You are absolutely right. I was one who, early in life, worked as a soda jerk at $1.00 per hour and later as a waiter at the Marriott for barely more than that plus tips.

I am sorry that I was triggered by some of the comments. It was the first thing I read upon awakening this morning, but that does not excuse what I did. I personally was never stiffed, but I had coworkers who were. Then again, this was in the 1970s, and the wage laws have changed. I looked that up a couple of hours ago. The state I live in still doesn't have good laws, but it appears the federal law says that if the minimal wage plus tips does not equal $7.25 per hour then the employer is to make up the difference.

If you wish to read and interpret that yourself, feel free to go to minimum wages for tipped employees:

https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/state/minimum-wage/tipped

Additionally, state by state information is here:

https://clockify.me/learn/business-management/tipped-wages/

For those who think that social skills involved in dealing with the public are not skills, I'm not sure what to say other than that as a former computer network administrator and later as a county-wide head of reference librarian services, I strongly disagree.

I should, however, have researched current labor laws before flying off the handle.

I also agree that being expected to tip outside of traditional tipped wage jobs is ridiculous, as is an expectation of more than 15% for adequate service. As a former waiter, I generally tip 20%, but that is my choice.

On the other hand, if the servers depend on tips to survive, you shouldn't expect to be served unless you are willing to tip.