Discussions

an Earl's in Calgary is adding a mandatory 16% surcharge to everyone from small parties to single diners.  
 
http://www.ctvnews.ca/business/earls-restaurant-causes-stir-in-calgary-with-mandatory-hospitality-charge-1.2983484

This has been standard in Europe for decades. It is not a tip but a commission so the server that serves more food earns more money. The price on the menu also includes all taxes so it further reduces the shock when the bill arrives. The receipt splits the various charges into their appropriate categories.  
 
The key with Earl's decision is that they should include the 16% in the menu along with the appropriate taxes.

I'm going to wait till everybody is doing this, and then going to open a place and advertise that I'm running a place that respects people's right to make a choice. I'm figureing that labor costs are a part of business, and volume of sales are also part of business, I can work with slightly lower prices than the 16%, and with higher sales still pay workers a decent wage. There will be those who still tip which makes it that much better for those who keep the customer happy.  
 
While writing this had the strangest feeling that some government will adopt this new tipping idea and pass some darn law saying we all have to tip.

People get it through your heads. Boycott the place. Never been to Earls as not one close to me but if there was I would never step foot in it again. I have no problem tipping when warranted but I do have a problem being forced to do so

Mandatory tips means a mandatory me not going to the place. Plenty of other restaurants with attractive serving staff that doesn't require a tip unless it is required  
 
They should have just raised prices 16 percent and said no tipping instead of adding a charge then no one would have cared and been pumped that you didn't have to tip there anymore

The fact that the Calgary Stampede is on right now coincides with the implementation of pilot project must surely be coincidental.  
 
This is the second major faux pas they have made in the past few months. Didn’t really care for their establishment but this just seals the deal.

I do not go any place I am required to tip.  
If the service is great I tip.  
If it is a I am just doing my job place, oh I got to get off my cell phone, customers are such an annoyance = no tip

Calling it a no tipping policy, by changing the name to hospitality charge and making it mandatory what are they thinking, its a mandatory tip what do they think people are stupid, %10 tip used to be the going rate for years meals have gone up quite a bit since then so %10 is a lot more than it used to be, then this tip sharing started, just an excuse to subsidize all the staffs wages not just the waiters, so waiters tips went down then they came up with this you should tip %10 for bad service and 15 to 20 for good service its boogles the mind don't mind tipping but its out of control now.

Midway55 said "Calling it a no tipping policy, by changing the name to hospitality charge and making it mandatory what are they thinking, its a mandatory tip what do they think people are stupid, %10 tip used to be the going rate for years meals have gone up quite a bit since then so %10 is a lot more than it used to be, then this tip sharing started, just an excuse to subsidize all the staffs wages not just the waiters, so waiters tips went down then they came up with this you should tip %10 for bad service and 15 to 20 for good service its boogles the mind don't mind tipping but its out of control now. "

i fully agree  
 
they could have just raised the rates and paid there staff a fair wage with the increased costs instead of calling it a surcharge, one you have no choice to give or not, bad service, bad food or not. the argument that they cant do it that way because harder workers should be rewarded is exactly what they are taking away, the costumers right to decide if the service was above and beyond enough to be rewarded, besides, most jobs have some lazier staff and some hard working staff that all get paid by the same hourly rate, yes it can cause resentment but it is how our employment works here so such is life  
 
good thing i havent liked earls since they changed it something like 15 years ago

Garret said "Mandatory tips means a mandatory me not going to the place. Plenty of other restaurants with attractive serving staff that doesn't require a tip unless it is required     They should have just raised prices 16 percent and said no tipping instead of adding a charge then no one would have cared and been pumped that you didn't have to tip there anymore "

every server is working to bring you your food, or clear your table. Regardless of their attractiveness. And deserve a tip.  
 
This is an implemented control, put in place to keep bad customers out of there who feel it necessary to avoid tipping. The customers who still like their food and service will continue to pay.  
 
No need to get offended folks. I'm sure there are reasons why we will likely never have an Earl's in this fine city.

LoadedGun said "    Garret said "Mandatory tips means a mandatory me not going to the place. Plenty of other restaurants with attractive serving staff that doesn't require a tip unless it is required     They should have just raised prices 16 percent and said no tipping instead of adding a charge then no one would have cared and been pumped that you didn't have to tip there anymore " every server is working to bring you your food, or clear your table. Regardless of their attractiveness. And deserve a tip.     This is an implemented control, put in place to keep bad customers out of there who feel it necessary to avoid tipping. The customers who still like their food and service will continue to pay.     No need to get offended folks. I'm sure there are reasons why we will likely never have an Earl's in this fine city. "

Between them snubbing their noses at the Candian beef industry and now this stupid idea, they can stay away. I'll never eat there.

You said that every waitress or waiter is working hard to bring you your food, clean tables, and other duties and deserve a tip, now I believe those things are what they get a wage for doing. I tip, maybe not a lot, but I do tip. We ate at the Kam Lung noon smorg last week, we entered the building and were noticed by a waitress and seated immediately, we were asked about our meal choice as well as beverage choice, we chose the smorg and served ourselves, the waitress made sure our water glasses were kept full, and also pointed out the sushi bar as well as desert area, she also asked if the food was good, which I thought it was.  
For me a tip is not paid for a person doing there job, but doing it with the customer in mind, not often, but on occasion that is not part of the dining process, and then no tip is paid.  
 
The whole tipping thing bothers me at times since there are many people who look after me as a customer and because if the business no tip would ever be suggested, and yet many of these people work for minimum wage as well.

I think tipping had gotten way out of control. 10% used to be considered a great tip but now you are looked at as cheap. No where else can someone who does not own a piece of the business can receive an hourly wage ( I'm aware it's usually minimum ) but still feels to a cut of 15%-18%. This is a profit margin that is not realistic in most businesses. Is it standard to tip the person who helps you shop for clothing? How about the person who adjusts your glasses or takes your complaints at Walmart? Do people tip contractors or service workers when they have something fixed in their home? I think instead of attacking patrons maybe the servers and restaurant staff need to go to owners and state that tips are to end and that a living hourly wage be paid instead. Failing that quit and go elsewhere for employment. Where I live a couple restaurants are set up that you order and pay at till. When paying with a card they ask for a tip ranging from 12-18% on the debit machine before I have even been served. Sorry but I'm tired of being guilted into paying a bigger tip for the same or less service.

This is why I don't eat there. It's very pretentious!

Why should a customer at a restaurant be made to feel or even forced into tipping for food/service that should be good and served in a timely manner in the first place. I rarely tip unless someone has gone above and beyond what I would expect of them. Many people jobs require them to interact with customers and provide service that don't receive tips why should the restaurant industry be any different. Is there some reason as a restaurant owner that prevents them from paying an appropriate wage and not relying on others/customers to top it up. I know where I work there are several of us that do the same job but we do not all do it equally with the same amount of expertise or quality and that is reflected in our wage or any bonuses/increases we may see.

Flatlander said "Why should a customer at a restaurant be made to feel or even forced into tipping for food/service that should be good and served in a timely manner in the first place. I rarely tip unless someone has gone above and beyond what I would expect of them. Many people jobs require them to interact with customers and provide service that don't receive tips why should the restaurant industry be any different. Is there some reason as a restaurant owner that prevents them from paying an appropriate wage and not relying on others/customers to top it up. I know where I work there are several of us that do the same job but we do not all do it equally with the same amount of expertise or quality and that is reflected in our wage or any bonuses/increases we may see. "

I worked in retail for many years. I recall so many times when I would repeatedly go up ladders to retrieve clothes from a mannequin because you could not convince people that the same shade was on the shelf in front of them. I dropped items off for customers at other stores (my own car and gas money), and much more. I received maybe three tips in ten years for my over and above service.  
 
Same as now, if a customer cannot get into my place of business to pick something up and I offer to deliver it, I am not sure I have ever gotten a tip for that level of service either - and I am once again putting out my time and gas for that extra level.  
 
Why do we not tip the furnace guy who comes in the middle of a cold snap to fix our furnace? Do yo not think the flooring guy that delivers 2000lbs of flooring into your home deserves a little something extra for his/her effort? The cashier that packs your groceries so carefully that nothing gets damaged and does it with a smile on his face - why does HE not get a tip?  
 
I am done paying extra for people who are doing a basic level of service that they are getting a wage to do. If you have gone above and beyond, yes, you should get something for that - but it is up to me to decide that.

LoadedGun said "    Garret said "Mandatory tips means a mandatory me not going to the place. Plenty of other restaurants with attractive serving staff that doesn't require a tip unless it is required     They should have just raised prices 16 percent and said no tipping instead of adding a charge then no one would have cared and been pumped that you didn't have to tip there anymore " every server is working to bring you your food, or clear your table. Regardless of their attractiveness. And deserve a tip.     This is an implemented control, put in place to keep bad customers out of there who feel it necessary to avoid tipping. The customers who still like their food and service will continue to pay.     No need to get offended folks. I'm sure there are reasons why we will likely never have an Earl's in this fine city. "

People that don't tip are bad customers,don't tell your boss that if your a waiter, their eating in their restaurant paying for the meal making your boss money,they want the place full and selling meals tippers or no tippers, tips are never mandatory it was started as a reward for waiters for exceptional service but now its turned into something, else with the whole staff with their hand out, and in some restaurants even the owner feels entitled to a portion of the waiters tip.

 
 
Edited by Trekster, 2016-07-13 13:05:01

Getting a tip is a privilege NOT A RIGHT!  
 
Isn't this this the same restaurant that didn''t want to use Alberta beef?  
 
Edited by Trekster, 2016-07-13 13:04:04

Trekster said "Getting a tip is a privilege NOT A RIGHT!     Isn't this this the same restaurant that didn''t want to use Alberta beef?     Edited by Trekster, 2016-07-13 13:04:04"

Insist on a fairly risque "uniform" for its'' female employees to encourage better tips. (Although it may have relaxed their dress code in the wake of all the complaints....)  
 
 
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/earls-dress-code-changes-1.3485260  
 
 
 
I wish I did eat there so I could boycott it....but can''t stand the place to begin with.  
 
Edited by foxtrot11, 2016-07-13 13:38:52