Tipping! Your thoughts.

[Tinwhistler]

if a server doesn't make minimum wage in tips, their employer is required to make up the difference. You'd probably get fired if your employer had to do this, though.

Of course, a server that can't make $7/hour in tips is probably a piss poor server.

 

[Vagabond]

15% most everywhere. This includes the pizza delivery guy.
20% if the service somehow manages to be above average. I've got no criteria for this, I just know it when it happens.
I've never not left a tip, guess I've been lucky not to get shitty waitstaff thus far.

The only tipping situation that confuses me is the little tip bowl thing at the registers at Chipotle. Every once in a while I might throw in some change, but what entitles them to that extra money? I'd hate for that to become the norm.

Unless it's for some kind of charity and I've never noticed.

 

[Bonhomme Richard]

I understand the servers make below minimum wage, but why is that the case? Why am I supplementing to the proper wage these people should have been making in the first place? Why is it accepted to pay servers under minimum wage?

Because there was a time when tipping was making the servers more money than the establishments could pay them in wages. My dad used to bring home $500 or more in tips some weeks. My parents used his tip money alone to buy Christmas presents or save up for family vacations.[/QUOTE]

And that's a bad thing? My mother was a waitress most of my life and she did the same thing. I understand taxing tips, but them being able to get minimum wage AND get good tips sounds like it would be a good incentive to get quality servers in a place.[/QUOTE]

The arguement at the time minimum wage was put in place was that if the server is making more than minimum wage in tips how come the employer is forced to pay them at minimum wage, they clearly don't need it.

Bottom line, in the US you tip because servers don't make minimum wage and servers don't make minimum wage because we tip in the US.


My sister works in the service industry so I pretty much always tip 20%.[/QUOTE]

I'm not against tipping, but it obviously has no affect on the quality of service in the majority of places anymore. I like the idea of the people actually getting minimum wage and the tipping returning to being an incentive at that point. I'm tired of subsidizing wages that larger restaurants can obviously afford. I want the tip to be something above and beyond, not "in theory" allowing them to break even.

 

[Espy]

I'm not against tipping, but it obviously has no affect on the quality of service in the majority of places anymore.

That I agree with. Overall I feel that I rarely get "good" service. I get mediocre "I'd rather not be here" service.

 

[Seraphyn]

It depends on the consumption really. For a cup of coffee or something I usually just raise it to a nice round number that makes it easy to pay. Dinners and such is usually 15%ish unless I happen to get exceptionally good service.

As far as I know, servers here just get minimum wage or above, because minimum wage is a minimum set by law, going below that gets you at least a hefty fine.

 

[WolfOfOdin]

I usually start out at around 20% and subtract for every fuck-up that isn't apologized for, IE the waiter spills my coffee on me, mutters and walks away.

I've been a waiter for most of my life till I got the job working as an assistant librarian though, so I'm rather understanding in that regard....that said, Salary > tips.

Of course I've had friends who refuse to tip AT ALL because "if they wanted a better paycheck, they'd get a real job"

 

[Shegokigo]

Screw writing out the scripting, I can't believe you didn't post a vid link!

 

[Charlie Don't Surf]

Screw writing out the scripting, I can't believe you didn't post a vid link!

Can't Youtube at work!

 

[Gusto]

Shego of all people should understand.

 

[figmentPez]

Be careful about not tipping in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. You'll get arrested.

A group of 8 college students got lousy service and refused to pay an 18% gratuity the restaurant added to their order, and the police arrested them for it. After the news picked up the story, the charges were dropped.

 

[Twitch]

Average service gets 15%, you have to seriously fuck up to get less than that and even then you'll get 10% probably. If I'm with friends you get 30% because, as Tin said, we all pitch in. Phenomenal service without friends can get 20-30% and with they've even gotten 50% or so. There is one guy, who if we go out with him he is the rudest mother fucker in the world. Any waitress who gets us then is lucky because it's a minimum of 40%.

 

[Shegokigo]

Shego of all people should understand.

Maybe if I wasn't now unemployed.

 

[Heavan]

I never eat out on my own, and all the people I eat out with are the 'oh no, let me pay' type. I am also that type.

Sometimes I end up leaving twice the amount on the bill depending on who I'm out with, just because neither one of us wanted to back down so we both paid the full amount.

 

[ThatGrinningIdiot!]

I never eat out on my own, and all the people I eat out with are the 'oh no, let me pay' type. I am also that type.

I promote this sentence.

Restaurants and bars will get my tips (15%). If servers at fast-food places or cafes are polite, I'll usually give them any change I have, usually a twoonie or loonie.

 

[Shakey]

I usually do 15%. If the service is better or worse I'll go higher or lower. Me and a buddy gave a bus boy at Old Country Buffet a $20 tip once. The kid was hilarious though. He stopped by as much as he could cracking jokes and bitching about the people that came there. He made what would have been a boring sunday morning a riot, so it was well worth it.

 

[Laurelai]

I tend to be a generous tipper (at least 20% regularly) if for no other reason that it's just easier for me to figure out 20% as opposed to 15%

Of course, there was that one time at that one restaurant where that certain waitress wouldn't stop flirting with my boyfriend. He left her a nice hefty tip- I took it and left a dime.... and dared him to put it back lol.

 

[Krisken]

I tip really well. Unless, of course, the service is so bad it pisses me off. Which is rare.

 

[Frank]

I tip well in my normal bars, as do most folk it seems. If I have to stand in line at a counter and there's a jar marked tips, that jar can fuck off and die for all I care. When I was at Booster Juice the other day grabbing a Terminator the fucking debit machine had a tip option. IT'S A GOD DAMN COUNTER. THERE'S NOT EVEN A PLACE TO SIT. THESE FUCKING GIRLS ARE BLENDING SOME ICE CREAM WITH A BANANA.....SLOWLY. YOU DO NOT GET A FUCKING TIP FOR THAT.

 

[Chazwozel]

I tip well in my normal bars, as do most folk it seems. If I have to stand in line at a counter and there's a jar marked tips, that jar can fuck off and die for all I care. When I was at Booster Juice the other day grabbing a Terminator the fucking debit machine had a tip option. IT'S A GOD DAMN COUNTER. THERE'S NOT EVEN A PLACE TO SIT. THESE FUCKING GIRLS ARE BLENDING SOME ICE CREAM WITH A BANANA.....SLOWLY. YOU DO NOT GET A FUCKING TIP FOR THAT.

I fucking hate tip jars with a passion.

 

[Math242]

I almost never tip. Of course in Belgium, you are not supposed to.

However, i'll sometimes leave a tip when the service is outsanding or if we as customers were a pain in the ass.

when i do leave a tip, i try to make it meaningful because i'd rather not give anything than give spare change and look like a cheapskate

 

[Lally]

Restaurants: Usually the base is 15% for me. If you suck, you get 10%, maybe 12%, depending on how much you suck. The absolute lowest tip I ever left was $1 and change on a 24 or 25 dollar meal because the waitress took our order, brought our food, and gave us our check. And never came back any other time, and was really unpleasant those few times she did talk to us. If you're really nice, it's usually closer to 20%. If I've been at the table for a really long time, I usually throw a bit extra in for that, too.

Bars: I start off giving high tips, like a dollar or two per drink, to make sure the bartender always comes back to me right away, and then slowly lower it by the end of the night. Or, if I have a tab going on my credit card, it's 15% of the total if you're nice and attentive, 10% if it took me forever to get a hold of you or my drinks sucked.

Tip jars: Never tip in them.

For delivery: Usually 10%-ish. This isn't an issue anymore as of last week, but my boyfriend and I used to have a rule that the delivery guy got an extra 2-3 bucks if we didn't have to walk downstairs to get our food. We didn't have a buzzing system at our apartment building, but there was a security code panel, and since it was a huge building there was almost always someone coming in or out. Even in the middle of the night, the Domino's guys (and a couple other places) never had a problem getting upstairs. So we knew it could be done. But if the guy just sat in his car and called us to make us come downstairs, he would get the bare minimum.

Salons: This is where I vary the most. It all depends on how much I like what's been done (which kinda sucks for hair stylists because I am really picky about my haircuts), and also how nice the person was to me. I usually give somewhere between 10-20% for haircuts, manicures, and waxing.

 

[fade]

I do tip more than 15 when I get a haircut. It takes a long time and skill (and a bit of art), and I appreciate that. Also, I feel bad since I get charged the lower male price even though I have long, thick hair.

 

[Fun Size]

I do tip more than 15 when I get a haircut. It takes a long time and skill (and a bit of art), and I appreciate that. Also, I feel bad since I get charged the lower male price even though I have long, thick, lustrous, salon-quality hair.

What he really wanted to write.

 

[Chazwozel]

I do tip more than 15 when I get a haircut. It takes a long time and skill (and a bit of art), and I appreciate that. Also, I feel bad since I get charged the lower male price even though I have long, thick, lustrous, salon-quality hair.

What he really wanted to write.[/QUOTE]


Either way I'm jealous of anyone that has long, thick, lustrous, salon-quality hair.

Fucking genetics...

 

[North_Ranger]

How much should one tip cows?

 

[Chibibar]

How much should one tip cows?

preferably NOT after a rainstorm

 

[Nile]

20% is generally what I give. If the service is amazing, I'll leave something extra. If it's not, and it's something within your power to fix, I'll adjust it accordingly.

Like, say the food is taking a long time. Sure, I'm not happy with the service, but if they keep coming back to check on us, then you can be relatively sure that it's a problem with the cooks, not the server. Odds are they're just as annoyed/angry that your food is taking as long as it is.

 

[redapples]

In the UK they just passed a law which requires restaurants to pay minimum wage. Tips cannot be (now) used to make the wage up to the minimum. A big issue here is that if you pay cash it generally goes to the server if you add it on to your credit card payment the restaurant takes it. Not in all cases but still...

I generally tip 10% which is the norm in the UK but I will with hold the tip. One of my big gripes (because I'm a pedant) is when a menu adds an 's' to the end of a dish and I get 1 I wont tip.

So fishcakes is plural, filo parcels is plural. Plural assumes more than 1.

Crap food, no way will I tip. Rude servers. Ixnay Oneymay.

As for level of service I generally work on the mark down approach rather than 'it has to be this good'. I worked bars for a long time (about 10 years) and tipping is not that common here. I don't mind tipping in bars but here is an example of what I mean. Me and a friend went to a bar, we ordered a drink and sat for a while. I went up for another round. In the intervening time exactly no other customer had come in. I asked for the same again. The guy behind the bar asked 'and what was that?'. You can guess how much of a tip he got from me. Personally I have remembered rounds of 15 or more drinks during a busy pre-Christmas lunch time so no way am I accepting not remembering a pint of beer and a gin and tonic on a dead shift.

 

[Dusty668]

How much should one tip cows?

Go big, or go home baaaaayby!

 

[strawman]

So basically, what I'm asking is if you tip or not? Do you think it's a good practice?

I am a cog in the system. 20% unless they really, really screw up at full service restaurants.

Never for pickup or counter service except in the case of Cold Stone Creamery - I'll add money to the tip jar because it makes them sing a song, and I'm fully in favor of more singing at restaurants.

How heavily does the quality of the service apply to your amount?

Not a whole lot. They have to mess up pretty badly to get me to go to 15%. If I feel the service has been so poor that they deserve 10% or less, I'll tell them - it seems pretty passive aggressive to deny them the culturally-required tip without giving them feedback. Usually they don't care by that point though, so it's hardly worth the effort.

I'm pretty sure all US servers get paid below minimum wage

Pretty much, which is why I always tip. When I go to a restaurant I factor in the cost of the tip with the meal - it's simply the cost of going out.

Remove tips and restaurant costs would go up - perhaps not as much as 20%, but they couldn't be as low as they are without the system, so as far as I'm concerned it's merely the way the system works.

My wife was a server in high school for a small town shop, though, and she's much, much more critical. When she tips it's pretty much 10% and up if they give exceptional service, and down to 0 (pretty easily) if they mess up at all. If the glasses on the table are below 1/3 full for more than a minute or two, DING! and the tip goes down.

Do worse than that and you're likely to get a dime under an upside down glass filled with water.

 

[Jay]

I usually tip 15% if the service is satisfactory. I tip a bit more (20%) if service has been outstanding (aka: prompt seats, fast with the drinks and food, follow-up service and not being neglected during the meal). The no-tip rarely happens unless something incredibly shitty has happened and the server could have handled it.

 

[phil]

15-20% or 2 dollars minimum. Sometimes my bill is only like 6 bucks to start with so I'll throw down 2 or 3 just to make sure it was still worth it. I don't really tip less because I'm hard to offend I guess. I don't want the guy to talk to me, so when they don't I don't consider it a bad experience. I'm not sure what some people expect sometimes, a HJ in the back? Fuck you, you got your food.

For delivery I go for 3-5, which since I usually order online I just throw that on the card too.

If I pick it up to go I only do like a buck or two in the tip jar.

I would prefer that tipping was not needed and waiters just got paid more.