Eateries choose service charges over tips

I'm sure everyone will have an opinion on this topic, as
those who have discovered upon traveling to other states and
countries, that hotels & restaurants are starting to replace the
practice of consumer tipping and automatically adding it into the
bill. What do you think of this practice?

Eateries choose service charges over tips

By Laura Bly
USA Today

Starting today, diners who snag a coveted table at celebrity chef
Thomas Keller's pricey Manhattan restaurant, Per Se, won't need to
worry about calculating a gratuity as they linger over a Valrhona
chocolate brownie or glass of vintage port.

They'll pay an automatic, 20 percent service charge instead - and feed
an escalating controversy about how travelers reward those who serve
their meals, make their beds and carry their bags in what one expert
calls "the most tip-conscious country in the world."

"We tend to think of America as a place where the voluntary tip is
king," says Cornell University associate professor Michael Lynn, who
has researched tipping behavior for 20 years. "Today, that's not
necessarily the case."
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Keller's new policy, which he says is designed to help bridge the
compensation gap between servers and lower-paid cooks and other
kitchen staff, is raising eyebrows among New York foodies.

But a required service charge "is something we've been doing at
(Keller's Napa Valley restaurant) French Laundry for eight years,"
notes Keller.

"There are other restaurants that employ this system in the United
States, and it's also common at major hotels," he says.

Indeed, "we are hearing more stories than we used to about mandatory
service charges replacing voluntary tips at hotels, particularly when
it comes to housekeepers, doormen and bellhops, both for individual
guests and for groups," says Sue Pelletier, executive editor of
Medical Meetings magazine.

When Cornell's Lynn made an informal survey of Conde Nast Traveler's
47 top-rated spas this spring, he found about half included an
automatic service charge.

Over the past few years, meanwhile, most major U.S. cruise lines have
deep-sixed the traditional practice of passengers distributing tip
envelopes at the end of a voyage in favor of automatic gratuities.
They typically run $10 per person per day, though passengers can
request an adjustment at the purser's desk.

But replacing voluntary tips with a service charge, while common in
Europe, remains unusual at U.S. restaurants except for parties of six
or more, says Tim Zagat, founder of the Zagat restaurant guides.

"It has been the consistent experience of most Americans that a tip
means 'to improve performance,' and most people believe it does have
an impact on the service they get," says Zagat, who points to a recent
online poll in which 94 percent of 1,000 respondents said they
preferred to determine their own tips.

"They like to be able to make a big gesture when they've had a great
meal," he adds. And although "it's very rare to stiff the waiter,
people do go down to 10 percent or 15 percent when they're miffed."

Some frequent travelers welcome the concept of service charges, at
least in a few settings.

"I would love it at hotels," says Stephanie Dickey, a Richmond,
Texas-based sales executive. "I hate always having to have plenty of
ones and fives to tip the valet, the bellman at the front, the bellman
who brings my bags to my room, housekeeping ... and so on."

On the other hand, "I've always felt that dining service is subpar in
countries where there is a flat service fee."

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-- Hilary Duff