Tipping

[Josiah]

In the USA especially, tipping is a way of life....


RESTAURANTS and BARS:

It is nearly universal to leave a tip (even if service is nothing more than necessary and expected... maybe even if less than that). It USED to be 10% was the norm (according to my parents), now 15-20% is the norm. It can be a LOT. Supposedly, the server shares this with the busboy, the bar tenders and the person who delivers the meal but I think this varies a LOT by establishment. Occasionally (but rarely) the cooks get some of it. But the server certainly gets the most. Frankly.... I've RARELY felt that the service suggested the amount given (which can easily be $20.00 or more for a meal for two). Did they really EARN that? I especially feel that the bar tender didn't really EARN the tip but.... it's custom and expected. A few times, the busboy did something and I gave him a small tip "on the side" (one I recall was especially good about filling up my coffee when my waitress forgot about me - I found him and gave him $5.00, once I was with a baby (my niece) for lunch and she made a MESS, I apologized to the person who came to clean it up and gave them a $5.00. I don't mind when they do something unusual but appreciated. A few restaurants automatically add the tip (especially if it's a group) and you gotta watch for that.


HOTELS

In the USA, this is very uneven.... Personally, I leave just $5.00 a night for housekeeping (maybe $10.00 if it's a hotel where there is unusually high service). If anyone comes extra, they also get $5.00. I usually handle our own bags, but if the bell hop does that, I give $1.00 per bag. I have NO IDEA if this is cheap or typical. Frankly, I think housekeeping far more earns the tip than a bar tender.....


BARBER/HAIR DRESSER

15-20% is my norm.... I think that's typical.


OTHERS.....

Wine tastings: they can easily cost $20.00 and you are expected to tip the person 15-20%. They do precious little.... but it's customary and expected. Kind of like the bar tender

Consearge: If all they do is give me a map or simply information, that's what they are there for. A restaurant recommendation, again, no tip. BUT if they make a restaurant reservation for me and call a cab, that's probably $10.00. Once, we wanted to go to a play but the website said they were sold out. I lamented to the consearge who replied, "Let me see what I can do." She got us 2 nice tickets (I don't know how she did that). I gave her $30.00. I tip here based on what they do for me.

Cabs: 15-20%. But be careful, sometimes cabs automatically add the tip - the price they tell you INCLUDES the tip. Gotta watch for that. I'll be more generous if there are bags to handle, didn't smoke and didn't violate TOO many driving laws (a guy in Spain almost killed me - twice).


YOUR practices and thoughts?





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[NewCreation435]

In the USA especially, tipping is a way of life....


RESTAURANTS and BARS:

It is nearly universal to leave a tip (even if service is nothing more than necessary and expected... maybe even if less than that). It USED to be 10% was the norm (according to my parents), now 15-20% is the norm. It can be a LOT. Supposedly, the server shares this with the busboy, the bar tenders and the person who delivers the meal but I think this varies a LOT by establishment. Occasionally (but rarely) the cooks get some of it. But the server certainly gets the most. Frankly.... I've RARELY felt that the service suggested the amount given (which can easily be $20.00 or more for a meal for two). Did they really EARN that? I especially feel that the bar tender didn't really EARN the tip but.... it's custom and expected. A few times, the busboy did something and I gave him a small tip "on the side" (one I recall was especially good about filling up my coffee when my waitress forgot about me - I found him and gave him $5.00, once I was with a baby (my niece) for lunch and she made a MESS, I apologized to the person who came to clean it up and gave them a $5.00. I don't mind when they do something unusual but appreciated. A few restaurants automatically add the tip (especially if it's a group) and you gotta watch for that.


HOTELS

In the USA, this is very uneven.... Personally, I leave just $5.00 a night for housekeeping (maybe $10.00 if it's a hotel where there is unusually high service). If anyone comes extra, they also get $5.00. I usually handle our own bags, but if the bell hop does that, I give $1.00 per bag. I have NO IDEA if this is cheap or typical. Frankly, I think housekeeping far more earns the tip than a bar tender.....


BARBER/HAIR DRESSER

15-20% is my norm.... I think that's typical.


OTHERS.....

Wine tastings: they can easily cost $20.00 and you are expected to tip the person 15-20%. They do precious little.... but it's customary and expected. Kind of like the bar tender

Consearge: If all they do is give me a map or simply information, that's what they are there for. A restaurant recommendation, again, no tip. BUT if they make a restaurant reservation for me and call a cab, that's probably $10.00. Once, we wanted to go to a play but the website said they were sold out. I lamented to the consearge who replied, "Let me see what I can do." She got us 2 nice tickets (I don't know how she did that). I gave her $30.00. I tip here based on what they do for me.

Cabs: 15-20%. But be careful, sometimes cabs automatically add the tip - the price they tell you INCLUDES the tip. Gotta watch for that. I'll be more generous if there are bags to handle, didn't smoke and didn't violate TOO many driving laws (a guy in Spain almost killed me - twice).


YOUR practices and thoughts?





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I think it is important to tip well. People work hard and are depending on it for their income. Everyone makes mistakes every once in a while. A tip shouldn't be based on mistakes that are made if the waiter or waitress has fixed the problem.
A few times I have had problems with the food and went to the manager to complain. I usually got something taken off my bill, but i tipped anyway because it wasn't that persons fault.
Some people just leave a spiritual track instead of a tip and I think that is being a bad witness to the faith. I can't pay a bill with a track

 

[tango]

In the UK I generally don't tip over and above a token gesture unless service really warrants it. The UK doesn't have a tipping culture the way the US does - I've found a few restaurants have taken to adding "service not included" on their menus when it quite clearly is included - it's as if they caught on that a few words on the menu mean you pay more even though they didn't reduce their prices.

I must admit I find the culture of tipping for nothing over and above somebody doing their job to be tedious. I like the basic concept that the price you see is the price you pay, rather than seeing $10 on the menu and knowing that there's an extra 60c in sales tax and an extra $1.80-$2.00 in tip, meaning the $10 menu price really means more like $12.50. That said, it's not the server's fault that they get paid a pittance because it's made up in tips. I do expect a server to at least try to provide a decent level of service, and tip accordingly. I remember one meal where the server (a college age guy) was inexplicably far more interested in the table of four college girls than in my table. He was so bad he not only got a $2 tip on a $45 check but he also got a complaint to management. Another time a waitress was desperately trying to do her job despite being badly let down by the kitchen staff (our table of four had to send two meals back, then send them both back again, and the manager comped both meals). She was really trying her best and getting stressed at the problems that were totally someone else's doing, so we tipped her based on the price of four meals rather than the final bill. Another time the waitress was clearly having a really bad day, and also very clearly doing her level best not to take it out on her customers, and she got a good tip.

One thing I won't do is give a meaningful tip to service that can only be described as shoddy. Many years ago I ate at a restaurant where the waitress literally dropped our plates on the table and had turned away by the time they landed. She got a 25c tip. My wife said she didn't deserve it. I agreed she didn't deserve it but I didn't have anything smaller.

Hotels - generally I don't tip unless housekeeping has been particularly good. I usually carry my own bags, I dislike the notion that anyone who so much as touches my bag automatically deserves cash for it.

Bartenders - if it's a bar with table service and I'm well looked after I usually tip as if it were a restaurant. I don't see tipping 20% to the guy who does nothing more than pull a beer and put it on the bar for me unless he does something more. If he knows the beers and can give me useful advice on which ones I might like then he'll get more of a tip.

Taxis - I seldom take them but usually round up to a convenient figure. One time I needed a taxi to carry two people and 12 bags and the driver not only let me put stuff on the back seat (which he wasn't thrilled about) but also helped unload my bags and carry them to shelter, in the pouring rain. That was a few years ago now but I think his fare was something slightly over $30 and I gave him a $50 and told him to keep the change. A big tip for sure, but he earned it - had he refused to let me put bags on the back seat I'd have had to take two taxis, and he saved me time in the pouring rain.

Barber - couldn't tell you the last time I went to a barber. I cut my own hair with trimmers and have done for nearly a decade.

One thing that really annoys me is when you get the kind of restaurant where you go to a counter and place the order, then get a beeping thing that tells you when it's time to go and get your own meal, and you get your own cutlery and condiments, and before you even see the food you get the credit card chit that invites you to leave a tip. There's virtually no service and you don't even know whether the food is any good, or how they will handle any issues that arise, but they're hoping for a few extra bucks for, well, what exactly?

I agree that the religious tracts disguised as a $20 are really bad form. One notion I really liked was the person who used the tip section to write "taxation is theft - $0", but then left 20% of the check in cash with a note that said "This is not a tip. This is a personal gift and therefore not subject to federal or state income taxes."

 

[psalms 91]

I tip ten to fifteen percent and restaurants are hard enough to afford as it is I only eat out maybe once or twice a year so wish tip was added into price of meal rather than figuring it out. At least then I would know what I can afford

 

[tango]

I tip ten to fifteen percent and restaurants are hard enough to afford as it is I only eat out maybe once or twice a year so wish tip was added into price of meal rather than figuring it out. At least then I would know what I can afford

I'm always undecided whether it would result in a better customer experience or not.

As I mentioned before I like to see a price and know that the price I see is the price I pay, rather than endlessly needing to figure an extra 20-25% on top of every single menu item once tax and tip are considered (and it's worse where sales tax is higher - when I was in Tennessee the tax in restaurants was something like 11%). That said, if servers depend on tips maybe they are more likely to make the effort to look after customers than if they get a guaranteed cut regardless. Of course the tip culture also leaves servers at the mercy of the less scrupulous customers, who do really helpful stuff like using the "tip" section to explain that they aren't going to tip anything because the server looks like they might be gay, or a silly comment about God getting 10% so the server shouldn't expect 18%, or some such.

Of course one question that always seems to get overlooked is why the server should get a specific percentage of the check. If the server brings me a $2 glass of iced tea and then refills it 6 times during the course of my meal they have done more for me than the server who brings me a $200 bottle of Dom Perignon and then leaves me to refill my own glass; the Philly steak takes no less effort to bring to my table than the fillet steak.

 

[Ruth]

I tip 20% for delivery pizza and other take out orders; I tip 20% at restaurants and I tip more than 20% when I get my hair done which is about once a year..lol