CNBC article on the changes in tipping practices ...

It’s in the terms when they sign up to accept credit cards, one of the rules is they cannot charge a “credit card surcharge” or processing fee to the customer.

No clue if the card issuers dropped that from their terms, or more businesses are just ignoring the terms they signed up for. But I think the only repercussion is as the ANEX guy said, just stop accepting the card. Maybe if enough customers complain, they get cut off on the back end? I once encountered a place that wouldn’t take VISA or AMEX, only Mastercard. Which I found very strange, probably had something to do with that. I’ve heard of places not accepting Amex due to their higher swipe fees, but Visa?

 

Yeah I noted earlier in the thread where the owner of a deli keeps all credit card tips. I had good experiences when I was younger and worked for tips as they were always shared appropriately. Not sure that's the case anymore as businesses seem to be more insatiable than ever.

 

I try to tip in cash. Sometimes you can’t but I wish they would raise the price of food and pay everyone a fair wage.

 

Seriously, I dont tip at Subway. I mean, what are they going to do? Drop the food on the floor a second time before serving me?

 

Definitely not legal. Red Mesa in St Pete got busted for that among other thing.Get her to a lawyer.

 

My summer/weekend job when I just got out of high school was as a line boy parking and fueling private aircraft at the airport. Talk about some tips, when a business jet would come in all the boys would rush out to see who could get them first. A good job parking, fueling and cleaning the windows on a private jet could get you a $50 tip and that was in 1969 dollars.

 

My daughter used to do it when she was in that weird status of having a job but not having a driver’s license or car yet. Used to infuriate me. Thankfully now that she has a car she doesn’t even think about it anymore.

 

When my sons were young they built a Pizza Hut about 3 blocks from my house. After it had been open about 20 years we had a pizza delivered and the delivery boy said the manager said it was on the house because he pulled up our address and over the years we had ordered more pizzas than the next two customers combined. Did I mention I raised 3 boys and my house was the meeting place for the neighborhood kids?

 

Subway at least kinda of makes sense. They make the sandwich to your specifications for you personally right in front of you. I don’t mind tipping them a buck or two. It’s the places where there is literally no interaction between me and the person behind the counter aside from me paying and them handing me my food that don’t make any sense for me to tip.

 

I used to be in the night club business and we paid professional spotters to come in periodically. The worst we ever had were heavy pours, which we could live with. A bartender giving away beers that they weren't authorized to comp or reimbursed us for would be fired on the spot...they are stealing. Your generous tips don't pay the bars' bills. If you were fully aware of what was going on, you could be charged with theft. No different than the Macy's employee intentionally not charging you for all of your merchandise. I'm not suggesting a bar would want a customer charged, we would not have done that, but is a definite legal possibility.

 

Sounds like your night club was a shit place to work if you were paying people to spy on your bartenders. I used to own a bar. We valued our regulars and treated them well. We valued our employees and treated them well too. We trusted them to use their discretion.

 

Hold on, sport. We had a large bar (800 capacity) and we ran in professionally. We were Pepin distributors (Budweiser/Michelob/Busch) largest nightclub account in Hillsborough County and had 20 minute lines out the door two nights a week. We were not some corner neighborhood bar where everyone was like family and you might develop that level of trust. Our bartenders had comp tabs for every shift they worked and, if they asked due to a big spender, we would increase it. We did not tolerate stealing, either cash or product. If you touched cash in our bar, you were not allowed to drink during your shift. In an operation on our scale and with the size of our staff, to not monitor things in a primarily cash business periodically would have been a HUGE error.

Our employees were happy and likely made far more than yours. 75% of our female staff was recruited straight out of Hooters because they could make significantly more money with us while working in a pleasant environment.

I pay for EVERY drink when I go out unless a manager personally tells me they are comping it or I know the employee has a comp tab. I don't participate in theft.

 

Sounds great. You do your life and I'll do mine.

 

Good lord I hate places like that. Sounds like that country western bar out in E Hillsborough. Did I mention I despise C&W? I don’t drink any anymore but I went either to smaller places or higher end (for Hillsborough) like Eddie V’s/OceanPrime. I was/still am a regular with a group of guys and we spend some coin. I expected and got a strong pour. I didn’t necessarily expect comps but it was good business to give me some. We took care of both the restaurant/bar AND the bartenders.

 

Don’t hookers always get the tip?

 

Don’t like C&W and don’t drink???

 

I would have preferred a bartender to comp a drink (again, they were allowed) than to over pour. Part of the reason I only drink beer when I go out is I always want to know exactly how much alcohol I'm consuming. I understand the absorption and elimination tables and have a very good feel for when I need to Uber or can safely drive. When your bartender free or over pours, you have no idea how much alcohol you drank, that extra 1/2 ounce adds up quickly and can lead to very unfortunate consequences. We never used a computer pour system, but we did require the use of jiggers for drink consistency and inventory purposes. I always felt that was part of being a responsible vendor, let the customer see and know exactly what they are consuming.

I frequently have this conversation with new DUI clients. They might know how many drinks they had, but they have absolutely no idea how much alcohol they consumed unless the bar was using a controlled or measured pour system.

 

I used to love to drink until I didn’t. But. Like any reasonable person I’ve alway hated C&W except for the occasional cross over hit.

 

Yeah, but at least you are virtually guaranteed to receive cold food by the time it reaches your door. There's also zero accountability in the portioning, as you're not there to see the chipotle person making your burrito bowl or to complain to the manager after receiving your meal.

 

The only time I'm in a tipping situation is when we go out to eat or there's valet parking. I always tip, 20% as a rule, but less if the service was bad, which is rare. I can afford it, the servers probably need it, and it gives me pleasure to give it.