Man, this whole tipping thing is so crazy to.me, as a German.
I'm a bike mechanic and get paid very, very well for the work I do.
But I've now lost count of the amount of times that customers have tried to hand me a tip when I give them their bike back, that I would then tell them I didn't want because I get paid well.
I've now started taking the tips, but then saving all the money in my tool chest, and at the the end of every month, I donate it all to a local charity.
Im not against tipping im against tipping not be optional or the worker starves. If a business runs on tips its code for we underpay our staff and make it your problem and you will be happy with it and pay for our employee.
Hell some businesses illegally pocket the tips... I hate the culture thats formed around it but a nice bonus for a job well done I consider to be acceptable and appreciative if people can afford it, if its forced then its a problem.
I think the German up there is maybe a bit too sensitive. Tipping someone as a sign of gratitude for exceptional work is not exhausting, it should be something the tipper feels like they want to do, not compelled to do.
Like for example if you asked someone to do a rush job, and you know it would probably make their day harder and they agree to do it, tipping them over their base pay would be something a lot of people feel like would be a nice reward for helping them out.
Tipping someone that does not expect this is very much okay, I doubt many will say anything against it. But it's not the context here and it should never become mandatory, either by state regulations or even as a common custom.
Mind you also that tipping can be an awkward exchange. I once was in restaurant in rural Czechia and said I wanted to tip and they turned red, refused and said that it's not needed. Some people look at tips as some form of charity.
I mean working at a bike shop seems like a place where people would be more likely to tip out of their generosity and respect for good work vs. a burger place or something, that was the context I was in when I made my post.
But the problem is it keeps expanding to more and more ridiculous areas. Now you are asked to tip prior to getting your food you ordered and you are ordering it at the counter and picking it up yourself. It used to be that you only tipped for table service.
Canadian here, tipping is fucking exhausting. I literally have never tipped anyone out of gratitude or exceptional work.
Why am I getting prompts to tip in fucking food courts?
Order something online no tip. Order beer online the exact same way, am I supposed to tip?
Go to a restaurant with a big enough party, they add gratuity then they come around for you to pay and still ask you to fucking tip and there is no "server wage" here.
Absolutely there are different scenarios. My siding got redone and I asked if he could remove and dispose of a window AC while he had his ladders out. Did it no questions. And it was pro install so it wasn't just open the window and it falls out. I gave him $20 for his time and effort. Took him maybe ten minutes but it was a thing I've wanted done for years
It's awkward as fuck to be tipped and there is no scenario that changes that, pay should always be negotiated up front so both parties have clear expectations and respect. In your own scenario you should have offered to pay more along with the request instead of tipping afterwards.
There are some people who love the concept of tipping, but that's just them, there is no scenario where it becomes a universally good thing.
But it all started with the tipping you describe and it metastisized into this monster that keeps spreading onto more and more absurd places. Just a matter of time before my dentist asks for a tip. Fuck that shit.
I mean it is a totally different thing if the impulse comes from the customer for good service, instead of expecting a tip no matter what.
How many customers tip out of every 10 and how much? I don't think we're talking 20% but more like 10-20€. On the other hand some bikers are crazy when it comes to their bike. So curious if you allow the question.
What would you estimate the number if everybody tipped 20% of the amount they pay for your service on the final bill? I guess your employed and not a freelancer?
Germany has the second biggest tipping culture in the EU, after Austria. Granted it restricts itself to restaurants, bars, cafes and other types of hospitality, but it's one of the few countries where it's pretty much expected.
Before card terminals started appearing everywhere since covid, tipping was minimal. And usually only in bars and restaurants, and even then it was only usually a case of rounding up to the nearest 1-5€, depending on the total bill amount.
Since covid, everyone who installed those terminals put the tipping screen on by default to guilt trip people into tipping. I take much joy in clicking "no tip" every time I see it
That's fair, it also surprised me when I visited Germany last - and Vienna more recently (which apparently has had that tipping culture forever) - but it's definitely more common and expected in those countries than I've encountered elsewhere in Europe.
everyone who installed those terminals put the tipping screen on by default
I fucking hate those so much. I've seen one here in my city in the Netherlands and it's just so fucking offensive. I indeed refuse to use them for that purpose as well.
You get paid well as a bike mechanic? I can't tell you how jealous I am, I don't think anyone has any idea how bad the industry is in the states.
I've been wrenching in the US for 8 years. Started only knowing how to fix flats, got all the certifications, worked up till I was running a shop singlehandedly. and with inflation I actually make less now than when I started and could only fix flats. Still haven't found a shop that can pay me my basic cost to stay alive.
People talk a lot about the 'shrinking middle class' while overlooking just how bad the already lower class is getting squeezed in every aspect of life
I'm 50/50 on it. Yes. Tipping a bike mechanic or tattoo artist is insane. But it has its purpose in the food industry. Yes there are owners that are making bank and should be paying an hourly wage. But a lot of mom and pop places are struggling to keep the lights on due to insane food and rent costs. Assuming a person isn't just stingy, tipping works like a real economy should work with rich people financially helping poor people.
I mean, for me in Russia, our tipping culture is quite tame. Its mostly for service workers, and you tip only if you wanna. Noone will shit on you if you dont
Have some respect for yourself... just keep the money. Your customers gave it to you because they wanted you to have it and appreciated your work. Donating it to some charity that will probably waste it anyway is so lame
the real reason why tipping culture exists is because of ONE group of people: waitstaff for restaurants all over america
THEY are more than happy getting paid $1.78 an hour because they have a chance to clear HUNDREDS of dollars in tips in a single evening
they are the ones that are more than happy to keep the system going because we as a society have gotten the customers to pay for the wages by directly compensating them with tips/cash, and of course the owners and bosses are happy to pass it along to the customer too
but its the workers who can get hella cash tips that do not want this to go away, full stop.
there's the difference -- you are "paid very, very, well". People in the U.S. are not, and we don't have functioning social services to back it up. "Tipping" is explicitly a way to offload paying what people are worth from the owner to the customer. It started as, essentially, a legal way to pay black workers little or no money, and expanded. Now, cost of living goes up for everyone, and salaries don't.
It isn't "fuck tipping culture". It's "fuck management and owners for paying as little as they can".
Also, good luck being paid well as a bike mechanic here, where cities are built entirely around cars.
That's the craziest thing about US tipping culture!
Business owners offloading their responsibility of paying their workers onto the customer.
In that scenario, you'd rightly expect eating out to be cheap, because the service isn't included.
But it's not cheap at all! It's mind bogglingly expensive to eat out or go a bar now. And then you've got to pay the servers on top!
I went to the US in 96 or 98 and I remember being shocked at how cheap everything was.
Eating and drinking cost next to nothing, so then tipping the, at the time, customary 10% on top felt fine.
But now the same restaurant and bar bills have ballooned well beyond the official inflation rates and you're expected to tip a minimum of 20%!
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u/CrashTestPhoto 10h ago
Man, this whole tipping thing is so crazy to.me, as a German.
I'm a bike mechanic and get paid very, very well for the work I do.
But I've now lost count of the amount of times that customers have tried to hand me a tip when I give them their bike back, that I would then tell them I didn't want because I get paid well.
I've now started taking the tips, but then saving all the money in my tool chest, and at the the end of every month, I donate it all to a local charity.
Fuck tipping culture.