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Joe's Crab Shack backs away from no-tipping policy
CNN ^ | May 12, 2016 | Kathryn Vasel

Posted on 05/12/2016 3:33:35 PM PDT by PAR35

Apparently, the no-tipping test at Joe's Crab Shack isn't working out.

The casual seafood chain announced in November that it had been trying out a no-tipping model in 18 of its restaurants across the country since August.

But less than a year later, the company is moving back to the standard gratuity model in 14 of the test locations.

...

"Our customers and staff spoke very loudly [about the policy], and a lot of them voted with their feet," he said.

(Excerpt) Read more at money.cnn.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Extended News; US: Texas
KEYWORDS: joescrabshack; noincentive; notipping; wages
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Ignite Restaurant Group execs are shocked to learn that if they raise prices and cut income to the staff that both customers and staff will depart. Guess they took Econ 101 at a liberal University. They tested the program at 18 locations; keeping it for now at 4 of those.

Here's the original story from 2015 saying that they would pay the waiters $14 an hour in the test program. http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/3358907/posts

1 posted on 05/12/2016 3:33:36 PM PDT by PAR35
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To: PAR35

Socialism fails every time it is tried.


2 posted on 05/12/2016 3:39:16 PM PDT by FatherofFive (Islam is evil and must be eradicated)
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To: PAR35

That would be a cut in pay for our waitress.

Just our(me, the wife, daughter and grandbaby) table’s tip is around $18 when we go out - and that’s at Buffalo Wild Wings.


3 posted on 05/12/2016 3:39:55 PM PDT by PeteB570 ( Islam is the sea in which the Terrorist Shark swims. The deeper the sea the larger the shark.)
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To: PAR35

The last time I was a Joe’s, I didn’t leave any tip, but it wasn’t because of their policy.


4 posted on 05/12/2016 3:46:03 PM PDT by Southside_Chicago_Republican (If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.)
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To: PAR35

People want to control how much or how little a tip they leave depending on the service. Tipping is an incentive structure for better service.


5 posted on 05/12/2016 3:47:03 PM PDT by plain talk
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To: PAR35

I love seafood and I love casual, so I went to their website looking for the closest restaurant. It’s about 165 miles from me, so I guess I won’t be checking one out for a very long time, if ever.


6 posted on 05/12/2016 3:49:27 PM PDT by Gator113 (~~Vote Trump 2016~~ Just livin' life my way. Don't worry, everything's gonna be alright. 👍)
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To: PAR35
Waitresses and are part of a restaurant's sales staff. The customer pays a percentage of the sale as a commission to the sales gal. The more sales a waitress delivers, the more she and the restaurant make.

It is not wise for a restaurant to hurt it's sales staff.

7 posted on 05/12/2016 3:56:19 PM PDT by Mark was here
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To: PAR35

They may have taken the Econ 101 class at a liberal university, but, they obviously didn’t pass the class.


8 posted on 05/12/2016 4:07:22 PM PDT by gigster (Cogito, Ergo, Ronaldus Magnus headsConservatus)
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To: PAR35

I guess the union loving socialist bastards found out that by everyone regardless to the professionalism of their job and the desire to earn their income really matters when it comes to giving good service for a good tip.

I’ll bet the quality of service went through the floor when the socialist owners paid everyone the same regardless as to the level of service they provided. You work for tips, do good service and you will make far more than minimum wage...don’t and you won’t even come close to making minimum wage. It’s called professional competition and I don’t give a damn if it hurts someone’s pride and esteem...it used to be the AMERICAN way.


9 posted on 05/12/2016 4:08:32 PM PDT by DH (Once the tainted finger of government touches anything the rot begins)
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To: PAR35
I went there once.

They show you pictures of these giant buckets overflowing with seafood

But when it gets to your plate it is not quite a normal sized pail, and then most of it is filled with packing material and the seafood is only in one layer on top.

We ordered some stuff, were still hungry, and ordered some more stuff... after $70 worth of food we left and went to McDonald's.

10 posted on 05/12/2016 4:12:45 PM PDT by Mr. K (Trump will win NY state - choke on that HilLIARy)
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To: Mark was here

That reminds me of Circuit City. The folks in the back room discovered that one of the big expense items was the sales commissions that they were paying to their best sales people. Simple solution. Get rid of those high cost employees and replace them with the sales staff that weren’t getting paid nearly as much.

Needless to say, the chain did a ‘crash and burn’ shortly after getting rid of their best salespeople. I expect some senior exec got a nice bonus for implementing that cost savings plan.

Here, some bright exec at Ignite figured out that they would raise prices 15 to 20 percent, put the wait staff on a straight salary, and corporate could pocket the difference. At least they decided to try it at a sample of restaurants first, instead of destroying the whole chain with what proved to be a very bad idea.


11 posted on 05/12/2016 4:12:50 PM PDT by PAR35
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To: PAR35

We went to a Joe’s Crab Shack once. They play certain songs and the waitstaff all stop what they are doing and do a little dance. Our waitress jumped up on our table wearing shoes, which had been all over the restaurant and probably into the ladies’ room once or twice, and did her little dance. When she was finished, she hopped down, took a quick swipe at the table with a rag, and disappeared. We stopped a waiter and asked him to give our table a decent wipe-down. He admitted to us that they put the music on when the kitchen is backed up to give them a chance to catch up.

I’m a farmer, so I’m no germophobe, but that little table action certainly put me off my feed.

We never went back again. I think that “no tipping” is not the only problem they have.


12 posted on 05/12/2016 4:15:33 PM PDT by mrs. a (It's a short life but a merry one...)
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To: Gator113

I’ve eaten there a couple of times. Struck me as overpriced for the quality both times. We can do a lot better at at least 3 local places. If you are ever in the north Dallas suburbs, you can check out Joe’s, or PM me for the name of some of the places the locals go.


13 posted on 05/12/2016 4:15:58 PM PDT by PAR35
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To: PAR35

We went there once, but it was years before “no tipping” was a thing. I’m a big tipper unless service really stinks. If the total bill is small, a generous tip to the server doesn’t make it a big expense ... you spent $5.95 on lunch, what’s another $4? If the total bill is large, a generous tip to the server is just a fraction of the cost of a splurge.


14 posted on 05/12/2016 4:17:10 PM PDT by Tax-chick ("We like us the way we are. That makes us real, true friends." ~ The Undead Thread)
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To: PAR35

I’m guessing a typical order is 50-75 bucks, so they definitely undercut the pay of waitresses/waiters if they run only 2 tables an hour.


15 posted on 05/12/2016 4:18:58 PM PDT by xzins ( Free Republic Gives YOU a voice heard around the globe. Support the Freepathon!)
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To: Southside_Chicago_Republican
The last time I was a Joe’s, I didn’t leave any tip, but it wasn’t because of their policy.

In a way, it probably was.

16 posted on 05/12/2016 4:19:05 PM PDT by eddie willers
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To: PAR35

Is Nate’s still around (Spring Valley( that is/was good grub.


17 posted on 05/12/2016 4:24:57 PM PDT by waterhill (I Shall Remain, in spite of __________.)
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To: eddie willers

I see what you mean.


18 posted on 05/12/2016 4:35:57 PM PDT by Southside_Chicago_Republican (If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.)
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To: PAR35; Gamecock; SaveFerris; FredZarguna; PROCON; Lil Flower

Good, because I just bought a Willard tip calculator.


19 posted on 05/12/2016 4:38:31 PM PDT by Larry Lucido
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To: PAR35

$14 an hour and NO tips. No wonder they walked.

Back in the mid-90’s our daughter worked at Outback while she was in college. She worked Friday night, Saturday night, and Sunday afternoon, a total of 20 hours a week.

She said it was very, very unusual if she didn’t make $550 to $600 a weekend in just tips. So that’s $25 to $30 an hour. And that was in the 90’s.

$14 an hour???


20 posted on 05/12/2016 4:44:30 PM PDT by chaosagent (Remember, no matter how you slice it, forbidden fruit still tastes the sweetest!)
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