Recently I watched a very interesting video from TED about a man named Bruce McAdams essentially saying that America should follow the European model and eliminate the gratuity system in America. For your viewing pleasure, I am linking it HERE.
Now, put the knee-jerk reaction aside, (after all, if this guy is a "restauranteur," than by his definition, so am I....) I decided to offer my points to show the ridiculous fallacies in his arguments.
First of all, I am going to have to question the credibility of this source. Realistically, I would hesitate from taking any sort of real instruction from a man with his resume. He never owned a single restaurant in the Oliver & Bonacini food group which he began work in 1997, and I usually reserve the word "restauranteur" to someone who both owns and operates. Now after his career he has ventured into academia, and as the old saying goes, "Those who can't do, teach." Now this is somewhat unfair because it's not always true, but if you are skilled enough to effectively operate a venue, I can't imagine why you would choose instead to teach it. Regardless, this is all conjecture on my part. On to his arguments.
Argument One: Tipping is irrelevant because we tip on the check amount.
Bruce sets up this argument with one presupposition: We tip based on previous tipping behavior. I find this leg of his argument to be sound; most people choose a percentage and tip above or below it based on the quality of service given. However, it's the second scenario that he falls into trouble.
Bruce gives a scenario in which he buys a $100 bottle of wine, and consequently tips %15, and the table next to him gets a $50 bottle of wine, and tips the same percentage. If the server is performing the same, why should I be tipping $15 on one table and $7.50 on the other? Sounds logical, right?
This argument really falls upon the ridiculous ignorance of Bruce. While I agree, opening the bottle and pouring the wine is the action, it's what takes place before that is the deciding factor. A server is a salesperson. Many consumers don't know enough about wine to make an educated choice, and saying that tipping on the check amount is as absurd as saying that a guest orders based on the price tag. I've had many a bottle of wine that costs at least $50 and felt it was over-valued. A true server sells the product on the menu, and doesn't let the menu do the selling for them. If you can have a guest who would have normally stopped at a $50 bottle of wine and is able to be sold one that is $70, the additional tip, in that situation, is a reward from the guest for introducing them to a superior product and is an incentive for the server to sell more. If the elevated check amount is a result of the salesmanship of the server, then the elevated tip is the reward.
Argument two: "Tipping promotes discrimination."
This is one of the black marks of the service industry. Bruce is not all wrong about this; in general men tip better than women, and businessmen tip better than families. Ok, I buy this. But once again, this is a short sighted view of the industry.
Any server or bartender worth their salt knows the golden rule: Regulars pay the bills. Discrimination over the short term is something that is frequent with servers who are tourists, and don't really have any intentions to stay in the industry. Saying that serving is a low-skill occupation is true with tourists, but not with those who take it seriously. A good server or bartender has an encyclopedic knowledge of liquor, wine, and beer. They go to great lengths to know what they are serving so that they are able to "up-sell." I can't tell you how many times I've had a businessman come in with his family, and come back with clients or friends. The tip amount can vary, but the fact is that I have that individual visiting my establishment frequently, which makes him more valuable than a one-time visitor. A smart server will serve well in the hopes of a return visit, not of a big tip.
Furthermore, there is some study that Bruce fails to mention. Often times it is said that "black people don't tip." A recent study explains that black patrons tip off of perceived service, NOT off of check averages. I rarely see bad tips but that is because I am an excellent server. However let's suspend my personal ability for a moment and take a look at a simple fact. For every five times I receive at bad (<10% tip) from one of the stereotype groups that supposedly tips badly, I get one that tips FAR over an anticipated amount (>35%). The law of averages begins to take over for me.
Argument three: "Tipping does not alter the quality of service."
How Bruce can, in one breath, utter his previous argument and then say this is a simple contradiction unto itself. Tipping not only alters is for the next person, but it also alters it for you when you return. Furthermore, Servers remember who tips well and who doesn't.
Argument four: A universal service charge insures universal service standards.
Go to a pub in the UK, and try to tell me this again. Please. I dare you. Service where tipping is not used typically sucks. Yes, there are exceptions to this rule, such as many of the fine dining European restaurants, but your average place doesn't give great service. If I want excellent service I will go to a highly accredited or highly regulated restaurant. I'm not holding my breath at Olive Garden. Source: My wife who lived in the UK for 28 years.
Argument five: Tipping isn't fair to the back of the house.
My father worked in very complicated fields in his life. He once told me that at most tech companies, salesmen are the second best paid people in the corporation. This is the way of the world. This is the same as the restaurant industry, with a tiny tweak.
First of all, salesmanship is not a skill that can be learned, it's a talent. You can't really go to "sales school." You can either sell things or you can't. I was born with the ability to sell, and I have honed this talent over the years until I could make myself a very comfortable living. I can put a price tag on what a cook creates and offers to the restaurant; it's called a menu. It's far more difficult to put a price tag on what a server does. Bruce likes to talk about "equal value creation," but you can't measure apples and oranges. I have seen VIP clientele that spend thousands of dollars because they "like" a server. That is how it happens.
"Well, cooking is a talent, too!" you say! "Culinary arts, right?" RIGHT! You are entirely correct. Every cook out there sees what they do as art, or at least the good ones do. Since when is art profitable for more than the top 1%? Furthermore, most servers cannot invest their time in their talent to transition it to a career. Cooks can. Servers invest their time for a monetary yield. You start somewhere that isn't good and you eventually move into the high-profit venues. Your end-game is just a bigger paycheck so that you can save that money to do something with it. Cooks invest their time for their own kitchen; it's a career that they are chasing. If that's not your goal, you probably shouldn't be cooking.
Bruce made a few points on the end regarding strife between the staff and accountability with the allocation of tips. At the end, this is not a problem with tipping, that's an issue with management. (Wasn't that your job, Bruce?)
The bottom line in my book: tipping works here. A lot of people don't want to tip for any number of reasons. I often times hear people say "I'm not paying someone extra just to do their job." Servers in the US make less than $3/hr. The system is predicated on tipping.
I will say that there are many restaurants that have taken tipping out of their business model; I have friends that work for them. At the end of the day, the one thing I always hear is that it discourages individual achievement. Servers no longer try to up-sell, and just do the minimum that they can get away with.
I'm not sure when competition in the work place became a bad thing. I know that in all the high-end clubs, restaurants, and lounges, it drives the venue to be the best.
If money is what makes the world go round, competition is it's fuel.
As we would say behind the bar, "Go home Bruce, you're drunk."
