What Happens When You Abolish Tipping

[Northside Food]

Interesting article by the owner of a restaurant about his experience when he abolished tipping at his place. He replaced it with a "mandatory service fee" and split it between the servers and the cooks.

http://www.slate.com/articles/life/culturebox/2013/08/tipless_restaurants_the_linkery_s_owner_explains_why_abolishing_tipping.html

[MadBob]

So,
Do you think that a "mandatory" service charge would work for most folks who dine out?
While I agree that compensation to those in the kitchen should increase food quality and timeliness from the kitchen, how do you address excellent performance by service staff vs. the slacker who is getting paid well for "under preforming" without showing favoritism or becoming a revolving door for employees to staff your business?
I will always tip for what I percieve as attentiveness and helpfulness to our dining experience and to reward our server for their efforts, otherwise the reward gets the percentage of the minimum that is suggested/required. I also understand the need for the "minimum" when you have a group of "fill in the blank" or more.
Folks that hustle and make my experience a pleasant one make the difference a lot of times for me. Crappy food? Send it back. Crappy waitron? Hope they don't spit in your food. Or worse. I really try to be patient and understanding when I am paying for service, I also I expect a little more than the garden variety company picnic. I could just stay at home and clean up my own mess but isn't that part of the reason why we go out in the first place? The experience?
Maybe said person(s) is/are having an off night, but surely one can sense that. Maybe there was a table with a crowd of plain out jackasses that had to be reckoned with. Trust me, I have seen a family of gypsies come in and trash my favorite BBQ joint on more than one occasion. Additionally, I have had my share of unruly family members ruin my dining experience.
Or is there a reason why the staff is huddled together in the corner cracking jokes and having a good time while the facility is less than busy or may be a tad understaffed while the place is exploding with consumers on a busy night?
A tight ship is a happy ship. bwtfdik.
I am just asking and not trying to put a bad taste in anybody's mouth or start any crap. I realize a lot of folks here are/were in the foodservice industry in variety of positions..... It is an open ended question. How does the "mandatory service fee" work for you?
I do agree though, it was an interesting article!
Kind regards.

[Northside Food]

The thing about tipping is that the server has no idea why you didn't tip. I married into a restaurant family and I've had plenty of friends who work or worked as servers. When someone doesn't tip them, they have no idea why. It's a very poor system of feedback. I'm a teacher who worked recently in a behavior intervention program and from a behaviorist perspective, tipping is the worst way to give feedback. It's only effective if you look your server in the eye, say "I deducted a dollar from this because of X." Otherwise, they are going to do what my students do when punishments are applied without feedback and assume the teacher is a bitch who hates them the customer is a jerk that doesn't tip.  I always tip 20 percent. If something is awful in my service, I tell the manager, but I still tip that 20 percent. People have bills to pay and I'm not going to jack with them like that.

[Northside Food]

Another article about restaurants that are abolishing tipping in favor of realistic pricing or a service charge. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/04/dining/leaving-a-tip-a-custom-in-need-of-changing.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

[Lorenzo]

Bring it on!  Maybe if tipping disappears in favor of prices that take into account paying employees a reasonable wage and benefits, restaurant servers will see that line of work as a profession rather than a McJob.  It's a real pleasure to be served by someone who has been doing it for decades.