One person said if you can’t tip generously, don’t come. Another said, for goodness sake don’t tell customers that. Five huge issues with tipping in Hawaii.
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127 thoughts on ““Bribes To Ensure Good Service:” Hawaii Tipping Goes Insane”
Since Ice has been so heavy in Hawaii I think alot of it has lost the Aloha Spirit..Shame it’s always been Home for me..but now it’s gotten so bad in so many areas.
Hawaii’s population is declining due to residents moving to the mainland where the cost of living is lower. Eventually wages will rise because employers will have to raise wages in order to have any staff. Until that happens it’s going to be a struggle.
I tip a set amount at restaurants. 5.00 per person in my party. No matter what restaurant. So at Panera, if my bill is 30.00 for 2 people, I tip 10.00. That’s a good tip, right? If I am at Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse, and my bill is 240.00 for 2 people, the tip is still 10.00. Why should someone working at a schwanky place be tipped more than a person working at an inexpensive restaurant?
Because the person at panera makes at least minimum wage while the Ruth Chris waiter makes well below minimum wage. I hope you will adjust your practice so you don’t cause a person to make below minimum wage.
The author left out extremely important historical context to the historical background to the history of tipping in the US. Most importantly, tipping really spread here, like the author said, just after the civil war when railroad owners used unpaid former slaves as porters, whose only pay was tips. Tipping is an obscene practice where the responsibility to pay employees is shifted to customers from employers where it completely belongs. We need to expect that employers pay their employees rather than leave payment to the good will of customers.
I would love to see the USA eliminate tipping as an excuse to underpay employees. Pay them what is fair for the work and be done with it. To be realistic, how will anyone earn a living wage waiting tables in expensive Hawaii? Maybe in an upscale restaurant, but not at a coffee shop. There are many places in the US where people routinely hold down 2 jobs to make ends meet. Sad, but true. Hawaii, relying heavily on tourism and repeated rejection of new industry will remain a state of working poor. As others have said, many leave for the mainland in search of better opportunities. It’s up to the state government to realign their priorities.
Kim, the State and County Governments need to realign their priorities which is a monumental task due to the “Influence” peddlers. The Entire Blame for the ongoing debacle faced by residents of Hawaii can be traced back decades and culminating today. The Voter’s choices in Politicians that They Elected all of this time, for the most part, has allowed all of this and it continues. The Voters need to take Responsibility for Their Choices, plain and simple. Blame over tourism on Yourselves, you allowed it to occur and get to where it is today. Now Accept That and Change it moving forward, it’s Your responsibility and choice! Don’t blame Tourists because of Your Choices that don’t work!
I agree with everything said. We do tip when service is provided like at restaurants boat trips thing where people actually work to serve the customers. I will put $1 in tip jar at Peets and places like that. Tipping is for good service and has become expected not a reward. I’m sorry employers don’t pay better to help their employees. I was surprised at how low Hawaii min. Wage is. CA is higher and things cost less. Servers make $15/hr plus tips.HI needs to increase minimum wage. If tourists stop coming you have no job.
We’re currently in Kauai and the other night we went to an upscale restaurant on the south shore. It has valet service and I normally tip the valet attendant when he brings the car. But when leaving the dining area we had to pass the front desk and was asked to pay $3. “For what?” I asked. I was told it was for the restaurant manager, who I never saw of course. Definitely over the top, probably won’t go back. It’s become more of a “great place to be seen” type restaurant anyway.
Did you leave the $3?
I lived through a great era when good service got rewarded with a good tip. Robotic service got minimal, and lousy service got none. It was a time when everyone shared “good values”. We believed in karma. Now, expectation and entitlement are foundations. We just eat at home. Healthier!
Nothing wrong with tipping most people have the money to tip 15% its part of our culture whether you like it or not. If no tips you will have no Hawaii to take a vacation to period.
That’s the problem! It’s become part of the culture instead of a reward for providing good service.
The culture of employers not wanted to pay people a living wage, yes.
You’re Right, nothing wrong with tipping, unless the service sucks. I can’t remember the last time that I didn’t tip, typically 18 to 20+ percent with the occasional tip closer to 50 percent. On the other end of the scale I can remember the smallest tip that I have left. The Server would have fit in as a dock worker, cursing and slamming everything on the table and not an ounc of courtesy…..I left an entire Quarter! 🙄 She didn’t last too long and I heard that she was complaining that she didn’t get tips like the other servers, she had no clue!
A simple solution….. first I do not feel I should have to support people who do not make a enough to support themselves…find a different job ! Second if the cost of living is to high where you are at…..move ! James
LOL, right then next you’ll be complaining that “no one wants to work anymore!” when your favorite restaurant doesn’t have enough servers to provide timely service. This is the same ‘ol problem where people think that good old fashioned work with your hands isn’t something that’s “skilled”, and this shouldn’t be compensated well. But without the carpenters, waitstaff, cleaning people, etc. those self same elitists wouldn’t have the services, or the buildings, or the furniture that they need/want.
@Joerg H – Carpentry, Mechanics, Plumbers, etc. Are skilled laborers. House keeping, food servers, etc. are not. And lets not confuse hard work (which they all are) with the skill factor. Some jobs take months, if not years of training to become proficient, others you can pretty much start day of and work.
LOL, have you ever worked as a server? There’s more to it than just going back and forth to the kitchen. Finally, let me say that there’s nothing wrong with hard work, and I think that people should be compensated for their labor fairly. this idea that “unskilled” labor should be treated like slave labor is abhorrent to me. As I’ve said elsewhere, I find it interesting that the same people who tell them to “get a better job if you don’t like it” are the ones complaining that “no one wants to work anymore!” when there’s a shortage of same said “unskilled labor” to work int he restaurants, as housekeepers, etc.
Yes I have worked as a server, my feet and fried mind remember all too well what it was like. The tips were awesome at certain times of the day and especially with repeat customers. If anyone has the opinion that servers are not professional maybe they should give it a few months. That’s If they get past day 3 without being shown the door!
What amazes me in these comments about only tip for good service is the obvious. If one can afford to let other people cook, serve your food and clean up after you, then what’s the problem with sharing a bit of aloha (paying it forward) for simply having the privilege of being privileged? Or has noblesse oblige lost its meaning?
Hi James, do You leave a “normal” tip of 15% or more for service that is below standards? Do You, by doing so, Encourage and Foster that kind of behavior? I would rather decide to tip accordingly, it can improve that person’s serving and people skills. It can also change the course of a life into a job/career that is better suited to the individual. Tipping bad servers encourages worse service to propagate. The Industry and Customer deserve much better! Consider that.
The only problem with your theory is that tips are no longer a reflection of the quality of service alone. Companies under pay their employees and expect us to make up the difference with tips. So, someone who’s having a bad day (you’ve had those, right?) is going to not be able to feed their family because you want to teach them a lesson?
Joerg, we both know that isn’t what I was stating or advocating. I actually inquire wanting to know, most of the time it is quite obvious that a plaguing problem exists that is effecting the person. It is those that simply have a problem with working and show it in practically every way that I refer to. Unfortunately as time moves forward there are more of them. Why give my all, referring to a good tip, when the server won’t? Call me a Concerned Consumer or a Nosey Customer, I do care!
Joerg there are too many people that cannot equate the Importance of any job that entails working with their hands as “Unskilled” and dismiss what they do as unessential. How many went to college and garnered a degree which is essentially “useless” or the pay scale is an unlivable wage yet they believe that they are Superior to others? I have seen the Wage Reports and True/Real Targeted Jobs Reports and Trade Schools would have been a better choice and Yes there are Bachelors Degrees awarded upon satisfactory completion of the course work! The Income for many Trades is well above what people realize and outcompetes many regular college degrees. Time for “kids” and parents to consider Reality vs supposed “prestige!”