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Tips & tipping general discussion

10% and round up the dollar for pricey meals/ok service
5% for bad, stiff if HORRIBLE(never done this)
Pizza I try to do 15% and up the dollar, cuz they pay gas and all

A little cheap, but im a student right now---when i start earniong money i know ill be a VERY generous tipper--cuz these people not only control your food they work VERY hard
 
do not tip anything at all if the service is bad. i leave at least a 20% tip when the service is great. but some of the times, i cant afford to tip and usually tell the waiter/waitress i couldnt leave one.
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Y'know, in 3 years, I've never had someone come up to me and say, "Y'know, I thought the service was great, but I can't afford to leave a tip. Sorry"

Never.

I think I'd respect that. Gratitude over gratuity is fine with me.
 
You are totally right about first generation immigrants not tipping, its some shit in their culture or something, but they need to get it straight if they are living here in the US. I work in the service industry as well (restaurant), and i know that servers bartenders and all that shit LIVE off their tips. My philosphy is that you tip well when it is deserved, if you get shitty service dont tip well. If you get free food or drink, you pay at least half the cost of that to the server in tips, and give a thankyou as well. Another thing about immigrants, alot of the time they never say THANKYOU. For me thankyou is a big deal, it shows apprication. When i go out to eat at a restaurant i treat the server how i would treat myself if i was serving myself. This is a little bit extreme, but i cant help to stack plates, put cups and glasses next to each other, group the condiments togetther, and basically just make it easy on the server and busser, unless they suck. Another thing is, if it is a friend that is serving you, make sure to tip them well, it will usually come right back to you next time you are serving them, and plus it is good to make contacts at other restaurants or establisments as they might hook you up with free shit or treat you like your a VIP, its good for impressing dates.
 
So in the US you tip for bar-restraunt, what else? You do aswell when you get a pizza delivered? I usually tip (in Australia) bartenders and waitresses, but thats it. Only b/c I lived of tips when I was working as a bartender in London.

Oh and I also tip cab drivers here if they can speak english, don't double charge the pickup fee and take me where I want without a detour.
 
15% is standard tipping. i pay 15% for adequate service in restaurants where they do not specifically state that they take the tip from the bill.

i don't believe in tipping for adequate service only. i am paying for a service, and i should get that service for what i pay. if that price isn't good enough, they should ask for more in the first place. tipping is just a poor excuse for employers to get away with paying their staff less, and this practice should be made illegal.

tips should be for exceptional service only. but as long as employers are skimping people, i'll have to calculate how much i ACTUALLY owe, and pay that.
 
buzzy said:
Tip is 20% when I walk in the door. Everything that they do wrong from that point on deducts from the tip. If they are rude enough and service is bad, they don't get anything.
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That's basically me to.. i used to be a waitress and i tend to over tip if they server did a good job.. but if they sucked (and i will pick up on everything they did wrong) they get shit

i work hard for my money.. they should too!
 
You are totally right about first generation immigrants not tipping
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good lord. i am first generation american and i tip well. :) there are a lot of people visiting from other countries where i live and i used to tend bar at a nice place near the World Bank. some of these people were career diplomats and they had to have been aware of the tipping customs in this country, just like i make myself aware of customs in other countries before i go there. BUT, these world bank twats would often feign ignorance and stiff me. this happened often in restaurants all over town whenever people were visiting from outside the country.

in many places, servers make around $2.50 an hour. they work for tips, and as anyone who has ever waited tables will tell you -- it's very hard work. 90% of the complaints that people use as a rationale for being a cheap tipper are not the server's fault -- long wait times, late food, etc. the server does not have the power to change these things.

having put myself through school waiting tables and bartending, i usually tip around 20%, but will drop to 14-15% for iffy service. there is really no excuse for ever going less than 12% unless a server is personally hostile and antagonistic...which is not to say that doesn't happen.
 
I'd have to be having a rather shitty day to antagonize my customers. I think you're right about the feigning ignorance thing. On all credit card and debit transactions, there's a specific place for the tip. It's impossible to miss.

long wait times, late food, etc. the server does not have the power to change these things.
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My favorite is when they don't find the food tasty enough and stiff you based on that. What do you expect us to do? A taste test?

And temperature? We can't stick our fingers in your mashed potatoes to see if they're piping hot enough for you.

I had one morbidly obese woman almost throw a plate of chicken wings at me because they weren't up to her taste standard. She proceeded to spend the rest of the meal pouting and glaring at me, despite my repeated attempts at reconciliation.
 
^^ that is not things i'd cut a tip for.. i know (having been a server) what's not in the servers control.. however.. if she doesn't appologize for something that was wrong or explain the situation then she gets docked ;)
 
I tend to tip too much very often, I kind of feel obligated, which is pretty stupid..:(
 
buzzy said:
If you tip a bartender, eventually if they are good you'll get a buyback, where you get a round of drinks on the house.
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I get that all the time - I've also gotten a free baby tank top, and fewd.

:)

Yay for awesome bartenders!
 
i generally tip between 20% - 30% depending on my experience with the individual. With some people you are practically doing their job for them by reminding them of what you need, and in this case when I have been really annoyed I leave 10% or less. No use in reinforcing crap service.
 
synthetic sunrise said:
i don't believe in tipping for adequate service only. i am paying for a service, and i should get that service for what i pay. if that price isn't good enough, they should ask for more in the first place. tipping is just a poor excuse for employers to get away with paying their staff less, and this practice should be made illegal.

tips should be for exceptional service only. but as long as employers are skimping people, i'll have to calculate how much i ACTUALLY owe, and pay that.
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I almost agree with you there. The waitstaff has a job to do and do well. But, it is a cultural norm to be tipped in America. Almost everyone tips. (At least normal people) My rule of thumb is:

A.) If my order is only a Coke or water and I'm eating with others I leave $1.00 even. (<--the situation when cheapos would let it ride on their friends tips and hope everyone didn't notice that they didn't throw down for a tip)

B.) if the waiter/ress does their job just acceptably (Such as does just enough to not get stiffed... I have like this odd sense for that behavior) then i leave 10 percent, rounded to the nearest dollar. ( i never leave any change smaller than quarters thats just rude and weighs their apron/smock down.

C.) If they do not hover and annoy me, and are just really accomodating and polite, make sure I get those magic refills that i love, you know the ones that appear in mid-conversation and you only realize that they're there after like 3 minutes, then I leave 25 to 30 percent rounded to the nearest dollar.

D.) If they are rude, act like they don't care and deserve a tip just for showing up for work that day, just not personable/ customer service oriented at all, or do not make every reasonable attempt to make my order right, then i leave a big fat nothing. No dollar no quarter just stiffed completely.

If they aren't enthusiastic about their job, or at least very good at pretending to be, then find a new occupation. Learn to type, answer phones, whatever else will pay the bills. Just don;t expect a fat tip when all you did was bring the plates and drinks and leave the check on the table when I'm halfway through my salad.
 
I don't care who you are or what you do, there's not a person in this world who doesn't have a shitty day at work.

The best advice for being a good server? - Exercise, stay away from drugs/alcohol and drink plenty of coffee.
 
it really embarrasses me when i go out to eat with my friends and they cheap out on the tip. I put my share of the tip on the table and the rest of the people try to sneak out of the tip. I usually end up having to pay the entire tip. I dont understand people that would not tip or not tip enough. To me the tip is more important than the bill. If you cant tip right, go get fast food.

I try not to go eat at restaurants with people I know are shitty tippers.
 
I rarely tip. Because I am in Australia. It's not complusory.

I only tip if they provided a great service and food.... importantly a great wine list that sells by the glass and bottle too.... (uh... as if I buy wine by the glass, I just order a bottle. =D )

The better the wine list and impressed, the more likely I am goning to tip them, probably because I am pissed, I usually tip $5-10 when I take my mum out for dinner in Brisbane's great cafes and resturants when she comes to my city to visit me.

At pubs, if they served me great and be nice to me while I am in stupid drunken state, they more likely to keep the change for example, if a pot of beer cost $2.50 or whatever and I give them $3.00, I just tell the nice chick to keep the change, and usually do the same thing all night and the chick probably will be lucky to end up with few bucks of tips.... =D

I only tip when I am drunk and cheerful.

Sober.... rarely tip because I don't have to. Simple as that.
 
I find it odd how it's not customary to tip in some places. Servers must get paid very good money to put up with what they do minus incentives for doing it well. I get approx. $15 an hour (Canadian) when tips are counted. How much do servers get paid in Aus?

Don't let a 'wine list' be the deciding factor between tip and no tip. The server has absolutely no decision-making power about the wine list. Stiffing the server based on your dissatisfaction with factors beyond the server's control is ridiculous and happens far too often.
 
Kyk said:
Don't let a 'wine list' be the deciding factor between tip and no tip. The server has absolutely no decision-making power about the wine list. Stiffing the server based on your dissatisfaction with factors beyond the server's control is ridiculous and happens far too often.
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he said he is in aus. where they dont usually tip. he was just saying if the wine list is good, hes probably going to tip.
 
For restaurants, I prefer to tip 20%, and no less than 15%, even if the service was mediocre.

A question--what is the standard tip rate for a drink at a bar, given that the standard price for a drink is (where I've been) anywhere from $2.50 to $4.00 or more?
 
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