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Tipping Etiquette

Started by Fae Brin, June 25, 2011, 12:51:37 AM

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Fae Brin

I guess I understand the job -reasoning and the prevention of drive aways reasoning,

I guess I just think it's silly. Pumping gas is something that takes about two minutes. What does the driver do while they're waiting??


And I didn't think about the credit card company charging-- that makes vague sense...

I'd never want to live in New York..
The idea hovered and shivered delicately, like a soap bubble, and she dared not even look at it directly in case it burst. 
But she was familiar with the way of ideas, and she let it
shimmer, looking away, thinking about something else.
and a subtle fear [capture d] my  h  e  a  r  t.
already [wet] and we're gonna go s w i m ming

Maxwell Malamute

That is odd, when you head up to NYC from Maryland: The gas is cheaper in New Jersey, and they pump it for you, but you have to pay to use the roads :P
Playful rubber puppy, here! Into many other other things, just ask!

On and Offs, what I like to do/My Stories/The Origin of Love: My history, briefly/Meeting the Great God Pan

Fae Brin

All of the roads or just the toll roads?

@.@
The idea hovered and shivered delicately, like a soap bubble, and she dared not even look at it directly in case it burst. 
But she was familiar with the way of ideas, and she let it
shimmer, looking away, thinking about something else.
and a subtle fear [capture d] my  h  e  a  r  t.
already [wet] and we're gonna go s w i m ming

Maxwell Malamute

Just the toll roads, but also the bridges...I was trying to recall all the tolls if you take 95 to the NJ turnpike, from here...it comes to something like $20 in tolls, by the time you hit NYC.

Better to take a train, or bus.
Playful rubber puppy, here! Into many other other things, just ask!

On and Offs, what I like to do/My Stories/The Origin of Love: My history, briefly/Meeting the Great God Pan

DudelRok

If you brought me food in some manner of fashion, you get tipped provided you also don't have your hand out. I tip fairly high (20-25%) as long as there isn't an outwardly assumption that I'll give you a tip.

I also go by the 1, 2, 5 rule for extra services like valet, grocery delivery, whatever etc.

The main reason I'm a pretty good tipper, though, is I've done that crap and tips are a LIVE SAVER. Well I've not waited tables (mostly due to not disliking people too much) but they, really, don't get paid anything. They rely on tips to live and not tipping them is like stealing from the poor, in my ethical book. However, the more I frequent a place the more likely I'm to be handed tips back. If they don't want it (or can't have it) it ain't my problem.

I don't tip the people who cut my hair, though. I always found that to be very odd.

I AM THE RETURN!

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Oniya

Quote from: DudelRok on June 25, 2011, 10:54:28 PM
I don't tip the people who cut my hair, though. I always found that to be very odd.

I like to make sure that the people in charge of sharp objects within two feet of my neck are happy.  :o
"Language was invented for one reason, boys - to woo women.~*~*~Don't think it's all been done before
And in that endeavor, laziness will not do." ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Don't think we're never gonna win this war
Robin Williams-Dead Poets Society ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Don't think your world's gonna fall apart
I do have a cause, though.  It's obscenity.  I'm for it.  - Tom Lehrer~*~All you need is your beautiful heart
O/O's Updated 5/11/21 - A/A's - Current Status! - Writing a novel - all draws for Fool of Fire up!
Requests updated March 17

Trieste

By the same token, tipping your tattoo artist is good practice, esp. in cases of a multi-step tattoo. :P

Vekseid

Quote from: Lord Mayerling on June 25, 2011, 09:37:48 PM
Two reasons:  1) when you pay with a credit card, the credit card issue takes 3% of the sale, so the merchant makes you, the consumer pay it. 2) Cash sales aren't reported as income, so the merchant doesn't pay taxes on it (illegally).

Aint New York great?

Cash also can't bounce, or have a chargeback applied. There are gas stations here in MN that offer 5% off for cash transactions every now and then (Bill's Superette).

Will

Quote from: Martee on June 25, 2011, 12:21:13 PMMy father drilled into us if we couldn't afford to take care of our servers, we couldn't afford to eat or drink out.  Good advice, I think.

I think this was already repeated in the thread, but it just can't be said enough.  People in the service industry have to deal with the most amazingly rude and infuriating individuals imaginable.  Many individuals go out of their way to cause a scene, just because they know company policy is that the customer is always right, and they know they'll get free meals, gift cards, etc, etc.  People come in after a bad day and think that the entire staff is their verbal punching bag.  It's truly, truly awful, and it's an everyday occurrence.

These employees deserve your tips.  Even if they didn't do a good job, they deserve the bare minimum 10%. 
If you can heal the symptoms, but not affect the cause
It's like trying to heal a gunshot wound with gauze

One day, I will find the right words, and they will be simple.
- Jack Kerouac

Caela

I tip the standard 15% for mediocre service, excellent service it depends but have tipped as much as 50% for just beyond exceptional service before. Truly poor service doesn't get a tip. I understand that a lot of service industry folks count on their tips to help them live, but there are times when you simple aren't performing your job in an adequate manner and do NOT deserve any extra money out of someone's pocket. It's rare for me not to leave something, but it does happen.

Honestly, I'd rather pay the higher prices for them to make (at least) minimum wage and then only tip the truly good servers out there.

Trieste

I personally have to wonder, myself, whether it's honestly true that prices would go up so incredibly much if restaurants paid their waitstaff a decent wage. They pay their busboys, cooks, bartenders and often the hostesses a decent wage, so it wouldn't be the whole staff. And given that Wendy's, McDonald's, BK, etc, must pay all their employees at least minimum wage and yet still seem to turn out food at cheaper prices than sit-down restaurants (with huge profit margins, I might add), I'm skeptical. I'm sure there would be an increase. Would it be catastrophic? Not really. And if you figure the tip itself into the cost of the meal right now, then I sincerely doubt that the prices would go up very much at all.

I have my suspicions that the restaurant industry has told us this in order to keep their waitstaff from getting proper support. It's not as if restaurant workers are known for their math savvy, so it's not as if they think their employees are going to crunch the numbers. And if they did? They're not going to get a whole lot of outside support due to the belief that dining out will become astronomical if we support them.

After all, it's not as if people in countries where waitstaff make decent wage can afford to eat out very often. Oh wait...

Imogen

I tip in restaurants unless it's specified on the menu that tips are included. I am rather happy with this system because it lets me reward exceptional service and show my dislike in a polite fashion for mediocre service. My tips are usually by the book, sometimes extra if there was a good reason to cheer about either food, service, atmosphere, etc.

When I'm travelling I tip more generously, especially in countries with poverty. If you know that one person with a good job has to pay for the food, shelter, clothing and education for his own family plus that of his brothers and sisters, you tend to toss in a little extra. Being opportunistic I also tip extra when I expect to return to the restaurant in the near future, rewarding good service now and laying a foundation for exceptional treatment later.
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Question Mark

Reservoir Dogs - Tipping Scene
WARNING: NSFW (language)

Felt this was appropriate.  I'm on the fence about tipping; Mr. Pink makes a good case, but then again, I've always been a generous person who's never been good holding onto his money.

ChrisDay

Tipping is a tricky subject.

If I have good,or ok or not horrible service I tip 15%.
If I have bad service...and by 'bad' I mean:
--Rude
--inattentive (ie drinks being unfilled, wait person walking past multiple times without checking)
--poor food WITHOUT an offer by the waiter to fix it (I realize the waiter doesn't cook the food, but cold is cold)

bad service I won't leave a tip.  Period.

If I have good service:
--Attentive wait person
--Friendly
--Attention to detail
--Attractive (yes, I said it....sue me)

I'll leave 25%. 

True story...I was eating at a Houlihans with a group of 3 others.  I asked for a burger no tomatoe.   I noticed the waitress was talking to the table next to us, sitting down for 5-10 minutes several times.  My co-workers got their food and were almost done by the time I got my burger with the tomatoe.  I threw the tomatoe on the floor (yes, I'm a jerk) and ate the burger, the waitress gave us a non-itemized bill which seemed high (we asked for one check), I asked for an itemized version.  She replied "it'll be a wait..I need to get the manager for that" and I told her "I had to wait 20 mintues for my burger, I'll wait for the itemized check".  10 minutes later she leave the bill and runs off, and lo and behold there's a 5th item on the bill, a salad (which I'm almost positive was the table next to us).   

Long story short, I left a penny tip after she took the item off.  I wanted to cause a scene, but my buddy didn't want to get her fired.  However,  I did leave her a penny for the tip.

bubby

If I get good service, I will tip. If I get exceptionaly service, I'll tip big.

Tip the gas guy? Of screw that. I live in Oregon, it's your JOB.

UPS and FedEx? Those people are getting paid better then me so, no.

Deliver me food in any capacity, yup.

I work for a place where there are 6 different food places within a small market, all around a general eating area. (NOT a mall btw) Each food place has a tip jar, but those food places are not the people who clean up the dishes, or keep the eating area clean. WE do. There might be a dollar tip once a month on a table.

I'm a poor lady, and if I am able to go out to each, it's generally a major treat for myself, so if only a $5 tip ends up on the table, and trust me that's if you've given me great service, it's because it's all I have to give.

Try and appreciate it?


Oniya

A $5 tip would be 18% on a $30 tab and reasonably close to 15% on a $35 tab.  I'm pretty sure you can still get a decent sit-down meal for two under that cap.

(Meaning I don't see a major cause for someone not appreciating it.)
"Language was invented for one reason, boys - to woo women.~*~*~Don't think it's all been done before
And in that endeavor, laziness will not do." ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Don't think we're never gonna win this war
Robin Williams-Dead Poets Society ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Don't think your world's gonna fall apart
I do have a cause, though.  It's obscenity.  I'm for it.  - Tom Lehrer~*~All you need is your beautiful heart
O/O's Updated 5/11/21 - A/A's - Current Status! - Writing a novel - all draws for Fool of Fire up!
Requests updated March 17

Oreo

I was a waitress for many years and the tips were the rent portion of my wages. Without them I would not have been able to support my family. As a rule I tip big for great service. If the restaurant is packed I still tip well if it is obvious the waitress has her hands full. Receiving poor service on a slow night always grants a mere penny.

For those that might not be in the 'know', (unless it has fallen out of fashion in the past 20 years), if you received good service, but cannot afford a tip, two pennies is a compliment.

She led me to safety in a forest of green, and showed my stale eyes some sights never seen.
She spins magic and moonlight in her meadows and streams, and seeks deep inside me,
and touches my dreams. - Harry Chapin

Callie Del Noire

Worse service I ever had was in the Uno's restaurant in Chula Vista Mall. I and four other guys in my gaming group got together and went out to see a movie and a meal. We got our tickets an hour and a half before the show and figured we'd grab a lunch before the movie rather than wander around the mall. So we go into Uno's because two of us wanted pasta.

We were seated and waited THIRTY minutes to be waited on. We were the only people in the section, and we could see our waitress at the bar counter chatting with the other waitresses (all of whom wandered off from time to time to wait on folks in their section), finally she comes up and gets our orders and drinks. Twenty minutes pass while all of us signal her for a drink (We had finished doing some early morning PT and were thirsty) without success till one of others came over to help us out.

Another twenty minutes go by while we wait for our food. Which arrived cold, and two of them weren't the RIGHT thing. One of my buddies asked for a dish without mushrooms which was ignored while ANOTHER order was completely screwed up. The second order was taken back while my other buddy picked out the mushrooms.

Twenty minutes later the other order was brought out.. ironically it was cold.  Ten minutes later she presented the bill, which had a gratuity added on to it despite the fact that the receipt said the automatic gratuity was for eight or more AND my friend's mistake was added to our bill (yes, he was supposed to pay for both the mistake and the late meal). We called the manager and she told him that three friends who walked up to talk with us were part of the group and had 'sneaked out' to avoid the gratuity.

We pointed the manager to them, they were in another section, and got that cleared up. The check was taken back and brought back fixed. Typically we each chip in six bucks regardless of our cost on the bill (that is like 30 bucks or so easy) but this time we left two pennies behind with our bill.

I have yet to return to a Uno's again.

Caela

Best service EVER was at an Olga's in one the local malls near me. I was taking my cousin Christmas shopping to get a present for her mom and we stopped for lunch. The place was wall to wall people and as soon as a table cleared it was filled again. I go in fully expecting to not get the best service simply because of how packed the place is.

We're barely seated and the waitress comes and asks for our drinks. Busy as she is she is polite and sweet, not the least bit harried or rushed. Impressed right from the get go I kept an eye on her and watched her work her other tables. She hit all of us frequently, never stopping to chit chat with co-workers, and our water glasses were never empty. Our food was exactly what we ordered and still hot (and I'd have cut serious slack in that crowd!) and she came around about every three minutes or so to check and see if we were doing all right and needed anything else. And she was hitting all her tables that way.

It's not an expensive place and the meal, for both of us, was only about 14$ total but that girl got a 7$ tip. 5$ from me and I made my cousin put in 2$ as well to help teach her (she was only 14 at the time) to reward such excellent service from ANYONE. That girl earned every penny of her money that day and, to this day, I hope her managers knew what a great employee they had in her and rewarded her accordingly as well.

Lilias

Back in Athens, I used to play a VtM LARP on Friday nights, and almost every time (unless it was the dead of winter) after the game broke, at midnight, a few of us would pile into one or two cars (depending on how many had made it to the session) and drive to Glyfada for a very late supper.

The place we picked was a real fusion eatery: decorated in classic English pub style, at least inside, but it specialised in Mexican food and the waitstaff were predominantly Eastern European. The drive meant we were there closer to 1am, and I still think we used to be the last batch of customers to be served before the kitchen closed for the night. Still, no matter the late hour, no matter how busy the place had been (it had a wallscreen, so big sports events meant lots of business) or how tired the cooking and serving staff had been, food and service both were never anything short of excellent. We pooled our money for tips, and kept wishing we could leave more, cash-strapped students and wage slaves that we were.

I haven't been back in six years or so, and I can only pray it has survived these hard times...
To go in the dark with a light is to know the light.
To know the dark, go dark. Go without sight,
and find that the dark, too, blooms and sings,
and is traveled by dark feet and dark wings.
~Wendell Berry

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Callie Del Noire

I miss Pedro O'Mally's in Brunswick.. Mexican/Irish Pub/Resturant. Great place. :d

Foxy DeVille

My favorite waiter was a guy named Nate at a Denny's we'd go to after a night of booty shaking at the clubs. He was the most patient person ever. No matter how crazy we got he was the picture of poise. One night these two women were just ripping into him for no reason and when he came by our table we asked why he put up with that. He just shrugged and said they were drunk. I told him "But Nate, we're drunk and we don't treat you like that." He simply smiled. We always tipped him well because we knew he most likely got stiffed a lot by people like those two women. 

RubySlippers

Its not about service to me its about this - they should get a decent wage if they work for someone and if they set a fee for their own service should charge what they have to to make a go of it. Unless one only makes tips then fine tipping is more acceptable as a gratuity for services rendered if not asked for then its a fee.

Bathroom Attendents (that work at it): yes.

Buskers: yes.

Person with the sign will pick up your dog doo - donations welcome: yes.

Ministers (if you attend that worship center for a wedding say or the spouse), wait staff, barbers, bell hops, maids in hotels etc. etc.: NO.

It might be different if they got a decent wage as an employee and then its optional to tip, I get great service then I might be willing to leave something. But because they are not happy with their wages and everyone tries to blackmail me into being a good sheep I agree with the video above he makes good points they should move for better wages or ending taxing of tips on assumptions they are getting 20%. Then make tipping OPTIONAL for those working for someone or themselves, if just making tips then they have to be happy with what they get.

Before you say I'm not aware of this I am a Busker and do lots of work on a tip only basis, its how life is and I do okay but never expect a tip I go do my best job and hope its appreciated.

dakabn

Quote from: RubySlippers on June 25, 2011, 08:58:26 AM
I generally refuse to tip, its simple they get a wage and that wage should be what they get.

Their wage is usually very low because they are expected to get tips.

I really am disgusted at how people treat people who are serving them. Sometimes, there is obvious incompetence and laziness, but look around. Could YOU do their job? Even if you could (or do) have a little respect and sympathy. Maybe if you give them a smile and a thank you (and a tip) regardless, that might give them them encouragement to be better at their job.

All I'm gonna say on this. Have a good day and at least THANK people who do things for you. You didn't have to. :) Think on that.

Will

Quote from: Trieste on June 27, 2011, 07:48:33 PM
I personally have to wonder, myself, whether it's honestly true that prices would go up so incredibly much if restaurants paid their waitstaff a decent wage. They pay their busboys, cooks, bartenders and often the hostesses a decent wage, so it wouldn't be the whole staff. And given that Wendy's, McDonald's, BK, etc, must pay all their employees at least minimum wage and yet still seem to turn out food at cheaper prices than sit-down restaurants (with huge profit margins, I might add), I'm skeptical. I'm sure there would be an increase. Would it be catastrophic? Not really. And if you figure the tip itself into the cost of the meal right now, then I sincerely doubt that the prices would go up very much at all.

I have my suspicions that the restaurant industry has told us this in order to keep their waitstaff from getting proper support. It's not as if restaurant workers are known for their math savvy, so it's not as if they think their employees are going to crunch the numbers. And if they did? They're not going to get a whole lot of outside support due to the belief that dining out will become astronomical if we support them.

After all, it's not as if people in countries where waitstaff make decent wage can afford to eat out very often. Oh wait...

That's a very fair point, but it doesn't mean that higher wages wouldn't mean price hikes.  Businesses would just be bullshitting customers then, instead of employees.  "We're paying our wait staff a decent wage now, but we have to pass the cost onto you!"  Whether or not it's true is not as important as whether or not people will accept it.
If you can heal the symptoms, but not affect the cause
It's like trying to heal a gunshot wound with gauze

One day, I will find the right words, and they will be simple.
- Jack Kerouac