequeathal from a grateful customer, it can be staggering. Two waitresses at a Manhattan steak house received $50,000 each in the will of an art collector who’d frequented their place of work for decades. [More]
Would You Tip Your Lawyer Or Your Dentist?
By 5.6.15
In discussions of the custom of tipping, you never hear typical consumers wish that they were expected or asked to tip their service providers in more industries. Yet Square, a service that lets small businesses accept credit card and direct mobile payments on phones and tablets, gives any business the opportunity to prompt customers for a tip. [More]
Why Can’t You Tip Your Uber Driver From Within The App?
By 2.16.15 — Updated: 3.22.17
Uber’s goal is to make the process of hailing a cab seamless and easy, without requiring users to carry cash or even have any idea what street address they’re at. The company’s success shows how much people like this integrated pricing model, but as the company lowers fares, drivers earn less money. Yet asking for tips, even with a sign in the backseat, can get a driver in trouble. [More]
Waitress Caught Editing Customers’ Tips To Add $10 Or $20 For Herself
By 2.13.15
One good reason to pay your restaurant bill in cash: Tipped employees get that money right away without having to worry about being docked fees for card-processing. Another good reason: A scammy server can’t artificially inflate your credit card tip with some crafty work of the pen. [More]
