Who do you tip, how much do you tip?

[outcry]

Always tip at a restaurant no matter how bad the service was, unless the server was exceptionally rude to you (which wouldn't happen because they wouldn't work there in the first place). Always 20% and up. My now separated wife and I would go to this restaurant quite a bit and would get the same waitress maybe 50% of the time we went. We'd always tip her well because she was great, and in turn you could tell she went above and beyond because she knew we would tip her well at the end of the night. Being a waiter or waitress is a tough job on top of being paid less than minimum wage. People who don't tip well don't understand that.

One other issue with tipping is that, by tipping as a percentage of the bill, how much are you rewarding hard work and service. Should a waiter get an extra $100 for opening a $500 bottle of wine? I'm not so sure.

Example: Our kids love Friendly's, so we are there more than I'd like. But the waitresses are being run all over the place, cleaning up spills, getting some kid the red crayons instead of the blue one, returning a grilled cheese because it was cut into triangles rather than squares, etc. Yet our bill for a family of four is usually around $35 because it's so freaking cheap. And that's before whatever coupon we use. How can I leave her anything less than $10?

Mike

Very true about the wine. Didn't really think of that because we never got wine that expensive. In that case I'd probably do 20% and up for just the food and add just a small percentage for the wine. That's an iffy one.

[GratefulCs]

Always tip at a restaurant no matter how bad the service was, unless the server was exceptionally rude to you (which wouldn't happen because they wouldn't work there in the first place). Always 20% and up. My now separated wife and I would go to this restaurant quite a bit and would get the same waitress maybe 50% of the time we went. We'd always tip her well because she was great, and in turn you could tell she went above and beyond because she knew we would tip her well at the end of the night. Being a waiter or waitress is a tough job on top of being paid less than minimum wage. People who don't tip well don't understand that.

One other issue with tipping is that, by tipping as a percentage of the bill, how much are you rewarding hard work and service. Should a waiter get an extra $100 for opening a $500 bottle of wine? I'm not so sure.

Example: Our kids love Friendly's, so we are there more than I'd like. But the waitresses are being run all over the place, cleaning up spills, getting some kid the red crayons instead of the blue one, returning a grilled cheese because it was cut into triangles rather than squares, etc. Yet our bill for a family of four is usually around $35 because it's so freaking cheap. And that's before whatever coupon we use. How can I leave her anything less than $10?

Mike

as someone who works in the service industry, i think that's pretty good of you to tip extra knowing that the waitress has some extra duties with your table

[GratefulCs]

Always tip at a restaurant no matter how bad the service was, unless the server was exceptionally rude to you (which wouldn't happen because they wouldn't work there in the first place). Always 20% and up. My now separated wife and I would go to this restaurant quite a bit and would get the same waitress maybe 50% of the time we went. We'd always tip her well because she was great, and in turn you could tell she went above and beyond because she knew we would tip her well at the end of the night. Being a waiter or waitress is a tough job on top of being paid less than minimum wage. People who don't tip well don't understand that.

One other issue with tipping is that, by tipping as a percentage of the bill, how much are you rewarding hard work and service. Should a waiter get an extra $100 for opening a $500 bottle of wine? I'm not so sure.

Example: Our kids love Friendly's, so we are there more than I'd like. But the waitresses are being run all over the place, cleaning up spills, getting some kid the red crayons instead of the blue one, returning a grilled cheese because it was cut into triangles rather than squares, etc. Yet our bill for a family of four is usually around $35 because it's so freaking cheap. And that's before whatever coupon we use. How can I leave her anything less than $10?

Mike

Very true about the wine. Didn't really think of that because we never got wine that expensive. In that case I'd probably do 20% and up for just the food and add just a small percentage for the wine. That's an iffy one.

if you have the money to buy that $500 bottle of wine, and decide to drink it at a restaurant instead of at home, i think it's a little cheap to 'take it off the bill' when you tip


No offense intended to anyone who does this though

[Neurotic Guy]

It's because of tipping discomfort that I avoid valet parking and the guy at the hotel who wants to carry my bags.   I NEVER know what to tip in those circumstances and invariably do not have what I think would be appropriate denominations in my wallet.

In a restaurant I would have to have absolutely horrendous service to not give 20%.  It's just part of the deal.  I've been with couples where they start critiquing the waiter in order to determine how much they'll reduce the tip by. I think it makes them feel powerful.  There is nothing I dislike more than that.  It's 20%.


 

[fairweatherfan]

I'm always confused about what to give the pizza delivery guy.

They're happy with just about anything in my experience because so many people stiff them.  Which is messed up because delivering pizza is far more dangerous than serving and they're often paying for their own gas, depreciating their car, etc. 

I try to make a point to tip the pizza guy at a server rate, a little more when it's a holiday or my house is unusually far from the pizza place (it's not now).  People don't tend to appreciate how crappy their jobs are in my experience.


Tipping in general is really stupid; it originated from Americans trying to mimic European aristocrats and turned into more generous customers constantly having to subsidize both the business and stingier customers.  I'd love to see those professions paid actual living wages and tipping going back to being a little extra something when you're unusually pleased with service, instead of this byzantine mess of unwritten rules and norms.  But I'm not going to screw over the employees just because the practice is stupid.

[mgent]

Always tip at a restaurant no matter how bad the service was, unless the server was exceptionally rude to you (which wouldn't happen because they wouldn't work there in the first place). Always 20% and up. My now separated wife and I would go to this restaurant quite a bit and would get the same waitress maybe 50% of the time we went. We'd always tip her well because she was great, and in turn you could tell she went above and beyond because she knew we would tip her well at the end of the night. Being a waiter or waitress is a tough job on top of being paid less than minimum wage. People who don't tip well don't understand that.

One other issue with tipping is that, by tipping as a percentage of the bill, how much are you rewarding hard work and service. Should a waiter get an extra $100 for opening a $500 bottle of wine? I'm not so sure.

Example: Our kids love Friendly's, so we are there more than I'd like. But the waitresses are being run all over the place, cleaning up spills, getting some kid the red crayons instead of the blue one, returning a grilled cheese because it was cut into triangles rather than squares, etc. Yet our bill for a family of four is usually around $35 because it's so freaking cheap. And that's before whatever coupon we use. How can I leave her anything less than $10?

Mike

Very true about the wine. Didn't really think of that because we never got wine that expensive. In that case I'd probably do 20% and up for just the food and add just a small percentage for the wine. That's an iffy one.

if you have the money to buy that $500 bottle of wine, and decide to drink it at a restaurant instead of at home, i think it's a little cheap to 'take it off the bill' when you tip


No offense intended to anyone who does this though

True, but the whole idea/practice of tipping is so unbelievably flawed, where do you draw the line?

I routinely deliver hot tubs that go up to the ~15,000 dollar range.  Most of the time, I have one other guy to lift the 400-900 lb. tub up and off the trailer, then we drag it on a sled however far it has to go, and through whatever terrain it has to go through (grass, rocks, tress, dog crap, up hills, inside houses, up steps onto a deck, recessed into an unfinished deck).

I can sit here and rattle off specific nightmares, but suffice it to say, it's 1000 times harder than moving 99.9% of household items, and it certainly can't compare to waitresses and pizza delivery boys.  They are very stubborn, very easily scratched, and we also have to perfectly drill holes into their brand new tub for the cover, cover lifter, and electric cords.

If I had to estimate I would say ~80% of people don't tip, ~15% of people give us $5-$15 a piece, and less than 5% give $20-$30 ($30 is probably the most I've ever gotten).

And I've heard this from other people, but I've found it to be very accurate:  The people you know have money (multi-million dollar mansions) hardly ever tip, while the guy in modest clothes, who lives in a small house, drives an old car, and actually helped you push the tub, will tip you the best.

[dannyboy35]

I do 20 percent unless the service stinks.

[Surferdad]

For average service, I calculate 15% and then 'round up'.

For good-to-great service I do 20%.

I always tip in other countries even though it isn't the custom in some parts of Europe.

[D Dub]

Always tip at a restaurant no matter how bad the service was, unless the server was exceptionally rude to you (which wouldn't happen because they wouldn't work there in the first place). Always 20% and up. My now separated wife and I would go to this restaurant quite a bit and would get the same waitress maybe 50% of the time we went. We'd always tip her well because she was great, and in turn you could tell she went above and beyond because she knew we would tip her well at the end of the night. Being a waiter or waitress is a tough job on top of being paid less than minimum wage. People who don't tip well don't understand that.

One other issue with tipping is that, by tipping as a percentage of the bill, how much are you rewarding hard work and service. Should a waiter get an extra $100 for opening a $500 bottle of wine? I'm not so sure.

Example: Our kids love Friendly's, so we are there more than I'd like. But the waitresses are being run all over the place, cleaning up spills, getting some kid the red crayons instead of the blue one, returning a grilled cheese because it was cut into triangles rather than squares, etc. Yet our bill for a family of four is usually around $35 because it's so freaking cheap. And that's before whatever coupon we use. How can I leave her anything less than $10?

Mike

Very true about the wine. Didn't really think of that because we never got wine that expensive. In that case I'd probably do 20% and up for just the food and add just a small percentage for the wine. That's an iffy one.

if you have the money to buy that $500 bottle of wine, and decide to drink it at a restaurant instead of at home, i think it's a little cheap to 'take it off the bill' when you tip


No offense intended to anyone who does this though

True, but the whole idea/practice of tipping is so unbelievably flawed, where do you draw the line?

I routinely deliver hot tubs that go up to the ~15,000 dollar range.  Most of the time, I have one other guy to lift the 400-900 lb. tub up and off the trailer, then we drag it on a sled however far it has to go, and through whatever terrain it has to go through (grass, rocks, tress, dog crap, up hills, inside houses, up steps onto a deck, recessed into an unfinished deck).

I can sit here and rattle off specific nightmares, but suffice it to say, it's 1000 times harder than moving 99.9% of household items, and it certainly can't compare to waitresses and pizza delivery boys.  They are very stubborn, very easily scratched, and we also have to perfectly drill holes into their brand new tub for the cover, cover lifter, and electric cords.

If I had to estimate I would say ~80% of people don't tip, ~15% of people give us $5-$15 a piece, and less than 5% give $20-$30 ($30 is probably the most I've ever gotten).

And I've heard this from other people, but I've found it to be very accurate:  The people you know have money (multi-million dollar mansions) hardly ever tip, while the guy in modest clothes, who lives in a small house, drives an old car, and actually helped you push the tub, will tip you the best.

I think if you run a moving company, expectation is that you pay your staff a decent hourly wage.  In a restaurant, it's widely known the waiters rely on tips exclusively. 

I agree with taking care of the waiters at the diners, etc, where the bills are really low.  But that doesn't mean you can skimp if you are gonna drop $1000 on a dinner at a fancy place.  That's the top of the ladder for waiters, often need to have fine dining training & tons of experience to even get your foot in the door at a place like that. 

[GratefulCs]

Always tip at a restaurant no matter how bad the service was, unless the server was exceptionally rude to you (which wouldn't happen because they wouldn't work there in the first place). Always 20% and up. My now separated wife and I would go to this restaurant quite a bit and would get the same waitress maybe 50% of the time we went. We'd always tip her well because she was great, and in turn you could tell she went above and beyond because she knew we would tip her well at the end of the night. Being a waiter or waitress is a tough job on top of being paid less than minimum wage. People who don't tip well don't understand that.

One other issue with tipping is that, by tipping as a percentage of the bill, how much are you rewarding hard work and service. Should a waiter get an extra $100 for opening a $500 bottle of wine? I'm not so sure.

Example: Our kids love Friendly's, so we are there more than I'd like. But the waitresses are being run all over the place, cleaning up spills, getting some kid the red crayons instead of the blue one, returning a grilled cheese because it was cut into triangles rather than squares, etc. Yet our bill for a family of four is usually around $35 because it's so freaking cheap. And that's before whatever coupon we use. How can I leave her anything less than $10?

Mike

Very true about the wine. Didn't really think of that because we never got wine that expensive. In that case I'd probably do 20% and up for just the food and add just a small percentage for the wine. That's an iffy one.

if you have the money to buy that $500 bottle of wine, and decide to drink it at a restaurant instead of at home, i think it's a little cheap to 'take it off the bill' when you tip


No offense intended to anyone who does this though

True, but the whole idea/practice of tipping is so unbelievably flawed, where do you draw the line?

I routinely deliver hot tubs that go up to the ~15,000 dollar range.  Most of the time, I have one other guy to lift the 400-900 lb. tub up and off the trailer, then we drag it on a sled however far it has to go, and through whatever terrain it has to go through (grass, rocks, tress, dog crap, up hills, inside houses, up steps onto a deck, recessed into an unfinished deck).

I can sit here and rattle off specific nightmares, but suffice it to say, it's 1000 times harder than moving 99.9% of household items, and it certainly can't compare to waitresses and pizza delivery boys.  They are very stubborn, very easily scratched, and we also have to perfectly drill holes into their brand new tub for the cover, cover lifter, and electric cords.

If I had to estimate I would say ~80% of people don't tip, ~15% of people give us $5-$15 a piece, and less than 5% give $20-$30 ($30 is probably the most I've ever gotten).

And I've heard this from other people, but I've found it to be very accurate:  The people you know have money (multi-million dollar mansions) hardly ever tip, while the guy in modest clothes, who lives in a small house, drives an old car, and actually helped you push the tub, will tip you the best.

I think if you run a moving company, expectation is that you pay your staff a decent hourly wage.  In a restaurant, it's widely known the waiters rely on tips exclusively. 

I agree with taking care of the waiters at the diners, etc, where the bills are really low.  But that doesn't mean you can skimp if you are gonna drop $1000 on a dinner at a fancy place.  That's the top of the ladder for waiters, often need to have fine dining training & tons of experience to even get your foot in the door at a place like that.

this reminds me of that seinfeld episode when he says "how much do you tip a wood guy"

I'm curious as to what is a solid tip for a non food industry worker.

[jambr380]

I'm always confused about what to give the pizza delivery guy.

They're happy with just about anything in my experience because so many people stiff them.  Which is messed up because delivering pizza is far more dangerous than serving and they're often paying for their own gas, depreciating their car, etc. 

I try to make a point to tip the pizza guy at a server rate, a little more when it's a holiday or my house is unusually far from the pizza place (it's not now).  People don't tend to appreciate how crappy their jobs are in my experience.


Tipping in general is really stupid; it originated from Americans trying to mimic European aristocrats and turned into more generous customers constantly having to subsidize both the business and stingier customers.  I'd love to see those professions paid actual living wages and tipping going back to being a little extra something when you're unusually pleased with service, instead of this byzantine mess of unwritten rules and norms.  But I'm not going to screw over the employees just because the practice is stupid.

I can't agree with the bolded part enough. I understand that waitstaff depend on tips for the majority of their salary and it has at least become a customary amount, but most all other professions do not and there is such a wide array of what is acceptable.

Everything is expected to be tipped upon and it makes me a little uncomfortable, too. I try to do everything myself and avoid tippable practices just so I don't need to be put into an awkward predicament,

It would be so much easier if we could just pay for the services that we were rendered and be done with it. I don't want anybody thinking I am a total jerk for not tipping when I didn't know it was a tippable service.

[SparzWizard]

As an LA guy I usually tip 10%-12%, or a dollar for every ten dollars spent. Only 15% if I really have to. Also depends on the type of restaurant too.

Sadly, I'm not made of money lol. 

[GetLucky]

I'm not big into fancy dining; when I go out, it's usually to a "restaurant" in the vein of Applebee's or something similar. That said, I'm apparently a very generous tipper. (I didn't know I was until I read this thread.) I tip approximately 20% of the bill before tax to the nearest dollar (i.e. I'll add extra cents to make it even), and if I can't hit an even 20% I'll usually round up. For excellent service, I'll round up to around 30%, and for terrible services I give between 10-15%.

Every single member of my family has at one point had a job that relies solely on tips for income, be it bartender, waitress, valet, etc., and that includes my grandparents, parents, aunts, uncles, great aunts, and great uncles. Maybe I was taught to be a liberal tipper because of that, but I have no problem with it. For fancy, expensive dinners, I usually just give the allocated amount that the restaurant calculates on your bill. I have less sympathy for those people, I guess.

For stuff other than dining, such as manual labor or vending services, it really depends. For the most part, I have "my guys" that treat me well rate-wise and quality-of-work-wise; I tip them well when I can, mostly because they save me money on the appraisals and do a good job.

[snively]

Tipping in general is really stupid; it originated from Americans trying to mimic European aristocrats and turned into more generous customers constantly having to subsidize both the business and stingier customers.  I'd love to see those professions paid actual living wages and tipping going back to being a little extra something when you're unusually pleased with service, instead of this byzantine mess of unwritten rules and norms.  But I'm not going to screw over the employees just because the practice is stupid.

Working from this origin, I guess the general rule in tipping should be "tip whenever you are being served like nobility."

I guess that's part of the American dream though - that everyone can make enough money/have a quality of life that compares pretty well with the gentry of old, so everyone can role play as genteel when they are spending their surplus cash on mini-luxuries like eating out and getting haircuts.

As anachronisms go, it isn't so bad.

The arbitrary percentages take a lot of the social grace out of it though. Feels more like paying tribute or a tax than being generous.

[Monkhouse]

Always tip at a restaurant no matter how bad the service was, unless the server was exceptionally rude to you (which wouldn't happen because they wouldn't work there in the first place). Always 20% and up. My now separated wife and I would go to this restaurant quite a bit and would get the same waitress maybe 50% of the time we went. We'd always tip her well because she was great, and in turn you could tell she went above and beyond because she knew we would tip her well at the end of the night. Being a waiter or waitress is a tough job on top of being paid less than minimum wage. People who don't tip well don't understand that.

One other issue with tipping is that, by tipping as a percentage of the bill, how much are you rewarding hard work and service. Should a waiter get an extra $100 for opening a $500 bottle of wine? I'm not so sure.

Example: Our kids love Friendly's, so we are there more than I'd like. But the waitresses are being run all over the place, cleaning up spills, getting some kid the red crayons instead of the blue one, returning a grilled cheese because it was cut into triangles rather than squares, etc. Yet our bill for a family of four is usually around $35 because it's so freaking cheap. And that's before whatever coupon we use. How can I leave her anything less than $10?

Mike

That's pretty darn selfish if you ask me... Do you know why?

Because wine is alcohol, and ergo if your server is opening a bottle of wine that you ordered, that is 500 dollars worth, guess what? They are going to most likely be paying their hard earned tips to cover the tip you didn't provide them, because most restaurants go by sales as a percentage for tip out.

My restaurant does 2.1% of my alcohol sales as tip out, and it may not be bad, but inherently half the time, it ends up screwing me over if my table gets 200$ worth of alcohol, and don't even tip me anywhere near 15 or 20%, because my tips suffer at the end of the night.

If you are not willing to at least provide the sales cost that would've been rendered out of your servers tips, unless the service stinks, for anything you ordered, then don't order it. There is always the option of eating at home versus eating out.

Always tip at a restaurant no matter how bad the service was, unless the server was exceptionally rude to you (which wouldn't happen because they wouldn't work there in the first place). Always 20% and up. My now separated wife and I would go to this restaurant quite a bit and would get the same waitress maybe 50% of the time we went. We'd always tip her well because she was great, and in turn you could tell she went above and beyond because she knew we would tip her well at the end of the night. Being a waiter or waitress is a tough job on top of being paid less than minimum wage. People who don't tip well don't understand that.

One other issue with tipping is that, by tipping as a percentage of the bill, how much are you rewarding hard work and service. Should a waiter get an extra $100 for opening a $500 bottle of wine? I'm not so sure.

Example: Our kids love Friendly's, so we are there more than I'd like. But the waitresses are being run all over the place, cleaning up spills, getting some kid the red crayons instead of the blue one, returning a grilled cheese because it was cut into triangles rather than squares, etc. Yet our bill for a family of four is usually around $35 because it's so freaking cheap. And that's before whatever coupon we use. How can I leave her anything less than $10?

Mike

Very true about the wine. Didn't really think of that because we never got wine that expensive. In that case I'd probably do 20% and up for just the food and add just a small percentage for the wine. That's an iffy one.

if you have the money to buy that $500 bottle of wine, and decide to drink it at a restaurant instead of at home, i think it's a little cheap to 'take it off the bill' when you tip


No offense intended to anyone who does this though

True, but the whole idea/practice of tipping is so unbelievably flawed, where do you draw the line?

I routinely deliver hot tubs that go up to the ~15,000 dollar range.  Most of the time, I have one other guy to lift the 400-900 lb. tub up and off the trailer, then we drag it on a sled however far it has to go, and through whatever terrain it has to go through (grass, rocks, tress, dog crap, up hills, inside houses, up steps onto a deck, recessed into an unfinished deck).

I can sit here and rattle off specific nightmares, but suffice it to say, it's 1000 times harder than moving 99.9% of household items, and it certainly can't compare to waitresses and pizza delivery boys.  They are very stubborn, very easily scratched, and we also have to perfectly drill holes into their brand new tub for the cover, cover lifter, and electric cords.

If I had to estimate I would say ~80% of people don't tip, ~15% of people give us $5-$15 a piece, and less than 5% give $20-$30 ($30 is probably the most I've ever gotten).

And I've heard this from other people, but I've found it to be very accurate:  The people you know have money (multi-million dollar mansions) hardly ever tip, while the guy in modest clothes, who lives in a small house, drives an old car, and actually helped you push the tub, will tip you the best.

I was going to respond to this, but then D Dub literally explained exactly what I was going to say.

I agree moving is hard and physical labor, but during my tenure with the moving company, I was one of the highest grossing earners at my job, averaging 750-1250 a week. Its also very stressful and tiring, so eventually I had to quit.

To paint a vivid scenario about how hard it is to please people sometimes, let me write one out.

As for servers, we get paid 2.13 an hour. I recently applied to open an restaurant, and business has been slow, but slowly getting steadier.

I had a five table section, and got triple sat. I greeted all my tables, took their drink orders, and then promptly got one more table. (One server complained about how slow it was, and then argued with the manager and then got fired, so we all got one piece of her section.)

I was actually in the weeds at that point, and the table that had sat down were nice and polite. I greeted them after dropping off drinks while reminding that table I would be right there. They asked about our specials, ordered a bottle of wine, and their two kids ordered promptly from the kids menu right after.

The 3 tables I had before were taken care of, and I asked my co-workers to watch over my section as I went to go put in the new tables orders. The kids foods and the salad that the gentlemen at my new table ordered should've been out ten minutes ago. It was now reaching twenty five.

After telling my kitchen manager, I needed the food ASAP, after the nice gentlemen eventually got tired of waiting and consulted an manager asking why the food was taking so long. (Even right before I told him their food would take even longer.)

It took the kitchen staff 40 minutes to make what should've taken 15-20 minutes, and after dropping off the check, and their meal was over. The gentlemen asked me why the food took so long, and that I seemed like a nice and polite guy, and if it wasn't for that, I probably wouldn't have gotten squat. I explained to him that I tried to get the meal comped due to the duration and extended period of wait for the food, but the same manager he talked to him, didn't do such thing nor offer to do so; and then I told him we're a recently new restaurant so the kitchen staff is inexperienced and slow.

 He told me he used to work as a server and in restaurants and that it was completely unacceptable while telling me that he probably would never come back, and would go out of his way to make sure his friends didn't either.

After everything, the bill came out to 150, with the bottle of wine, two kids meals, two entrees, one with steak, and one with salmon, with two orders of sashimi and sushi.

On a check that was 150, he gave me 4 dollars. I eventually had to tip out with my calculations, the sushi chef, the bar, and the server assistants/bussers, 28 dollars at the end of the night. The guy might as well not have tipped me, and I still would've been okay with it.

So it is what it is.