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While we were in Las Vegas on vacation earlier this month, we went out to dinner at Margaritaville, which was right next door to our hotel. We hadn’t planned on it, but our last night there there wasn’t much else to do since we didn’t want to buy tickets to see another show (had already spent more than we wanted! oops!) so we decided to have a nice dinner instead.
The food was great, the margaritas were heavenly and they had live performers singing and dancing and doing different skits while we ate. The place was packed to the max and the atmosphere was completely laid back and friendly. We had a great time, even though we spent way more than I had wanted to! An appetizer, 2 beers for hubby, 1 margarita for me, and 2 entrees with tax and tip cost us $90. The way I look at it…that’s still about 50% cheaper than if we had bought tickets to see a Cirque de Soleis show (which was our original plan).
Anyway, when we got the receipt, I noticed something on the bottom that kinda caught my eye because I had never seen it before. There was a “reminder” to tip your waiter and it had recommended tip amounts on it based on percentages. So, there was a dollar amount next to 15%, 17% and 20% according to what your bill amount was. I found this a little offputting for some reason.
Yes, I realize it is customary to tip. And we had a great waiter so we tipped well, but I still found it kind of strange that they would put recommended tips amounts right on your receipt. Almost like if you didn’t tip at least 15%, you should feel guilty since that was their lowest tip “suggestion”. There are times when I DON’T tip 15%, depending on service.
Now, I know that tipping is one of those issues where there is no clear or RIGHT answer on how to go about it. I know everyone has different theories when it comes to tipping. I used to be a waitress, so don’t think that I don’t understand how important tips are to those people in this line of work. But I would never come straight out and insists or merely suggest that you should pick from a list of tip amounts on your printed receipt. I know tips aren’t guaranteed.
I don’t know. It just felt strange to look at my bill and see that on there. I know many would say, “How convenient! They figured out the tip for us!” But to me it felt like they were pushing it on us and trying to incinuate that anything less than 15% would make us cheap whether or not the service was good.
To me it’s almost like sending out a wending invitation and writing on it “Monetary gifts in $20 increments only please!” Gifts are customary, yes. But not guaranteed. Let your guest (or in the restaurant case, your customer) make this decision on their own.
Have you ever seen this on a dinner bill before (excluding the “gratuity included” line for parties of “x” or more)?
