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.

Do a review on Google maps, and TripAdvisor, if you are in a touristy city. Warn the world, and put the ownership on notice.

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"

Pauly must be busy.

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.

They also paid it on the tax. Supposed to figure off the subtotal

"Fuck you restaurant for trying to scam me, now I'll only pay the correct 20% extra on top of my bill"

Yep, that's a solid 0% for me

The solution is to never step foot in the restaurant again not punish the server.

It's not hard to include a disclaimer tip prices based on full price if that's the case to avoid looking bad.

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.

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.

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.

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.)

You think the wait staff setup the machine to do math wrong?

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.

Why would you calculate the tip before the final amount? And why would that incorrect amount be printed out for the customer?

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.