If tipping in restaurants isn’t confusing enough for you, for better or worse, you can add tablet-based systems to the mix.
The computerized systems present diners with a range of preset tipping options. You can tip 15 or 20 percent. You can tap “no tip” if you’re willing to be that person.
In a reverse of the usual convention, tipping comes at the beginning of a customer’s dining experience, not the end. And they’re most popular among casual restaurants that don’t provide full table-waiting service.
They appear to be catching on. Eateries that have adopted the system report a jump in tip revenue.
Raider Ridge Café adopted a tablet-tipping system in May 2013. Tips rose from about 10 percent of the check on average to 15 to 16 percent, owner Jarrod Regan said. Instead of tipping $1 on a $9 tab, more customers would select a 15 percent tip, which comes out to $1.35. That made a dramatic difference, Regan said.
“I was shocked,” he said.
Local restaurants that have adopted tablet-based tipping from providers such as Lavu and Square includes Grassburger, Chimayo Stone Fired Kitchen, Yardbird Eatery, Steaming Bean Internet Café, Cream Bean Berry, Ska Brewing Co. and Smiley Café.
Some of these systems set a default tip that a diner must change manually if desired. Typically, the tipping function is integrated into the point-of-sale system.
The systems are thousands of dollars cheaper than traditional point-of-sale systems, said Annie Drysdale, co-owner of Yardbird Eatery, which opened in December with automated tipping.
“It’s really inexpensive, which is, I’m pretty sure, why all these small mom-and-pop shops are using them,” she said.
Steaming Bean also has a tablet-based tipping system.
“It’s generally been positive,” said Kathryn Gleason, a manager. “People are much more apt to have the computer do the work for them. It’s much more streamlined.”
Customers typically need a primer the first time through, she said. The system generates more frequent small tips – for example, 15 percent on a $2 coffee gleans only 30 cents. Still, the baristas make more in the end, Gleason said.
Durango’s Mercury, now a subsidiary of Vantiv, is among the leading vendors of the tablet-based point of sale systems.
Mike Shepherd, general manager at Olde Tymer’s Café, said he is considering adopting the tablets for his wait staff. He said he wouldn’t set a default tip level. He recently dined at Applebee’s and was confronted by a default tip setting.
“They had it prompted to 20 percent, and I thought that was presumptuous,” Shepherd said. “I think they’re hurting themselves with that. Because I’m in the industry, I tipped like 23 percent, but I noticed it right away.”
Valan Cain, a New York City restaurant industry veteran who is now a manager at Seasons, agreed that suggested tips, such as those printed out on receipts, can cause angst.
“It seems a little uncomfortable,” he said.
America’s tipping culture can be confusing and fraught with issues. In much of Europe, servers are tipped little but earn higher wages. Critics argue the American system shifts the responsibility of paying a living wage to customers.
Tipped servers began making a minimum wage of $5.21 an hour Jan. 1. For other employees, the Colorado minimum wage is $8.23.
Service-industry jobs are a large component of Durango’s economy. While local data is scarce, Colorado had 48,090 waiters and waitresses and more than 200,000 workers in food service and related occupations, according to the Colorado Bureau of Labor Statistics. Those servers make a median wage of $8.89 an hour.
Nearly every dining experience raises its own set of questions. Should a diner tip 15 percent? Twenty percent? Should a customer tip on top of sales tax, or subtract tax from the total bill before calculating the tip?
Greg Hoch, the city of Durango’s director of Planning and Community Development, long ago worked as a waiter while attending Hamilton College in upstate New York. Hoch, who is a regular diner at local restaurants, said he tips on top of sales tax, and it’s typically 20 percent.
“If I get really terrific service, I’ll tip more than 20 percent,” he said.
Tipping generally has proved resilient in the face of change in the restaurant industry and society. The Colorado Restaurant Association does not track tipping trends, but the practice appears to be thriving, a spokeswoman said.
“Anecdotally, I’m hearing tips are going up,” said Carolyn Livingston, communication director for the Colorado Restaurant Association.
Technology is adding new twists.
Grassburger has had a tablet-based tipping system since the restaurant opened last summer. Tips are pooled and paid to employees on top of their regular wages. (Grassburger workers all earn at least the $8.23 minimum wage for nontipped employees.)
Customer reactions have been mixed, said Jessie Kileen, who owns the burger joint with her husband, Ed.
“I’ve had people that don’t like it and people that do,” she said.
For customers, the tablet systems carry the advantage of calculating the tip for you. Yet they leave open the possibility of prompting a tip in situations that wouldn’t traditionally call for a gratuity.
“I think you should only tip employees who don’t get the minimum wage,” said Adam Reeves, a Durango lawyer who regularly dines out. He admitted he nevertheless often tips for counter service.
Reeves pointed out that customers who dislike the computerized tipping prompts can tip in cash.
“I always think tips should be in cash, so (servers) can avoid paying taxes on them,” he said.
cslothower@durangoherald.com
