> Or better yet, I'd rather just use a company that adequately pays its own employees instead of attempting to offload a portion of that cost on its customers.
I also really dislike tipping, but in reality it's not the cost they are offloading onto customers (all the cost is paid by the customers, since costs are paid out of revenues, which come from customers), but rather they are offloading compensation decisions onto customers - since the difference between a tip and having the cost of service built into the price is that you can decide the amount of the tip.
There are industries where the employees are paid less than minimum wage as anticipated tips are factored into their overall compensation. If the tips do not meet the minimum wage threshold, the business is responsible for the difference. In this case, the costs (wages) are being offloaded by tips. Not to mention the industries that pay low wages as the tips subsidize a living wage.
I also really dislike tipping, but in reality it's not the cost they are offloading onto customers (all the cost is paid by the customers, since costs are paid out of revenues, which come from customers), but rather they are offloading compensation decisions onto customers - since the difference between a tip and having the cost of service built into the price is that you can decide the amount of the tip.