| Thinking Lateral |
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| Need new thinking for your own problems? email nick leth at gmail dot com |
I go into a shop, I buy a packet of sugar. Someone at the cash register takes my money. Should I tip them? Why? They are paid to stand there and take my money -- without people at the checkout the shop would not be getting its money. (When automated checkout does away with the need for people there is even less reason to tip. Even though the service may be just as good.) I'm staying in a hotel. Room service staff make the bed; the doorman opens the door for me. Should I tip them? If room service staff did not make the bed -- I may move to a hotel with better room service. If the doorman does not open the door -- I will open it for myself. Or I may move to a hotel with automatically opening doors. (At least the automatic doors do not make me feel uncomfortable when I stop half way through to check that my room key is in my pocket.) I'm eating in a restaurant. A waiter takes my order, brings my food, clears the table. Should I tip? If the waiter did not take my order -- the restaurant would not sell any food. (They would certainly sell less of the recommended mash du jour, yesterday's leftovers reheated.) If the waiter did not bring my food -- the restaurant would be a public sitting room rather than a restaurant. If the waiter did not clear the table -- the health inspector would pay a visit. A shop sells -- part of selling is the exchange of money. A hotel maintains the rooms and provides doors that may somehow be opened. A restaurant takes orders and serves meals. If they did not do those things -- they would be out of business. If you provide a tip then you are saying, Gosh, this is better than I expected! I did not expect the shop to take my money, the hotel to clean my room, the waiter to bring my food... What sort of idiot would think like that? No, a tip is not payment for good service. A tip is a bribe, a means to ensure that you will get better service than the next customer. Which means that if you do not tip --- you can expect to get poor service. Would you really go to a shop, a hotel, a restaurant -- and pay the advertised prices, including enough to pay for services -- and expect to get poor service? In particular, would you really go to a shop, a hotel, a restaurant -- and pay the advertised prices, including enough to pay for services -- and expect to get worse service than the customer at the next table? Please -- don't tip! It's demeaning to staff. It's embarrassing to customers. And it's a bribe to get the service which you should be getting anyway.
| Independent Thinking |
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| Independent analysis of your problems by Agamedes Consulting. Support for your thought: email nick leth at gmail dot com |
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