Huge ‘problem’ with US tipping culture Aussies don’t understand
The Canadian waitress lashed by Aussies for complaining we don’t tip has exposed a “bizarre problem” we’ll “never understand”.
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A Canadian waitress who was torn to shreds after vowing to “never serve Australians again” has snapped back after her rant about tipping backfired.
Alexis Zarya told diners visiting other countries to “get with it” after revealing a family of Aussies had racked up a $CA200 bill (about $A220) and failed to leave her a tip for her services – a common practice in the US and Canada.
After Aussies unleashed on the young woman, claiming her video was “rude” and pointing out the apparent flaws with the Canadian and American tipping culture, Alexis has responded – and she’s definitely not happy, Jan.
“If we don’t get tipped and we didn’t make money, we can deal with that, but it’s the fact that if you eat there and you rack up a huge bill and not tip, we have to pay money out of our own pockets and that’s the problem,” she said in a new video.
She then went on to state servers in the US and Canada often have to pay a “tip out fee”. This is where the restaurant will charge its servers a percentage of their sales that are dished out among the colleagues who helped them, such as the busser who cleared and reset their tables and the bartender.
The fee is often a mandated amount set by the restaurant.
Alexis then addressed those who told her to “talk to your boss”, stating: “That’s just not how it works.”
“Here we tip out on the total bill, we don’t tip out on whether you tip or not, so if your bill is $200 and you don’t tip, that server now has to pay $20.
“I understand, it’s not like that in your country, but here that’s what it is like. There are just so many people that we have to pay.”
She finished by stating that while she understands not everyone will know the difference in tipping cultures, but declared it was “wild” to travel overseas and not do any research.
“So yeah, get with it,” she concluded.
Despite the rational explanation, most still weren’t having a bar of Alexis, with many claiming she made a mistake “coming for the Aussies”.
“All I’m hearing is waaaaahhhhh!” one scoffed.
“Thank God I live in Australia,” another agreed.
There were some who were more empathetic to the situation, but still said it was the fault of the system, stating it needs fixing.
“I stand by ‘Talk to you boss’. Unfortunately, it’s not the customer’s responsibility but your employer’s,” one shared.
“Why do YOU have to pay as an employee? Isn’t that the owners or management that pays you responsibility or something,” another asked.
As one raged: “Splitting your tips is fine, but you shouldn’t have to pay if no tip is left.”
Others said the whole system was “bizarre” adding it left them wondering how it was even legal.
“It’s insane an employee has to cover this charge,” one lamented.
“This is so confusing, I’ll never understand it,” mused someone else.
In her previous video, Alexis shared her earnings for five hours work, revealing she’d earned way above Canada’s average minimum wage, which can be between $14 and $17.59-an-hour ($15.44 to $19.40) dependant on where you live, according to Forbes.
“I made $83 for my hourly, and $150 in tips,” she said in the viral video.
“So I made $46 an hour.”
When converted to Australian dollars, that is around 70 bucks for each sixty minutes work of work.
Her mammoth earnings proved to be another sticking point for Australians who noted the National Minimum Wage is $23.23 per hour or $882.80 per week in Australia.
“You made $16.60 before tips. That’s the equivalent of 25 Australian. That’s the average wage over here, and we don’t get tips. I think you’re doing OK,” one pointed out.
“In Australia, they earn about $30/h for service. There’s no tips unless you are amazing,” agreed another.
Others suggested the Aussies “genuinely didn’t know” about the difference in tipping cultures, adding if it is so important, the restaurant should display a sign.
“Why should they tip when you are already getting paid?” one asked.
“It’s prob not intentional, we don’t do that here in Aus, so we find it hard to think to do it,” argued one woman.
Another added: “That meal was expensive. To demand a tip is unreasonable.”
“Crazy that a tip is an expectation,” mused someone else.
However, there were some who defended the waitress, stating it was “poor form” not to respect other cultures when travelling.
“If you go overseas, you gotta make an effort to be aware of cultural differences,” one said.
“Travellers should do better when visiting other countries,” agreed another.
“No excuses for being ignorant,” someone else scathed.
Originally published as Huge ‘problem’ with US tipping culture Aussies don’t understand
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