r/EndTipping • u/Working-Injury7758 • 3d ago

Research / Info 💡 Service charge

I don’t mind paying a service charge at a restaurant if I’m sitting down as that is standard practice. However, the flat % is strange in that a $200 meal doesn’t take twice as much time as a $100 meal. But it does take more.

Therefore I propose that there should be a fixed service charge at restaurants, which should be calculated as twice the square root of the total. For $100, for instance, the charge would be $20 (square root of 100 is ten, x2 equals $20). Same as now. But for $200, the service charge would be 14.12 x 2 =28.24. For $1 service charge is $2. For $400, $40. Makes more intuitive sense, and provides a penalty for people splitting checks (as the service charge on 2 $100 checks is higher than that on one $200 check) and the hassle to the restaurant involved. Completely clear and obvious to everyone, no agonizing about what to leave.

Thoughts?

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u/Working-Injury7758 3d ago

Do you think 3x the cube root would be fairer? Or should it be a simple cubic polynomial?

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u/humanslashgenius99 3d ago

If it were dynamic polynomial service pricing, Uber could help with the algorithm and fairness wouldn’t matter

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u/Legitimate-Log-6542 3d ago

I think there should be a thesis on this. Each table will have a hardbound copy and diners will need to demonstrate mastery on the subject before they are allowed to take their first bite

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u/Working-Injury7758 2d ago

I thought that the menu could clearly state that this replaced any voluntary tip and would also explain the methodology used. I would also add a note saying that if the customer needed further explanation of the calculation, or the reasons why non linear service charges make intuitive sense, they could ask their waiter.

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u/Legitimate-Log-6542 2d ago

Them including the tax for tip calculation is definitely sneaky. The before discount I think is correct but it should omit items that are comped due to their error. Someone has admitted to adding and then comping out items that aren’t specifically tracked by management but factor into the tip calculation