Automatic tip or service charge? New state law requires restaurants to tell diners before they order

     Don't tell me what I am buying. I am buying a meal, period. I tip for service, period. I don't get mad - I eat elsewhere.  The definition of dining is - the activity of eating a meal.

What if it's not mandatory? What if it's more like, we automatically add 18% for gratuity if you'd like us to change that please let us know? 

What is your average tip at a restaurant? Do you have like a flat tip you normally give? Do you normally not tip?

 One should not have to request that a bogus charge be removed - those types of charges should never be on a bill to begin with.

I prefer they not be there too. 

So do you have an average you tip? Do you usually not tip? 

What is in the article (I clicked the link):  This regards fees apart from the tip itself.  "...a broader category of an operations charge--including service charges, credit card surcharges, delivery fees and other mandatory charges added to a customer's bill, excluding taxes."

Sometime back this was happening in Las Vegas eateries, and discussed in a QoD.  A 'new' fee seemed to popping up, being called something like a 'service fee'.   At the time it was suggested diners could speak up and decline that part of the bill, if they noticed it at all. 

Candy 

  I have no "average tip". I will state it once again - I tip for the service rendered. For poor service - little or no tip. For good service - a good tip based on the service, not for the bill total - which is a stupid guideline.

Yeah I get it,  but what is a "good tip"? 

  My tips are based upon several criteria. My Mother was a very good waitress and I worked with her often as a busboy, bussing tables, setting up tables, whatever was needed. I watched how she worked and grew to expect certain things for when I would be a customer. Punctuality, greeting the customer, knowledge of the menu, understanding and getting my food order right. When bringing the food, making sure the food was prepared correctly. I expect the server to check back and see if anything else is needed. When finished, I expect to be asked if I wanted desert, coffee, etc. When bringing the check, not hovering around. During the time I am dining, not feeling rushed or ignored. I usually tip more when my meal is being comped - it is just a thing I feel comfortable doing. When I am paying for my meal, I look at the menu price for the food I've eaten and the service rendered. I tip more when the service was good - less when it wasn't. There is no set percentage in my head, just what I preceive as being just. Also, I always have and do tip in cash, letting the server handle their own tax situation. Overall I would say I tip between 10% and 20% of the bill total, totally dependant on the service rendered. 

Nope. There's a distinction, and you're not so stupid as to not understand it.

Just like when you buy any product or service from a retailer, you pay for the cost of the product AND the retailer's overhead AND the retailer's profit. Refusing to tip, or complaining about a service charge, because you feel you should only be paying for the food itself is petty at best and dishonest at worst.

But hey, we get what this thread's all about. You always stiff your server. And you're looking for self-justification.

     You go ahead and spend your money anyway you like. Neither you nor anyone else will tell me how to spend my money. How a retailer chooses to run his business and what to charge for whatever he offers is up to him. What he chooses to pay his employees and what they agree to accept as pay is up to them. I am not and will not accept paying for the employees salary, medical and whatever asinine fees the owner decides to charge. Employers throughout the world pay their employees a livable wage and tipping is not part of that equation. The U S has the highest tipping "culture" based upon decades of brainwashing - employers love it because they can pay less than minimun wage legally as they pump up their profits at their employees expense.