>

I'm 100% certain in Split they took advantage upon realization the guy was an american tourist. 
As an european, I tip if service was decent, but as the person above said, I leave 5-10 euros in cash max, even for a 100+ euro meal.
Still an act of appreciation on my end. Here it's illegal to force mandatory tips or add them to a bill, so I simply do not leave a tip unless the service I'm provided shows it's deserving of one. Why would I give an employee who rolls their eyes, mutters, is inattentive, etc. any extra money? For doing their job poorly? >

Commercial law needs to forbid deceptive marketing of fake prices that are less than the real price.  Consumers need to push back against deceptive advertising that excludes employee compensation, “resort charges”, and other strategies to advertise falsely low prices. >

Consumers also need to stand their ground about what does and doesn't earn a tip. If you bring me something, okay, I'll tip. I don't tip at McDonalds, therefore of course I'm not going to tip at Starbucks or another place where I walk up and you bring me food at the counter. 
It's also ugly how the register companies use dark patterns to discourage not tipping. (High contrast buttons for tips, background blending on "skip" or "no tip" >

I don't disagree with you at all, but who will start? When my prices are 20% higher than the place across the street that drives customers to my competition. 
It it was forced and everyone had to do it at once then it would work. But as it is today, any business that tries to go without tipping is at a serious disadvantage to the competition that doesn't and is able to advertise a lower price. >

Well if you're expected to tip 20% then the price is the same. 
Also the other thing nobody seems to want to say is that, at least for large corporations, if the wages were slightly more normalized across the company structure they could pay workers more without increasing costs. CEOs and manager types would have to accept not getting huge bonuses etc, but it's fairer overall and would help stabilize society. And let's face it, I don't care if they can't buy a third home or a yacht >

First, restaurants and other food service institutions generally make razor thin margins. You don't have CEOs taking massive bonuses.
Second, most skilled tipped staff today would oppose getting rid of tips. It's a difficult to job to do well and a skilled waitress or bartender can make bank from tips at a high end place. Getting rid of tips is basically asking them to take a massive pay cut. >

Then why does the entire planet do ‘service’ jobs perfectly fine, without tipping culture of USA. But America can’t? 
Don’t give me that shit. 
We pay our staff a liveable wage, the cost is put on the menu. Stop making lame excuses. The staff still receive decent tips, obviously not as much as USA workers, buts it’s not a necessity and it’s just like a nice bonus at the end of the night/week/month (however your venue chooses to divvy it up). 
You’ll literally pay the exact same as a customer. It’s just that instead of throwing down 20% tip. That 20% is factored into food costs and the price of meals. It’s basic math. 
Ey? The entire world functions just fine. But you guys can’t? Get stuffed, mate. >

It's momentum.  You would find it nearly as impossible to switch over to a system like ours, but we do it just fine.  People are resistant to change and even when everyone would like to change, the game theory here punishes anyone who tries to be ahead of the curve.  So even if most restaurant owners would be happy to switch, they all want to be the last ones to do it. 
Also, you've got servers in California getting $15 an hour minimum wage + 20% tips on prices that are inflated to cover that $15.  These people are making $80k a year (based on your linguistic choices I'm going to assume you're Australian, so this is about $120,000 a year in Digeridollars).  They make more than most of the college graduates in this country. Good luck getting them to give that shit up without riots. >

Why would anyone need to give up anything? The restaurants include the service into the menu prices. Customers pay that as the total cost to go to a restaurant is exactly the same as it was before. So the total money collected by the restaurant is the same as price+tip was in the past. Then it's up to the owner and the staff to divide that. If it's so that the staff is willing to fight (=to go on strike) if the switch would mean a decrease in their income, then the owner has no choice but to pay them wages that equal the old wage + tip. 
The only thing that would change is that the waiters would not be able to dodge taxes by taking some or all of the tips without paying income tax for that. And that's how it should be. The college graduates that you mention pay taxes for every cent that they earn, so why shouldn't the waiters? >


Why would anyone need to give up anything? The restaurants include the service into the menu prices.

The restaurants that try that go out of business as the skilled servers go to places that do tips and business dries up due to the higher up-front cost. >

Why don't they pay the skilled servers more? What up front cost you're talking about? If the tips are included in the prices and then wages paid later, the owners actually keep some of the money for a while that currently goes directly to the waiters as tips.
And in any case what is this magical skill that American waiters possess that nobody else in the world can obtain but instead the restaurants work fine with service included in the prices and the service staff paid higher regular wages? >


Why don't they pay the skilled servers more?

How much more?
What is the actual acceptable hourly wage for servers in the United States if tipping does not exist? >

So much that they get workers. That's how all other industries work. If you don't pay enough, you don't get workers from the labour market.
I don't know what do you mean by "acceptable". I'd imagine that most servers would not accept a decrease of their income when switching from tips to wages. So, the employer could either pay that or lose his workers. Just like it works in all other industries. >

I’m a good tipper and I absolutely hate tipping because of how out of hand it has become. Tipping in the drive thru? Tipping the same amount for a to go order as dine in service when I never even got a drink much less a refill - and the total after tax is what’s expected to be tipped on? (When did that change anyway?) I’m over all of it. I wish places would pay a living wage and we could eliminate tipping altogether. I rarely eat out anymore because of how ridiculous it has become.
Edit: fixed typo “Al” to “all” >

Just because they ask for tips doesn’t mean you need to tip. Be confident tipping what you feel is appropriate and sometimes that is nothing. If you enable the behavior it will keep spreading. >

I agree with this, and IME most people don't react at all, let alone make a fuss over it. I think a lot of people are afraid of being lectured or some kind of confrontation, which is very unlikely to happen. Kind of like how they say, don't worry about what people think about you because they don't think about you as much as you think they do. Most people want to avoid a confrontation as much as you do. >

Yeah, having worked a fast food job years ago, before the iPad tipping norm, most of my time spent at the register was spent thinking about what I wanted to do when I got home and how to optimize whatever video game I was playing at the time iirc. >


And let's be honest, it's kinda crazy to feel the need to tip someone who didn't really even provide a service for you, other than what is expected from them in the normal duties of their position.

This so much. I've been trying to pinpoint what felt wrong to me about the whole thing, and this is it >

The other day I bought a ridiculously overpriced bottle of water at a kiosk inside a bus station. I got a Square prompt for a tip. The article OP is referencing said it would be “miserly” not to tip in that instance. Fuck that. >

But hey, that attendant had to take your card and swipe it! Oh wait... they don't even do that anymore.... >

Seriously! I don’t even think the guy even looked up from his phone besides to scan the water. Brutal. >

My ex's server friends hated when people would talk about getting rid of tipping in exchange for a higher wage as they work at a Steakhouse and even if they made 30 an hour it would pale in comparison to how much they got in tips from old fat rich dudes. >

This is ultimately why it’ll never change, because servers don’t want it to. Why on earth would they want to get rid of tips in exchange for a consistent wage? They’re making $20-$30/hour for a relatively low skill job that just about anyone can do with little to no training. 
They’ll talk about how stressful it can be, and I’m sure it is, but fast food workers work under just as much stress and aren’t payed nearly as much. 
I think minimum wage across the board needs to be upped to reflect cost of living, but that’s a conversation for another time. >


They’re making $20-$30/hour for a relatively low skill job that just about anyone can do with little to no training. 

Are they making that money because they're skinny pretty women? Otherwise there wouldn't be poverty in USA as anyone can become a waiter and make almost 30 bucks an hour >

They’re making that much because it’s basically taboo to not leave a tip. It doesn’t matter what you look like, or even how good you are. You will get tipped. For every person that doesn’t tip, there’s two more that tip 30% because “they used to be a server.” >

I was raised in Mexico, so my views on tipping are different than those of someone born and raised here, but I always thought that tipping was for a "above and beyond what was reasonably expected" service or quality of the meal
Now I feel weird every time I grab a to go order and the screen is asking if i want to tip even though the waiters didn't offer any kind of service and I still don't know if the  quality of the meal merits a tip
I don't mind tipping 20% + for a good meal / service, but I'm definitely not on board for tipping by default, particularly not at 20 % >

Nope, I’ve seen people argue that you should still tip for bad service because they may just be having a bad day or because they live off of tips. It’s bullshit considering some states mandate a minimum wage for servers separate from tips. >

Not some states. All states. >

I recently moved from the United States to Europe. 
I expected the standard of service to drop because of the lack of tipping but it really hasn’t. If anything, it’s better. Waitstaff seem more laid back and genuine. Probably because they’re not scrounging for tips. 
However, one thing I have noticed is that it’s much harder to be seated at restaurants here. Many of them expect a reservation, many are only open a few hours a day or a few days a week or even a few months out of the year.
I assume this is because if they don’t know how many customers to expect, they don’t want to pay waitstaff to just sit around doing nothing. 
This seems to me to be one small advantage of tipping culture in favor of the customer: restaurants are nearly always open in the U.S and are much more flexible to drop ins because the waiters need customers to get paid and the business does not lose many from having people “on the clock”, who are doing very little. 
I could be wrong. Just a pet theory I developed since moving here. >

For what it's worth: I've spent some months throughout different central-European countries and tipping was expected everywhere we went, albeit less than the American expectation (~10%-15%).
I also disagree, I prefer American service and consider it better. While Europe's service was in general more genuine, I like the politeness, even if slightly histrionic, that comes with American service. They didn't smile very much and I felt bad getting their attention because it seemed like I was inconveniencing them. >

In Europe tipping is for special occasions or tourists. You don't tip at the local restaurant next to your home. You could tip at fancy places but it's fine if you don't. I would expect 30% of people tip at fancier places. >

That's a broad stroke, tipping culture varies between countries. >

I don't think any European country have tipping at the non tourist lunch restaurant atleast, happy to change my mind incase you know a location for it. >

Tips are not expected in most countries. However tips are appreciated of course, in ”normal” places too (and meaning in sit down full service restaurants, not fast casual). A few dollars/euros/pounds is perfectly acceptable, moving to bigger notes (5/10/20$) for exceptional service or large bills for a group. Noone will give you a side eye for not tipping; the tip is just nice pocket change on top of your wages. >

I am in Europe and from what I see on USA TV, your tipping culture is unfair on everyone and does not make sense.
In my country when we go out for a meal we are not expected to give the server anything extra. For example if I pay with a credit card I'd never add anything extra as I know that it would go to the owner. However many servers are polite and helpful so it is not unusual to leave them some cash. But we only leave something like 5 euros even for a 50 euro meal. 
We also have men who deliver very heavy things such as gas cylinders and some people give them a small tip - but the tip is usually 50 cents to 1 euro. We do not feel bad about this because we know that these people are well paid. >

Don't just say "Europe", say your country we're not in the USA here! >

It's pretty much any country in Europe!