Tipping

[JohnnyJohnson]

Originally Posted By: ArcticDriver
If the waitstaff has agreed to split all tips then your actions results in only two possible outcomes:

1) The recipient donates your tip to the communal pot.

OR

2) The recipeint slyly pockets your tip and is spotted by very watchful coworkers and is forever more branded a thief who cannot be trusted.

Your "strings attached" tip is a nice gesture but its really not your decision how those funds are dispersed.

Yes it is I won't support communism!

 

[Dallas69]

They probably think if you are silly enough to pay 6-7$ for a cup of foo foo coffee, why not get more of your money.

 

[Alfred_B]

Originally Posted By: Eddie
I often give the guy who rotates my tires and airs them up. I am having a new AC unit being replaced in my home. Do you normally tip these installers? Ed


I always tip people who are employees.

 

[Alfred_B]

Originally Posted By: JHZR2
I'd be curious to better understand the basic wage structure in other first world countries where tipping is less. At least for food service, we even have a different minimum wage structure.


They are paid living wages and any job can be a career. Pension, healthcare and education are also things that are available to them so it makes it a much less stressful life.

 

[KGMtech]

Nope. Tipping in my world is limited to dining establishments where you are waited on, seated, wine list questions, water glasses refilled.

In my wife's world, she expands the list to hotel maids, resort workers.

Tipping should send a message:
>15% is exceptional service, something so nice you end up telling others about the situation in glowing terms.
= 15% is good service, everything was fine.
10-14% is adequate service
5-9% is below adequate service
0-4% is far below adequate service - usually I explain myself to the person directly.

 

[Virtus_Probi]

I read up on tipping before I spent some time in Italy and learned that tipping waitstaff was not customary there and that people could generally make a decent living there on their wages in that profession. I still felt odd leaving nothing and generally left a euro tip, one waiter gave me a displeased look when he saw it...I figured he could toss it on the ground if he was offended. I also learned through experience that I had to ASK for my check, as it was assumed that patrons wanted to relax after eating and they were not 100% focused on getting as many groups in as possible per table in a night like we see in the US.

Totally different story in the US, the servers need tips to make the job worthwhile and I find it arrogant and unfeeling to leave nothing unless the service was just brutally bad. My mother worked as a waitress at a HoJo's and a family-owned steak place (as well as an office day job) when our family was really struggling and the tips were crucial to her. She worked weekends at the steakhouse and would speak bitterly about a large church group that would come on Sundays after services, 20 people or more, and be very rude to the servers in expecting the whole group to have their drinks refilled instantaneously and to have all the meals served at once despite the number of people involved. The reward for the harried servers was a $1 tip to cover the whole group! This was basically taking money out of the server's pockets since they could not handle other tables while dealing with these "holy" people.
The owners of the steakhouse were just really scummy sorts, would shake down the servers for a good chunk of their tips and say that they did not deserve so much money just because the food served was "gourmet" and so high in price (this was beyond the piece the busboys got, mind you). One time, I took the bus to the restaurant and my mom bought me a steak with her employee discount...since they were not getting full price for the food, the owners had the cooks make me a nasty, gristly piece of meat they would not have served to a regular customer. I tried to eat it and basically gagged, and my mom was so embarrassed and angry that she cried in front of the customers.
After my mom had passed away and I was still young and hotheaded, I decided I was going to go to the restaurant and smash their front window for all the pain and frustration they had caused her...luckily for me, there was a new business at that location. I still get angry thinking about those people 40 years after my mother worked there.

 

[fenixguy]

When I worked in retail as a cashier/stocker, I had a few people tip me. Once a lady brought me a sweet tea after I had mentioned it was hot in the store while making conversation. Once a lady bought the staff pizza because we had helped her with a large order. A few (less than 5) people actually tipped cash for helping them to their car or somehow going above and beyond. None of it was expected but it always makes a day at a lousy job a bit better. These are things you remember for years to come.

Life is hard enough as it is. If you feel someone has gone above and beyond to help you, they should know about it. Sometimes even a kind word goes a long way when working a job like that.

Having said that, I rarely tip anyone other than waitstaff. I refuse to tip in "community buckets" at restaurants. I also usually don't tip employees at eating establishments where there is no waitstaff (sub shops and the like).

 

[mightymousetech]

One thing that bugs me about tipping in the US, and Canada for that matter. 15% is pretty much expected, and 20% for good service on the full amount. One thing that annoys me is that servers expect this on the full amount. If I order a $200 bottle of wine, the server expects to get $30-40 for opening it? I usually tip a flat rate of $10 per bottle wine. Sometimes servers get in a huff. Fine, next time I will order a $15 bottle.

Also, with the new at table debit/credit machines, you are tipping on the full amount, including taxes, if you just use the 10/15/20% buttons. Here, that means you are actually tipping an additional 3%.

 

[Tom NJ]

If we didn't have a tipping custom in restaurants, the restaurant owners would have to pay a fair and competitive wage to their employees, including benefits, instead of the $2.50/hr wage and no benefits they pay now. As a result, your restaurant bill would go up, probably by 15+%. At least with tipping you have some discretion with your bill to reward or punish based on the waiter's actual performance. With just about any other product or service we buy we have no such discretion and must simply pay what they ask.

 

[jeepman3071]

Originally Posted By: ArcticDriver


If the waitstaff has agreed to split all tips then your actions results in only two possible outcomes:

1) The recipient donates your tip to the communal pot.

OR

2) The recipeint slyly pockets your tip and is spotted by very watchful coworkers and is forever more branded a thief who cannot be trusted.

Your "strings attached" tip is a nice gesture but its really not your decision how those funds are dispersed.



Yes this is a big problem. When I worked at Dunkin Donuts in high school we had probably 50% of the staff who were excellent. The other 50% were useless pieces of ______ that did nothing but sit on their phones and eat food all day. The customers noticed this, and knew our tips that went into the tip jar were split between everyone.

One customer, in an effort to fix this, complained to management about the way tips were handled and how they should go to the employees who really went over the top to provide excellent service, not shared with the ones who didn't.

Management's response was to take away the tip jar completely, and anyone who accepted tips but did not put them into the store earnings for the day would be considered stealing which resulted in termination.

In a case like that, if you really feel someone is doing a good job, put in a good word with management. It might just help them get out of a jam down the road.

 

[jeepman3071]

Originally Posted By: Tom NJ
If we didn't have a tipping custom in restaurants, the restaurant owners would have to pay a fair and competitive wage to their employees, including benefits, instead of the $2.50/hr wage and no benefits they pay now. As a result, your restaurant bill would go up, probably by 15+%. At least with tipping you have some discretion with your bill to reward or punish based on the waiter's actual performance. With just about any other product or service we buy we have no such discretion and must simply pay what they ask.


While I agree with the part about rewarding based on performance, it also isn't guaranteed. A friend of mine waited tables during college and she said it was a tough job because even if you worked hard, you never knew what you were earning that night. Sometimes she could wait a table for two people who didn't really order much, and get a nice tip. Quite often she would wait tables with larger parties and they would skimp on the tip, sometimes they would leave with no tip at all, knowing it isn't required. I believe this is why some places automatically require it as part of the bill for larger parties.

 

[skyactiv]

I will not tip a letter carrier. They have better benefits than most and many are making in the mid $20 an hour range.

 

[Lolvoguy]

I will not tip my dentist.
They make better money than most people I know.

 

[SatinSilver]

At the Chinese buffet where you go up and get your own food the waitresses expect a tip for clearing plates, bringing a drink to the table. At the pizza place when you go to pick it up there's a large glass jar with money in it for tips. Sometimes I put a dollar in there. Then the employee rings a bell, and all the workers say, "Thank you" in unison. At an ice cream store, there's a tip jar right by the register. I put some money in there while questioning myself about the tip. Didn't even get a thank you from the girl. So probably won't do that again.

 

[Al]

Originally Posted By: Eddie
I often give the guy who rotates my tires and airs them up. I am having a new AC unit being replaced in my home. Do you normally tip these installers? Ed

When soneone comes to my house to do work I tip. I Had my driveway done recently...$6000 job. At the end I gave all the worker bees 4 or 5 20 bucks each. Propane man comes I give him like 10 bucks.

I tip a lot. I usually tip my server 25% to a third

 

[javacontour]

I'll bring donuts dropping off my car at the repair shop, or a styrofoam cooler of iced Bud when I pick it up. The Bud is especially well received in the summer time.

 

[Lolvoguy]

I also refuse to tip the pilot of my flight. I probably should start considering they have my life in their hands. And if I arrive safe and sound, that's a job well done in my opinion.

As for my mechanic, I often tip the good ones. Ones who give bad service/repair work will get a negative review on yelp and google.

 

[Mr Nice]

I tip $3 when I get a $12 hair cut.

 

[aquariuscsm]

I still say a community tipping pot is about as sleazy as can get. Isn't the whole idea of tipping to pay the server who served "you" for doing an outstanding job,and not for tipping some server who waited on a customer hours before you came in or hours before you left? Community pot tipping establishments should go belly up. They're essentially the thieves here for stealing the server's tip.

 

[Mr Nice]

My boss tipped pregnant waitress 40% to be nice. Bill was around $300 for all the employees.

Service at restaurant was very good.