Wow... mandatory gratuity.
Now that's an oxymoron! I think sometimes people should stop for a minute, clear up all the mess and just give the things their real name back. Call it whatever you like, but not gratuity.
Otherwise, what will you call real gratuity?
Beureaucratising words is senseless.
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On tips. Here, there are no tips. At all. Probably the culture is more trying to get a discount than leaving some extra money. However, the thing works perfectly fine. You have what you drink or eat, plus a (almost standard) fixed charge for service. Drawback is, it is very difficult for waiters to get more than their standard (often minimum) wage.
tips still exists, they are used to rewards very good service.
And I quite like not having to pay a tip, it avoids many bad situations.
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Here is the reason for tipping. T.I.P. To Insure Promptness I frequently go to a place where because of my tips they know my name, the owner/manager shakes my hand, the bartender knows my drink and will by pass people waiting to make mine, the food comes faster and the service is miles of smiles.
That's not such a bad thing, but I don't like it too much. It resembles to me, in a small scale, to mafia way of thinking and acting: I do a favour to you (pay you significantly more than other customer), you do a favor to me (you treat me better than everyone else and you use me some... respect).
The difference between a good frequent customer and a privileged who is getting something other people are not entitled to is almost as subtle as the difference between rewarding the waiters for a good service and expecting something better than other people because you are going to be "generous".
Haggling is being thrifty enough to know that a penny saved is a penny earned. I bought a Multifunction Printer for significantly less just by asking. Every dollar saved I put into the market this spring and that little bit more every time stacks up.
Haggling, on the contrary, can be interesting sometimes. But not always. Standard practice, for me, should be "this is the product, this is the price."