Tipping

[readytoignite]

coffee shop jars are false tipping. they just do it because they can get away with it, but it's neither necessary nor expected.

part of the beauty of tipping is knowing when you need to tip, and how much.

getting back to the op, hotels are fraught with tipping opportunities (valet parking, porters, the people who clean your room, the concierge in exceptional circumstances).

you also tip at the airport curbside check-in - a buck or two a bag

also, at a restaurant it's proper to tip the coat check person if and only if that is the person's sole responsibility. do not tip the host/hostess if he/she also happens to take your coat

[xdeadlast]

You can't relate the price of drinks to the tip. The bartender doesn't set the prices of the drinks. I bartend and its not all that great. Sure I may make 250 to 300 on a good night but they don't come every night. Also its pretty shitty to take time to make someone three or four drinks after you have been standing for 10 hours and they leave a dollar.

[eastcoastrider27]

You can't relate the price of drinks to the tip. The bartender doesn't set the prices of the drinks. I bartend and its not all that great. Sure I may make 250 to 300 on a good night but they don't come every night. Also its pretty shitty to take time to make someone three or four drinks after you have been standing for 10 hours and they leave a dollar.

But is $1 per drink an appropriate tip? I think so.

[FAM0US.]

I tip waiters/waitresses 15% all the time, but if they were extra nice/helpful, I tip about 20%-25% depending on my mood.

[Smoleu]

The thing with Tipping Bartenders is that when you're tipping on a per drink/round basis, you sort of need to feed the machine in order to get decent service on the next round.

[Awake]

I've worked in the restaurant industry for about 3 years and personally don't agree with the idea of tipping at all. While i did enjoy the fact that i got tips, the whole act of it doesn't make much sense when you consider: why are you tipping this person? For doing what their job is and what they're expected of? Of course, i do tip the typical 15%, but i really see no need in giving someone more money to do what they are already supposed to regardless if you tip them or not. Aren't servers and bartenders and all restaurant or service industry staff supposed to treat the customer with respect and carry out there job in a timely fashion? I mean, they're representing the company they work for, so they shouldn't need extra money for no reason.

In the case of the U.S. apparently most servers recieve around $3 compensation as apposed to $8/$9 in Canada. If that's the way it is then yes, these servers do really need more money for what they do, but it shouldn't be left up to the customer to pay the server what the restaurant SHOULD be paying them!

[jayrock]

i tipped exceptionally well in vegas in hopes of keeping the good karma on my side. i would constantly place tip bets for dealers, and occasionally double up, and i tipped the waitresses at least a buck for every free drink they brought me. i bet $100 on red in roulette, won, and tipped the dealer like $12...

back in the real world, i tip like most everyone else here. 20% +/- for food and drinks depending on service, $1 for a cheap drink at the bar or 20% on a closed tab

that said, i left a $0.71 tip for the last waitress because she took 20 minutes to take our order, and i sat at the table with an empty water glass the entire time.

[xdeadlast]

I think a dollar is a good tip for a drink. 5$ for a round of drinks. I think its kinda fucked that we (restaurant workers) don't set the prices but we do only get paid 3$ a hour so here in the states its just the way it works. You're paying the 5$ for a beer so my manger and bar owners can afford their beach houses or Audi.

[pete mcstunna]

i tend to adhere to the 18-20% range for just about everything, except when i eat in chinatown -- you people drive me crazy.

[larssss]

Stingy tippers are bad people. It's a fact.

This earns neg rep, because it is a broad generalization that can't be backed up. I know plenty of wonderful people who are very tight when it comes to tipping, yet they somehow manange to be kind and generous people.

Response:

Tipping 06-25-2008 07:19 PM Hocus Pocus Broke ass, sheisty piece of shit.

Wow, thats mature. But I guess insulting someone you about something you know thinking about doesn't make you a bad person, only bad tipping does.

Tipping exists to incentivize special care on your waiter/cab driver/whatever's part. It leaves you more in control of the product (though immaterial) you recieve. B

No, tipping is a way to reward someone for outstanding service. Unless you tip before the meal/drink/service, the amount you leave will have no effect on the service before hand.

Dealing with people can be very unpleasant at times. People often treat servers and other people in the service industry as if they aren't people. They work long hours so you can come in at 15 minutes before closing and order a large meal. Sure it seems like they are overpaid, but in an industry with little job security and no benefits to speak of, you have to look at the bigger picture.

This is entirely true, some people treat the service industry like sub-humans. Are you saying tipping makes this treatment acceptable? But what about all the other low wage service industry types who's jobs don't relate to food or alcohol, don't they don't deserve a tip for dealing with abuse? Where's the logic there?

[corter]

since this is superfuture: does anyone tip their proxy's? i know i've used a couple that have gone above and beyond for me, and i felt the 10% wasn't enough for their service so i added another 5-10% on top.

[truest]

Tipping at restaurants always confused me, not the % or anything, but why? Why am i paying someone to do their job?

But anyways,

I tip $3 at my barber

10-20% at restaurants

Bar-drinks all depending, $1 usually every other drink

[jayrock]

Tipping at restaurants always confused me, not the % or anything, but why? Why am i paying someone to do their job?

so they don't spit in your food

but honestly, taking drink orders, bring out drinks, take food orders, bring out food, keep drinks filled, ask if everything tastes okay, etc.

it's not all fun and games

[__CB__]

with coffee, 50c-$1 (same at the bar usually).

food around 10-15%.

[black.shadow]

But what about all the other low wage service industry types who's jobs don't relate to food or alcohol, don't they don't deserve a tip for dealing with abuse? Where's the logic there?

I agree with everything that you wrote. I'm also going to add my own rant on the subject of tipping in relation to other low end service jobs. I have previously only worked one job which actually "allowed" tipping. Allowed as in, I would be fired for accepting a tip at any of the other low wage jobs which I have worked.

LONG RANT:

My job that allowed tipping was my first ever, newspaper boy.

I would wake up at ridiculously early hours and make sure that ever customer had their paper in the storm door of their house by 6am every day regardless of rain, snow, dogs, sickness, school, etc. I was rewarded with a whopping $1-$2 tip (sometimes none at all) for an enitre months worth of first rate service. Many of the times the customers would never even open up their door in order to pay me, then would call my boss if I didnt deliver their paper the following month.

Paper boy/girl=absolute sweat shop wages. Paperboys were payed less than $.02 per house delivered that we delivered to and we were not payed for collecting money for the month. Instead we had money deducted from what we OWED the newspaper company then what was left over, we were allowed to keep. If a customer did not pay for the services, it simply came out of my earnings. So often times trips to collect money from customers had to be made sometimes over 10 visits to the same house.

For a bartender or anyone else to complain about $1 tip for opening a fucking bottle is absolutely ridiculous.

Now for the rest of my service jobs. Good lord, lifeguard. During my stint as a lifeguard three of my coworkers developed skin cancer even though they used sunblock (obviously not effectively enough but still sunblock was used). One of my coworkers became legally blind from looking at the reflection of the sun off the water. At times the most foul things had to be fished out of the pool. I had to treat injuries, rescue distressed/drowning children, call the police/sometimes ambulances, watch complete fatasses swim, the list goes on for a whopping $6.50/hour standing all day outside in the hot sun. We could not accept tips or we would face termination.

The same no tip policy held true for my retail jobs. Now add in doing absurd amounts of special orders, calling out of state to track down items, helping customers make good decisions etc. All the while making an absurdly low wage without tips.

This is just some of the public service that I have done and likely many board members have, all without any form of extra compensation. Why should someone pouring a drink make more money than a janitor, lifeguard, probably in some cases even a police officer? All of these jobs serve the public and are equally if not more involved and have relatively small wages and nobody tips them.

Tipping should be done away with as a means of survival completely, no more of this $3/hour waiter/waitress +tips nonsense. Tipping should be a reward for good service not a given, like it is today.

(prepares for red from bartenders/servers)

[broneck]

okay, on the realness. I currently work in a service position in which it would actually cost me my job to accept any monetary incentive outside my wage (it would be a "bribe" not a "tip"). Given the importance of my position, i make SHITTY money.

but the funny thing is , dealing with fucking asshole salespeople who treat you like shit, shitty managers who treat you like asshole, and worrying about funding literally hundreds of millions of other peoples dollars, STILL doesn't stack up to the stress and shittiness of being a waiter/bartender. so be nice and tip.

[lestat]

okay, on the realness. I currently work in a service position in which it would actually cost me my job to accept any monetary incentive outside my wage (it would be a "bribe" not a "tip"). Given the importance of my position, i make SHITTY money.

u lose your job only if u get caught...

Con Ed, Key Span workers does it all the damn time

[readytoignite]

But is $1 per drink an appropriate tip? I think so.

it would be equivalent to a 15% restaurant tip - probably a widely accepted standard at one point but more like a bare minimum now in the bigger cities with higher costs of living (18% has been std in nyc for awhile now, i'm sure boston, LA etc the same way). i suppose it's fine if all you're getting are bottles of bud light but anyone who leaves a buck a drink no matter should not be expecting long pours or buy backs (assuming said person even knows what a buy back is)

i'm not really grokking the argument that you should tip based on the number of drinks rather than their cost. so what would determine your tip at a restaurant - the number of courses? how many plates your food is brought out on? the distance from the pass to your table? do you exclude the cost of wine bottles from the percentage and then throw in 5 bucks no matter what because all wine takes the same amount of effort to open?

i love the paper route rant. it's job meant for middle school kids and i'm sure the whole scheme was setup to avoid child labor laws. though i'm wondering how many paper routes are actually delivered by children these days.

[eastcoastrider27]

it would be equivalent to a 15% restaurant tip - probably a widely accepted standard at one point but more like a bare minimum now in the bigger cities with higher costs of living (18% has been std in nyc for awhile now, i'm sure boston, LA etc the same way). i suppose it's fine if all you're getting are bottles of bud light but anyone who leaves a buck a drink no matter should not be expecting long pours or buy backs (assuming said person even knows what a buy back is)

i'm not really grokking the argument that you should tip based on the number of drinks rather than their cost. so what would determine your tip at a restaurant - the number of courses? how many plates your food is brought out on? the distance from the pass to your table? do you exclude the cost of wine bottles from the percentage and then throw in 5 bucks no matter what because all wine takes the same amount of effort to open?

i love the paper route rant. it's job meant for middle school kids and i'm sure the whole scheme was setup to avoid child labor laws. though i'm wondering how many paper routes are actually delivered by children these days.

Well, the drinks I buy at bars (beer) cost $3.50 - $5. So a dollar per drink is between 20-28% depending on the price of the beer. I think that's appropriate. As a bartender, you're not doing nearly the work of a server. A server takes your drink order, brings the drinks, takes your meal order, brings your meal order, gets you more drinks, checks on the food, etc. When was the last time a bartender asked you in the middle of you drink how everything was? Now, you could argue that a bartender has to deal with drunks, but isn't that what a bouncer is for? And they're also getting a higher base wage ($4-6/hour) compared to servers ($2-3/ hour). Does a bartender really deserve more than $1 for twisting the cap off a bottle and handing it to you? I don't think so. I mean, if he's making some $14 mojito, then yeah, maybe they deserve more of a tip. But should you give the bartender more money for pouring you a $20 glass of wine than if it was a $5 glass of wine? Why? What's the reasoning? You're spending more, so you should tip more? I think tips have become taken for granted. A dollar should be considered a good tip, but now it's considered standard. As if anything less than that is atrocious and leaving a dollar tip is considered average. I used to work as a bartender, so I think I can comment on this, but I think when you're already spending at a 300-500% markup, leaving a dollar is appropriate.

I don't mean to sound bitter. I consider myself to be a good tipper, but when people start looking for handouts (e.g. more than a dollar for pouring a beer) I start to get upset.

[eastcoastrider27]

I do, to an extent, agree with your argument that a certain tip won't go as far in NYC as it would in Des Moines, Iowa. So perhaps you would scale your tipping based on the cost of living. But you also have to consider that places in NYC often have a cover charge and the drinks cost more.

But a counter argument could be, if you're not willing to pay what the socially acceptable rate is then don't go out.

[champagne_bubblebath]

Many restaurants in San Francisco have started including universal health care "tax" on their bills. This supposedly covers health care for their workers that are currently uninsured. There are now three line items on the bottom of my restaurant tabs... shit is mad.

[readytoignite]

Well, the drinks I buy at bars (beer) cost $3.50 - $5. So a dollar per drink is between 20-28% depending on the price of the beer. I think that's appropriate. As a bartender, you're not doing nearly the work of a server. A server takes your drink order, brings the drinks, takes your meal order, brings your meal order, gets you more drinks, checks on the food, etc.

yeah, for those prices a buck per would be fine. it is partially related to cost of living, which is why there's a stereotype among nyc bartenders that tourists are lousy tippers

bartenders are likely prepping the bar (lime/lemon wedges, etc), hauling ice and cases of beer around, walking around the bar picking up empties and maybe cleaning up the vomit in the toilet. and if he/she isn't, someone else who gets a cut of the tips is. so i don't necessarily agree with that part of your statement.

Does a bartender really deserve more than $1 for twisting the cap off a bottle and handing it to you? I don't think so. I mean, if he's making some $14 mojito, then yeah, maybe they deserve more of a tip. But should you give the bartender more money for pouring you a $20 glass of wine than if it was a $5 glass of wine? Why? What's the reasoning? You're spending more, so you should tip more? I think tips have become taken for granted.

practically speaking - it replaces a service charge that covers the cost of paying bartenders and waiters a living wage. tips are part of the way the waitstaff gets compensated, just like a year end "bonus" for salaried white collar employees. and god forbid a waiter or a bartender gets into an accident and can't afford hospital bills or whatever because they're not getting health care through work and unable to pony up for an individual plan.

it's an imperfect system (like many that govern our lives) but with a pretty simple corrective imo.

[PQRS7]

the tipping system is beneficial for the customer

it gives an incentive for the service to perform better

if there was no tip, the prices would just be higher

and there would be nothing to hold back when bad service is encountered

restaurant waitress 15%

haircut 10%

[Gabriel]

I live in Europe where you're not really expected to tip in most places, or only when it's deserved, and often it's merely symbolic. That means a shitty taxi driver gets paid the same as a good one. Giving a significant tip, in most places, is viewed as condescending (but accepted nonetheless). In Americaland you're expected to give tips regardless of the quality of the service, it's kind of the opposite situation.

[flex]

more or less the same. Also, i tip abt $5 in hotel room each day. but i dont tip taxi..there was no unique services provided there, sometimes i give the change

[Leeacto]

I dont know if it's been posted already, but here's a quick lesson in life from Dwight K Schrute:

"Why tip someone for a job I'm capable of doing myself? I can deliver food. I can drive a taxi. I can, and do, cut my own hair. I did however, tip my urologist, because I am unable to pulverize my own kidney stones."

Easy to follow, and remember. haha

Actually, i tip around 20% for most everyone except taxi (10-15%). after working in the service industry, you realize that ppl deserve it as long as they're not dicks