[QUOTE=Jnpr30;2200706]McA sorry, your comments are normally sensible but here you are conflating two different things.
The phenomenon in FKK is entirely different. To the extent full service effectively costs x and official rate is 50, mongers who want the full service pay the difference of x-50 as the tip. If one pays just 50, only partial service is received. That is just economic reality, and not a degenerative tipping practice.[/QUOTE]The tone of your original post, as I interpreted, seemed to indicate that there is something disingenuous (maybe even unscrupulous) about the American tipping system I. E. "more than what's indicated on the rate card". The use of the word "degenerative" also carries a negative connotation. So I will amend my previous post to be more clear. Rather than trying to compare two different things, I will simply say both of these two different things can be characterized as follows: "degenerative" and "more than what's indicated on the rate card".
Inflation happens at restaurants, yes. BUT they change their menu prices to reflect that. The fact that prices have increased is completely transparent to the customer! Essentially what certain WGs do at certain clubs, would be analogous to restaurant advertising a 400 g steak for 20 EUR, but bringing you out a 200 g steak for 20 EUR, then asking for a tip.
I have no issues with letting free market dictate. I would have absolutely no problem if a WG were to deny me service for the following reasons: (1) "My friend told me you are a 50 EUR guy" or (2) "Last time you only gave me 50 EUR". Those are all acceptable. Whats inexcusable to me is when the WGs lure men into the room, force a customer to pick a price tier, then deliberately give shitty service if the customer picks the lowest tier. If that is their intention, then the WG should just say "If you only want to pay 50 then I will only give you 15 minutes, do you still want to stay?
With regards to your statement that dishes in America are not kept artificially low, one CNBC author seems to disagree:
"So what if more American restaurants followed suit (Tokyo) and started to pay waiters and waitresses a salary? First, the obvious: Menu prices would be higher. Without tipping, restaurants would be forced to raise the price of dishes. " [URL]https://www.cnbc.com/id/100978743[/URL].
