Have you encountered this?

Restaurant tries to scam customers, yet they still give a 20% tip?

Pretty sure the waitress wasn't the one who fucked with the register. Probably the restaurant trying to ensure they don't have to pay the difference if the tips come up short and leave the staff below minimum wage.
- I feels like reasoning like this is why it would never end.
- You think place like that distributes tips honestly?
- The "I'm just doing my job" defence. Nice.
"Fuck you restaurant for trying to scam me, now I'll only pay the correct 20% extra on top of my bill"
They also paid it on the tax. Supposed to figure off the subtotal
The solution is to never step foot in the restaurant again not punish the server.
- Thank you! I am just one server do not punish me because you hate the tipping culture of America! Don’t like it, like you said, don’t go to a damn restaurant then! Easy peasy!
  Don’t punish another person for your thoughts, feelings, etc about the situation of tipping, it’s not their fault, it’s yours for not tipping them because “you don’t agree” then go to damn McDonald’s!
Yep, that's a solid 0% for me
- Yeah that restaurant owner will certainly learn from the fact that they don’t legally have to pay their servers minimum wage and you still paid the owner what they would have gotten whether or not the server got a tip
  As another commenter said, in this situation pay the server in cash, and then review the restaurant badly everywhere you can

I went to a restaurant recently with my wife for our anniversary. Had great reviews on Google Maps above 4.5 stars. Yes I know this should not be the only indicator of a good experience, but the food sounded good and it was in a neighborhood we don't often go to. Something new.

When we got the bill, the server came to us and skipped past the food prices to the tip screen immediately. That should have been my red flag to stop and ask why she did that, but I didn't. I tipped 20%, then later found out that they already included that in the bill. So I tipped 20% on top of the total that already included 20%. Needless to say I won't be going back.

Do a review on Google maps, and TripAdvisor, if you are in a touristy city. Warn the world, and put the ownership on notice.
- Oh we did
- Also consider complaining to the secretary of state perhaps? Idk, it's not city tax revenue so not likely, but it's still fraud. But I would definitely consider a chargeback. This is just like in the old days when managers or severs would scribble in a different tip and total on the merchant copy.
I call and complain for crap like this all the time now. I make sure to let them know I bitch to all my friends and coworkers about it too.
My latest crusade is restaurants that put 4% service fees to help pay for people's health insurance. Just raise the price on the individual items on the menu. Making me math out what you are actually charging like that is bullshit.
I would have gone back and not left until I had both 20%s in my hand. Call the police? Please do!
Smart businesses know that the key is "customer retention" and they don't screw you. Dumb businesses operate on "one and done". "We'll screw them and they probably will never come back"
- It wasn't the business that did this. It was the server looking for a one time bonus.

No because I live in Australia where the govt forces restaurants to Pay their staff in full rather than outsource their wages to the customers directly.

Edit: Pay, not Pauly.

Pauly must be busy.
Wow must be cool living somewhere completely irrelevant to this post!
- we're in a section called "shitpost" and you're complaining about quality? also - its related by "tips", but maybe you just wanted to practise your sarcasm.
- If only, the tipping crap is trying to leak in here.

Tips in the US must be entirely out of control. In my experience, 10% is for good service, above for rare exceptional and less if you weren't entirely satisfied. Not even printing anything below 16 is insane.

Tipped minimum wage in the US is $2.13/hour, hence the reason for the high percentages.
- Idk where you are living but in MN it’s $11.10/hr plus tips. I get paid more because I am an assistant manager as well so $15/hr plus my tips as a server. I make almost 3X more than when I was a teacher working full time and I have half as many hours..
- Oh right i forgot about that. That's insane as well; minimum wage should be… well, minimum, obviously; for everyone.
- I'm not sure it would be better without minimum wage for tipped employees rule. For example the minimum wage in Ontario is $17 and it's the same for servers, but all the restaurants have tip suggestions like: 18%, 20% and 25%
20% has actually been the norm for a while. Maybe it was a bit on the upper end a couple decades ago while now it's more default, but I remember my parents tipping 20% for normal service back in the 90's. Of course, with prices soaring tipping is still getting pricier and pricier, but the expected percentage here has been relatively stable.
The thing that's out of control is where you're expected to tip now. I often see a tip prompt come up at retail stores where the only service the employee provided was ringing up the items I brought. I never tip in those kinds of situations, and I doubt the employee would see any of it even if I did.
the idea of percentage based tipping is so wild to me, in my mind a tip is only based on the reason i want to tip them.
If they did an impressive job but just did their job then i'll give them a euro or something, if they had to endure something miserable like cleaning up baby vomit then they get like 10 euro because god knows that's what i'd need to stay on that job.
Also, importantly, the tip is in cash and goes directly to the person i think deserves it, and i'm going to tell the worker that wink wink nudge nudge if the employer asks then i didn't give them a tip.

Stop tipping!!! no more

Laughing in European
Stop tipping culture. If you just stop tipping people who rely on tips, you just make their lives much harder
- Ok genius, tell us how to stop tipping culture without stopping tipping?
- It probably won't stop until everybody starts asking for tips, so that those that traditionally receive tips are losing it on tipping everybody else.
I think the only chance this will work is moving somewhere it’s not a thing.
I like tipping. The service is better, and servers are paid more than they would be without it.

Tipping is a holdover from slavery. It’s a way to control service workers.

This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t tip people who rely on tips, it means the system is fucking broken by design.

Tips are a big reason I stopped going out. Everybody wants one.
- Every single time I see a fucking Square cash register… One of these motherfuckers:
  
  Every single time I see that piece of shit, I know I’m about to hear the “it’s just going to ask you a few questions” line. And those “few questions” will be asking me to tip 25 goddamned percent on something that I’ve never tipped for before.

Wait so you get scammed but still give 20% tips? This would be an automatic 0% tip

You think the wait staff setup the machine to do math wrong?
- yes?
Yeah, what's likely happening here is that the tip numbers were calculated off the subtotal intentionally. So say you buy a "happy hour" drink and it is $3 instead of $6, they tip is calculated before the "discount".
Their machine could have actually been wrong, but using a total before discounts seems more likely.
- On the surface, I can understand this. It’s not the server’s fault that they got the happy hour rush when everything is 50% off. If anything, they had to work harder because it was busier. Why punish them for that extra work with lower tip calculations? The drinks aren’t any easier or faster to pour just because they’re half off. It should at least be transparent, but I at least understand the reasoning.
  What does bug me is when the tip calculations are based on the after-tax total. Fuck that, I’m already getting taxed 10% on this, you don’t need your 18% calculated from that extra 10%.

This may be anecdotal, but I ran into this exact same issue a few weeks ago. The suggested 20% was significantly higher than the 20% on the bill. It took me a little bit to figure out, but we were at the restaurant for a steak special and happy hour. The 20% tip was for the non-special price. For example, the steak and two sides special was $18, but the normal price was $28. The drinks were $5 but the normal price was $8. So the suggested tip was 20% of $36, not 20% of $23. These aren't the exact numbers, and there were two of us, but you get the idea. The POS/Tip suggestion is setup so the servers don't get the shit end of the stick when the restaurant is doing a deal/special. I'm not sure I fully agree with it, and I have my own beef with tipping culture in general, but I'm just looking to explain what might be seen in OP's photo.

It's not hard to include a disclaimer tip prices based on full price if that's the case to avoid looking bad.
- That’s should be common sense. Tip on the FULL amount not on a discount you received, you didn’t get discounted food or service so tip accordingly. It’s not hard.
I don’t know if Groupon is still a thing, but at its peak there were posts online on a regular basis from wait staff who got stiffed, because customers would tip based on the balance they owed after the 90%+ discount Groupon voucher.
Understood, but not my problem. If it says 20%, it should be 20%. For trying to pull shit like this it is going to be a 0% from me.

I'm surprised no one mentioned that a lot also calculate the tip after applying taxes.

Example: Meal was $40, then a 20% tip would be $8. But if taxes were $4 (making the total bill $44), then the receipt would show $8.80.

I don't tip on tax.
But on the flip side if I receive a discount of some sort, I tip on the pre-discount amount.
My Dad taught me that as a kid. I'm extremely supportive of wait staff, and I'm an excellent tipper (25% is not unusual), but I'm not tipping on tax. I draw the line there.
- How is that different than tipping 22% (or whatever) on the post-tax? I swear people lose all rationality when it comes to tips.
Makes me wonder how many servers out their think their customers are being cheap because they only tipped X% when in reality they actually tipped 15% or whatever before tax.
- I got chewed out on reddit once for being "cheap" because I said tip before the tax. Guy was super pissed over what amounts to a difference of cents. Went off on a huge rant belittling me like I admitted to murdering puppies..
  Like... Dude, if your whole life comes crashing down over 40¢, to the point that's your reaction, maybe there's a much bigger problem going on here?
- Sorry to inform you, but I've been told recently that 20% is now considered bare minimum and cheap. Yes, I eat out a lot less accordingly.
Your logic is inverted. The lines would have to have a place for folks to add in the taxes. Otherwise the math would work in the opposite direction – the calculated amounts would be lower than the amounts based on the number at the bottom. (Unless a discount was applied that’s not shown.)
- I'm not sure what you're saying. But to expand on my point:
  A lot of receipts have an area where they show you a "calculated tip" for some %s. Many restaurants calculate the tips using the total (meal+tax) rather than the subtotal (meal).
  On those receipts the person still has to calculate the end amount (meal+tax+tip).

If your employees rely on tips to meet months end, your business model is shit.

Fuck tips. 0 tips. Pay your people.

I’m all for refusing to tip, but be up-front about it. Let the server know ahead of time that you won’t be tipping. Hell, let the manager (or if it’s a smaller place, the owner) know too, so you can actually get your opinion heard by someone who may be able to effect change. Make it clear that your refusal to tip is not a reflection of the server, but a protest against tipping culture.
Hell, while talking to the manager, you should also ask if they require servers to tip out the back-of-house staff. If you’re refusing to tip, it’s entirely possible that your server is losing money on your order, because they’re required to pay the kitchen a percentage of your bill. If the server is required to tip out, be clear that you want your bill excluded from the tip out, since you’re refusing to tip based on strongly held personal beliefs. If the manager protests or says it isn’t possible (it is possible, but they’ll lie to try to get you to tip), then they can serve you personally.
You’ll still get served, but it’ll be with the level of service that the waiter thinks you should get, rather than with the level of service that you think you deserve. If you’re going to refuse to tip, at least take the mask off and be honest so your server can do the same.
If you’re willing to do that, then more power to you. Believe it or not, many servers will be chill about it, and treat you the same as any other customer. Especially if you’re there when it’s slow, and they don’t need to tip out the back of house staff. They’re not losing any money by serving you, and they aren’t super busy so they have no reason to ignore you. But if you’re afraid to be honest because you might get worse service, then you’re just a scab who is leeching from the tipping culture and only hurting the working class.
You pay for the service of being waited on… don’t want to tip… then go to McDonald’s! wtf! 🤬
- It's not a "service". All I want from the staff is to tell them what I want to order and to bring the food. That's all. I don't see what extra "service" I'm supposedly paying for
- the restaurant pays for their staff… should you pay for having a table and chair too? staff is a basic requirement of a restaurant
- Do you tip for the service for customer tech support or similar customer facing industries as well?
- Is there an option to pick up my own food at the counter? I'd gladly do it.

Not saying this isn’t real and completely scummy, but sometimes the tip is calculated before discounts, gift cards, and whatnot. I always tip based on what our total order was even if what we paid was less. If this is truly trying to fudge the numbers to take advantage of people then that’s shitty.

It looks like the percentages are based of a total of $37.95, so it’s possible there was a discount included that made their total closer to $30.
- Always tip on the subtotal. If your server worked their ass off for your table but you had a coupon for, let's say, 50% off 2 entrees and a birthday dessert, that's just devalued their effort by about $50.
  Also, the tipping culture is broken, and this is bonkers.
  I came from a tipping-optional culture and worked foodservice. If I got good tips, they went back into the bar at the end of the shift, or into my savings jar at home. It was never make-or-break on whether I got to pay rent or not.
- Maybe a comp'd desert (or app) that's ~$8 ?
My only exception to the "pre-discount" price is when places have a "buy 1 get 1" deal and they try to make you tip based on that, but the single item price is way overpriced because of it. Happens around me a lot where they're like 3pack tacos, buy 1 get 1 $21, like yeah that's great price for 6 small tacos, but I wouldn't be paying $21 for 3 tacos, so I'm not gonna tip whatever crazy amount for a bill that "would have been" $75 or something for some tacos and a drink. Granted these are usually carry out orders, but don't try to artificially inflate my bill to get better tips because you discounted it to a lower price.
Edit before people give me flak: I still tip fairly, but if a place tries to give me some "your bill was 100$, but we discounted it to 20$ that'll be a 20$ tip though" they can fuck off. I'll tip right, but don't try to guilt trip me with a discount when you know I wouldn't be here at all of it wasn't for the discount.
- Is that usd? A great price for 6 small tacos is 6 bucks, 21 is ridiculous.
Also, the restaurant probably has no control over those numbers. The software might give them a Yes/No option on showing suggested tips or not at best.

Customer pays for product/service, and it's the employer's job the pay the employees. What the employer needs for this is his/her job to include in the price.

I'm guessing the tip is calculated before any discounts/comps, which would be conspicuously cut off in this photo

Why would you calculate the tip before the final amount? And why would that incorrect amount be printed out for the customer?
- It certainly shouldn't be the default "pre-caluaclated" amount, but if I have a gift card or something, I'll still tip based on the pre-discount.
  Say the bill was $100 for a group of 4 and we use a $50 gift card, I'll probably still tip the $20. Seems kinda scummy to only leave $10.
  It's a terrible system that exploits people. I can't change the system, but I can do my part and tip someone fairly for the hour they've helped me out.
That would be quite optimistic, but this is something I've noticed at multiple restaurants myself. I saw the tip "suggestions" were not accurate so I checked to see what numbers they might have been using and tried the after tax amount etc, but nope the numbers are just inflated artificially. It's happened with or without alcohol on the tab, with and without sale items, and I don't ever really get anything "comped" unless it's a sauce on the side or something. I wouldn't say it's a scam, but I did roll my eyes the first time I noticed it.

I feel like there may be some missing information. For example, if the customer had a coupon or other discount. The tip should be a percentage of the total before the discount. If they’re “adjusting” to tip less- based on the post-coupon price, fuck them.

Tipping by percentage never made much sense to me. I order a coffee at a diner, the waitress only gets a 42 cent tip? She should get more if she has to carry a plate of food? She checks on me the same amount. That's a five dollar tip at least.

Hahah in my country she gets a wage for that shit
Not only that but that waitress at a diner is probably providing a hell of a lot better service than that bartender where I have to wave money just to get served

I have yet to encounter an automatic tip calculation that doesn't base the tip on the total bill including taxes. It’s a pretty infuriating cash grab. Not only am I directly having to pay an employee’s wages so the restaurant doesn’t have to, I’m having to tip the government, too? (Yeah, I know the government doesn’t get the tip)

I've seen auto-calculated tip of all combinations of with/without tax, with/without percent discount, and with/without individual item discounts.
I wish tipping would end, by mandating a living wage for all workers from the chef to the dishwasher and including all the waitstaff and everyone else in both the front and the back. But, until it does, I try to be generous with my tips, but also kind to people that can't or are simply tired of "tipflation".
But the government does get some from the "claimed" wages of the server

whenever I see a "suggested tip for your inconvenience" I feel the urge to research (aka google) their reported earnings for the last economical year, calculate their profit margin and write that in the tip line and to pay their employees better instead of trying to shift the costs onto the customers with scammy guilty conscience. Fuck establishments like that, especially those who are then trying to conceive you ONTOP of the already bs tips

That would be a reason not to give a tip.

That would be a reason to throw hands (okay, I'd consider it for a second and then calm down but still!), and I'd definitely leave without paying, nvm the tip, lol. You'd be lucky if I didn't scream cause I randomly found a cockroach in my coffee or something. 🤷
- Karen? That you?
No it isn’t. I agree tip culture is ridiculous, but if you go somewhere where that is the norm, and then you don’t tip, you’re an asshole. No question.
It's probably basing the tip on a pre discount amount.
The writer is proud of doing math but should be ashamed of their critical thinking and ego.
- Did you just make up a scenario and then try to shame them for not using the critical thinking you just invented?

You WRITE the tip amount on the receipt? How does the payment terminal know how much to take?

It's entered manually, usually at the end of the shift. It's standard for most, if not all restaurants in the United States
- In Canada they just bring you the payment machine and it asks the percent you want to tip. There is a physical bill but its only used by the server to know what to enter really
- It's getting to be less common. A lot of newer/trendier places are giving their wait-staff tablets (which are also handling ordering, seating status, etc), or at least portable payment terminals.
  Some of the big established chains have kiosks at the table where you can order apps/drinks directly, pay, play games.
  I've also been to several places that'll put a QR code on the receipt for payment. They may also have their menu online that you can get from a QR on the table. As an added bonus that usually means their online menu is actually kept up to date.
The server has to manually enter it.
Here's their bullshit workflow:
Print the check
Customer reviews it
Credit card is given to the server
Card is swiped/authorized at the POS
Server returns with the receipts
Customer then writes in the tip amount and signs on the merchant copy
Server takes the signed receipt and enters the tip amount back at the POS
For whatever reason, the USA keeps using their signature, when the technology for pay at the table has been around for decades.
Meanwhile, chip & PIN has been standard everywhere in Canada for the last decade, with some businesses using it for almost another decade prior to that. Mexico wasn't far behind either, so it's absolutely possible to adopt better methods.
- Money. Banks make money on chargebacks and disputes. The bad system makes them money. That's why we have the bad system. Money. Like always.
The transaction remains open until the end of the shift. At the end of the shift, the checks are closed out with the updated tip amount included in the final charge.
Going back to the picture...thanks, now I have to confirm the restaurants math is correct and I'm bad at math.
- The quick way I was taught to eyeball it is to shift the decimal over one place to the left in the total, and double it. That's 20%. In this case $30.53 > $3.053 > $6.106 ~ $6.10
- I didn't know a transaction could be updated after the fact. That's wild.

I don't like in a madhouse where they put tips on the cheque thankfully nor expect tips in percentages, so.. no

The whole tip thing is a scam to begin with.

And they still tipped?

My tip would have been 0 right there and would have included a complaint with police

Highly doubt the server was being malicious. They aren't putting that on the receipt. It's a shitty thing for sure but it's unlikely that server had anything to do with it.
- I don't care who it is that is defrauding the customers, but somebody is. These numbers don't "accidentally" go wrong, this is clearly abusive and yes, police would be called over this. I'm sure the server is innocent, but then the restaurant owner isn't
- Then you’re assuming a clear pattern of fraud, not just one server cheating. That’s bigger than just not tipping
I was going to say I would have calculated out and either an even lower option and written it in and then tipped that 😂

Also, you're supposed to tip on the subtotal.

When I see they have made a "mistake" like this. I don't correct it.... I make my own mistake and give a smaller tip than i would have

Yep, this is highway to a $1 tip from me.
But that depends on the business. The $1 tip would only be for a chain company where I know the employees are making at least normal minimum wage and the tips are just a tip on top.
Yes punish the server for the restaurant's crimes. A story as old as tipped wages.

How sketchy has to be the scam so it justifies just leaving without paying?

Some scams i have encounter:

added 3 pints per customer
added things we didnt ask for (when asked about it, they said something on the lines "we forgot to charge that on another table, someone has to pay for it"
menu prices weren't up to date

“we forgot to charge that on another table, someone has to pay for it”
Da fuq?
I haven't seen this. Name and shame this place?
- It was some bar forgotten by god in Villa Ballester, Argentina. The place is called Basta Pablo.
  Strangely enough, the place survived the pandemic and is still open. Maybe people just don't care. Reading at the bad reviews, it wasn't an isolated case.

Tipping, specifically in the original context of restaurants, I will still do, simply because the government needs to change the minimum wage so that servers are included. They're currently a protected group that is allowed to be paid far less than minimum wage, and they are supposed to make up the difference in tips.

In every other context, wow me and I'll tip you, otherwise, don't expect shit.

If you did your job as you are expected to do, then I don't see why I need to tip.

It was always a dumb idea to pay servers LESS because they got tips. There was a time when tips were mostly cash and you didn't have to claim them as income. But now that advantage is almost completely gone. And we should just end tipping. If you go out and don't like the service then don't go back. Just like it works with any other business.
- Thank you! After all the comments and being a server I was starting to feel like I was going crazy!
  Like you said, tip your servers accordingly and if not then don’t go the f out! Go through a drive thru instead!
  And if you hate the tipping culture then try to change it! Don’t punish the servers for your selfish actions and beliefs for a service rendered! You don’t HAVE to be waited on… you chose that! So don’t choose to not tip that’s an asshole move and if you’re a regular even worse!
- You could easily get away with not claiming cash tips as income, that is.

I'm (NOT) living in America. 🎶

Must be wunderbar

No. But mostly because tips are not a thing here.

where is here?
- Yurop

It's closer to $6.11. I do math :)

Yeah, I'll tip you 20%, but I'll be damned if I don't round down because of your petty scam!

In California, I usually just double the tax, which normally comes out to about 16%.

2x3=6

If I tip I try to use cash, because places hold on to the money till a paycheck.

I've seen this out and about. It's not uncommon.

For the longest time, I'd find a tip between 15% and 20% which would result in a final total that was a palindrome. That was about 20 years ago and that's the first thing I noticed in this picture.

I have seen this in a few places in person. It must be relatively common.

It was probably the percentage BEFORE a discount was given… just because a discount happens doesn’t mean you should skip out on the tip of a server… example, you have a $100 bill with a $50 discount, you DO NOT TIP ON THE DISCOUNT, you tip on THE TOTAL bill of service. You still all got the same amount of food and service, so stop with this short tipping staff!

Can’t afford a tip then don’t fucking go to a damn restaurant! I make more as a server with half the hours than when I was a full time teacher! America is fucked but don’t fuck fellow people over because you can’t comprehend the tipping culture and are a cheap POS!

This may be a "hot take" but the service staff is employed by the restaurant, not me. It's not my job to pay the employees of the restaurant. It's the owners and employers job to pay the staff. I want to know the price of the thing I'm buying when I order it, not after taxes are added and in some places a "cost of living" fee on top of that. Then to expect the customer to pay even more on top of all the extra bs fees the house charges instead of just increasing the price of the food. No thanks
- Don’t know where you live but taxes are always a thing, welcome to America. All bills show EXACTLY what you are paying for, if you don’t want to tip or change the tipping culture than do it, otherwise TIP your servers or fuck off and get take out, it’s not that fucking hard!
In your experience what percentage of people tipped $0 or far less than 20%?
- Honestly, people in my community are amazing! I get well over 20% most of the time, very rarely will I get $0 tips and honestly it’s from teenagers or young adults who shouldn’t be “dining in” if they don’t have a tip after food costs! (Go fast food or take out, don’t punish me because you don’t have money for a tip!)
  Other than this one mid age douche that comes in every other week and orders like $40-50 worth of food and NEVER tips! I ignore his table if I am busy. People pay me for food and SERVICE and if I know you aren’t going to tip me, I ain’t going to provide the best service!
The problem is that because of the way it's written, it ends up being misleading.
If there was a simple disclaimer like "tip based on non-discounted prices", it would've been fine.
- I agree but also, that’s common sense… just because your bill was discounted doesn’t mean you discount my tip, you still got all the food and great service, so wtf! I don’t get how people are still confused, tipping in America has been a thing for decades!
You're right. Not sure why you'd be down voted, other than if people found your conclusion a bit heavy.
- Thank you!! They didn’t like my responses as a fellow server former teacher! I make more with half the hours as a server than a full time teacher, that’s savage and what’s truly wrong with America! Don’t like the tipping culture than don’t go out, it’s not that fucking hard. Don’t punish servers for your beliefs! I just don’t get people. Why downvote me when I am providing my first hand experiences?

OH MY GOD! They tried to scam you out of a whole $1.49!!!!

Don't care. Round up to ten, you greedy cardboard cutout of a person.

Give 20% tip. Get called greedy. America is truly a sight to behold.
- Tip your fellow workers. Agitate for companies to pay their workers a living wage, but in the meantime - tip your comrades.

That’s the wiggle room so the server doesn’t notice when they take the cc fee out