How much should you tip? Tipping guidelines for the U.S.
What about when I pick up Chinese takeout? Should I have tipped the guys who delivered our new gas range last fall? What about a hotel bellhop? A parking valet? Out of curiosity, I did some research on tipping practices in the United States. There’s actually significant disagreement about how much to tip for even common services.
For example, you know you should tip your waitress. But how much should you leave? Some people claim that 10% is adequate. Others claim that 20% is standard. But I suspect that most of us learned to tip 15%, and to give more for exceptional service. (The Wikipedia entry on tipping currently contains the bizarre claim that “18% is generally accepted as a standard tip for good service”.) Which amount is correct?
The concern around tipping stems from the need to get it right — offer too little, and you run the risk of offending someone; offer too much, and you needlessly impact your budget. Plus, there’s actually significant disagreement about how much to tip for even common services.
After browsing dozens of pages, I drafted the following guide. The amounts listed are based on averages or on consensus, when possible.
“Tip: (noun) — a small present of money given directly to someone for performing a service or menial task; gratuity” — Dictionary.com
Food Service
It’s common knowledge that you should tip your waitress. But how much should you leave?
Some people claim that 10 percent is adequate; others believe that 20 percent is standard. But a majority of us learned to tip 15 percent, and to give more for exceptional service. (The Wikipedia entry on tipping contains the rather bizarre statement that “18% is generally accepted as a standard tip for good service.”) So which is it?
Service |
Tip Suggestion |
Comment |
|---|---|---|
Barista |
None | Many people suggest putting coins in the tip jar. |
Bartender |
15% of total bill or $1/drink | Pre-tip for better service |
Delivery Person (including pizza) |
10% | $2 minimum |
Maitre d’ |
$5 | (… up to $25 for special effort) |
Takeout |
None | None |
Waiter |
15% for adequate service | 20% for exceptional service. For poor service, leave 10% or less. |
General holiday tipping guidelines
- Holiday tipping is never required. Even when it’s the social norm, you shouldn’t tip if you can’t afford it or you don’t feel the person deserves it.
- Tipping tends to be more common (and on a larger scale) in big cities than in small towns. The best way to determine the etiquette in your area is to ask around.
- In general, you should consider giving a holiday tip to the folks who take care of your home and family, especially those you see often. The more often you see someone and the longer you’ve known them, the more you should tip. (Someone who works in your home regularly — such as a housekeeper — usually expects a tip.)
- For personal services like manicures, massages, pet grooming, and fitness training, tip up to the cost of one session, but only if you see the same person regularly. For example, if you get a $60 massage every six weeks, your holiday tip should be about $60.
- Public servants are not allowed to accept cash tips in the U.S., but it’s acceptable to give a non-cash gift of up to $20. You might give a plate of cookies to your mail carrier, for example, or a book or a gift certificate to your child’s teacher.
- When you give a tip, include a card or a hand-written note thanking the person for their service.
- If you tip cash, crisp new bills make a better impression than old wrinkly ones.
Home Care Service
Here’s a list of people who often receive holiday tips and what they typically receive:
Service |
Tip Suggestion |
Comment |
|---|---|---|
Babysitter or Nanny |
One week’s pay | None |
Housekeeper |
One week’s pay | None |
Building Superintendent |
$20 – $100 | It varies. Some people think this helps to keep a harmonious relationship with the super. |
Doorman |
Holiday gift | Bottle of wine |
Furniture Deliverer |
$5 – $20 | It varies. Some people recommend offering cold drinks. |
Garbage Collector |
$15 | (… up to $25 for special effort) |
Gardener |
One week’s pay | None |
Mail Carrier |
$15 | (… up to $20 non-cash.) |
Newspaper Delivery Person |
$15 to $25 | (… up to $25 for exceptional service.) |
Personal Care
Service |
Tip Suggestion |
Comment |
|---|---|---|
Babysitter |
One week’s pay | It varies. Don’t pay this for one-time babysitting. |
Barber or Hairstylist |
10-15% or 15-20% | Some people recommend $5 to each person who shampoos or blow-dries your hair, and others recommend up to the cost of one visit for the holidays. |
Coat checker |
$1 per coat | It varies. Some people recommend $2 to $5 upon retrieval. |
Home Health Employee, Private Nurse or Personal Caregiver |
(… up to a week’s salary) | Check with the agency as some prohibit gifts. |
Manicurist |
15% | None |
Masseuse |
10%-15% | None |
Nanny |
One week’s pay | None |
Personal Trainer or Yoga Instructor |
$20-$50 | Tip discreetly. |
Shoe Shiner |
$2 or $3 | None |
Spa Service |
15-20% | None |
Office Service
Service |
Tip Suggestion |
Comment |
|---|---|---|
Janitor |
$15-$25 | None |
Parking Attendant |
$15-$25 | None |
Travel
Service |
Tip Suggestion |
Comment |
|---|---|---|
Bus Driver (not mass transit) |
$1-$2 | (… if he handles luggage.) |
Cab Driver |
10% | ($2-$5 minimum) |
Chauffer |
10%-15% | None. |
Gas Station Attendant |
None | (or $2 -$4 – there’s no agreement on tips). |
Porter or Skycap |
$1 per bag | (… $2 for heavy items, if the porter brings luggage to counter) |
Hotel Staff
Service |
Tip Suggestion |
Comment |
|---|---|---|
Bellman or Porter |
$1-$2 per bag, $5 minimum | Or $1 per bag, $2 minimum |
Concierge |
$5 | (… up to $20 for something exceptional; nothing for directions.) |
Housekeeper |
$2-$5 per night, paid daily or as a lump sum at checkout | Most suggest you tip daily. |
Parking Valet |
$2-$5 paid when your car is retrieved | Some say to pay when it’s parked too. |
Room Service |
$5 minimum | (unless the gratuity is included in check) |
Most of these relate to holiday tipping, but some suggestions are appropriate any time of year. Of course, giving a tip is an individual decision. J.D. Roth used to tip the barber extra if he got to hear an entertaining story about Vietnam or histrionic political rants. What influences you to give a larger or smaller tip? Do you have any suggestions to add?
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There are 676 comments to "How much should you tip? Tipping guidelines for the U.S.".
Please tip your barista the same way you would tip your bartender. Not only is pouring a proper shot of espresso is just as difficult as mixing a proper martini, but a barista will also prepare your food, serve it (along with your beverage), and bus your table.
Tips less than 20 percent to anyone is stingy… and bad karma
it is only stingy if you are a poor yet entitled waiter or waitress who could not do something worthwhile with their life so you put on a fake smile for people you don’t really care about unless they voluntarily pay your wage for the job you chose. How about you do a damn good job because it is your job, rather than fake your sincerity until somebody gives you a reason to nut in their food. People who give this bullshit that waiters and waitresses work hard and deserve their tips forget that there are harder jobs out there that don’t get tips. Stingy? Cheapskate? I am saving my money for something of value like… cigarettes and condoms. All entitled waiters and waitresses should just quit and let hardworking people who are grateful for a job to replace them. HA! Hard work? Try landscaping.20% this ain’t the Ritz, if I eat at a Claim Jumper’s they should be happy with anything I have to give even if its a few pennies at the bottom of my empty class.
i think you dont realize that most servers dont get an hourly wage over like $3 per hour. Which means ..THEY DONT GET A PAYCHECK (because the government gets it). So although you THINK you are ENTITLED to get someone to wait on you hand and foot without getting paid to do so.. maybe you dont realize that nothing in life is free. So tip your server AT LEAST 15%.
It’s easy to say my job is harder than yours, but a lot of waiters are trying to put themselves through school, like I did, and it’s still the most common freaking job for college kids. Not to mention how many single mothers wait tables in every restaurant, you seriously think their tight schedules let them work anywhere but Claim Jumper. Selfishness or Ignorance are the only good excuses for less than 10%. 10% already says poor service. The only reason tips increase down the line is because the job market increases, and your tip money is not pocketed by one or two people anymore. Servers tip out up to One Food Runner, One Busser, One Porter and if there is a bar (no matter how much alcohol is sold) they tip them out too! So 10% minus the standard 3-6% TIPOUT really adds to 7-4%. Measly crap if you don’t even make a full minimum wage! A lot of stress to never know what potential money you could earn despite your work ethic and quality of serving. Hence I was thrilled to put it all behind me.
I tip 18% for decent service and good drinks. If I had No complaints and enjoyed myself 20%. 15% is reserved for Okay service. 20%+ is Exceptional service, the waiter genuinely showed appreciation and remembered me from 2 months ago. I leave 10% a handful of times and the waiter knows he Messed up.
If the food took to long or it sucked or my cocktail was poorly made, I talk to a manager. This helps them fix it in the future, after all leaving a lower tip for any of these reasons only makes my server think THEY did something wrong.
I work in a casino as a cashier, the largest single tip i have received was 500$ off a $20,000 jackpot, but others have received more. Tips in a single night, i got $794 in a single night. The largest amount i have heard about at once, is $1000 off a $10,000 jackpot… The most in a single night goes to a blackjack dealer with $17,000 in a single night. The most money I’ve given in a tip is… on a first date… $32 tab and i gave a hundred. If i have money i tip always, give money to the santa infront of walmart and i will even give my last $ away.
It’s kind of illegal not to make minimum wage. At the end of the month if the hours you worked coupled with the pay you received does not equal the minimum wage than the employer has to pay the difference, according to the U.S. department of labor. but if your not making above minimum wage being a waiter, than you should do something else. It’s not worth it otherwise.
Minimum wage for servers is much lower than normal minimum wage because the gov’t expects tips to make up the difference. Servers are taxed on paltry minimum wage plus 15% regardless of whether you tip or not. Being a waitress was the hardest job I have done to put myself through college.
This is too funny. General rule of thumb is 10% for a waiteress….unless service is poor then nothing.
Who says you should tip 15% ?? That is a made up number. It always was 10% and it always will be.
And don’t give me reasons that waiters get paid little…hey, nobody ever forced them to work there….you don’t like it – work somewhere where they pay better.
I will add my 2 cents…which is all I have to give now. I don’t ever want to be stingy, ever but I’m not sure where this ends. I too, in my 20’s depended on my part-time bar tending job to make ends meet. I’m now in my 40’s and realized that was the most money I’ve ever made! After my degrees/after paying back loans and AFTER getting the job that the degree offered. I WISH I could make that much money again! I would generally make $100/hour in tips! TAX-FREE CASH! (back in the 90’s where this was more how people paid) I give 10% of my income every year to charity, so I AM a giving person. I just don’t know where it all ends. I live in Canada also where I am taxed a LOT! Also, we don’t have $1 and $2 bills, and if feels horrible to give something other than paper bills to someone. So, we are looking at $5 minimum for EVERYTHING! I agree that generally, tips are expected at lower wage jobs. I would have bartender for free, my pay checks were so low. I depended on the tip but I also kept in mind that my job was to be friendly and service people well and this came to everyone NOT just because I expected a tip. It was for the good of the establishment and my reputation as a good person. That’s good karma! If I’m buying a fancy coffee (which I can barely afford to do now) I will give a little change, but I just can’t justify paying $1 or $2 more on a coffee that already is close to $5. I’m not sure what Barista’s wages are. It’s hard to stand on your feet all day, not hard to pour ANYTHING. Hard work is leaving your children at home when you’re out making a living. If we are going to compare jobs, it’s not generally the actual physical job….it’s often what comes along with that. It’s hard to stand on your feet for 8 hours. Pouring and measuring shots of coffee/liquor is not difficult work. I wish I still had my youthful looks…I’d be heading to back to bar tending in a heartbeat and stashing away the cash!!! For now I’ll continue to tip those that really service me more….the bellhop that opens my door of a cab when I’m at a hotel, doesn’t seem to justify a tip. I can open my own door, even roll away my own suitcase. I can’t tip for every little thing. I’d be broke!
40 years ago the tip was 10%. I understand that the prices now more than tripeled and you say tipping less than 20% is stingy. Are you aware that this way you are paying more than 6 times the tip paid 40 years ago? After all the service is paid in the price and tipping is a tokenof appreciation. Do you think a boss will keep someone who gives bad service to a customer? If a restaurant waiter does not give good service he looses his tip and looses his JOB because the restaurant looses a customer. Let us be realisric. When prices increase the tip( with the same %) increases.
thank you for this response, you took the words right out of my mouth! I manage and operate a cafe and my baristas undergo extensive training to learn to make great espresso drinks. Sometimes bartenders are just pouring glasses of beer which takes much less training time.
@Jeff:
“Let’s say you and 3 other people go out to dinner. Your total bill comes to $300. There were no problems and your service was “normal”. Your average dinner for 4. No special drinks. No extended stay at the table, chatting.
20% would be $60.
Are you actually going to pay your waiter/waitress a $60/hr salary just for YOUR table?
I sure as hell don’t, and never will. I believe there is a “percentage method cutoff point.”
Wrong. You don’t get to just make up arbitrary rules. Well, actually you can but it’s just wrong. I’m sorry, but if you are going to get extravagant (which you don’t have to), you should be willing to pay the piper. Would you tell the server ahead of time that you are going to discount the service simply because you’re spending a lot of money? If so, then you should expect the server to discount the service from their end. That wouldn’t make you very happy, would it?
You aren’t paying the server “$60/hr” for a few reasons. First of all, you are probably going to be enjoying a $300 meal with three of your friends for more than an hour. Second, you have discounted the hour of setup at $2.13 – $8/hr, the various hours that there might not even be a table, the time spent doing closing sidework, etc.
This is a social contract that should remain constant. If the server sucks, then you should penalize them. If the server is great, you should reward them. And if the server is just average, then by all means, give them an average tip based on the standard, not the price of a bill. Don’t get your super dinner on the back of the server. After all, there are many servers who must tip out based on sales. Is that your problem? Maybe not. But it should be a consideration.
Is tipping a perfect system? Nope. But nothing is. You can make it more perfect by being consistent though. It works on both sides of the table. Servers shouldn’t expect special consideration over and above the standard either. If you suck, you should be docked. I know that if I screw up, I don’t expect to be tipped at the same percentage as when I perform properly. But if you suddenly tip 10% on great service simply because you have reached some arbitrary bill limit that exists only in your head, then what kind of signal are you sending? Tipping is an incentive-based game.
Here’s my suggestion – don’t try to be a big shot and spend $300 on your four-top if you aren’t prepared to pony up. Stick with fish instead of lobster.
Edited to note that I don’t know why this comment came under the barista comments, because it was supposed to go under Jeff’s.
@Julia – that’s not a good reason to tip a barista. After all, sometimes baristas only pour coffee. The reason why you tip baristas is because they are serving you, but remember, a barista isn’t usually doing any more than counter service, while a bartender is usually doing extended bar service. If a barista is actually doing extended service for people sitting down at his or her counter, then, by all means, they should be tipped as a bartender would be. If you are just handing a cup of coffee to someone in a line, then that’s a different story. They should still be tipped, but not at the same rate. This isn’t a hard and fast rule like tipping for dinner, but it’s my opinion. It’s like tipping for to-go food – you should still tip, but you shouldn’t be expected to tip at the same rate as table service. Once again, this is a “rule” that isn’t fixed in stone because it’s a new concept that’s still in a state of flux.
What many folks fail to understand is that your server works many hours filling salt shakers, cleaning their stations, windows, tables, setting up tables, desert areas, salad areas, etc. at 2-3 dollars an hour. Unless they are just awful, they should get the 15% just to make minimum wage. If servers give exceptional service they have earned a higher percentage tip. People assume servers just stand around waiting to serve YOU! Believe me they don’t. They work long hours for $2-3 an hour just to make your evening perfect so you can have an enjoyable dining experience. A real professional server is a hard working consciencious employee whose goals are to share in and help create a pleasant and memorable dining experience for you, the customer. So, please tip these good servers properly. They work hard for their money and have families, too
It is a fact that some waiters and waitresses don’t get paid minimum wage by their employers. Furthermore, that they only get paid $2-$3 per hour. Well a good idea would be for their employers to pay them at least minimum wage. Or even better would be for their employers to pay them 15%-20% of their sales ticket. They are the ones making all the money anyway.
So my question then, Julia, is why don’t you pay your baristas a living wage and adjust your prices accordingly? Why is it left up to customers to subsidize your business by being held hostage to a practice that has turned a voluntary appreciation of good service into a mandatory social contract? Wouldn’t it be more fair to everyone involved if everyone absorbed the cost of higher prices instead of letting those who are more generous shoulder a greater share of the burden? If you can’t bring yourself to pay your employees, why should I? As for those making the arguments that without tips we should expect poor service, I counter that with poor service you can expect no business, much less tips.
Bartenders only get 10% of a tab, or 1 dollar per drink. If you’re only ordering one drink from that bar, ever, and he’s obviously serving favorites or “hot chicks” over you, don’t tip.
If you’re making them make complicated drinks, such as mojitos (with real mint) or mint julips, tip more.
Valet’s get paid only on pickup of your car, and get $1 in normal weather, $2-4 in inclement weather, except in major cities such as Chicago and newyork, where you add $2 to each of those numbers.
For a waiter, when you have exceptionally poor service you are supposed to leave a penny, not nothing. Nothing looks like you were out of money or forgot. A penny is a longtime message of “Wow you suck”.
Bribe’s happen before the action, tips afterwards.
You state/municipality has guidelines on what different offices are allowed to accept as gifts.
–Michael
When you eat at a restaurant do you calculate the tip as percentage of the total before tax or after tax?
Good question, Dan. I live in a tax-free state, so I always forget about this. Most of the guides I found indicated that it didn’t matter whether you base the tip on the before-tax total or the after-tax total. My personal feeling is that the before-tax total is appropriate. Why should I tip somebody for sales tax? But I don’t have a definitive answer.
As a carrer waiter, please tip on your bill after tax… Most restaurants charge a tip pool from their staff. Normally 3-5% of that waiter’s total sales (including tax) goes right back to the restaurant. So when you tip 15%, your waiter only gets to keeps 11-12% of the tip… That’s not much… So for great service, tip 20%, when you receive terrible service tip 5%. If you completely stiff your waiter, your waiter actually pays the restaurant for you to eat there…
Honestly, if the service is terrible, I am not going to leave the waiter anything. I mean, it’s too bad that he/she is technically paying the eatery but I guess they should have thought about that before they gave me bad service.
Don’t just Leave nothing, they’ll think you forgot or didn’t have the extra money, or just are a jerk and don’t tip at all. Leave very little, that way they see it.
As a former waitress (who always tips; ten percent for awful service) I have to say service is relative. If you think your server is a jerk, they might just be over burdened or covering for someone else or whatever. If your food took a while or another table got their food first it could be the kitchen’s mistake or the luck of the draw on what your ordered. You can’t survive more than a few days as a waiter if you don’t bust your butt doing the job.
You should always tip. Particularly if you live in a state that doesn’t give service workers federal minimum wage (for instance, Louisiana server minimum is $2.13 per hour!). If you don’t want to tip anything, order take out or go to a food stand.
Vanessa
“As a former waitress (who always tips; ten percent for awful service)”
Awful service should be NOTHING and a report to the manager. They will *NEVER* ********LEARN******** if they get paid no matter what.
Sometimes the service is so atrocious there’s no way that person deserves a penny even.
A lot of servers are too lazy to try their best. They don’t care and feel ENTITLED no matter how they treat you.
“You should always tip. Particularly if you live in a state that doesn’t give service workers federal minimum wage (for instance, Louisiana server minimum is $2.13 per hour!).”
I live in Louisiana and KNOW that they get paid this. NO, you should NOT ALWAYS TIP. THEY WILL NEVER *****LEARN******** from it.
Have you ever heard of positive and negative reinforcement if you ever took psychology?
http://allpsych.com/psychology101/reinforcement.html
Negative reinforcement: “Think of negative reinforcement as taking something negative away in order to increase a response. Imagine a teenager who is nagged by his mother to take out the garbage week after week. After complaining to his friends about the nagging, he finally one day performs the task and to his amazement, the nagging stops. The elimination of this negative stimulus is reinforcing and will likely increase the chances that he will take out the garbage next week.”
See you teach the person NOT to something, guess what, if they can’t pay their bills, they will try harder next time. Paying them 10% won’t make them learn anything!!
I am ONLY talking about really BAD service.
Positive reinforcement: “Think of it as adding something in order to increase a response. For example, adding a treat will increase the response of sitting; adding praise will increase the chances of your child cleaning his or her room. The most common types of positive reinforcement or praise and rewards, and most of us have experienced this as both the giver and receiver.”
By paying them 10%, you are only ENFORCING THAT BEHAVIOR TO CONTINUE, even if it’s not a good tip or high tip, that still got paid.
The way they learn is that they have to *PAY* to SERVE YOU by TIPPING OUT the bartender, bussers, and hostess. This way they WILL LEARN from that and being reprimanded or written up or both from their manager.
“If you don’t want to tip anything, order take out or go to a food stand.”
Believe me, I ******DO SOOO MUCH WANT TO TIP****** for servers that DESERVE IT. Servers that are jerks are going to not get anything.
You obviously never had bad service, have you?
I want to tip. The person that is serving me that isn’t nice and is making my time there very miserable shouldn’t get a tip. I feel you ruin my outing, I ruin your tip. What goes around, comes around.
10% only REINFORCES the behavior to continue.
Think about it, if everyone tipped like me and my husband 20%-30%, 15%-19% for decent service, 10%-15% for OK, service, below 10% to nothing for extremely bad service, the servers would *LEARN* to CHANGE THEIR BEHAVIOR, otherwise, they wouldn’t be able to PAY THEIR BILLS, DUHHHH!
Why do you servers(I know you are former, but still) feel *******ENTITLED********* TO ANY AMOUNT OF MONEY JUST BECAUSE YOU SERVED US if you do a horrible job? You shouldn’t get anything if you were horrible. LEARN TO SERVE and then you will get paid what you are worth. Be mean to the customer and the customer should treat you the same way back in the tip. You aren’t ABOVE US customers.
I know if I messed up someone’s food majorly I wouldn’t expect a tip at all. WHY do you servers have that “ENTITLEMENT” mentality that you ALWAYS deserve a tip. There are many servers out there that are lazy and uncaring human beings.
WHY should someone pay for service that was horrible that they weren’t satisfied with, huh? Do you like paying for something you aren’t satisfied with? Have you ever not liked something and got it comped at a restaurant? If you have, then you have NO RIGHT telling us we have to pay for something we didn’t like, which for us is the service at times. It’s rare we stiff, but on rare occasions it’s been that awful. Also those servers did not EVER say they were sorry for their mistakes. HOW can you expect forgiveness in the tip without an apology? If you can’t say you are sorry when you did something MAJOR wrong, FUCK YOUR TIP!! We don’t owe you anything. You fucked us over, we fuck you over. This way, you will *LEARN* that not only did you not make anything, but you have PAY to serve us. THAT IS A VERY MUCH LEARNING EXPERIENCE TO NOT DO SOMETHING BAD ANYMORE.
Wow. You’re a piece of work, Springs1. I am not, and have never been a waiter, but I know that generosity speaks VOLUMES over your stingy and cruel attitude. What I don’t understand is why you think you’re such a better person than someone that has a heart to tip someone because they see that there are ALWAYS other circumstances that you can never be able to know at play. There’s lots of reasons behind the scenes of why you may get bad service. Does that mean you should add to those? You’re probably the person that sits and if your drink gets low, and you do not get a refill right then, you get flustered. The world doesn’t need more people like you, it needs caring and generous people helping each other out. Should a lazy person get paid as much as a hard working person? No. But what you are failing to see is that someone has to work 8-12 hrs a day, running back and forth trying to make people happy that feel ENTITLED to outstanding service because they were TOO LAZY to make their own food and serve THEMSELVES, and are only making $2.15/hr. Then you have those people that sit on their butts all day long answering phone calls making MORE THAN TRIPLE what the servers are making. I’m glad you tip usually between 15-30%, but that information doesn’t make you justified when you “F$%#” the other servers over. If you allow bad service to “ruin your outing”, than you’re a very shallow and whiney person. What gives you the right to view yourself above the server? You’re a worthless collection of DNA. Look that up in your Psychology text book!
@ Chris.
Why should I reward a server who can’t do their job? If they are overloaded or having a bad day that will affect the experience of their clients, why should we suffer. The serverrs signed up for this position if they don’t like it they can find another job.
I have worked as a server for 5 years at one place and 2 years as a lead server at another place. Some people you can never please and some people are great tippers thats the position when you sign up. Now I am one of those people working at the call center that you call lazy. Now I guess you have never worked with angry customers all day long over the phone in a complaints department. We get paid higher because our position is more long term stressful then a servers. I solve customers complaints, I don’t just listen to them, I try to make things better which can take days and weeks because you have to partner with a lot of people to make things work. You get customers who threaten to punch you, they call you names, and they act selfish and entitled. Over the phone they act different then they would in person because noone sees their childish behavior. And in some call centers the people only get paid while they are on the call at full wage, otherwise they get minimum wage. The grass is always greener on the other side. Unless you have done both position you can’t even compare.
Now as for tipping. I tip on a Grading sale A-F. A is 20% percent or above tip. B is 15 percent, C 10 percent, D 5 percent, F is nothing but a WRITTEN tip OF why..
I usually tip NOTHING when the service is bad, I have done this 10 times and I won’t come back. I make it clear on the reciept why they didn’t recieve a tip and how they could improve and that I will never come back again…
I have tip 5 percent to a few servers, it is when they are buffet servers that only give us drinks or servers who didn’t do much at all but were atleast trying. I still write on the reciept why because I want them to know why so they don’t have to wonder. I barely ever give someone a 10 percent tip. Maybe once or twice and its when they didn’t have to much. Like if I ordered came in and ordered a dessert and didnt need refills or anything. But even at a waffle hosue when we each order a dollar burger our bill came to 2.15 cents or something like that, I gave her a dollar tip. I would have given her two but we sat there for 5 minutes wiating to get our bill and had to flag down someone to find our waitress. Basically if my bill is under $5 I usually toss down a buck or two unless the service was really bad.
I give out 15 percent, a B grade a lot when they put in the effort but they don’t go above and beyond. And I have given out a lot of 20 percent tips. Easier to do on smaller bills. And now mind you I may work at a call center getting paid more then those who serve tables and I took on a higher paying position with more stress but I am not rich by all means. We live in a frugile budget, coupon cut, find deals, and so when we go out to eat its a treat and I am not going give a penny more for bad service. Period. If I gave badd service at my job I wouldn’t be there. I don’t get tips or bonuses.
Now Chris you can spend your money anyway you want but I am not paying for bad service. I give my delivery driver over 20 percent just too give me chinese food because he has to pay for gas and they are so polite. If he was rude I would stiff him. That doesnt make a customer mean for not tipping it means that as a paid employee you better not piss off the customer.
Your statement :
“There’s lots of reasons behind the scenes of why you may get bad service. Does that mean you should add to those? You’re probably the person that sits and if your drink gets low, and you do not get a refill right then, you get flustered. The world doesn’t need more people like you, it needs caring and generous people helping each other out. Should a lazy person get paid as much as a hard working person? ”
A. Servers are suppose to do customer service iff there is something going behind the scenes that is not the customers fault and if they treat a customer rudely then their paycheck will be lower.
B. Who are you calling lazy? I would never eat at your restaurants if you are already calling customers lazy. Without us customers the servers would haven’t jobs.
C. If I order a drink and the server can’t refill it maybe she should isn’t right for the position. I know some exceptional servers and I have done my time as server so if this server can’t do it, it’s because they aren’t right for the position. oR THEY APPOLOGIZE TO THEIR CLIENTS WHEN THEY DON’T DO SOMETHING RIGHT. I had a server who forgot part of our order, when I told her she appologized and brought it out. She was so sincere and nice. She got a 20 percent tip on a high bill. Because she acknoledged her mistake and appoligized I won’t hold that against her. People make mistakes. But when a servers acts like we are putting them out when we ask for a refill or mention that something was forgotten and doesn’t appologize, I will not reward for bad behavior.
So you can tip however you want. I tip for good service. I will never just leave a crappy tip without an explantion. I tip my hairdresser well, I never use a valet but if I did I wouldnt see why I wouldn’t tip them well.
A server can be upset all they want but they can certainly try for a call center job. We get recorded so they fire people for rude behavior at my company. I know lots of servers who work at call centers. It pays better but it is more stressful. I miss running around and dealing with customers face to face and talking about food. I have also been in back of the kitchen positions, so I know how to cook, and therefor when I go out to eat I am looking for an experience that I can’t get at home. DOESN’T make one lazy. I choose to spend my money on good service like I had to provide every day to my customers.
I will not just hand out tips to people, a tip can be a whole meal, I am not giving out charity. Plain and simple..
I all people I do recommend if you tip bad to leave a note why. That way the server can think about how to improve so the next experience will be better…
Have a great day!
Just answer this.
Whatever your job is, whatever you are paid…do you perform at the highest level possible every minute of each hour?
Do you play solitaire on the computer…take a personal call…daydream…make an error?
Should your employer dock your wage each time you go the bathroom (and it’s not a scheduled break?)
Every job has some “wiggle room” – a down time when you/we aren’t as productive as other times.
For servers…those “down times” actually cost them money. Unless you work on commission, that’s not true for salary or hourly workers.
Just saying….
I live in a tax everything state I tip total bill post tax &% or less wont affect the tip much either way. I Tip 15% at restraunts for full service much less at service your self(buffet). the worse the service the smaller the tip. for superior service a 15+% tip and a call the the manager. the boss needs to know who does it right as much as who does it wrong. They usually only get bad calls and a good one lets them know that they and their staff are doing it right.
a bribe is a bribe no matter if it happens before or after the action. What makes a bribe is intent and expectation.
Chris
“What gives you the right to view yourself above the server?”
When I KNOW THE *MENU* BETTER AND KNOW HOW TO DO THE JOB BETTER IDIOT!! I have proven to servers and managers even that I know the menu and how to do the job better than the servers do. It’s the TRUTH!!
Per the Tipping Ettiquette page (and many other tipping recommendation pages), you should not tip your cable, satellite, internet installers.
As an Internet installer for the last 5 years I take offense to this. Why are we not tip worthy?
I routinely make the extra effort to make my installs look nice. I run wire in hot attics. I run wire in dirty crawlspaces. I try to hide wire on the outside of your house. I attempt to make a computer with 2 years worth of spyware at least usable for no extra cost. My employer doesn’t care what the install looks like. But I do. I take pride in giving someone a clean, professional install, because I am certainly not required to do so.
So, why do I get the shaft when a bartender gets praised for mixing the right liquids or a taxi driver gets you to your destination.
Think about that next time. Installers like to know that you appreciate their effort. I put in 110% for every install I do, but I am certainly not the majority.
I am not a bartender, but they get paid only a few dollars an hour and have to make their money almost strictly on tips, including waiters and waitresses. If you do something extra than what you were sent by your company to do, yes I feel a tip is due to you. But when you get paid a decent hourly wage by your company, I feel patrons should not be obligated to pay.
“Pre-tip”? Not sure what that means.
Scott: Do you tip the cashier at Dairy Queen? The bagboy at the supermarket? The janitor at the office? It’s disingenuous to suggest that the only reason tips are conventionally given is because there’s some service involved. The service is why the company pays the employee. But bar staff, like restaurant staff, are paid less than minimum wage because they’re expected to make up the difference in tips. Baristas aren’t.
Besides, the point of tipping the bartender is to get good service for your second drink.
(Rule of thumb: Any place there is a tip jar is a place where tips aren’t being accounted for in wages and thus aren’t expected. Ever see a bartender begging for tips with a jar? When tips are expected, it’s always a direct exchange: money in hand, or money on the table.)
As for tipping before or after tax: Let’s say the highest federal+regional sales tax in North America is 20% (probably too high), and you’re tipping a straight 20%. On a $100 meal, the difference between the before-tax and after-tax tip is $4. If you’re putting any effort into deciding whether or not to pay an extra $4 on a $100 tab then something’s gone wrong. Just ballpark it and make it a nice even number so it’s easy to tip out at the end of the night.
One more before I shut the hell up — if you’re going to a massage therapist for anything beyond relaxation massages, they might very well not even be allowed to accept tips, just like any other medical professional.
I tip waiters 20 percent (pre-tax) for reasonably good service, although that’s mainly for the simplicity of table math. If I found the service only satisfactory, I might round back down to 15, but for the reasons below, I often don’t.
If the service is so poor that I’m tempted to leave a 10 percent tip or less, I’m not going to quietly leave a cheap tip. I’m going to get up and go talk to the manager. I find tip-stiffing on poor service petty and passive-aggressive, and unlikely to fix the problem for other patrons.
I usually put an extra dollar on the payment for takeout. It does take some work to get everything bagged up to stay stable on the way home.
For haircuts, I leave 15-20 percent. If I’m paying with cash, I’ll round it based on the dollars I have. If I’m paying with a card, I’ll usually go closer to 20 percent.
Most of the rest of these I either agree with or have no experience with either way. I do have difficulties with tipping mail carriers and newspaper delivery drivers, because I rarely see them. (And last year I lost the card and envelope left by the paper deliverer; I’ll have to do better this year.)
Leaving a low tip for poor service at a restaurant doesn’t send the message that the service wasn’t good … it sends the message that you’re cheap.
When I lived in Canada, I was adamant about tipping. Now that I live in Japan and tipping is not expected/allowed, I’ve come to realize how much I dislike it. If I ever move back to North America, I’m going to be in for quite the shock!
Waiter …. It’s okay to leave nothing for exceptionally poor service, but only if you’re sure it’s the waiter’s fault.
Gotta say I disagree with this. I don’t care whose fault it is when the experience is bad. The waiter is pretty much my lone point of contact, s/he is gonna bear the brunt of my disapproval. And I don’t mean everything has to go right – I’ve had some catastrophic dining experiences that were made right by attentive and courteous waiters.
Do people tip the maids at a hotel regularly? I never knew I was supposed to do that until a few months ago. The only time I’veever done it was the night of my wedding when there flower petals all over the place. I felt really bad for whoever had to clean that place and left $25. As for general hotel stay, I don’t make a mess and don’t leave a tip.
I forgot to discuss the amounts that I generally tip.
I don’t tip in Starbucks, because I don’t order fancy drinks. I rarely go to bars, but when I do, I tip 15% of the bill, which is what I also tip in restaurants. If I get great service in restaurants, I tip 20% or more even.
Because I used to wait tables and know that a lingering table is a pain, I always add extra if I’ve taken a table for longer than normal. I have no problem leaving nothing if service was awful. There were times that happened to me when I was waiting tables, and I always deserved it (and knew I deserved it). I was much angrier at 5% tippers than I was at the people who left nothing. 5% tippers are cheap; stiffers are leaving a message.
I don’t tip for takeout. I tip delivery people a couple of bucks. I have trouble with hotel tips, because I rarely stay in them. I do tip the maids a couple bucks per night, though (paid at the end of my visit). I’ve done this as long as I can remember. I’ve never tipped a gas station attendant, and it would never have occurred to me to do so. (But I live in Oregon where you’re not allowed to pump your own gas — it’s always pumped by an attendant.) I’ve never tipped a grocery bagger, either, though the thought has occurred to me. I tip my barber as described above.
I actually thought of tipping the DSL guy once. When we moved into this house, we had a lot of trouble getting our DSL connection working. One guy came out on a Saturday and spent an hour with me trouble-shooting. I really wanted to tip, but didn’t know the etiquette on it. After doing this research, I would probably offer a tip. He went above and beyond the call of duty.
Something you should know, waiters/waitresses are taxed on the amount of food they sell. When I was waitressing in Chicago – I got taxed 8% on the food I sold. And in Illinois they are not required to pay minimum wage – I only made $2/hr. So after taxes were taken out for the food I sold, I had a paycheck of only .20!! So that needs to be considered when you are tipping someone who is literally working for their tips. Tipping 15% actually turns out to be a 7% tip.
The idea that you are only paid $2/hr is ridiculous. The claim is often made to support the continued extortion of customers. However the truth is that while the restaurant is only required to pay you $2/hr by law, what you failed to include is that if you do not make the federal minimum wage between the tip you earn and the $2/hr your employer pays, the employer is required to make up the difference. You will be paid at least minimum wage between tips and base wage.
I could never bring myself to NOT tip, even for poor service. First of all, I’m not an especially fussy person, as I’ve been on the other side of the diner-waiter continuum. ESPECIALLY if the restaurant is near my house, and I might visit it again and have the same waiter, I tip 15-20%. It’s karma: leave a bad tip, guy remembers you, bad service forever.
If I’m out of town, I might be a little less generous, though…
I think Matthew’s comment is interesting:
Now that I live in Japan and tipping is not expected/allowed, I’ve come to realize how much I dislike it.
Ideally, everyone would take pride in their work, so there would be no need for a merit-based rewards system for services performed. I really find it unnecessary. I think it is more demotivating than anything due to humanity’s innate ability to focus on negative aspects of life. Thus, if someone receives a bad tip, I would guess many people would dwell on this, which would generally affect their outlook and behaviour. This does not apply to everyone, naturally.
I also think that tips promote judgement between both the tipor and tipee. If the tipor leaves a small tip, the tipee will tend to judge the tipor negatively, and will probably not reflect upon the service they performed. From the other perspective, obviously the tipor is encouraged to judge the service of the tipee and its worth. I think this encourages an ‘us vs. them’ mentality that is so prevalent in North America.
NG
Nothing bugs me more than people who do not tip well for people who must work for their tips.
First of all, If you can’t tip your server at least 15%, you have no business eating out.
Secondly, stiffing a server is horrible. Like one suggestion above, talking to a manager is more appropriate. Stiffing a server is having that person working for (basically) free for you and all of your demands for however long you sit at that table. Unless you live in California (where servers are paid minimum on top of tips), servers make on average 2.15 an hour.
Yes, theres no excuse for rude servers, or a bad attitude – but if your server forgets to bring you your ketchup after asking twice, think again before stiffing the guy.
And remember – that server has full control over your food and beverages before it ever gets to you. Remember that before you decide to be an ass to your next server.
(I don’t even wait tables anymore – just a saved up rant!)
In all honesty, I find NLG’s comments naive. Of course a waiter is working for money. For so many of us, it’s simply a “waystation” job…something to pay the rent while we finish school. Restaurants only have to pay their waitstaff $2.15 an hour by law. That doesn’t cover a bar tab, let alone rent.
“Ideally, everyone would take pride in their work…”
C’mon. Ideally, none of us would HAVE to work. We work to earn money, the positive feeling you get from your work is the bonus, not the pay.
I think it’s interesting that different municipalities have different laws regarding minimum wage for waiters. It never occurred to me that they might not be making the same as anyone else. When I waited tables in Oregon, lo these many years ago, I was paid minimum wage. (I was actually paid more — I was the only member of the waitstaff to be given a raise while I was there. That caused some sour grapes, let me tell you.)
Would I still think it’s okay to stiff a waiter for poor service if he’s only making $2.15/hour? I don’t know. I’d certainly be less inclined to do so. But a tip is a gratuity — it’s not a mandatory thing — so I think I’d always consider it an option not to tip. But I think I’ve only stiffed servers twice in my entire life, so it’s not a huge issue. And I generally leave 20%+, even for breakfast and lunch. As I say: I used to work food service, and these folks have my sympathy.
As a former pizza delivery guy, I have to say the $2 minimum is nice and makes for a good average. Ever since I left the game, I’ve always tipped $5 on delivery below $25. A $5 tip was a big deal back then and people that did it got a reputation among the staff as sort of elite customers that everyone wanted to serve. We used to fight over who got to deliver to the known $5 tippers.
I’ve noticed ever since I started using the same pizza place once every 1-2 weeks, I get my pizza within 15-20 minutes after I call, no matter what time of day or how busy they might be. I suspect they’ve figured out I’m a big tipper and give me great service (on the phone I’m often quoted a 45min delivery time).
I also tip the pizza guy at least $5 now.
I deliver newspapers and the pay I get basically pays for my car,gas, repairs, insurance.
I live on the tips.
Too many people who get the paper 365 days per year, (delivered to the door, per THEIR instruction) think it’s fine not to tip until December, and then it’s a $5-10 tip.
Thanks for the LESS THAN 3 cents a day for getting out of my car and walking the paper to your door!!!
I think it’s just ignorance, the people aren’t trying to be cheap.
“First of all, If you can’t tip your server at least 15%, you have no business eating out.”
That’s a rather stuck-up comment.
I’m a college student with a wife and one kid. I’ve only got ~$300 in the bank right now, and no job. I study from 9AM-9PM every day, with exception of Thursdays when I go into school at about 11AM. My wife’s business is just getting started, so income is pretty spotty.
When it’s our aniversary next month, I may only be able to aford tipping 10% or 5% or whatever, but it’s pretty presumptuous of you to say that I have no business eating out.
You don’t. Servers make a lot less than minimum wage. You should be ashamed for tipping 5-10%.
If he lives in California (or one of the seven states that pays servers at lest minimum wage), yeah, he can afford to eat out and not feel guilty tipping 10-15%.
I’m so tired of people trying to tell me and others how much to OPTIONALLY tip. If I pay for my meal, I’m under no obligation to tip you, no matter what’s customary. I’ve worked various service jobs where tips were expected but I would never presume to tell someone how much to leave as EXTRA. Yes, even in the states where servers are getting only ~2 something/hr.
Hopefully the federal government can cut the crap on the ridiculous federal minimum hourly wage for servers and raise it to the standard minimum wage so people can stop guilting others about something that’s optional.
I am in the habit of giving my mail carrier a small gift at the holidays (usually a Starbuck’s card or some prepackaged candies- one year I baked cookies and he brought them p to the door to say “thanks but I can’t accept unwrapped food items”). It’s not so much a tip as a recognition of the individual behind the service. It surprises me how many people have never heard of this practice.
Good article.
FTR at resturatunts I baseline at 15%, before tax of course. Good service gets you a better tip (sometimes as high as 25%) and poor service gets you less (sometimes nothing). Generally if you keep my drink full and don’t screw up the order your’e getting a good tip.
As far as the above comment, I’ll say this, while I beleive that a tip is not an entitlement and is earned through good service you should plan on leaving a reasonable tip when going out. If you don’t think you will be able to afford a tip of 20% (if you get above average service) then you should choose a cheaper resturaunt or eat at home.
“When it’s our aniversary next month, I may only be able to afford tipping 10% or 5% or whatever.”
I’m with Robert on this: you should consider the tip part of the cost of eating out, not as an optional extra.
This rather harks back to JD’s post on frugality and ethics: while you *can* stiff your server to save money, it doesn’t mean that you *should*…
Don, that’s a pretty ignorant attitude to carry around with you. A waiter is responsible for bringing your food and drinks to you, that’s pretty much it. If it takes forever for your food to be cooked, that’s not the waiter’s fault, nor is it something they can correct. I’ve worked in many a restaurant with poor kitchen staff who’d leave you waiting while your tip goes down and down. Do you take responsibility for everything that goes wrong in your company? Should you not receive a paycheck if some other department fails to deliver on their duties?
Anon, so? That tip is part of the dinner out experience. RKMase is exactly right, it’s not the waiter’s fault you are financially strapped and living beyond your means. Perhaps you should consider a nice meal in where the grandparents watch the kid, rather than going out? It might help you get rich slowly. 🙂
at a real coffee bar (as opposed to a starbucks or the like) it is good to tip a buck for any espresso beverage. properly prepared espresso is harder to pull off than 99% of the drinks a bartender mixes and deserves encouragement in the handful of places where its done.
I live in Australia where tipping is a rarity and only done if the service warrants it. I’m not going to tip someone because they carried a plate of food from a kitchen to a table.
In my opinion you get paid to do your job by your employer. Why should I pay you extra to do the job that you’re already being paid for. If you’re not getting enough from your employeer then talk to them about it. Don’t get annoyed with me because your employeer doesn’t value your abilities enough to pay you properly.
What I don’t understand is why we need to tip. Period.
I mean, people are paid to do a job, and if the rate at which the job is being paid is so low that it must be made up in tips, then all that the employer/owner is doing is offsetting what is probably the second greatest expense of operating a business [at least a service/retail based business] – such as the retail store I own – and making it the customers’ responsibility to pay the employees fairly.
A tip for opening a bottle of beer? Are you kidding me? I’ll open it myself for $1.
If the business does not respect it’s employees enough to remunerate them fairly, if not generously, it should not be the responsibility of the customer to bear those extra costs.
Here’s a situation that is 100% authentic and plays itself out every day in my store.
Customers come in, look around, we help them, they like the product, like the service, love the atmosphere. What happens then? They ask for a discount.
Say WHAT!?
That’s right. You receive poor/mediocre service in a restaurant/bar, and you’re expected to tip, you get great service in a retail store, you get asked for a discount.
I pay my people fairly, with room to advance, but that is my responsibility to take care of. The success of the business only happens when those at the front-line, those that, by and large, earn the least in any and every organization – those people who are supposed to be your public face and are the lifeblood of any business – are able to do their job and be happy and treated fairly both personally and economically.
as a server people that tip below 18 to 20 percent are generally looked at as cheap. there are many things people don’t take into account when deciding what an adequate tip is.
1. servers have to tip out. at big popular restaurants we have to tip out pretty large amounts. if you are leaving 15 percent we are usually taking home 11 percent of that. i know customers shouldnt be worried about how much we have to tip out but i think thats why we appreciate it so much more when people tip you well. you have to take into account that your server isnt the only one getting paid here. how was the food, the enviroment..etc..
2. is it really that hard to make someone that is working their butt off for you feel like they did a good job? the difference between a crappy tip and a good one is usually only a few dollars. i will never understand someone that leaves a 4 dollar tip on a 30 something bill. why not just throw in a couple more dollars and make it good?
3. lower your expectations to a certain extent. people get so upset soemtimes for things that are simply out of our control. you are not always going to get a refill before your drink is empty. why you ask? because you are not the only table in the restaurant. not to mention the fact that a lot of places have their servers doing other things besides waiting on their tables. if we do not do these things you would never get your food, things would be dirty and the overall dining experience would such. people never take this into account when they are getting pissy about not seeing their server for 2 minutes.
all that being said i can understand when people don’t tip for bad service. that is what you are paying for but people need to be a little more aware of what we are doing for them and how hard of a job it really is.
It used to be easy tipping here, because the tax (HST) was %15, so you just tip the tax! But I think it’s gone down to %14. I don’t really follow rules with tipping, I guess because I don’t often have a lot of money on me. But I tip at restaurants and at bars. I often forget to tip my hairdresser though.
For those of you who think waiters shouldn’t be tipped: waiting is one of the few jobs where relatively bright students can work part-time and still make enough money to make ends meet. Removing the tip, and making waiting (once rated as one of the most stressful jobs, because so many factors are beyond your control) a minimum wage job, would send most of those people somewhere else. As someone who waited tables for seven years, I think you’d see a dramatic decrease in the quality and helpfulness of your waiters–who wants to work for minimum wage?
I agree that relying on the customers to cover labor costs is an odd model, but it’s the system we have. Unless people like Chad are willing to lobby to change the system and raise the minimum wage for the servers, I don’t think you’d actually like the results.
That said, how does service compare between the U.S. and non-tipping countries? Anyone with a great deal of experience want to commment (and let’s not forget the “service charge” many of these countries seem to tack on).
In Asia at least as well as 3rd world countries, tipping is unknown; waiters may try and return money left on the table. In Russia, tipping happens occaisonally, but is generally only done by tourists or at nice restaurants. Really, America is the one place I know where tipping is so important that we debate over tip amounts.
“When it’s our aniversary next month, I may only be able to afford tipping 10% or 5% or whatever.”
The net effect of your action is having the waiter pay for your action. The 15% tip should definitely be considered part of the bill. If you can’t afford it, order less or don’t go to the restaurant at all.
There’s a line between being thrifty and being cheap. Leaving a small tip is cheap.
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I think tipping a gas station attendent is really old school, and if it happens at all anymore probably only happens with working drivers.
A long time ago I drove a cab in Boston, and the other cabbies schooled me about tipping at gas stations. At our garage we all tipped, but I started noticing other cabbies and limo drivers doing it at other stations. These days everyone pumps their own. Which is all the more reason to tip on the rare occasion when someone else does the pumping.
I don’t feel too sorry for the server who received $.20 on their paycheck. I have a lot of friends (who are college students) bringing home $100+ a night in tips. And only a percentage of that is claimed as income, where a percent of that goes to taxes.
When I dine out, I look around to see how many tables a server has. If he/she has 5 tables, and the tables turn over in an hour, and everyone leaves $5 (which is pretty light), the server is still making $25/hour, plus the hourly wage (which typically all goes to taxes). In my opinion, that is pretty good money for a person without any formal professional education to make!
I do agree, extra inconveniences caused by myself to the server deserves an extra tip.
I also tend to tip heavier at restaurants where the server is working the “graveyard shift” – probably out of sympathy.
Gas station attendants in New york should be tipped if their is bad weather.
I always give at least 2 bucks to the guy who is standing in the snow while i am in the car.
I know other places it is mandatory to have the attendant pump your gas – then it would be different.
Mail carriers are Federal employees. giving them gifts is against the law.
I would just like to comment on post #14
Debra Says: “Tipping 15% actually turns out to be a 7% tip.”
In reality what that means is that you are not paying taxes on more than half of your tip! They calculate the taxes on your pay check based on getting an average tip of 8%.
It is common knowledge that most servers do not pay taxes on their full income.
Not only that but they often get tax breaks based on a low reported income and expect everyone to feel sorry for them. For example I know of people reporting an annual income of $10,000 when they really made closer to $30,000.
There are also safeguards in place to ensure that servers are not over taxed. When the restaurant gives you your tips if they are lower than 8% of your total bills they will adjust the taxable income on your paycheck.
You will rarely hear of anyone pushing for the actual tips to be calculated because more often than not they will end up paying out more because the average will be well above the 8% they were taxed on.
Lifelong server here, and you’re wrong. Servers who tip out are obligated to claim 10% of their total sales, and servers who don’t tip out have to claim 15% of their total sales. There’s no such thing as only having to claim part of what you make–that’s tax fraud. If you know someone getting away with that, that doesn’t mean it’s how it’s supposed to be done.
Always tip your barista! Pulling a good shot and making a good velvet foam require skill and practice, not to mention how hectic it can get behind the counter on a busy morning.
Here’s a question that will surely rile up folks. FWIW, I tip 20% for food service almost without exception.
Let’s say you and 3 other people go out to dinner. Your total bill comes to $300. There were no problems and your service was “normal”. Your average dinner for 4. No special drinks. No extended stay at the table, chatting.
20% would be $60.
Are you actually going to pay your waiter/waitress a $60/hr salary just for YOUR table?
I sure as hell don’t, and never will. I believe there is a “percentage method cutoff point.”
As an aside, the whole “we have to tip out” thing is bogus to me. That’s between you and your employer to solve in salary negotiations. Not my problem.
You are so right that it’s not your problem, but the only way to ensure that it’s “not your problem” is to stay home. Try that next time.
Great guide but have disagree on cabs and doormen.
If you’ve called for the cab (or sedan service) it’s right on. If you’ve hailed the cab from the street, as is common in NY and other metro areas, there’s a very decent chance the total cab fare is going to be in the $4-$7 range.
A 10% tip would be in the $0.40 to $0.70 range, 2 dollars would be over double the ‘percent’ amount, not even considering $5 high-end min option. The guide I’ve heard most NYers use, for intercity travel (not to airports, etc.) is round up to the nearest dollar and add one (e.g. a fare of $4.60 would get $6). Given that it would take a bit of doing to get a ride within Manhattan over $15 this usually ends up being more than the 10% rule, but nowhere near the $2 min.
On doormen, I know a number make significant (tax free) cash at the holidays (from 1/3 to 1/2 of their annual salary. Given that my middle-of-the-road bldg has 400-500 units, at $20 per unit (minimum, most tip more) it’s a significant amount.
Food and wine don’t cut it alone. The better course, and more economical, I’ve found is to tip when you receive a service. I’m young and can carry my own packages, I get the doorman cart myself and don’t ask the doorman to watch my dog while I check the mail. If they hail a cab, hold something unusual for me, or do something else above and beyond I tip. During the holidays it’s a modest tip b/c in June they aren’t going to remember if I gave 20 or 50, but they will remember I give when helped.
I almost always pump my own gas. The last time that I didn’t, it was a cold, windy day in Boston and I had just tipped the car wash guys who were freezing as they dried off my car. Without thinking, I tipped the guy pumping gas two dollars or so. He was surprised but happy.
When I lived in Switzerland, a guide like this one suggested only leaving the change as a tip at restaurants (leaving more would be taken as an insult). A bunch of us noisy Americans loved to eat on Sundays at a little Auberge in the countrysid. We’d tip something approaching an American rate. The proprieter loved to see us. She’d come out with her bottle of grappa at the end of the meal pouring generously.
One of the joys of tipping well is that people remember you. At most bars or restaurants where I tip well (or coffee shops if I tip at all), I get much friendlier service. It works anywhere.
anon:
USPS employees are allowed to accept certain gifts. Here’s more info.
“One site recommended $1-$3, though I’ve never seen one tipped in my life”
Some grocery stores forbid tipping, and put up signage to that effect. In other places, tipping is actively encouraged. When my husband was an enlisted guy fresh out of Basic Training and we had a new baby, he bagged at the commissary on weekends – working for tips only, they did not pay baggers – and that really helped make ends meet. I don’t know what the practice is now, or whether it varies from base to base.
Something I haven’t seen mentioned – a tip is, basically, a thank-you. In situations where tipping is discouraged or forbidden, fall back on the actual, verbal, effusive thank you. And if you tip well, for heaven’s sake, tell the service person why. A nice tip is nice, but so is a detailed, articulate statement of appreciation for a specific service executed with grace, poise, enthusiasm, and efficiency.
To Jeff #44:
When I worked for a year as a waiter during college, I experienced your mentality towards tipping 20% on big bills all the time. You should always tip 15-20% no matter what the bill is. Anyone who has ever worked as a waiter will agree. I don’t know what restaurant you are going to that $300 is “average” for 4 people (without drinks or anything special!), but if you are going to a place where you have to drop $75 for yourself, then you shouldn’t have a problem tipping $15 on the bill (as your share of the $60). In my experience, when people spend that much on a dinner, they are drinking and getting all sorts of special things, and spending a good amount of time at the table – which is fine – but they should then tip 20% if the service was good. It’s not right to have the mentality of limiting your max tip to a certain amount. Waiters don’t make $60/hr, unless they work at some 5 star ridiculously expensive restaurant. Over the course of the night it always averages out to much, much less than what the largest single tip was. So if you spend $300 on dinner, tip the $60, because at the end of the night the waiter is probably making more like $20/hr.
tip your barista cause we invented the idea of tiping
“Empty class”. Pretty good self-description there, Desouza.
Thank man !
If I go out for breakfast it costs me $15 tops…great service ,refills etc..at 15% tip is $2.25…..to dinner at a steakhouse with drinks $60…15% tip is $9.00… both waitresses did same amount of work…why the discrepancy ?… % makes no sense
Just a few quick notes. I say that it’s never OK to not tip your waiter, even if the service was crappy. At least give a few bucks.
Also, I work as a grocery store bagger, and we do get tips. Although, people usually don’t tip unless you also carry their groceries to their car for them. But yeah, $1-$3 is about right. I’ve never gotten more than $5.
I worked as a gas attendant in Oregon for three months (where it is illegal to pump your own gas). I think it is polite to tip the attendant if they do something extra for you like clean your windshields/headlights, provide directions, etc. A dollar would suffice. I eventually stopped providing any extra services, because most of the time people even neglected to thank me for wiping their dirty windshields. Jerks.
Also, my girlfriend informs me that the duration of her hair washing (basically, a scalp massage) at the salon is directly related to the size of her tip to the stylist on the previous visit. She also frequents the same salon.
tip when somebody does a service for you that is above what they had to do. don’t tip somebody for just doing their job, and tip based on what that extra service is worth to you. pre-tipping is called a bribe, and if i worked in a service industry, i would be insulted to recieve one
Useful list, had I had it BEFORE I visited the States. I got some very strange looks when I didn’t tip. However, I am very much of the opinion that tipping should only be for good service (as it is in the UK/RSA) and not just because someone’s done their job. Nobody tips me because I’ve done my job.
I for one think tipping in all its forms should be done away with. You’re forced to make this value judgement and get loaded with the guilt trip that the guy won’t get to feed his family if stiff him for taking too long to bring the drinks.
Include it in the bill. If the service was bad, complain to the manager, and/or don’t go there again.
For barbers, I tip a minimum of $3 for good service, although as the price of a haircut climbs closer to $20 I may bump that up. I also was taught early on that you’re not supposed to tip the owner of the shop, although I have never had an owner turn down a tip.
Believing tipping is ever mandatory sucks just as much as buying obglitory Christmas gifts. Just don’t do it, no matter to whom. Would you want to recieve any gift from someone who only gave it to you because they felt they had to? Not me.
A tip is a gift. You should *never* give unless you are moved to reward someone for exceptional service, kindness, or anything else they do beyond their job description. Do not box yourself into preconceived notions of who you should or should not tip, or how much. This does not mean to be stingy. Give often and generously to anyone you like. I have tipped over 100% of the bill on rare occasions, but I also have no qualms whatsoever about leaving nothing at all.
Do not allow yourself to regard your tip as part of the expected compensation for any type of service. When a tip *is* required, it is automatically generated and added to the bill anyway (“15% gratuity added for parties of six or more”).
Sky Diving Instructor: 300%
My experiences..
1) I always tip US bartenders $1 for the entire order. $2 if it’s a big order. It seems to be well received.
2) Grocery baggers REFUSED my tip! 🙂 So.. I say don’t tip there.
3) The linked article about tipping around the world is bogus.. it says that in the UK this applies “Service charges usually included in restaurant bills; otherwise, standard U.S. tipping rules apply.”
That’s nonsense. Most restaurant bills do not include service charges, for starters. And standard US tipping rules certainly don’t apply. You never tip bartenders, for instance. And 10% is considered standard. Any more than that is extravagant. Rounding up is also done a lot, rather than work on exact percentages.
What about tipping your photographers?
How exactly does one go about tipping, say, a garbage collector or newspaper delivery person? Every Christmastime I run into this dilemma and have yet to figure out what I’m supposed to do.
Just wanted to say to those of you who mentioned that tipping is not a normal custom in your country of origin/habitation: I hope that when you’re in the States you still tip as often as you see fit or can part with the money. As someone who works at a register job where tipping is seen as “tacky” by the proprietors, tip money is rare but makes all the difference in the world. I try not to let tip amounts affect my service provided to people and, frankly, I’ve never not provided (translation: I’ve always provided) the best service I could at the time given the circumstances. Yet there’s nothing more disappointing than putting in an 8 hour shift and having nothing to show for it except 3 or 4 dollars. (Especially on Mondays.) Service jobs are thankless jobs so I IMPLORE you: Please tip what you can whenever you can. Even if it’s just change.
No kidding: I’m supposed to feel sorry for people who end up making 20 and hour and have to pay taxes on half that? I’ve bested my ass a lot harder than waiting tables for a lot less than that. And I had to pay tax on all of it.
I’ll tip what’s appropriate if the server does a good job. But how dare servers act like I’m responsible for subsidising their choices?
Dan: the “tip calculator” that some restaurants print at the bottom of their receipts always seems to be based on the after-tax total. Personally I think this is nonsense. Why tip the server for the state’s job in addition to their own? I always calculate based on the pre-tax total.
Do people realize that waitpeople/servers do not get paid even minimum wage, and are not infrequently paid under $3 an hour? For people whose paycheck comes mainly from their employers, a “tip” might be just an extra thank you — but for restaurant workers, the expectation is that the customer, not the employer, provides basic compensation. If you’re denying a server a tip because of poor service, please make very sure that it was their fault, and not the fault of the kitchen, management, etc.
I teach piano lessons, and sometimes I receive Christmas gifts or tips. I have a graduate degree in music and belong to a professional association and give presentations, so I consider myself to be somewhere along the lines of a doctor or lawyer than a maid or nanny, and make somewhere in between those two levels.
I do accept the tips and presents so as not to be ungracious, but frankly, the gifts I receive are usually either jewelry that’s not as nice as what I normally wear, or gift cards for places that are not where I would go to buy something nice for myself, and I actually end up recycling much of this into tips to my hairdresser and cleaning lady.
Basically, I judge my piano student’s families on these points:
Does your child practice between lessons or do they come and waste my time?
Do you read my studio policy that says you don’t get a credit or make-up with less than 24 hours notice, and if you do, do you accept it and not try and get me to make an exception whenever you “forget” or the lesson time is “inconvenient”?
Do you pay your monthly invoice on time the first time you receive it, or do I have to waste my time reminding you to pay what you owe me?
Basically, if you treat me professionally all year, I don’t really need a gift or a tip, and if you don’t, I probably won’t take you back next year no matter what you give me at the holidays. And tipping/gifting will not change the fact that my studio policies apply to you, and that your child is not getting any extra time or attention beyond the excellent attention I give all my students. And if you think you are not getting my best, I invite you to change teachers rather than attempt to bribe me into doing “better”.
What are opinions here regarding leaving tips at buffets (Indian restaurants, etc.)?
The US is the only place where you might have to worry about tipping more then some change. Yes if the service is above and beyond, they are getting a nice tip. Though I feel that tips should NEVER be mandatory, and waiters SHOULD get paid min wage. You don’t tip the person at McDonalds do you? Why not, they serve you food. I think it should be standard, get paid at least min wage, that would make it a non concern. Oh yea, and maybe get rid of the 4 way stops 🙂
That’s a strange system you have there in the US… It seems really stressful to understand the obscure rituals that correct tipping involves. A suggestion from the rest of the world where you tip because you want your service people to know that you really enjoyed your stay (and they will appreciate that and will not take it for granted): You should just stop tipping completely for a while. All of you. It would lead to a situation where 2$/hr-waiters had to renegotiate with their employers and after a short while labor cost would be where it belongs.
No tip > bad service > no patrons > higher wage for waiters (or closing of business) > prices include labor cost > tips are a sign of gratitude and exceptional service
Aren’t you the guys with the market economy over there?
And aren’t there any retaurants that treat their employees fairly and have an explicit anti-tip policy? I for one as a patron would honor that…
A delivery driver should be tipped at least the same as a waiter. There are some serious expences and risk involved in delivery. The typical delivery charge generally only covers fuel mileage. As a pizza driver, I had a commercial insurance policy that changed my rates from $50/month to $95/month. There are the risks of robbery and road hazzards. 40-60,000 miles of city driving on a car doesn’t help either.
“So if you spend $300 on dinner, tip the $60, because at the end of the night the waiter is probably making more like $20/hr.”
That’s the waiter’s employment/salary decision then.
Regardless, you are missing my point entirely. Your statement and point of view is that it is reasonable for a person to hand a waiter $60 to do the following over the course of 1 hour:
* Walk witha tray of food for 4 people from 50ft away
* Check on the table a few times
* Fetch and deliver drinks as necessary
That’s insane, and any past-waiter (always the ones who object to my philosophy on it) supports their justification of it with a complex tree of events that flow from patron all the way practically to the poor poor cost of gas the waiter had to spend to make it to work.
$60 for carrying a tray, picking up dishes, being cordial, and carrying drinks is insane for 1 table of 4. Now… 8 people with mixed drinks? Different scenario.
I pay 20 percent 95% of the time. I will never feel badly about handing a waiter $30-$40 for their 10-15 minutes of actual work at my $300 table, nor do I care if they feel I am cheap because of it.
I do find it comical that people who wait tables consider themselves a working class above a grocery bagger or checkout person. I don’t think I’ve ever come across personnel more over-self-important than wait staff. It’s an honest job, and good for you, but get OVER yourselves.
If I chose to wait tables, I’d be very damn happy with $15/hr.
Licensed massage therapists in the Tampa, FL region make $18-$20/hr.
In response to #42:
I got taxed on 8% of the food that I served. So if you bought lunch and the bill came to $24 – I got taxed 8% on that meal which is $1.92.. doesn’t sound like alot – but if you left a %15 tip would be $3.60 means I made $1.68. I’m guessing you probably would have only left $3 tip for a $24 lunch. Means I only made $1.08.
They don’t base the taxes on your tips at all. They base it on the food you sell. All food tickets are entered into the computer and they know how much you sell.
What percentage of tax do you pay on your income? 50%? Why would taxing half of my tip be OK then?
I find the $5 minimum for room service a bit excessive. Most hotels include a line item for the service fee and gratuity. There’s also a place on the bill for an “extra gratuity”. Is the $5 recommendation over and above what’s already charged?
I didn’t bother reading through the numerous replies as this is simply directed at the “author,” or collector of this information.
On military bases, at the “commissary,” or supermarket, all baggers work soley for tips. I always put a dollar in the basket, considering being single I generally don’t buy a lot, and I make less money than most. However if I’ve gotten a lot of items I tip closer to 5 dollars, depending on if I’m carring or carting the bags to my car (eg how many bags there are), and if they smashed my bread or not.
74 debra- Everyone is taxed on their income. I pay my tax rate on 100% of my income, which usually amounts to about 33%. And you are complaining that they are taking 8% of the food bill? If 15% of the food bill is the average tip, you are only paying tax on half of your income. So quit complaining.
I would like to add Lifeguards to the list. If your a regularly attend a pool a tip is most appreciated at the end of the summer. I would only tip though if the lifeguard made an extra effort to help you in some way.
I have tipped many times to Gas Attendants. Sometimes, I might not have any change and I do not tip. But especially if its at night time; I definitly make sure I break a 10 or 20 ; just to tip them :).
Hey its NJ, and if they are doing the work… Y NOT??
I may just be a jackass (quite possible, I suppose), but I never believed you SHOULDN’T tip a person when they had done a bad job. Instead, I left them a penny
Jeff’s comment #44 is a bullseye!!!
I am a Dir of Info Tech which provides customer service 24X7 and I have yet to recieve a ‘tip’
I’d never even heard of tipping except in a purely theoretical way until a couple of years _after_ I’d visited the USA. Now I’m kind of leery about taking any kind of future vacation there.
It’s not that I couldn’t afford the tips, it’s just the hassle of having to know ridiculous amounts of background information in order to figure out what should be coming out of my wallet. Heck, even the practice of not including all taxes and fees on price tags is a pain in the ass.
Most other countries, your expenditures will be exactly what’s written down, not that-plus-variable-fed-tax-plus-variable-state-tax-plus-variable-tax-tax-plus-variable-tip. If a meal is going to cost me $30, I want to see “$30” on the menu, dammit. If it says “$29.95”, I want to be walking out of there at the end of the night with a nickel.
I valet park in San Francisco, here’s my take:
$1 cheap
$2 not too bad, thanks
3-4, nice, thanks
5-10, quite nice, thanks very much
20, you made me not hate myself for standing out in the cold, thanks so much
People often remember to tip when they’re paying for valet parking, but forget to do so when the parking has been comped by the host (like at weddings, rather than restaurants). But we’re still dependent on tips, regardless of who’s paying.
Tips are shared amongst valet parkers, so if you want to tip someone in particular, give them two amounts, one of them specifically for the recipient. We’re taxed on our tips, so if we don’t actually receive that amount in tips, that tax comes out of our paycheck above and beyond the regular taxes.
I didn’t read through the comments so it may have been mentioned, but one of the overlooked tipping positions on the list is that of casino dealers. I’m a dealer and I think of all the service positions one can have, no one takes as much abuse from patrons as the casino dealer – and no one gets tipped less than we do. We get called names, sworn at, threats of violence at times, and generally are treated like crap, and if we get $5 from one of these people that’s alot. When people win bigger jackpots they ask, what should we tip you, and I always say “How much do you tip a waitress for good service? I gave you 40 thousand dollars, what do you think you should tip me?” It’s never ever close to 10% let alone 15 or 20. Alot of new players don’t even know they should tip dealers, but we live on tips. Standard hourly rate payed by the company is $4/hr….we need the tips to survive. Please take care of us next time you go to a casino and have a good time, and/or win money. Thank you 🙂
I’ve always told people that they should tip their butcher (if they have a regular one) at least $5 at Christmas. It’s not only appreciated, it seperates you from the herd and ensures great service and preferential treatment in the year to come.
My goodness, how much money do these suggested tippers have?
http://72.14.209.104/search?q=cache:NSFoYqH22_gJ:www.law.biu.ac.il/content/sem_fac/tipping.doc+why+is+tipping+inefficient%3F&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=1&client=firefox-a
I do telephone support for a software firm. Since I provide consistent excellent service and never receive tips I NEVER tip anyone else. If the waiters, delivery boys, and cruise ship employees dont like their salary,
they can take it up with management.
Tip your mail person. As the child of a rual mail carrier, our Christmas’ were brightened by the many boxes of cookies and chocolates our father brought home each year. (I wouldn’t tip cash, except maybe gift cards).
Though I still tire of the endless boxes of cordial cherries I see haunting my dreams.
Wow, it almost sounds like we should be tipping everyone we come into contact with! Casino dealers and butchers, too! (By the way, if I ought to tip a casino dealer when I win money at the table, should the dealer tip *me* if I were to lose?) It really seems that a line should be drawn somewhere, but evidently, views range widely. Maybe I should join the fray and make a shameless pitch for my own line of work: “tip your college professors!” So there. (And by the way, no, I am not serious about that. At the K-12 level, you might want to give a teacher a small gift if she/he has spent hours writing letters of recommendation for you, but really, it’s part of the salary.)
My two cents : I don’t care how you frame this debate or justify your position; if you’re inclined not to tip you’re probably not going to tip.
And you’re probably going to drink alone at home, because you’re not welcome to sit at any bar where the staff has an ounce of self-respect.
You might consider tipping as a form of karma, especially in the food and beverage industry. Let’s be honest: do you really want to risk having a bad reputation among the people who feed you?
Do people (wait staff) not realize that there are other jobs available where you don’t have to make 2 bucks an hour and rely on the charity of others?
Seriously. Quit whining.
I always tip 20% to waiters and waitresses. If the bill states that a gratuity has been added and it’s less than that amount then I make up the difference, even though I feel it’s presumptuous of the establishment to automatically add a tip to my bill (because the service may have been sub-par). Most hotels add that to the room service bill and I usually get disappointed looks from the server if I tip only the difference to bring the tip to 20%. Not my fault. I also ignore the tax and tip only on the amount consumed.
Pizza delivery gets $2.00 plus the change from the bill. Mail carriers get nothing. Their pay and benefits are far better than mine.
Any profession that gets minimum wage and above will have a hard time getting tips from me.
Any of you that tell others that “if you can’t afford 20% you have no business going there, so go somewhere cheaper”: you are supercilious snots who probably make more money than you’re worth. For a person of small means to forego going to a ritzy place for a special occasion because the service people, from the valet to the maitre d’ to the waiter/waitress demand 20% or above is a mean thing to do. Get over yourselves; there are exceptions.
What people don’t understand is that waiting tables is essentially a commision job. The commission is determined almost solely by the patron. Whe I waited tables I was taxed on 10% of my food and alcohol sales, I automatically tipped out 3% of sales to the bar and busboys. I collect all of the money for the night and at the end of the night pay out to the tippool and then pay the restaraunt for my food and drink. Anything that’s left over is mine. If a table walks out on it’s check – I pay for it. If the kitchen is constantly in the weeds and I don’t get any tips I have some rescourse but usually my pay suffers. There have been nights where I’ve ended up paying the restaraunt. Usually after a dine and dash, but still I’ve worked 6 to eight hours essentially for nothing. I’ve also had days where I cleared a couple hundred dollars.
It also seems that people who don’t tip don’t know what goes into making a good waiter. I worked as both a waitier and a bartender and I worked a lot harder than I’ve had to in any other job with the exception of farm labor.
Yes, waiting is a hard job and yes there are nights that suck. But everyone’s jobs suck! I work in IT for a training company, last week someone docked my centre for using ‘yellow’ light as opposed to ‘white.’ My scored are taken into account during my annual review, so you could see that as a loss of cash.
Yet, still, I don’t think I’m entitled to ‘good’ reviews or feedback from the customers. I am here doing a job. When I get fed up with it, I will leave. If I get fed up with IT, I will retrain to do something else.
If a customer compliments me because I’ve gone out of my way, then that’s brilliant and a complete bonus. However, it’s not something I expect or am entitled to.
Similarly with tips. I’d say, if the service is average, 15% is fine. I usually tip around 20% just on basic principle. If the service has been horrendous, I’ve been known to leave pennies in a sad face :(.
From #95:
—
Any of you that tell others that “if you can’t afford 20% you have no business going there, so go somewhere cheaper”: you are supercilious snots who probably make more money than you’re worth. For a person of small means to forego going to a ritzy place for a special occasion because the service people, from the valet to the maitre d’ to the waiter/waitress demand 20% or above is a mean thing to do. Get over yourselves; there are exceptions.
—–
Like buy less food or go to a cheaper place. If you can’t afford to pay the bill you shouldn’t go. What if you get stellar service. the wiater may go above and beyond for your special occasion -even if it isn’t special to him. If the service is good you should still tip. That’s part of the unwritten social contract.
For Room Service, you suggest a $5 minimum. Every hotel I’ve stayed in already adds an 18% gratuity to your Room Service bill, not to mention several dollars “delivery fee”. Is this $5 meant to be in addition to that?
I will never tip a counter person for filling up a cup of coffee for me. I will never tip a counter person for reaching into the display case and getting a pastry for me.
On the other hand, for service — simply for bringing the food to my table (which is part of the job requirement) — a server will get no less than 15%, and usually more (calculated on the gross total, not the pre-tax total).
I consider myself a fair tipper, especially now that I bring a toddler to the restaurant (where I know feel compelled to tip no less than 22% to 25%). This is the price of raising a child in NYC, one that I gladly pay.
I worked as a grocery bagger for 4 years, most of high school and part of college. We never expected a tip but generally received them for taking groceries to customers’ cars or homes if they lived withing walking distance. It was usually $1 but some gave $2-3 and on a rare occation $5-10. This was a locally owned store and had no tipping policy so we never reported them. Other larger stores generally have a no tippping policy and associates caught accepting tips usually face disciplinary action.
Tipping is tipping. It is a measure of the service you were provided. If it is to be factored into my decision of whether I eat out or not then it should be listed next to the item I order. My decision to eat out is based entirely on the what I can afford on the menu and I am making a deal with the owner to pay the price he lists on menu. If as the waiter you want me to give you a raise then you need to give more than the bare minimum. If you are not able to do more than the “Are you ready to order” then you need to at least explain “sorry if I am a little slow tonight but blah blah blah blah” But if you mess up our orders or I get up to refill my own coffee after waiting 15 minutes while you chat on the phone or lean on the counter talking to another waiter then maybe you should get a job doesn’t care if you do a good job. You are there to provide a service and your boss is paying you for that. Now lest you think I am just griping and never tip (which you would be wrong) I generally tip 15-25% but if the service isn’t good I make a point to let the waiter or the manager know and if that has no effect I take my hunger elsewhere. I spent a lot of years working in restaurants and I did it because I enjoyed the work. I did get good tips but that was because I made a point to do what I could to enhance the customers experience. I great waiter can make up for average food but rarely will the food make up for a bad waiter.
I can’t say much that hasn’t already been covered here but… I am a server and I just want to take the opportunity to stick up for my fellow industry folks… Waiting tables is one of the most intense and stressful jobs out there and people who haven’t ever done it need to recognize that…
Also, your server does a lot more in the restaurant than carry a plate from the kitchen to your table… I work for two hours before and after my shift every day setting up my workplace and doing side work… That translates into four to six hours of labor I provide to ensure the restaurant runs smoothly so my guests have a good experience that I’m not even getting paid for…
Another point, while everyone knows that servers don’t pay taxes on everything they make this has become an almost mute point as a good 80% of the payments I receive a day come from credit and debt cards and therefore are automatically tracked and claimed by computer…
Sure, shitty service shouldn’t be rewarded but, and this is a big but, so much of what patrons think of as service has to do with factors beyond our control… You can’t order ten mojitos during happy hour when the bar is crushed and expect them to be on your table in five minutes…
You may be of the opinion that it shouldn’t be your responsibility to make up for your server makes two dollars an hour but if you don’t want to do your part to make up for that injustice then you shouldn’t be supporting and taking advantage of it…
Let me see if I have all this percentage stuff right. My church encourages 10-10-80% (that’s 10% tithe, 10% savings, 80% living expense). My state demands at least 9.5% after deductions and credits; the feds take 19% after deductions and credits; the state charges 6% for every dollar spent on everything including food, clothing and medicine. After all that I don’t think I have even 1% left to go out to eat let alone pay my mailman, garbage man, and cable guy! I tip fairly within the guidelines for my hairdresser, mainicurist, spa services, luggage handlers, hotel services, food, wine and tip jars. If I can’t, I stay home and use my paltry 100th of .5% to make a gourmet meal. Get real people! Tipping began for people who made NO wages, only tips. How did it get so out of control? No wonder America uses so much credit!
Tipping makes me uncomfortable in just about any situation except for restaurants. I would really like to see it done away with like the Europeans and Asians mostly do. Pay people a living wage and make tips an optional thing at restaurants, like to give a dollar or two if they gave especially good service and not be having to pay part of their salary or feel guilty about it.
I used to work as a grocery store bagger and the store had a policy of not allowing us to accept tips. Though it wasn’t much of a problem as 99.9999999999999% of the people never tipped anyway. Though about twice in 7 years or so, I did get a a tip around Christmas time when I was loading groceries into people’s cars.
Food service persons:
If you want a good tip, keep my water glass full. If you can’t accomplish this simple task, you can expect a tip of less than 10% (or nothing in extreme cases). If that upsets you… well I guess you should have kept my water glass full.
If you are too busy to keep it full, just leave a pitcher of water at the freakin’ table.
If you remember to bring everything I ask for, and keep my water glass full, then I will tip at least 20% — 25% if my kids leave a mess.
Back when I first left high school, I worked in food service (fast food) and I admit it is a pretty hard job. It is truly up there with hard labor and there were obviously people good at it and others who just sucked or plain didn’t care – either way it showed.
Anyway, as long as I have no complaints about the service, I usually tip 20% on the after-tax amount at restaurants because it is just easy to calculate (take 10% by moving a decimal place and double it).
I will give 10% or less (but never nothing) is I get sub-par service, which to me is when I:
1. I have wait 5-10 minutes before I am even greeted by the server. By itself this is pretty bad but forgiveable as long as you apologize and explain what is going on. I don’t care if the place is ultra busy and you have 6 tables. You can take 30 seconds to at least stop by and make sure I know that you’ve seen us.
2. Once you deliver the food, I never see you again until you offer dessert or bring the check. I like servers who check-in to make sure everything is alright (sometimes it’s not) or to make sure I have enough to drink. If I’m drinking cocktails with dinner, I like to always have one. Keep em coming and your tip only gets higher!
Bottom line though, you know going into the wait staff profession that your income is largely dependent on tips and in most cases, is a pretty minimal education job. You have to expect that sometimes you are going to get the shaft, whether it is under your control or not.
If you don’t like it, get a different job that pays better or at least has a better pay structure, start your own business, etc.
I worked as a bagger (at Harris Teeter) and we were obligated to ask people if we could carry out their groceries for them. Even then, we were supposed to remind people that it was a free service before taking a tip. 1-3 dollars actually is a good estimate, IF you want to tip.
I remembering delivering pizzas. those days were interesting, to say the least.
One thing that gets me regarding the tipping professions is that some of them have the “entitlement” mentality. The attitude of “I deserve tips”. I found out when driving pizzas that if you think about impending tips, they usually seem to be lower. I discovered early on that it’s best to focus solely on providing the best service possible, and not even THINK about the tip until AFTER the job is done.
Maybe it’s the Law of Attraction, I’m not sure.
Regarding the “working for tips” thing, I think it’s a crock that restaurants pay service staff (like in the Pizza Hut I was at), much less than minimum wage, expecting tips to cover it. I have heard tell of several places that, even if the tips earned for the night didn’t cover the rest of the hourly requirement for minimum wage, they still required the servers to claim an amount that would make it exactly minimum wage. So, are these servers being taxed on wages and tips that weren’t actually earned?
I think tipping is a stupid system and I hate it especially outside the restaurant situation where the amount you are supposed to pay is uncertain. Waiters should simply be paid on comission based on their sales and the service charge built into the bill. But in the US you must pay waiters a tip as the Federal minimum wage for waiting is $2 something an hour. Only a few states like California have higher minimums for waiters. For all other areas it is somewhat more optional but expected in a lot of service areas. In Britain 10% is normal in restaurants unless the service was included on the bill. I also gave a tip to a taxi driver but wouldn’t think of ever giving one to anyone else there. In Australia there are no tips, though you can round up the restaurant bill for good service, In Sweden I saw rounding up of restaurant bills too.
I just moved to Australia from Canada and I wish we tipped here.
Service in restaurants is absolutely awful here in Sydney. They just drop your meal on the table, don’t come and check if it’s OK and will let your drinks go dry. Why? Because there’s no incentive for them to do better as they get $25 an hour either way.
Good service here is a rarity.
I know there are a lot of comments and I’m not going to read all of them before I say this, but tip 20% and/or a minimum of $3 to waitresses on the total of the bill, including tax. Waiting tables is a really, really difficult job and most people have absolutely no idea, which is why waiters say that everyone should be required to wait tables at some point. An extra fifty cents on a tab in a restaurant is no big deal to the customer, but it adds up and can make a big difference to your server. If you have a ten dollar meal in a restaurant (say you’re eating by yourself and drinking water), $1.50 is almost just a waste of time. Throw her a couple of extra bucks. Waiters also say that if you can’t afford to tip, you can’t afford to eat out. Just my $.02.
To the person who wondered about tipping at buffets. I used to wonder the same thing once until a friend of mine asked worker at a buffet place whether we should tip. He said, “If you want to.” Not helpful. then she asked what his salary was. He said $2 per hour. So now I know that yes, you should tip.
It may be okay to tip less than for regular service, because surely they can service more tables at one time, right? But I don’t know how they are taxed.
To the people who say that waiting is one of the most difficult and stressful jobs: are you kidding? Do you honestly, seriously believe that? I’ve had quite a bit of experience waiting and I’ll tell you, no one is going to die if I stuff up, people are going to be inconvenienced and probably pissed, but to say that it’s a high stress job is laughable.
Just returned from teaching English in China for two months – many tips were refused! Bell hops, taxi drivers (Be ready for the thrill of a lifetime! Often passing in the oncoming lane!) Quite an experience to EXPECT to give a tip and have it REFUSED!
Happened to me in NYC in ’91 when I dropped a Company Service diamond tie tac down the drain in a hotel, and the plumber refused a $20. tip saying he was well paid and wanted their guests to be happy!
When deciding how to tip a hairdresser/stylist, ask this questions:
Does this individual set his/her own prices? If yes, then you don’t really need to tip at all…unless they did an excellent job and you want to show them your appreciation.
If no, tip anywhere between 10%-20%, depending on how good of a job they did and how much they did (shampoo, color, cut + style warrants a little more $$ than a bowl cut)
Most people have no idea that most servers still make $2.13 an hour. They pay their bills with tips not a paycheck. I have worked in several restaraunts serving – not because I am uneducated, but because the hours are flexible. I have seen all kinds of people and there is a general rule. Most older people tip lousy – they think $1-$2 is sufficient even though the bill can be upwards of $50.00. Business people are typically low tippers, and I have seen how they look down on servers thinking they are beneath them. I am in no way racist, but black people tend to be terrible tippers as well. Although, sometimes you can be surprised, the general rule is that these types do not tip good.
The general rule of thumb is to tip a minimum of 15% for good service. For exceptional service, the tip should be 20% or above. Larger groups should tip higher than 15%.
I currently work in an upscale restaraunt and generally, tips are 20% or above. Being a server, I understand how hard a server works and I tip according to my experience. I usually tip a minimum of 15%. I do understand, however, that there are times that a server doesn’t earn a decent tip. Food quality should have no bearing on the server. The server takes the order and gives it to the kitchen – they do not cook it for you. Sometimes a server can be busy and can forget things. I have done it. Excuses do not work – honesty does. If I forget to bring a table extra lemons, I won’t give an excuse, I will tell them I forgot and immediately get the lemons for them. I find that customers understand mistakes can be made, and will overlook them if the server doesn’t make too many and tries to rectify the situation immediately. I have no control over the way the food tastes, but if you have a problem and let me know, I can try to fix it. I like to keep my cistomers informaed – if we have a large party and I know the kitchen is backed up, I let my customer know this at the time the order is placed. That way, they don’t think I have forgotten about them. I will bring out bread to tied them over until their meal arrives. I have had good results with this. I also never use a food runner – I carry my own food out. That way, I never have to ask “who got the ribeye?”. I think this is rude. Depending on the type of restaraunt you are dining at, you can tell a lot about your food by the temperature of the plate. At a restaraunt like Applebees, of your plate feels hot to the touch, more than likely, it has been sitting under a heat lamp for a long time. This shows me that the server is not paying attention to my order. At a finer dining place, this does not apply because we heat the plates up prior to placing the food onto the plate.
Servers are also required to tip out to several people. In some restaraunts, the server must tip out a percentage of their sales (not their tips) to a busser, expo, host, food runner and bartender. Currently, I must tip out 5% of my total sales to a server assistant (who helps us run out food, bus tables and set up tables) and 5% of my bar sales to the bartender. So a bad tip means I have to fork over my own money to these people which in essence means I am paying for you to sit at my table. So if you tip me $5, I don’t really get the entire $5.
Also, servers are not just responsible for waiting on you. We have to set up and close down the restaraunt. We have side work for whioch we still get paid $2.13 an hour. For instance, this is the work I must perform for my shift. When I arrive at work, I have to set up all the tables in the retaraunt. I make sure silverware is aligned, the tables are clean and candles are lit. I make the tea, coffee and set up the drink machine. I make sure there are plenty of cups, saucers,table cloths, napkins etc… I cut lemons for the evening. Set up is easy. Throughout the shift, I must keep all of the counters clean, and everything stocked while waiting on my tables. I must prebus tables while the customers are sitting there. I must crumb the tables. After the customer leaves, I must clean the table a set it up again with a new table cloth, napkins, silverware, etc. This is relatively easy, although when you are busy it can take up some time. Then comes closing time. I must clean all of the chairs, tables, booths, and woodwork. I polish the brass. I sweep under the tables. I wipe down the coolers, counters, trays and tray stands in the kitchen. I break down the coffee, tea and drink machines and wash all of the urns. I restock all of the boxes, straws, cocktail napkins, etc… I portion sauces, pour olive oil, refill pepper grinders. I polish all of the silverware used for the night. I fold and iron 50 napkins on the weekdays and 80 on the weekends. I pull all of the candle holders off the tables and wash them. I wash the salt and pepper shakers. I wash the walls in the kitchen. Finally, I vacuum the dining room. We close at 11:00 PM and it is now 12:45 AM and I am finally able to clock out and go home. While doing this, I am still making $2.13 an hour. And believe it or not, this is one of the easier server jobs I’ve had as far as side work goes.
I hope this enlightens some of you who think that a servers job is a breeze. We work hard for the tips you give us and a lot of the time, it isn’t worth our time. Being rude to your server won’t get you better service. In fact, I have a tendency to remember to rude people I have waited on and the bad tippers and when they come in again, they get the kind of service they paid for the last time they came in.
I am a cheapskate but a generous tipper. I myself used to be a waitor at Denny’s and know how it feels to get a lousy tip. Most of the time, poor service isn’t intentional. If your dinner takes 30 minutes because of the cook, why take it out on the server?
When it comes to barbers, I stick to a favorite so lousy service doesn’t usually happen.
Sometimes I won’t know what to tip. For example, what do I tip the car wash guy for cleaning the interior of my car? Sometimes 3 employees clean my car. Do I tip all three?
Anyways, my rule is double the tax equals the tip.
Oh yeah, holiday tipping doesn’t happen. I know from experience. People have the holiday spirit, but their wallets are empty.
In response to #94 :
“Do people (wait staff) not realize that there are other jobs available where you don’t have to make 2 bucks an hour and rely on the charity of others?
Seriously. Quit whining. ”
What a pile of crap! Anyone with an ounce of intelligence knows that most servers are college students working as servers because the potential pay is good and the hours are flexible. Others work part time as servers to make ends meet. Although there are some uneducated servers out there that cannot obtain another job, most servers ARE educated.
I myself am currently employed at a fine dining establishment. I am not uneducated and could get a 9-5 job anywhere. I chose to server because I needed flexible hours making better than minimum wage. I am a mother and wife who has supported he family in the past as a manager. I made an exceptional salary, but had to work 60+ hours a week. This meant not spending any time with my family. Unlike most people, my children are not in daycare – in fact, I am homeschooling them. My husband has a good paying 8-5 job with a large corporation. He has the headaches that come along with it. He works Monday through Friday every week. It is monotonous. On the other hand, I work whatever hours I set for myself (usually 4 nights a week at around 5 hours a night) and still bring home a substantial amount.
I have a friend that feels about the same way you do. She works 40 hours a weeks to bring home a $400 paycheck. I work about half the time and bring home around $650 – $800 a week in tips alone!
Why would I get a “REAL JOB” when I work part time and make more than some people do in a full time job!
You should add, people who work at a boarding kennel or dog resort.
when we go out to eat, i usually leave a tip based upon the befor tax amount. i think to tip on the after tax amount is to give a tip on the tax and not based upon the degree of service rendered.
i also think that when you are being served by the owner of the restaurant, you are not obligated to tip. the are in the busines to make a profit. that is their reward. the non owner server is dependent on the tip and is being paid an hourly rate below other hourly worker. the assumed tip is thought to bring the non owner up to an average decent pay.
should you tip the AAA tow truck guy?
http://www.dol.gov/esa/programs/whd/state/tipped.htm
This government site lists the minimum hourly wages for tipped employees, by state. This gives some perspective the issue of how much to tip. While the minimum wage for tipped employees is certainly low in many states, in my state of Washington, it appears that servers make the full minimum wage of $7.63 (the highest minimum wage in the country).
So does this mean that servers with a larger hourly wage (as in Washington) should be tipped less than those whose wage is just a couple bucks an hour? (as if these constructed tipping “rules” could get any more complicated).
To all tip beggars: quit whining indeed. You make a conscious choice of working for $2 per hour. If you get a tip, that is good, if you do not — you know it was your decision to take that job, especially if you were looking for flexible hours as many of you indicated. That is a price to pay for your flexible hours. And do not talk about stress, extra hours and so forth. We all have stressful jobs, we all have bosses, we all have responsibilities.
The person from #122 wrote: “Most people have no idea that most servers still make $2.13 an hour”. I had no idea. But should I? Why U.S. service industry problems should be shifted upon me? If it is a $25 dish, make it $28.
From #17, RKmase Says:
October 12th, 2006 at 8:19 am
“First of all, if you can’t tip your server at least 15%, you have no business eating out.”
This is fascism, or tip police at best. I just cannot believe what that person wrote! It shows such hatred toward customers, what really is hidden behind that rubber smile. If RKmase writes things like that he has no business working in service industry. He needs to work in a watch repair shop where he is by himself all day. Next time I go to a restaurant, I know I will be looking at a waiter while he/she is explaining to me the special in a super fast pace so nobody can understand it, maybe he/she is now thinking that I have no business being here…
to Cony #129: I want to thank you for having enlightened all of us out here who have mistakenly been tipping way too much. I mean, you’re right, the people who decide to take low-paying jobs should pay the price, regardless of any extenuating circumstances that may have forced them into that position. Who cares if waiting tables is demeaning, degrading, and down right disgusting at times. Why should you care? They’re just there to bring you food, drinks, and no doubt, for you, some hot towels to wash your face with, right?
I tip %20 for good service. More if it’s exceptional. It’s New York, it’s expected, and it’s right.
I believe in tipping but we should tip whatever amount we want and not be told how much in percentage we should pay. It bothers me when my husband wants to leave a large tip, I reply by saying, what for? They make more money than I do ! It has really gotten out of hand…..If it was up to me I would not go by the percentage system…………
I do not see how I should be responsible as a customer for some states poor labour laws. We generally tip 15% in Canada where min. wage is given to servers plus tips.
Tipping where no tip is deserved because of a greedy labour practice just perpetuates a criminal policy of downloading the cost of business on to employees rather than the business owner.
I would like to comment on the “take out” tip advice. that is a relative statement. You say no tip is required. I am aware every place is different. For pizza places and burger joints, that is one thing. But, I am a bartender and waitress at a high end restaurant that does take out. When we get calls for take-out, rather a waitress or bartender prepares it all. If I am bartending on a busy day, and you call in and get a soup, salad, entree, drink, and desert. I have to prepare your salad, wrap the dressing, soup, still garnish the entree and desert. and figure out a way to gather it in a bag in a nice and neat fashion and have it be spill and mess free. I also have to time out the order(putting it in the computer to send to the kitchen to begin cooking) in within the time period you said that you would be arriving at. So your food is warm and fresh. (So if you say you will be picking it up iin 20 mins, be there in 20 mins. if you are 45 mins late, your food will not be adequate) No, people skills and table promptness is not required. but time and care is still put into it. Maybe 20% is not expected, but something is appreciated.
i want to say that housekeepers are not tipped very offten .and when you plan to stay over i feel you should tip every day . to make her feel like her job to is important or when you leave the hotel leave a bigger tip instead of everyday. it’s hard work cleaning rooms . making beds ,scrubing floors and polishing and cleaning up after people .it’s long hours duruing the buzy time of year and during the slow time no hours so tip would be greatly acepted thanks
if your going to comment on this site please write in english . as far as waiters and waitress i do tip i try and leave 10-20 % when it allows me , as far as tipping mail carries and newpaper person and ect i don’t and the hairdress i tip $5 -. no matter what. and since i am a housekepper and when i stay at a hotel i do tip $2-$5 a day cause i know it’s hard work. so when has tipping gone to far. i really don’t know . i guess in reality of all the tipping comments use what you think is fair . and doesn’t make you feel guity.thnaks and god bless.
i want to comment on #73 and #94 i think if your going out and can afford a $300. meal then you can afford a 10-20 % tip come on get real .they do alot of work for you so you should be nice in return , and for . #94 people take waitstaff jobs not for the $2.00 an hour or for the tips cause it has flexiable hours . come on why would some want to break there but for so little money . if there wasn’t anincentive in for them so # 94 qit whinning yourself.
Who tips more? The student are much more likely to tip the pizza guy $5 than the dual income family. The student will aslo remember to tip the barber, the hotel maid, even the lady at the laundry mat.
I make 2.38 an hour. My checks say “This is not a check” across the front b/c after taxes, none of that gets to me.
I find it interesting that the cheapos saying not to tip servers suggest that they find another job. Who’s going to bring you your refill if the servers go somewhere else?
tipping your server is not something new and not something that is likely to change soon, so just do it or cook at home or go to burger king.
I’ve seen a lot of comments averaging servers making 20/hr and such. The average server shift is about 4 hours — we’re not talking about your standard 40 hr work week. In the past 5 years I’ve been serving I’ve done that once during a week where most of my town didn’t have power and there was nothing to do BUT go out to eat.
As for tipping other people, I have only tipped below 20% once and the service was so bad I tell everyone I know never to go into that place again (Loredo’s in White Plains, MD). My steak had been on the floor, i could taste it.
For those who do not believe they should be paying a tip at a restaurant, please keep this in mind:
Servers are often paid $2.13/hr ( And because of this it is easy to overhire and overschedule because there is little labor cost involved).
Because of this your food prices are most likely LOWER. If you think “it’s between them and their employer” and “it’s not my fault they don;t get paid decent wages”..
Well, what do you think would happen if restaurants forbid tips and/or had to pay all servers a competitive hourly wage?
You can bet the menu prices are going to rise a lot more than 15% if restaurants start paying servers $15-20+ per hour rather than $2-3.
So you should take advantage of the wage controlled low menu prices, tip the 15% and shut up.
Let’s say your dinner is $20 and the waiter makes $2.13/hr. You tip $3. If that waiter made a competive hourly wage, you can bet your dinner will be at least $23 if not more.
This economic system may be strange, but the cheapskates are taking advantage of it to recieve value for nothing exchanged.
The customer ALWAYS pays. One way or another. Thats how business works. Why not take advantage of the option to determine the final cost and build some good will at the same time.
Ok I am from Canada and tipping hear sounds pretty much the same but I have never tipped a person working at MacDonald’s or any fast food establishment. When I go out I usually tip 20-25% but I don’t feel compelled to tip, I do it because I get good service, the better service the better the tip I have even went as high as 50% but the service I received was the best I have ever had in my life my drink was never less than an 1/8th empty. So I agree that tipping for good services though it not is outstanding service just keep my drink full and check in on me to see how things are. The amount people get paid does not play a factor in how much I tip because in Manitoba min wage is $7.60 an hour. But I have a Question I used to work as a service plumber who cleaned sewer drains for a living and I would charge about $160.00 for my hours worth of work my wage was $10.00 an hour so if I did a good job should I get a $24.00 tip? Now I am not complaining about my wage I did my job because it was my job! I was not looking for a tip nor am I complaining that 99.9% of the time I did not get one but when I did get one it was nice. so do you tip your service people who come into your home and fix broken things?
p.s. at the very least offer a drink of water or something warm in the winter.
i want to say that housekeepers should be tipped everyday and not at the end of your stay cause you never hae the same girl . and if someone else did the work and not getting credit for it it’s not fair. and tiopping should be $2- $5- a day. thanks
Two comments:
No one has answered my question. Should health care workers be tipped? Two therapists and a nurse come to my home to help with my husband. If so, how much?
I do not tip the UPS delivery man. He drops my packages in the driveway and doesn’t even bother bringing them to the door. Complaining to the company has not solved this problem.
as a pizza delivery driver i find that many people think that I get the delivery fee. not true. I get nothing and in fact it costs me money to bring your food if i dont get a tip.
the general rule is that if you are being serviced for something that you yourself did not wish to do (laziness) then you leave a tip.
at a restaurant, the food is brang to you because you didnt want to make it yourself… so tip
when you have food delivered, you didnt want to go get it… so tip
if you are having your car or bags checked, you didnt want to park/carry it… so tip
tips are to say thanks for allowing me to be lazy.
stevo
just wanted to say house keepers should get tipped everyday cause you never know who your house keeper is cause you might get a diffrentr one everyday and it’s not fair when people leaver the tip at the end of the stay and someone else gets the tip for your hard work. i know cause i am a housekeeper and we work long hard hours even though it is fun work it can be a pain soemtimes ,so your room is good and clean for the day please tipp everyday or every o ther dayto let the house keeper know she has done a good job but like i said some one else could getr that rewarsd so tipping everydaty seems more better thanks aznd have blessed day
I’m going to a new salon in a suburb. Facial and pedicure. I really don’t know what to tip.
In Boston, I tip 20% for each service. Is that too much?
I have been a tour coach driver for 12 years. I find that as an age group that travelled by coach a lot is fading away, they are being replaced by a group that is mostly cheap. People who will go to a Casino for 3 days and spend $500 – 600 or more, feel that 2 or 3 dollars is an appropriate tip to the driver who took them, he’s still away from home and is limited by DOT or company policy as to what he should professionally be involved in or with. Or a couple in a tour group who go on vacation for 5 -10 days and expect and seem to appreciate good professional service from their driver who in many cases may have never been to the location(s) before, then give a $10.00 bill as a tip. Please realize drivers are paid on the lower end of the pay scale because of the probable tips that driver will recieve from the tour group . . . . If you have a great driver the tip is how you let him know, not with hugs and comments. I have found through experience and in talking to other drivers the following: If your driver is just barely acceptable and professional then $1.00 a day per person / If you have a better than average driver make it $1.50 – 2.00 a day per person/ and if your driver has helped to make your trip a pleasant memory then tip that driver $3.00 – 5.00 a day per person. Don’t just give a portion of what you have left over – plan on your tip and make sure you treat your driver as professionally as he treats you . . . .
I am a barista at a local coffee shop. When I was in training i did not get any tips, now that I do I really appreciate tips and seem to tip higher at restaurants, etc.
Up above in #115, it is stated that “Waiters also say that if you can’t afford to tip, you can’t afford to eat out.” Other entries have similar comments.
This is an awfully elitist comment from people in an occupation whose members often claim poverty, isn’t it? I mean, on one hand they try to remind us how little they are paid, and on the other hand they say “let them eat cake?” Seems hypocritical.
Seriously — pay them a living wage, build the cost of their livable wage into the cost of a meal at some baseline level, and reserve tipping for truly exceptional service.
I’m not against the money it costs me to help them earn a living. It’s the game playing and guilt-mongering that I’d like to end.
As a student and working part-time as a gas station attendant myself it is pretty rare to recieve tips, and its not really expected. However as someone else stated above, it is appreciated when the weather is cold or rainy, even if its $1 for a coffee or something.
UM.
You should tip on Take-Away at a restaurant.
They are working their asses off to get the food out to you. And it usually is tipped out 3 ways. People run, bag, and answer phones. And work off of about 2-3 dollars an hour.
So YES you should tip well on Take-Away.
All the bad tippers on this board have no class. It’s that simple. It’s really not that big of a deal to throw a few extra bucks down. When I go out to eat, I go to have a good time — not to analyze the service. It must stink to be so miserable.
What is an appropriate tio for a Buffet Brunch that cost $50.00?
If you are going out to dine the proper tip is 20% before tax. Servers and Bartendrs basically have no salary, they make $3.00 per hour and are taxed on there tips and wages. I also believe that anyone who does a service for you should be tipped.
Tiped employees are tiped becasue they are there to make tips and to live off tips alone. The average check for a server is $50.00 a week if they even get a check after all the taxes are taken out. If there is poor service let that server or manager know in the begining to clarify any problems that could arise througout your dining experience!
JoAnn Bartender/Server Chicago.
I don’t usually pile on but I just had to add my voice to the chorus of IF YOU ARE NOT PREPARED TO TIP AT LEAST 15% YOU HAVE NO BUSINESS DINING OUT. 15-20% is the cultural norm. If you tip less than that you are telling your server they do not deserve a living wage. If you are not happy with the service, talk to the manager.
to those of you who think that tipping is an added bonus: have you ever heard of the right to refuse service?
don’t expect to get any service if you are not willing to tip….it is not an added bonus for us; it is our income
our low wage is out of our control. we rely on tips. if you don’t want to pay for service then go to a place like mcdonalds or any other fast food joint where you aren’t paying for quality service.
while, yes, i wish that the employer would pay us higher, it is never going to happen…that’s just the way our system works in the US. if you don’t like it…then move somewhere else.
if you are going out to a restaurant to splurge and don’t think that you can afford the appropriate tip…then you shouldn’t go to a place that far beyond your means…find something more appropriate for your price range….
in short: although it may suck that it is the situation, tips are our main source of income and if you can’t afford to tip, then you shouldn’t be going out to eat and should be saving your money…
I have worked my share of waitress jobs. In a bar, a steakhouse and a diner. I took the jobs to supplement my income and due to their flexible hours. The jobs were difficult, included more than simple bringing stuff to the table and could at times be stressful.
However, I never made less than minimum wage, even in the dive diner where I worked 3rd shift. The actual “paychecks” I received were always paultry, but the tips added up to at least double minimum wage every time. In the diner and steakhouse, I averaged between 8-12 dollars per hour, this in the ’90s in Southern Illinois (not a hotbed economy to say the least). So that was a very good wage! In the bar, it was quite a bit more stressful but I made quite a bit more money. I worked an average of 4-6 hours and came home with $150-$200 cash after every shift and this again, in the mid ’90s same area.
Another thing I did not noticed mentioned, is that in every single waitress job I had it was explained to me that if during the pay-period my tips + hourly wage did not add up to the minimum wage (at that time minimum wage was $4.25 per hour and my pay was $2.10 per hour) then my employer would pay the difference. My understanding of this was they they have to comply with federal minimum wage regulations. However, I never had to claim this because I always made well above minimum wage. Furthermore, my employers always recommended that I not report tips that excessed the minimum wage so that I would not have to pay tax on that amount. This was before so many people used debit cards for everything, therefore the computer figuring it out for me wasn’t really much of an issue. Now, I’m sure servers are forced to be more transparent in reporting their earnings. My point is that as a server I was never making less than minimum wage (and was reassured that a I never would) and usually skirting paying lots of taxes, so I don’t feel compelled to tip more than what I feel the service I received deserves. If you do a good job, you will make money.
As for tipping, I tip according to the service and surroundings. For a higher end service establishment, I tip more. At a buffet where I serve myself aside from taking the order and setting/bussing the table, I tip less. (6 tables per hour vs 20) If I can see my server is overwhelmed I don’t punish them, making their day worse by shafting them on the tip. However, if the server is just bad (no explainations given, I can see obvious disinterest in serving our table) then I tip accordingly. I’m not worried about supporting my server’s income, if they weren’t making more than minimum wage they wouldn’t be there. If they aren’t able to do a good enough job to make good tips then they shouldn’t be there to begin with. Before waitressing, I worked a few fast food places. You can get just as flexible hours working in a fast food joint and make a little bit over minimum wage, plus you don’t have to serve people. There, you help clean up the place, greet customers, push the buttons, take the money, and hand over the bag.
Lastly, just as matter of principle, why should a 20% tip be required for both the server who waited on you pleasantly and efficiently, and a different server who barely paid attention to you in the same restaurant the next day?
We always tip at least 20% when we dine out, however, my husband and I are big fans of nice wine. So sometimes our food bill is $50 and the bottle of wine we’ve ordered is $100. How would you handle tipping in that situation? (assuming that a sommelier is not involved). It takes just as much effort to bring me a $100 bottle of wine as it does a $2 beer, right? I don’t really think that the server deserves a $30 tip in that situation. We’ve had lots of debates about this, so maybe you can clear it up for me. Thanks!
One should ALWAYS tip for services. Even if the service is lousy. A 15% tip for generally good service is acceptable. Leaving someone 5 cents means more than leaving nothing: If you leave nothing, they will think you forgot to leave a tip and/or are cheap. If you leave a low tip, we hope they will get the hint.
Be aware that if you are in large groups, your tip might be already added to the bill. In these cases, feel free to leave an extra dollar by your plate for good service, or don’t for less than excellent service.
If I order pizza, I start with a fixed tip, then subtract for each 5 minutes late. I once had a pizza 1 hour 30 minutes late and cold, even after I called several times and even cancelled it….they told me after 1 hour it was too late to cancel???….do they deserve a tip? (In fact, I refuse to order from my local Domino’s for this fact)
Tips should be for better than average service, not just because someone serves us. While I understand many servers make less than minimum wage, expecting a tip for less than average service does not wash in my book. 15% on a $70 tab is $10.50….not bad for delivering a few dishes and drinks, if you do it right. I should not need to pay that extra for lousy service.
I forgot to mention….many employers of restaurants already withhold a certain percentage from each waiter/waitress as tips, whether they get the tip or not. If you leave no tip, the service person still has IRS withholding for an “anticipated tip”.
If you pay by debit or credit card, mark ZERO for tip on your receipt and leave your tip in cash on the table.
While I am sure your waiter or waitress is honest on their taxes, don’t hurt them by putting your tip on a paper record, where they might have to pay higher taxes on income that they may have not received. Cash tips are always better.
If you go to Chinese restaurants in Vancouver, BC (Canada), beware that you might be chased if you didn’t leave tips, even if the service sucks (a turn-off for eating out experience — who wants to tip waitress that literally throw plates at you instead of putting them down politely?)
I came from Asia, and I hate tipping (and tax on top of the tag price, for all that matters). When I don’t cook, I do take-outs instead of delivery or eat-ins, just to avoid that extra % of spendings. You might think it’s only a dollar or two, but it adds up to quite a lot over time.
Hey Matt-times are tough when you are a student with a wife and child. I get that. But here are some things that might change your perspective on tipping 5%.
Servers are required to tip out support staff (5% of GROSS SALES at my restaurant). There goes the 5% you left me when you ate out on your anniversary-I got $0.00. Wait, there is more: I am required by law to pay taxes on my tips and the law assumes a minimum of 10% of my sales so now I will pay tax on 10% of your bill. If you paid with a credit card, I will have to pay a fee to the restaurant to collect my tip, which I will then hand over to my support staff. So it has actually COST ME MONEY to wait on you.
I actually for the first time left a horrible tip yesterday. I left $1.25 on $10 and the reason is because the waitress was the worst I have ever had. She did nothing to deserve a tip. Now usually I would leave 20% up to 25% if the service was great. I used to in my younger days serve tables as well and know the plight they have, but you need to offer good serivce in order to get good tips. plain and simple
Tip the Tow Truck Driver.
Do you tip the person who does your photfacial and how much? The photofacial costs about $400 for a session that lasts about 45 minutes.
All you people who are so cheap that you are whining about leaving a 20 % tip you should really get a grip. Is leaving a couple extra dollars really going to kill you? I work really hard every night for all my tables (not just your one table) and i deserve to be compensated for that. The restaurant industry can be very stressful and it really doesn’t help when a lot of customers are ignorant and rude. How many people work in an industry where they are at the mercy of others? I have to go through so much every night for all of my tables and for someone to leave a 10% tip can really bring you down and ruin your night. I also agree with others on here who say that if you can’t leave a good tip you shouldn’t eat there. Take your food to go! Trust me you won’t be missed. Really it comes down to commom courtesy I am providing you with a service and should be compensated accordingly. Also for you bad tippers out there i wouldn’t suggest going to the same place twice because we all let other servers know who tips bad! You will probably get worse service because there is no incentive to do good or you might just get a nice little surprise in your meal. Really don’t mess with people who handle your food!!!!
I totally agree with Courtney. There’s really no reason to not chip in the extra couple bucks. Waitressing is the number one job for single mothers without a degree. (I learned that from Reservoir Dogs). Even if they’re having a bad day what’s so hard about throwing in an extra 5%.
I am a decent tipper. The only tip that confuses me (yet I still do it) is for casino dealers!!
If I won a large amount of money, I’m sorry, they’re not getting a big tip! I am at a casino to win money because I don’t have any!!
They are not doing anything particularly special for me to win. I tip them ocassionaly if they are nice to me, give advice or don’t look happy when I lose! 🙂
I will like someone to writte about tipping auto mechanics. As a matter of fact I will soon be doing so. So keep an eye for it. People have a bad percection of us mechanics. But I tell you, not all of us are bad.Tipping to me is a way to say thanks, that’s why you do it after the service is received.
Remember, when in doubt…tipp…
As an ex-barista from Starbucks, I never cared for or expected to receive tip. It’s not because I’m already subsidised by my parents and I don’t *need* the *extra* money, but it’s because the job was so damn easy I’d wonder why tip was necessary. Also, more importantly, base pay is a big factor since my starting pay was 9.75/hour. So, I never really expected tip unless the drink was customized with ludicrous amounts of ingredients and such. I mean, all we really do is be friendly (which is expected in most jobs), press buttons to shoot espresso, and mix it with milk. If my pay was below minumum wage, then of course I’d expect tip. But a barista workplace isn’t geared to be expecting tips unless it’s a subculture in your area.
I don’t know about all the other coffee places, I’m just sayin’ that generally a barista is not dependent on tips as waiter are and don’t see why baristas complain over no tips.
Tipping should be reflective of the type of service you get.
The tipping thing has gotten really out of hand. Who don’t you tip? I am customer SERVICE representative and I am never tipped even though my job is 100% service. As far those who say tipping anything below 20 % is cheap makes me want to not tip even more. While it’s true that if you can’t afford a nice resturant it should also true if you have crappy service then you should not tip the same if you have excellent service.
This tipping chart is informative but really it doesn’t end does it…
2 Canadian cents
I’ve read through all of these comments, and there appears to be a large number of waitresses/servers who are very irate that anyone could ever consider not tipping. I live in Canada and I have been a server, so I can tell you that here most of the time even servers make around minimum wage or $6-7/hour plus tips. While I agree to tip when someone goes out of their way or goes above and beyond their job I don’t think that a waitress, server, garbage man, barista, or even bartender should be tipped for doing their job. If you’re going to say that you should tip at a restaurant 15-20% EVERY time then really what you’re advocating is a wage increase for servers which I do agree with. I believe that the service industry’s expectation that customers will subsidize their employee’s wages is only to the disadvantage of servers and their customers. If I got a great meal why would I tip the person who brought the food to the table? Wouldn’t I want to tip the person who cooked it? Ideally the wage for all service industry employees should be raised to at least the minimum and tips should only be given to those who truly went out of their way, not those who are simply doing what they have to in order to gain an income. How are we supposed to reward good, exceptional, service if everyone is given a tip? Then it’s not a reward but an expectation and thus there is no positive reinforcement when someone does something really great. Also, for those that have commented on here that they work in the service industry and they only make $3.00 or less an hour, if your still working in the service industry than I have to believe that those tips that you are receiving still work out to be a better paying job than a minimum wage Wal-mart or McDonalds, for a job that generally requires no education I would say that’s pretty fair.
To Heather,
I think it would be a right thing to do when it comes to tipping waiters and waitresses. For a reason, they make under minimum wage. Most places in the US, waitresses only get pay $3.13 for an hour and our pay check is zero. The tip that we receive are our wage. Also, you don’t realize that we have to pay taxes on the tips that we receive as well. We don’t have many choices. No wonder why waitresses and waiters in the US do not like to serve on Canadian, European, and other people are from Southeast Asia. It’s only for couple reasons.
A. They don’t tip
B. They don’t know
C. They don’t want to know
D. They are cheap
E. Or all of the above.
If you don’t tip, welcome to McDonald and other fast food places. If you sit down and demand people to serve you, then you have to tip. Even though you are not happy with the service, you still should leave at least 10% tip. Why is that? It’s because the servers DID serve you and he or she didn’t do a good job or perfect job. However, they did serve you. So you should leave them a tip.
I used to work as a waitress for 8 yrs when I was in college, and I know how hard the waitresses and waiters have to work to make a living. A lot of people DO NOT have many choices to select a certain kind of jobs they want to work, but they have to work around their schedules and take whatever jobs are available to them. In most of the restaurants, waiter and waitress have to tips the busboy, bartender, food runners, and even dishwashers and kitchen helpers. One of the worst place to work for is working in Japanese restaurants, the management makes us have to pool tips, and they make us tip the bartender base on 10% of the total food and alcohol sale, 15% to the bus boy, 5% to dishwashers and kitchen helpers, and whatever left divide between the rest of the waitresses. But when the customers sit at the sushi bar, the sushi chefs allows keeping 80% of the tips and the waitresses only have 20% of the tips from sushi bar. Waitresses do not have much left to take home, and on top of that we have to pay taxes so my pay check for every week is zero or if I am lucky to have $10.00 on the paycheck. That’s how bad it is. Most of the time, the bartender doesn’t even care to make my customer’s drinks even though I was waiting for him, he does not care my customers get mad or not, he always makes his customers’ drinks first because they sit at the bar and he will get more tips from them and let me and other waitresses waiting in line to get drinks from the bar. No matter what he still gets his cut at the end of the night. Chefs in Hibachi restaurants get half of the tips belong to waitresses, and yet the waitresses have to pay the busboy and kitchen helpers again. I am not sure is that legal or not giving half of the tips to chefs and they don’t even claim tax on that tips that they get. Now, I have a professional job, but I would never forget these old days. As a result, I always leave the waitress at least 18% to 25% tip in a buffet restaurant. The other day, I had such a rude and classless waitress in a Ryan restaurant, I was really upset due to her attitude and extremely crappy services, she though that I wouldn’t give her a tip due to my outfit and my nationality, but I still left her 20% tip. I know how she feel if I didn’t leave her any tips. I tried to tell myself that she had a bad day and she does not have an easy job. I think if you had worked in the restaurant industry, you will understand and sympathy for people who have the same job. However, I probably will never come back to that restaurant again.
In addition, I don’t think people should tip the massage therapist at all because they charge $60.00 for an hour, and yet they still want tips tips tips. They said that the management gets half of the $60.00 and they only take home from $20.00 to $30.00 per hour. That’s still plenty to take home for going to training school and still able to make that much of money, and they still want tip. That’s ridiculous. An engineer only makes $25.00 per hour and they have to go to at least 4 years of college. The government should make a law that the employees do not allow receiving tip if they are making minimum wage per hour. It’s annoying me that tip jars are all over the place these days, you go to star buck buy a cup of coffee, and pay $4.00, and you still have to tip? It’s ridiculous and I hate to see that people are trying to take advantage to each other. In addition, my boyfriend and I went on a trolley in Savanna and it cost us $46.00 for both, and yet the drivers are expecting tip as well whenever we get off a stop in a historic town. What the heck is really going on? The tipping things are getting ridiculous.
To Anon October 12th, 2006 at 9:25 am ,
Please stay home and cook a good meal, it doesn’t seem like you can afford to pay for your meal. You are broke, so you try to make other people broke like you? If you broke or do not have too much money, STAY HOME. You should wait until you graduate and get a good job, then take your wife out for dinner and don’t forget tip the server.
To 44. Jeff and 73.Jeff,
Jeff, you don’t understand that waitress or waiter still have to tips bartender and food runner base on their total food and beverages sale. Waiters and waitress are also the ones clean and set up your table since most of the restaurants do not have busboy any more. Or they have just only 1 busboy for the entire restaurant. That’s not fair for them. How often do you spend $300 on food and drinks? I am very surprise if you do spend that much of money. Usually, people who spend that much of money; they have no problem with tipping with at least 15%.
However, there is a big different in tipping when it comes to foreigners. People are from England, Europe, South America, Asia and Australia don’t know how to tip and very demanding as well. I used to work in this casual restaurant which allows 3 tables per server. When the 2 British customers came to my table, they acted like king and queen (very formal and demanding). They ordered a lot of food but don’t like to serve them fast, and a bottle of cheap wine which is only $30.00 and believe it or not they sat there until the restaurant close, and still they didn’t leave. They sat there from the time the restaurant open and after it already closed. They kept sitting there talked and enjoyed their wine and they finally left after the restaurant closed almost an hour, and I had to wait for them to leave, so I could clean the table and swiped the floor. They left me $10.00 on a $235.00 bill. After all that, they left me $10.00. Then I had to give $2.00 to the bartender, and $3.00 to the food runner. I take home $4.00. I had only 2 tables to turn over on that night. The people are from the UK need to learn how to tips and so do other foreigners as well. You need to learn and respect the culture of the country that you are visit and if you don’t. Don’t come here because it’s cruel not tip your servers, they work so hard and get almost nothing in return. That’s BS. If you don’t agree, get a job as a waiter or waitress in the US. After one week, I guarantee that you will understand and WILL leave your servers at least 15% tip.
To 28. Dave,
Please do waiters and waitresses a big favor. Stay over in Australia and please don’t come to the US, and also make sure if you do come to the US, go straight to fast food area. Please don’t come to the restaurant has people serve on you and leave nothing for tips. That’s totally BS. Keep in mind that they make only $3.00 per hour. They live on tip, so be kind and be considerate. People try to make a living too.
People should not tip barber because he doesn’t get $3.00 per hour. He charges $12.00 per hair cut and still expects tips. That’s ridiculous. For the massage therapist charges $60.00 per hour and still wants tip. They said that they only get $25.00 out of $60.00. That’s $25.00 per hour without a college degree. That is way over the top. They still want clients tip them. They must be out of their mind. I hate to say this but I am not going to tip them. Too greedy!
For waitress and waiter, they can get $100.00 per night if they work in a busy restaurant and had nice and decent customers. Otherwise, they go home with $7.00. I know that because I used to be a waitress.
To 70.Ben ,
There is nothing strange about the system that we have in the US. What are so stressful about leaving a tip for your waiters and waitresses? Do us a favor, just stay wherever you at, don’t you ever come over here and don’t leave your servers tip. Cheer!
To 90.Paul Navish,
You do telephone support for a software firm and you are bitter and NEVER tip anyone because you said you provide consistent excellent job but nobody tip you. For one thing, you don’t deserve a tip with the kind of job that you have. Order your food on the phone for to go and drive your @$$ there and pick it up. Don’t go to the restaurant eat and leave nothing for tip. You sound like you have a SHORT CIRCUIT in your head.
To 94.Tiffany,
This is the board where people can come and express their thoughts, and if you don’t like it. Go to another website and don’t be a smart @$$ around here. Your name can speak for your personality. This one is very special and it’s only for Tiffany #94. According to dictionary.com, Tiff means a slight fit of annoyance, bad mood, or the like, and for fanny sounds like funny but in this case it sounds more like crazy. That’s enough for Tiffany. Get lost now Tiffs. Bye bye
To Lauren #159,
I think you should tip 7% to 10% on $100.00 bottle of wine, because the restaurant rules make the server pay the bartender $2.00 on each bottle of wine. But if you order a $30.00 bottle of wine, just leave them 10% which is $3.00. The server is always very happy when customers order bottle of wine,they consider that lucky of serving you $100.00 bottle of wine.
to Cony #129,
how can you open your mouth and say such things? Just do waiter and waitress a favor, please get lost. Your comments are totally ignorant. Don’t go out eat okay? eat at home, otherwise, if you leave no tip, server might spit into your food. You might not remember all of the servers that you have had, but every single one of them remember your face. So good luck, you get what you ask for.
what’s so hard about tipping??? even if the experience was a bad one it cannot be blamed on the server. they did their best.
at my job, i had a table who as i was bringing their food out changed their order. i told them it was no problem, i’d have it fixed for them. i did. and it was a fast fix. the lady then found something wrong with her salad, instead of just discounting it like is supposed to be done, i took the entire salad off the ticket. when i took their ticket out to them, (a $66 ticket for four people) the guy freaked out at me. they had misunderstood what i’d told them about the pizza they ordered, thinking it would be free for the birthday. the man started yelling at me and calling me dishonest. i went and talked to my manager who took about $16 off their ticket for the mix up. even after everything i did for them (changing their food, taking the salad off the ticket, discounting their ticket) they left me a lousy 77 cent tip.
at my job, we only get $2.13 an hour. EVERYTHING depends on the tip. and then we have to tip the busboys and hostesses from our tips. no matter what happens in your dining experience, a %15 tip should be left.
I work at a restaurant right now, but just got a call from the YMCA for a lifeguarding position.
This conversation seems to have moved from what should be tipped, to whether to tip at all. I am a host, but I see/talk to the servers about what gets tipped and they make ALOT more then I do, even on a slow day.
I am not advocating leaving no tip, but there is one thing that must be remembered before you leave the restaurant. Was the reason you are leaving no tip because the food prep was slow? Or was it drinks? Or was it just a rude server.
Slow food is NEVER the server’s fault. If you have an order that came out slow, call over a manager and draw it to their attention. This is a problem with the kitchen, and is not a server issue. But even before you call over a manager, look around the restaurant. Is there alot of people with menus, or who have just ordered? Slow food is usually caused by a SUDDEN fill up of the dining room/bar/patio, which the kitchen will react to as fast as possible. Also, did you order a burger? Or did you order chicken wings? Think about how long it may take to prep the food.
If you found that the drinks were slow, first think of whether or not the drink came from the bartender. If you ordered water, or a pop, most likely the server got that for you. But if you ordered a beer, glass of wine, or another alchoholic drink, this came from the bar. This is something else that should be taken to a manager.
The only time the server is at fault and deserves no tip is when:
1. He/She failed to come to the table quickly after you were seated
2. He/She did not bring non-bar drinks quickly.
3. He/She was rude or annoyed with you.
4. The server tampered with your food after it left the kitchen.
THe restaurant is all about trying to please the customer, so that you will come back again soon, and also tell friends that the restaurant was great. If a manager knows that a server is bad, then that server will be fired.
Just, overall, try to think of what a server is responsible for and what they are not. Put yourself in their shoes.
I’m a food server, and I make 2.13 an hour. When I was on vacation in Australia, where the servers dont expect tips and make around 12-15 dollars an hour, and twice as much on Sundays, and twice and a half on holidays…the service was terrible. They were slow, had to ask for a refill on drinks, not very knowledgable about the menu…why? Because they have no incentive to giving good service. Theyre going to make that 15 dollars an hour, regardless of whether you’re happy or unhappy. If servers were given a higher wage, food prices on the menus would go up, and the service would suffer dramatically. So tip your servers 15-20 percent if the service was good, or stay home and make yourself some Chef Boyardee..cheapskates.
I think that has to do more with culture and the individual employers. Maybe Australian employers should put more emphasis on good customer service or customers can put their feet down. I don’t buy the fact that they give worse service because they aren’t being tipped. I mentioned in other comment, but having worked different service jobs, there was no difference in the service my coworkers and I provided whether the job was tipped based or not. So it sounds like it’s crappy people, culture, and employers who don’t care about anyone but themselves.
Honestly, what’s next: tipping (bribing) doctors and nurses? Why stop there, let’s tip our police men, judges, lawyer, teachers, pastor, etc.
As to waiters, yes, there are occasionally problems beyond the waiter’s control. I get that. IF they convey what’s going on (e.g. “sorry for the delay, there’s a huge table order just ahead of you…your order should be ready in 10 minutes”), I highly appreciate that and will tip normally (generally 10-15%). If *I* have to call the waiter over to figure out why we’re waiting 45 minutes for our orders, the waiter is going to be lucky to get 5%. Period. I’ve left a restaurant because I was seated and noone came over within five minutes. I don’t care if the circumstances are beyond their control. Has noone ever noticed that charming, moderately attentive servers earn more? I’ve also not tipped in restaurants where they are too attentive, and yes, I know that that’s just generally how it is in the US. I’ve eaten solo and I’ve had waitstaff stop by up to four times *after my food is delivered and I’m reading.* If I’m reading, constantly butting your head in is really, really aggravating — and I won’t tip for that (and I’ll also tell you to leave me alone). Good service involves a lot of paying attention and seeing if someone needs more water/plates need to be cleared/etc. Stopping by right after you’ve watched me put food in my mouth is also a way to lose your tip.
I think tipping for non-table service or take out is generally a load of BS. Why should I tip for a donut? Why should I tip if I get a pre-made sandwich and a bottle of water at Starbucks?! Why should I tip when you’re not waiting on me, and just bringing me food in a box?
I also disagree that you should tip more for complex alcoholic drinks. It’s just what bartenders do and those drinks cost more to begin with. If I find that someone has made a “perfect” drink, I will tip them more in the future.
Waiters so often view themselves as some sort of deity that it’s offensive. In addition, there are so many waiters that are rude as a matter of course, I can’t imagine how they are surprised when they aren’t tipped.
Malcolm
“Slow food is NEVER the server’s fault. If you have an order that came out slow, call over a manager and draw it to their attention. This is a problem with the kitchen, and is not a server issue.”
Sorry, but you are VERY UNEDUCATED when it comes to restaurant service. My husband and I have had to wait 30 minutes for an appetizer instead of 15 minutes or so. Do you know WHY? OUR WAITER ADMITTED **FORGETTING** TO PUT THE ORDER INTO THE COMPUTER. YOU CANNOT BLAME EVERY SINGLE SOLITARY TIME A CUSTOMERS HAVE TO WAIT A LONG TIME FOR THEIR FOOD ON THE COOKS. To be perfectly honest, the server has VERY MUCH CONTROL of “HOW LONG” I wait for the food unless they put in the order right after getting it and giving it to us right after it was done. If my server decides to buss a table or greet another table, GUESS WHAT HAPPENS? The server intentionally DELAYED the order from getting to the cooks, therefore, even if it’s only a minute or 2 or 3, you know what? THAT’S A REASON WHY WE WAITED THAT EXTRA TIME. The server has to put the order into the computer right after getting it(UNLESS OF COURSE SOMEONE ELSE’S FOOD OR DRINKS IS READY THAT HAD OBVIOUSLY ORDERED BEFORE THE CURRENT CUSTOMERS). If my server decides to pick up dishes instead of putting my order into the computer, that is a DELAY right there, because they usually go to the kitchen to bring those dirty dishes.
Also, you NEVER once said if the server puts in the order incorrectly. My husband and I have had wrong entrees before due to the servers ADMITTING pressing the wrong buttons, therefore, it was my server’s fault those times that we had to wait for our food longer than what we should have. One time my husband ordered 2 side dishes with an entree. The waitress brought out our food without the baked potato my husband ordered. Just let’s say she put the order in correctly, even so, since **SHE** actually brought out the food, **SHE** was the person responsible for bringing it out correctly. HOW can you blame the cook for the server forgetting to bring out a side dish or a side of ranch that was ordered or whatever? It’s the SERVER’S FAULT A LOT for long wait times for food. It HONESTLY IS.
So, NEVER say “NEVER”, because there are SOOOO MANY possibilites. You act so smart, but you have NO CLUE of what you are talking about.
“But if you ordered a beer, glass of wine, or another alchoholic drink, this came from the bar. This is something else that should be taken to a manager.”
Another issue my husband and I have been through twice waiting a very long time for a bar drink. I waited 25 minutes for a margarita and it was because my waiter ADMITTED HE **FORGOT** TO GET IT. You cannot ALWAYS BLAME THE BARTENDER. One time at Chili’s, they were out of the Presidente’ shakers, so my margarita got made in a different glass. My waitress NEVER once went to invesitgate it until 15 minutes went by, by asking me if I received it yet. I had to wait another 15 minutes LITERALLY to get it. Sure you can blame the bartender for not communicating with the waitress, BUT, ANY GOOD, DECENT, WAITRESS AT THE 10 minute mark, would have went to ask the bartender where my margarita was, NOT to have come to me at the 15 minute mark. I feel if YOU are the server, YOU are responsible for finding out where things are. Let’s say I order a burger and I wait 45 minutes, wouldn’t you think by that time I would probably get it and that you should go ask the kitchen staff about where my burger is? Well, same thing with drinks. My server should be writing down when they put the order in on their pad of paper they write the order on to know “HOW LONG” I have been waiting.
“The only time the server is at fault and deserves no tip is when:
1. He/She failed to come to the table quickly after you were seated
2. He/She did not bring non-bar drinks quickly.
3. He/She was rude or annoyed with you.
4. The server tampered with your food after it left the kitchen.”
Again, you are SO UNEDUCATED about restaurant service it’s UNREAL. My husband and I have been overcharged LITERALLY OVER 20 times at restaurants. Some of those servers got stiffed. It’s my SERVER’S RESPONSIBILITY to CARE about my money if they want me to care about theirs. I AM NOT A BABY-SITTER having to check over each item to make sure no extra items are on the bill, the correct amount was billed on our credit card receipt(3 times that happened) and correct prices that match the menu(at least 6 times that’s happened).
When a server brings out the completely wrong food, I feel MOST of the time the server deserves a stiff UNLESS they make-up for it in a huge way, which most servers don’t even tell their managers or ask them to comp something as they should in a situation like that. I feel if you are too damn lazy to even make sure my food is indeed the correct food, WHY should I care about your tip? What goes around, comes around.
“Just, overall, try to think of what a server is responsible for and what they are not. Put yourself in their shoes.”
I do KNOW what they are responsible for, which is MOST aspects of your dining experience. I ALWAYS put myself in their shoes when I think about how to tip. Like for instance, another server brought out ribs instead of what my husband ordered which was a burger. Turns out, not the other server’s fault, but our waitress for putting the order into the computer incorrectly. Instead of going to get the manager to comp something or at least visit our table, she DOESN’T DO ANYTHING. SHE GOT STIFFED. When you cannot take responsibility for your mistake, I will not pay you for being uncaring. I SHOULD NOT HAVE TO CALL THE MANAGER FOR THAT, BECAUSE MY SERVER MADE THE MISTAKE, I DIDN’T.
First of all, I really don’t understand why we should give a tip. They will get their salary from their employer. If they receive small wages then they should ask their boss for an increment. If it’s just for appreciation, then how come, we who work in the office, don’t get tip when we have done our job?
Why should we tip? I don’t tip the cashier in Safeway, and I don’t expect to be tipped for doing my office job. My contract is with my employer – he pays me to give good service to the customers – and I take pride in doing the best job possible because I believe in doing 110% for my customers.
The issue of tipping wait staff, or other so called poorly paid jobs, because “they make minimum wage” begs the question of why they are working for that employer. We here in BC are currently in an almost zero unemployment situation – if you don’t like your job, leave!
In the meantime, I believe that tipping encourages employers to take advantage of workers. If you let them get away with paying you less than you are worth, then who is making money?
When I go to a restaurant and sit down to eat, the posted price includes delivery to the table, and clearing up afterwards. The restaurant owner has included wages for all the staff in the posted price. Why then would I pay MORE by tipping, which only allows the restaurant OWNER to make more money by underpaying staff.
I believe that for good service, which we should expect always, a simple “Thank you” is enough, and if someone makes an extra special effort and you feel that service has been that 110%, then perhaps a small note of appreciation, or a phone call to the person’s boss or supervisor is called for. I prefer a written note, either faxed, emailed or even mailed on occasion for when someone makes an extra special effort on my behalf.
@April:
I’m afraid you don’t get it. At least here in America, most wait staff are NOT MAKING minimum wage. They are making less then half of it, because the government ASSUMES that people will tip them. So, please, when you visit the states, don’t be a jerk, and tip.
That being said, do i WISH it was the way you assume it is? YES, i hate tipping as well, but i am not going to be an A-hole about it, and hurt the poor waiter because our government sucks.
You are right, I do not get it, I am Canadian eh, and minimum wage means exactly that – that is the minumum that your employer can pay you. Here in BC that is $8.00 per hour, and according to labour code you cannot be paid less. I don’t know anything about US labour laws, nor do I often go across the border to dine out, my comments are directed to my location and my customs only.
That being said, the same holds true in any country, if the owners are not having to pay their staff properly, then the staff is subsidizing the owners lifestyles, and tipping just creates a vicious circle.
Great topic,
Someone may have pointed this stuff out but I don’t have time to read all the comments.
So here’s what would happen if you didn’t tip the wait staff: You would have the same people who are pumping your gas serving your food (no offense intended to anyone). To get good serving staff the employer would then have to pay $15 to $25 per hour to their servers (please don’t argue with this # I have been in the industry for 20 years). Believe me it would take at least this for most of us to constantly deal with hungry people (some of which feel so superior) Guess who’s really going to pay for this. You the customer. There is a very tight profit margin in this industry. If anyone thinks that the price of food would stay the same you are sorely mistaken. The price would rise and you would be paying more anyhow. At least with tipping you have a choice about how much you pay.
Or would you prefer a Mcdonald’s type atmosphere and quality of food?
Most servers are generally good with 15% unless the customer was extra demanding or rude.
Customer service is rated in the top ten most stressful lines of employment(if you don’t believe me look it up).
Oh and to Springs1
People like you are the reason serving is so stressful. You think you are educated about serving and that you know exactly what is going on. You seem like you think you are superior to your wait staff and that you could do it so much better. Looking for anything that could be wrong so you don’t have to tip. There is so much going on behind the scenes that the customer doesn’t see. Like when the manager gives the server heck for not cleaning the dishes off the table quick enough. Do you think the manager really cares about you. They want another table in as quick as possible. It’s all about the money. Sure they’ll come and be nice to you comp your bill smile. They want you to leave so they can fill your spot with someone else. I could go on but I won’t.
Stop thinking that you know everything about everything. You even tell someone who works in the industry that they are uneducated about restaurants, when it is YOU that seems uneducated.
Yes, as servers and bartenders we make a good wage(after tips). But believe me $8.00 an hour isn’t near enough to deal with people like you all day long.
We all make mistakes at our jobs (and most jobs aren’t as fast paced as serving). Let’s remember that!
Sorry I just quit smoking…..lol
To April,
I’m canadaian too! No server wants to hear how good the sevice is and then not receive a tip. Are you kidding me! That’s more of a slap in the face than anything. I GUARENTEE that server would (and REALLY WANTS TO) run after you in the parking lot and give you a piece of their mind if they would’nt lose the job. Like I said, There is a small profit margin in the service industry. Unless you want a Mc D’s style sevice with prices you would call outrageous you should tip.
The “Tippers” are the reason you don’t have to pay more for your food at restaurant. Maybe you should help bare some of the the weight too instead of letting everyone else do it for you.
You must be jealous that you don’t make $20 plus per hour. What? Do you think we are to stupid to deserve a wage like that. I know a person like you would never think something like that.
It’s a hard job folks!
I’m betting that all these people who don’t believe in tipping properly don’t have the courtesy (or balls) to let their servers know of their intentions beforehand.
If people are so against the idea of a company relying on customer tipping to compensate their employees, then they shouldn’t give them their business. Don’t eat there and let the company make money and then stiff the server on “principle.”
I agree with Selba and April. Why should anyone have to “tip” anyone for anything? Let’s take a waitress as an example. You’re already paying FAR more for the food than you should have to pay in the first place, then some folks think insult should be added to injury by saying you should have to “tip” the waitress just to bring the food to you. Just what kind of crap is that?What’s the matter? Doesn’t their employer pay them a reasonable salary? And if they don’t, then why not? You can bet your bottom dollar that most restaurant owners could afford to pay their servers a respectable salary so they wouldn’t expect a tip. I know that if my employer didn’t pay me enough so that I had to rely on “tips” to supplement my income, then I would find another job. When I was a kid, I was a grocery bagger who worked for a large retail grocery chain, and I made about $30 to $40 a week. It was a RARE occasion indeed when anyone would give us a “tip”, and WE DID NOT EXPECT IT!!!! We knew knew it was our DUTY to bag the customer’s groceries and take them to their cars. Our customers were the reason we had a job in the first place and we did not expect a handout. As a matter of fact, there was a sign on the door which read, “no tipping, we pay our baggers”. But I see in today’s “gimme, gimme, gimme” society that no one appreciates anything and everyone wants to stand around with a hand stuck out. How ungrateful!
I suppose then the folks that don’t believe tipping is necessary accept a bonus at their workplace. After all…you’re already getting paid a fair wage right?
If I get my food with no bodily fluids, and with a minimum of bad-attitude, then I take the amount of the bill, round it to the nearest whole dollar, double it and move the decimal.
I figure, I don’t have energy in my life to quibble over a few dollars, and if it can make someone else’s day run more smoothly, then I’m happy to oblige. Eating out makes me happy, and I don’t mind making the experience happy for the people serving my table. 🙂
I have been in the I.T. field Since I left school in 2003. I recently decided that I am bored to death with the field, and that I want to make a career transition to more creative endeavors. So I took a leap and became a server a mere month ago. I just want to speak to everyone who has posted to this thread with an opinion against the practice of tipping. If you have never been a server there’s no way in hell that you can even begin to understand the infinite layers of complexity that the job entails. During busy shifts, it requires long hours of immense focus, a quick wit with guests, a bubbly personality, new heights of intuition and awareness, and long hours of moving very quickly without stopping. It is not an easy job that might be likened to “bag boy.” I wont say that I disagree with the fact that restaurant owners should pay the Front of House employees a higher wage, and perhaps eliminate, if not at least greatly lower, the tipping standard in this country; but that is not how it is NOW. If you think it should change lobby for it. Make some effort to change it. But surely don’t just unilaterally decide to not to tip when you know fully well how the system works for now.
I am currently working with 4 college graduates and 2 pre-med students; EXTREMELY bright and motivated individuals. The graduates all have undergrad degrees like myself, and either could never find meaningful work in their fields (i.e. english & japanese culture) or they simply didn’t want to work in those fields; they found happiness in the hospitality industry. Some people are happier working in a restaurant. They make their living from tips. Everyone I’ve met so far is very humble, intelligent and down to earth, not full of themselves. Please don’t demean people’s life choices because they aren’t the same as yours.
A comment on holiday tipping for newspaper carriers-speaking as a proud,tired newspaper carrier, holiday tips are the reward we work for all year. I get up at 3am(yes,AM)7 days a week,365 days a year;no days off,no accumulated sick time, no holidays or vacations unless I pay someone to be my substitute.After gas expenses,I take home barely $ 125 a week.Did I mention I also work full time as do most paper carriers? Plus since my wife works at least 50 hours a week,I’m also the primary care-giver for my 3 children.When you get a nice dry paper in a downpour,I’m getting soaked with both windows open in my car. When you shiver and get up at 4am to get a thicker blanket, I’ve had freezing winds blowing on me for an hour. When your street isn’t plowed and there’s a foot of snow,but your paper is on your porch,I’m driving in dangerous conditions risking my life. Your holiday tips help give my kids a nice Christmas,and maybe some oil in our tank to heat the house.As to the amount;think about it.A $5.00 tip over the course of a year equals less than .10 cents a week for exemplary service.In my mind, at least .50 cents a week or $1.00 a week isn’t too much to ask for my high level of service. So think of this missive next year when you get a Christmas casrd from your paperboy.
Regarding tipping at a restaurant:
1. 18-20%, minimum. After tax. Like (I think) Shane said, the difference between that and a 15% pre-tax tip is usually a few dollars, and the difference is well worth it. It makes your server happy, which makes your server do a better job for everyone in general and for you in particular when you come back. If you’re a regular, 20% minimum, or give more than that and the staff will know your name and always be happy to see you.
2. Please tip for take out. Especially if the ones wrapping up your food are also serving tables; it means that they are working for tips, making a very low hourly wage. The extra time they spend making sure your order is right is time away from tables that are probably paying them more.
3. Echoing what was said earlier, because it bears repeating: If you cannot afford to tip reasonably, at the VERY LEAST 15% after tax, you cannot afford to eat out. Pick a cheaper place, or get takeout and give 10%, or suck it up and give a real tip if you want to have a nice night out. Period.
4. Don’t insult your server with a penny. God. Was your experience really THAT bad? Was it really your server’s fault? Could there have been something else going on? Maybe they’re understaffed, or something you didn’t see happened in the kitchen. The only message a penny tip leaves is that you’re an asshole.
5. A dollar for your bartender to open your beer is too much? Fine. Get a six pack and go home to drink your cheap beer. See a theme here? If you are too cheap to tip, if you don’t believe in it, or if you want to send a message that you are unsatisfied, whether it’s with a particular incident or with the system of tipping in general, don’t give your money to establishments like bars and restaurants.
6. Thank you to all of you who do give a little extra. It hardly makes a difference to your wallet, and it makes a ton of difference to your bartender or server, believe me.
I live in the US and I never tip anyone, anywhere. Tipping encourages people to waste their time in crappy little jobs that will go nowhere. People should use their creative brains, work hard, and move up in life.
Tipping is dependant upon service. I tip generously when service is good. 99% of the time the tip is 20% plus but there are also times when no tip is warranted. Empty restaurant… waitstaff chatting around the till. Do they deserve any extra? I’ve been seated and ignored for 30 minutes and gotten to the point where I’ve thrown my menu at waitstaff to get noticed. As someone has said the waitstaff is my only point of contact. They do take the brunt of it. But you know what??? In my job it is the same thing. If our salespeople don’t sell… I don’t get my tips (bonus) either. If I mess up and cost the company money… the salespeople don’t get their bonus either. Saying that if you can’t afford to tip then don’t eat out is absolutely asinine and ignorant. A tip is not a right. It is not required. It’s a reward for a job well done. Read the definition of a tip and it’s origin – to give unexpectedly. More importantly, if I get poor service… and whether I choose to leave a tip or not… I will more than likely not return. Waitstaff has to realize that they are on the frontlines and are representing the establishment. What they do, not only determines their tip but whether I return or not. That being said I can not remember the last time I did not leave a tip but I definitely remember the last time I had a good meal but poor service and decided not to return. And it just baffles me that people do not tip the gas attendant. He’s / she’s out there in crappy weather, running around, dealing with customers. They don’t deserve a tip like anyone else?
Always tip your servers.
If you don’t understand why I say that, then you should visit your local restaurant and ask if you can shadow a server during a busy night shift. You’ll quickly learn the difficulty and ridiculous amount of stress that go with their job.
The quote “Is it really that hard to take a food order” is overrated. Imagine that it takes you probably an hour to prepare, make, finalize, clean, a meal. Multiply that by approximately 16 people.
You visit restaurants for the environment, atmosphere, sociality, and excitement. You could cook at home, but this is a key to casual dining.
Thank your server, tip a 15% min.
🙂
I’m a university student working a part-time job as a server in a small restaurant and I can tell you right now that you should ALWAYS tip your servers.
Lots of people have been mentioning all sorts of arguments but here is the main thing. Espcially in a smaller establishment, if you don’t tip, or you leave a crappy tip–we will remember you. If you ever want to come back and get even remotely good service, make sure you let us know, at the very least, that we are appreciated.
another thing that always bugs me is how servers get blamed for everything. The restaurant I work at is a japanese restaurant, serving both hot food and sushi. We have a grand total of TWO chefs in the kitchen. One does the sushi. The other does everything else.
I am very sorry if you cannot get your five person sushi order out in ten minutes on a Friday night when we have a full house and a lineup of ten takeout orders sitting in the back waiting to be filled. but its not my fault. I’m the one going in the back and arguing with the chefs, rearranging orders so that if you need to leave sooner you can still get your food, all the while dealing with your ridiculous requests–and demands. We are servers, not servants.
The problem I see is that most people see those working as servers in restaurants as lower class. Its commonly seen as a dead end job that doesn’t require any skill. But how’s this for you? I’m working on a master’s degree at a high end university, and working as a waitress because I can’t take any more time off from studying. I could be in a much better job but it would mean sacrificing my schooling.
Paychecks don’t cover much when you’re a server. You are relying on the tips you get from customers for your day to day living. In my workplace, that equates to about 30 dollars most nights, with between 70 to 100 on Fridays.
And here’s the other thing. I have rent to make, bills to pay, insurance payments, mechanical bills on my vehicle, groceries, tuition, and textbooks. Yet I still manage to hand over MINIMUM 20% tip when I eat out, because I know how it is. (usually I’ll tip between 35% and 50%, and the only time I will EVER tip under 15% is if the service was actually poor). So don’t give me excuses for why you can’t make a more than 10% tip on your bill.
These are the standards I use when a customer leaves me a tip:
10%: bare minimum, unless I was horrible to you; standard on takeout orders.
20%: You have just made my day. Next time you come in you can expect even better service.
Remember that it is not only showing appreciated for their service that is the reason for tipping–you had to deal with me, but I had to deal with you. Be self-aware of how you are treating servers, and make sure it is reflected in your tip.
…I needed to get that out. xD
to mr. Pink.
How can you be so narrow minded? A restaurant is a valid and worthwhile business. Management and owners make insanely good money. You have to start at the bottom in any business.
Perhaps your server went to culinary school and is trying to move into a kitchen position. Perhaps your server is trying to work his way up to management and one day open his own restaurant. If you think that no one should be a server then you should never again go to your favorite restaurant and order your favorite culinary treats. If this utopia in your mind actually existed and everyone was “creative,” enough to not be a server then there would be no awesome restaurants that give a city character. That was a very poor argument. You are an idiot.
I agree with pbennett. Continuing with the example of a waiter, those jobs are a mainstay for young people (high school/college) who want to earn gas money, etc. If everyone thought like Mr Pink and didn’t tip, no one in their right mind would take those jobs and we wouldn’t have those services available to us. Then some of those very same naysayers of tipping might complain about the lack of service.
That said, I have to admit it was a real culture shock when I moved from Ohio to San Diego, CA. Everywhere, and I mean EVERYWHERE you go in San Diego (and maybe even all of CA?), they have a tip jar. You bought a burrito at a taco shop where there are no waiters? There’s a tip jar next to the register. You buy a simple cup of Joe at the local coffee place? Tip jar. I even see tip jars in some fast food places. Tip jars don’t exist in Ohio. Then again, you don’t see kids doing acrobatic tricks with signs advertising expensive condos in Ohio either. Different culture, I guess.
Hey Dustin,
Visit the Linkery in Hillcrest. NO TIP policy, they give all tips left to them to a Charity of the month. How can they do that? The servers are paid a decent wage. Wow, what a concept eh?
I tip two dollars on a haircut. And usually ten percent at EVERY restaurant. If the services are bad I tip nothing. The only time I would tip more than ten percent is if I’m at a very fancy restaurant in the area. Even then, my tip will not exceed ten dollars.
Leah
“you should ALWAYS tip your servers.”
Sorry, I tend to disagree with the “ALWAYS” part. Sometimes, my husband and I have had servers INTENTIONALLY overcharge us or make MANY mistakes because of not TRYING. Have you personally ever had 6 or more mistakes in one dining experience? If you NEVER have, then HOW would YOU personally KNOW HOW THAT FEELS? When a waiter didn’t apologize ONCE for ringing up my credit card almost $11 over and ignoring me when I told him about it CALMLY and NICELY, got him a ZERO tip. You cannot act like you don’t care and don’t apologize for something that MUCH of a rip off and tell me it’s NOT done ON PURPOSE to get another FRIEND’S TABLE a cheaper bill, because he NEVER ONCE said he was SORRY, although KNEW BY “HEART” our order when he came around when the manager was reringing my credit card up for the CORRECT amount though, how convenient of him. Our credit card amount without conveniently not given back our original bill, was billed $47 and something cents and we were billed $36 and something cents. Anyway, he got nothing, because he acted like my $11 or so wasn’t important to steal from me, so obviously since he didn’t apologize, he did it on PURPOSE, so he got NOTHING for STEALING. When a server apologizes, that shows SOMETHING, but if their actions spoke louder than words, of course, the actions will tell me more. So, NO, I DO NOT AGREE TO NEVER NOT leave a tip. If a server steals, I will steal their tip away. what goes around, comes around and that’s that!!!!
“all the while dealing with your ridiculous requests—and demands.”
NOBODY’S demands are “RIDICULOUS”, so if you think they are, you are LAZY. Go drink some red bull or coffee then. Secondly, WHATEVER HAPPENED TO “EARNING” YOUR TIP? NO DEMAND is ridiculous. Sure, if a customer(which I NEVER HAVE) asked for exactly 5 ice cubes, you can get that so they won’t have a lot of ice, because just MAYBE, they asked for “easy ice or not a lot of ice” then still got TONS of ice, so they had to RESORT to being that specific and ridiculous about it to get what THEY WANT. My point is, YOU SOUND EXTREMELY UNCARING AND VERY LAZY. NO DAMAND IS RIDICULOUS, so if you want a tip, WORK FOR IT YOU LAZY PERSON!
“The problem I see is that most people see those working as servers in restaurants as lower class.”
Well, can you BLAME US? Bringing out WRONG FOOD? COME ON NOW, LOOK AT THE FOOD, does mac & cheese look like a BAKED POTATO, though I was BROUGHT THAT OUT BY THE SAME WAITER THAT TOOK MY ORDER AT bbq chain restaurant. ONE APPETIZER, COUNT IT ONE, with ONE, COUNT IT, ONE, CONDIMENT ADDED TO A MENU ITEM, comes out with NO RANCH as ordered from the SAME DAMN PERSON THAT WROTE DOWN THE DAMN ORDER! CAN YOU BLAME US? WTF IS WRONG WITH SERVERS TODAY? If I had 10 people to my table, I’d be MUCH MORE tolerable, but ONE APPETIZER PLATE and they CANNOT EVEN GET THAT 100% OBVIOUSLY CORRECT TO MY TABLE(something they CAN SEE WITH THEIR EYES IS OR ISN’T CORRECT). I am SICK of STUPID IDIOTIC SERVERS. It’s like, YOU HAVE A ***WRITTEN ORDER**** TO VERIFY WTF YOU BRINGING TO THE TABLE, SO VERIFY IT INSTEAD OF BRINGING IT OUT WRONG considering I don’t have to TOUCH, TASTE, OR CUT OPEN THE FOOD TO SEE THE MISTAKE!!!!!
Also, if you know I order a side of ranch with an item, that DOESN’T mean I am SUBSTITUTING that condiment for the condiment the menu states it AUTOMATICALLY COMES WITH, although servers**********ASSUME**************** that you don’t want it at times. THAT is what is RIDICULOUS.
THIS IS NOT ROCKET SCIENCE, so do NOT BLAME US if we think we are SMARTER than you are. If I order a steak, don’t bring me a burger, it’s like DUH, are you that STUPID, yet you are going to college, now come on now, WTF? I have been brought by the SAME WAITER that WROTE DOWN my order quesadillas instead of bbq chicken nachos without the ranch I ordered as well. He admitted pressing the wrong button. The point is though, even if the kitchen staff would have messed up, the fact he NEVER ***VERIFIED****WHAT THE HELL HE WAS TAKING ME is what I am appauled at. He made 2 mistakes. 1. Putting the order into the computer wrong 2. Bringing out the wrong food.
WHY do you think we think SOME servers are STUPID? LOOK AT WHAT THEY DO and you SEE WHY. You want a tip, but then don’t even bother to CARE if you are taking me the correct FOOD or not, is completely STUPID and LACKING COMMON SENSE as well as being EXTREMLEY UNCARING.
“10%: bare minimum, unless I was horrible to you; standard on takeout orders.”
Takeout, sorry, but fast food workers do the SAME EXACT THINGS. I have had LITERALLY, a Wendy’s CASHIER(NOT A COOK) take my husband and I’s order and then continue to MAKE the burgers with putting the mayo, mustard, cheese, onions, etc. on it along with the sides of the mayo in a cup I asked for as well as mustard, because I HATE the packets for NO TIP WHAT-SO-EVER, so NO, tipping is NOT for FAST FOOD WORK, which IS take-out. Tipping for take-out is STUPID and UNFAIR to fast food workers who sometimes do MORE WORK for NO TIP. Think about this scenario: I order a pasta dish at Applebee’s, which all the bartender does is put the pasta in the box and but the ALREADY PRE-MADE napkin-utensils-salt-n-pepper as well as ring the person up. In the bag compared to McDonald’s hotcakes n’ sauage which has separate utensils to get from the cashier, syrup, and 2 butters, jelly, and ring the person up. The MCDONALD’S CASHIER actually did MORE WORK for NO TIP. Sorry, but I will NEVER pay someone MORE for LESS WORK than McDONALD’S OR THE SAME WORK. That just isn’t FAIR. If the to-go servers get paid less than fast food employees do, that’s between that company’s owner and the employee. The work is LESS or the SAME, so WHY TIP? Is it fair that McDonald’s employee DOESN’T get tipped for MORE WORK in that situation if I were to tip for that pasta dish at Applebee’s to-go? OF COURSE IT’S NOT FAIR.
Sorry, if I have horrible service, the server will get NOTHING, NOT 10%, because that’s for not so good service. A server sometimes DESERVES NOTHING if they have done very horribly. YOU HAVE TO ***************EARN********************* YOUR TIP! You treat me like you don’t care about my dining experience, WTF should I CARE about your tip? WHAT GOES AROUND, COMES AROUND!!!!
“So don’t give me excuses for why you can’t make a more than 10% tip on your bill.”
If you MAKE REASONS to, there’s a REASON TO MAKE EXCUSES. If you give DECENT SERVICE, there will NEVER be a REASON TO. I hardly EVER tip that low, but when I do, there’s MANY REASONS. One time at Chili’s, I order normally a soft drink and a margarita instead of a water and a margarita. The STUPID, LAZY waitress DIDN’T WRITE THE ORDERS DOWN as she SHOULD HAVE. I had a Chili’s waitress forget my dr. pepper I ordered. I had to wait 13 minutes for a dr. pepper that SHE could have gotten, NOT the BARTENDER and even waited LONGER to get that than my MARGARITA. She even gave another customer his credit card bill BEFORE bringing me my dr. pepper and then didn’t even come PREPARED with a straw. I had asked for my condiments BEFORE my meal since they are forgotten about a lot. She brings a HALF-SIDE of bbq sauce when I had ordered 2 sides of bbq sauce, it’s like DUH, ARE YOU BLIND, YOU KNOW? WTF? Then she has the audacity to ask if we wanted a dessert MID-MEAL and then AGAIN to aggrevate us MORE. 10% is what she DESEVERED. NOT MUCH EFFORT will EQUAL NOT MUCH TIP. I had a written order for her as well as she wrote it down and STILL COULDN’T REREAD THE ORDER. She was STUPID and EXTREMELY LAZY as well as VERY UNCARING about her customers. If I order something, WHY are you NOT WRITING IT DOWN? I HATE WHEN SERVERS DO NOT WRITE ORDERS DOWN and expect to MAGICALLY REMEMBER IT. I couldn’t imagine if she had to serve a party of 10 how she’d f’d that up if she couldn’t get a party of 2 right. That’s RIDICULOUS that she couldn’t remember 2 soft drinks and a margarita order when she could have WRITTEN IT DOWN. Also, I think it’s STUPID when a customer states **2*** sides of a condiment, then is delivered 1/2 side of something from the SAME PERSON that WROTE DOWN THE ORDER.
Sorry, but SOME SERVERS DON’T CARE AND DON’T TRY, SO THEIR TIP IS NOT GOOD. YOU GET WHAT **************EFFORT************* YOU PUT IN. 10% is for many mistakes for NO REAL REASON and asking for dessert twice to push us out when it was VERY OBVIOUS the customers were still eating their entrees. If you don’t want to work HARD, DON’T BE A SERVER!!!! WHY would you treat customers ANY DIFFERENTLY than YOU’D LIKE TO BE TREATED when YOU dine out? I am willing to bet that waitress would NOT EVER want that type of sorry service, but treated us like that from the start by NOT *****TAKING ANY EFFORT TO REMEMBER BY WRITING DOWN DRINK ORDERS***, so she’s stupid, then decides to serve other people BEFORE fixing a mistake to make me wait 13 minutes for a soft drink, which is INSANE for ANYONE to wait THAT LONG for soft drink, even LONGER than a margarita. Sorry, but I treated her the EXACT, UNCARING WAY SHE TREATED ME, LIKE SHE COULD CARE LESS ABOUT MY WAIT by serving OTHER PEOPLE BEFORE GETTING THE FORGOTTEN DRINK. I would have IMMEDIATELY WENT TO GET THE FORGOTTEN ITEM and would have apologized twice, once before and after, which she only did the first time around. I would have NEVER made a customer wait 13 minutes to get a dr. pepper. That’s just NOT RIGHT.
“Be self-aware of how you are treating servers, and make sure it is reflected in your tip.”
As long as I get treated well, I will tip 25% and higher, but treat me like a PERSON that has FEELINGS, NOT like a NOBODY. That waitress sucked, so her 10% was JUSTIFIED.
When service has been really horrible, like we’ve had 6 or more mistakes in ONE dining experience, that SHOWS and PROVES that the server ISN’T TRYING and DOESN’T CARE, so there’s NO TIP that’s *************EARNED***********************!!
Treat my service as YOU’D like to be treated and I will tip you very well. GET THE ORDER AS CORRECT AS POSSIBLE to my table. Don’t come to my table with mac & cheese if I ordered a baked potato when YOU WROTE DOWN the order and TOOK the order. My server’s responsiblity is the ((BRING)) the food out as CORRECT as they can possibly SEE without having to TOUCH, TASTE, OR CUT OPEN THE FOOD to NOTICE A MISTAKE. If I don’t have the correct entree, correct side dish, or a side of condiment, then if the SAME server brought out the food that took the order, well GEE, HOW CAN I NOT BLAME THAT PERSON FOR “BRINGING” IT TO ME WRONG when they could **SEE** THAT SOMETHING WAS WRONG OR MISSING? THE TIP IS EARNED and that’s THE END OF DISCUSSION!!!
to Springs1.
LOL I can’t believe I’m still following this thread (it moves pretty slowly these days)… but anyhow
Springs1 — I couldn’t even make it through your whole post. What a rant! It sounds like you have something personal going on. Some kind of crazy vendetta against servers. I’ll probably see you on CNN one night after you went on some kind of restaurant bombing rampage.
LOL
It’s saturday night I’m exuding comic relief….
-P
pbennett
“It sounds like you have something personal going on. Some kind of crazy vendetta against servers”
The ones that DO NOT TRY THEIR VERY BEST AND DO NOT CARE ABOUT YOUR DINING EXPERIENCE. You have to CARE about my dining experience in order for me to tip you well. You have heard of servers that treat non-tippers poorly due to not being tipped, well, the SAME goes for customers that get poor servers. If you give me poor service, then don’t expect to get a good tip or a tip at all. If you give me EXCELLENT service expect 25% or higher tip, because you have EARNED IT.
I am just TIRED Of STUPID SERVERS BRINGING MISTAKES TO THE TABLE THAT ARE VERY OBVIOUS TO THE EYES. If I can see I don’t have the correct food, SO CAN MY SERVER if they take my food to me.
“I’ll probably see you on CNN one night after you went on some kind of restaurant bombing rampage.”
NO, I just am tired of servers EXPECTING a tip or a GOOD tip, when they do NOT TRY. A tip is EARNED, NOT AUTOMATIC. Tipping for take-out would be UNFAIR to fast food workers that sometimes do MORE WORK for NO TIP to be earned. I don’t care what they make per hour, because if the SERVICE is the EXACT SAME OR LESS, then WHY TIP? We tip during regular sit-down restaurant service when we dine out normally for decent service, because the server is doing MUCH MORE WORK than a take-out server would do or what a fast food worker would do. It’s INSANE to tip for food being brought home. A CASHIER at Wendy’s prepared my condiments in cups for me as they can at Chili’s, Outback, or Applebee’s. If I get it delivered to my car, it’s $2 ONLY if the food is 100% correct as far as they can SEE. If the food is OBVIOUSLY wrong, NOTHING for a STUPID DELIVERY PERSON THAT CANNOT CHECK THE DAMN BAG. HOW STUPID CAN THEY BE NOT TO CHECK THE BAG **BEFORE*** DELIVERING IT TO THE CAR? If I order a side of ranch, there BETTER be one in the bag, otherwise, NO TIP. I don’t care if they came to my car in the rain, they need to not be SO DAMN LAZY NOT TO DOUBLE CHECK THE DAMN BAG BEFORE BRINGING IT OUT TO THE CAR.
I am talking about take-out food that is bought from the COUNTER, which is counter service. Counter service normally isn’t tipped in general. If the person does LESS WORK than a fast food worker does, they DO NOT EVER DESERVE TIPS, REGARDLESS of their hourly wage. Customers aren’t responsible for to-go server’s wages and shouldn’t EVER be expect to pay for service that’s less or the SAME as fast food service.
All this sounds like a good reason to just cook at home.
Then you can tip yourself and put 10% of the cost of the meal in your savings account to boot!
LOL
My impression of Springs1::
CAPS LOCK!! I AM YELLING!! AAAAAAAHHH CAPS LOCK!!! I’M SO ANGRY ABOUT TERRIBLE SERVERS…. SOOOOO MUCH CAPS LOCK.
p.s.
CAPS LOCK RULES!!
I noticed an Internet service installer complaining that he should be tipped.
No, he should not.
As a customer, you are charged a very hefty installation and service fee for cable, telephone and internet service and utility repair, and this fee helps in part to pay the installation and repair technicians who are paid VERY well. Unlike individuals in the service industry (hairstylists, waiters, etc.) who depend on tips to make a living and only receive minimum wage if they don’t get tips, a technician does not depend on tips for his/her income. Also, most major utility companies, including Comcast, etc. PROHIBIT their employees from accepting tips for simply doing their job.
Or think about this way: I am an accountant. I provide direct services to clients. Often I have to go to my clients place of business and occasionally I to to certain client’s residences. I always go above and beyond to deliver exceptional service to my clients. However, I would NEVER accept a tip, nor would I even expect to be offered one. I am paid very well for my services and I charge a rate which reflects the value of the services I provide. Installation technicians do not deserve a tip for simply performing well at a job they are already well-paid to do.
On the other hand, waiters, hairstylists, etc., usually make the majority of their income from tips and their base salaries are usually little more than minimum wage. In effect, we as customers are being asked to subsidize a decent salary for these individuals, which I and most people have no problem doing; however, I do wish restaurant owners, hair salon owners, etc. would simply raise their prices and pay their workers better–it would be a more honest way of doing business.
ok first off. to anyone who thinks your to-go person just stands in one station and smiles when you walk through the door, you need to get your head out of your ass. We are an elite group of people who rush to answer your phone calls, talk over loud servers and customers screaming. We listen to you yell at your children, and put us on hold while you take another phone call, even though we have people wating on us, and the other lines ringing. we rush back to the kitchen to make sure your food is ready. We pour your dressings into the containers and double check to make sure the kitchen staff got everything right. we yell at the kitchen staff if they messed up. We dont just put food in a damn bag. We have to actually “prepare” your food. Even though must of us get paid higher we still do alot of work. Actually most servers hate doing to-go work. (You do more work). Oh and I dont get a break…. I have to answer the damn phone… you know for to-go orders, serving calls to talk to other people, people asking if we are hiring, wives and husbands calling for each other. and such. Your server ACTUALLY gets a BREAK. I DONT. I have to hear the gripes of other employees for them having to hear the phone, while im in the back looking for more lids and other things, because you sir/maam need 3 things of honey mustard in your dressing, hmmm. So the NEXT time you think about NOT tiping that to-go person who probably does ALOT more work think about this- If you were at a table, your server is more likely doing the following- Smoking, serving other tables, or talking to other serves. Well when you do to-go. that person is doing alot more than a server. (yes on Occassion we do have a “down” times…. but we still have to answer the phone and deal with people on the phone- we are basically secretaries for the resturaunt as well)
BTW. If you dont tip me I dont take it as a sign of your order being wrong… or that your upset with me… MOST people actually tell me. but when you DO…. dont leave me 2 bucks for a 30 dollar order. I take that as your being CHEAP.
Tipping is an archaic anachronism and should be outlawed. The very concept of being beholden to a SERVER is ludicrous. As a customer, I RESENT the notion that I am EXPECTED to tip. A tip should be that, a reward, for exceptional service. Not a subsidy for low paying employers. When I place an order from a menu, that is a contract between me and the restaurant for goods and services. Any expected fee above that sum should be factored into that fee on the menu. That is the way the rest of the business world works. Dining should be no different.
And as to the argument that “these are the people handling your food”, any other place would call that EXTORTION. Any food services worker who malisciously tampers with any paying customers food should go to PRISON…for YEARS.
Having said all this, I try to tip about 12%-15% on average, and 20% for very good service. Am I cheap? Maybe. But I’m not the one working at a go nowhere, dead end job where I have to sucker my customers for a pitance just to pay the bills. If you don’t like what your employer pays, find a new job, don’t expect me to patronize your bad career choices.
Comment to Mojo Willy,
I did not make a bad career choice. If I or many other servers in the world (or lets just say the US) did not provide you with our services than all restaurants would be drive troughs. Yes in Europe they automatically add a grutity to your bill, but the US only does that with party’s of 6 or more.
We food and beverage servers don’t just provide with a service, us good servers entertain you when you have had a bad day or if you are in a talkative mood. We run are buts to make sure your food and beverage looks presentable and comes out on time make sure you are happy with your food. As I said before if you think so low of us than just go to a fast food joint.
Back to the comment about bad career choice, some of us do this to get through college or want to be in management at a restaurant or hotel. Not all of us can have college paid for by other means. And not always after you get a degree you are able to get the career you wanted. So don’t hate the Servers. One of my old co-workers was an Archaeologist.
I don’t hate the servers, I respect them highly, unless they are want-it-all-for-nothing scavengers, and I would not like that kind of person regardless of the job they held. I tip the good ones accordingly, but I do so on the merits of their performance, and how it relates to me. Not “just because”.
My point about bad career choices is aimed more at the restaurants than the staff themselves. Again, as I said, I feel restaurants should pay their staff better, and discourage tipping as a means of augmenting payroll. It is a shame when people have to rely on tips because their employer is too tight. Working for a place like that IS a poor career choice, and one everyone should work to avoid.
As to the Archaelogist…duh! Nobody ever takes up a major like that to get rich. I know, I have a B.A. in History…
I completely disagree, I don’t tip period. I subscribe to Mr. Pink’s philosophy (youtube this if you’ve not seen it).
They are paid what they are worth, and they’re not starving to death. If they don’t make enough they can quit. I don’t care if they live on tips, what about me? What if I make a living on stiffing?
Well Josh, I would have to respond by asking you how you can know what these people are worth? I know a few people who make quite a bit of money (outside of the service industry) who aren’t worth it. Dumbasses if you will. I also know many (not all but many) servers who are worth alot more than what they get paid. Please describe your definition of worth because it sounds quite insulting to alot of people.
Have you worked in the industry, because you sound like you know the “type” of people that it employs. Please tell me more about these people you speak of…Oh and what would you be willing to pay for a $15 dollar meal if tipping didn’t exist?
We also have to deal with the idiots that come in and compain about EVERYTHING and be rude just so they can get thier food for free. Oh it’s good times let me tell you. Your not one of those peope are you Josh?
MOJO WILLY, I agree with you about the “want it all for nothing scavengers”. They definately exist. As a server, if I feel I gave horrible service to a table and they don’t tip me, I fully accept it. No really! If I cause someone to have a bad time I don’t deserve it. “I think I’ll treat you like garbage but give me your money”. I don’t like to treat anyone like that period(do you Josh?). Know that I don’t give bad service intentionally and not many servers I know do. We are trying hard to please you. We know where the bread and butter is (that was a little joke Josh…because bread and butter is food, and we serve food so of course we know where it is, how could we serve you bread and butter if we didn’t know where it was…think about it Josh…oh, nevermind….). Unfortunatly we do have off times because we’re human and placed under a great deal of stress in our industry.
However, anyone who goes out and and says they get horrible service every time should think again. Perhaps the problem doesn’t lay on the “servers” end of things. For some nothing in life is ever good enough.
Whether we agree with tipping or not, it is an accepted practice in our society. Every society(like every religion, or workplace) has their own customs and ways of doing things.If you didn’t agree with the practices of your religion, wouldn’t you go and find one that you did agree with? Yes, there are other countries where tipping is taboo. I guess if you don’t like our societies restaurant norms, you should go eat in a country where you feel more comfortable. (-:
Oh….anyone hiring a Sociologist?
Oh, and I would gladly do without tipping if the resaurant paid me what it was worth to do that type of job…Then I wouldn’t have to try and please people so much….
Josh,
I agree with what Kevin says.
How can you think Minimum wage or lower is good enough for the servers?
We are servers not SERVENTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Mojo Willy
I understand about tipping according to how your service was; that’s how tipping came about.(to my understanding)It was a incentive.
A person would go to a bar or restaurant and put the tip out first. And if the service was good the patron may add more to the tip. But if the service was bad than the patron would take some of the tip away through their meal or drink. The server seeing this would do a better job or stay the same. If the serve still gave bad service they would see they would no longer have a tip. At the end of the meal or drink.
Waitress Says:
September 21st, 2007 at 6:14 am
I know this comment was left a while back. This is about what you said about European guests.
Yes I’ve waited on a lot of them. Yes most do not tip. The reason being gratuity is all ready added in there Countries.
They come to the US and they do know they should tip they just play dumb. How do I know. In the past when I was real gutsy I asked. And they told me truthfully. I smiled said thank you for letting me know and guess what they liked me asking nicely then they tipped me.
And to let you know I’ve been working in restaurants sense I was 8, so let’s see about 19 years total now and 4 years in a construction office punching numbers.
I prefer working in the restaurant business then any thing else.
Oh where I was going with this is “the out of towners” most of them just want you to be nice and “most” don’t mind you asking in a nice way “Just to you know gratuity is not included in your bill?” and usually they would say Thank you and say everything was good and then tip. At least that has been my experience.
some people should never go to out to eat.. actually they should sit at home and type in there blogs about the horible service they receive…. oh heres a story
I work in a resturaunt so I let it slide…. but…
Me and my friend came to my work tonight and it was not that busy, just 2 people ahead of us. Well after we come in and the manager recognizes us he seats 3 other people that come in after us before us… (we have call ahead seating, but thats ONLY if we have a wait). we finally get sitted and we have to wait at least 15 mins or so for our server… the wait time is like 30 seconds… he takes our order and drink order…. our food comes out at a decent time. but we dont get any napkins, he asks if we need plates later on we prob should had asked for napkins then…. I decide to get up and get some myself. we just sit there eat and talk. he gives us the bill it was only 5 bucks (I got a discount) I left him 3 bucks for a tip.
thats all I had.
But im not complaining, I understand what a server has to go through, I get it. But if you have NEVER worked in a resturaunt you will never understand. The place I work at wont allow servers to smoke outside anymore, so they have become more tense and all. I just want everyone to know that if you think about complaining just realize how much worse your server feels.
oh and I didnt stiff him I always tip on service. but since I work in the food industry I always tip good…. no matter what…
Here is what I have. Enjoy.
Tips on Tipping Your Mechanic. By Pedro Talavera.
I have been working in automobiles for about 30 years. In that time I have seen the good the bad and the ugly when it comes to automotive things and tipping. Tipping seems to be something that creates stress and insecurity on humans. But it is mostly because people prefer to ignore the facts than to humble them selves and research the subject.
Money represents many things to different people. Some service providers rely on tips to survive, others can do with out them finely. But I stress the point that a tip is not only the value as money but a gesture. A smile or a hand shake followed by a tip has much more meaning to a person.
Doing research about this subject I found that the internet has little or close to nothing about it (tipping mechanics). The reasons why people don’t tip auto mechanics in my opinion are varied.
People argue that mechanics make very high amounts of money. Not so. Only a very few mechanics get paid properly. The tools and training mechanics need to be able to be professionals are paid usually by themselves. So why should you be responsible for that? You aren’t, a tip is a gesture. It is not expected but welcomed. If you are wealthy I say to you, be generous. The money you save is not going to do any good sitting in the bank.
Will a service provider be offended if you offer them a tip?
I am a mobile mechanic and shop owner, I have never gotten offended because someone wanted to show me their appreciation.
I read that in Europe in some countries tipping is not really practiced. If so, the tip is included on the bill.
To me a tip besides the monetary value has a deeper meaning. When it is given along a smile or a hand shake does wonders for your soul.
Mechanics don’t actually rely on tips to support their families, but some will probably be very happy when you tip them. They are indeed welcomed.
So what is considered adequate when tipping your mechanic?
I suggest this. If you are tipping a mechanic on a shop, 5% of the total bill before taxes, if it is a mobile mechanic around 8 to 10% of the bill (consider the convenience of someone coming to you), If the mechanic is also the shop owner then it is a little bit more tricky. Yes he/she makes “all” the money but he/she also has all the expenses of the business (overhead), So maybe 5% will be fair.
Remember be considerate. As you service providers are human, they get sad, distracted etc. Instead of withholding a tip, make a commentary to the manager for less than adequate service.
I agree that for intended very bad service with no explanation or apology you tip 0. Sorry.
Bottom line, you tip when you can and what your heart tells you. If you are a cheap skate, so be it, nobody wants to change you.
I read some service providers saying that they won’t accept a tip; well you must be making very good dough. But will you also reject a smile and or a handshake? No? I didn’t think so. The money that the customer wants to give you comes from their heart most of the time, so actually you could be hurting their feelings by not accepting their present.
Remember, the mechanic only gets a small percentage of what the shop charges, and none from the parts he/she usually sells.
With out the mechanic the shop wouldn’t be selling all those parts, still they get zero commission from that.
I think if you can’t tip because you are actually broke, then indeed smile and give us a handshake, we will understand.
What about giving presents as tips?
I think that is up to you. If you are the kind of person that likes giving baked goods or a 6 pack of beer, by all means. Give to your heart contents.
The point here is this, what you are doing is showing your appreciation, not buying better service. That’s why I recommend giving tips after the service is provided. That way no one has any expectations or duties.
Also do you have to tip every time you get service? Again, it is up to you. Some times you may not have enough to make a tip. It is ok. I don’t think a mechanic that received a tip from you before is going to be offended because you didn’t tip him/her again. Do not worry, as I said before we don’t really count on your tip, but we don’t hate the gesture.
I suggest you do some research on the net about this subject. There you can find much info that will enlighten you. Many people don’t know when or how much to tip. If you go out or travel a lot you need to educate your self if you want to avoid embarrassment. You need to be able to acknowledge other people’s efforts to be able to socialize. Cheap skates are not liked anywhere, don’t be one of them.
9/07
Nope. No way in hell. There is NO WAY I am ever going to tip a mechanic. Nothing personal Pedro, but it’s bad enough that I have to tip food services staff. What’s next? Tip your dentist? Or how about dental hygenist? Tipping should be GOING AWAY, not spreading.
If I were to take my car in and have $1500 work done on it, by your rationale, I should leave the mechanic (assuming I even know which person on the staff that was), I should leave a $75 tip. Add that to tax, and I’m getting a lot of incentive to do the work myself.
The example of tipping airline pilots was raised earlier, and it also applies here.
I am sorry, I just don’t buy into it.
It really isn’t fair to the consumer to EXPECT unadvertised additional fees. Period.
I’m sorry if you work in an industry that doesn’t pay you well. Find a new job.
I also don’t like hidden costs when I buy a new car or motorcycle. They should be factored in. Buy a motorcyle, and they tack on shipping, assembly, tabs, etc.
Imagine if you went to the grocery store and bought a cantalope, and the checker tacked on an additional $1.50 for shipping and handling. BS. It’s factored into the sticker price.
Cars.
Motorcycles.
Dinning.
Auto work.
House building.
Flower bouquets.
They all should have the TOTAL price clearly indicated to the consumer prior to the transaction being made, other wise it’s called fraud.
This whole tipping thing is NOT cultural, it’s ORGANIZED CRIME!
I am going to be staying at a resort for over a week, and because of the circumstances, will most likely be getting room service two or three times every day. According to the list, we should tip $5 for room service, but $10-$15 a day just for a tip can add up. Is $5 expected in this situation or would $1 or $2 each time be sufficient?
I mentioned in my article you tip what your heart tells you. There are no rules.
I understand that we are under no obligation to tip a certain amount, but people who work in the industry do expect a certain amount whether their expectaions are based on convention or what they are used to getting at their specific hotel. I do not travel a whole lot, so I am not as familiar with what is expected as I would like to be. My question then is really what would people in the industry expect in such a situation.
If you stay at a resort, tips are usually factored into the price… its usually a nice GESTURE to give the bell hop or so a dollar or two for giving you some type of room service….. those tips prob make their day. the gratiuty thats factored in, they prob dont see it… its just in their check.
in some cases its a GESTURE to tip.
in other cases its RUDE not to tip.
oh and PLEASE PLEASE TEACH your 16-18 yearolds HOW TO TIP. I promise you in there math clases they do not have a section on this… and do not tell them to tip a percentage….
in general… always tip $2.00 and go up on service. if you can tell your server is having a BAD night, being rushed getting double sat… DO NOT leave them a BAD tip…. if you COMPLAIN on a friday or saturday night about something stupid all servers will know who you are and prob give you bad service next time.
I agree with MOJO Pedro’s post about tip’s and your mechanic it’s just crazy. I love how he calls people who don’t tip at every chance ” Cheap Skate’s”
To avoid even the appearance of bribes most government positions are not allowed to accept monetary tips, and there are restrictions on the value of non-monetary items. For those who are involved in regulatory or legal processes, they generally aren’t allowed to accept anything.
Also please don’t forget to tip your guides/instructors when you go out adventuring. $5 minimum, but 15% is appreciated.
My apologies if I repeated anything from another comment. I only managed a quick browse.
Nathan you obviously misunderstood what I wrote. I wrote the article to help not to create friction. To me it seems you got offended, are you a cheap skate? no? good. I was refering to tipping in general, not only about mechanics. And yes people go out to eat at expensive restaurants and don’t have the decency to tip. Those are the ones I call cheap skates.
I have never told my 13 year old he has to tip. And he always tips.
I worked at a commissary (grocery store) on a military base for two years – no minimum wage paid – you take out groceries and all you make in a day is tips. It’s not a great job, but some body has to do it. I am NOT a big tipper in general, but I wanted to say that in regards to tipping at grocery stores you should find out if the baggers are getting paid by the hour or working for tips only. Most commissaries have signs posted saying “Baggers work for tips only,” and since you don’t pay sales tax on base, most people don’t mind paying a tip.
I’m not from the US and I’ve been raised in a different culture but tipping looks so ridiculous to me…
I mean, people get paid by their boss to do their job, why *on earth* should you reward them even more?
When a waiter comes and bring you your food, it’s not as if he was doing this out of good heart. He’s not doing you a favor: he’s f*cking employed to do that.
You pay for a service, money goes to the boss who then pays his employee his/her wage.
No need to pay the guy a second time.
Geez.
Hi Plop,
You didn’t read the rest of the conversation did you?
plop… alot of servers would much rather get paid min-wage and above… and get a dollar here or there… BUT they get paid about $2.25 in some states.
I agree with Plop completely.
I was going to write out a long rant on how I hate blindly giving tips, or even worse, automatically adding a tip into the final bill, but even reading this thread is going to make me more upset.
Tipping is dumb, I refuse to obey to this.
It’s a good thing it’s a free country Mike. You are free to not tip if you choose. I hope you never become a regular in a restaurant. Or maybe you should….
lets say us servers did get paid what we are worth or close, lets say $25 an hr.Your meal lets say at a chain store, usually is about $23 per a person. Your meal now would be about $50. So would you like to tip us or have the cost added to your bill?
What makes you think server is worth $25 dollars an hour or anywhere near that,especially at a chain restaurant?
work in a restaurant… you will realize… servers put up a HUGE front with people. most the time they are in the kitchen bitchin and complaining… but you would NEVER know…
Todd I’m not sure if you ever worked in a restaurant, but especially in a chain restaurant we servers deserve $25 a hr and more. We put up with teenagers who a lot of the time they like to make us run our butts off. We have guests who are just not happy at all and think they are better than us. We do get great guests who are nice and joke around. But a lot of times we get people who look to get free food.
Before I keep on ranting, I suggest you watch the movie waiting. It shows you what type of guest we put up with.
And it’s not just guests, we have to make sure your food is correct, keep yours and other guests drinks refilled, we stock the back constantly, a lot of restaurants we are kind of a custodian to. At the end off the day we clean under around the tables. Front of the line we scrub where the soups and dressings are kept. Restock for the next. A lot of times after closing we can be there from a half hr to 2 hrs after closing depends on how much help we have and how much of a mess there is.
I feel like tipping has become a way to subsidize cheap employers and I don’t especially like it. Why? Because now we’re expected to tip everyone!
No one pays me extra when they buy my book because they think it’s exceptionally brilliant. They may call or email and tell me they enjoyed how funny it is. Why don’t I get an extra 15%?
When a hairstylist charges $135 for color and cut, I sure don’t feel like adding $25 to that!
And when staying in a $239 a night cabin, as we did last weekend, why would I leave $5 on the dresser each day for housekeeping to bring fresh towels? It’s not like they give a discount when they leave no washcloths in the room!
Hotels, especially, are going bonkers with this. Bellman takes bags from car to lobby, $5 for 2-3 bag. Another bellman takes bags from lobby to room, another $5. Same on the way down. Oh, and coffee is now Starbucks in the lobby, but they don’t take Starbucks gift cards because it’s a different franchise…$4 plus $1 tip. You want a bottle of water in your room? $4. And all of this is at a really NICE hotel where the maid cleans your water glasses with Windex instead of soap and water and the bedspreads are never washed.
T-I-P originally meant “to ensure [sic] promptness.” You sit down for lunch, explain your conference resumes in 45 minutes and hand the waitperson $5-$10.
Now the newspaper delivery person, who misses your paper the morning after the Oscars, is late (you’ve already gone to work) the next four days and at least one day each week, puts it in the other driveway once or twice a week includes a rubber-stamp holiday card and return envelope at the end of the year for a tip? I don’t think so!
Mara: You BOSS needs to pay you to restock and wipe up where salad dressing is stored, not the diners you served. You and I both know not all servers are equally ambitious for the good of the entire establishment!
Mara,
I don’t know if you ever ate in a chain restaurant but in most the servers act like they are doing you a favor just taking your order and bringing your food, much less refilling your drinks,making sure the order is correct,or being polite. I still don’t see anywhere in your reply a skill that is worth $25 an hour. I don’t know of any unskilled labor job that pays that kind of money.
@ Mara, why would that customers bill double? Are you only serving that one person for an hour? If so you probably don’t warrant $25/hour. On the other hand, if, in an hour you serve five tables of 2, it would cost each person only $2.50 to pay your desired hourly wage (which to be honest strikes me a little high, and I’ve done my share of crappy customer service jobs) which is less than the de rigueur 15% tip.
whoever says that you are not required to tip your waitress/waiter has obviously never been one!!! out of all these people waitresses/waiters get the least hourly wage… $2.35/hour!!!! yeah that’s WAY below minimum wage! so if you don’t tip, you’re basically saying that that person doesn’t even deserve a living (minimum) wage!
Ok L.
Have you ever managed a Business or owned one.
If the servers wage goes up then bartenders wage, bussers, expo and cooks wages will go up to. Because we tip these co workers to. Oh sorry some places we tip the hosts to. Not just that workmen’s comp goes up, taxes on theses employees go up, unemployment goes up. All at the cost of the employer. So this is how I came up with the estimate of the cost of your meal. At a chain restaurant. Just in general:Mom and pop shops would never be able to pay this unless they are very successful. Owning a restaurant that is not a successful chain takes about two years to see profit and that’s at paying your server, bartenders and bussers @ minimum wage or less.
Can you survive at 2.35 a hr or Even $8 an hr? No I don’t think so. So that is why us servers get upset when we do not get tipped. Because we pay tax’s on our sales. If we have sold $500 in one night the government expects us to pay tax’s on that at least $65 in tips. So if any one who thinks it’s not right to tip your server just remember we do pay if we get tipped or not.
To the comment of where T.I.P.S. came from I did mention it. My service would still be good if you put the tip out front or not. I rather have the tip out front so I know if I am doing a great job or not.
For those of you who had snobby servers I’m sorry but that’s not how most of us are. The reason I do this is because I like meeting new people. The person that has a bad day and comes in and some how I am able to make them smile feel better at the end of the meal makes me feel better, I helped some one.
The people who leave me nothing makes me upset, but they are not the ones that make me want to do my job the ones that do is; like this one lady in Seattle who would come in every Wednesday and Sunday she was blind, she was sweet she would sit at the table for hours. The reason she came in is because she liked us she made me laugh I make her laugh yes I would only get may be a $3 or $5 tip from her but knowing that she was happy and would keep on comming made me feel good. But I do have to pay my bill’s and hopefully own my own house. The reason I do this job is because I like making people feel better and all so I am able to do more than one thing at a time. It’s entertaining to me. I have had the 9 to 5 jobs. Yes gone to college and all. But felt like I was doing the same thing over and over again. After a few years.
This was a rant. Sorry but I just wanted those ignorant people to know not all Servers are idiots and this the only job they can do. Yes most servers are 20 something just to get through college. Well if really wanted the money don’t you think we would strip? No offense to the strippers out there, you work your butts off and give a % to your bosses.
The only point I ever sought to make was that tipping is outmoded, and should not be allowed, or encouraged.
After reading most of these posts, I think that ALL of you have missed the point.
I work in a customer service industry as well, my boss has customers, and I serve them. My boss pays me to take care of his customers, and I DO NOT receive tips, NOR DO I EXPECT TO OR WANT TO.
I also pay my taxes on my wages, when the boss pays me the government takes it right off the top – and, yes, it hurts!
Servers out there should expect to pay taxes on ALL of their income as well, so instead of getting it as tips, they should expect to receive a living wage from their boss – after all, if the servers do not do their job well because they feel they are underpaid, it is ultimately the boss who will be losing out on the revenue from customers who will refuse to come back.
When I go out, which is infrequently (because I pay my taxes instead) I have to calculate the cost of the meal, transportation, etc. ahead of time, and if I have to choose between not going out at all or leaving a large tip – then I will stay home. But if I continue to stay home all the time, how many servers, taxi drivers, etc, will not have jobs because I don’t spend money on those items?
If you don’t like the wages your boss pays you, take it up with your boss, make them pay you what you are worth, but leave me out of it.
And, yes, I know that servers work damn hard – been there, done that, as well as cleaning toilets, cleaning houses, pumping gas – but so do I, and I reserve the right to quit my job if my boss is not paying me what I am worth or mistreating me.
first of all who said housekeepers wash glasses with windex not me . that ‘s totally wrong there . and if she misses a washed cloth boohoo . sometimes she had a bad day. eveyone makes mistakes. but to not tip the housekeeper i can see that . but it’s always nice when some one leaves you a little something . my lowest tip was $0.02 and my highest tip was $100.00 .so tips for housekeepers varies from person to person . if you don’t want to tip don’t and if you do want to tip for great service then do so ,just stop compalianing you have to .
Regarding the tipping of baggers in grocery stores, I’ve never seen it done in the U.S. either, but I lived in Mexico for two years and it was standard practice. I always had to make sure I had a few pesos extra on me when I went shopping. I lived in Honduras, also, and we may have tipped the baggers there also, but I don’t recall.
Try: Turtletip.com
It works great!!
Quote – “T-I-P originally meant “to ensure [sic] promptness.” ” LOL… If that were the origins would that not mean that we should be discussing “tepping” then?
Jeez… if everything were relative and servers should be getting paid $25 / hour for unskilled work then I should be getting $100 / hour instead of the $25 I am getting.
For those that keep saying that servers get a smaller minimum wage… that is because they are expected to get tips to bring them up to at least minimum wage. In most states / provinces, if a server does not earn enough tips to meet minimum wage then the employer is required to make up the difference. I’ve never heard of this actually happening because then all of a sudden they would have to pay taxes on their wages instead of hiding.
By the way, I do not hesitate to tip a server 20% – 100% or a concierge $20 or $50 if service is good. And I do not hesitate to leave $0 if service sucks.
To Freddie,
Servers are not unskilled workers. In a lot of restaurants servers go through a long processes of training and many restaurants require you to have two years or more experience in serving. Now a lot of those chain restaurants require you to take 170 plus test before being interviewed. This test is a lot of math, word comprehension. The college placement tests are a lot easier than theses tests the restaurants have you take. So no most of us are not unskilled.
How about tipping teachers, who stay in at their lunch time , to help a student who is having some problems. No! we usually get “well it’s your fault my child doesn’t know how to do it”
I tip, but agree with some of you. Why should I pay you extra for doing your job.
umm excuse me tip teachers??? actually alot of teachers DONT take there time out. and if you are one of the very few I applaud you for that. but I dont think we should tip teachers…
and no one will ever realize what “stress” a server goes through when waiting on people unless you have been one. but yall take this “tipping” thing way out of context….. i mean you can spare 5 dollars…..
Kathryn,
1) How do you *know* how much a person can spare?
2) Is it possible, if you’re a server, you make more than some of the people you serve do? But you think they should “give” you $5?
3) It seems the thrust of this conversation is that people in service industries or professions should be tipped. Would that include customer service people who help you with your computer? And Realtors who help you sell your house? And bus drivers who take you down the street?
I, and others here, are saying people should be paid a fair, or even good, wage by their employers. Basic work doesn’t deserve a tip. We all do basic work. Most of us interact with people who think they deserve something from us.
It is not fair. Either all service professions, or no service professions, should be tipped. I have a carpenter coming tomorrow. I suppose if he’s really great, I should pay more for his work? No, if he’s really good, he’ll get an unlimited supply of cool bottled water, prompt payment and referrals.
If you aren’t getting paid what you’re worth, talk to your boss…or start your own business.
Again, I have to say that if the “bosses” were paying what most (not all) servers are worth. You probably wouldn’t like the results. Prices would go up and there’s no two ways about it. Your service also wouldn’t be as good. Believe me it’s not easy trying to smile and be nice all the time. Especially when you serve those idiots who treat you like dirt. I realise that you could never understand (no matter what you say) what a server actually goes through. If you don’t like the idea of tipping, why don’t YOU phone my boss and tell him you think I should be paid more (i would be ok with that). Maybe he’ll listen to you (lol) cause he sure in the heck won’t listen to me.
Oh, and if you can’t afford to tip, you probably should be saving your money and eating at home because your financial situation is in crisis.
And I actually have too businesses thank you!
Kevin, you sound like you think wait staff are the only service people who have to deal with annoying, whining customers.
Do you truly believe you suffer more than a firefighter or schoolteacher or Microsoft Office customer support rep?
The SYSTEM is broken. It isn’t about YOU.
Lin, it wasn’t my intention to sound like wait staff were better or worse that other service orientated jobs. I don’t believe I suggested that. There are alot of people on this thread who complain about having to tip and imply that it’s not hard to serve (come on, read some of the posts). In fact some of the posts seem to suggest that we are idiots. They are dead wrong! I’m not saying that it’s easy to to any customer service job. In canada, school teachers, firefighters, ect. are paid by the city, or province. they are doing a public service (and a great one). Please don’t put words in my mouth. They don’t serve people in the same way and we both know that Lin. I would save your life for free (honest). It’s not a for profit business. You don’t light your house on fire and say, hey I want some service. You pay your taxes and it is provided for you in case of an emergency. It’s a life or death situation. Your talking apples and oranges. Don’t be silly.
I’m quite aware this is not about me. I was a sociology major. Believe me when I say I know the system is broken.
If you really think about it though, going out to eat would be a total different experience if you didn’t tip. You would pay more. You would be treated exactly the same as everyone else, much like phoning a customer rep at microsoft. Do you think they really give a crap. No. Will they rush your problem ahead of the 1000’s of others. No. You are a number.
Servers rush for you and do the extras you request because they are trying to get a good tip (yes some servers do expect something for nothing at times). They are trying to let you enjoy your night out. If servers didn’t get tipped that sort of thing may fade away and you would become a number. Oh, you want a little extra sauce, sorry that’s not included in the price on the menu. Oh, you want onions and mushrooms in that. That will be extra because it’s not included in the price on the menu. Oh your food is taking along time, what incentive do I have to to try and get it for you faster. I’m getting paid the same either way. Much like a microsoft rep.
I’m not knocking bieng a customer service rep (like for microsoft). I would dread the stress of that job. I’m just saying that it’s not the same. Maybe if you slipped the customer service rep some cash you would be taken care of better. I actually wonder what they get paid. Anyone know.
I am a good server and I’ll say it again. You would want me as your server. No good server would do the job if tipping didn’t exist. There would be know incentive. You would simply be another number. That’s how it works. Your right. The system may be broken but money drives the world.
Hell….democracy is broken. Lets talk about that instead ok.
wow…. i just meant dont be stiff….. DO NOT TAKE that the wrong way….. its been said that we lose like 20 dollars a week….. we dont realize where it goes…. well why not start tipping???? and well no im not a server I do TOGO work….but im pretty much like a server. but all i was getting at is that you can spare money….
its not going to kill you.
and to answer your other ?s…. think of the term SERVING…… you are SERVING some body….. and well some people serve better and deserve better tips… and some dont…. I cant change the way we do things….. and SIMPLE work??? WTF!!! what do you do for a living???? and actually realators and others do get “tips” they get COMMESSION!!….. my mom sells cars and thats how she is paid…. if she doesnt sell she does not get paid. sorta like with serving….. and dont real-state agents work the same way??? so do lawyers and many other proffessions…… we just dont call it “tipping”
ok it would be odd for your carpenter to get a MONEY tip from you….. I get that…. but giving him REFERALS if he is good…is pretty much your tip to him.
and ACTUALLY i get better tips from the drug lords where im from than the FUCKING doctors!!!!
Wow. Can’t believe I read most of these! A tip discussion always turns into a flame war. So naturally, I’ll throw in my 2 cents:
– Waiters: You’re not entitled to a tip- that’s the customer’s decision. If I leave a penny, its because you suck & I had a crappy experience w/ you. Its not my fault you suck & I shouldn’t have to go out of my way to discuss it with your manager OR leave you a pity tip. You should be intelligent enough to know what you did wrong.
I *don’t* know what its like to be in your shoes, and I *don’t* want to be (which is why I’m NOT a waiter). Don’t take a lousy attitude w/ customers because a job YOU picked doesn’t pay well and you expect my tips to supplement your “living” wage. Take that up w/ management.
– Customers: Do unto others and cut some slack. There’s a difference between honest mistakes during the noon rush and flat out rudeness / bad service & incompetence (that is the fault of the waiter). Bottom line: don’t be a d!ck or a b!tch to your waiter- show some respect for your fellow man.
– Restaurant owners: I’d gladly pay more per dish if you treated your wait staff right by paying good wages & had a sign that said: “Tip only for exceptional service, please”
Having said that, I usually start the tip @ 15% (which is good for South Texas) and 20% and higher for great service. Servers earn their tips & Mojo and others have said it- we’ve gotten way to carried away w/ tipping everyone for doing their job. To those crying about how hard the job is ask yourself: Do I claim ALL tips on my taxes and do I tip those that work just as hard as me, but aren’t waiters??
Jason,
Thank you for having a level head. I’m a server (if you didn’t guess) and I agree, we don’t have a right to your tip. It is our responsibilty to earn it. That said, some people think that gives them the right to treat us rudely, or that they are above us in some way.
“Bottom line: don’t be a d!ck or a b!tch to your waiter- show some respect for your fellow man.”
Exactly! This goes for customers and servers or anybody.
I want to point out that I myself wasn’t crying about how hard the job is, I was merely trying to point out that it is not an easy brainless job as some folks here have implied. That said, I know some pretty brainless servers.
Great post Jason! You’d be welcome in my resturant anytime!
I claim 10% of my tips (as required by law in canada) and I tip way too much. Gas jockey’s to subway clerks. You should try it. It’s worth it just to see the shock and look of appreciation on thier face. It makes them feel like they are worth something.
OK, I have a question. One that always confuses me is tipping hairstylists. Some of them are independent contractors, and some of them are employees. Obviously, if they are “self-employed,” they keep the entire amount minus rent and expenses. Employees, on the other hand, only get an hourly wage. Do you tip them the same? I used to only tip hairstylists 5-10%, but my sister told me that anybody who provides a personal service which includes physical contact deserves 20% minimum. I apologize if this question has already been addressed, but there were too many entries to read them all.
Jason, you are a smart cookie…
I agree with Jason. As he said, I would prefer if the “service” is already included in the bill or food ordered, hence the tip is really just for the gratitude for going “above and beyond”.
Having said that, since there is really a culture of tipping in the US, should we tip help desk people? How about FedEx/UPS people or the cashiers in the supermarkets?
We are having a fence installed around the perimeter of our wooded property, approx 1 acre. The men who are installing it have worked 3 days in 90 degree weather and have had to drill holes in years of fallen foliage. The fence is costing us 10,500, dollars. The men are obviously Latin immigrants and I doubt very much that they will see much of the profit. So, should I tip these guys?
A tip should be something you feel these people who serve you or do something for you deserve. You should decide the amount for yourself based on how you felt your service was. If you have never worked in a restaurant or bar I would like to add that in most states waiters or bartenders only make about $3 an hour and they are EXPECTED to make up the rest of their minimum wage in tips.PS- I do not go to a restaurant if I cannot afford to tip!
When I was a waiter/bartender, I averaged 20% in tips on most shifts. I had my share of stiffing and people walking checks, but overall it was fairly lucrative. The $2.35 was a joke and my checks were always $0.00.
I found I had the most controll over my tips through my positive attitude and consistently going above and beyond the call of duty. I also set a goal to have food sales of at least $1,000 per shift, even if that meant volunteering to stay on the floor after everyone would leave. I learned to upsell like crazy and it made all the difference in the world in the amount of money I made and the percentage of tip’s I received compared to some of my colleagues who had an attitude of entitlement to tips. Customers can smell attitude and entitlement issues a mile away.
If someone stiffed me or walked on a check, I re-grouped and gave the next round of tables the best service they ever received in their life and more often than not, I made up the difference to at least pull 15-18% out of the shift.
I consistently tip 20% on my pre-tax entertainment bills and I almost always receive excellent service, especially at establishments I frequent.
OK, so what about higher priced food? I feel really weird leaving a huge tip just because it’s the correct percentage of highly priced food. I mean, if I go for a quiet lunch on Fisherman’s Wharf, the bill is going to be expensive, but the server didn’t have to work too hard. On the other hand, if I take my kids to Denny’s, that server is going to have to do a lot more running around for us. How can I justify that 18% of one is more than 18% of the other when one is clearly more work than the other?
The price of food or drink should have no bearing on tip percentage.
How does one measure how hard one server works compared to another? Does the server running around at Denny’s add some additional intrinsic value to the experience of being served as opposed to a server who saunter’s by on Fisherman’s Wharf? Tipping is not about paying someone for a perceived measure of hard work, it is about paying someone to serve you.
my post was deleted
ok let me say this in the way were you not so tough folks can understand….
here is the people that tip.
Anyone who has worked in a restaurant.
drunk people
white middle class families.
lower class black fammilies.
here is how does not tip…. well or not at all.
non drunk 21-30 yearolds… race dont matter
high class black families
low to middle class white families
the elderly
Now I know this is not a TRUE fact…. but ask ANYONE who works in the food business they will say this is true.
truthfully im so sick and tired of hearing how stingy you people are. goodness sakes no server is accepting 10 bucks on a 50 dollar order….. BUT
when we BUST our ass for you and you leave a freaken 2 dollar tip on a 50 dollar order we do get pissed.
yes most people on here are STINGY! im 20 years old have hardly any money but I always leave a good tip.
oh and if you have a habit of leaving shitty tips…… servers pick up on this and tell each other…… and when you come back to that place you will get shitty service. first you get great service…. but it works both ways.
great service= great tip…. BUT if
Great service=shitty tip then you get Shitty service the next time.
Kathryn,
I’ve been in the restaurant industry for 20 years. I am a bartender but I have done it all. Keith was was right. Customers can smell a bad attitude a mile away. In my experience, you never know what table is going to stiff you. Sometimes it’s the one that you thought was going to leave you the biggest tip of your shift. You should try loosing your pre-conceived notions about tables. Give them all genuine, great service and you’ll find you’ll get stiffed less. Even by the tables you’ve talked about. Maybe they don’t tip you because they can read your body language. You can smile all you want or what ever, but if you think think badly of they table before you’ve even said hi, they WILL know. Treat them like real people (because they are) then I’m sure you’ll see better results.
Don’t be mad that your post got deleted. It clearly went too far.
Where in the world did you ever come up with the nickname Canadian? I don’t even know how that relates? Have you ever been to Canada? Do you think for yourself or do you just say the same things other servers say so you’ll be cool.
Get that crap out of your head and I’m sure you’ll be fine.
The bottom line is: Treat everyone like they are worthy of your service and they’ll be more likely to think you are worthy of a tip. They don’t owe you anything. You do have to work for it.
Some tables don’t tip and that’s the way the business is. People from all walks of life stiff. Think for your self and get those pre judgements out of your head then you’ll make more money I guarantee it. I’ve seen it a million times.
wow….. i know that!! i agree with it!!
dont think that im new at this business…..im not…. but i do know what I know
and trust me ask anyone in that business….. what a canadian is…..
but yes i agree with you on treating people like they ate normal….. but when you run me and im busy and dont tip and your a canadian……well….
but dont tell me to get some crap out of my head.
I dont really prejudge my orders…. ,
wow….. i know that!! i agree with it!!
dont think that im new at this business…..im not…. but i do know what I know
and trust me ask anyone in that business….. what a canadian is…..
but yes i agree with you on treating people like they ate normal….. but when you run me and im busy and dont tip and your a canadian……well….
but dont tell me to get some crap out of my head.
I dont really prejudge my orders but i do see who it is to prepare myself.
I think its hilarious that you are telling me this.
oh we cant say black….so we say canadian….. its popular in family chain places…..like applebees and chilis…..
and not all blacks are canadians…..
and i have no idea…..where it came from….. its a mystery….
so quit harrassing me.
I’m not harassing you. You can’t join a conversation like this, make a bold statement, and not expect someone to retort to it. Why do you think it’s hilarious? You clearly stated, in your post that got deleted, and I quote “which is prob why us servers give you the WORST service because in the back of our minds we know you will prob leave some shitty tip”
This IS pre judging. When you say “don’t seat me the Canadians”, that is pre judging too. Sorry if I offended you. I think it’s funny that you are 20 years old and you say you are not new to the industry, but you’ll understand that some day.
Anyway, this is getting off the topic of the blog post.
I tend to over tip like crazy but that’s because I help support myself with tips. Would you guys believe I tipped the gas attendant for getting me a pack of smokes. I get a little carried away. Anyone else tip too much?
I have worked lots of jobs in the past dealing directly with the customer, but none of those were socially accepted “tipping jobs”. Just because someone is handling food doesn’t mean they work any harder than anyone else or are any more deserving of money. I’m a little bitter about the entire tipping system in general. I tip well when someone does a great job, otherwise I don’t feel very obligated to leave a big tip.
To Kathryn,
Ok I have about lets say 16 to 18 years experience in the restaurant world. I grew up with my dad owning a pizza place. I have never heard any server call a customer a “Canadian”.
And yes I have worked for mom and pops places, and just recently was working for Chili’s and no one used that saying.
Hears some advice if your 20 now and don’t like the restaurant business go to retail or something else. And please stop making the rest of us look bad.
i love working at one…. thats how everyone i know is.
I am not trying to make anyone look bad…. im just giving that advice to the dumb asses who dont tip. at every restaurant I have worked at we have ALWAYS called blacks….. Canadians. Even the BLACKS who work there. I have learned that once a server get a bad table no matter the race….. the next time they come in…. that server will avoid them. I have seen it happen. Im just trying to give these people some harsh advice…. on why their food is taking so damn long….. maybe its because of how you treated your server….. and NO just because they are black does NOT mean they will automatically get treated bad. by any means. BUT…… we do deserve the RIGHT to BITCH and COMPLAIN about them when they make us bend overbackwards and leave us 3 bucks on a 50 dollar ticket.
I love working in that business…… its all I know. All my friends have always worked in restaurants….. I know where I live its pretty popular for the 18-24 yearold crowd to work at one in the summer time…….
but I am not by ANY MEANS trying to make anyone LOOK bad. I just tell the truth….. im just so tired of people saying why do I tip them and not them…… and why do I get bad service.
heres the thing if theres a LINE on your credit card recepit that says TIP………….. leave a tip…….. its up to YOU to figure out what it is.
if theres a TIP JAR leave a dollar. does not mean you must everytime. just every so often.
Kathryn,
I run my own Bar/restaurant at a golf course, and I have worked at five other places serving or bartending a few of them very high class and a corporate place as well as a mom and pop sort of place. NEVER in my life have i heard the term Canadian or have i heard anyone discriminate against “black” people that way! Your complete ignorance disgusts me and I think you are giving other people in this industry a bad name! I would never hire you and I am surprised you still have a job at all in any line of business! Servers and bartenders have no right to demand a tip for service you only have a right to earn it. If you get stiffed occasionaly but you are agood server it will be made up in the other great tips you have received. If someone stiffs me and comes back in I will take their table and try twice as hard to make their meal very enjoyable not give them “shittier service.” In the end everyone will get what they earn good or bad!
lets go back
Great Service should equal good tip.
if great service = bad tip
then the next time they come in they get BAD SERVICE.
and where IM FROM USUALLY the blacks (we call them that, even the blacks that work with me…. because RACISM still exist in my state…. so we call them that.) are the ones who WORK YOU TO DEATH and leave you NOTHING!
its just a code name. we have other code names.
it would probably help if yall knew im from Mississippi.
and even the black service where I have worked HATED dealing with CERTAIN black guest.
You have it all wrong
YOUR JOB = GOOD SERVICE
regardless of tip!
Racism still exists every where because ignorant people like you exist everywhere the color of your skin should have nothing to do with how you are treated as a PERSON!
I GET WHAT YOU ALL ARE SAYING… BUT I DONT WAIT TABLES!!
I DO TOGO WORK…….. IM JUST SAYING WHAT OTHER SERVERS SAY AND WHAT I HAVE SEEN.
i have seen a server work their ass for a table….and get a bad tip..
and that same table comes back and gets either the same server or a different one….. if that other server knows they wont tip….. they are prob not going to give them the BEST service…. like fill their drinks up in a second….. go to the table alot. that table will still get Ok service.
but lets face it….. you know the people who tip and dont….. ( your regulars!! ) and you give them different service. maybe with out realizing it you do.
and if you read my comments…. AT FIRST everyone is treated the same…… but I have never seen a party of WHITES work their server to death and leave a 2 dollar tip on a $100 order!!!! and that server can be WHITE OR BLACK! I have seen a party of blacks,elderly people, and kids (thats understandable) work a server to death…. and leave a bad tip….. its happends hmm 7 out of 10 times. and that server does not GIVE THEM BAD SERVICE depending on their color…… but trust me
when they get their “tip” they dont accept much….
and it has nothing to do with black and white….. in general some people tip better and some dont……
I have hosted in the past and I have had servers in the PAST tell me not to seat them certain people…..even regulars because they do not TIP. and they dont want them in their section where a tipper would sit.
and like I said before not ALL blacks who step into a restuarant are canadians…….
and I AGREE WITH WHAT YOU ALL ARE SAYING…….. I DO.
but I just know how things have worked where I work.
think EVEN THE BLACK SERVERS HATE DEALING WITH BLACK GUEST…..
what does that tell you?????
Tipping has gone way too far!! It is the responsibility of the owners of businesses to hire the people who will provide great service to their customers and therefore command repeat business. For that, the owners need to pay their employees well, and that additional money should come from the increased revenue brought in by better service.
There should be no tipping needed unless someone wants to tip someone out of their own desire.
If we do this, restaurants and hotels will hire better people by paying them well. Good people will go to work for good establishments who pay well. And, customers will pay the prices on the menu or quoted price for rooms, NOT the price of the dish or room plus….plus….plus!!!
By making customers pay for their help, hotels, restaurants, barbershops etc. are only increasing their own revenues at the expense of the customers and the employees!!!
From now on, it’s no tip except a nominal fee for exceptional service. My costs have also gone up, eg. gas, food etc. and my salary doesn’t keep up pace, while restaurants keep raising prices and tips. If they don’t like it then I suppose I will receive poor service which will mean I won’t revisit that establishment again, which will lead to lower revenues, and ultimately…..if enough of us do that, poooof, the place is gone, or the owners will get wise and pay their staff what they’re worth without the tips.
The decision to tip is ultimately yours. It is our job to serve you well enough to deserve a tip. The fact of the matter is, 99% of establishments would never consider paying the kind of money it would take to get good people to work without tips. We run 18 servers over our peak period. You would have to pay each server at least $25/hour to serve without tips. A five hour shift is $125*18= $2250 and that’s just the night shift. Lets just leave it at the night shift because day servers make less and not everyone stays the full 5 hours. My employer is corporate so we are closed Chistmas only. $2250*364 days = $819,000 a year. Do you think my employer is going to start paying me what I am worth and loose out on that kind of money. Where I work, you have to be good or you don’t work there (although we all have bad days just like everyone else).
Do you think the mom and pop places can afford to pay servers $25/hour?
Besides, like I said before. What incentive would we have to go the extra mile for you if we were getting a straight wage. Do you think I would rush to fix a kitchen mistake, rush my butt off for your extras, or do all the behind the scene things that you don’t see. It may not seem right, but this is why we go the extra mile.
Sure we will be nice but why would I do extra if I don’t have to. That’s the way most people that I know are in thier “normal” jobs.
You may not think servers should be making the kind of money they do but who is anyone to say that. It really is hard to do this job well. It’s probably because most servers are younger and are considered inferior (I’m 35).
Ok, seriously. Give a few restaraunts a call and suggest that they go with a no tipping policy and ask them to pay servers more instead. See what they say. Please do this and let us know on this blog what they said. I would be very interested and I’m sure others here would be too.
I would love to make $25 – $30/hour and have no tipping. I’m all for it!
servers can not control and can not help about what they receive on their pay checks….. and yes you can say that they dont have to work there…which is true….. but for the 18-25 yearold crowd MOST of us like working in restaruants……the schedules can be changed easily and you usually only have to work at night. which makes it easier. Alot of people do it just to make a few bucks here and there. but please for the LOVE OF GOD stop complaining about leaving a tip you cheap pieces of shit.
im sorry but until you know what its like to work in a restuarant you will never understand what its like to work at one…… I suggest you who are complaining read the book Waiting…. and NO its not based on that movie.
I get that we have ALL had a fair share of bad experiences in restaurants…….. but just because you have a bad experience does not mean you should complain…..
and tip togo. please…. 2 dollars or 1 dollar….. I have more orders than a server does……. and it adds up.
Yes, Kathryn,
Way to go! Calling people – any people – “cheap pieces of shit” is right on. In fact, I think I read that as a teenager in How to Win Friends and Influence People.
——–
Most employees earn only what they’re paid, even in service professions, such as tech support customer service, or retail support customer service. And the support person who explains to you over and over why your telephone bill is more than you expected.
I provide all the customer service for the products I sell, yet, I earn only what I’m able to generate as profit on sales. No one ever tips me, even when my work saves them hundreds of thousands of dollars. No one tips millions of my comrades who haven’t learned to depend on what sounds, from some of the comments here, like a socially acceptable form of begging (taking handouts).
Grocery store cashiers should be tipped, from what you and others are saying. And the bagger. And the “busser” who wheels your cart back inside the store.
And also tip people reading blog comments, because we have to put up with a lot more tripe than people who don’t read comments.
Lin
PS: I’m truly sorry this discussion got off on why you deserve tips instead of sticking with appropriate amounts, as requested by JD, or the even livelier discussion of whether the whole tipping quagmire should be overhauled. Thrifty people cannot afford tipping *everyone* at Christmas. According to you, if they can’t add an extra tip for the hair dresser, and a tip for the newspaper delivery person and letter carrier (times 10-20 “service people”), they should cancel their paper and mail and stay home and cut their own hair.
Waiters and waitresses come into the business for a variety of reasons. How long they stay in it is also determined by a number of factors. But I can almost guarantee that all of them would agree that there, their major motivator is the tip. Tips are not just a side perk. They are not an added bonus. For a waiter or waitress, tipping is the raison d’etre f a restaurant, considered an absolute right by those on the receiving end. Thou shalt not fuck with the tip. The tip is everything.
WANT (Wages And Not Tips) is a much more eatreme group whose members leave business cards with their checks stating they don’t believe in tipping. According to their group, employers should pay their employees fairly and spare the customer the agony of trying to calculate and then fork over a tip. Get a life, I say. And watch your back n the way out of the restaurant because those who don’t tip can expect unique repercussions from those they stiff.
There is, too, the case of recurring bad tippers. Regulars who tip badly usually don’t last very long. For one thing, one waiter after another refuses to wait on these people until they run through the entire wait staff.
ALL FROM THE BOOK WAITING
BY DEBRA GINSBERG..
and no the books is not about her complaining its a very good book….
ok first off the BUSS BOYS at restaurants EARN 8 to 9 bucks an hour! and some get a tip out…. the cashier at the grocery store earns about the same. and the bagger gets the same…. and yah some people tip them.
and im not calling EVERYONE on here a cheap piece of shit… BUT those who think its OK not to tip even though your server bent over backwards is. and im not a teenager….actually im suprised anyone over 30 would waste their time on here….. complaining.
I actually AGREE with alot thats said on here.
and I NEVER SAID THAT PEOPLE SHOULD CANCEL THEIR PAPER AND CUT THEIR OWN HAIR. I did say that giving a DOLLAR a FREAKING DOLLAR is not going to make some one poor……
I dont mean a dollar as in 5 bucks I mean ONE DOLLAR……
so dont go off saying things that I never wrote on here.
and I have the right to refuse service…. all servers do.
do we??? nope…
To those waitstaff who fantasize “revenge” spitting in food in response to poor tips. Just remember that is a criminal action and if you think life is hard now you have no idea the legal wrath that will befall you if that is discovered by a customer. To even think of doing that is lower class in my opinion than low tipping.
never seen anyone SPIT in someones food LOL!
BUT i have seen servers up charge like a bitch when you have complaining customers… MOST the time we can get a way with out charging you for that EXTRA scoop of mash….. ive done it. im not suppose to.
we have ways to fuck with you and you dont even REALIZE it.
cardnel rule….
DONT FUCK WITH PEOPLE WHO MESS WITH YOUR FOOD!
TIP stands for To Insure Promptness. So if your server is on top of it I believe you should leave a tip but if you are getting terrible service then don’t leave a tip. As for the No tip policy and restaurants pay their employees more that is a joke right?? If you run your own food service business you would understand what I am saying. Well on my menu the food cost is thirty percent of everything because I don’t want to jack my prices up. The 30% is if there are no mistakes or no food is thrown away. Then I pay each of my servers/bartenders $8.50 or more an hour plus we have to pay for all our lights and fryers and grills to be on and operated, then we have to pay for all our licenses not to mention the costs for glasses, plates, silverware, napkins, plus each time one of the dish sanitizing machines does a load we get charged for that because we have to keep your plates and dishes clean and sanitized. So if we were to pay our employees what they are worth, which in my eyes may even be more than $30 an hour we would go out of business unless we sold each menu item at very high price.
It also bothers me when people say well i work my butt off and I should get tipped this and that. Well most employers not in the hotel or restaurant or salon services don’t even allow it if you want to work will you would make tips choose a different profession and hope that you are the type of person who is good at it. Not everyone is cut out to be a server or a bartender. There are profession I wish I could tip so maybe they would give better service, such as phone companies or credit card companies. When you call them you are put on hold and then holding some more just for them to tell you they can’t help you, see if that flys in your favorite restaurant.
I believe strongly in tipping for a job well done in an industry that it is normal to do so. I also liked making those tips. I understand when someone is poor, but if you don’t have enough to tip you probably shouldn’t be eating out in the first place.
I’m getting a free trial make-over for my wedding at MAC in the mall; however, I need to purchase $50 worth of make-up to get the make-over. Do I need to tip the make-up artist considering they are also a salesperson?
no they get a commission off of that purchase…..
this is too 189 or 89, i never heard such crap servestr are not worth $25 an hour , they bring food to a table , maybe get a drink or two and destress they don’t clean shitoff floors , pea or votmit , make beds , dust ,vaccum , rearange furnutes,fold liens wash floors , stock carts. stock storge . all in a 6 hour day only to get paid $7.00 an hours, at my hotel we have 11 rooms and they get trashed and you have 30 mins to clean them and and with break yu get 6 hours a day and they say that’s full time . waiter and waitress even tho they get $2.13 an hour get more then i do. i don’t get many tips either, but i don’t care when where pack and we have lots to do, when were slow we only get 1hour and 15 mins ao i feel housekeepers are unddwerpaid big time. so in responce to yous out there that think waiters should get $25 an hour i say no way.
11 rooms a housekeeper on 3rd and sec floor forst get has 17 rooms and two housekeepers on it 3 rd and second have 3 housekeeprs each. so it is a80 room hotel sorry forthe confusion
Ann:
Sorry your hotel pays you so badly a lot of hotels/ resorts out here in Californina pay $10 or more and most people do tip the house keepers. Or hotels automatically charge the guest for your service.
But us servers do clean too. At the end of the shift we sweep, rewipe the table. Stock our station and tables. At night some restaurants have us sweep and mop vacuum if there is carpet, or hokey. Host usually cleans the bathroom, but some restaurants has the server do the bathrooms to. So no we do not just bring out food and drinks.
And thats just the end of the shift.
During shift we deal with the guest and you get the people who have had a bad day and take it out on you. You have people who think they are better than you and belittle you just because you are a server. So as I said before SERVERS DON’T JUST DELIVER FOOD AND DRINKS.
Yes, there are alot of behind the scene things that servers do that people don’t know. We also have to clean as we go, keep everything in the kitchen stocked and try and explain to people why things are taking so long when the kitchen is behind. That’s not a fun thing to do because alot of times guests take their frustration out on the server and then we have to go to our next table and do it again and appear to be having a good time. There is a long list of things that servers have to do that I’m not even going to get into.
Maybe servers are worth $25/hour and hotel people should be paid more, I don’t know.
Serving is not a job just anyone can handle. If you think we just take your order and serve you a couple of drinks then I’m afraid you don’t know what you’re actually talking about. I don’t mean to be rude by saying that, but clearly it needs to be said.
ok i’m sorry i didn’t know that but my aunt was a waitress 30 years in new york and never bussed a table or cleaned bathrooms they had buss boys . the only cleanig if cleaning she did was folding napkin and putting spoons and forks and knives with it .i guess evey state is diffrent.
Tip your barista. Not because she makes the best damn coffee drink you’ve ever had (for that you keep coming back), but because her boss expects you to.
Cafe owners pay a wage rate that doesn’t necessarily reflect the talent or efficiency of their baristi, but rather the amount of tips that will be accumulated. At every cafe I’ve worked, I have always been told that I would make a certain amount per hour, but “that my wages would really be about $3/hour more because of tips.”
Consider that, the next time you confront your tipping dilemma. Baristi don’t earn commissions for selling/preparing your beverage. And cafe owners rely on you to directly pay for part of their cost of doing business. Don’t believe me? When you’re in your fav cafe ask your barista, “how much do you make pulling espresso?” Your likely response will be, “about $14/hour including tips…”
Lets think of serving like a cleaning agency. but where each house gets to choose how much they pay the person. The person cleaning the house still gets a base pay prob around min wage…. and each house pays them based on what they want.
think of each table being a house….. except the server only gets 2.13-3.00 an hour. that money is there “side work” money….. they get paid that to roll silverware….. sweep…… and organize.
but each table pays them or should for getting there food (yes some servers are not the ones bringing you your food…. often you will get another server….) you pay the server based on your expectations for them. and each table like each house is different. the server has to treat each on different.
I hope this makes since.
base pay- 2.13-3.00
each table pays different. based on expectations.
you do pay the server to give you SERVICE. not to do handy work.
Rule of thumb forget the whole 15% to 20% crap…. start with 3 bucks….. leave that EVEN if crappy job…… (explain later) or add to it based on a good job.
so alot of servers put on a fake smile and attitude just to wait on you…. but some will breakdown….. your 3 dollars might actually help them get out of that fussy mussy stage….. and another table might be treated better….. yah you can say its not fair….but then again what is fair?
and if you dont have enough money to tip YOU DONT HAVE ENOUGH TO EAT!!!!!!!!!
i really hate that if you can’t tip the waitress you don’t have enogh money to eat out. same could be said about housekeepers . if you can speand $135 a night you can leave $1-$2. i think .i can’t wait for my hotel to go to $7.25 an hour. oh well must wait july ,2009, were at $7.oo an hour now
I do tech support for a large software company. It is my job to ensure I give good service to the customer so that they will continue to buy our products. Do I expect a tip when I give exceptional service? No. I knew this going into the job. I understood there would be people who would call up and blame me for the fact they can’t read a manual as well as those that would blame me for the programmers mistakes. Its part of the job.
To the servers who complain about the lack of tips and expect it, did you not understand that some people will tip very well, some poorly and some not at all?
If it was a new industry I could understand the surprise, but serving is centuries old. While I was growing up the standard for great service was 10% of the bill. It was only later when I got out of high school in the 70’s that it went from 10 to 15 to 20%.
Understand that in your industry some will tip well other will not and some do not believe in it at all. Thats the nature of the job, like it or not. Do I tip well, yes if the service warrants it, do I tip badly, yes again if the service warrants it.
I work hard for my money and if you work hard for me by giving me good service, I will share a small portion of it with you. What you are paid is between you and your employer not between you and I. If you do not like the wage, like myself, you are free to try another employer in the same or different industry.
Does anyone know the proper rate for tipping a dive guide?
im shocked oh how many of you on here actually think its OKAY to treat some one like crap just because you think their job is meaningless. well its not. im sorry but no I have not worked in the business for YEARS…and quite frankly I dont plan to. BUT I do know that all servers will give you GREAT service the first time…. but it is not their fault if you are having a god damn awful day. if you treat us like shit…then except to be treated like shit the next time you walk in… or you better be proving us wrong.
Treat others as you want to be treated… do we really have to go back to the 1st grade here?
I dont think ive ever heard of people that have ruder than all of you.
and dont give me that my server didnt bring me my coke and they werent even busy crap…. excuse me…. some times your server is in the RESTROOM….. talking to a manager….. we are HUMAN! just wait.
yes we all have our “BAD” experiences… but it does not intitle you to treat every server since forth as scum.
I don’t know if this has been posted in the thread already (sorry if it has), but another tradesperson that you are expected to tip…
Tattooers. A lot of first time clients have no idea that they are supposed to tip, but it is expected. However, even according to the tattooers I’ve asked about there isn’t a clear sense of what is expected. I usually tip about 20% of the total cost of the session.
Generally, I like to tip well for the services that I receive frequently. I also like to make sure that I compliment good service or speak to the manager in the case of bad service.
Those who leave no tip at all will now end up on TipStiffers.com. This is a good breakdown of tips per job thanks for posting this!
A lot of the comments here really make waiters just look like beggars using emotional manipulation to take as much money as they can.
Do you actually want appreciation, or do you just want money? Stop confusing the two. I don’t have a lot of money and even if I did I would rather be frugal, it doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate the small gestures.
I show my appreciation by showing appreciation and being nice, not by paying people. Should I pay the stranger that held the door open for me when they entered the building first?
If that were the case, I would be able to afford to tip you a lot more.
If you say I shouldn’t be eating out because I don’t want to tip a lot, then I won’t. I hope you enjoy the empty table more, maybe you’ll get some old lady you can guilt trip into dropping a $50.
(Sorry in advance to those which this may not apply, I’m sure it doesn’t apply to everyone.)
I am a server when working. I have been sense I was 8. I don’t ask for you to tip a lot just enough for us to live and pay taxes and the others we tip. As for what started me on here is when working at a casino and giving free drinks to our guests please tip at least a dollar. We walk around with a full tray to bring you drinks and the least you can do is give us a dollar.
Kaero
I agree that some of the comments on here are inapropriate. We are not beggers by any means.
Every server I know got into the business because of the tips. None of them would be serving you if all they got was a polite thank you. It may not be right, but that’s the way it is. We work for the low wage because of the tips. That’s the way the industry works and that’s all there is to it. It’s not something you can compare to some one opening a door for you. That’s rediculous. This how we make our money to live (please don’t judge me because of that).I’m not trying to re-hash our conversation about how our employers should pay us more (it’s been more than over done here).
It may sound horrible, but it would be a very rare case that a compliment will be more appreciated than a tip to a server. Believe me when I say this….One of the worst things to MOST servers is to be told how great the service is and then find no tip or a bad tip on the table. It feels like a slap in the face.
I quite honestly feel appreciated by a big tip. It makes me feel like I did my job well and satisfied my guests. In the industry that is the proper way to communicate that a server did a good job. I don’t care if you don’t believe me, but I’ve been in the business for 20 years.
It may seem wierd to someone outside of the industry and I can understand that. I would never question proper etiquette in someone else’s line of work.
Like I’ve said before in this thread, if people didn’t tip, you wouldn’t have the same type of people serving you. Think about that. What type of people would be serving you for $3.00 an hour.
But really, I wouldn’t want you as my table if all I got was a compliment. I would rather fill my table with someone who appreciates me enough to leave me a little extra for my hard work.
By tipping, you are keeping the type of people you want to have serving you within the industry. If you want let let others do it for you (without you tipping yourself)that’s your business. We just accept that those type of people are out there.
Let me say one more thing to everyone…..Can you imagine how annoying it is to hear so many people talk like they know about your line of work and have never actually worked the job. How would you feel if I started telling you how things should be in your industry and you knew I didn’t know a thing about it. You would probably laugh at me an think I was an idiot. (-:
Try explaining to your server that you would rather tell them how much you appretiate them instead of leaving a tip. They may say that’s ok, but read the body language and the face. You’ll see that it’s not ok. We can’t tell you that though because it’s not the professional thing to do and we could loose our jobs.
I have an idea??? you ready???
all of you who dont tip….
EAT AT HOME.
that way you can COOK your own food…. to your specifications…and you know how much it will cost….. and you wont have to tip anyone.
seriously…. its not that big of an issue to complain over.
Wow,
I read this article and most of the comments because I always have trouble tipping when I’m in the US.
I was born and still live in Australia and we don’t do too much tipping. Mostly at restaurants or bars but only if the service is exceptional or they do something special like candles on a dessert for a birthday, at our request.
But then I have friends who still work at restaurants or cafes and bars and I know they get paid almost as much as I do doing data entry for a small business. And that is before tips!
Some of them that work in areas with high tourist traffic, such as Sydney, can almost earn their wage again in tips if they’re good.
It all makes me glad we live in a country where most people get paid (mostly) what they’re worth and tips are still something special and not expected.
What I cant figure out is why a meal in the US (once you factor in the currency exchange) costs about as much as a meal here. Then you add the tax on after (here its included) and then I have to tip too!
The maths on that just doesn’t add up and I wonder if there are very rich owners of restaurants making huge profits at the expense of workers?
Like I said I only visit once the US a year but this is something that has always bugged me!
wow… its a few dollars…. servers can not help that they are only paid 2.13 or so an hour…. cause trust me some servers are better than others. thats why they dont pay them all one big lump some. if they did…. they would pay some min wage and others 10 bucks or more an hour.
quit complaining.
To Kathryn:
Stand back take a deep breath then type. You are making us look bad again. By being so negative.
Wendy:
I wish are restaurants could be as nice as yours, but here yes a lot of people can be money grubbing people, and other than that we have a lot of insurances to pay out of pocket(as a owner) rent on the building etc… Mostly its the taxes and well insurance to as being a business owner that makes us not make to much profit. The first two years a restaurant is open is the make it and break it period. In the middle of the 2nd most people will finally be making profit if not then it’s a good time to start packing things up. I hope this kind of clarify
things up for you. Not sure what your wages are but our federal is $6.55 and the states range from this to $2.68 to $8.00 an hour. But some states have a food server wage law where the employer deducts your tips from your hourly so you are only making that 2.68 an hour more or less depends on how good of a server you are. Your paychecks are 0 because you payed the tax’s with your hourly then at the end of the year you still owe tax’s off of some of the tips. Any way’s that’s how things are ran here we are taxed to death. And tips end up to be our lively hood.
No one has ever presented me with a logical argument for a patron accepting the obligation of subsidizing the employees of the establishments which they already patronize. In a highly competitve capitlistic society, there is not a business operating efficiently that isnt doing everything possible to attract customers from competitors. People have a choice of where to spend their money for almost any goods or services in this country. The obligation of tipping an employee who is adding value to a company that I am already paying for goods and services borders on moronic. I would rather have the opportunity to access which businesses implemented the reasonable compensation of employees in their prices. A sliding scale of paying a percentage for absolutely no reason is stupid. If I go toa restuarant and pay for my meal, the service is supposed to the part of it. Otherwise, I can go to a buffet and pay alot less. No one can explain why certain service employees are expected to be tipped and others – with even lower salaries – do not.
I dont tip for anything that is part of the goods or services that I pay for. I will tip for extra services only.
“The obligation of tipping an employee who is adding value to a company that I am already paying for goods and services borders on moronic.”
Spoken like a person who has truly never worked in the industry.
It’s not really moronic. It’s just the way it is. Like I’ve said before. I would gladly work as a server for $20-$25/hr and no tips (and I mean that). That is just not going to happen in this part of the world. Sure it would be nice but it’s a dream.
I understand that when you walk into an establishment that you expect the service to be included as part of the meal. That does make sense. What I am saying, is that for the wage that we get paid, most of us servers wouldn’t be doing this job. You wouldn’t find the same level of professionalism if we didn’t get tips. You might then find that you would prefer to go to a buffet and serve yourself.
Again, as a server you just except that the odd person doesn’t tip. That’s your choice.
I’m just explaining the way it is here in North America.
Let’s also realise that this type of blog will naturally attract alot of non tippers. Probably one of the reasons why there are so many here against it.
Katherine please think before say things. You really are making us look bad.
to mara.
im making yall look bad??? do what??? my bad…
Okay Kathryn,try to think before you say. And I’m not the only one saying your out spoken ways is making us servers look bad. Yes we do survive on tips yes I have asked people to tip with good or bad service, but with bad service please do us the favor and tip at least 10% so we can cover taxes and tipping our busser, barback, and bartender and on occasion expediter and food runner. But you you are a to go person who gets paid above minimum wage yes work in our industry but every remark you say is so negative and makes us servers look like money grabbing idiots.
Thats all I can say right now
I understand and sympathise with those who say restaurants should pay their staff a living wage (or at least minimum wage, which $2.35 is nowhere near), but the fact is that, right now, in the US, they don’t. They pay “tipped minimum wage” and most paychecks for servers are $0. They live off tips. That’s, unfortunately, the way it is right now. Do with that what you will.
I understand that is how it is right now. Is that the way it should be though?
I think some here are forgetting that when you get a tip, it’s costing somebody else money. It’s not just about what you receive, it doesn’t come from nowhere. We have to find that money someplace also.
Maybe it would help if people knew exactly what servers in general (or even the specific ones being tipped) actually do/did. Honestly you can’t expect everyone to take a job in that area to learn it though.
My impression is that servers are asking for a lot of money for some relatively simple tasks. I would gladly bring my own food to the table for $20, for example.
Yes, I will freely admit I don’t know this industry, but this industry is still asking for my money. So I don’t feel that it’s none of my business or that my opinion doesn’t matter.
lets put it this way….
7 out of 10 tables are more than likely going to complain about something 4 of those 7 will just complain to the server and a few of them will just be slightly upset…. the other 3 will want to speak with a manager and tell that person of the worst job ever said server has done. you try doing that just about every night. You try bending over backwards for people…I get when you walk into a restaurant you dont realize that server has more people to tend to than just you. just wait. If your food is taking forever its the cooks… but your server SHOULD tell you it might take longer….. but some wont some do get that busy. Honestly screw the percentage tip shit….. tip what you think is right. but trust me the more you work a server the bigger tip they except. I would.
Is it just I, or are other people noticing those who wail the loudest for tips also can’t spell or control their tongues?
Also to be noticed is the requested $25/hr if tipping were not promoted.
I agree $2.35 is way too low. So is $6.35. But $25/hour? As a self-employed person, I wish to God I had always earned at least $20/hour. I would be retired, and not spending this much time at my desk and on the Internet!
Waitstaff without tips are worth about $15/hour before going out of your way and doing something extraordinary.
Most of the world doesn’t get tipped when putting up with pissy-ant whiners likes a couple of you.
That’s horrendous to see that staff are being paid between $3 and $6 an hour. I’m in Australia and although not a waiter, I think most would be on somewhere between $15 and $20 an hour and probably get shift allowances and weekend penalty rates.I work in a casino and we are by law prohibited from taking tips of any sort, although we get roughly between $20 and $50 and hour depending on the day of the week and if its a holiday. I know in my department (Table Games)if we could take tips we would certainly be a lot friendlier and not be such a miserable bunch of employees! It gets upsetting to see bar staff make more than us sometimes due to their tips.
hmm lets see most servers work 5 til 10… yes a few work until close
so thats 5 hours and a server a good one after tip outs are done will prob pocket around 80 bucks or so… ( not alot but im basing this on a non busy night)
well when you do the math it comes out to be
around $16 an hour…. so hence forth yes it is worth to pay servers more than min…
I just wanted to add a couple of points.
Mara #240 wrote: “lets say us servers did get paid what we are worth or close, lets say $25 an hr.”
I’m sorry, but there is no way in hell that a simple waiter/waitress deserves $25/hr. That’s absolutely insane. I don’t care how tough you THINK your job is, it’s not THAT tough. $25 is professional salary. Get over yourselves.
Mara #220 also wrote: “We are servers not SERVENTS [sic]!”
Mara, they’re the same thing. So you can drop that meaningless tidbit of rhetoric. The words are interchangeable. And I believe it’s “servant,” not “servent.”
Regarding the assertion that if the serving staff’s wages had to be paid a fair wage, food prices would skyrocket: Of course they’d go up a little. But would they go up any higher than the price of food + tip already totals? No. Especially not if wait staff are already making $20-$25/hr when tips are factored in. If anything, your overall evening experience would be *cheaper*. Sure, the steak special might be $22 instead of $18, but $18 + $5 tip is more than $22 with no expectation of tipping.
I understand that in the US, minimum wage for wait staff is below the “regular” minimum wage. That’s regrettable. But that’s a problem between the staff and the management. Why drag the customers into it? If your boss is not paying you a fair wage, YOU QUIT. Or unionize and extort it out of them, like the manufacturing industry did (which is precisely why all the manufacturing jobs left the country and are now in China – good job, unions!)
Also, no one seems to have mentioned that in many places (maybe it’s just a Canadian thing?), tips are shared with the kitchen staff. So yes, it may be unfair to punish the waitress by stiffing her her tip for a mistake that’s the kitchen’s fault, but if you tip her generously, then the kitchen staff will still get a share of it, even though they may have screwed up your meal.
To all the people who say you should tip generously because if you become known as a skinflint, the service you receive will drop in quality. To that I say: Are you aware what website you’re reading??? Being a “regular” at a restaurant is NOT conducive to “Getting Rich Slowly.” One of the most basic practices preached repeatedly on this site for living frugally is to not eat out, except on special occasions. If you’re going out to restaurants so frequently that the wait staff recognize you, your problem isn’t figuring out how much to tip – it’s scaling back your lavish lifestyle.
My wife and I eat out at a fancy sit-down restaurant maybe once a MONTH. And it’s rarely the same place two months in a row (eating out so infrequently, we want to experience new places, rather than the same place over and over). By the time we return to a restaurant we’d already been to, several months have elapsed. Surely wait staff’s memories aren’t THAT long, are they? Besides, wait staff have a relatively high turnover. By the time I return, it could be a completely new team of servants (that’s right, Mara, I said servants).
That said, when we *do* go out, we tip fairly. Although, since we’re in Canada and wait staff get at least minimum wage, “fairly” means 10-15%, not 20%. I consider it part of the cost of going out. It’s one of the reasons we eat out so rarely (waste of money).
Finally, to Tony #95: As others have pointed out, if you go to a nice restaurant, you should be prepared to include a 20% tip in your budget. If you can only just barely afford the food with nothing left over for the tip, then no, you DON’T deserve to go there. That’s not being a “supercilious snot,” that’s being realistic. What if you do take your wife there for your anniversary, but you don’t budget anything for a tip. The waiter overhears it’s your anniversary and goes out of his way to make it a really special night for you. Then what – you screw him on the tip? Come on, have some common decency.
Kevin: just to clarify….. The def. for SERVANT can be found here: http://www.answers.com/topic/servant
Here is the def. for SERVER is here: http://www.answers.com/topic/server
We are SERVERS not servants.
You don’t get to decide that these are the same terms, just because you think they should be. You also don’t get to decide how tough a job is and what a professional job should or should not be.
Kevin please phone my boss or any other restaurant and explain you theory of how food would be cheaper if servers got paid more. Maybe they’ll change policies. L
I disagree with you about the lower prices anyways. It’s just not true. Not when you have to pay 18 servers during peak periods that kind of wage.
You tip %10 -%15 percent. Perfect. I can’t argue with that. I would serve you and give you great service.
I also agree that website will attract more frugal people. I said that on my last post. It’s not the right place for this conversation.
Kaero: I really wish I had the time or the desire to tell you everything a server has to do and the kind of stress that they experience on a daily basis, but just don’t.
Thank you for at least admitting that you don’t know the indusrty that well.
Some of these others talk like they know it inside and out. They are so smart they can just decide what a server is worth and they just magiacally know how un-complicated the job is. They even get to make up they’re own definitions and decide what a professional is. To these people it seems servers have no talent and that anyone can do the job.
These people are so wrong and to be frank, it seems quite arrogant too.
Please people don’t just think you know how easy the job is or try to say what we are worth when you only eat out once a month (if that). We are in this industry everyday. Like I said before. I would never decide that your job was easy or that you didn’t deserve what you get paid. Stop be-littling people.
point blank YOU have the CHOICE to tip…but all us servers are saying is dont stop tipping cause you had a bad experience. thats all.
its your choice its in your hand. we have told you why we think you should and there you have it. stop whining.
Kevin,
I would like to know which kind of “servant” you are to humanity or to yourself or whomever you may serve. Maybe she printed it wrong but what she meant to write would be we are not your “slave” we are you server for an hour or so. We are not someone you should talk down to or not pay or whip into submission. We are human beings working for a living just like you. The difference would be that a restaurant is there to serve people who are hungry and want to relax and not have to prepare their own meal. So not only are we supposed to provide food the way you want it at close to the same price you would pay for it at a grocery store then still have to prepare it and serve it, we are providing a service to allow you to relax and enjoy your experience. If you think what it would cost to buy every ingredient to all of the different meals your table orders it would be pretty costly, and to top your food is prepared and served to you as well as your drinks and desserts. Not to mention you do not have to do dishes before or after, run to the grocery liquor or wine store, or clean up any part of your house to enjoy a meal out with your friends. You make yourself sound so self important and self centered it doesn’t surprise me that you have never worked in a food service business before. You would never make it! I only hope people do not comment on your job the way you have negatively commented on a servers/bartenders job here, unless you have ever done it and succeeded at it you have no idea what you are talking about.
@MZ: Relax. All I said was that the definitions of “server” and “servant” are identical. See for yourself:
(http://www.m-w.com)
Server – “one that serves food or drink”
Servant – “one that serves others”
One is specific to food, but they’re both about “serving” people. Calm down – I didn’t write the dictionary.
As for the cost element of your argument, of course it would be much, much cheaper for me to buy the food and liquor myself, and prepare it. Food is one of the cheapest costs for restaurants, and liquor is their highest-margin product. Staff and overhead are a restaurant’s biggest expenses.
What about the dealer at a Casino? This seems to be a job neglected on every tip list. Obviously outside of Vegas there’s only local Native American casinos [though everywhere these days] and we’re not a place people normally frequent but we’re still there and we still rely on tips. Our casino is one of few were we [the dealer] gets to keep our own tips and our check depends on how good we are to the customer and how good they are to us.
My check is my tips. I get paid $5.45 an hour and like many other jobs rely on tips to carry my less than minimum wage, part time job into an income I can live off. Even then lately it seems like I can’t even make a reasonable check as of late. But my entire check normally consists of tips alone while my crappy hourly wage covers taxes. What I receive in tips is what I get to pay for living expenses and bills…
Most dealers are there to make people and themselves money, not the house. At least 99% of them I work for and have met at other casinos. Personally I love it when players are winning and especially so when I’m receiving a portion of the winnings. Nothing irks me more than giving away $500, 1k, 2k even $10k and not even getting as much as a nickel [$5] or even a thank you. As was the case once when I gave away just over $10k on Let it Ride where the guy turns to his brother in law, gives him $2k, and gives me nothing despite his boasting of being a very good tipper and that I’d be paid considerably if I gave him a good hand… Anyway a happy and tipped dealer normally makes for more good cards and continued winnings. More often than not when I’m happy the cards are happy. When I’m mad the cards are mad. Granted that’s not always the case but in my honest opinion a dealers mood does have a lot of influence over the cards quite often.
Often it’s even just the thought that counts. If a player tries to at least tip me a dollar, or a five [which the house matches if they win the hand] that makes me happy knowing that the actually care and tried. Obviously it frustrates me not winning it but it at least shows me they’re considerate and that they’re trying to help make my ends meet. And unlike many other dealers I’m always sure to say “thank you” after receiving a tip or even when a tip is played regardless of it winning or losing. Which I’ve heard customer time and time again thank me for doing and letting them know that I appreciate it each and every time no matter the amount…
anyway, so what about Casino Dealers? We rely on tips…
Kevin…I don’t know what state you live in but here in Washington we have very high food and liquor cost compared to most other states. Of course what I pay out to my staff is more than the food cost because I pay All of them over $8.75 an hour. My food and liquor cost is now an even bigger cost due to high gas prices, crop shortages, and beef prices that are crazy over here. I think it would be pointless to continue this conversation with any one as ignorant as yourself anyways, so I will stop before I confuse you about the cost for running a restaurant/bar.
MZ said, “I don’t know what state you live in”.
As I said in #330, I live in Canada.
MZ said, “Of course what I pay out to my staff is more than the food cost”
So then you agree with me. Why are you arguing with me then?
MZ said, “My food and liquor cost is now an even bigger cost due to high gas prices,”
OK, so what? That doesn’t change the fact that it’s still the cheapest part of running a restaurant, and it’s still cheaper for people to buy and cook their own food than to go out to a restaurant (the prices in the grocery stores have gone up too, obviously). So I’m really not sure what it is you’re trying to say here. We agree that staffing costs are a large cost of running a restaurant, and the food itself is one of the cheaper expenses for the owner. So how is it that I’m “ignorant” about the “cost of running a restaurant bar,” when you’ve agreed with everything I’ve said?
I suspect maybe you just don’t like that I called one of your own out for their ridiculous assertion that a “fair wage” for wait staff is $25/hr.
Kevin, I lived and worked in Seattle it’s hard to survive on $8.75 a hr a lone,(thank you MZ for paying your servers over min. wage) that’s why servers work for tips. MZ did not want to go through a brake down of all cost to you. So read my comment #248. He is not agreeing with you, well kind of the food cost vs. labor yes.
And I still stick with a fair hourly wage for a server is about $25 a hour. Oh as a server our employer usually does not have a benefit program so we servers pay for our health care,vision and dental which is a huge cost.
Mara, before I go further, I’ll again repeat that when I do go out, I tip fairly. I simply try to avoid going out often.
That said, I can’t believe I’m actually still arguing the wage issue, as the idea that a simple waiter/waitress should earn $25/hr is just so incredibly ridiculous, that it boggles my mind that anyone could seriously believe it’s reasonable.
So you don’t have a benefit program, and you have to pay your own health, vision, dental, pension, whatever. BOO HOO. I have a university degree, I work in an office, and *I* don’t have vision or a pension either. Welcome to the “new economy.” Pensions and benefits went out the door way back in the 90’s – where have you been? A lack of benefits isn’t some kind of hardship unique to waiters and waitresses – it’s just the way all businesses work now.
Now, on the wage issue. I simply have to know – if you think waiters and waitresses deserve $25 (400% above minimum wage!), then just who in the heck do you think DESERVES minimum wage? If not the unskilled, uneducated teenagers carrying food from a counter to a table, then who? Who deserves this low-end baseline pay scale, if not someone doing a job that can be learned in a matter of hours?
What makes you think an 18-year old bubble-gum chewing high schooler, who required just a few minutes of training and a few hours of practice, deserves to earn the same wage as someone who spends 4 YEARS and tens of thousands of dollars earning a real education?
Maybe you just think EVERYBODY should be paid at least $25/hr, because gee, wouldn’t it be nice if everybody could be rich? It’s only fair, I suppose.
“Inflation?” What’s that?
As said many times before serving is not a easy job, not a few hour training and there your done. Most places if you have no prior experience you start out as a host or busser, which can be stressful at times to. Then you go through a 4 day to 7 day training on how to be a server. And you know what it’s a skill to be a server not all people can handle it.
And people who should be paid min. wage I would say yes us servers because we get tips so I would say any where where tips make most of your income then you should be paid min. wage. Why I say we should be paid $25 an hour is when we do not receive tips any more. That is where this all came from was from people saying we should not be tipped. Well if we don’t get tipped then we need to be payed more hourly to cover for the loss.
Yes I know most company’s have cut back on benefits, our biggest cost still is medical.
Just saying. Your comment on “real education” It can be from job experience too, or and life experience. So good for you you are a college graduate. College is not for all people. And some people are still trying to figure out what they want to study. So do not put us down and act like you are low trained idiots. Who don’t work hard and don’t have a challenging career.
Mara, I think the problem I’m having with your comments is that you’re saying the job is “not easy,” and it’s “stressful.”
What I’m trying to say is: So what? ALL jobs are stressful sometimes – especially the ones that pay $20 /hr.
People who dedicate 4 years of their life, and tens of thousands of dollars, have earned the right to be paid a higher wage. Their jobs are still stressful sometimes, and are definitely not “easy,” and they don’t get benefits either. So I guess what I’m saying is, what makes you think a server’s job should pay just as well, when the stress level is the same, but it can be learned much more quickly than a “professional” job. I mean, come on – are you seriously trying to compare a 4 year university education with a few hours of training, and saying they’re both “hard” and deserve the same pay?
That’s why I gave you such a hard time for that comment. If people could save the $80,000 and 4 years and skip college and STILL make $25/hr, then everybody would do it!
I HATE what tipping has become in this society!! Tipping should be a bonus for doing above and beyond on a job. The reason we tip our wait staff is because they do not make a living wage! that should be changed.
I recently went out to dinner with a large party. The tip was included on the bill, we weren’t even allowed to think about it. That is just wrong in my mind. If you are REQUIRED to pay a tip, then it should be included in the price of the item!!! Almost amounts to false advertising if you say a meal is $40, but oh wait, you have to tip the guy who sat you down, and tip the guy who took your order, then tip the guy who brought you the meal, heck, don’t forget to tip the guy who is picking up your dishes – ridiculous!
I find it annoying and almost insulting to see the tip line on my charge slip for services. again, these people should be making a wage that compensates them for the services they provide. If I think they did an amazing job, I tip.
And what really gets me is the number of services that feel entitled to insist upon a tip. as if we should pay them for interacting with us.. um.. *isn’t that your job!!*
Now again, I know that wait staff are paid very little, but I know that housekeepers in hotels are paid a living wage. (ok, so not a good living wage, but it is more than $2.00 an hour!)
I think it should be the norm that service workers (and yes, I am work in customer service!) should be paid for the job they do by the company they work for (and lets not forget earn money for), and not pass that expense and burden on to the consumer!
TO # 57 Believing tipping is ever mandatory sucks just as much as buying obglitory Christmas gifts. Just don’t do it, no matter to whom. Would you want to recieve any gift from someone who only gave it to you because they felt they had to? Not me.
A tip is a gift. You should *never* give unless you are moved to reward someone for exceptional service, kindness, or anything else they do beyond their job description. Do not box yourself into preconceived notions of who you should or should not tip, or how much. This does not mean to be stingy. Give often and generously to anyone you like. I have tipped over 100% of the bill on rare occasions, but I also have no qualms whatsoever about leaving nothing at all.
Do not allow yourself to regard your tip as part of the expected compensation for any type of service. When a tip *is* required, it is automatically generated and added to the bill anyway (”15% gratuity added for parties of six or more”).
To #57 I think that is a load of Crap. Not all places add gratuity to the bill and still pay the wait staff less then min-wage im sorry i dont think any one should be paid min wage or less they should be paid more Min-wage was not set up to be a base pay for labor but as a guide line for employers No One can live off min wage by them selves.
As for your idea on tipping you should tip at least the standard amount. wait staff get paid 2.15 an hour where i live and ive heard of some that where paid less and that will not suffice for living at all. You don’t know how much any one makes and you cant assume that they make at least mi-wage. they provide a service and tipping pays for that service.
also i have not seen any comments on parking shuttle drivers. it should be $1 to $2 per bag more if they are heavy if they help you with them. and you should never expect them to haul all bags on and off the bus and just say thank you. also $1 to $2 if no help was required. again you don’t know how much they make so don’t just assume they make enough.
#342-Connie
I understand the frustration of being told you have to tip a preset percentage. I often go out to eat with my family (5-12 people). Yes it is very irritating to see that extra charge at the foot of the bill.
That said, I am a waitress at a family restaurant. I have been there for over 2 years, and daily get compliments (from guests and management) on my attentive service. My wage is 4.35/hour. I generally make $13-22/hour in tips.
Still, I have countless stories of large groups that leave pitiful tips on large bills. Most recently I had a group of 9 whose total was over 120.00 that left 4.25 on the table. 3.5%
Another recent story is of the 35 person baseball team that called 2 weeks ahead to say they would be there. We called in 2 extra waitresses to handle the party. Every person ordered a meal and drink. The bill was more than $500 The coach paid for the whole ticket, and there was no tip. Not one dollar.
The reason a tip is included in the bill for large parties is that groups are more work for the waitstaff. They require more attention, take up more space, and stay longer.
If I ever had a problem with the amount on the tip line, I would talk to the management about problems during the meal.
I have never done that, but always tipped EXTRA, because I know how difficult it is to serve large parties.
“I live in Australia where tipping is a rarity and only done if the service warrants it. I’m not going to tip someone because they carried a plate of food from a kitchen to a table.
In my opinion you get paid to do your job by your employer. Why should I pay you extra to do the job that you’re already being paid for. If you’re not getting enough from your employeer then talk to them about it. Don’t get annoyed with me because your employeer doesn’t value your abilities enough to pay you properly”.
Here’s what you’re not considering.
Did you know that you pay almost 40% MORE for a meal at Outback there in Australia as you do in the US? Where do you think the difference comes from? A portion of it MIGHT be from the exchange rate (the lower value of the US dollar), but most of it comes from the fact that Australian servers make most of their wage from “salary”. In the States, it’s the opposite – US servers make most of their wages from tips. In fact, due to tax withholding, most of us don’t even get a paycheck; we make ALL of our disposable income from tips. Basically, what’s happening is that the charge for service is separate from the menu price. It’s not better or worse, it’s just different. There is no “moral imperative” or even “economic imperative” that requires the company to pay all of the wages for its employees – many occupations are paid “separately”, like salespeople or independent contractors. In fact, in the States, and I suspect in Australia, most car salespeople don’t get ANY “salary” from the company – the company pays them through a pass-through commission paid directly by the consumer (bonuses are a different matter – they are paid directly from the company’s funds).
Is either system better than the other? I’m not sure. However, here in the States, we at least have a say in the recompense of the service that we receive (and the commissio…ooops, I mean tip is at least transparent).
You’re going to pay that same extra 38% regardless of the level of service. We at least can reward great service or penalize bad service using our own judgment, plus, it costs less for us to dine out than it does in Australia, even when you factor in the tip.
It’s fine for you to not tip in Australia, but when you come to the States and tip your 5 – 10% as most Australian tourists do, you are exploiting the local labor for your own financial gain. Is it really worth it for you to save the money for your Statue of Liberty paperweight on the back of your food server? I think not.
PS, don’t believe me about the diff between Australian and US dining? Just compare the average prices on an Outback menu from Australia and the US. That’s an easy way to compare menu prices here and there and is very much typical of how much extra you have to pay for the “privilege” of the company paying the full wage.
“A tip is a gift. You should *never* give unless you are moved to reward someone for exceptional service, kindness, or anything else they do beyond their job description. Do not box yourself into preconceived notions of who you should or should not tip, or how much. This does not mean to be stingy. Give often and generously to anyone you like. I have tipped over 100% of the bill on rare occasions, but I also have no qualms whatsoever about leaving nothing at all”.
You are wrong about the tip being a “gift”. A tip is a payment for services rendered. A gift is non-taxable up to $11,000 per person per year. IOW, I could walk up to you today and give you $10,999 for no apparent reason and you don’t have to declare it as income. However, you tip me a buck on a $5 meal and that tip is taxable.
So the gift argument is fallacious. Here’s the definition of a gift (Mirriam-Webster):
“something voluntarily transferred by one person to another without compensation”
The payment of a tip is compensation for the service that you receive. You haven’t just randomly given your server money for nothing.
“They don’t base the taxes on your tips at all. They base it on the food you sell. All food tickets are entered into the computer and they know how much you sell”.
If your restaurant is basing your taxable income on sales, then they are WRONG. The only thing that’s technically taxable is the amount of tips that you declare plus your hourly wage. Most restaurants require you to declare the amount of post tipout tips that you receive (i.e. what you leave the restaurant with in your pocket at the end of the night). The IRS doesn’t care how much you sold that night, they care about how much money you actually made. In fact, they frown on such “estimations”. They want firm numbers. If your restaurant is doing it right, you won’t be taxed on a table that stiffs you. If the restaurant is cutting corners on this, I’d be very worried because, if the IRS audits the restaurant by looking at credit card receipts and daily reports and they have only claimed 8% of sales for you, you’re going to end up owing a lot of money unless you only walk with 8% of your sales, which would make you a pretty bad server.
“Here’s a question that will surely rile up folks. FWIW, I tip 20% for food service almost without exception.
Let’s say you and 3 other people go out to dinner. Your total bill comes to $300. There were no problems and your service was “normal”. Your average dinner for 4. No special drinks. No extended stay at the table, chatting.
20% would be $60.
Are you actually going to pay your waiter/waitress a $60/hr salary just for YOUR table?
I sure as hell don’t, and never will. I believe there is a “percentage method cutoff point.”
Well, there’s no justification for a “percentage method cutoff point”. We don’t say that you should tip less for a lobster than you do for a hamburger. When you go into a restaurant, you know what the standard is. It’s not defensible for you to rewrite the rules simply because you want to splurge on a $75 per head dinner. You know ahead of time what the standard is. If you don’t want to tip your server $60 for waiting on you, then you should go to a restaurant where you only have to leave them $20 for a cheaper meal for 4. Don’t forget that that server working in that pricey restaurant won’t be waiting on nearly as many people as the server in the $20 a head restaurant. You are paying them $60 on the basis that your table won’t be flipped 3 times (you’re probably going to be with them for 2 – 3 hours) and that, presumably, you’re paying for more experience and savvy (yes, I know this doesn’t always translate into better service and when it doesn’t, then you DON’T leave the $60, you leave less – that’s the joy of the tipping system). Your one table is a muchhigher percentage of the server’s take for the night. You screw them for an arbitrary cut-off number and you’re not doing the right thing, regardless of whether you do the right thing in other situations. It’s as simple as that.
“No kidding: I’m supposed to feel sorry for people who end up making 20 and hour and have to pay taxes on half that? I’ve bested my ass a lot harder than waiting tables for a lot less than that. And I had to pay tax on all of it”.
Just so you know, these days, with credit card tips being about 95% of the tips we receive, it’s pretty much impossible to not claim half of your tips. Maybe in the old days, when most people paid cash, it was possible. But not these days.
“I’ll tip what’s appropriate if the server does a good job. But how dare servers act like I’m responsible for subsidising their choices”?
How dare YOU think that *I* should subsidize YOUR meal.
“This government site lists the minimum hourly wages for tipped employees, by state. This gives some perspective the issue of how much to tip. While the minimum wage for tipped employees is certainly low in many states, in my state of Washington, it appears that servers make the full minimum wage of $7.63 (the highest minimum wage in the country).
So does this mean that servers with a larger hourly wage (as in Washington) should be tipped less than those whose wage is just a couple bucks an hour?
Nope, because the higher minimum wage in Washington State is to compensate for the higher cost of living there. For me to make the same $40k in Seattle that I make in my 2.13 an hour community (also the largest city in my state), I’d have to make over $70k (yes, I’ve run the numbers through some cost-of-living calculators). And guess what? The extra hourly wage doesn’t even make up the difference. The extra 10% that your citizens pay in menu prices in order to fund the $8 an hour menu prices (yes, Dear Friends, the money has to come from somewhere), probably helps bring it up to rough parity when you factor in the additional tips that this presumably generates.
Just a note about leaving a 0% tip at a restaurant. If the service was so terrible that you feel no tip is deserved, you should be asking to speak to the manager, in addition to leaving no tip.
Furthermore, I’ve often heard that if you leave no tip, the waiter will either assume that you are cheap or that you forgot, not that they provided you with poor service. Leaving a low tip is, ironically, more “effective” in expressing your dissatisfaction than leaving no tip at all.
comming from a servers point of view….. and mine..
I HATE TO TIP. i hate it so much. i dont like doing it… especially when its to a friend of mind….. I see no point in that!
but honestly if you cant spare five bucks then you really cant spare 20 for a steak.
dont be rude to your server…. cause if your rude to that server and you have them again… dont expect good service…. they dont like you.
and if you must complain okay…. but we dont really care.
Should I tip a hairdresser who cuts hair out
of her own home? If so how much?
As per marks comments, which i will post here: (read my reply at the bottom)
Matt Says:
October 12th, 2006 at 6:22 am
Per the Tipping Ettiquette page (and many other tipping recommendation pages), you should not tip your cable, satellite, internet installers.
As an Internet installer for the last 5 years I take offense to this. Why are we not tip worthy?
I routinely make the extra effort to make my installs look nice. I run wire in hot attics. I run wire in dirty crawlspaces. I try to hide wire on the outside of your house. I attempt to make a computer with 2 years worth of spyware at least usable for no extra cost. My employer doesn’t care what the install looks like. But I do. I take pride in giving someone a clean, professional install, because I am certainly not required to do so.
So, why do I get the shaft when a bartender gets praised for mixing the right liquids or a taxi driver gets you to your destination.
Think about that next time. Installers like to know that you appreciate their effort. I put in 110% for every install I do, but I am certainly not the majority.
My response: Thats the problem with this tipping thing, where does it stop? People get paid to do a job, why is required in so many things that we tip everyone and add extra cost to us, why doesnt the boss pay them more, enough to satisfy? Pretty soon everyone will be wanting a tip for doing anything for you just because they do a good job, WHICH IS WHAT YOU GET PAID TO DO ANYWAYS, and if you dont do a good job, your lazy.
I get the waiter thing because they dont get paid hardly anything, and I tip 15%, but on this other stuff, come on, its their job to do it, if they dont get paid enough go do something else. I agree with mark, why should someone who mixes liquids well get an extra tip when there are thousands of other people doing thousands of other personal services without getting tipped. When they get paid 6 or 7 bucks an hour a Micky D’s and dont get tipped, do they do any less work in preparing your food than a bartending who pours a
qucik drink that takes just a few seconds. I mean, to me the guy who works at mcd’s has a worse job and puts up with a lot of bs, a bartender has the better job of conversing and simply pouring drinks for you. why pay one extra and not the other? I make gasoline at a plant, if I make good gas, are you going to tip me? If you dont, shouldnt i just not care and have a bad attitude about it and make crappy gas so your car runs bad? No, because its my job, and thats what I get paid to do, and I shouldnt required a 20% hand out from everyone to do it. You got a bad job and dont make enough? Go to college. Dont whine to me. Go to your boss and ask him. If we tipped any and everyone who had to come to our house to do something…..I mean, my god!. Arent they already getting paid? Did I not pay their boss or owner or fee that goes towards their wages? Do I have to chip in extra above the list price just to get soemething done right? Thats whats wrong with america, we always have our hand out for more.
And matt, as for your boss not caring. maybe they dont care what it looks like, but if you keep doing bad jobs that look bad the company reputation will go down and eventualy it effect the bottom line and bring down business. If you need to get paid more to do it right, talk to him, or is it just easier to ask the homeowner for more of his money?
Do you people tip your mechanic for fixing your car right as opposed to just band-aiding it to get it rolling again? Do you tip the cooks in the back for making good food? Do you tip your bank teller for working fast to get a large line down faster to get to you quicker? No, and you shouldnt have to. They work hard like everyone else. They should have enough pride in their work to do it right anyway, and THEY WERE PAID TO DO IT. If the price wasnt right in the first place, raise the price, dont expect a tip. It will never end with this tipping thing.
Can someone explain the 15-20% restaurant tipping guideline … which I have never been able to understand? So if I go to an exquisite restaurant and pay $100-150 for a meal or I go to the family diner on the corner for $50 and tip 15% of total bill at both places … how is that fair to the waiter/waitress who is working at the more economical diner when they may have even provided better service? What I have done for years is set a tipping rate based on the number of people dining in our party, regardless of the amount of my bill, and add or subtract from that amount accordingly based on the service received. This works much better for us rather than tipping based on the total $$ amount of our bill. That just isn’t fair to any waiter/waitress who is not working in an upscale place where prices are higher and they are providing the same (or better) degree of service.
It’s easy to explain how the 15% is fair. If you go to an exquisite restaurant and pay $150 for a meal, your server might only wait on 15 other guests, while at the family diner, the server might wait on 50 people. So, it’s very possible that the person at the family diner could actually make *more* than the person at the exquisite place, although the fine dining restaurants usually do make more money.
Remember too that you’re paying for experience at the exquisite restaurant. They should be more polished, have more food and wine knowledge and have more years experience. Since servers really don’t get “raises”, the way that you make more money if you stay in the business for any length of time is to hone your skills and gain valuable experience so that you can find yourself working in a really nice upscale place. It’s a similar thing to the idea that a mid-level manager makes more money than someone just starting out in the business.
What are you doing trying to reinvent the wheel anyway? I don’t question how *you* get paid, do I? How does your system “work better for you”? Do it short servers in nice restaurants so that you can afford to eat there? That’s not fair at all.
The 15 – 20% guideline works for everyone if you apply it fairly across the spectrum. If the service is average, tip 15%. If it’s better than average, then go higher. If the service sucks or is sub-par leave less. Everything else will take care of itself. The server working more tables but with less on the line with each table will get the benefit of volume and a lesser standard to be held to, and the fine dining server will get the benefit of a high check price while being held to a higher standard and a longer table presence (usually diners stay for well over 2 hours in a high-end restaurant where diners in diners or casual restaurants might stay between 45 minutes to an hour and a half).
Hope this helps.
PS, if the server at the diner gives better service than the server in the hoity-toity restaurant, by all means, leave them a higher percentage. That’s the way it’s supposed to work.
“Do it short servers in nice restaurants so that you can afford to eat there”?
should read “Does it…” of course.
okay heres the thing ….. places like chilis, applebees, logans…. some people tip some people dont… im not going to go in the whole spill on who tips who doesnt… we all know if you work at one. so when you are in a section at a place like that and that server has 6 tables…. he or she is prob not going to get the best tips…. because she can not properly serve her tables….. most people claim to tip on percentage… but mainly tip on service. so no they usually dont make more.
when servers work at fine dining restuarants they tend to take more cash home….. since most of them can only have about 3 to 4 tables max.
and look around at the people sitting next to you…. do you think there going to tip??? do you see your server running their butt off for a table that possibly wont even tip at all???
if you wanna know who doesnt tip ask. and im not saying EVERYONE who is like this doesnt…. BUT ….. its WELL known in the business.
First of all, I’ve worked in places like you describe and my average tip percentage was within 1% of what I’m doing now in my upscale job. And yes, I’m making more money than I did in those places, but I can’t blame it on any particular average tip percentage.
Second, of the thousands of tables that I’ve waited on over 10 years, I’ve only been stiffed (0 tip) three or four times, even when running 5 tables at a churn and burn type of place. Even people of modest means appreciate and pay for good service.
Yes, my current high-end job isn’t as frenetic. But I have a lot more on the line at each table. If I get 10% instead of 15% at a table where businessmen are conducting big business and the check is $600, that’s a $30 hit (and that might be most of my night right there), whereas, if I screw up on a table that’s spending $80 and lose the same percentage, I’m only going to lose $4.00. And the standards at the high end place are far more exacting and require a lot more experience (not taking away from the skills you need to manage a section in a churn and burn sort of place). I’ve earned the right to make more money because of the time I’ve put in and the knowledge that I’ve gained and the hours of reading and studying on my off time to increase my food and wine knowledge.
And let’s not forget the nights where we only have 12 covers on the books. There are nights where some of us have to go home early without making a cent. That rarely happens in a restaurant where you’re working 4-6 tables. In my current restaurant, most of us only have 3 tables, and believe me, it can be tough managing *those* tables due to the demanding nature of the high-end restaurant – decanting wine and the wine knowledge that you’re expected to have, elaborate scripting, guests who feel like you should be their own personal server to exclusion of everyone else, etc.)
I’m just sayin’ – if someone who works at Outback wants to put in the time and effort, they too can grab a more exclusive job. But most servers at Outback and the like do quite well for themselves, thank you very much. Many of them would hate having to wait around until 7pm for your first table as I often have to do, or not particularly care for all of the extra-curricular study that a fine dining server has to deal with to be an effective server.
In Europe and in many other countries tips are not expected (but rounding up is appreciated). I think we should all change the tipping culture in the US. The server’s (including delivery persons, barbers, etc.) income should be fully included in the price you pay for your food and/or service. Tipping is a pain.
Yeah, tipping is *such* a pain. It’s sooooooo hard.
I don’t know if you’ve been to Europe or not, but having lived there for 7 years, I can tell you that the system there is quite a bit different. A whiny little thing like you would *hate* it if we adopted a European system. Most restaurants over there only have a handful of servers. Guess why. And guess what would happen if we started paying servers a wage comparable to what we’re making now. You might not even get greeted for 10 minutes becuase there wouldn’t be enough servers to take care of everyone.
Of course, maybe you could get used to the leisurely dining that Europeans have come to expect. So say goodbye to getting a table even after a 2 hour wait.
Many places add an automatic, 15% gratuity on to the bill. That seems like a pretty good alternative. It wouldn’t really matter if the had the automatic gratuity, or they just raised their prices. Either way you would be paying the same. One thing I would consider, is that most servers (knowing all they were going to make was 15%) would then concentrate on the amount of tables they could squeeze in on their shift, rather than the quality of service they provide.
I wouldn’t really worry about trying to change the U.S. tipping culture anyway. I think there are more important things in the U.S. and the world to try and change or make a difference at. Don’t you girlfriend?
Been in the industry for about 12 years
decent = 15%
good = 20%
outstanding = 25%
anything less is cheap
somewhere in here someone said that they dont want to tip someone a dollar for opening their beer… that they’d rather open it themselves and keep the buck. THEN SIT AT HOME! you didn’t just pay for me to grab you that beer. most server and bartenders make a habit of spending a decent amount of time to look good each and every day we work, we greet you with a smile and make small talk while you drink your beer, we laugh and your rarely funny jokes, and give you a warm and friendly place to pass some time, and for some of you we are your only friends and family. You are NOT the above things to us, you are means to live, our bread and butter. If you dont tip then I will take away everything but the bare basics, and dont expect me to entertain you. Also, bad service deserves 0 percent tip. There are too many people in this industry that expect to be tipped regardless of anything. They act as if this a hard job, and complain about every table they get. If your a bitch or an asshole, I wont tip and I will let your manager know. Mistakes happen, everyone knows that, its how the server deals with those situations. I have been serving or bartending for over 10 years. I also just completed an engineering degree and am only doing 1 night a week right now (full time days engineering). Let me tell you… anyone that thinks serving is harder than it looks, or that bartending can be tough job when busy or learning so many new drinks… your funny. it’s easy!!! the brain SHOULD be capable of alot. in comparison to other jobs its the easiest (unless you work at the mall). stop complaining… on a good night you might make $200 with wages.. no feels bad for you… in canada (where I live) everyone get minimum which is pretty muich really close to $10.. there were months that I made more serving than I make now as an engineer (but will make way more in a few years) and for all you die hard servers and bartenders, get an education, or buy yourself a pub.. NO ONE WANTS A 50 YEAR OLD SERVER.. no matter what you think.. NO ONE
For those of you who feel that it is between the employer and the employees to determine wages in restaurants, think about this:
Because employers can pay servers and bartenders (and sometimes bussers) less than minimum wage on the presumption that tips will compensate the employee, you (the guest) are able to pay a fair price for your meal. Remove tipping standards and pay all employees minimum wage or above. Your $10 burger with fries and coleslaw, coca-cola, and dessert now becomes a $20 order. Saving money on employees allows restaurants more money to spend on food. This is true even in the most expensive restaurants.
I think all those who says tipping is not required just lacks generosity. Waiting staff gets the lowest pay around the world. If they do a reasonable job give them a basic tip, if they do a good job tip them more. It does not matter if you are in Australia, Japan, China or the US. Whether it is a Chinese, Pizza or a five star establishment. Be generous and compassionate
Just want to let you know I work for a indian casino and make federal minum wage and do get taxed on tips wether I make the certan amount of tips or not. Yes the economy is bad but please do not tip us in pennies. If you can’t tip us at least 50 cents for a bottle of water or what no please don’t order and don’t gamble. I’m trying to make a living to. I walk over 10 miles a day to serve you. So please consider we are only makeing 7.25 a hour plus minus our tip tax which is currently on grave shift 8 an hour which we do not make at all any more. we have familys to feed too. If you are able to gamble please tip us at least 50cent for your free drink. While you spend houndreds to thousands a night on the games. The ones who ride busses un and work our butts for coffee and what not and don’t tip thats just not right, let us work and help the people who are playing at least.
As a barista, I would first like to say that yes, please please tip your barista. At my coffeeshop we *do* pay taxes on our tips. And I know not one of us can pay our bills without tips (and we all share housing and are very frugal to keep costs down…i.e. not living a lavish lifestyle).
I think those who say that they don’t agree with tipping (at least those who live in the U.S.) have likely never done a service job. I have had several other jobs and service is by far the hardest. I think it’s probably so undervalued because the skill set needed is hard to quantify: yes, it may look like we’re performing simple tasks that any monkey could do, but it is incredibly difficult to deal with 400 people in a six hour period, many of whom refuse to acknowledge your basic humanity while simultaneously being ridiculously demanding and rude…and you’re lucky enough to do this job all day and walk home with $6.50/hour. It is definitely a skilled job–those of you who haven’t done it could not walk in and learn how to do it right away, and it takes most people quite a bit of experience and training to actually get good at it. The fact that so many people think that serving is easy shows that most service workers take a lot of pride in their work and put in the effort to hide their fatigue/stress/frustration/whatever else is going on in their life to make sure *you* are happy and taken care of. I’m not saying servers deserve to pull huge paychecks, but the fact is that it is incredibly undervalued work that many people rely on every day yet don’t take the time to reflect on it or appreciate it. I’m there with a smile to make your morning better; you can leave me fifty cents (and if you’re buying for the office and have a $15 bill, leave an appropriate tip. I think also many people who say “I won’t pay somebody for filling up my coffee cup” don’t think about who stocks the cups? who make the coffee? who mops the floors at night? who handled the transaction? We’re still performing a service for you, we’re still spending time to take care of you.
Yes, it would be great if servers were paid decently for their work and tipping was deemed unnecessary. But in the meanwhile, it’s not customers’ place to make their stance known on tipping by not tipping at all. Talk to the manager. He/she will likely turn around and start laughing hysterically, but it’s a start. Also consider whether or not you would be willing to have the cost of your meal/coffee drink increased in order to actually pay the employees fairly. And maybe even get them some kind of health insurance? It’s not a perfect system, but refusing to tip or being cheap about tipping is absolutely not the way to fix it.
To all those in the service industry who complain about low or non-existent tips: Did you not choose that industry to work in? Why are you complaining about not getting tips? I work 8-5+ everyday and no one tips me on the way out for doing my job.
When you accept a job, ie: Barista (aka person who pours coffee) you know the hourly wage. I shouldn’t have to tip everytime someone does what they were hired to do. Should I tip the salesperson at Barnes and Nobles for ringing up my book? Perhaps I should give the hot dog guy on the corner an extra dollar for putting the ketchup on the hot dog?
The tipping and guilt jars has gotten out of hand and people growing up in this generation have begun to “expect it”.
Well, now that the economy has (And will continue) go to sh#$, good luck relying on the tips of the few wealthy people who were guilted into putting money in those jars.
As for waitresses and waiters, 15% for GOOD SERVICE. 20% FOR EXCEPTIONAL. I Am tired of people raising this bar over and over again. People are so afraid of “looking cheap” that they tip 20% as standard. 10 years from now someone is going to start saying 20% is standard and 25% for good service, until no one can afford to even go out to eat anymore because of the ridiculous expectations. THERE IS A REASON IS IS A PERCENTAGE…b/c as food prices increase, so does the tip amount. Adjusting a Percentage to be higher defeats the point of it being one in the first place.
Having said all that, if someone does GO OUT OF their way to help you, tipping is appropriate. I recently gave two sales people at a major chain retail store tips for their extraordinary service and assistance. This is completely out of the ordinary, but so was the assistance and help they provided me.
“To all those in the service industry who complain about low or non-existent tips: Did you not choose that industry to work in? Why are you complaining about not getting tips? I work 8-5+ everyday and no one tips me on the way out for doing my job”.
Oh god, not THIS again. First of all, those of us who work in restaurants, we accepted the job as an hourly plus tips jobs (my hourly being 2.13/hr – 99.999% of people tip me on top of that, so I do quite well – the market has spoken!). This has been customary for longer than you’ve been alive. Don’t like it? Feel free not to dine in places where you get personal table service. Also, You work 8 – 5 for an hourly wage or salary that’s fully covered. You’ve accepted that, right? You’ve given up tips as part of YOUR compensation.
“When you accept a job, ie: Barista (aka person who pours coffee) you know the hourly wage”.
That’s a slightly different situation than being a waiter or waitress due to the higher hourly wage and the queue-type service that they provide. Tips are a bit more optional right now, because it’s a new phenomenon. Perhaps 30 years from now, tips will be part of the “wage package” because it’s become part of the culture. right now, it’s still an optional thing, something that’s nice to do. If you don’t like being nice, oh well, that’s cool. Don’t drop anything into the tip jar.
“I shouldn’t have to tip everytime someone does what they were hired to do. Should I tip the salesperson at Barnes and Nobles for ringing up my book”?
No, because tips aren’t an accepted part of their job. but you knew that, didn’t you?
“Perhaps I should give the hot dog guy on the corner an extra dollar for putting the ketchup on the hot dog”?
Since he’s the owner of his business, and he gets all of the profit from your hot dog, no you don’t. But you knew that before you typed that stupid analogy, didn’t you?
“The tipping and guilt jars has gotten out of hand and people growing up in this generation have begun to “expect it”.”
Tip jars are something a bit different than tipping in restaurants. Still, if you don’t want to do it, are you so weak that you can be made to feel guilty? with the tone that you have displayed here, I really tend to doubt it. So what’s yer beef? Just ignore the tip jar if it gets you so riled up.
“Well, now that the economy has (And will continue) go to sh#$, good luck relying on the tips of the few wealthy people who were guilted into putting money in those jars”.
Good luck on keeping your OWN job. You’re going to need it with all of the layoffs and stuff.
“As for waitresses and waiters, 15% for GOOD SERVICE. 20% FOR EXCEPTIONAL. I Am tired of people raising this bar over and over again”.
That has been the standard since the 50s. Actually 15% is for your basic good service, not for service “better than average”. Most people will go 17 – 18% for that and go 20% for great service.
“People are so afraid of “looking cheap” that they tip 20% as standard”.
So YOU say. I see a different mindset from the thousands of tables that I’ve waited on. Most seem quite content to tip whatever they tip. Could what you say be a motive for some? Maybe. But for many, tipping is also a way to feel generous, especially when they ARE generous.
“10 years from now someone is going to start saying 20% is standard and 25% for good service, until no one can afford to even go out to eat anymore because of the ridiculous expectations”.
With the exception of people in NYC, where the “standard” HAS risen somewhat because of the cost of living there, and a few servers who proclaim that this is true (which doesn’t make it true for most of the country), the standard is exactly the same as when my dad taught me how to tip in the early 60s. So, just as servers saying that the standard is now 20% doesn’t make it true, you speculating about the future doesn’t make it true, especially when it’s based on faulty information.
I can see how some servers say that 20% is the new standard, because that’s what good servers usually see. But it’s because of their expereience and “great service”. Servers shouldn’t confuse this with a new ‘standard” (although, as I noted, NYC servers might have a case, considering how high the cost of living is there, especially on Manhattan).
“THERE IS A REASON IS IS A PERCENTAGE…b/c as food prices increase, so does the tip amount. Adjusting a Percentage to be higher defeats the point of it being one in the first place”.
The standard remains the same as it has for 50 years – 15% for “average service” and less for less than average service and more for better service.
“Having said all that, if someone does GO OUT OF their way to help you, tipping is appropriate”.
tipping is always appropriate when dealing with a “tipped occupation”.
“I recently gave two sales people at a major chain retail store tips for their extraordinary service and assistance. This is completely out of the ordinary, but so was the assistance and help they provided me”.
And that of course is your choice. Should someone slam you for being guilted into it, or claiming that it was wrong because, “They knew what they were getting into when they took a $12/hr job at Best Buy”?
Of course not.
Get off of your high horse before you fall.
Wow! Most of the people on this page have eaten and drank a ton of spit! I am a bartender by trade and have been at the same hotel for 18 years. I personally tip waiters 25% or $5 which ever is less. I always tip the barrista at least $3. I tip a delivery driver $5 per person that i ordered for. I take a cab twice a month when my wife and i go out drinking and my general rule is $10 tip plus $5 a stop if i have to stop anywhere on the way home. I tip 10 to the valet or doorman of anyplace, and if you pick up one of my bags you are getting an automatic $20 if you have to get the luggage cart its $50. Hotel maids get $10 a night and it helps if you write a note on the bedside table, many dont speak much english so just put “for maid” they know what this means. And finally when it comes to tipping your bartender you would be wise to do such. For a good tipper i will give you free food, “forget” to write down some or maybe most of your drinks. I will listen to you sob when you loose your job and even help you move if your a good regular customer. But if you dont tip ONCE i will be very slow with making you a drink when you come back and put very little liquor in it. When you dont tip TWICE i will advise you that i am sorry but i do not feel comfortable serving you anything else. If you have a tab or are a hotel guest I will then push my button on the cash register that automatically comps your tab for 18% so that i get a tip. If you refuse to pay this then i point to my very small sign above the cash register that says “all customers are carged 18% gratuity” If you refuse to pay your bill i call security which will detain you till the police arive and the DA will file charges on you for Theft of Services Involving a Controlled Beverage, a state jail felony.
I used to wait tables in a Pancake House and one very old Lady gave me a long confusing lecture about service. I gave her good service and got 14 cents as a tip.
I remember her to this day, 35 years later, and not in a good way. I can sense ignorance and forgave those people but this lady was just mean.
Im a delivery driver. On an average night, each driver will take about 10 deliveries.That is 10 deliveries on a 5 hour shift, if you are lucky!Now consider this, $2/delivery means that the driver would only make $20 in tips that night, using about $10 dollars in gas (at their own expense)meaning they pocket only $10 at the end of the night. Could you survive off of that? I usually appreciate $4-$5, and for those who dont tip the driver— go pick it up. We shouldnt be using our gas to deliver your food for free.
i take a lot of cabs and usually tip 30%.[my trips are about $30 on average]
i know it’s too much but can,t help it.
i once asked a cabby about the proper amount.
his ansver-10to30%.
i noticed alot of people who comment on here are servers and waitresses (or used to be) because so many are complaining about getting small tips. i totally think that we should tip servers but if ur rude or give me bad service youll get a crappy tip. i pay waiters 15% tip and just bacause i dont pay 20% or more it doesnt make me cheap! why should i pay more money for my meal? i could by more food with a 20% tip. and all the waiters who comment on here r the only ones telling us we should pay them more! why? im sorry ur wage is very little but that aint my fault! im not gonna pay more money cuz im supposed to feel sorry 4 u! Mcdonalds cashiers do work and we dont have to tip them. calling me cheap cuz i pay 15%?!! i wuz taught that u usually pay 15% so i dunno what some people r talking about! i think 15% is VERY REASONABLE. if u arent happy with wat people pay u then perhaps u should look for another job!
What I don’t understand are all these people who say we should tip (15-20%) even if the server did a terrible job. If tipping is based on SERVICE, and 15 is for adequate, and 20 is for good, then why in the WORLD would we reward poor service? I don’t care what the server’s excuses are, if I do terribly at my job, I don’t still expect a bonus for doing a good job come the holiday season. So why should we give servers a TIP – based on GOOD/EXCELLENT SERVICE – when the SERVICE was ATROCIOUS? What motivation does any server have to be a good server if we all tipped 15-20 regardless of the level of service?
I am someone who’s always included a tip with the cost of eating out, and have ALWAYS left 20% or better (I round up to the nearest half dollar). Unfortunately, probably in part due to my demographics (young, single, black, female) – I’ve had so many horrible restaurant experiences eating out that I seriously considered not eating out at all. But when people say that I should reward this horrible service anyway – I get a little confused. If the person really cared that much that they only made $2 and had to split the tips and got taxed etc. etc. then that would have been reflected in the service. I should not be expected to reward horrible service just because of the unfortunate financial situations of servers. I’m in the “talk to the manager AND leave 10% (or none, depending on how bad it was)” camp, but I’m definitely not going to give poor service the same amount I would give good/excellent service and don’t really understand why anyone would.
okay…. im back but read EVERY WORD….
this is to the GUEST. If you come in a restuarant on a busy friday night and your sever has a full section if you dont know what a section is.. look to your left right front of you and behind you… are those tables full? also if a table gets set right next to you right when you sit down and your server has that table? and you leave a shitty tip….. because your server could not bend over backwards thats wrong. Try looking around yo and seeing how busy your server is.
if its a SLOW tuesday night and your server has 2 or 3 tables….. and pays you no attention then hell then leave an OKAY tip.
basically the less people they have then the more attention you should get.
if your server is busy but tries dont penalize them for it.
I tend to tip about 15% to 20%. The exact amount within that range depends on the quality of the service and how I feel about it subjectively at the time.
This range is what I apply across the board, to those situations that I believe calls for tipping, such as:
– waiter/waitress at restaurant
– bellhop
– taxi driver
– maid at hotel
– barber
– etc, you get the picture
I should note that I don’t believe in using the tip jar at coffee shops, quick-serve restaurants, etc. These types of places appear to be new to the world of tipping, and I’m not ready to go along with that.
Otherwise, with “tippable” services, I’m usually in for 15% to 20%.
Assuming I get good service, this is what I typically tip…
Cheap restaurants: 20%
Expensive restaurants: 15%
Hair dresser: $4-$5
Please tip less for bad service. It will reinforce better behavior. Conversely, don’t feel guilty about tipping servers when they do a good job. I used to be a server and we had to tip out a mandatory 8% on bar sales regardless of what the customer tipped. Bus boys also expect $1 tip if they bus the table. This sometimes meant a net loss for some tables. Servers in PA only make a fixed $2.83/hr with no raises. If you never done the job before, believe me, it’s hard. Some nights, servers will only have 1 or 2 tables on a 5 hour shift, so cash flow is inconsistent. So please, don’t feel guilty about tipping adequately.
The tipping methodology exists in order to give customers the power to reinforce good behavior. In case you haven’t connected the dots, power in the customer’s hands is a good thing!
I’d like to reiterate, do NOT give a full tip for bad service. It is common for waiters to share information on their earnings with their coworkers, so if good servers find out that bad servers make just as much as they do, the good servers will eventually decrease the quality of their service.
Please tip your Barista (except for pouring a cup of Joe or if you buy a bottle of water, etc); generally only 50 cents to $1. It is factored into our wages. Not only does it take skill to pull the perfect espresso shot and make the thickest foam for macchiatos and lattes, but almost every Barista WILL screw up the drink of a regular who doesn’t tip. And sometimes non-regulars.
Tipping hasn’t always been so mandatory! It happened when employers realized they could get away with paying their employees very little or nothing and letting the patrons foot the bill. Tipping is and always will be a courtesy in my book, depending on whether or not i’m pleased with the service.
@Tiffany – Tipping has been about the same as long as I can remember. And that goes back to the early 60s. That’s when I was taught how to tip by my father.
Tipping is not “a courtesy”. It’s payment for services rendered. If you feel like cheating your neighbor who happens to be a server out of his or her wages simply because you can, then you are a pretty miserable person in my book.
@Tiffany- Ok if you feel that way about tipping then I would tell you not to go out and order anything. Stay home make your own coffee, do your own nails, dont get a mssage ect….
I’m a cocktail server at a Indain casino and well sadley we only give coffee, soda and juice for free, and only about 30% people tip. Thats way wrong. I do, do it for tips but all so I like the nice people I meet. I have this one sweet old man come in every day plays the same slot. He orders his coffee and gives me 25 cents. I don’t get upset because he’s sweet and tells me storys.
I have done a office job where it was 9 to 5. Did the payroll and billed out over a million a month, got paid well and great benifits but you know what no person to person inneraction. It got boring.
I work a hell lot harder now and paid a lot less but I like it. Just hate the people who don’t tip and are demanding saying give me or oh all my money is in the slots, I lost so much. Your called cheap and jerks! How can a person feel ok not tipping their service person I don’t understand. Some people live off their tips others for living and school.
For haircuts, I leave 15-20 percent. If I’m paying with cash, I’ll round it based on the dollars I have. If I’m paying with a card, I’ll usually go closer to 20 percent.
In a state where full-service fueling is required, no tips are expected, but they are kind for additional services.
In states where self-service is standard, paying a little extra to have someone else do the fueling should be done with a tip. Especially if you are in a fancy resort location.
When in Italy, a tip to use the toilet was expected. Who deserves a tip more than the person cleaning up after other people’s excrement?
Tipping is a bribe and the best tip is to print out advice cards. ” your country is a democracy where you can organize,or join a union where you can demand adequate . ” do this and get prperly paid for your work” and get off the “Master-Slave” relationship. This advice if followed will be a much pleasenter workplac.Lea ve this card as a tip.Be prepared to be insulted a few times reply that you will join their protest parades.
Mr. van Berg, perhaps you should stick to commenting about customs in your own country. First of all, we’re a “Republic”, not a “Democracy”. Second of all, how can tipping be a “bribe” if it’s done *after the fact*? Third, when these little phrases are on your menus – Pourboire inclus, Fooi inbegrepen, inklusive Bedienung und Mehrwertsteuer – do you leave an “advice card” to your server and demand that the *mandatory* service charge is removed? You do know that the service charge isn’t passed directly over to the server, right?
Frankly, I get paid “properly” for my work because most people in the US comply with the local customs. Yes, it’s different than most of the world. But I’m sure that your country has some “different customs”, whether it be having to pay a mandatory service charge regardless of how bad the service is, or having taxes included in the menu price, or not giving white chrysanthemums to someone, or the fact that it’s considered rude to ask a really personal question to someone. Should I take your country to task for having weird ideas about flowers? I think not. I shouldn’t call your country something out of the superstitious Dark Ages simply because you think that white mums signify death.
When you come to our country, perhaps it would be easier for you to figure out what you give your own servers through the mandatory service charges and tips and follow through here. It’s not that difficult to add to the bill whatever percentage you normally pay, whether it’s 16% included in the price or 6% included in the price plus 10% after the fact.
I assume that you’re not writing from South Africa since most restaurants don’t actually add a service charge and tipping is similar to the US.
Thank you for your consideration should you visit our country. I hope you realize the errors of your posts.
ok now let tell to you i dont think my last blog went thoug tip housekeeper at the end of trip leave it at the front desk ina enverlope for ht girl who had te room all week if they cahnge girls everyday devide it up . but at the hi=otel in the villages they have one girl do the same room about 5 days out of the week just ask please thanks .
let me clear that up please i mean just ask front desk who has the room all week and if they change girls all the time tip every day if not at the end of trip and and leave in enverlope and give to front desk ,now
#342 please stop complaining about tipping watriess or waiters if you can’t tip a waitress you have know bunissees eating out it should not come inthe price of the meal and i thinkit should be added onthe end of the bill cause some watress get stiffed all the time and that sucks and yes wait staff get 3.12 and hour and housekeepers get 7.25 buttips are nice and it shows you care and if more people care we havea better place to live in thnks
I thought tipping was for EXTRAORDINARY service. Why are we almost required to tip for people doing their jobs, sometimes in a mediocre manner? I realize wait staff do not get minimum wage which is ridiculous. Even if it will raise the cost of dining out, it is a far more equitable thing for all staff to at least earn a basic minimum wage for all the “crap” they have to put up with. And when I tip I expect it to go to the person I am tipping, not the entire staff. Pay them what they should be making – at least minimum wage, not the $2.00 an hour which is not enough to keep anyone alive much raise a family on. I tip waitresses and my hair dresser because she makes time for me on short notice and I can count on her to do so. That is above and beyond what most people would do and she deserves it.
do u guys realize that servers only make $2.13 an hour?????
whatever you give us is what we pay our bills with…
just keep that in mind.
18% is the minimum.
that is 15% to us.
we have to tip the busser 1%
we have to tip the bartender 1%
and the hostess/quality assurance 1%.
My gosh! If I tipped everyone like you guys suggest, I wouldn’t have any money to buy their services in the first place. Perhaps, since I am a receptionist, I should be tipped for doing my job too. Maybe $1.00 per phone call or $3.00 for greeting people when they come through my door. And, I’m sorry, you don’t tip a cable guy or your mail man! They get paid to do their job just like me. I was always told that waitresses & hairdressers are tipped because they don’t make as much money.
Ok 15% wAs what the standard tip was when I was in college which was quite awhile ago. Most people in the service industry live on tips not on their wage… As there are states such as MA that pay 2.63 per hour.. And there is this thing called inflation and the service industry is affected by it.. The standar now is 18%. For the person who pays 300 $ and is out of a resturant in less than an hour, I have to say that is good work. Any meal that much will require more time in the place than an hour.. And you are not realizing all the people that server has to tip out as well. Esp in nice place.. They tip bartenders for making drinks, bussers etc.. And sometimes even the kitchen.. So if you can afford the 300$ meal you can afford the 20% tip..
I completely agree with you when it comes to food service; however many waiters still get under tipped these days unfortunately even with a simple insightful blog such as yours. Tipping good just needs to become practiced better because its how many people make a living.
I’ve been playing with a pretty funny app for my iphone that rates tippers on how they tip. It’s not that accurate since it only gives you three fields to calculate its ratings but its pretty fun:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/tip-rating/id508671961?mt=8&uo=4
“Tipped employees” are a class of employee for which the standard federal minimum wage does not apply. Instead, employers must pay a tipped employee at least $2.13 / hour. HOWEVER, the law also states that if an employee’s wage plus that employee’s tips do not equal at least the standard minimum wage (currently $7.25 nationally, higher in some states), the employer MUST make up the difference. This is non-negotiable, FEDERAL LAW that the employer cannot ignore.
So, regardless of whether someone tips 15% or nothing at all, the employer is REQUIRED by FEDERAL LAW to ENSURE that the employee earns AT LEAST the standard minimum wage.
A lot of tipped employees are either not told this, or feign ignorance when trying to whine about how their wages are dependent on their tips, which simply is not true. They are GUARANTEED the standard minimum wage ($7.25 per hour) under FEDERAL LAW.
So “tipped employees” are guaranteed the standard minimum wage per hour even if they don’t get a single tip during their entire shift. So as a “tipped employees”, if you want to earn more than $7.25 per hour, stop whining and get a better-paying job, otherwise be thankful for the minimum-wage earnings you make as someone with no other marketable skills or higher education.
If you are employed by a restaurant as a server, and let’s say you are on the schedule to work from 2pm to 10pm on a Saturday, you will be there for the full 8 hour shift regardless of whether the place is packed with customers or not, and your employer is still required under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) (United States) to ensure you are paid at least the standard minimum wage of $7.25 per hour in the event you do not make enough tips to bring you to that level from the minimum required cash wage of $2.13 that the owner normally pays as salary.
So if the customers do tip generously and your hourly wage (including the minimum required cash wage of $2.13) is over the standard minimum wage of $7.25, then your employer (in most cases) will only pay you as salary the minimum required cash wage of $2.13, and the rest of your wages are comprised of tips.
Tipping in America is basically nothing more than a scam perpetuated by business owners to place the burden of their employee salaries on the paying public. If I go into a restaurant, and I pay for a meal, the “service” is assumed to be included in the cost of the meal. I should not be expected to pay “extra” for the “privilege” of someone doing their job, being courteous, and not tampering with my food. That is what is expected of you as an employee in your position, and is not something the customer needs to pay “extra” to receive as part of their dining experience.
If I don’t tip, you will still be guaranteed a wage of $7.25 per hour, which I believe is acceptable for not only the actual “work” a server does, but also the amount of time spent actually doing anything related to me or my meal.
The total amount of time spent by a server dealing with me, my meal or my table very rarely ever surpasses 5 minutes total. I feel it is ridiculous to tip someone 15% (in some places 20% is expected) of my meal cost for spending a total of 5 minutes throughout my entire meal to simply:
1. Inform me of the specials or whatever they are trying to push (Required by the restaurant, as I don’t want to hear it)
2. Take my order
3. Bring drinks
4. Bring the order to my table
5. Ensure drinks stay filled (which in many places doesn’t happen)
6. Spend 10 seconds every 15 – 20 minutes to ask if the table needs anything
7. Bring the bill
8. Clear the table for the next diners
The issue is that servers, like everyone else I suppose, wish to earn far beyond the standard minimum wage of $7.25, but do not perform any function or work to actually justify that. The other issue is that an ever-growing number of restaurant owners in America charge rather high prices for their meals, and then through sheer greed pocket all the profits, and attempt to pass on the burden of the employee salaries onto the public.
There is not a huge difference in price between the cost of a decent meal in a decent restaurant in America, and one in Europe. Yet in many parts of Europe, tipping is discouraged if not openly frowned upon, because the restaurants pay their servers a full wage commensurate to the position, and the cost of that employee salary is built into the meal cost. The difference is that in America, the restaurant owner simply keeps it all for restaurant expenses and profit. That in turn becomes a burden on the servers to receive enough in tips to allow them to live well. The funny thing is, that in Europe you will often find that the full cost of a meal (without paying a tip…and the server is paid a full wage by the restaurant) is still less than the full cost of a meal in America with an added %15 tip, which simply further illustrates the point that the American system of tipping simply perpetuates greed on the part of the restaurant owners.
Then of course, you hear the argument from servers that “If you can’t afford to tip, you shouldn’t dine out”, because they are not satisfied receiving $7.25 for unskilled labor that does not require higher education, and are attempting to entice the consumer into feeling some type of moral indignation that might prompt them to tip generously.
When I dine out, I pay for the meal (with the service included in the cost of the meal), and am not legally obligated to supplement the salary of the server simply because the restaurant owner chooses not to do it. The functions the server performs in no way justifies a voluntary 15% increase in the amount I pay.
In America you see this same type of setup in many salons as well, where you pay anywhere from $15 – $30 for a haircut, and then are expected to tip the barber / stylist $5 – $20 on top of that, because like servers, their employer does not pay them a full wage, and treats them as “tipped employees”. If I pay $15 for a haircut, the expectation is that it would be done well and look the same regardless of whether I tip or not, because I am paying for the service of receiving a haircut in a professional manner in a style that I describe, just as at a restaurant I am paying for the meal and it is expected to be
delivered to the table in a timely and courteous manner without being tampered with, without me paying anything beyond the actual cost of the items I consume to receive that service.
Bottom line, if “tipped employees” aren’t happy receiving $7.25 an hour, which they WILL receive as it is guaranteed under United States Federal Law, they should seek employment elsewhere without whining about the tips they receive, as they are not
legally entitled to them, and the customer is not legally obligated to provide them. The problem “tipped employees” have is with their employer, and not the customer, if you really think about it.
I realize this was a little long, but I felt it was necessary to fully explain so people understand that “tipped employees” in America WILL receive $7.25 per hour even if they don’t receive tips, and that people also understand the justification for not ever tipping a server or any other type of “tipped employee” in America. The burden of paying an employee salary is on the business owner that employs them, not the public.
The meal prices in different countries are comparable, yet in America there is somehow a sense of entitlement on the part of waitstaff that are underpaid by their employers that are still collecting fees that could compensate waitstaff without the use of a tip system.
There is no need to pretend that tipping a server is not my responsibility, because it absolutely isn’t. It’s not about “taking something for free”, or not being altruistic. If it was my legal responsibility to financially compensate a server 15% of my bill for 5 minutes of work, then it would be included in my bill and it would not be optional, it would be mandatory under law. You don’t work for me. You work for a greedy restaurant owner…your salary issues lie with them, not the public consumer.
The cost of my meal absolutely includes you taking my order on behalf of your employer, because if you didn’t, there would be no sale. The cost of my meal also includes the responsibility of the restaurant to deliver the goods I purchased to me.
Performing those services that are required on behalf of your employer in no way entitles you to compensation by me for performing them.
If you are not satisfied with an unskilled minimum wage job, then endeavor to get a higher education, or some marketable skills,
that will allow you to earn a wage commensurate to your skillset or education. Being deserving of anything has nothing to do
with it. Just because you cannot survive off minimum wage does not mean that the public consumer is in any way responsible to
supplement the income that your employer is too greedy to pay you to ensure you can make $15 – $50 an hour (and yes, I have met waitstaff that make $50+ an hour totaling several thousand dollars per month).
At a decent American restaurant, a typical dinner for two is in the neighborhood of $50…at a more upscale establishment, the
bill is typically $100+.
A server spending 5 minutes with me throughout the meal to take my order and deliver the food will never justify $7.50 on a $50 tab, and certainly not $15 on a $100 tab for literally 5 minutes of their time.
The issue is not about being cheap, or trying to get something for free (which we are not). The issue is that I refuse to directly pay a full hourly salary for someone that only serves me for 5 minutes. Doing so is simply akin to me giving money to someone that neither earned it, or frankly deserves it based on the service performed directly for me.
At the rate of the standard US federal minimum hourly wage, which is $7.25, you are entitled to earn 12.0833 cents per minute
(60 minutes x 12.0833 cents = $7.25). If you spend 5 minutes taking my order, bringing the food and refilling drinks, then you are entitled to 60.4165 cents to compensate you for your time, and not a preposterous 15% of my bill. I would be courteous and even round it up to 75 cents, or perhaps a full dollar if I have no change, but that is realistically all you “deserve” for what you do and the time it takes you to do it.
The functions a server performs are simply not worth more than the standard federal minimum wage, which was basically established to regulate the minimum wage for unskilled labor such as waitstaff.
Sorry if people that work in the service industry take offense, but if you read all of my posts and think about the issues in a logical manner, instead of reacting emotionally, you cannot dispute the law or the logic. Your salary is in no way the
responsibility of the consumer just because your employer doesn’t want to pay you.
You are willingly choosing to basically perform volunteer work at a restaurant in exchange for the privilege of receiving
charity from patrons. It’s not their responsibility to pay you for doing a job, as they do not employ you. You are employed
by the restaurant, and they should be paying you. My legal obligation for a financial exchange for goods and services is solely with the restaurant.
If you were to not work for tips, and received a salary of $7.25 per hour from the restaurant, and a customer decided to tip
YOU, they are still tipping YOU directly, and NOT the restaurant. The restaurant wouldn’t legally be entitled to any tip left. The truth of the matter is that waitstaff simply feel they are somehow entitled to earn exorbitant amounts of money for unskilled labor, and then make pretty weak arguments as to why they should, and why their earnings are the burden of the public consumer and not their actual employer.
As a purely charitable act, I will tip 12.0833 cents per minute to supplement your income that is the responsibility of your
employer. Now earn your pay.
The Fair Labor Standards Act clearly states regarding a “tip pool”: The requirement that an employee must retain all tips does not preclude a valid tip pooling or sharing arrangement among employees who customarily and regularly receive tips, such as waiters, waitresses, bellhops, counter personnel (who serve customers), bussers, and service bartenders. A valid tip pool may not include employees who do not customarily and regularly received tips, such as dishwashers, cooks, chefs, and janitors.
Read that carefully. Legally, you are not required as a server to share tips with personnel who would not “customarily and
regularly receive tips”. So if you willingly and voluntarily opt to share your tips with personnel not legally entitled to them, that is of course your choice. However, the customer is in no way obligated legally, morally or altruistically to compensate you for your decision.
I don’t agree with the American system, and I choose to never support it, as I have no legal obligation to do so. I will not willingly give my money away to people that have no legal entitlement to it under the law. And I feel no guilt about that whatsoever. If you cannot survive off minimum wage, then change your situation and circumstances. You are performing unskilled manual labor, so how can you realistically desire or expect to earn white-collar wages? Seriously, people…this is the ridiculous sense of entitlement that people in other parts of the world ridicule Americans for. Just because you choose to perform unskilled labor for whatever reason, that is regulated at minimum wage, does not mean that you are entitled to have others supplement your income, or that customers are responsible for ensuring you make above anything that you are
legally entitled to. Whatever wage you want to earn, find a job that pays it in salary and EARN IT, and do not expect or rely on the charity of customers to compensate for a greedy employer that DOES make enough money to actually pay you a fair wage of $7.25 for your unskilled labor, but chooses to pay you slave wages. If you can’t find a job that will pay you $30 — $50 an hour in salary for unskilled labor, then might I suggest you learn and develop marketable skills, or get a higher education?
You should not be angry with customers that do not tip…you should be angry at the restaurant owner that WILLINGLY participates in this system, since they do not have to use the tip credit system…they are simply greedy.
I personally find it appalling when people take the attitude that because they choose to work at a low-paying job, that they are somehow entitled to a salary normally earned at a higher class position of employment, and everyone other than their actual employer is obligated to pay it. Simply appalling. You are paid and entitled to a salary that your work warrants, not what you unrealistically prefer to earn.
Oh, so there’s no problem with the system, so long as we simply go along with giving you our money for no valid reason, eh?
I’m not complaining about the commodities I buy. I’m actually not complaining at all. What I am doing is informing you that any cost associated with taking my order and delivering my food to me is included in the cost of the meal, otherwise there would never be a sale to begin with. You MUST take the order, or there is no sale. You MUST deliver my food, or the restaurant has not fulfilled the terms of the contract. You’re not serving me, you’re serving the interest of your employer.
Just because someone tells you, “this is how it works here” doesn’t make it so. If I was legally responsible for a service charge, then I would pay it. Since I’m not, I never will. THAT’S how it really works, under the law…which people like you seem to like to ignore when it’s convenient for you to get other people’s money that you aren’t entitled to.
Just because someone tries to force a responsibility on me that I don’t voluntarily agree to, doesn’t make me responsible.
You don’t work for me, so I will never pay you. My legal contract for payment of services and goods is directly with the
restaurant, and not a volunteer laborer, which is basically what you are under the tip credit system.
All of my posts have legally and logically demonstrated why your salary is not my, or any other consumers responsibility. You
are guaranteed minimum wage under federal law…you will never get free money from me simply because you aren’t satisfied earning minimum wage in a job you willingly choose to do.
US Federal Law is my validity. I do not have to tip because I am not legally required to do so. Your livelihood is not my responsibility.
At a restaurant, the same level of service is to be expected from a server whether they are tipped or not, as you are an employee of the restaurant and you represent them. I guarantee that any business owner would agree, and would likely fire YOU for stating otherwise. The expectation of a tip will not determine the level or quality of service that a customer receives…dispute that with a business owner and see if you’re working there tomorrow.
Your “service” of taking my order and delivering my food is MANDATORY for the sale of your employer’s goods, and does not
entitle you to extra compensation from me, which is why I am not legally obligated under the law to do so. THIS is indisputable fact, not opinion.
In any restaurant, I can inform you before I even order that I won’t be tipping you, and you WILL still serve me in order to sell the goods of the restaurant. THAT is fact, not opinion. You will complete the sale of goods for your employer or you will be fired.
Seven out of 50 states currently ban a tip credit, and more will likely follow in the future, because both the public and lawmakers realize it is nothing more than a scam perpetuated at the expense of a gullible public.
I’m not tipping you for doing your job, or to compensate you for willingly working a low wage job.
Giving you hand-outs and charity is barely a step above you being on welfare with my taxes supporting you anyway. The only difference with tips is that we are cutting out the welfare office as the middle-man.
@browsebo
Sir/Madam! Yes it is our job to take your order, and bring you your food. You are correct!
But if you think for one minute that you could come tell me, before you order, that you will not be tipping me and I will give you the exact same service you are sadly mistaken and delusional.
Skill is in the eye of the beholder. I guess you have to go to university to be skilled? I’m not sure what you consider skilled, but if you think that any Joe or Sally off the street can be a good server, again you are delusional and you clearly have your head up your a##!
There is a reason that serving is rated among the top ten stress-full areas of work in North America. It’s because it is a very hard trade and people like you look down upon us because we are trying to make an honest living.
We Sir/Madam, have to entertain you while your food is taking long because of circumstances beyond our control. We entertain your children and make sure they have food fast so that you can enjoy yours when it comes. We go to the kitchen and find out what is taking your food so long, and then we have to come and explain it to you and listen to you act like it’s our fault. We have to deal with people who think that they are so much better than us because they graduated from university. We help give you a pleasant experience while you are dining. Perhaps you would like to go to your favorite dining place and go up to the counter, order your food from some sixteen year old, take your food back to your table, get your own refills, and get up off your chair and go back to the counter when there is a problem. Maybe that would be better for you?
Believe me when I tell you that good service is NOT mandatory and if you think you would be able to go to my Manager and have me fired, again your sadly mistaken. The manager will tell you sorry, and say the things you want to hear. Then do you know what happens. He/She will come back to me and tell me that you are just another one of those idiots who thinks he/she is better than everyone else and deserves a server to wait hand and foot. We Sir/Madam are people too. We are not welfare cases. We are not lazy! We work our butts off! We have to be highly organized. You don’t just come off the street and start making good money. You have to earn it. How do you do that? You learn! You develop skills! You work hard! I did all these things! Starting as a dishwasher and working my way up over 20+ years to become a bartender who makes decent money. Believe me I don’t make the money that I do because I’m lazy! You might ask why I’m not a manager after twenty years. Well I’ll be honest with you. I make more money than them. It’s not because I am expecting charity from you! It’s because I work hard to ensure my guests have a good experience. I am working for them and 98% of them realize in and pay for it. Of course there are always the 2% who make up every excuse in the book not to leave a tip. You went further than most…I applause you!
It’s ok though. We servers know/expect that people like you come in once and a while. We know that you are so much smarter than us. You have it all figured out. Hell, you should be president! I’m sure you’d do a better job at it. You’d really get the U.S. back on it’s feet.
Charity?..HAHAHA! A step above welfare?….HAHAHA! Unskilled? HAHA!
I don’t expect you to understand so because you can’t teach or show something to someone you knows everything. So I will cut it short.
The only thing I would say is to go and try it yourself and find out how unskilled it is. Oh but you are probably too good for that. You are better than others so I don’t expect you to do that.
You should really examine your self and realize that you are not better that anyone else. You don’t know their stories. You don’t know what has brought people to the points in life that they are at. Lastly, judging by your ignorant words, have never worked in, and know nothing about working in the service industry. Oh, but I know you think you do and you will disagree.
This blog (which I really like by the way) is filled with people who are scraping their pennies trying to get ready for retirement and so of course there are a lot of people with all kinds of excuses to be cheap. Instead of waiting for retirement to have a good time, you should try it now! Life is short brother! You’ve got to realize that you are no better than anyone else. EVEN THE PEOPLE On WELFARE! We are all people trying our best to get by. If you try and be nice to people, I’m willing to bet that you’ll find out that it will be returned. In fact you might actually fell good about it and better about yourself. You might realize that people are mostly good! We are all people man! I hope you realize it someday because I feel sad for you! We shouldn’t be against each other. That is what the “SYSTEM” is designed for. We go to work, we come home and sit in front of the T.V. and let the people at the “top” brain wash us so we are distracted and distanced from each other and from what’s really going on. The media is basically owned by Oil and Big Business. Everybody know that the leaders of the U.S. have more than a hand in each of those. We the people should be sticking together and getting away from the media that wants to keep us in our houses, in front of the tube, and separate from each other.
Please Don’t talk to me about “The System” I have studied 4 years of Sociology. The system is F##cked my friend!
Please get off your high horse and come back down to the rest of us! I’m sure you’ll enjoy life a lot more!
Oh, and stop judging servers. You don’t know us and you don’t know everything our job entails.
I would never claim that you are unskilled at what you do because I probably know nothing about it. Please show me and others the same courtesy. I dare you to go into ever place you eat (where their are servers) and tell them right off the bat that you will not be tipping them… see what happens. Or maybe you would be better suited to eat at McDonald’s. Maybe you could learn a thing or two about manners from the welfare cases that eat there!
Guys,
Normally its 20% for good food and indulgence but DO NOT PROP CLIENTELLE UP WITH SPECIAL OFFERS THAT ONLY ADD DOLLARS to a several $ hundred tab after they’ve been drinking and are there to entertain guests. They do not hear “I’m adding $25 to your tab so you can be special.” They were focused on guest as they should have been and not trying to get first queue on next reservation or 10% off next meal. I was really pissed at high end restaurant for bother & embarassment in front of guests to correct tab. Fortunately old waiter was still there who said management made them do it but it good waiter 5%.
Another pisser is being asked “And your name?” by hostesses at chain restaurants you regularly go to. I will volunteer it to waiter if I choose or he can get it off credit card. Don’t stalk! I did tell manager without a peep about having to go to kitchen for silverware. Thankfully, he listened.
A meal should not be an opportunity to strip diner of all personal information for your marketing dept. -I was a waiter too.
I would just like to throw in my two cents, as I am a waiter and a bartender. I wont argue the 18%, thats VERY AVERAGE. In the state of texas, I get paid $2.13/hour. Yes your reading that right.. $2.13/hour plus tips. Something one would not know unless they have worked in the industry, is about tipshare. Say you go into Chilis. Before you even meet your server, you are sat by the host. When you finish your food, your table is cleaned and sanitized by the bus boy. When you order alcohol it is made by the bartender. For every single check, your server has to tip out host, bus boy, and server. Sometimes, your server OWES money on your tab, because your 10% tip doesn’t cover my tip and then tipshare. Its not fair and most people dont know this. I mean really, if you can afford to go out to eat, get appetizers, desserts, drinks, but you try and leave your waiter 3 dollars? At the end of the night, they in turn have to tip. If you cannot afford to properly tip your waiter or waitress, that is what the dollar menu is for. Im sorry but i depend on your cheap ass to pay my bills.
You completely forgot to mention tipping your tattoo artist or body piercer. Since I work in that industry let me just say that 15% – 30% is the average.
Tattoo Artist: 10-20% tip more for multiple session pieces(I usually tip $20 per hour)
It never, ever dawned on me to tip the tattoo artist before! The guy that did mine charged ~$75/hour so $20/hour tip is a bit steep though.
Your tattoo artist charged by the hour? Both of mine charged by the piece. I tipped them $20 both times.
I usually tip more than I probably should…just because I used to work in service jobs and know how frustrating it can be to get undertipped. I’m not too big on tip jars but my basic philosophy is that if you don’t want to tip- don’t go out to eat! Or you can eat fast food and not have to tip anyone. I think it’s rude to go to a sit down restaurant and not tip or tip poorly just because you have a personal problem with tipping in general. People are trying to make a living so it’s not fair to punish them because you think the tipping system is unfair.
Holly- I typically tip 20% when I sit down at a restaurant but I find it frustrating and pressuring when I go to a take out/fast food and I see a line for a tip. Do you think you should have to tip on those services? I used to be a waitress (at a Friendly’s) and I made tips and I knew how stressful it was waiting to see how your night was going…. but I don’t really like tipping for fast food or ice cream or take out yet somehow I feel bad when I don’t.
I never leave tips for take-out unless they do something unusually helpful because under normal circumstances they don’t provide the kind of service that deserves a tip. I find that people will ask for a tip (via things like tip jars) for almost anything. It’s one reason why I prefer the Australian and European system of not having tips.
I tip at restaurants, usually by rounding up the bill to the next five or ten Euro value, keeping it in the region of 10% of the total. I did tip taxi drivers routinely, until the flagfall in my city became so outrageously high (and following a court ruling, many of the taxis so ratty) that I don’t feel I have to improve these guys’ income any longer. So now I only tip when I have a lot of luggage.
I don’t tip anyone else. The union-backed wage agreements for nearly every service sector in my country, and the minimum wage, are plenty generous, and as far as I am concerned, it’s up to employee to see that they aren’t cheated out of their entitlement. Certainly the consumer is charged prices to match!
But J.D.’s article and Holly’s comment did a lot to enlighten me why I got so many bad responses from service folks when I travelled in the US. I must say, the idea that these folks would not earn a living wage and would NEED tips didn’t even occur to me.
Hello! Love your articles!
Question: So are these percentages based off of tax included or after tax?
Theoretically it is before tax. But most wait persons appreciate it if you do it after tax.
One I’ve had trouble finding info on: cafeteria-style restaurants. In a way, it’s a bit like a barista (there’s somebody behind the counter putting food on your plate), and there are cooks & bus staff as well. But nobody comes to the table to take the order, we fill our own drinks. We generally gut-feel it at around 10-15% (“15-20%, minus an actual waiter”) depending on quality of food that night, friendliness of the serving staff, the expediency of the bus staff, and occasionally the messiness of our kid. Anybody else have input?
In a similar vein are buffet-style restaurants. There are cooks and bus staff, but no one is taking our order, bringing us food/putting it on our plate, etc. Some places will bring drinks, others are self-serve.
Should I tip? I dunno.
This is exactly the question I always have when reading articles about tipping. I have a favorite buffet restaurant, and I always tip there (works out to about 15%), but they know me when I go in, and bring me extras (including a favorite dish when it’s not on the buffet that day, without me even asking). I wouldn’t dream of not tipping there.
But there’s another buffet I go to, and the only “service” I get is plate-clearing (ie I get my own drinks and such), and I’m never quite sure whether or not to tip there.
It always irritates me that some buffet style restaurants will “suggest” tips of 15, 20, and even 25%. They are trying to rip you off or else they are not adequately paying their wait staff. The standard tip for buffet and cafeteria restaurants is supposed to be 10% if they bring your drinks and little or nothing otherwise. After all, you have to carry your own food. In a restaurant where the wait person brings your food, they are doing more work and the standard is a 15% tip (more for exceptional service, special favors, etc.). This is what the government assumes as a basis for determining how much tax they owe, if they don’t report their own tips, and is based on common practice throughout the country. Some will complain that inflation requires that these percentages should go up. But that’s a bogus argument. Inflation also drives up the cost of the meal and, hence, automatically drives up the amount of the tip.
If they are bringing lots of drinks and doing a lot of work, I’d go with the 10-15%
If it’s mostly just clearing plates and maybe pouring more water, I usually tip about $1 per person at our table — which at the ethnic buffet(s) I go to is…uh, well, yeah, right in the middle of 10-15%!
That’s about how I came to the 10-15%, as we’re usually 2 adults and 1 toddler at an ethnic buffet or cafeteria-style restaurant. If the kiddo has been well behaved and tidy, we usually do $2 for the two adults that were served; if the kiddo has been particularly energetic/noisy/messy, we toss in another $1-2 for the trouble he caused (though we’ll often take a prelim tidying pass at the table to make it less obnoxious for the staff). In one, they keep our glasses full, while beverages are self-service in the other. We bump up the above amounts for the place with higher service, despite both places running about $7-11/adult.
Curious about the Pizza Delivery. They don’t make minimum wage and they are showing up to your doorstep with food. Why would they get less than a waiter in a restaurant?
I’m not sure which category above this falls into, but I tend to tip a lot of people that come to our house for various chores. I’ll always tip someone that’s delivering furniture or appliances. We had some “junk” hauled away and I tipped them also. I typically just give them enough to cover lunch or maybe coffee (depending how long/hard they are here working). I don’t really have a specific rule I follow, but if it’s hot day, unpleasant work, and I know they are basically general laborers, I try to tip them. I will say, most people are extremely happy/thankful/surprised.
Well, for one, the only service they are providing is delivering your pizza. They aren’t “waiting” on you in a similar vein for an hour.
This is why the grocery delivery guy shouldn’t get a tip based on the cost of your order, but on the number of bags/amount of work involved.
Right, they aren’t waiting on you for an hour. But they are servicing 1 customer at a time, traveling between deliveries, returning back to the storefront periodically.
Suppose a delivery person hits 4 houses in an hour. If each person give a $2 tip, that’s 8 bucks. They have to cover their own gas (+ the wear and tear on their cars) and don’t make min wage.
The restaurant server incurs zero cost during their shift.
I get the idea that restaurant servers do a lot for you….I just think that food delivery people do a lot as well.
Are you sure the pizza delivery drivers don’t make at least minimum wage? Back in college I delivered pizzas for just over min ($0.25-0.50), made an additional $1 for each delivery (whether or not I came back to the store – so 3 pizzas to 3 houses in one trip = $3) PLUS if each driver made his quota, we made an additional $0.40 per house. The $1/house was to cover gas and wear & tear (we all drove sub-compact beaters, so it was just gravy) All of this in addition to tips!! It was great pay, but the hours sucked.
My college son did it recently (and thankfully for a short time). They got $5.something/hour, $1.50 per delivery and tips.
My husband was a Pizza Delivery Driver when we met in college. He was the one that answered the phone then made pizzas while waiting for deliveries then delivered the pizzas (often times to remote areas in the ice and snow) he used his own vehicle and while he was paid minimum wage I recall monthly repair bills for his vehicle being $500-$1000. He also worked until 3 am and helped clean the kitchen and close the restaurant. Oh and don’t forget if you are in an office that has no convenient parking when you ask for delivery at least cover the fines they can accrue if the only space they have to park and get the pizza to you in a timely manner is illegal.
lol.. Cover the potential parking fine? Minimum parking citation here is $50… up to $500. If they park in a no parking zone, the fine is on them. If you are in an office building without convenient parking, how about asking the delivery driver to call when they arrive and meet them outside. As for your husband having car repair fees of $500-1000 per month, sounds like he had a lemon. It probably would have been cheaper for him to buy a new beater each month 😛
One thing you didn’t mention is that if you use coupons, always base the tip amount on the original price. It’s not the waiters choice to offer the coupon!
“Some points regarding tipping etiquette:
If you use a coupon or gift certificate, calculate your tip based on the total before discount.”
copied and pasted from the article.
Needs an image; I would have loved to Pin this to save/reference for later (on Pinterest)! Thanks for putting the info together!
I will add an image!
Is it tacky to simply avoid the use of places that “require” a tip?
I wouldn’t think so. It’s tacky to refuse to tip because you don’t want to. But if you’d rather not tip, not frequenting places where it’s customary seems reasonable. (Although I would find it obnoxious if you loudly proclaimed how smart you are by not paying tips.)
But I just consider them as part of the cost of the service in question. So if I’m choosing restaurants I mentally add 15-20% to the menu prices when budgeting the cost. If I can’t afford the tip I can’t afford the service.
Not at all. In fact, I’d call it tacky for a place to require a tip. As personal policy, cocky people who ask specifically for a tip do not receive one from me beyond “keep the change” (so generally < $1.00). Otherwise, I do believe in tipping when people do something that their job does not specifically call for. For example, waitresses are just there to take your order and bring you food. If they do so politely, and constantly keep the drinks topped off, etc, they will get a generous tip. Simply doing your job does not get you a tip (e.g. Hotel housekeeping).
Note that this is my personal opinion, and not fact. If it was fact, it would be included already in your bill.
Coming from a family that is supported by someone in the Restuarant Service industry, you should never tip less than 15% no matter how bad you might think the service is. Tips are how Waiters/Waitresses make their living. The restaurant they work for only has to pay them a server minimum wage which ranges from $2-$3.50 an hour and most servers are then expected to tip out based on their sales not based on how much they make in tips. I agree with the comment listed above if you can’t afford to tip you have no business going out to eat. The US has it completely backwards thinking that individuals in the food service industry should not be salaried. Could you live on $40 day? I don’t think so. I usually enjoy these articles but I have to admit that someone who has never worked in the industry should not provide guidelines for something they haven’t experienced. What is expected is that for normal service 18-20%, for poor service 15% and for exceptional 25% or more. Your point about if you hang out at the table for longer than 90 minutes you should also tip more. I hope you can re-post this and make the adjustments, because you are really hurting hard working people by providing these guidelines. Thank you
Just as someone who has not worked in the industry may be biased, someone who has worked in the industry will be biased the other way. The standard for over a century has been 15% for a conventional “sit down” restaurant and 10% for a buffet restaurant where they serve only your drinks. That’s what the government assumes for calculating taxes and what many tipping guidelines advise. Of course, more than that is always a good idea for good service, and I also agree that less is appropriate for truly awful service (which I’ve experienced only once in 68 years).
At a conventional restaurant I always calculate 15% and round up to the nearest dollar – or more for good service or special favors.
Your data is incorrect. The Food industry would like you to believe that 15-20 has been the standard for a century, but this is completely false. Between 20-30 years ago, standard tipping practice was 5-10% for waitresses. That has since jumped to a minimum of 15-20% and is now creeping up to 20-25%. Don’t believe everything you read and also keep in mind MSM articles regarding tipping standards are often written from the perspective of high end, metropolitan restaurants. The articles they write usually contribute to tip creep because people are afraid to be viewed as not adhering to the “norm” as reported in those articles. Since food prices have increased steadily, we should not be experiencing increases in the “acceptable” tipping rates. It’s a food industry racket and needs to be stopped.
Here is an article that misrepresents this very topic and even suggests 25-30 is becoming the new norm. http://www. today. com/food/25-new-standard-tipping-depends-where-you-eat-1B5989931 (delete the spaces)
I disagree about not tipping less than 15% in the face of bad service. True, it’s hard to live on $40/day, but if the service you provide is bad enough that your wages plus tips amount to $40/day, that should be a sign to either improve your service or get out of the business.
Insisting on a minimum 15% tip, regardless of service, because the waitstaff earns so little removes an important market signal.
Is that actually a “market signal”? There are so many things that go into a good meal, a good dining experience, and good service.
I think it is more of a market signal for the restaurant industry itself rather than a signal for tipping (although bad service can ruin the experience and leave a bad taste in your mouth). It is basic economics, as long as there are workers willing to work at that $2 (supply), there is no need to raise the base wage.
While I’d agree that more goes into it then just what the waiter/waitress does I refuse to leave a good tip for someone who has done a horrible job. I don’t go through a terrible amount of water/pop/beer/whatever I’m drinking. I’d say that on an average time out I’ll have two drinks.
If I sit there with my glass empty that person is going to get 10%. If they’re extremely busy I’ll take that into consideration. But if it’s a standard night or not busy I expect certain attentiveness that comes with the cost of a sit down meal. I don’t feel that its necessarily being mean. But someone that’s doing a lousy job shouldn’t be compensated simply because “that’s the rule”. Maybe that person just isn’t cut out to be a waiter/waitress.
Also I’m curious as to what people think when going to pick up their food. I’ve seen several comments about delivery people but what if I go pick up that pizza?
Those people are paid their normal hourly rate for a job. To me tipping them is akin to saying hey, thanks for doing your normal job. I don’t get tips for doing my job so I don’t feel it’s necessary tip someone else that’s doing their job. Thoughts?
#93: Sometimes if I go to pick up food, I will put a few coins in the tip jar (basically, any loose change they give me aside from quarters, which I need for laundry). Sometimes a dollar if it’s a place I go to a lot. I don’t consider it an obligation, though.
I think JD nailed how I view tipping waiters. I always plan on tipping 20%, and I’ll leave 15% if I’m underwhelmed. I’ll tip more for exceptional service and dining experience. For me, 10% is really rare but can be appropriate for a totally disengaged waiter. I think his comment that you should be sure that whatever happened is the fault of the waiter if you are going to leave a poor tip is wise.
Your righteous indignation is transparently self-serving. You can’t have it both ways. Either the tip is a reward for good service given at the customer’s discretion, or it’s a salary that should be paid no matter what. If it’s the former, then internal agreements between restaurant staff are not my problem. If it’s the latter, then tips should be abolished and restaurant owners should pay their staff at least the minimum wage.
Either way, your self-serving demands about what we “should” tip are completely baseless. Firstly, having a family is a personal choice which is, and should be, completely irrelevant to the question of what a person should be paid for their work. Secondly, many people in many other jobs work just as hard as servers do for far less money (and some have families to support, if that makes a difference to you). Compared to other jobs that require similar levels of formal education, baretending and waiting tables are very well-paid gigs. Even if everyone tipped the 15% suggested in the article, I find it hard to imagine that a waiter wouldn’t be earning considerably more than someone who works in McDonald’s, or as a store assistant.
Additionally, I resent the fact that the baseline is constantly being shifted upwards. I remember a time when 15% was the baseline for a decent tip, and 18% was considered generous or a recognition of exceptional service. These days, some places automatically use 18% as the required tip for parties of 6 or more, and 20% or more was suggested for great service. Now, people like you are suggesting a ludicrous 25% for great service.
No. I don’t care if you think I’m Scrooge reincarnated. I’m sticking with 15-18% for standard to good service. No-one gets a cent more than 20% out of me under any circumstances. Bad service might get 10%, and for a truly horrendous experience I’ll give as little as one cent if I feel it’s warranted. Just because your family would like more money – and I don’t know a family which wouldn’t – doesn’t mean that the rest of us are obligated to give it to you. If anything, this constant pressure from serving staff (or people who know them) to drive tips upwards reduces my willingness to tip generously, as I’m starting to feel that it’s indicative of a greed that will never be satisfied until customers put their feet down.
I couldn’t have said it better myself. Agreed 100%.
@ Thea,
I’m sorry, but if the waiter decides to chat with his buddy or get high in the freezer while ignoring me, mixing up my orders, adding my total wrong, coughing on my food, and being rude to my wife, said waiter gets a 25-cent tip for yours truly if not a boot to the head.
Tipping is voluntary, not mandatory. It’s a way to let the free market work. If the tips aren’t good enough, then maybe the waiter needs to figure out why– either the waiter or the restaurant are doing something wrong, and the market needs to self-regulate (e.g. go work in a place with better tippers).
Wow – must say that aside from occasional mistakes (and I’m guessing most of those come from the staff being spread too thin), I’ve never experienced that kind of thing.
What restaurants allow staff to “get high in the freezer”?
Ha ha,if you’ve never worked in a restaurant, read “Kitchen Confidential”, or the classic (though ancient) “Down and Out in Paris and London”.
I used to eat at a cafe where the chef would go across the street to booze up every so often. He was nice for a while then he started getting weird, and he was eventually replaced.
Yes, those people get weeded out eventually, especially in places with good standards, but not every place upholds high standards– and yes bad places eventually go broke (restaurants have a 60% failure rate it seems), but for a while before they crash they do exist, and absurdities happen. EVer watch “Kitchen Nightmares” on HUlu? Hilarious stuff!
Having said this, getting terrible service has only happened to me once in a very blue moon, but it’s happened.
Minimum wage for servers can very from one state to another. For example, California minimum wage for servers is the same as for everyone else. I’ve lost track of what that is..seven-something an hour. Not saying people shouldn’t tip appropriately, just that in California (and I’m sure some other states)it’s not because they only earn $3 a hour.
Thanks for that, Thea. As I said in my comment to Holly above, I would never have known that. I have now looked up the union-negotiated pay rates in my country (Ireland) for waiters/counter assistants in cafeteria-style restaurants and bar staff, and they are as follows:
For the first 8 months of training: $8.73/hour
Second 8 months of training: $9.31/hour
Third 8 months of training: $10.45/hour
Once you are fully trained in any of these roles, you are entitled to a minimum hourly wage of $11.64 (calculated on an exchange rate of 1 Euro – 1.25 USD)
Other rates are similar, for example a beautician and manicurist is entitled to a minimum hourly wage of $9/hour. A fully trained hairdresser is entitled to $9.72.
I would stand over my previous comment that with wage entitlement like these, there is no general moral obligation on patrons to tip.
I’m sorry but I can’t stand inaccurate information like this being reported.
1. I can tip whatever I want, it’s not required, it’s my choice. I tip 15%-18% usually. If I get bad service, it drops. If I get great service, it rises to 20%. If your family need more money, get another job.
2. “Tips are how Waiters/Waitresses make their living. The restaurant they work for only has to pay them a server minimum wage which ranges from $2-$3.50 an hour and most servers are then expected to tip out based on their sales not based on how much they make in tips.”
This statement is WRONG. While, yes, the minimum is $2.13 federal, up in some states, the restaurant has to pay more if they don’t get the tips:
“If an employee’s tips combined with the employer’s direct wages of at least $2.13 an hour do not equal the federal minimum hourly wage, the employer must make up the difference.” (http://www.dol.gov/elaws/faq/esa/flsa/002.htm) In other words, all people in this country are REQUIRED to be paid minimum wage. If you are a waiter/etc NOT being paid that much, you can file a suit against your boss. That is illegal of them. If you are getting that amount in tips and you want MORE, then that is up to you with good service, but it is NOT required and you can go find another job that pays better.
3. “if you can’t afford to tip you have no business going out to eat.” Again, that is a rude way to think – I can afford to go out to eat and I don’t HAVE to tip, I do it because it is my way of saying thank you to someone serving me. If I can’t afford to tip, that doesn’t mean I can’t afford to go there.
Finally, I appreciated this article and I do think it is hard to determine the best way to handle all of this. But I think many people are biased one way or another. So hopefully the above clears up any misunderstanding in wage laws. Tips are OPTIONAL, not required for someone’s pay. If someone makes less because they tip out, that is not MY responsibility as the consumer, it is on the business.
PS. I do tip well and I have even gone to calling the restaurant when I messed up to make sure the waitress got the right tip. But I refuse to subsidize corrupt bosses by paying someone to do their job. Tips are extra, they are not wages.
I HATE the whole tipping thing so much! People should just be paid a fair wage for the work they do. They should not have to depend on the kindness or generosity of clients, or even just relying on people knowing who or what to tip. And people purchasing a service should not have to face a guilt trip everytime they purchase a service. And they should know ahead of time what something really is going to cost them. I think the whole thing is ridiculous. Ok, rant over. :o)
I agree completely. Just out of curiosity, here’s a question for those who work as servers: What’s the lowest hourly wage you would accept in lieu of tips?
A friend of mine worked as a waiter in Sydney, Australia. He earned $15/hour — tipping isn’t allowed there.
General minimum wage where I live (Ontario) is $10.25/hour. Minimum wage for people who serve alcohol (wait staff, bar tenders, etc) is $8.90/hour.
Tipping guidelines for restaurants are the same here (15-20%) but that applies to drinks too, not the $1 per drink I’ve heard the U.S. has.
When I was in Australia, our group would try to tip and they’d give us the money back. We got used to the higher cost incorporated into the restaurant prices, but it took us most of the trip to get over the guilty feeling of not tipping. But it really is a great system and they way it should be here. You know exactly what you’re going to pay for sit-down service without having to factor in tipping. AND you know the server is getting a fair wage.
I only partially agree. Because of difficulties getting staff and no tipping, service where I live is atrocious. Bad service, no cleaning tables, getting ignored etc. happens not once in a while, but nearly every time I go to a cafe/restaurant. No tip seems to translate into “we don’t have to care about the customer”. Awfull.
This totally depends on what the expectations are. Some restaurants require extensive wine and food knowledge, fussy uniforms, and late hours. How many tables would you be expected to take of at a time? What is the clientele like? Are you working a Saturday dinner shift or a Tuesday lunch?
So obviously the expected wage varies. If you were working moderately busy place that primarily serves beer and burgers, I think $13/ hour would be my minimum. A high-end steakhouse? No less than $17-$20.
In my humble opinion a person should never get “at least $17-$20 an hour” for bringing food to someone. Yes they’re required to know the menu, specials, etc but at more then $17-$20 an hour you’re getting into the range of jobs that require technical and quite honestly again (IMHO) a lot more training then being a waiter/waitress at a high steak house.
To me I’d say $20 an hour at that high end steak house would be a maximum. I’m sure I’m going to get flamed on it but wages for jobs are generally paid based on the number of people that can do that job. That is not a job that requires at total compensations of at least $17-$20 per hour.
This is just my opinion based on my experience. Knowing what I know, I would not work in that type of environment for less than $17-20 an hour. Keep in mind that serving at a high volume restaurant is physically demanding, and for places that only serve dinner, it’s not necessarily possible to get more than 30 hours a week.
Marc,
I’m firmly in the “don’t overtip” camp, even though I used to work as a waiter.
I worked in a tourist trap restaurant that required very little knowledge on the server’s end, and in general, I was bringing home more than $100 in an 8 hour shift. We had a popular breakfast, and when I got the right shift on a Sunday, I was bringing home $100 for 4 hours worth of work.
I hope that a server at a high end restaurant takes home more than I did. They go through a lot more training and have to have a lot more knowledge. These days, at a nice place (I live in a big city), I’m looking at $100-$150 for the wife and I. Take 15% of the low end, and you’re talking $15 for my table. Figure a nice place gives each waiter 3 tables at a time (just a SWAG, I have no idea) each table takes two hours, so you can turn it over 3 times in 6 hours, and we’re talking about $135 for the shift. And these are using conservative numbers, I’m sure. This comes out to $22/hour.
The question was posed to servers: What hourly wage would you want to give up your tips? At a really nice place, it looks like $25 would be a minimum.
You suggest that nobody deserves more than $20/hr for running food to a table. Maybe, maybe not. Taking a market based approach, if a cheap restaurant with no service standards will pay me $15/hr, then I want more for working at a nice place that requires me to invest in my uniform, appearance, and knowledge of the product.
@Sarah
True but lots of other jobs are physically demanding and make people work far longer for far less.
@Sarah and @Dan
When I was younger I had a job that was very physically demanding. I worked eight hour days and got paid minimum wage which at the time was $4.25 never thinking that I should get paid more because it was physical work. After that I went to college and got a degree because I got to keep learning new things and it trained me in a specific market that fewer people work in.
To test my theory about more training deserves more compensation I’ll pose this question. Who should be higher paid? Someone that teaches the next generation of students or someone that brings food to another person? Teacher vs server/waitress/waiter (or whatever the politically correct term is)? We’ll say that both are hard working, smart and go getters. They’re both exceptional at their job and both work in big cities. What you’re advocating and telling me is that the server/waitress/waiter should make more because they’re at a high end restuarant? I completely hands down disagree with that. Which is why I say that being a server/waitress/waiter doesn’t need that kind of compensation.
@Marc – Absolutely I do not think that a teacher deserves to make less than a server. My SO is a teacher and so I certainly understand that he doesn’t make enough money for the work that he does. However, teaching does give him a feeling of satisfaction that you just don’t get from other professions. And of course there are jobs that require more physical labor than serving. I based my hypothetical minimum hourly rate based on the demands of the various positions and what I actually made, on average, as a server. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with taking what someone is willing to pay me.
At that time in my life, I was getting my Master’s and turned down several TA positions because I could make more through a combination of working as a server and babysitting. I charged $12 an hour (plus gas money) for babysitting. Babysitting was much less stressful than serving, plus I got to spend a fair amount of time by the pool. So, for serving to be worth it to me, I had to make significantly more than $12/hr. I typically made $15-$20/hr and worked about 4.5 hours at a time. I worked at a higher end restaurant, but not a steakhouse.
Marc,
There’s no point in arguing what people “should” get paid. The “market” determines that. Some of the country’s most essential services (teaching, social work) get paid the least. “Should” a CEO make 300 times the wage of his average hourly laborer? It doesn’t matter what you and I think, that’s for the “market” to decide.
That said, the original question you were responding to was directed at servers. The question was, “What’s lowest hourly wage you would accept in lieu of tips?” TBH, given the situation today, that number at high end restaurants is likely higher than $25/hr. The market has spoken, and servers at high end restaurants do well, whether or not the servers intrinsically “deserve” it.
However, I do think you’re making a mistake when you try to correlate wages with the amount of calories someone burns while doing that job. Usually, the people who physically work the hardest get paid the least.
@Marc
Knowing how you feel about the “fair” wages of a server, I have a question:
If you were sitting next to me at a busy restaurant (where we can honestly assume the server is doing better than $15/hr in tips) and I got up without leaving a tip, would you say anything to me? Assume I speak with a thick accent so you think I’m a foreigner who doesn’t understand our tipping culture.
If I told you that I saw how much these people were getting in tips, and I thought they were making plenty as it is, so I didn’t feel necessary in giving any more of my money away, what would you say?
Completely agree! How on earth does it make sense that servers are not guaranteed a living wage and are at the mercy of their customers?
When we occasionally have a bad experience at a sit-down restaurant, my preferred approach is to tell the manager right on the spot vs. leaving less than a 15% tip.
A friend of mine is a licensed massage therapist. She declines all tips because she considers it demeaning. She considers herself a professional and charges what she deems to be the proper fee. I always admired her for this attitude. Of course not all in the service business have the opportunity to set the fees they consider appropriate, hence the tipping guidelines we’ve been discussing. But I concur with those would prefer that the waiters and others simply got paid a proper wage. It would raise our prices, but the net would be the same if there were no tips.
“How on earth does it make sense that servers are not guaranteed a living wage”
Not every job is supposed to provide a “living wage.” Some jobs are intended to provide a little extra cash for part-time retirees, maybe students still living at home with few expenses, and so on. You’re not supposed to be trying to raise a family and pay a mortgage while schlepping trays of shrimp cocktails back and forth at Red Lobster.
Should paperboys be paid a “living wage?” How about the kid serving ice cream out of the freezer-bike in the park?
I repeat: Not every job has to pay a “living wage.” Some jobs are intended as stepping-stones for people just getting started, or looking for a little pocket cash. If you want to raise a family, get a real job.
If that paper delivery person was work 40 or more hours a week, then yes, it should be a living wage.
Most jobs that are for “a little extra” are far less than 40 hours as well. Other jobs that don’t really pay a living wage (I’m thinking substitute teachers — iffy schedules, often not a full work week, no work in summers, no benefits, etc.) can usually be like that because there is a ready supply of new and unemployed teachers hoping to be hired and of retired teachers looking for “a little extra.”
But if you’re working 40 hours a week doing the job you’re told to do, yup, I do think it should pay enough to live on!
I’m disturbed by how many people liked Kevin’s comment. The same logic is what motivated a conservative Christian seminary to pay my mom much less than her male counterpart. Their logic was, “She has a husband at home who is the primary breadwinner. This is just supplemental income, whereas the man is supporting a family.”
Where does it end? And how can an employer determine what is supplemental income and what it primary? How do we know if that teenager is just working to have spending money for things he likes, or if he working to help his family put food on the table?
And, pray tell, what is a “real” job?
I object strongly to Kevin’s logic. And what about the cashier at Target and Walmart who makes $8 or less? Is that okay? Have you tried to live on that amount of money?
What ends up happening is that they get governmental benefits to pick up the slack. This is just another form of corporate welfare.
@Jane – I find it odd that it’s legal and acceptable to pay students a lower minimum wage than adults. I worked in a grocery store for a few years before I turned 18. I was doing the exact same job, but suddenly I got a raise one day! New hires who were over 18 made more than I was until my birthday.
IMHO, I think people deserve equal pay for equal work. I have taught students who were financially supporting themselves or their families. Why did they deserve less than someone else doing the exact same job with the same level of experience?
Maggie – you NAILED it!
@ Maggie
In principle I like your idea, but let me play devil’s advocate for a moment.
Tipping provides an incentive for good service though. A Soviet-style waiter may decide that it’s better to play chess than to bring your plate before the food gets cold.
And it’s more free-market to let the customer decide on compensation rather than ask a manager or someone who doesn’t have the full perspective.
The most a manager can do is assign you good or bad tables according to your productivity, and from there the customer decides what your service is worth to them.
You should talk to my friend 😉 Not tipping doesn’t mean bad service. Being a server becomes like any other service position — if you aren’t doing a good job, you get fired. If people aren’t happy with your service, they go elsewhere.
Consider: We don’t tip store clerks so they’ll give us good service. If they don’t, we shop elsewhere or we complain to the manager. If the U.S. were to prohibit tipping in restaurants, it would be up to management to police bad employees and not customers.
Some servers don’t get the hint when people don’t tip them well — they just think those people are cheap. Where is the incentive to improve service?
We don’t tip store clerks for good service, but the good sales jobs are all commission jobs.
Same thing with restaurants– I had a friend back home who made a lot of money as a waitress, much more than she did as a photographer, but if she had been on the wage system she would have made much less– she’d rake in $400 per night or more some times. Her record I think was $2K (it was a very nice restaurant). Putting her on a wage system would have been punishment not rescue.
@El Nerdo — There’s definitely a pecking order to which jobs get paid the most. I’m just arguing the point that getting rid of tips automatically means bad service.
Besides, earning a commission isn’t the same thing as tips. Commission is built into the price at the store. If a sales person doesn’t give you good service, he or she doesn’t make the sale and doesn’t get paid. (Well, actually in Ontario companies do have to make up the different between minimum wage and what’s earned in commission – but I digress)
Tips in restaurants have devolved into an add-on that’s required in some measure whether service is good or not.
I can see both sides of the debate. I’m not sure which is right or wrong, but it’s fun to see different opinions.
A lot of people take pride in doing their jobs well and helping customers out to the best of their abilities. Tips should not be a motivating factor for any job.
I used to be a teacher and hated when parents paid students for good grades. I can’t help but see that as tipping too. Intrinsic motivation to be successful/try hard should be the ideal for our society.
Maggie,
I think tipping originated as a courtesy, and somehow became a social norm.
Personally, I always tip my hairdresser at 20%. My hair is long, unruly, and takes her nearly twice as long to work with as her usual clientele. She does an amazing job, though, and I think she deserves a little “extra” for having to deal with my head of hair every two weeks.
Because I know someone will ask:
No, I can’t even do it myself anymore. My arms & back can’t take it.
No, I won’t cut it. My husband loves it.
And, it looks fantastic and professional when she’s done, and I always give her the credit (and pass out her card) when people compliment me on it.
Cincycat… I always tip my wonderful hairdresser too. But I guess that’s my point, I shouldn’t have to. She shouldn’t have to depend on that to be paid what she’s worth. I guess it’s partly my neurotic personality, but every single tipping sitution I’m in I end up feeling either guilty because I didn’t tip enough or a total schmuck that got taken – lol
I had to be upfront with my stylist, who charges $35, and tell her that if I had to tip her, I couldn’t come to her anymore. She was fine with that, and I didn’t have to feel guilty. However, now I need to cut expenses even more so I’ve been using coupons for Great Clips. It’s a crapshoot regarding my hair cut anymore, particularly since I wear glasses so I have no idea what the person is doing. But I’ve started carrying a photo of myself with a haircut I liked, and that seems to be working.
@maggie,
My hairdresser is independent, so she sets her own rates. She used to work for a corporate retailer, which happened to have a salon inside their stores, but split off on her own when they changed their brand affiliation. (She took almost all of us with her. She’s that good…)
@Paw,
I think that my hairdresser would feel the same way if I told her I could no longer afford the tip. I don’t think I would feel badly about not tipping in that circumstance.
My mom also goes to Great Clips, and she really likes it!
Our baseline for resturants is 20%. We do 25-30 if it’s a place we know well and go to often.
For bars, usually 20% as we drink cocktails. We do the $1 per drink if it’s just beer, with extra if the bartender was friendly, interesting etc. We usually sit at the bar so I feel that the service we get is more like table service.
We almost never eat at buffets, usually only if we’re travelling in other states where the food is crazy cheap, so we do 20%. I have have always found the service just as attentive at these places – filling drinks, taking away plates, offering local info etc.
Hotels – Bellhop, valet etc we do $10. $5 per day for the cleaner.
I didn’t tip my hairstylist as she kept all the money herself. She moved to GA so now I go to her sister who has to pay the salon a cut. I give her 20% and $5 to the woman who washes my hair.
Takeout usually $4-5, more if the weather is awful.
When I got got coffee regularly I would pur a few dollars in the jar once a week. The barrista remembered my name and drink. I don’t generally tip in those placea otherwise.
When I had a cleaner I gave her two weeks cash at Christmas.
On paper it looks like a lot, but we more than get it back, for example we were recently in Kentucky and the bartender poured us shots of the $40 bourbon we had been eyeing. We wouldn’t have bought them, but she obviously remembered us probably partly due to our tip. I have heard from various people that hotel guests don’t tip that well as most are on business and those expenses aren’t reimbursed.
We are locals in most places we go to and often walk away with a bill significantly lower than it should have been. That’s how the hospitality industry works. You’ll pay one way or the other, either via tips or higher prices to cover set wages.
I guess my attitude towards tipping is that it’s like an “investment” that’s generally a win for all involved. The server makes decent money, the owner cultivates loyal regulars (which are the lifeblood of many places in this economy) and the customer gets an enhanced experience with extra rounds and suprise special dishes the chef makes just for you because he know you like them 🙂
While I think you are right, we can’t afford to be this generous right now. What we do though, is bring friends to the business, or recommend it to others.
At one place we like, they recently enacted a “two drink refill” on our favorite drink – but for us they keep the cup full the whole meal. So while yes, people will remember you, it doesn’t have to be through money. Instead, we send them what business we can, we come regularly to eat there, and we are polite and patient while there.
Christina above brings up a great point: should you tip on the total bill (after tax) or just your actual food/drinks?
We do a lot of dinner seminars for clients and I tip on the pre-tax total. I don’t see why somebody should get 20% on what the government is taking away from me.
I’d guess that most people tip on the tax though. I typically give $4 for my haircut tip. It might be a lot but I know they don’t make a lot of of money and it’s only an extra $1 or 2.
My intent is to tip pre-tax, but sometimes the situation is complex/confusing enough the math is easier post-tax.
I also tip pre-discount/coupons, unless the discount is to compensate for bad service or other mistake on the part of the restaurant.
Once I went to a restaurant late at night and ordered the soup. They apologized, as they were out of soup for the night. They then brought me the bowl of the soup I ordered, specially made (but unfortunately undercooked). I ate it. It didn’t show on the bill, but I tipped as if it had because they were going beyond what was needed to make me happy.
You raise a good point — especially since a lot of debit machines give you the option to tip based on amount or %.
I usually do percent, but now I’m realizing that I may be tipping on the after tax amount. When there’s 13% HST on hair cuts and restaurant meals, it will add up!
You should tip for take orders. Think about take out, who helps prepares your meal and ensures that you have the correct items in your to go bag? What about all the extra items you requested? This does not magically appear in a bag from the kitchen. A lot of these tasks are done by the hostess or bartender. If a hostess or bartender is handling take out orders, restaurants will pay these positions higher than a server, but will factor in tips so that they will make up a minimum hourly wage. If people don’t tip on take out orders, the person working take out will be working under the minimum wage rate. Just adding a dollar or two will make a difference. You’re already ordering food out, so don’t be cheap on a worker’s tip.
Unfortunately I tipped on a take out order yesterday and then later found out they had forgotten several items. Money wasted on sub par service.
But you can’t have that same line of thought, “Won’t tip because they will mess up my order” every time because you don’t know it will happen. A call to the restaurant manager about the left out items is more helpful than coming on some website and complaining about your left out take out items.
Your argument demonstrates why all employees should be paid a living wage and this system of tips should be abolished completely. The customer in this situation can’t know whether the good service (s)he’s supposedly recognizing with the tip will actually materialize. What (s)he’s really being asked to do is supplement the meagre wages paid by businesses too stingy to properly compensate the staff who are working for them. There’s no reason why the customer should involved at all in paying employees’ wages, since the business is the one making a profit from their work.
Legislation guaranteeing better wages and conditions for employees is the only way that this will be rectified.
I tip a dollar for any counter service/take out that is not a chain.
As someone who has worked in the hotel and restaurant industry, I’d like to add a few things. In my experience, the majority of people DO tip at 18-20%. Then every now and then you get people who thank you profusely for great service and then leave 15%. Of course, it’s your perogative to tip whatever you want, but just know that 15% is below average and it will viewed that way by your server. In addition to uptipping if you linger at a table, you should add to the tip if:
1. You split a meal (tip as if you ordered two meals, or at least 1.5 meals)
2. Your child makes a mess
In a hotel, you should tip housekeeping extra if you leave an above-average mess. My experience was that half of guests leave some sort of tip. 75% of those who leave a huge mess leave something. And definitely try to tip each day, as the same person will not be cleaning your room each day.
Does where you live have an impact? I live in an area where 20% is considered the standard for good service. But say you work in a hotel or restaurant in a big city and are serving tourists from small towns. Where they come from, 15% might be considered a good tip.
I’ve had two serving jobs- one in a small town at a casual family restaurant and one at an upscale grill/bistro in a mid-sized city. The average tipping percentages were the same- 20% was the norm. The food prices were very different though, so the dollar amount did vary quite a bit.
Of course, my two experiences are hardly enough to know what really goes on. It would be interesting to hear what other servers or former servers have experienced.
A bottle of wine or a box of chocolates as a holiday tip for a doorman? Are you serious? Only if you never want any help with anything ever again.
Wine and chocolates are what you bring as a gift for the host of a dinner party. Holiday tips for building employees should be in cash.
I’m pretty well known as a generous tipper, even though I’m generally very frugal. I even tip at sub shops.
Once, though, hubby and I went out to dinner, and I am known at this restaurant to tip very well, as it’s a very busy restaurant, (like $30 on a $50-60 tab). It was a very slow night and our waiter was non existent. I tipped 15% and the server looked at me like I was Scrooge! I thought he was lucky to be getting the 15% for such poor service on a slow night.
I have been a server, and I’ve noticed in recent years some servers feel entitled to tips. I have never felt that that’s the case, and I know in my state, employers are required to fill in any gaps in their pay scale. All I ask for is mediocre service, and when there are 3 people in the entire restaurant and 2 to 3 servers, I would expect to see my server occasionally.
You seriously tip 50%+ on a $50 tab? Wow.
Yes, absolutely. The restaurants can get so busy, and most of the time the servers at the restaurants we frequent bust their butts to keep the diners happy. Although I’m usually “cheap”, they deserve it.
The sense of entitlement that so many servers have makes me want to tip them even less.
As a former barista, I have to bristle at the suggestion to not tip.
A cappuccino, for example, requires that the espresso machine be properly calibrated for extracting the most flavour out of your beans, which have to be ground at a proper consistency to reflect the filter, the roast, and humidity. The barista has to level and tamp the grinds carefully, then pull a perfect shot while working to create thick, glossy microfoam in your steamed milk (and being careful not to over-heat it, which causes the natural sugars in the milk to burn instead of caramelizing to lightly sweeten your drink). Finally, the pour has to accurately mix milk with foam. If it’s a busy cafe, the barista will repeat this hundreds of times a day for $10 an hour (or less, it’s usually minimum wage).
You recommend not to tip this caffeine artist, but think that the surly college student who opens your bud light is worthy of an extra $1?!
$10 or even minimum wage is still more than that “surly college student” is earning at $3/hour.
True…
Funny how we have different standards for what is essentially the same thing. I bet the barista would prefer the $2.33/hr or whatever minimum wage it is for servers these days, but then get $1/drink. Figure 2 minutes per drink, 30 drinks in an hour, and you’re talking $30/hr.
Well, in my province server minimum wage is $8.25.
To be honest – I feel that the cost of hiring and retaining a good barista is included in the price of a cappucino versus a cup of coffee. The materials cost of a cup of coffee with cream cannot be 1/4 of the cost of a cappucino. If you are not expert enough to manage all those things you mentioned a hundred times an hour – then you shouldn’t be working at a coffee house as a barista. I agree that a good cappucino is an art – but all too often the places that have a tip jar, are the ones who are not paying their baristas enough to retain a good one.
Isn’t knowing how to make a good cappuccino part of being a barista? While I will tip for great service, the nature of the job is to be able to perform the basic tasks pretty well. BTW, why doesn’t anybody make the case for tipping for fast food. And I do sense a great deal of entitlement with these posts from current/former servers.
For me it really depends on the cafe.
There’s a coffee shop in downtown Portland where coffee and espresso is really an art. I’ve seen baristas literally dump out espresso and start over if they felt it wasn’t the best they could do.
Their “pour over” coffee takes time and some amount of skill to prefect it.
For those folks, tipping is a no brainer for me. For places that are more like a chop shop, I’m less inclined to tip more than whatever loose change I have in my hand.
Yes, but how is this different from the retail associate who has to know about the different products and/or ring up hundreds of customers in a shift…all for $10/hour?
I think making a good cappuccino is part of a barista’s job description, just as being friendly and providing good customer service is part of a retail associate’s job description. These duties are all factored into the $10/hour wage.
I tip a dollar a drink at real coffee houses. I live in Seattle, you can get an well executed coffee drink with a great roast – delicious. OR you can get starbucks on any given block, if you’re slumming. I don’t tip at starbucks/tullys/seattles best. Usually if I’m not spending almost 5 bucks on a latte I’ll get drip from 7-11. I get withdrawal headaches so it’s coffee or 2 cups of tea, every day.
Every once in a while there will be a mom & pop looking espresso bar, it may not be staffed by coffee nerds, but I’ll tip there.
Tip is based on the pre-tax amount.
20% is the standard for sit-down restaurants in urban areas (a result of the higher cost of living-customers expect to spend more and service workers expect to earn more).
And my expectation to spend more is reflected in the price of the food! Or are you suggesting that a meal which costs $20 in the suburbs or rural areas would still cost $20 in urban areas?
Higher costs of living and inflation are already accounted for in the price of the meal; increasing the tipping percentage as well overcompensates for those factors.
For those of you who tip your garbage collectors or mail carriers… how do you do it? I don’t ever see either of these folks–they come to my house when I’m not home. I do appreciate the work that they do, but I have no idea how I’m supposed to get a tip to them.
Mail Carriers are prohibited by the Postal Service from accepting anything more than a token gift. i usually leave a card with a gift card for a movie or a Starbucks. Same thing for the garbage workers. I will put out cokes or waters in a cooler for them in the summer (we live in Texas) and I tape a card with a small gift card for lunch for them at Christmas. The paper carrier usually leaves a note with his address if you want to tip.
I hope Springs1 comes out of the woodwork again for a hilarious tirade against food service people!
“Cab driver
10%, $2-$5 minimum”
You’re supposed to tip cab drivers? I’ve never once heard of anyone doing this. What’s the justification behind it? I was under the impression that cab drivers made a decent wage.
As for me, I generally just try to avoid a lot of situations where you have to tip. Sure, I tip my barber and things like that, but I try not to go to restaurants anymore. For years I would go with my friends to restaurants, and always tip around 20-30%. However, because we were young, the waiters and waitresses always gave us poor service. That’s one reason I don’t have much sympathy for them anymore: they readily discriminate against customers based on how they think the customer will tip.
In the U.S., people definitely tip cab drivers. Elsewhere, it depends and is less common in my experience.
Taxi drivers don’t make a lot in general. Nationally the median pay for taxi drivers is $22,440 as of May 2010 according to the BLS. Top 10% makes $36,450.
Not only are cab drivers in the US usually tipped but they generally expect it and count on it as part of their income (which tends to be relatively meager without tips). When I was about 14 I was in New York City trying to get from one bus terminal to another. I took a cab and the fare was something like $4.50. I gave the cabbie all I had – $5 – and told him to keep the change for his tip. He spent 5 minutes raking me over the coals about the tiny tip and about how he needed the money to live on and how he had waited in line for an hour just to get a “lousy $5 fare”. I suppose he was trying to take advantage of an obviously inexperienced tourist, but I was so shaken that I did some research and discovered that, indeed, cab drivers make very little off of the fare, considering the cost of fuel, upkeep on the car, idle time, etc. [They don’t make any money while waiting in line at the airport or whatever for hours at a time.] Since then I’ve always given them at least 15% and usually more.
Cab companies have to keep the prices artificially low, they are considered part of the State Department of Transportation.
They have to keep a certain % of their fleet wheelchair accessible, operate 24hrs a day, cannot refuse short trips – or cherry pick the profitable ones. I learned this when listening to a news story about a limo company in Portland that offered gorupons, but then got fined for doing so because it priced his company lower than the local cabbies; and his company did not have any of these mandated restrictions. Private auto service cannot price lower than the cabbies.
Cool, I found the story:
http://www.npr.org/2012/06/19/155305029/its-taxis-vs-limos-in-laid-back-portland
Man I hate tipping. This list is so long and most of these should be unnecessary.
I was really taken back when I learned that some states put waiters in a different labor category and give them a lower min-wage. My state has generous min wage laws, it is pegged to the consumer price index – whenever the cost of living goes up, so does WA state minimum wage.
I appreciate the content of this post, and all I have learned from Get Rich Slowly overall. I’m just a bit surprised by how rife this piece is with sexist language — that’s unusual for you, JD. Waiter and waitress could be replaced with server. Masseuse could be replaced with massage therapist. Doorman could be replaced with door attendant. Gender doesn’t matter in these jobs, service does.
Yes, this post was definitely lacking appropriate politically-correct feminist NewSpeak.
Actually, it is competent writers that use gender neutral language.
From the Chicago Manual of Style:
To avoid sexist language, many writers use this alternative phrasing [he or she] (in place of the generic he). Use it sparingly–preferably after exhausting all the less obtrusive methods of achieving gender neutrality. In any event, he or she is much preferable to he/she, s/he, (s)he, and the like.” For more advice, including nine tips for achieving gender neutrality, see 5.221—30, especially 5.225.
I hardly noticed myself. I guess I don’t think of titles as an indictment of a persons gender or position. With that said, I do cringe when people use the word stewardesses instead of flight attendant.
“I do cringe when people use the word stewardesses instead of flight attendant.”
Why? That’s what they are.
A male flight attendant is a “steward,” and a female is a “stewardess.” Just like actor and actress. There’s nothing wrong with the terms.
Of course, it would be rude to refer to a male flight attendant as a “stewardess,” but there’s obviously nothing sexist about referring to a female one as such.
How do you tip the garbage collector if you aren’t home when they come by?
Not really an answer, but when I was little my siblings and I would keep ice cold cans of pepsi and wait for the garbage man on hot days. When he’d come we’d run out and give him some pop and he’d guzzle them in an instant, AND WE THOUGHT THAT WAS THE COOLEST THING EVER!
How do I tip people like my garbage and mail carriers when I never actually see them in person? They’re always by the house when I’m off at work!
If you wanted to tip your mail carrier (I don’t) I guess you would leave an envelop in your mail box. As for garbage collector beats the heck outta me. Frankly, it never occured to me to do it.
The problem with this is that oftentimes at Christmas, your regular carrier might be on vacation. I’ve noticed this year after year. If you put an envelope in the mailbox, it might be that the replacement gets the gift you intend for your regular carrier.
I never catch the garbage collectors, either. So, last Christmas, about a week before Christmas, I taped a sign to the top of my trash can. I addressed it to the collectors & told them to look in the mailbox.
There I placed a Christmas bag for each with hot chocolate packs, a Christmas mug, candies, and a gift card. It worked out since my collectors always come in the morning and the mailman later in the day. I also live in a very rural area.
The collectors always do a great job, so I felt that it was appropriate.
I leave a cooler with water or cokes out with a note for the garbage collectors during the summers and I tape a card with a small gift card to the garbage can at Christmas. I am in and out during the day and I have not notice anyone stealing the cards from the can, but I guess it would depend on your neighborhood.
Do you tip garbage collectors for good service? If so, then my not ever giving them a tip works because I always have to pick up after them, or they leave the can lid open when it’s raining. Frankly, all the guy is doing is driving up to the can and working the controls of the thing that picks the can up and dumps it in the back. I do more work taking the cans to the curb and placing them the appropriate distance apart.
US federal law prohibits mail carriers and other federal workers from accepting money or gifts with value greater than $10. Please do not tip your mail carrier more than this amount or you will be placing them in an awkward situation.
For waiters, when in doubt, round up. It’s a tough job. Especially if you’re tipping on a bill for only 1 or 2 patrons, that extra buck probably means more to the server than to you.
This comment is exactly why so many people are up in arms about tipping. the belief that ‘it’s a hard job so they should get paid better’. Just like the person above who complained about making $40 a day. Or the barista who complains that minimum wage isn’t enough to justify her magic making. If the job is so bad – get a different one! The bottom line is that in the US – we are a CAPITALIST economy – that means that prices are basically set by what the market will bear. Minimum wage is set by the government to insure safe/fair working conditions. I agree you can’t raise a family on minimum wage – it’s not designed to create a family living wage. Do you really think that laying sod or landscaping labor is EASIER than waiting tables? Tipping is a way for patrons to recognize and reward exceptional service. The restaurant business is unique in that most of your experience is dictated by your server, but they do not share equally in the profits of your continued patronage based on that good service.
Personally I do not tip the person who cuts my hair and I avoid massage places that expect you to tip your masseuse. I expect these professions – as they are professions and require training – to charge a fair wage for the service they provide. My hairdresser is a friend of mine – and I will pay whatever she charges me. Same thing with massage – if the place requires you to tip – it means they are not paying their staff adequately to retain them on their saleries alone.
As a citizen of the US I really had not realized there are so many industries that ‘require’ us to leave a tip. They seem to just be engrained in our mind.
The most obvious is the bar tender and the waiter/waitress.
While as you stated there is an etiquette for leaving a certain amount for certain services I like to stick to those rough standards plus how good/poor of a job they did.
Also as you said, the tip % can be totally debatable depending on where you are in the US. I think certain cities might have different ideals on what is the appropriate amount to tip.
I know I really appreciate it I get an exceptional server. I will take care of them.
I also feel that if the person who completes your service just stays consistent with doing an awesome job perhaps above and beyond the tip you would give them would always be greater than the ‘standard’ amount, I feel like this is hardly the case as i run into people who do terrible jobs.
I park at a lot and then take a shuttle into my office almost every day with the same driver. I’m thinking at Christmas I should tip the driver but I have no idea how much. Any thoughts? Is it even appropriate? I realize they don’t rely on tips and I have no idea how much they are paid, but this same woman drives me safely to (and sometimes from) the office nearly every day, I think that’s a service that I should say “thank you” for.
I would think a gift card would be nice. Does he have a favorite restaurant or store? I usually get my hairdresser a gift card to a store where I know she likes to shop.
Give him cash, not a gift card! Maybe a nice, crisp $20 bill (or a $50 maybe). Put it inside a Christmas card if you want to make it a bit classier. A high percentage of gift cards never get used. Cash is like a gift card good at any store!
I’d give her $25-$50 in cash if you can afford it. Even at the high end that’s only $1 a week. I suspect you’ll be one of the few who do so she’ll be extra thrilled.
I always struggle with this. Since I bartender in college I tip $1/drink. In Massachusetts, waiters are paid something like $3/hour so they literally live off tips, but that isn’t the case here in Oregon. Plus in China, there is no expected tips. Plus, I never carry cash…
You gotta carry cash to a bar, unless it’s some sort of very quiet hotel-type bar that functions more like a restaurant.
In a loud crowded place cash is the way to get fast service, you just stick your hand out with $20 or more (depending on the place), and watch the bartender make a beeline to you within seconds.
(Besides, carrying cash prevents friends from charging their share to your credit card–let them charge it if they want).
What bars don’t accept plastic?
I was in a restaurant’s bar last night. 20 people, 20 different tabs. We arrived after 8:30pm and the staff was very accommodating. We were there for about 90 minutes. Most people had 1 drink and an appetizer. They added 18% to our bills, giving us separate checks. I added another amount on top of that since they handled this unexpected group so easily. Sure, there was a delay here or there, but they did exactly what we wanted.
They all do, but cash will get you what you want a lot faster.
Also, I know a guy who didn’t have as nice friends as you do, and they stuck him in a bar with a $300 tab (this was maybe 10 years ago?). Ouch! 😀
I’ve used plastic and cash at bars of all types and never seen a difference. Actually bartenders were always pleased when I ask them to start a tab for me. In their mind that almost always guarantees repeat orders even though I rarely add on to it.
Oh yeah “Start a tab” means the possibility of endless drinks ha ha ha. I prefer a cash seatbelt 😀
Another consideration: if you pay with a credit card, you should add a few percentage points onto the tip because the credit card company takes as much as 5% of the money in their fees.
My feeling is that credit card fees are already factored into the prices and it’s not the customer’s job to worry about it. I do that when I sell retail. It’s easier to offer a cash discount than to charge a 3% card fee– people will take offense if you “overcharge them for using a card”. So you have to either assume everyone pays with card and price accordingly or find a ratio (e.g., 60% customers pay with card, 40% pay cash, you add a weighted average to cover the card fees).
But in any case, I think it’s not the customer’s job to be burdened with such questions. The percentages are already taking these things into account.
I eat at a restaurant that only accepts cash and it’s great– cheaper and tastier than other places, and I actually end up tipping more because I’m getting great food for little money. 😀
I go to a local, private esthetician school for my facials every once in a while to help with my chronic acne. They charge $30 for a 90 minute facial by one of the students in a spa-like atmosphere. I would not be able to pay full-price for a similar service so I’m thankful the school exist.
Though its a school, should I tip the students? To be safe, I generally do, especially if I feel the services was exceptional. They are generally pleased with the tip, (they are students by the way!) but I wonder if a tip is going overboard.
As an aside, I downloaded the Tip Calculator app for Android on my phone and its very handy for times my math is a little foggy.
10% for cab drivers seems low to me. I usually tip around 15-16%.
I was just in the UK, where a 10% tip for waiters is standard, and never got over feeling like a cheapskate every time I followed the guidelines.
Thanks for posting this! I never know when to tip, or how much. Just the other day I got my hair cut and totally forgot to tip…I felt so bad. I will definitely be saving this page.
The bellman/porter is one I already knew about, but what are you supposed to do if you had no idea that the hotel you booked offered the service – and you have no cash on hand? Do you add the bellman’s tip to your credit card upon checkin??
On more than one occasion, we’ve had every intention of handling our own bags, and were surprised when a bellman insisted anyway. I really don’t feel obligated to tip, in those cases, even though I know I “should”…
When I travel I try to start out with a bunch of $5 and $1 since there are so many tipping/cash events in travel…cab/shuttle drivers, sky cap etc.
I was on a cruise ship last fall. We were charged an automatic $12.50/person/day in gratuities. In addition, every time we ordered a drink, a 15% tip was automatically included. Finally, on the receipt for us to sign (to charge it to our cruise card), there was a blank line for us to specify an additional tip.
That’s 3 tips! For 1 drink! How many times are we to be expected to tip for spraying some fizzy sugar water into a plastic cup?
… And that’s why I love living in Belgium. No need to tip any one … Ever. Unless you are extremely pleased by the service. And even then it’s still optional. A kind word works just as well.
As an American, I did that whole Eurail trip after college. I was able to pay for my trip because I bar-tended in remote Alaska (no experience necessary). I made $8/hour, but I worked 60+ hours a week (that’s how it goes in Alaska), tips would bring my $8/hour up to $20-30 an hour depending on the night.
Anyway, in Paris we had a great time at a bar, and I drunkenly demanded to tip the bar tender, having had just done the same job myself for the first time. He returned the gesture with shots of the most lovely tasting liquor ever. Then, once in a train station the smallest denomination I had on me was a 2-euro coin, I gave it to the lady who cleaned the toilet stall after every use — I’ve never used a public toilet with such service before — she followed me out of the bathroom to thank me.
I woke up this morning..do I get a tip? I agree with Voice of Reason and Maggie and others. Everybody get’s a tip!! Maybe I should always have $50 in singles in my pocket at all times? Meanwhile (i.e.) I can’t put my kids through school, I have no savings, can’t afford co-pays for health problems, but I am supposed to tip every “service” person I come into contact with? There is a hair salon down the street, the Stylist are nice people–they work 3 or 4 days a week and make $50,000 a year!! Trust me I do tip servers and others fairly( in Calif.), but there is a limit. I enjoyed my time in Ireland where servers are paid better and everyone does not freak about the tip. Someone once said about tipping, “where does it end?”…exactly.
Ugh, I completely agree. Tipping in this country has gotten out of hand. And I get so annoyed by tip cups at cafe counters and the like. If baristas lived without tips 10 years ago, what has changed?
Waiters need tips. They get paid crap, so we have to pay the difference. But all these other people…. it’s just ridiculous. (so is the system of paying waiters, but that’s another rant)
I just got back from 2 years in Japan. Believe me, every time I *didn’t* have to pay a tip, I left with a big smile on my face. It’s such a headache! Can’t we just include the cost of labor in the cost of running a business?
I don’t leave at tip at coffee stands if the person is not actually pulling a shot. Those ‘cafes’ in grocery stores, sports stadiums, and the like, they are using machines that squirt out ‘espresso’. Basically like a fast food ‘cook’. I do not believe those machines, or espresso bars, were so prevalent 10 years ago.
The amounts listed in this article and some of the comments seem so insultingly low – i have to assume it’s more of a geographic thing rather than so many people being jerks. Or else i’m a super generous tipper.. But i don’t think that’s the case.
I once had a friend who always insisted on overtipping – I think she started at 25% as a base, and that was for mediocre service.
It always irritated me for a few reasons:
1. She would reward servers with a generous tip even if they ignored us for 30 minutes at a time, never refilled our water, etc.
2. She would also try to get me to “add more, because serving is hard.” I get that, I do; but I also don’t feel that throwing in a few more bucks for bad service is a great idea.
3. This is the big one – it always felt like she was trying to buy friendship with these servers. “Oh, they’ll remember me as a great server the next time we’re here,” she’d say. It always made me feel uncomfortable.
What about guides? Rafting guides, fishing guides, horseback riding guides? How much should you tip?
Tow truck driver/AAA service?
No matter who you are tipping, if you want to make sure all the tip gets to them, tip in cash and give it directly to the person. Unfortunately many businesses keep a portion or sometimes even all of a person’s tips that are left on a credit card. It’s illegal but all too common. See this blog: http://travel.usatoday.com/destinations/dispatches/post/2012/08/why-you-shouldnt-tip-restaurant-servers-on-your-credit-card/825058/1
This is so much easier in Australia. You don’t tip. People will tell you “it’s un-Australian”.
I love it this way. There’s no pressure and the price it says is the price you pay.
I’m in Australia now, and you’re right. It felt weird the first few times when we didn’t leave a tip, but it’s normal now. And I don’t feel the least bit guilty for not tipping the server who’s making at LEAST $15/hr. Sure, the price is higher, but there’s no extra tax to figure (it’s already in the posted price), no tip to worry about, etc. So it actually works out pretty similar to a restaurant in the US.
I got into a bit of a heated discussion earlier regarding tips. It was on a cruise forum, and I was surprised by people’s reactions.
Ok, so there’s a standard recommended tip, about $11 per person per day, broken up by various departments (stateroom attendant, waiter, assistant waiter, head waiter, maybe some other people, you get the idea). Well, I had the gall to state that I tip for services received. I.e. if I went to a specialty restaurant (which requires a separate tip), I’m not tipping the main dining people for that night. If I have the stateroom attendant come once every four days instead of four times every four days, I’m going to half the tip (i.e., I’m paying as though they came two times in the four day period, cause I know they’re working a bit harder that one time). But apparently I’m cheap and should feel ashamed of myself.
If I go to Shoney’s…should I run over to IHOP and leave a tip because I COULD have gone there, and the servers really would have loved the opportunity to earn my tip? No? What if I stay at a resort where you get once-weekly housekeeping…should I pay a tip as though I had them come every day, because someone else could have? No? What’s the difference?
So here’s my main argument. Tip for services received. Anything you tip over and beyond, that is called CHARITY. If the server gives you abysmal service, and you still tip 20% because of the person’s economic status…then 10% was an actual “tip” and the other 10% was a donation. Which is 100% fine with me, just call it what it is. And please don’t think poorly of me because I donate to a different charity than you do.
I’m really fed up with tipping in the US. I tip when I’m supposed to…but I don’t like how everyone has their hand out. Take a cab…you did your job of getting me from point A to point B, here’s the money that cost…oh and here’s something extra because you did your job. Shuttle bus, tour guide, same thing, here’s a tip for doing your job (even if it wasn’t that great). You were able to cut my hair within 3 inches of what I stated…here’s a tip for not totally screwing it up. I’m supposed to “tip” the mailman even though he/she gets paid pretty well and has good job security? I’m even supposed to tip the guy who installs DirecTV…argh!!! It’s maddening not just cause everyone has their hand out, but because I feel like a fool when I find out I was supposed to be tipping the barber for all these years.
This article seems like a lesson on lifestyle inflation. You start to get a lot of services and not only do you have to pay for them, now you have to tip them.
THIS – If you can’t tip invite your friends over and hang out at your place. Personally I think it’s more fun that way. And plus, no public toilet :p
I always get a little irritated when waitstaff use “not making minimum wage” as the justification for demanding large tips as standard, when there’s very little discussion as to how rampant tax fraud is on those tips. Waitstaff are guaranteed minimum wage just like any other job. The company is allowed to pay them less as tips are believed to make up the difference. If for some reason tips don’t, the restaurant is required to pay them more.
I’ve never seen a waiter genuinely not make minimum wage. I have however seen almost all of them claim only the minimum amount of tips calculated by the POS system and pocket the rest tax-free.
When I waited I claimed every penny of my tips as I had a very short timeframe to earn enough pay to cover my IRA contribution. When the hourly-wage calculations were posted each pay period, the gap between mine and everyone else’s was DRAMATIC, and it’s not because I was that much better a waitress.
There’s a flip side to that too. If a server is making LESS than minimum wage, he/she will often claim at least minimum wage. Why? Because if everyone else is supposedly making $5/hr in tips and you’re making $1/hr in tips, well, guess who’s not going to have a job next week? The restaurant will simply claim bad performance as the reason, even if it was a REALLY slow week, and NO ONE was making at least minimum wage.
My wife was a waitress for a number of years, and I got to hear about how it really worked. Yes, the waitress might have to tip out other people, especially the bartender for drinks (and even if they don’t have to tip the busboy, if you want your tables turned over quickly, you’d better tip him). Sometimes you do make good money (i.e. Christmas Eve when even the Scrooges are a bit more generous, $100 tip is not completely unheard of), but sometimes you really are making below minimum wage.
Of course, this will vary between regions, restaurants, etc. Just our experience.
I enjoy tipping. Here’s why. I frequently go to a few restaurants and bars where the bartenders and wait staff are people I have come to know, and in some cases are my friends. My tip helps pay their tuition, their grocery bill, their student loans, diapers for their kids, their date night, what have you. In this specific financial exchange, I know the person on the other end, unlike most other places my money goes. I realize most people don’t care about this, but I do.
Another reason is this– the summer between my first and second year of college (1990), I was the breakfast waitress at a tiny diner/greasy spoon in a small town in a rural area. The majority of my customers came every day and tipped every day including the most adorable table of old retired men who told me the same terrible jokes day after day. Tips were often .50 or $1 but at the end of the summer I had spending money for the school year. And these guys did not have a lot of money but they left me a tip every day and those quarters in the end made my college life possible. I’m grateful.
I usually tip the bagger at the grocery store, but I shop on a military base where the baggers work only for tips. And I usually tip $1-2.
As someone who has spent my entire working life making less than a living wage in exhausting low wage jobs, I find these posts kind of discussions about tipping offensive, full of inaccuracies, and too much middle class guilt.
I’m tired of hearing the broken-record “servers don’t make minimum wage!” I live in CA and ALL servers make minimum wage which is currently $8. This has been case the since I started working in the mid-90s, probably has been the case longer than that. I know that this is true in other states as well, yet the whole “server wage” thing gets bandied about like it’s a federal law. If you live in a state where that is not the case, work to get the law changed instead of guilting everyone around you into subsidizing restaurant owner’s labor costs.
Servers aren’t starving. With minimum wage and tips, most servers in CA are making $20-30 an hour. My last job was bartending at a pretty low rent place known for bad tips among career bartenders and I regularly made $15+ an hour in tips alone. I was thrilled and grateful with the money I made there. I didn’t begrudge or treat badly the customers who didn’t tip at all or tipped poorly. I clocked in and got a paycheck no matter what anyone tipped; I didn’t have a ridiculous sense of entitlement about the tips.
The only other job I had where there tips was as a barista and that was just a tip jar. I hustled at that job and was polite to everyone regardless of what they put in the jar, unlike some of my coworkers who seem to think they deserved a tip for sullenly pouring a drip coffee and would complain about people who didn’t tip. The only thing I hated at that job was having to split the tip jar money with coworkers who didn’t deserve anything. I had a few regulars who would slide a dollar to me directly instead of the tip jar, which I thought was really sweet of them and more fair.
Besides those jobs, I’ve made minimum wage or close to it at being a security guard, childcare worker, retail cashier, kennel worker, order puller in a warehouse, assembly in a factory, customer service rep, house cleaner. None of those jobs was any easier than bartending or serving food, in fact most were much harder. Yet tips are not expected for people who work in those jobs. Why is their service worth less? Serving food and drinks is not all that difficult. Maybe compared to sitting in an air conditioned office and pulling a salary, but not in comparison to the kind of labor working class people do every single day. I don’t understand why servers are put on a pedestal.
I hate the smug “don’t go out to eat if you can’t afford to tip well” attitude. If you feel like tipping 15% minimum, even when the service is bad, hooray for you that you have that kind of money to throw around. Not everyone does. To imply that lower wage people don’t deserve to go out once in a while is disgusting. When you work a job where you are on your feet all day and come home dog tired, you might want to take the night off from cooking dinner. And if you want a change of scenery from your house that needs work and your crappy neighborhood that’s too crowded with noisy neighbors and you care about eating something that might have some nutritional value, you might opt for a sit-down restaurant instead of fast food. When I do, I tip 15% for good service. Anything l
My comment got cut off…Anything less than good service gets less than 15% and if someone is downright rude, they get nothing. Of course they are still going to make their $8 an hour and more from other people who feel obligated to tip someone who doesn’t deserve it but I work hard for my money and don’t have alot of it or any weird hang-ups or guilt about the people who “serve” me. No one ever tipped me when I took care of their demanding child all day or while I burned in the sun making sure their cars weren’t broken into or ran around a freezing warehouse after quitting time to make sure their huge and complicated last-minute order went out in time for Christmas, etc etc. Labor is labor, food servers aren’t special.
Tipping garbage collector and mail carriers? Again, must be nice. Those guys have government jobs that have a wage, benefits, and job security that I never even come close to having and probably never will. Not to mention that sometimes the $75 I am required to pay the city for trash collection every two months is hard to come by and if I don’t pay it they can cut shut off my water and electricity. What do the smug overtippers say then? Don’t have your trash collected if you can’t afford to tip the guy who presses the button on the truck that lifts and empties the can? If you can do so, good for you but don’t pretend it’s standard and expected when a large segment of the population earn less money than your average sanitation worker.
How does one subtly tip a garbage man? I can’t see how it would possibly work smoothly. Perhaps most people know their garbage men better than I do.
Hotel maid service, definitely worth $2-4 dollars a day! Try to carry my own smallish bags around to avoid airport tipping. Thanks for re-running this, hadn’t seen it before – very useful!
Three very important points about hotel housekeeping:
1) Studies show that housekeepers are by far the hardest working and lowest paid people in a hotel. So tips are very important to them. I have a relative in the hotel business and he confirms that this is the case.
2) If you want to tip them, put it under a note that says “for housekeeping”. Otherwise, they are required to turn in the money on the assumption that you accidentally left some money in your room. This sounds silly but hotel management usually does this because some people have accidentally left money in hotel rooms and they expect to get it back. Of course it also serves as a little extra income for the hotel in most cases!
3) Tip them every day, not at the end of your stay. If there’s a different housekeeper every day, this assures that they all get their share. Also, if you are staying for more than 1 night, it increases the odds that they will take extra care when making up your room because they know you are a tipper.
Hi I’m Cat. I’m a pretty regular reader of your blog (finances totally interest me- and it’d be even better if I knew how to handle my own. Thankfully I just got a higher paying job so that helps…)
I read this post, even though it’s an old one and I have to agree with the fact that tips are confusing. I tip 20% standard at restaurants but it’s so hard to tell for everything else. Especially take out! And now places pre-authorize your card for something like 15% when they swipe it assuming you will give them a tip, even at a takeout place like sierra grill. I find this to be frustrating. I never had to tip before unless it was exceptional and now I feel pressured.
I also got hung up on your note at the top and wanted to ask you a question.
“Several readers have suggested that one way for Get Rich Slowly to retain my voice although I’m no longer a regular contributor is to re-publish old articles like this.”
I know you have guest writers and have built up your business and your blog substantially. Can you tell me how you got followers at the start? Was there a long time where you waited to gain these followers or did you actively search for them? I know the key is posting relevant information, but there are so many groups and I was just wondering if there are some standards I can follow. I am currently trying to reach out to rally enthusiasts and I would like to be strategic about it. Or at least consistent.
Do you find that your followers are still there and you have the same statistics now that you don’t write as many posts yourself?
Thanks,
Cat
I am a server, and though many people tip the 15%, 20% or more, but I find even as an experienced, capable server that many people tip 10% on great service for seemingly no reason. I think it also depends on where they are from (people that come from countries which do not have the same tipping amounts often tip differently), how they are raised, whether they have ever worked in the serving industry, etc. I always tip 20% because I feel like I owe it to my fellow servers 😛
Wait, we’re supposed to tip hotel cleaning staff and furniture delivery people? What the what?
(Also, we had never heard of tipping a pizza delivery person until my cousin worked as one when he was in college. He made *exceptional* amounts of money at that job.)
One night at a motel in Steamboat Springs, CO, we had a pizza delivered, didn’t tip the guy, and he keyed our car (okay, we assumed he did it–discovered it shortly after he left). We always tip our pizza delivery people now, even when our car is safely stowed away in the garage.
Ok…so are you paying the pizza delivery boy because you realized it’s a tipped position…or are you paying for protection? When exactly did the mob take over pizza delivery?
Ummmm, if I think the pizza delivery person keyed my car, I would be talking to the manager of the joint (see if there have been other complaints), not rewarding them for vandalism. Sooner or later they’re going to key the wrong car. I know people (thankfully I’m no longer close friends with them) that would be more than happy to key their eyeballs out. Just sayin’.
For hotel maids I normally give $5 a day. Furniture movers get about $10 each, but if I’m moving a whole apartment, as opposed to having something delivered, it would be more like $100 total.
Absolutely tip hotel cleaning staff. They work very hard for you, cleaning up your messes, and they are paid at very low levels. And if you tip them you get better service too. See my 3 points about tipping hotel housekeeping staff in an earlier response.
I understand that in the US you must be used to it, but I find the whole tipping thing really difficult. I live in Australia so we basically never tip. I might round up a cab or restaurant fare but would never feel obliged to.
How are people in the USA meant to know how much to tip (without reading this article?!) and when? It seems like the expectation for different industries and geographical areas changes quite a bit, and also that it’s quite a big social faux-pas to tip incorrectly. I’ve been the USA and always feel really nervous when in a bar or something and I’m not sure what I’m meant to do. I dont want to offend or short-change anyone, but also dont want to pay more for a service than I should have to.
And are all Americans really good at working out percentages, or does everyone get their calculator out when finalising the bill? Sure, 10% or 20% should be easy to work out, but 18%? Not sure I could work that out off the top of my head. And it seems that people do notice whether it’s 18% or 20% that has been left.
What if you dont have enough change in your wallet?
I think it’s great that servers have the incentive to provide good service, but it seems like such a lot to think about just to pay a bill!
Me too! Tipping was a pain when I lived in Arizona. I wish they’d just pay people an acceptable wage and be done with it. The sales tax is extra thing was annoying too!
I think I’ve got the rest of the tipping down, but I have no idea how to give a holiday tip to our paper delivery person. They always put a holiday card in our paper in December, but there’s no address in there, and I’ve never even seen this person! How do I track them down to give them $15? This is a real question, BTW, not a rhetorical one. 🙂
Hi Trina, I’d recommend calling the paper company, letting them know you’d really like to show your appreciation to your delivery person, and asking them if they have suggestions for how.
I have always wondered about tipping grocery carry out. When you shop at a commessary on a military installation, all the baggers and carry-out work for tips only. I was never sure how much to give them, and since a lot of time tips are around 10% so if I bought $200 in groceries, I tipped $20. One day, I did this and the young lady I gave it to got really excited and asked if I was sure this was what I wanted to tip of course I gave it to her, but ever since I am always unsure about how much to tip anyone. Thank you so much for this article.
Every time I see an article like this it floors me that it’s recommended to tip all these people.
What always ESPECIALLY gets me is the holiday tip. The logistics of most of them just seem nearly impossible.
Let’s take a look the garbage collector. He drives a trunk with a claw on the side. You obviously can’t put the tip in the can (will get thrown away) or on top (won’t be seen, especially in the darkness of winter), so how are you supposed to get it to him?
I guess I understand people like the babysitter, nanny or housekeeper. However, I also feel that if you think they need a holiday bonus (when no one else gets them) then you should be paying them more in the first place.
All of this discussion has reminded me that back when I waited tables in college, we were required to report 8% of our total sales as “tips” on our time sheet when we clocked out. This is so it would get reported on our W-2’s as taxable income. (I know, I know, you’re “supposed” to claim it all, but that was all the feds would raise an eyebrow at in those days.)
If we had not actually made 8% in tips, we had to claim all of it. If the total of wage + tips per hour did not reach federal minimum wage (at the time, around $4.25/hour), then the employer was required to make it up. Of course, if the customer paid with a credit card, 100% of the tips were claimed automatically via the POS system, and we didn’t have to factor that in. I stopped waiting tables in the mid 90’s so I have no idea what the norm is now…
@Megan E.
I really liked your comment. It’s blunt but it clears up a lot of wishy washy questions. Thanks!
I don’t think I HAVE to tip if the service was not up to par with my expectations and it WAS the server’s fault.
I have dined at a place where it was not busy at all and the wait staff seemed more interested in conversations amongst each other, talking about their plans for the weekend, rather than filling my water glass or gasp! cleaning off the sticky residue from the table. Their lack of attention (even screwed up my food order), coupled with ignorance resulted in a ‘keep the change’ tip, which was less than one dollar. And no, I have not been back there since. I did fill out the customer survey on the receipt and no one got back to me.
I also believe in tipping well if the service was incredible. If the service staff was attentive and helpful, I do tip well! Sometimes, I have even asked to speak to a manager. While this freaks the server out, having worked in the service industry, I know what a compliment can mean to the manager.
I have worked in the service sector for over ten years. Good service is rewarded. Bad service is not. I am not entitled to any extra benefits (such as tips) – I work for them. I knew that going into the role and I do what I do to go above and beyond the call of duty.
That looks about right for tipping a waiter, 15-20%… with the caveat that if the bill is small ($10 or less), I will usually tip a higher percentage and leave at least $3 for their time…
I feel as if some of these are extreme for the average person yet very helpful information depending on the lifestyle.
20% is my standard for dining out especially in metropolitian areas where the COL is higher. I’ve even tipped close to 25% at places where I’m a regular or if the service was particularly exceptional.
I can’t get too carried away though because I simply don’t have the money to let myself carry away… so for most of these, I just do it on my own.
We work part-time as janitors for a law office and an accounting office, both successful businesses. They’ve never given us a holiday tip, not in 10 years. I don’t think too highly of them (to put it mildly), but we keep working diligently anyway.
P.S. to lawyers and accountants – don’t leave confidential information about your clients lying around… YOUR janitors might not be as ethical as we are.
Why is the money we give a postal carrier or the cleaning crew considered a tip, but notice no one has talked about the expected gift to a teacher at Christmas? I wonder if it is because we consider the latter more professional of a position. We tip those who are lower on the social ladder and give gifts to those who are “equal” to us.
I’m not saying teachers don’t deserve a thoughtful gift at the holidays or at the end of the school year, but I do find the distinction interesting. Currently I’m moving from giving Christmas gifts to workers at my kids’ Parent’s Day Out program to giving tokens to my son’s preschool teacher.
I’m already thinking about it, and I realize that with the daycare workers, I was more inclined to just give money or a gift card to a grocery store. But to the teacher with a child development degree who is presumably making more money, I lean towards giving a very different kind of gift. It’s not a bonus but a token of regard for the work they do.
Anyway, interesting distinction in my mind.
I would be interested to read an article on how tipping can co-exist with a GRS/frugal mentality. I find so many of these categories mind-boggling that people actually tip for. I guess we each have to make our own code and live by it as far as who is deserving of a tip and who is not. I certainly have, and most of the services on the list I either do not use because of expected tip or I just don’t do it and don’t care what they think. I often get take-out from restaurants because I don’t want to tip the server. After reading this I will consider adding something in the future. I also wonder if high-tippers are the same people giving money on the street? Not that they are the same thing at all, but is it a similar mentality – that you want to be regarded as generous by the people surrounding you? This dovetails with the politeness article a few days ago.
I mostly cook at home, but hubby and I have two sets of tip rules when we go out to eat. At dinner we tend to start at 15% and go up or down from there. We rarely go to the so called casual dinning chains, and we go out to eat about twice a year, so a 20 or 30 % tip for a special dinner is anticipated and part of the budget for the night. We have certainly left less, but our plan says we will pay for the service we get. When we go out to breakfast(only on vacation) we actually start at 20%. This is not the champagne brunch, but the coffee and eggs diner food. The waiter/waitress does just as much work (how many times did they refill that coffee), but the plates tend to be less. Wage rules don’t take this into account, but I do when I tally up the tip.
I think tipping has gotten out of hand. Don’t get me wrong – when I go into a sit-down restaurant, I tip. I go in expecting to tip 15% (more if the service is exceptional), and if I end up tipping less it is because I have been disappointed in the service. I’ll tip a cab driver, pizza delivery guy or bartender. I have no problem with what I consider “normal” tips.
However I am not going to tip a housekeeper at a hotel. I am paying for someone to clean the room as part of what I am paying for the room. I am not going to pay a tip a furniture delivery guy since I am paying to have my things delivered.
I am not going to give special “tips” for the holidays, though I love giving gifts to those I have a personal relationship with (I would assume that maid and nanny would be included under that).
Finally someone who agrees with me about hotel housekeepers/furniture delivery, etc. I also feel this way at take out places, if they deliver I’ll tip, if I’m picking up, no tip. I am already paying the hotel for the service, why should I pay for it a second time in a tip, it is the hotel’s responsibility to make sure housekeeping is properly compensated for their level of effort and rewarding/punishing better/worse service. I also generally only have housekeeping clean 1-2x/week and that is basically a change the towels and make the bed sort of thing. If I make a big mess, then I will tip because cleaning that is above and beyond their normal job. (Also, they need to stop moving my toothbrush when they clean the bathroom. I mean really, I put that in my mouth, I don’t want someone I don’t know touching it.)
As far as restaurants, I look at it as the price goes to the restaurant to pay for the food/atmosphere and the tip goes to the server to cover the service. My standard is 20% but I usually stick to the 15-25% range. Although I would love to live somewhere that tips are all included in the menu price.
Only once have I not left a tip at a sit down restaurant. But lets be honest, when its a restaurant that you need reservations to get in, a certain level of service/attentiveness is expected, especially when the place isn’t full like that night. Waiting 15min after being seated for the server to show up, 10min to come back with the drinks (beer and wine, not like they had to use the blender or anything), having emply glasses sitting on the table for more than 15min trying to get their attention for a refill, another 15min from finishing the food to get their attention for a dessert menu, then almost half an hour between between bringing dessert to showing up with the check. And all the while paying extra attention to the table right next to us but never even looking over to see if we needed anything. That level of service completely ruined what was meant to be a nice night out at a fancy restaurant and deserves no tip.
I am a head bar tender/ waiter in a popular chain of New York/Italian themed restaurants in the uk. With the way people’s finances are at the moment we waiters have taken a huge wage drop due to lack of tips. Granted tips are at the discretion of the guest, but it seems here joe public opt to leave 5%, if there are more than 2 people dining. Tables of 2/Young couples/single diners tend not to leave anything! (based on good service) It is extremely rare that anyone tips at the bar, most people have a misconception that all tips are shared. This isn’t always the case and in some establishments that do share tips, they are not shared equally, it is based in how many hours you work, the amount of money you have taken that day, sales targets etc etc
I tip the gas station attendant whenever they take the time to clean my windows. I feel like they have done something additional they did not have to do.
Where in the world are there still gas station attendants versus just the cashier? I haven’t seen one of those in probably 20 years.
travel
why not transit drivers ..they can help save you money by giving you bus travel info that will save money on a cab.
Also tell you how to get to common tourist places and what to see there.
The bus route in front of you hotel the driver can help you find a drug, grocery and 7-11 stores.
they are a great source of information for the city you are visiting
I think one of the trickiest tips I had to leave was for chauffeuring in bremerton wa. I usually just tip 20% when in doubt for any service. More or less depending on the service quality.
I appreciate your work, appreciate it for all the interesting articles.
I don’t believe in tipping AT ALL!!! Especially if I am doing the work or I receive poor service. Who decided on who to tip and who not to tip, why tip your doctor he did the surgery or the mechanic, he changed your brakes, or better yet the cashier, she rang your order. What is the difference of tipping a delivery guy, who had no hand in preparing your food or the line cook at McDonalds. Unless I receive service beyond common standards, I won’t tip and I never will!!!
I don’t believe you. Simple as that. Internet loudmouths are the worst.
In Oregon, there are no self-serve gas stations. If the attendant washes my windshield, I tip a dollar. I think this should be correct. I can understand not tipping in self-serve gas states: there is no service.
For those of us from Australia or New Zealand (no tipping at all) or the UK outside of London (10% in a nice restaurant, round up the taxi fare to nearest pound) the whole USA tipping things is awkward, embarassing and expensive.
Also, if you are a business traveller, you can’t claim back tips as expenses (no receipt) and so if you’re being expected to pay 20% surcharge from your own pocket it becomes way too expensive. This is one reason I hate business trips to the US (the other is the TSA jerks).
I must have offended whole legions of people during my first few trips to the US before finding out about tips, and probably still do as I’ve been tipping 10% as normal…
It’s awkward and embarassing only if you haven’t bothered to do your research on customs before you go to a country. Frankly, the no receipt thing is a red herring. Ever heard of credit cards? You are all too happy to come to the US and enjoy the large portions and cheap prices for meals, forgetting that the “help” doesn’t make the salary that the “help” in your country makes.
Yep, when I wait on an Australian, I generally get offended (once, I was left $3 on a $60 check). Cheapness has no borders. However, there are Australians who DO understand the economics and customs of dining in the US. It’s usually those who are REALLY well-seasoned travelers who abide by local customs, not folks like you who turn a blind eye to it because they want a free ride.
I’m afraid you have it wrong on a number of counts. I’m not ‘happy’ to come to the US — it is not a treat, it is for work, and the travel is a nuisance. The large portions are wasteful as they are too big to finish. And finally, a credit card bill is not a tax receipt, and does not allow me to claim expenses – plus there is a credit card fee charged by my bank.
In Au/NZ, we actually pay fair wages to service staff, and so tips are generally unheard of – a 5% tip is generous, and the whole custom makes people uncomfortable. Of course it is a good idea to find out about local customs before visiting another country (hence my visit to this blog) – but to be fair, there are at least as many USA citizens who travel abroad and are unaware of local customs as there are visitors unfamiliar with the US tipping custom.
One thing that would help me is for receipts to include the tips. Taxi drivers usually oblige with this, restaurants do not. Also, if menus contained the text “20% tip is expected” then this would indicate to visitors that service is not included, and the amount expected (else you’ll get Australians guessing at 5% again)
Restaurant’s already tell you what an average tip is! In retrospect to my college years as a waiter 18% was the provided gratuity managers placed on your party of 8 or more*, usually because your party was the only table they can serve and most people do not realize how high their tabs are until they are paying… So they make you pay what they would average from a full section!
On different note, If your service was so horrible you don’t want to leave a tip, go talk of your bad experience to the manager (the higher up). They have more power to turn your night around so you may remember it as enjoyable. These managers strive to please quality customers that aren’t scamming them for free shit, and they try to hire good servers so they can spend more time dealing with the scammy people and less with you. At least speak to them. As the customer you CAN inform them of the quality of their establishment. They don’t walk table to table asking if everything’s okay for you to stiff the server and confuse the hell out of everyone or appear cheap, just talk!
Coming from a place that does not do tipping (IE, pretty much everywhere in the world apart from the USA) it simply doesn’t make sense to do this rather than pay workers a fair salary. It adds confusion and disagreement over what customers should pay.
Yes, of course servers deserve to be paid fairly for what they do, and I don’t think anyone here disagrees with this; the debate is because it is unclear – particularly to tourists who do not have this culture – how much should be paid. In my opinion, a lot of angst would be saved if the employer decided this by paying a fair wage and there was no tipping.
There are then additional problems when you’re working on expenses because tips do not usually have a receipt. If they are fair payment for work done (rather than a gift) there should be a claimable receipt, but there generally isn’t…
To people who claim that lack of tips would result in poor service, I would argue that the job of management is to monitor this. If your staff give poor service, replace them. If they give good service, promote them or pay a bonus, as in other jobs. This is sufficient motivation elsewhere; or are the management simply lazy, and want the customers to erratically do the managers’ job?
Of course, tipping is now so ingrained in USA society that it is unlikely to ever change.
I heard someone say they tip delivery people (such as those who deliver goods, such as fridges, T.V.’s, furniture, but doesn’t tip if they are delivering smaller items (such as books, or cd’s or movies or video game systems, that sort of thing). This person mentioned that although he/ she doesn’t, it might be considered offensive by the person who is not tipped. Problem. What if the delivery is made, and left, while you are not home? Also, I have an aunt who does not believe in tipping. I find this sort of interesting. Another aunt of mine (her younger) sister used to own a restaurant, and mentioned that most, if not all servers, rely on tips. I think that without tipping (at least one’s server at a restaurant), prices of meals would go up in restaurants, and probably would not make many restaurant goers too happy. I also saw a chart and found it funny that it says to give the shampoo person a $2 tip. My experience since who knows how long is that the shampoo person is the same person who cuts ones hair! We should remember though, in my opinion, to not over or under tip a person
We charge 15$ a hair cut that money doesn’t go to us it goes to the salon we get a paycheck every 2 weeks just like you guys and we make an hourly rate usually and not much more than minimum wage at that!! We live on our tips and our pay checks go to hills .. Anything under 5 is an insult to us . If are a regular client and we know you top like crap you haircut will be rushed , we are going you mediocre service for your mediocre tip, we won’t go the extra mile . We are a fast pace business and with that bing said we make money depend inch on how much work we do, we won’t take as much care to someone who is. 3$ tipper vs 6$ tipper .. Granted u will still get a good hair cut , but we won’t go the extra mile -12 years a hairstylist
Clearly you were never a server, because it is never ok to leave nothing.
John…I grew up in the restaurant business, leaving in about ’64 when my family sold out. I started in ’54, at eight years old and can’t remember when you became “servers” instead of waitresses or ” hash slingers”. Why do I owe you a tip for doing your job? Exceptional service, out of ordinary or simply appreciation, I can understand, but OWE you…never …get a real job if you don’t like it. I really don’t care if you are in colle3ge or what your personal situation might be…you got there…you get out…OWE you. Quit smoking that stuff and get your GED. I’m not cold or uncaring, I just think one should take responsibility for their situation. You don’t have to wait tables. I’m very amazed that the US has bought into this crap that we owe you for doing your job. My family, uncles, aunts, grandparent and parents as well as my siblings have worked in restaurants since 1930 and have NEVER felt as if you owed us anything other than basic human respect. Quit sponging from others…take control of your life…quit whining. I would certainly be interested in responses, but don’t expect me to care!
David,
Even in ’64, tips were routinely given. Even in the most modest hash-slinging joint. Of course, in those days, “waitresses” or “hash-slingers” received full minimum wage. It wasn’t until 2006 that employers were able to pay less than minimum wage in 47 of the 50 states (the three West Coast states still mandate a full minimum wage).
I can only remember back to about ’66, when my father taught me the basics of tipping. This isn’t a new phenomenon by any means.
Back in the days that you talk about, there were only diners and joints and free-standing high end standalone restaurants. There were no chains other than Big Boy, Howard Johnsons, and perhaps one or two others. Back then, you always tipped your diner “waitress” (how provincial you are not to realize that there are many men who wait tables). If you were dining at one of the fine dining establishments, not only did you tip your captain, you also tipped the maitre ‘d.
You are expected to tip nowadays because you are paying for services rendered. It is a social compact with a long tradition. The price you pay for your meal only partially compensates the server’s wage. In my state, I make 2.13/hr. A couple of states go up to just above $5/hr (most fall in between). To demand that we find another job is fine, but then who are you going to get to wait on you when you want to dine out?
You are sadly out of touch, but that’ to be expected for someone who “grew up in the restaruant business” during the 50s and early 60s. Sadly, you were even out of touch during that time if you didn’t think that the “waitresses” that worked your family’s business depended on tips to supplement their income.
Just sayin’.
Why can’t they just get rid of tips?
Let tips be optional. Let servers get at least minimum wage. Don’t force people to pay tips.
Why? The system works pretty well. Most people, and I’ve waited on over 10,000 people in my time, have no problem with the system. What do you think will happen with menu prices if you do away with tipping? Do you really think that you’re going to pay less? Think again. Current prices are based on the tipping system and the wage structure. If that changes, now you’re at the mercy of the restaurant owners and, believe me, they will stick it to you if their wages go up dramatically. And, at least now you have some say in how service is financially rewarded. Finally, the system is pretty engrained for full service restaurants. It’s not likely to change. It’s been around longer than you’ve been alive.
Bah, tipping is such a pain in the butt. Food in restaurants are already expensive.. 10$+ and on top of that, servers expect tip. In my experience, some servers would actually bluntly say, “That’s not enough.” WTF. I at least paid the food bill and did not run off. How would I ever understand the art of tipping? I’m a student so I don’t have a source of income. pfft.
You think it’s expensive NOW? Wait until restaurants have to pay more than 2.13 – 5/hr. Yes, that’s right, I make 2.13 an hour. No, I’m not bitching because most people understand how to tip. I know that, as a student, you haven’t learned very much about life yet, but you will. It sucks to have to pay for things, but that’s the way it is. Your parents won’t always be there to pay for the things that you want or need. Time to get up to speed. PS, as a student, I wouldn’t be surprised if you don’t end up waiting tables at some point. You’ll see THEN what tipping is all about.
Fortunately, when I was growing up, my parents taught me about tipping very early. If only yours had.
PS, you don’t have a source of income? Then you don’t eat out. Simple as that. Stay with the meal plan.
You should tip anyone who you believe has provided you with good service. I even once had such a horrible experience with a waiter that I left a dollar on the table. However, I tipped the manager because he was very apologetic for my servers poor service, refilled my drinks, and brought out my food-essentially did the servers job. I also asked him to give a tip to the cook for my because my food was delicious. I very often tip the cooks, whether it is cash or buying them a drink. I understand that servers dont make as much money per hour as other jobs, but I don’t believe they work as hard as others. I have worked both front of house and back of house and know that back of house is MUCH more difficult. I also know that on a busy night I’d make over 200$ FOH as opposed to 80$ BOH. Good service deserves a good tip (20-25%) average service and average tip (12-18%) and poor service a poor tip (0-10%). I do believe you should tip anyone you deal with who is exceptionally helpful, whether it is customary or not.
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I just never understood:
why not include the tip in the price/salary?
Tipping is not good on the long run for the reciever. The custom of tipping gives an excuse for the employer to continue to be a greedy bastard and keep the wages unfairly low.
This excellent website certainly has all the information I wanted about this subject and didn’t know who to ask.
I live in Toronto, 15 % for waiter is common. No one tips movers though…at least from what I know. Correct me if I am wrong. Anyone from Toronto that can share their experience?
Like many of the readers, I’m quite frugal. However, it’s important to not be cheap and to pay a fair tip when appropriate.
Tip your mailman in cash, don’t buy into the no cash thing. This is from a retired letter carrier. Cookies or spirits are nice gestures and appreciated, but $10-$20 should be the standard.
Tip your delivery driver at least as much as you would tip your server. Not only do we make less than minimum wage like your server but we also have to pay for gas and our own cars and stand in the rain snow etc. we also don’t get many deliveries as the servers get tables
🙂 that’s a great list, I don’t think I have thought about this before I saw your list. I think I only tip when I am on holiday in a warm country 🙂
It is never okay to not tip your server. Even if you think the server did an awful job, you should still leave at least 4%. Most servers tip out their bartenders, busses, and hostesses. It’s automatic. If you don’t leave anything, the server has to pay that 4% out of pocket for you to eat out.
I’m from Europe and tip is not mandatory for me. It should never be – if it is, the economy is screwed, and you are only supporting it. Don’t start on the job if you are not making the minimum. Period.
A lot of restaurants in Europe used to have service charges that go directly to server. Since 2007 this is illegal per the rules of the EU – the price in the menu, has to be final, including all service charges and taxes, so one day we just woke up and the prices are 14-15% higher. That’s it. Same goes for VAT (our remote approximation of sales tax) it has to be in the printed price. When I was goring up, I was taught that tips are not for service, since all the servers are required to bring the food to the table – that is what they got paid salary for, but primary for the quality of the food.
I always tip at an hourly rate – if I sit on your table for 1 hour – you get 1 hour minimum wage in tips., especially if the place is empty and I am like the only one. I don’t want to you to come to the table every 5 minutes and bug me how is the food, but if I have to call you 3 times to get another beer, your tip is halved.
You may think this is stingy, but the places I go often, the servers and the bartenders like me, we crack a lot of jokes and tell stories, so I figure it is enough for them.
I’m not sure stingy is the word. I’d say using crazy logic to avoid paying at least the 15% that you used to pay when you lived in Europe. And I’ll bet your “logic” breaks down when you have breakfast at some sitdown table service corner cafe because there’s no way that you leave $7 on a $15 breakfast.
Get with the program. When I lived in Germany, I didn’t bitch about being “forced to pay 15%” on top of the bill, even when I had to wait for service as was often the case. I accepted that pace of dining was more leisurely there and you had to wait 7 minutes for your pils or 10 minutes before your Kellner could get to you. You should also accept that here in the States, servers are required to check on you more often. I’m surprised that you haven’t gotten that yet.
Stingy? Maybe you are. But remember, service staff is trained to be pleasant with you. That is no indication of wheth
I’m not sure stingy is the word. I’d say using crazy logic to avoid paying at least the 15% that you used to pay when you lived in Europe. And I’ll bet your “logic” breaks down when you have breakfast at some sitdown table service corner cafe because there’s no way that you leave $7 on a $15 breakfast.
Get with the program. When I lived in Germany, I didn’t bitch about being “forced to pay 15%” on top of the bill, even when I had to wait for service as was often the case. I accepted that pace of dining was more leisurely there and you had to wait 7 minutes for your pils or 10 minutes before your Kellner could get to you. You should also accept that here in the States, servers are required to check on you more often. I’m surprised that you haven’t gotten that yet.
Stingy? Maybe you are. But remember, service staff is trained to be pleasant with you. That is no indication of whether they endorse your policy.
Don’t forget when you’re traveling to tip your guides and pilots when you do activities like flight-seeing or guided all-day activities or tours.
TIPPING IS ONE THING I MOST HATE IN USA CULTURE…
I agree that tipping is an unpleasant custom for those who come from countries where people get paid a living wage, and so are not used to it. If I’ve already paid for the food/hotel/tour/pizza delivery (thinks the tourist) then why do I have to pay agin? Why not just specify the whole price up front and be clear?
However, when in Rome, and all that. If you visit the US you just have to fit in with their culture, just as if you visit SE Asia you need to be prepared to give the occasional bribe, or join queues in the UK. This question is more to help non-Americans to identify the socially correct level for tipping, rather than the huge amount that the waitress would prefer we give :).
In the old days it was customary to tip a gas attendant, especially if they did the windows and checked your oil. A tip should still be considered for dlsomeone who pumps your gas.
The problem I have with tipping is that everyone EXPECTS it no matter what. I am strongly in favor of the fast food workers’ movement to obtain a living wage and will gladly pay the increased prices that result if they are successful. However, iI is not my job to subsidize an employer’s low wages through tipping — In fact, I resent it. Have the balls to pay your workers a fair wage and raise prices accordingly. Stop trying to shame people into tipping.
And yes, I have worked jobs where people typically tip and have been “stiffed” a number of times. Once I delivered a pizza and the guy told me he would not tip me because “I had a job and he didn’t.” I didn’t get upset… I understood and iI happens.
I had a bad experience with the automatic 15 percent gratuity at my wedding this summer. If your not happy with the with the service it’s to bad. One of the staff left in charge all of 20 decided to start cleaning up at 9 pm. guests were complaining every time they left a drink it was gone candle blown out flowers removed from back tables. I asked her to stop and she lied to say my husband told her to???
My question is way should I pay for that and why with a successful business should top I up there staffs wages so that business can keep there staff? I should have the right as a customer to decide what I want to tip. Organized steeling is what that is!!!!
I wish i could let the world know. The paper carrier deserves a tip AS much as a waitress.
This is why: We are contracted NOT employees of the paper. We buy our own supplies i.e. rubber bands, bags. Gas and vehicle. Were I live, it’s .09 cents per paper and if you deliver to apartments it’s .14 cents a paper. If we mmiss a house, on Sunday we are charged $2.00 weekdays $1.00.
We are there 1:00AM-2:00AM we put the incerts together the assemble with Headline section, load the papers THEN we deliver. On Sundays we come in 11:00PM Saturday (optional) Because there are twice the number of papers in the route, and the papers are HUGE and it takes forever.
No days off (I have worked every day straight for 1 1/2 years. No matter what weather us like etc.)
Shall I go on???
Anyway thats all I want to say. Thank you
Casino dealers also derive tips by giving good service at the tables. It is our main source of income.
Tipping the garbage man? really? we never did and as far as the mail carrier. nope never did either. mail goes into those superboxes now anyway. I now live in an apartment so no dice. I tip based on what i believe is fair for service usually 15%. My dad told me this funny story – he and his buds were at a local pub spent about 800 bucks between the beer and the food. the tip came out to be very heavty which was fine. the waitress came over to my dad and basically sait was too much – dad smiled at her and said – no it isn’t its the standard 15% and you deserved it. She smiled… 🙂 If i’m treated extra nice and they go above and beyond I will tip extra… but if they slack well normally i would leave a less than deserving tip… but at places i frequent I cant really do that because then i’d get even poorer service.
I didn’t read all the comments so don’t know if this was explained but the 18% thing is because serving staff generally has to tip out 3% to other restaurant staff e.g. bussers bartenders etc. So that leaves the 15% for the server after tip out
“Barista
No tip required, though many suggest throwing coins into the tip jar.”
Hey there! I’m a barista. I don’t mind not getting tips at all as long as you’re not being a dick (though many still tip me for excellent service and delightful drinks, shrugs). But then please do me a favor and stick to menu items when ordering. Latte? Sure. Half-caf with two pumps of vanilla and super hot almond milk latte with no foam? You better tip well or thank me profusely for being such an excellent barista.
If a standard tip for a valet is 2 to 5 dollars for parking and retrieving your car, then the room maid who cleans the bathroom, changes the sheets, leaves fresh towels and supplies and vacumns should get double that amount.
I always learned that you tip roughly 30% for anything having to do with touching a person (manicures, hair, massages).
No one is forcing anyone to touch. It’s part of the job. How can one give a massage without touching? Doesn’t the massage therapist know it is part of the job? If someone feels they deserve a tip just because they had to touch another person, they are in the wrong profession.
Great list J.D. Thanks for updating it! Unless service from the waiter is especially substandard, I always tip 20%. For hairdressers and manicurists I usually give a 15% tip.
“cultural morays”??? Morays are eels. The word you wanted was ‘mores’. Shouldn’t a writer know the difference between mores and morays? Shouldn’t an editor?
Hi Kurt,
Nice catch. What was I thinking? (Actually, I think it was late and I wasn’t thinking!)
Thanks for your comment, and for reading!
Best regards,
Linda Vergon
Editor of GetRichSlowly.org
I disagree with the 10-15% for a “masseuse” (by the way, Massage Therapist is a much better term. masseuse is creepy)
I do this part time, so it’s just to make extra money, i don’t count on it for living. But really, 10-15%!? I just touched your feet! I just spent an hour or more exerting physical energy to relieve your stress and pain because you want a ‘deep’ massage! This is a luxury, if you can’t afford a proper tip, cut back on how often you go or don’t do this at all.
Also, at many chains, if you are a member you get a discount. You should tip on the actual full price.
I can see why people are confused because tipping amounts are a matter of perspective.
Some people 50.00 and some tip as low as 2.00 dollars. I think waiter and waitress work real hared so tipping is a must.
I think it’s a great idea to tip more if you take longer at a restaurant, especially if it’s a busy night! Thanks for the great advice! I’ll keep these tips in mind for the future.
Why would someone tip a bartender 15% but not a Barista? They do just as much work handcrafting your latte then a bartender does making a fancy drink and they are both hard busy jobs!!! Not tipping is a good way to “accidentally” get decaf! I used to work at Starbucks but if everybody left a quarter it would make a huge difference!!! Personally I think a dollar a drink should be standard! I know the drinks are expensive already but so is beer and wine. Also if it takes a while to get your drink see how many cups are in line! There are mobile orders and people who order for there office. Don’t take it out on the barista if they are busy!
So why don’t we tip the person making our Jamba Juice? Or hell we should tip the person getting me the McCafe at McDonald’s amirite? [/sarcasm]
Wow, you guys sure like to tip a lot.
We are having an estate sale at our late mother’s home. Do we tip as they have done a fantastic job of cleaning areas, sorting and staging.