I have long wondered what motivation there is for any wait-person to render me exceptional service. They don't know in advance whether I'm a decent human being, or a blight on humanity. It would be great if wait-people had a way to know what kind of person you are before they waited on you.
There should be an organized database of customers' past behaviour toward clerks/waiters/salespeople. It would be accesible instantly, like a credit card. It would be voluntary. Your waiter/sales clerk could check you out before serving. People who are compassionate, and leave tips, would get great service. Cheap skinflints would get what they deserve.-- crater, Dec 28 2004 Bitter Waitress: Shitty Tippers Database http://www.bitterwaitress.com/std/Entries about those patrons who left less than 17% tip. [bristolz, Jan 06 2005] A good rating could help you get a reservation, too. But the whole thing sounds like bribery to me.-- phundug, Dec 28 2004 What about a simple universal customer blacklist? Offending a waiter would be like offending the mob. You wouldn't have to be obtrusive about it, either. Diner would eat, and when he gives his credit card, the waiter checks the name and scissors it.-- Method, Dec 28 2004 <rant>//Cheap skinflints would get what they deserve.// In most countries, people who work get paid by their employer for the service they deliver, employers relying on customers giving tips is, in my opinion, a legacy of an unpleasant society, a living working wage is what is required.</rant> Apart from that, I don't dislike it as an idea, but it should be "people who treat people who treat people nicely get treated nicely" rather than relying on an outmoded remuneration model. (damn, rant again).-- neilp, Dec 29 2004 Me of all people asks is there a way to seperate jerks from the rest of us. Is being a jerk a temporary thing or is it once a jerk always a jerk. Only a test would tell. What would be the questions? I have my own solution but its not well accepted. I say everytime a credit card is used in public, the value of it is determined by your efficiency quotient in the community. You could be paid $100Gs at work but its value is worth $10-100Gs depending on you. You'll find that the manipulators want their currency manipulated least.-- mensmaximus, Dec 29 2004 People who treat others nicely reap their own rewards, one of which is the ability to rise above getting petty over skinflintatious behaviour.
The problem with this is that people would no longer leave tips out of compassion, but out of fear of upsetting the staff. Basically what [nelip] said.
If you want tips to be mandatory, just make them mandatory - that would be far easier than setting up and implementing some global system for establishing tip-Karma.
Plus, the system's validity could be easily eroded by paying off your tip-debt by making an arrangement with Mario at the local trattoria whereby you leave a huge tip, and he pays you back sum in cash. He's happy (don't tips get classed as tax-free income?) and you get a year of evil skinflintery to inflict on unsuspecting waitresses.-- zen_tom, Jan 04 2005 You are evil, tom. And in western europe tips are not tax-free income, officially. Crater, your average waitperson knows what kind of customer you are after the first glance and therefor has no need for your system, except that it would be a fun toy, so a plus! Some inside info from waitpersons united a.k.a. the Casa Nostra: Utter bastards can give huge tips, friendly people are known to be pour tippers. Exceptional service is a rarity, it's all about making the customer #believe# he gets exceptional service. Why we serve the best we can? It is rewarding. Even more so if you give the A-hole a nice evening. Because he would comment if something was wrong and nice people never dare do that, not even if you ask. Oh, and we don't want you to be nice or give big tips, we want you to be clear about what you want and let us get on with it. Tips are nice, yes. But a waitperson that grovels for money exists only in some people's imagination. If you ever get served by one: leave and don't come back, there's something terribly wrong with the place.-- zeno, Jan 04 2005 "casa nostra would be "this house of ours"??-- crater, Jan 06 2005 Indeed, it's in the middle of our street.-- zeno, Jan 06 2005 random, halfbakery