<p>I am with BC. I don’t know anyone who does not “tip” (not just here). </p>
<p>But isn’t it silly to expect “gratuity” from every restaurant customer? I’d much rather like the method phone companies use, with fees that I cannot decipher. </p>
<p>How many of you have eaten out in San Francisco lately and seen the health surcharge on the bill?</p>
<p>Consider this: The additional dollar or two one leaves when adequately tipping makes a big difference to the server. </p>
<p>Is the extra dollar or two really going to make a difference to you, Mr. & Mrs. Customer? If it does, you should be eating at home. Signed – someone who paid their way through school waiting tables.</p>
<p>Agent99–that is also why I leave 3-5 bucks every morning for the housekeeping staff, in hotels. I can afford it; she is not working that backbreaking job because she needed a hobby</p>
<p>I waitressed in college, too!</p>
<p>“Why wouldn’t labor unions be in favor of businesses paying minimum wages?”</p>
<p>When restaurant workers are allowed to become unionized they would lobby for them in favor of a minimum wage, benefits, etc., but they are not going to enter into a legislative battle when it’s not about their workers or a broader piece of legislation re increasing federal minimum wage for all workers.</p>
<p>JRZ – I do the same, but I’m certain we’re in the minority. In general I try to be polite and understanding when dealing with folks who have to deal with the public for a living.</p>
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<p>Not the wait staff’s fault. </p>
<p>If you don’t like the way that the restaurants are set up or what fees/taxes are charged, do not eat there. Seems simple.</p>
<p>I always tip the hotel housekeeping staff. I leave the tip everyday.</p>
<p>I tip every one and usually over tip. </p>
<p>A few months ago I was in a parking garage and went to tip the attendant and looked in my wallet and it was empty. I was so embarrassed. The next time I was in the same garage I gave him $10 and told him I was sorry for the last time.</p>
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<p>What do you expect the size of the tip (hence the taken home pay of the wait staff) is going be, with and without the listed surge charge on the bill, as compared to simply adjusting the price of the service?</p>
<p>Is the health surcharge for health insurance?
If this is the case I would tip based on the cost of the meal.</p>
<p>^Then they are eejits.</p>
<p>Emilybee - do you mean an attendant who parked and retrieved your car, or do you simply mean a cashier who took money as you exited? I wouldn’t tip the latter.</p>
<p>^ At this particular garage (in Manhattan) the attendant who parks and retrieves the car also is the cashier. You pay the charge first, then he goes and gets your car.</p>
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<p>This is not the case around here. The tips are taken and divided among all the waitstaff including the busboys in many of the restaurants. Every one in my social circle tips whetther at the bar or at a table.</p>
<p>In SF all businesses with 20-plus employees have to either offer health insurance or help pay for the city’s health care access program, Healthy San Francisco. HSF isn’t really insurance, but it does offer affordable health care for uninsured city residents who don’t qualify for Medicare or Medi-Cal. Some restaurants adjusted menu prices to cover the surcharge while others list it as a separate charge on a diner’s bill.</p>
<p>I don’t think that what the Pastor did was the right thing to do at all. I don’t think that announcing the situation was a best practice, but I do think that this gave the servers the power to express feelings about not being tipped/paid fairly, so I am not opposed to what the food servers did either. They deserve to paid/tipped fairly for their work. I do not think that they should have lost their jobs, but my guess is that this was a legal decision and/or a decision to set an example so that other servers do not become vocal about similar behavior from patrons.</p>
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<p>Applebee’s is not worried about people who say they “have eaten at Applebee’s.” They want the one’s who say “I eat at Applebee’s.”</p>
<p>>We’re cheap?!?! What about the employer who is paying below minimum wage???</p>
<p>Well, look at this sensibly. If the employer were to pay these people minimum wage, your food prices would rise…probably by more than the price of the expected tip. So, you really can’t justify not paying the tip. Either pay before or after.</p>
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<p>Please do explain where that money is going to then… other than the owner’s pocket…</p>