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posted by FatPhil on Tuesday January 09 2018, @05:43AM   Printer-friendly
from the just-the-tip dept.

Bluestone, which now has 20 stores in the U.S., went cashless last October.

A big reason: Nearly 90 percent of customers [...] never paid in cash.

Another reason: The lines move faster when employees don't have to make change.

"We see a lot of guests that pay for a meal with a credit card, but will always leave a cash tip. And I think people like doing that. People like palming a bartender a $20 or palming their server a $10. Palming the bus boy a couple bucks," said Fileccia.

There are also people, he said, who want to keep their meal off the books — if they're having an affair, for example.

No, businesses are not required to accept cash: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_tender


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  • (Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 09 2018, @06:23AM (24 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 09 2018, @06:23AM (#619882)

    See subject. It's a nasty, ugly custom, sorta thing that leads to "give her a 20 and slap her bottom" sorta shit.

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  • (Score: 1, Disagree) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 09 2018, @06:34AM (17 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 09 2018, @06:34AM (#619888)

    I mostly don't patronize the sorts of places where I might be expected to tip.

    When I do, I still don't tip.

    The corrupt nonsense won't end until... we just end it. Stop tipping. Just don't do it.

    • (Score: 4, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 09 2018, @08:20AM (4 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 09 2018, @08:20AM (#619917)

      Federal minimum wage is NOT $7.25. It's actually $2.13. [google.com]
      If you are at one of the chain restaurants and you don't leave a tip, it's likely that that is what your server is getting for the hour after working for you.

      I mostly don't patronize the sorts of places where I might be expected to tip

      Do what it takes to remove the "mostly" from your statement, slimeball.
      ...or take lessons in what it requires to be a proper human being.

      -- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]

      • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 09 2018, @08:35AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 09 2018, @08:35AM (#619922)

        "...or take lessons in what it requires to be a proper human being."

        When business owners take those lessons first and actually pay a proper salary, I'll feel guilted into doing so. Remember tipping started because business owners deliberately started paying their staff too little, expecting the customer to actually pay the rest of it on top of what they're actually buying.

      • (Score: 3, Interesting) by Joe Desertrat on Tuesday January 09 2018, @09:02AM

        by Joe Desertrat (2454) on Tuesday January 09 2018, @09:02AM (#619925)

        If you are at one of the chain restaurants and you don't leave a tip, it's likely that that is what your server is getting for the hour after working for you.

        Not to mention they are getting taxed as if they were tipped 8%...

      • (Score: 3, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 09 2018, @09:03AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 09 2018, @09:03AM (#619926)

        The ideal minimum wage is negative infinity. Some people are worth less than zero because they harm the business, but maybe they need the learning experience or just need to have an activity to keep them busy.

        The de facto minimum wage may well be negative, particularly with illegal aliens and other wanted criminals getting paid under the table. For example, pay $1.00/hour for the right to be a waitress and get tips that won't be properly reported to the IRS.

        Removing the "mostly" would mean I can't travel. I certainly don't patronize those places in my hometown. In any case though, a proper human being doesn't encourage corruption. Tipping is the payment of a bribe. Don't do it.

      • (Score: 2) by chromas on Tuesday January 09 2018, @10:16AM

        by chromas (34) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday January 09 2018, @10:16AM (#619942) Journal

        Maybe he's black. Don't be racis, y'all!

        Many states have their own minimum wage, which is usually higher. Washington and some other states [dol.gov] also don't allow employers to count tips to be toward wage.

    • (Score: 3, Informative) by The Mighty Buzzard on Tuesday January 09 2018, @12:34PM (11 children)

      by The Mighty Buzzard (18) Subscriber Badge <themightybuzzard@proton.me> on Tuesday January 09 2018, @12:34PM (#619972) Homepage Journal

      There's nothing corrupt about tipping, you're just an idiot and a douchebag. Wait staff who are good at their jobs make more than those who are not, so there's your idiocy for opposing meritocracy. Wait staff who are good at their job also make a damn sight more than the management would be willing to pay them, so you're a douchebag for wanting to cut their pay.

      --
      My rights don't end where your fear begins.
      • (Score: 4, Informative) by TheRaven on Tuesday January 09 2018, @01:48PM (10 children)

        by TheRaven (270) on Tuesday January 09 2018, @01:48PM (#619990) Journal

        My enjoyment in a restaurant is far more likely to be improved by the attention to detail of the kitchen staff than the front of house staff. In some places in the USA (New York, for example), it is illegal for front-of-house and kitchen staff to pool tips. In other places, it may be legal but it isn't always done. The US is currently suffering a skills shortage in kitchen staff because you need to spend money on a qualification and then earn less than someone with no qualification working front of house. Scheduling waiters is also difficult, because the total tip revenue is related to how busy the restaurant is, so people get paid a lot more if they work Friday or Saturday than if they work Wednesday or Thursday, so people are far more likely to call in sick on the worse-paying days and finding cover is harder.

        Meanwhile, in a civilised country, when I go out for a meal the company that I am buying it from quotes a price. At the end of the meal, I pay that price. The company that employs the people that produce the meal is responsible for paying them all a fair wage. They get paid a proper wage even if the restaurant has only one customer that evening.

        --
        sudo mod me up
        • (Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Tuesday January 09 2018, @05:28PM (9 children)

          by The Mighty Buzzard (18) Subscriber Badge <themightybuzzard@proton.me> on Tuesday January 09 2018, @05:28PM (#620102) Homepage Journal

          The company that employs the people that produce the meal is responsible for paying them all a fair wage. They get paid a proper wage even if the restaurant has only one customer that evening.

          See, here's where we differ: you want some magical, infitely deep-pocketed Employer to be responsible for making sure employees are comfortably able to pay their bills and have enough left over to buy a big ole bag of weed every two weeks. I prefer the employees to be responsible for how much they earn according to their ability. They do a far better job and they make significantly more than they would otherwise.

          --
          My rights don't end where your fear begins.
          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 09 2018, @05:47PM (1 child)

            by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 09 2018, @05:47PM (#620114)

            Just make the tip mandatory and then everyone wins!

          • (Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 09 2018, @06:25PM

            by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 09 2018, @06:25PM (#620133)

            What the fuck, buzz? Bad argument!

            The employer is an EMPLOYER, not a contractor. The moment when waitstaff are independent agents who get a commission or whatever for every client they serve, sure. Until then...

            I know! Here's the thought experiment for you!

            I get hired as a waiter, by a restaurant that pays only tips, to work 1pm-5pm, 7d/wk. My job includes cleaning, rollups, etc while not waiting tables. That restaurant then starts putting signs out front at noon, saying 'come back at 5pm.' Now I'm earning $0/hr but doing productive work for a profiting company.

            Get it now?

            Servers are not responsible for:
            -advertising
            -scheduling appropriate waitstaff count
            -kitchen supply
            -weather
            -etc.

            All of these - yes even weather!* - need to be accounted for by the employer. They have employed me. They haven't offered me piecemeal work at any tables I can find where people are hoping for food. If my employer decides to schedule double the waitstaff, without clientele increasing, why am I suddenly working the same hours for half the pay? It's not my decision when to open the doors in the morning, nor how many others I will work beside.

            Paying employees of a larger entity in tips is /insane/ if you put /any/ thought into it.

            Paying individuals a tip, or even making the tip be the whole payment, is fine. It's not fine to get free labour, with the hope of tips if all goes well. That's an abusive power structure.

            *weather: really! if a rainstorm is coming in, let some staff go home, it's going to be a quiet night! If it's a balmy game night, call extras in to handle the volume! If you'd ever worked in a kitchen you'd understand this.

          • (Score: 3, Informative) by crafoo on Tuesday January 09 2018, @08:25PM (5 children)

            by crafoo (6639) on Tuesday January 09 2018, @08:25PM (#620193)

            If an employer cannot pay a livable wage they should not be allowed to operate their business. Either their business is not worth having around, or they are so bad at it someone else should take over their customers.

            • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 09 2018, @08:55PM (1 child)

              by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 09 2018, @08:55PM (#620207)

              FDR is dead and your 20th century New Deal fantasy is dead. We live in the 21st century now when social media tech bros are billionaires and selfish sacks of rotting pigshit like Buzzard are mighty successful.

              The Great Depression is repeating and the Gilded Age is repeating and stupid shit like Buzzard is too stupid to notice.

              Morons like Buzzard learned nothing from history. Buzzard wouldn't learn his lesson if he received a railroad spike through his worthless skull.

              So fuck you because Buzzard got his.

              • (Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Tuesday January 09 2018, @11:12PM

                by The Mighty Buzzard (18) Subscriber Badge <themightybuzzard@proton.me> on Tuesday January 09 2018, @11:12PM (#620260) Homepage Journal

                If you can't make more than your employer would pay you for waiting tables off of tips, absolutely fuck you. Your dumb ass just failed at smiling and keeping glasses from running empty. If I can do a job involving constant interaction with other people well, anyone can do that job well if they make even a miniscule effort to.

                --
                My rights don't end where your fear begins.
            • (Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Tuesday January 09 2018, @11:13PM (2 children)

              by The Mighty Buzzard (18) Subscriber Badge <themightybuzzard@proton.me> on Tuesday January 09 2018, @11:13PM (#620261) Homepage Journal

              Let me get this straight... It's perfectly fine for wait staff to be paid less than they make now so long as the money passes through the employer's hands on the way to theirs? You are a fucking moron and an asshole.

              --
              My rights don't end where your fear begins.
              • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 10 2018, @11:00PM (1 child)

                by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 10 2018, @11:00PM (#620701)

                > It's perfectly fine for wait staff to be paid less than they make now so long as the money passes through the employer's hands on the way to theirs?

                That's not at all what was said. How did you read that? Did you skip a couple of words?

                • (Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Wednesday January 10 2018, @11:38PM

                  by The Mighty Buzzard (18) Subscriber Badge <themightybuzzard@proton.me> on Wednesday January 10 2018, @11:38PM (#620718) Homepage Journal

                  That is exactly what you said.

                  A) Competent wait staff always make more than the employer thinks they should.
                  B) The only difference between the customer paying them and adding it to the price then having the employer pay them is the extra step.

                  But lets be real clear here. You don't give a shit about any of that. What you care about is that wait staff that can't be arsed to even half-ass it don't make a livable wage while those that work hard make out quite nicely. It's nothing but democracy, asshat. One customer, one vote. Your notions though? I've heard something like them before... What was it? Something like "From each according to his ability. To each according to his greed." wasn't it?

                  --
                  My rights don't end where your fear begins.
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 09 2018, @06:58AM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 09 2018, @06:58AM (#619895)

    Tipping is sexist now. Peak SJW reached.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 09 2018, @07:51AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 09 2018, @07:51AM (#619905)

      Financial domination is acceptable.

  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by FatPhil on Tuesday January 09 2018, @12:47PM

    by FatPhil (863) <pc-soylentNO@SPAMasdf.fi> on Tuesday January 09 2018, @12:47PM (#619978) Homepage
    What you should hate is the assinine law that lets some businesses ignore previously agree-upon laws regarding fair payment of workers.

    "Serving staff get tips, therefore they don't need the minimum wage" is pure unadulterated bullshit, and it *obliges* the underpaid staff to hawk for tips, which people like you don't like. Therefore you should, if you're being consistent, abhor that law. Write to your congresscritter - get it changed.
    --
    Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
  • (Score: 1) by khallow on Tuesday January 09 2018, @03:12PM

    by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday January 09 2018, @03:12PM (#620026) Journal
    I tip. Sorry, I disagree about the strip dancer vibe.
  • (Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 09 2018, @03:32PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 09 2018, @03:32PM (#620041)

    Move to a civilized country. The American tipping system is there to encourage a separation between the rich and the peasants. By forcing you to tip "the help", they encourage you to feel a degree of entitlement. It's all part of a messed-up system that discourages people from recognizing their actual fiscal status and instead feeling that "I'm not poor, I'm just temporarily not rich, but I will be soon".

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 09 2018, @07:15PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 09 2018, @07:15PM (#620159)

      "I'm not poor, I'm just temporarily not rich, but I will be soon".

      Incisive insight into the US mentality. Thank you!