Tipping....do you?

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Angela Harlem

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Just wonmdering what everyone thinks of this, as we are fairly spread out over the globe here and I know there are some folks who work in service industries who may be able to give interesting replies.

I personally never do it on request, and only in very select circumstances. Call me Scrooge if you like, I'm happy with it. My reasons are for not doing it though are that these people, waiters, hotel staff cab drivers etc, are doing their job. End of story. There are a few types of jobs here where tipping is customary, not required, and althought they may be plain and simple customer service, or lower paying jobs, this makes little difference to me for 2 reasons. There are plenty of lower paying jobs around that do not desire a tip. And also there are many service type industries as well as these that do not require it. So why for a few and not others? To tip anyone who gives us good service is in the long run an almighty expensive exercise. I personally can not see it having the flow on effect of lower prices for services, or an increase in customer service levels.
This not to say I dont appreciate good service, I do. I will tip, but not without saying a very sincere thanks for the service 1st. I've heard it basically the practice in places like America where a tip is actually added on to the end of a bill.
 
Well, in Malaysia there is a 10% service charge, anyway. Tipping is rife during Chinese New Year, when everyone is expecting ang pows (red packets) from everyone
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Personally, I am very erratic with my tipping. No policies whatsoever. If I think a waiter/tress needs cheering up, I'll try and do something.

foray
 
I can see where you're coming from Angie...


I'm from Boston, and it seems like EVERYWHERE nowadays has a cup for tips etc. I always tip in restaurants and bars, I just always have and I always remember my parents doing it. Mainly, becuase I know that waiter/waitresses generally make well below minimum wage, and most of thier pay comes from tips. I usually leave at least 15 if not 20% of the total. My boyfriend on the other hands tips everyone for everything, and overtips bigtime. While it's very generous of him, I bet if he added all this up in a week he'd be surprised how much he was spending.

When it comes to things like counter workers at the coffee shop, etc - I have issues. Sometimes I'll throw my left over change in there, but the way I look at is they're getting tipped for what they're already getting paid to do. Not to sound incredibly selfish, but I bust my ass at work and I never get tips for anything!
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Occasionally I do get gifts from parents when their babies go home, but that's different IMO.

Now that was a rant!
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Say Goodbye, Don't Follow.

Rest in Peace Layne.

[This message has been edited by She ls Raging (edited 05-14-2002).]
 
Originally posted by Angela Harlem:
Just wonmdering what everyone thinks of this, as we are fairly spread out over the globe here and I know there are some folks who work in service industries who may be able to give interesting replies.

I personally never do it on request, and only in very select circumstances. Call me Scrooge if you like, I'm happy with it. My reasons are for not doing it though are that these people, waiters, hotel staff cab drivers etc, are doing their job. End of story. There are a few types of jobs here where tipping is customary, not required, and althought they may be plain and simple customer service, or lower paying jobs, this makes little difference to me for 2 reasons. There are plenty of lower paying jobs around that do not desire a tip. And also there are many service type industries as well as these that do not require it. So why for a few and not others? To tip anyone who gives us good service is in the long run an almighty expensive exercise. I personally can not see it having the flow on effect of lower prices for services, or an increase in customer service levels.
This not to say I dont appreciate good service, I do. I will tip, but not without saying a very sincere thanks for the service 1st. I've heard it basically the practice in places like America where a tip is actually added on to the end of a bill.

If you are referring to waiters/waitresses, most rely on tips as their actual salary. Same goes for bartenders. Most employees of these "low paying jobs" also do work on the premise that tips cover a certain portion of the paid wages and the employers adjust their pay to reflect. For example, Minimum wage in the US is something like $6. If you work in the service industry (i.e. tips), minimum wage is about $3. So not tipping is extremely rude and ignorant, not to mention I've see people literally go after people who didn't tip. Us people in these "low paying jobs" need those tips to survive and I, for one, need them to live, and pay for school. I do agree though that sometimes, in certain situations, its weird (i.e. gas attendant who cleans your windows) but in most instances (at least here in the states) tipping is part of the employees expected earnings.

(BTW, I really didn't follow you over from the Pearl Jam Thread
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Don't let the bastards grind you down.

Zooropa FTP
 
lol. Ok. I guess its different here, our minimum wage, although very low, is not expected to be propped up by tips. Unless the regulations have changed since I worked in any type of waitressing job.
I guess I just think it would be fairer and better for these restaurants etc to charge slightly more so they can do their moral duty to their staff and pay them better.

User pays, no one is going to complain too loudly about the cost of eating out for example when you know the staff are not underpaid as a result.

And I replied to you btw. Dunno if it explains anything!
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I used to be a waiter, and let me tell you, waiter's hourly pay is VERY low. When I was doing it (late 80's), I made $2.09 an hour as my base pay. Anything else I made was because I worked my butt off and gave great service.
For 2 years, I was a waiter, and a very good one at that. I was vry nice to the customers, whether I liked them or not. I never purposefully gave bad service. If I ever did give slow service, it was because I had to take a co-worker's tables, as well as my own, or something like that.
With that experience as my background, I can be either the best or the worst tipper a wait person can encounter, depending on the service he/she gives. If I am given good to great service, I tip very generously, because I know how much work that is. But, if the service is bad, I take into consideration how hard the wait person is trying. If he/she is giving slow service but is obviously running his/her butt off, giving it the best, I'll still tip that person generously. However, if the service is bad when it doesn't have to be bad (Believe me I can tell; person standing around gabbing, etc., or bad attitude), I generally will leave little or no tip, because I know the person's just a crappy waitperson. Just yesterday, my friend and I received awful service...and there was hardly anyone in the place. He didn't refill her water. He didn't bring mustard or mayo or catsup her burger, and when I finally got up to ask, I asked another waitress, who told him (I heard her), but he never ever brought it. I finally had to ask even a 3rd person. He wasn't very friendly. You know how much I really wanted to leave? Zippo. Nada. Zilch. However, so as not to embarass her, I lete her handle the tip part. I told her I would buy her lunch if she would leave the tip...and she left $3 to $4 on a $22 bill, which is $3 to $4 more than the lazy bum deserved.
 
angie sounds like mr. white
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service has to be horrendous for me not to tip. it's only been horrendous a few times.
 
First of all, in the US the tip is usually not added onto the bill unless it's a large group out to dinner or something. That's been my experience anyway.
I don't want to reiterate about people making their living off tips while they make < minimum wage.
I think an argument can be made that, in the instance of waiters/waitresses for example, they may give better service if they are trying for a better tip. If they are just being paid a straight salary, where's the incentive to provide exceptional service?
Personally I always tip. Probably too much.
 
If the service is good, I tip 18-20%, if the service is bad, I have been known to leave a penny.

Tipping is necessary in the US due to the slave wages paid to food servers/bartenders, etc. Until that changes, tipping will be expected.

And, most people don't realize this, but in the US, at most larger restuarants and bars, tips are subject to income tax on a figure reported by the employer, not the employee. So, if someone routinely gets stiffed on tips, they still have to pay taxes based on an 18% tip per check.
 
when the waiter tries to be friendly I usually do tip

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Salome
Shake it, shake it, shake it
 
I tip what you are supposed to.. 15% or whatever it is.. but if they are rude I will not leave much of a tip. So what if its their salary? If they want a tip they should earn it. If they are very courteous and friendly I'll tip extra.

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Sexy poshin' sugar snarlin' rock and roll ...
sicy@interference.com
My Lair
 
Absolutely, 15% or so, unless service is terrible. It's not fair that wait staff is taxed on 15% of their food sales, so I do my part to help them out. If service is exceptional, I go as far as 25-30%, if service is bad, I do not tip. It's not my fault if someone can't do their job.
 
I tip 10% for good service. But I do it on a couple of assumptions, which I'd be happy to see some opinions/knowledge on from you guys if Im wrong!
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My understanding was that people in restaurants get at least minimum wage, is that not so? Well, at least in Canada, isn't minimum wage like $7.50 or something? Im not sure what it is in America, but my theory is that basically most times I eat out, with a family of 4, I can easily spend close to $100 on the meal. Usually we are there for no more than an hour, and if I give a $10 tip on the $100 check, that means that my server just made over $17/hr. That's right up there with most skilled labor...not too bad at all...not only that, but there are plenty of skilled people working in minimum wage jobs who get absolutely no tip ever, so servers arent all that bad off, are they?

I like to round things up a bit tho. Like if my bill is $89 Im not going to say, well 10% of $89 is $8.90 and count out the change. I'll probably just leave $100 and expect no change. Not only that, but Im giving 10% of the total, which includes 15% tax here in Canada. At that point a dollar or two of my tip is actually for the service of the restaurant remitting my taxes to the government...and dammit I sure as hell dont pay someone to do my taxes...ok Im getting carried away, but my point is that Im not trying to be cheap by sticking to a hard and fast 10% of the food I ate kinda deal...

However, a server has to give me good (not grudgingly average) service to get a tip. I don't believe its an inherent right of the server to be tipped regardless of how they conduct themselves. If they are at all rude or snappy, no tip. If I have to repeatedly ask for that second drink or have to get my order corrected more than once (I have an aversion to seeing red in my steak, s'gotta be well done!), no tip. And, if I feel like I'm being rushed to get out of the restaurant, no tip.

But those are rare occurences at the better establishments, so generally I do tip.

BTW, and sorry if Im uneducated about it, but where did 15, 20% come from? Is there some unwritten rule? I go by 10% cause thats always what I remember from growing up...sure times have changed, but its a percentage so why should it change? 20 years ago a meal cost $10, and a ten percent tip meant a buck. Nowadays the meal is more like $25, and so the tip rises accordingly to $2.50...or am I missing something??
 
I always tip 20% if the service is good. I have no problem stiffing a bad attitude, though. 80s is right...waiters in America *need* tips.

But here in America...will it never end? Where do you draw the line? Tip jars are popping up all over. Pretty soon there'll be a tip jar at bookstores. Why should I tip the person behind the counter at Starbucks but not the person at MacDonalds (though I haven't been there in 20 years)?

I work for rich people who have informed the staff that when we travel for business, we should always tip generously, no less than 25% in restaurants, and $10-15/day for the hotel maids who more often than not are from 3rd world countries struggling to get by. So last time I stayed in a hotel for work, I left $30 in the room, but I don't really ever know who will get it since the person who cleaned my room that day might not be the person who cleaned it the day before. I am always confused about this.

So I tip generously when earned, yet I really wish people just got paid what they should so tipping would truly be a reward for that extra effort rather than an expectation derived from necessity.
 
Go watch the first scene of Resevoir Dogs.

I thinnk it sucks not to tip. I mean I am also just doing my job, but doing my job does not require me to carry disgusting plates used by slobs like us, or clena up after people like us.

I tip no less than 20%, unless the person is rude, or does not do their job.
 
Originally posted by gabrielvox:
BTW, and sorry if Im uneducated about it, but where did 15, 20% come from? Is there some unwritten rule?

Inflation
Cost of Living
 
By they way I have to say I laughed when I read the thread title.

I thought you were talking about cow tipping for some reason. LOL.
 
Originally posted by Sicy:
Inflation
Cost of Living


But thats what I meant when I talked about why it went from 10% (when I was a kid) to 15-20 now...the cost of living inflation thing is already reflected in the rise in the cost of the meal, and even if you only tip 10%, you are tipping more than you would have years ago, right?
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As for rich people tipping over 15%, that's really nice for them, I'm glad they are able to. I wish I waited on them...lets say they go to a restaurant for 2 hrs, spend $300 (assuming its a fancy restaurant)...that means the tip they've left is $75 dollars??? Holy toledo Batman where do I sign up??That' almost $40/hr, and assuming that alot of rich people do the same, constantly too! That's gotta be the best paying unskilled job around!!! Well, except...never mind..lol..as for tipping hotel workers $10-20 a day???. I dont know about that, lets say a hotel worker does 20 rooms in one day, and everybody leaves $10. Wow, that's $200 per day on top of salary, and Im sure they ain't reporting it...that's excessive, in my opinion. Its more than alot of people in skilled jobs get paid (and taxed thru the nose for). Third world country or not, I had to go to university and bust my ass for a good few years in my job before I broke the $150/day mark.

I agree, its hard to draw the line. Why does the person who serves me my coffee and bagel at the Tim's drive thru deserve a tip any less than the surly teenager that works at Big Burger? Because they didnt have to walk to my table? Ummmm....lol

One thing I am going to take away from this thread is that maybe I should meet halfway and tip 15% for good service, if that is now the socially acceptable norm..

Gabriel


[This message has been edited by gabrielvox (edited 05-14-2002).]
 
Depends on the country I?m in. While in America, yes, I tip about 15-18% depending on the service. I?ve never knowingly stiffed someone even if they were lousy, probably because I?m too soft-hearted. Lol. However, when travelling in Europe or Asia I generally don?t tip because service is included (says so on the menu). As far as coffeeshops, I might throw in a bit of change if I have some, but I don?t make a habit of it (since I rarely use cash anyways
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Originally posted by Sicy:
By they way I have to say I laughed when I read the thread title.

I thought you were talking about cow tipping for some reason. LOL.

That was the first thing I thot too!

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Originally posted by Sicy:
By they way I have to say I laughed when I read the thread title.
I thought you were talking about cow tipping for some reason. LOL.
cow tipping is a hoax.
 
Originally posted by gabrielvox:
My understanding was that people in restaurants get at least minimum wage, is that not so? Well, at least in Canada, isn't minimum wage like $7.50 or something?

In Canada, minimum wage is $6.85, provided that you are 18 years old. If you're under that, you can get less.

If you work in a restaurant, you will not get minimum wage. For example, I believe Red Lobster pays in the neighbourhood of $5.25/hour.
 
Originally posted by Zooropa:
In the US, 15% is the avg tip. Ussually, the tip is double the tax so on a $100 check Gabriel Vox, If you only left me $10, I would have to kick your canadian arse!!!
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Also, the other thing to remember is that, generally speaking, a resturant is not busy allnight. It may have a good dinner rush where you might wait on 4 tables and bring in $30 in tips, but by 10 or 11, you might not have any tables and there fore no tips, so it avgs out. I'd say, (from my experience at TGI Fridays) that waiters can expect to make about $10-12 an hour with the good ones a few dollars more. It may seem like a lot, but believe me, waitering is bot an easy job, especially in a place like TGIF. AS for my experience in bartending, we make a little bit more (I avg 20-25 an hour) but, that's a whole different story
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Well I have to compliment the staff at TGI Friday's...It was our last meal in Florida and we kinda chanced on it as the line up for the Olive Garden was about an hour and a half long.

We thorougly enjoyed our meal, and the wait staff was excellent, service far above the norm and/or what we expected. I think our bill was like $62.00 and I left $70 and had no second thoughts about it.

I guess if the service is good, the sky's the limit!
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Originally posted by anitram:
In Canada, minimum wage is $6.85, provided that you are 18 years old. If you're under that, you can get less.

If you work in a restaurant, you will not get minimum wage. For example, I believe Red Lobster pays in the neighbourhood of $5.25/hour.

There are exceptions to the minimum wage law in Canada? If not, how does RL get away with that??
 
Originally posted by 404 Not Found:
I think an argument can be made that, in the instance of waiters/waitresses for example, they may give better service if they are trying for a better tip. If they are just being paid a straight salary, where's the incentive to provide exceptional service?

Well, in a world without tipping, you could complain to the manager about a lousy waitperson or simply patronize other establishments.
 
I work at CC's Coffee we have a tip jar and it's a good thing too, my paycheck is so lousy and I'm pulling like 26 hours/week (which will be easier to do now that I'm finished with high school). Tips come out to be like half of my salary, and I only get like $50 in tips a week. That's not so hot. Anyway the tips are distributed to all employees depending on their hours worked, I think it's definately a good thing--espresso bars aren't always as easy as they may seem especially in the mornings when everyone simply must have their fix
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As far as waiters/waitresses I always tip, even moreso being in a position where I receive tips.

btw friends don't let friends drink Starbucks

[This message has been edited by Achtung_Bebe (edited 05-14-2002).]
 
Originally posted by gabrielvox:
Well I have to compliment the staff at TGI Friday's...It was our last meal in Florida and we kinda chanced on it as the line up for the Olive Garden was about an hour and a half long.

We thorougly enjoyed our meal, and the wait staff was excellent, service far above the norm and/or what we expected. I think our bill was like $62.00 and I left $70 and had no second thoughts about it.

I guess if the service is good, the sky's the limit!
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*Zooropa heads off to canada to beat Gabriel Vox with a breadstick...*

Seriously though, I guess it does matter where you live. It seems in canada that tipped employees make a higher per hour wage than they do in the states. It also matters somewhat where you are in the states. In NY, tipping is expected to be in the 18-20% range but in The midwest, 15% is considered generous. I guess cost of living factors in here somewhere.

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Don't let the bastards grind you down.

Zooropa FTP
 
Remeber also, that in many resturants, the money you tip a waiter he/she in turns uses that to tip out busboys, hostesses and service bartenders. To illustrate, If I work a dinner shift and have about $1000 in total food/bev sales, If you take the avg 15% I would net about $150 in tips. The following breakdown then occurs:

Total Tips= $150
Tipout to Hostess= $12.50
Tipout to service bartender= $15.00
Tipout to busboy= $10.00
Tipout to foodrunner= $10.00
Tipout to crewchief (Back of the house, ensures restocking of cups, plates, dressings etc...) $10.00

Net Tips= $92.50

So as you can see, a waiter/waitress generally only recieves about 60-65 % of a tip. So on a hundred dollar check, If you only tip $10, the server will get about $4 dollars of it. Ifyou don't tip at all, the server actually loses about $6. Not to mention the taxes thet pay on it.

Just thought it would make it a bit easier to understand for everybody. It may not be exactly like this everywhere, but I would assume that to some degree it is.

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Don't let the bastards grind you down.

Zooropa FTP

[This message has been edited by Zooropa (edited 05-14-2002).]

[This message has been edited by Zooropa (edited 05-14-2002).]
 
Originally posted by Achtung_Bebe:
I work at CC's Coffee we have a tip jar and it's a good thing too, my paycheck is so lousy and I'm pulling like 26 hours/week (which will be easier to do now that I'm finished with high school). Tips come out to be like half of my salary, and I only get like $50 in tips a week. That's not so hot. Anyway the tips are distributed to all employees depending on their hours worked, I think it's definately a good thing--espresso bars aren't always as easy as they may seem especially in the mornings when everyone simply must have their fix
tongue.gif
As far as waiters/waitresses I always tip, even moreso being in a position where I receive tips.

btw friends don't let friends drink Starbucks

[This message has been edited by Achtung_Bebe (edited 05-14-2002).]

He he, starbucks... the 93 octane of coffee!!!

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Don't let the bastards grind you down.

Zooropa FTP
 
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