Do You Tip?

[Spidey Revivey]

This is the first thread I have ever started, so I apologize if this subject has already been brought up before.

This morning I had breakfast with some friends of mine. When we were done, A few of us left a tip, but not everyone. Inquiring on this, I asked why they didn't feel it necessary to do so. One told me it was because the cooks are the ones who do all the work, and that no one tips them. Another argued about how laborous it is to be a waiter/ess. That made me really think: Should we feel obligated to pay someone extra for bringing us our food and refilling our glasses?

Later on this afternoon I wondered some more and rewatched the first scene of Reservoir Dogs that was talking about practically the same thing. Mr. Pink would not tip, but his defense was "he wasn't going to tip someone just because it was the popular thing to do" He would tip only if he felt they were putting in their best effort.

What are your thoughts on tipping? Is it really necessary? Should we or shouldn't we?

 

[Big Sexy]

Of course you should. Waitresses get shit in base salary and rely on tips to make a living. Not tipping is a complete dick move. Same goes for when you're getting your hair cut. You always tip the person at least a couple bucks depending on the cost of the hair cut.

So yes you should tip and yes it is necessary if you don't want to look like a complete douche.

 

[Slyfox696]

Of course you should. Waitresses get shit in base salary and rely on tips to make a living.

Yes, but whose fault is that? Should I be blamed because they took a job with a shit base pay? Should I be blamed because their employer pays them shit in base pay? Please explain how it's MY fault they don't get good salary. Combine that in with the fact many places don't even allow their servers to keep what they earn, but rather pool the money and then divide it equally, and I have to disagree with the assertion that we "should" tip our servers.

As far as my personal tipping habits go, I choose the tip I leave based upon the Law of Diminishing Returns. As long as you are pleasant, and don't fuck up my order, you can get 10% rather easily. After that, the better you are, the more pleasant you are, the better you server me all decides on what percentage of tip you actually get, with it becoming nearly impossible to get above a 20-25% tip. I've done it before, but the server truly earned it.

I also base my decision upon where I'm eating and how much I've been served. For example, I tip usually a max of 10% at a buffet, because let's face it, those servers don't really do anything for me. Additionally, I usually have a maximum dollar amount that I'll tip as well. For example, I think that tipping $10 is the absolute maximum any person should tip. Why should I tip more just because my bill was higher? That doesn't make sense at all.

Anyways, there's some insight into Slyfox economics.

 

[Big Sexy]

Yes, but whose fault is that? Should I be blamed because they took a job with a shit base pay? Should I be blamed because their employer pays them shit in base pay? Please explain how it's MY fault they don't get good salary. Combine that in with the fact many places don't even allow their servers to keep what they earn, but rather pool the money and then divide it equally, and I have to disagree with the assertion that we "should" tip our servers.

I didn't say it was your fault. That doesn't change the fact that if you should always tip your waitress at least 10% as long as they don't completely suck. It's called being a decent human being.

 

[Slyfox696]

I didn't say it was your fault. That doesn't change the fact that if you should always tip your waitress at least 10% as long as they don't completely suck. It's called being a decent human being.

Not really, the quality of my character is not tied up in whether or not I tip my waitress, and to say so is just silly. If a man walked out of a casino, broke after hours of gambling, would it make me a poor human being because I don't give him money to go back and try again? Of course not.

The same theory applies here, in a slightly altered fashion. While I certainly appreciate those who work to keep me from having to, to insist I'm a bad human being because I don't tip them is ludicrous. If they don't want to get lousy money, then they should find another job.

If enough people wouldn't tip, then restaurants would be forced to raise the wages of it's servers, to at least minimum wage. If people quit thinking like you, maybe servers wouldn't get shit for base salary.

 

[Mighty NorCal]

Sly is 110% spot on. I HATE when people tell me I HAVE to tip. The fuck I do. Its not my fault they selected this job to do. If you don't want a job based upon how much people tip you, my advice would be to get another fucking job.

The tip is entirely based on service. If you are friendly put forth a good effort, and get stuff right, I actually have been know to be QUITE the extravagent tipper, sometimes upwards of 75%. I do NOT however, HAVE to do SHIT. I, and I alone, decide how much I will tip. There is no minimum. There is no HAVE to. If you do a shitty job, you get shitty pay.

 

[Loveless]

Nope I don't but then I think that tipping is more of an American culture because you don't have a flat-rate minimum wage across the entire country. Over here it's a different matter and waitresses don't get paid less than any other unskilled labour, so in my view at least, tipping is unnecessary unless you're feeling charitable, which I never am. Though having said that, I had a waitress a while ago who worked her arse off over the whole night so I made an exception.

 

[SalvIsWin]

The entire system of tipping is backwards. A server fully expects to be tipped around 10% as long as they are not noticeably awful, therefore in order to show a server that they did a very good job, you have to leave an above average tip, about 15 - 20%. That shouldn't be the case, if you're completely average as a server, you should not be given extra money, that should be reserved for if you are above average.

At the same time, I recognize that servers rely heavily on their tips, so I feel inclined to tip 10% as long as they were not noticeably awful. Tipping is just one of those things that have become out of control and have strayed from far their original intent, and I don't see it ever reverting back.

I agree with SlyFox as well about a maximum amount to leave. I tip according to the bill, but I will not leave a server more than $15.00. I realize that servers who work in classy restaurants become excited when a table orders an expensive bottle of fine because they think they will receive an even larger tip, but there is a difference between servers relying on tips to live, and servers looking to cash-in.

 

[Spidey Revivey]

I agree with SlyFox as well about a maximum amount to leave. I tip according to the bill, but I will not leave a server more than $15.00. I realize that servers who work in classy restaurants become excited when a table orders an expensive bottle of fine because they think they will receive an even larger tip, but there is a difference between servers relying on tips to live, and servers looking to cash-in.

You bring in an interesting point. It's not exactly difficult to become a waiter/ess in America. In fact it is a job most can get without a GED or High School Diploma. With that, you have those that expect to be tipped + their usual income, and then you have those that actually need it. In modern society its usually difficult to weed out these two kinds of people.

I come from a small town, so I pretty much know the people that serve the food. Some are high-school drop-outs looking for a quick payout while living with their parents, and some are unwed mothers trying to scrape up as much as they can for their child.

I pay usually 50/50 in accordance that I actually have enough to tip them. Sometimes I am stuck with a waiter/ess who may refill my glass once or twice and not bother with mannerisms. Am I entitled to pay someone extra for half-assing their job? No. Doesn't make me a bad person either.

 

[LigerBomb]

Most often yes, of course I tip. Though, and this is rare, service has been so deplorable that I fail to leave anything at all or as a wake up call to my server to get it right next time a bit of loose change. For me everyone starts out with an 'A' of 20% then based on their performance, they perhaps "earn" less and less. And I agree with Sly that there is a cap on the dollar amount as the expense of the dish I order is of no consequence or correlation to how hard you may work in delivering it to my table. A plate of food, is a plate of food, is a plate of food.

Story: Once my GF, who has a somewhat thick NY accent, "awded a cuppa cawfee" from a Denny's and the waiter gave her a hard time about the way she pronounced spoke. At first she and I thought it was playful ribbing but he persisted and started to veer off into semi-insulting territory with each successive return to the table. Finally, on what would be the final re-fill, he spilt said beverage and took forever to come back and clean it up. After waiting the proper amount, rather than wait any longer, we simply left a solitary dollar bill floating in the puddle of Colombia's second finest export and left.

 

[Cena's Little Helper]

I always tip 20%, maybe even more if I feel the service was superb.

However, there are two things I will not do:

1) I will not tip more than one person. My obligation is to the server who brings me my food and drinks. I do not tip hostesses, I do not tip busboys, I do not tip bartenders (if I am not sitting at the bar), and I do not tip cooks or chefs. If any of these people want a piece of the action, then the server can give them a little something of what I initially tipped them.

2) If I am not being properly served (i.e., waited on) at a restaurant/eatery, then I am not going to tip someone. Nothing pisses me off more than these tip jars that such places as Subway and Cold Stone Creamery put out in front of their cash registers. I'm also quite irked that, when I get take-out, I still see "Tip" at the bottom of a receipt if I pay with a credit card. However, this is something I have to tolerate, as it's only efficient for restaurants to use the same type of register for both dine-in and carry-out.

 

[X]

Considering how much time myself and most of my friends have had to work in shitty jobs and live off of tips, I absolutely tip. Never got the point of it when I was younger, until I you know, actually got a real job and realized how much most jobs you earn tips in suck. My buddy used to deliver pizza for years, must've been robbed like ten times just delivering freaking food to people. Definitely earned his tips.

Yeah, I almost always tip. I've been in their situation before and it's really no big deal at all to part with a few extra bucks here and there. I think we all learned from Mr. Pink that karma is a bitch when it comes to tipping.

 

[SalvIsWin]

And I agree with Sly that there is a cap on the dollar amount as the expense of the dish I order is of no consequence or correlation to how hard you may work in delivering it to my table. A plate of food, is a plate of food, is a plate of food.

Although we must keep in mind that there is different etiquette and amount of service required for different restaurants. In a classy restaurant for example there is a much finer degree of etiquette involved. When a table orders a bottle of wine you bring them over the chilled bottle with two glasses and serve them a sample to see if it is to their satisfaction.

Besides the balancing of plates and perhaps and uncanny ability to remember orders with out a pad and paper, almost any one can do the job of a server at a regular restaurant. However the same cannot be said for a server at a classy restaurant, there is a degree of knowledge and etiquette required to be a server at those types of establishments, and I think it's appropriate to tip a little bit more depending on the type of service required.

That being said I still agree with a maximum amount. You bring a $50.00 bottle of wine to a table the same way you bring a $500.00 bottle of wine, so I don't see why I would tip $5 in case 1 and $50 in case two.

 

[Little Jerry Lawler]

I don't tip on a percentage basis. I usually tip between $3 and $5 because the service I received have always been good. Sometimes I'm a bit picky depending on the price. I usually tip that amount when the bill is around $10. If it's $15 above I usually tip around $2 because that's around 14% which I've been told is pretty acceptable.

A few questions I want to ask?

1. If you order anything by delivery, do delivery guys and gals deserve tips?

2. Do you tip at fast food places because my friend and I have had a long discussion whether or not we should tip at places like Sonic?

 

[Razor]

I tip. Usually it's enough to even out the bill. I love seeing -$9.00 when I look at my bank account online as opposed to -$7.43. I'm OCD like that.

I'll tip at least a few bucks when I'm eating anywhere that requires me to fill out a receipt for my check card. It's just something I've always done. However, I won't tip a lot if a bitch can't serve right. I'll even out my bill and tip her 47 cents. Razor don't play dat round here.

Part of it is just me helping out a person who's pay is legitimately probably 3 dollars an hour. Part of it is me being brought up to thank everyone who does anything for me, so tipping is my way of doing that when a waiter or waitress is really busy that day. Part of it is me thinking they deserve it. But don't press it. I'm a poor college student. I don't have to give you my 47 cents. That'll buy me a gumball at Wal-Mart.

 

[antfarm612]

I'll tip if service is good, I won't tip if service is bad. I've never really had what you would call 'bad' service, so I pretty much always tip.

There was one instance where me and my friends were allowed to buy beer despite being underaged, and we gave a massive tip, which was met with a free pitcher of beer. Karma's great sometimes.

Also, after every wrestling tournament, we always go to Denny's to get our grub on, and we get the same waiter almost every time. When you get to know a waiter, you hook him up with a fat tip, and they in turn hook you on the food. This guy used to give us free sundaes, free pancakes, etc. We had a good relationship. Looking forward to tipping him next year.

There was also an instance in the same Denny's where two guys just decided not to pay for their meal. We had the same waiter as them, so we hooked her up with a fat tip.

 

[Spidey Revivey]

1. If you order anything by delivery, do delivery guys and gals deserve tips?

2. Do you tip at fast food places because my friend and I have had a long discussion whether or not we should tip at places like Sonic?

Good questions.

1. I honestly don't think so, but as Mr. Eko stated, you never know exactly what you have to put up with until you work for tips and such. I don't really see a reason for tipping the delivery man though it's not like they are waiting on you like a waiter/ess does. They come. They give. They leave. Not really laborous unless they themselves fixed your food.

2. Sonic to me is very similar to a diner, with fast food on the menu bar-none. They come by and check up on you, and occasionally service you with a complimentary tray. I'm not sure if its in their job to refill your drinks or not, but they still do most things the regular waiter/ess does. I think (depending on service) It's okay to tip here.

 

[ABMorales787]

I tip based on how well I am treated. Once at Chilli's the waitress actually went out of her way to go buy my mother some Panadol. We tipped her around $100 in tip and personally gave it to her. On another occasion, at a local seafood restaurant, the service was pretty bad. The waitress was very rude. Even telling us to sit down in a very demanding tone. We had our meal when leaving she asked for the tip. My mother told her that her rude attitude wasn't doing her favors and after her replying that we were selfish I told called her a skank. The point is that tipping someone should be based on how well they are doing their job. Easy as that really. Tipping has never been obligatory otherwise it would just be a fee.

 

[Muffin Top Merkley]

The only time I don't tip if it I get horrible service in the resturant/bar. And it takes alot for me not to leave some sort of tip.

Like Tdigle, I only tip servers and not hosts or cooks etc. But some resturants have a policy where servers give part of their tips to other staff.

Like Razor, If I tip with my credit card or debit, I try to round out the dollar amount so it's $40.00 rather than $38.54.

I am an over-tipper. If the service is good, then the person is getting a good tip based on how long I have been there, and how much they approach the table to see how everyone is doing.

I think should always tip to show your appreciation if you enjoy your time at the bar or resturant.

If there is bad service such as the only time the server goes to your table is to take your order and bring you your food, or is rude, then no, don't leave a tip.

Sometimes my friends and I used to go to a bar and we'll all set twenty dollars on the table, we tell the server that this is his/her tip at the end of the night, as long as everything goes well. If things don't go so well, we start taking money away and the tip goes down. It's kind of a dick move so we always give them the full amount either way at the end of the night (especially if its busy and everyone is drinking, because thats when their jobs get really hard).

 

[One Punch Doug Crashin]

I'm with Tdigs on this one. The normal tip rate is 15% depending on the service. Me personally I tip about 10-15% depending on server timing and personality. If the server goes out of their way to make my stay the best that it could possibly be then I'll tip them 20%.

 

[Rhonda Rousey's Sports Bra]

Well since my girlfriend works as a server I tip 20% almost everytime I go out. 10% is not the expected tip anymore, it has gone up with the cost of living. The only time I don't tip the normal 20% was at a Buffalo Wild Wings, the server only had 2 tables, us and a few guys drinking, she alxays had beers on their table while we didn't get our order taken for 10 minutes, she got $0.87 on $18.

 

[Theo Mays]

I'm a pretty generous tipper if the server is awesome and does a great job with the group. Seeing as when I go out it is usually in larger groups, so it is much more of a hassle. However if the server is terrible my tip will lack. I think the lowest I tipped before was $1.10 on a $30 dollar bill or something. The waitress was a complete cunt and messed up everyone's order and she was cranky as fuck. That was only one occasion, usually I've been pretty lucky with servers. I tend to be loud, funny, and a bit out there when I go out and usually the servers embrace it and join in on the fun. If that is the case your tip will be pretty awesome. I think I once gave a $10 tip on a $15 dollar meal, as the server was fun and on the spot.

 

[Ferbian]

I completely agree with Slyfox, I'm not very fond of tipping someone who gave me a lousy service, I'll gladly tip if the waiter took the time to go down to me and ask if I was enjoying the meal, or if I needed anything, without being pushy, or coming off as annoyed that he has to do it.

The same goes for Taxi drivers, if they're a pleasant person to talk with during the drive, takes interest, I'll gladly tip the guy, I might tip the taxi driver no matter what, but the tip increases if he's talkative, and not talkative in the ridiculous "Shut your mouth for the love of god so I can reply, just once thank you" kind of way.

I'm not quite sure how much I tip really, I don't encounter the situation that very often, seeing as I don't spend a lot of time at restaurants or driving a taxi, but the last time I tipped a taxi driver, pleasant guy, ended up giving him about 50 DKK (Danish valuta, equals 8.68 dollars and the drive was for 43,41 dollars or 250 DKK)

So yes I tip, depending on the service.

 

[Cookie]

My family has been in the restaurant business for a long time, so having been around that, I've learned to always tip my server. My default would be 15%, which is equivalent to the taxes here but there's obviously exceptions. If the service is absolutely horrendous (which I've luckily never encountered) then obviously you don't deserve much of a tip at all. If the service is outstanding and the server went above and beyond, then they'd get a bigger tip.

I also tip generously if I'm out with a big group of my friends (sometimes there's 20 of us). I've had to serve giant groups before, especially people my age, and I know how frustrating it can get to keep on top of things so I definitely feel someone deserves a decent tip in that scenario, assuming they didn't suck.

1. If you order anything by delivery, do delivery guys and gals deserve tips?

I've always tipped the delivery guys. It's never as substantial as the tip a server at a restaurant would get, though.

2. Do you tip at fast food places because my friend and I have had a long discussion whether or not we should tip at places like Sonic?

We don't have a Sonic here so I've got no frame of reference for that, but fast food to me is like a McDonalds and I haven't ever tipped at a fast food place. I agree with TDigs' point about tip jars being irritating at Subway or places like that- I'll tip who I want to tip.

 

[HBK-aholic]

I don't tip people. So they get a bad pay rate, so did I when I worked in a shop, but do any of you tip the people who serve you in stores? I'm willing to bet you don't. It's not my fault they're paid badly, and as a result I'm not going to take responsibility for it. Plus, I'm a student, I don't HAVE the money to give to other people. Maybe if I'm rich one day.