{"id":77000,"date":"2024-08-16T09:46:56","date_gmt":"2024-08-16T02:46:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/?p=77000"},"modified":"2024-08-16T09:46:56","modified_gmt":"2024-08-16T02:46:56","slug":"3-reasons-you-should-always-tip-in-cash-according-to-former-servers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/3-reasons-you-should-always-tip-in-cash-according-to-former-servers\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Reasons You Should Always Tip In Cash, According To Former Servers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Typically, when we go out to dinner at one of our haunts or a new one, we tip in cash. We do more than a 20-percenter if the service is good. We also like having the same waiter if the service is good. One way to get them to remember you is the tip you leave. The cash tip is remembered and quickly goes into their pocket. Not sure what they claim.\n

vinnstock\/\/Getty Images\n
We live in an era of cash-free convenience. And we buy most things by swiping or tapping credit cards or holding our phones up to a screen. We prefer to tip our servers, bartenders, and hair stylists the same way because it\u2019s as simple as hitting a button.\n
But what if I told you there are several practical reasons why we should all be tipping exclusively in cash? The fast is, cash tipping is the only way to ensure that your servers walk away with 100% of their tip money.\n
The Server Gets the Tip Immediately\n
$\"\"$ \n
One of the biggest reasons to tip in cash is the service worker will receive that money immediately. This is a big bonus on both a psychological and a practical level. According to Colton Trowbridge, a longtime server who has worked in both Kansas and NYC restaurants, cash tips are better because they provide immediate evidence of earning money: instant gratification.\n
\u201cIt feels a little bit more real when it\u2019s in your hand,\u201d he says. This might sound trivial, but when you\u2019re in the middle of a crazy eight-hour brunch shift and your guaranteed hourly rate is only 50% of the legal minimum wage, tangible proof that you are actually earning decent money counts for a lot.\n
Cash tips are also important because they mean that the server will likely get to take the money home that night. They won\u2019t need to wait two weeks to receive it with a paycheck. This is often true even if the server has to pool their cash tips with others at the end of the night. Trowbridge shared . . .\n
\u201cI have worked in a pooled house where cash is divided up evenly and then it\u2019s given to you. In that case, I prefer it for sure.\u201d\n
For some servers, this day-to-day cash flow might not be necessary. For others, it might be as critically important as allowing them to buy food for their families or pay the babysitter who watched their children while they were working. Of course this varies by the individual, and there\u2019s no way customers can know a specific worker\u2019s situation.\n
Regardless, cash is always the better bet.\n
Cash Tips Leave Less Margin for Error\n
$\"\"$
Catherine McQueen\/\/Getty Images\n
There\u2019s significantly less margin for error when you tip in cash. Think about it: a $10 bill is $10, and when you give it to your server, they have it securely in their hand and its value is indisputable.\n
But when you tip on a credit card, there are many potential pitfalls. If you\u2019re writing the tip on a printed slip, there’s the possibility for written errors. Maybe you put the period in the wrong place and ended up tipping way less (or way more!) than you intended. Maybe you forgot to sign the slip or, worse, took the signed slip with you by accident.\n
I have personally lost at least two or three sizable tips when customers erroneously walked out the door with those slips. In these cases, the restaurant\u2019s payment has already been processed, but the only proof of the tip left on the credit card is that slip they scrawled on. Without it, the server is left empty-handed.\n
Businesses Can Deduct Credit Card Processing Fees From Tips\n
No, you didn\u2019t misread that. In most states, it is 100% legal for businesses to pay their credit card processing fees from the tip money left for servers on credit cards.\n
This is clearly stated on the U.S. Department of Labor website under the Fair Labor Standards Act: \u201ctips are charged on customers\u2019 credit cards…the employer may pay the employee the tip, less that [credit card service fee] percentage.\u201d\n
Only Maine, Massachusetts, and California have laws banning this. So, to be absolutely clear, if you have tipped a server on a credit card in any other state, there\u2019s a high probability that the server (or the pooled house the server belonged to) didn\u2019t receive the full tip you left them.\n
Most businesses do not necessarily tell their staff when they are removing the fees from the tip pool. Trowbridge shared that he has worked at one restaurant where he knew they were taking out the fees, but only because he asked them point-blank.\n
\u201cIt\u2019s frustrating,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t think that\u2019s something that most people are aware of.\u201d Since then, he has worked in several other spots where he and his fellow servers might have been losing out on credit card tip money because of processing fees, yet it was never really discussed. \u201cIt\u2019s definitely not a big topic of conversation in the industry.\u201d\n
In this age of contactless payment, it takes extra planning to make sure you have cash on hand for tipping. But all things considered, it\u2019s definitely worth it. Next time you reach the optional tipping screen, hit \u201cskip\u201d and tell your server you\u2019ll be leaving the tip in cash. They\u2019ll appreciate that extra effort.\n
Sources: delish.com; angrybearblog.com\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Typically, when we go out to dinner at one of our haunts or a new one, we tip in cash. We do more than a 20-percenter if the service is good. We also like having the same waiter if the service is good. One way to get them to remember you is the tip you …\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":77001,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[6,693,349],"class_list":["post-77000","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tie-life-style","tag-life-style","tag-news","tag-tip"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77000","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=77000"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77000\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":77002,"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77000\/revisions\/77002"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/77001"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77000"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77000"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77000"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

vinnstock\/\/Getty Images\n
We live in an era of cash-free convenience. And we buy most things by swiping or tapping credit cards or holding our phones up to a screen. We prefer to tip our servers, bartenders, and hair stylists the same way because it\u2019s as simple as hitting a button.\n
But what if I told you there are several practical reasons why we should all be tipping exclusively in cash? The fast is, cash tipping is the only way to ensure that your servers walk away with 100% of their tip money.\n
The Server Gets the Tip Immediately\n
$\"\"$ \n
One of the biggest reasons to tip in cash is the service worker will receive that money immediately. This is a big bonus on both a psychological and a practical level. According to Colton Trowbridge, a longtime server who has worked in both Kansas and NYC restaurants, cash tips are better because they provide immediate evidence of earning money: instant gratification.\n
\u201cIt feels a little bit more real when it\u2019s in your hand,\u201d he says. This might sound trivial, but when you\u2019re in the middle of a crazy eight-hour brunch shift and your guaranteed hourly rate is only 50% of the legal minimum wage, tangible proof that you are actually earning decent money counts for a lot.\n
Cash tips are also important because they mean that the server will likely get to take the money home that night. They won\u2019t need to wait two weeks to receive it with a paycheck. This is often true even if the server has to pool their cash tips with others at the end of the night. Trowbridge shared . . .\n
\u201cI have worked in a pooled house where cash is divided up evenly and then it\u2019s given to you. In that case, I prefer it for sure.\u201d\n
For some servers, this day-to-day cash flow might not be necessary. For others, it might be as critically important as allowing them to buy food for their families or pay the babysitter who watched their children while they were working. Of course this varies by the individual, and there\u2019s no way customers can know a specific worker\u2019s situation.\n
Regardless, cash is always the better bet.\n
Cash Tips Leave Less Margin for Error\n
$\"\"$
Catherine McQueen\/\/Getty Images\n
There\u2019s significantly less margin for error when you tip in cash. Think about it: a $10 bill is $10, and when you give it to your server, they have it securely in their hand and its value is indisputable.\n
But when you tip on a credit card, there are many potential pitfalls. If you\u2019re writing the tip on a printed slip, there’s the possibility for written errors. Maybe you put the period in the wrong place and ended up tipping way less (or way more!) than you intended. Maybe you forgot to sign the slip or, worse, took the signed slip with you by accident.\n
I have personally lost at least two or three sizable tips when customers erroneously walked out the door with those slips. In these cases, the restaurant\u2019s payment has already been processed, but the only proof of the tip left on the credit card is that slip they scrawled on. Without it, the server is left empty-handed.\n
Businesses Can Deduct Credit Card Processing Fees From Tips\n
No, you didn\u2019t misread that. In most states, it is 100% legal for businesses to pay their credit card processing fees from the tip money left for servers on credit cards.\n
This is clearly stated on the U.S. Department of Labor website under the Fair Labor Standards Act: \u201ctips are charged on customers\u2019 credit cards…the employer may pay the employee the tip, less that [credit card service fee] percentage.\u201d\n
Only Maine, Massachusetts, and California have laws banning this. So, to be absolutely clear, if you have tipped a server on a credit card in any other state, there\u2019s a high probability that the server (or the pooled house the server belonged to) didn\u2019t receive the full tip you left them.\n
Most businesses do not necessarily tell their staff when they are removing the fees from the tip pool. Trowbridge shared that he has worked at one restaurant where he knew they were taking out the fees, but only because he asked them point-blank.\n
\u201cIt\u2019s frustrating,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t think that\u2019s something that most people are aware of.\u201d Since then, he has worked in several other spots where he and his fellow servers might have been losing out on credit card tip money because of processing fees, yet it was never really discussed. \u201cIt\u2019s definitely not a big topic of conversation in the industry.\u201d\n
In this age of contactless payment, it takes extra planning to make sure you have cash on hand for tipping. But all things considered, it\u2019s definitely worth it. Next time you reach the optional tipping screen, hit \u201cskip\u201d and tell your server you\u2019ll be leaving the tip in cash. They\u2019ll appreciate that extra effort.\n
Sources: delish.com; angrybearblog.com\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Typically, when we go out to dinner at one of our haunts or a new one, we tip in cash. We do more than a 20-percenter if the service is good. We also like having the same waiter if the service is good. One way to get them to remember you is the tip you …\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":77001,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[6,693,349],"class_list":["post-77000","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tie-life-style","tag-life-style","tag-news","tag-tip"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77000","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=77000"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77000\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":77002,"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77000\/revisions\/77002"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/77001"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77000"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77000"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77000"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

The Server Gets the Tip Immediately\n

Businesses Can Deduct Credit Card Processing Fees From Tips\n