posted
I was wondering what is the customary percentage you leave for a tip in your state. In California, it's an "unwritten rule" to leave 15% percent for marginal service.
What do you guys think is fair, and what do you think about tips? And what kind of tip should be left for bad service? I usually leave them a penny so they can chew on it if they're rude.
And also, does your state require food/beverage service establishments to give their employees guides on how to record their tips for tax purposes?
Posts: 4229 | Registered: Dec 2002
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posted
From what i've seen in NM and TX its been like 10-15% depending on the person. and as fro bad service I like the penny since it lets them know you didn't forget the tip you ment not to leave one they had such bad service.
Posts: 397 | Registered: Apr 2003
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posted
In Wisconsin, 15% is still the status quo, and most people leave 20% for satisfactory service.
Posts: 37449 | Registered: May 1999
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*who tips very generously when he likes the service, and was talked out of dime-leaving by my mom the only time I remember that it came up
Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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I far too often probably don't tip pizza guys enough. I normally will just leave them the change to the dollar, maybe add a buck or two. *feels bad about that*
At restaurants I usually tip well, 15-20%. I've not left a tip before, for bad service. But I like the dime idea.
posted
The whole tipping thing just seems to weird to most Australians. We do tip, but it's definitely not the rule. We only tip for good service, and usually only at restaurants. The idea of tipping the pizza boy is totally foreign to almost everyone I know.
But then we actually pay our award-rate at a liveable level....
Posts: 2245 | Registered: Nov 1998
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posted
A couple dollars for the pizza delivery person. Same for a haircut.
I almost always leave 20% for waitstaff, but may leave more for exceptionally good service. Only once have I decided not to leave a tip, and that was because the waitress seemed to be purposely avoiding our table throughout the meal despite empty beverage glasses and much beckoning.
The one I'm alwaeys stuck on is what to tip the shuttle service drivers who pick you up or take you to the airport. I usually just add on about five dollars, but I have no clue what it should be.
Posts: 4292 | Registered: Jan 2001
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I pay over $50 for a haircut. I go to that hairdresser because he's excellent and charges accordingly. His reward for being excellent is charging high prices and still having customers. Why on earth would you consider tipping?!??!
Posts: 2245 | Registered: Nov 1998
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posted
Delivery people should get tipped slightly more than the standard 15%. I think they work slightly harder and there is always the hazard pay (i.e. visiting complete strangers in their apartment).
So good for you Mack!
I remember a multi-page tip thread here a month ago. *waits lazily for kayla to bring it up*
posted
As a former foodserver (waitron?), I am a good tipper when the service warrants it. Because I am a former foodserver, though, I know when I am getting bad service due to outright laziness (as opposed to being very busy). So I'm pretty picky. I know what is acceptable.
I tip 10% for marginal service, 15% for acceptable service, and 20%+ for outstanding service. Serving food is hard work (if done properly), and in many states, you get less than minimum wage (and are expected to make up the rest with tips).
In California, when I was working at Denny's, you had to declare at least 8% of your food gross as tips. If you didn't get many tips, you lost money working that day. (Basically) Waitrons ARE taxed on their tip money, and are required to declare their tips on taxes. Of course, lots of servers fudge on their tax returns, but if you are declaring at least 8% of your food gross, the IRS doesn't usually investigate.
I tip the pizza deliverer fairly generously, because they had to actually drive it over here, and even though it is their job, I live on the second floor of an apartment building. Plus, they have to come on base (military) and go through the gate (front gate: guards: I.D. required: hassle). So I appreciate the fact that they bring food to my lazy @ss. Of course, I also require fairly timely service on this, as well. I know how long it should take from Tony's (our favorite) to here. They've rarely disappointed me.
I tip my hairdresser two-three dollars because I like her. She does nice things to my hair. And I pay less than twenty dollars for a haircut, so I'm not spending that much anyway.
As our income has gone up, my tipping amount has gone up, and I feel good about that. I like tipping. I'm very stereotypically NY Italian like that.
Posts: 1545 | Registered: May 2002
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posted
Does anyone else's idea of what is acceptable service vary from place to place?
If my wife and I are celebrating our anniversary at a fine restaurant, I expect better service. I'm paying quite a bit more for dinner and I expect the service as well as the food to reflect that.
Posts: 4625 | Registered: Jul 2002
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quote:Delivery people should get tipped slightly more than the standard 15%. I think they work slightly harder and there is always the hazard pay (i.e. visiting complete strangers in their apartment).
At least in my state, waiters and waitresses are paid much less than delivery drivers. The law assumes that most of a waiter's income comes from tips, and most of a delivery driver's comes from wages.
I tip ~20% for good service, 15% if I ever have an empty water glass, and below that for truly horrible service.
Yes!!!! Most hairdressers, unless they own their own business, have to rent their chair. So I tip my hairdresser well. OK, she is one of my best friends. She charges me fifteen bucks for a cut and dye.(not that I am old and gray or anything. Ahem.) So, I tip her twenty-five bucks to make it forty, which is still WAY below what a salon would charge, but I will not let her get away with cutting my hair for free. She DOES own her own salon, in her home, and has two kids and a huge mortgage, so she has a lot of overhead as well.
My husband is a bartender. Servers have to declare their tips, and make a very small salary(a couple of bucks an hour). I start at fifteen percent, and go up from there. If a server really bites, I give them ten percent. I have only stiffed two people, ever, and they were outrageously bad.
Until I met my husband, when I was 21, after four years of college, I did not know you were supposed to tip a bartender. Well, you are, and I still feel bad about all my drunken barscapades that went tipless.
You should also tip chambermaids, baggage claim dudes, and tons of other people that I DON"T know about. (There is a list somewhere, I will try to find it.)
Edit for major typos.
[ June 04, 2004, 08:37 AM: Message edited by: Elizabeth ]
Posts: 10890 | Registered: May 2003
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posted
I usually tip 20% because I'm lazy and it's easier for me to figure out in my head than 15%. (I taught my kids a lot of math when they were growing up by handing them the bill, having them add it up mentally and then figure the tip). I like to be generous because I tried being a waitress once. I sucked at it.
If it is poor service, I either drop it to 10%, or don't tip at all.
And our state does have tax laws regarding the reporting of tips. But I can't recite them to you at the moment.
Farmgirl (*who still has fights with the guys at work over whether or not Sonic employees should be tipped)
Posts: 9538 | Registered: Aug 2003
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posted
Oh, and a little "tip" for everyone. IF you tip a bartender well, it will go well for you. Believe me. I have been to see music at big bars, and when I tip the bartender, they look at me with such gratitude. I am pretty much assured of getting a couple of freebies if I go back to the same person. It is sort of an unwritten code.
Posts: 10890 | Registered: May 2003
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posted
"This page is the first of its kind, and probably still the only one and the most complete. There is no right or wrong when it comes to tipping, just common sense. Also note that tipping is an option, not a must. There are circumstances that are obviously not as simple as black and white. Use your judgement when deciding to tip or not to tip."
posted
Beyond that, having the bartender greet you by name is a great assist in picking up chi...er, impressing the ladies. Posts: 26071 | Registered: Oct 2003
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posted
I tip waitstaff, delivery people, and my barber. I will not tip anyone that is rude or impolite and I absolutely refuse to tip anyone that badgers me ahead of time about their gratuity. I had a bartender once come up and attempt to take a couple of bucks that were sitting on the counter next to my beer. When I questioned what she was doing she indicated that she was taking her tip. This sense of entitlement burns me up. I will tip but by God it is my decision and I reserve the right to refuse gratuity contingent on quality of service.
Posts: 2022 | Registered: Mar 2004
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posted
Punwit, traditionally, money left on the counter next to your drink IS meant to be the bartender's tip. She wasn't being rude; she was mistaking your intent.
Punwit, there are lots of little signals that seasoned bar patrons know about. Sorry you(and she) got caught up in it.
Usually, if you are sitting at the bar, you would pay with a twenty, say, and leave the change in front of, or next to you. The bartender just sort of takes money for drinks from that. It is not assumed that it is a tip until you say you are leaving, or leave, and the money left on the bar is theirs.
Also, there are different kinds of bars, and many bartenders with little or no etiquette themselves.
Posts: 10890 | Registered: May 2003
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posted
I didn't include the conversation that transpired following her attempt to take the money. This was at a bar that I frequent often. I always tipped the young woman by either putting money in her tip jar after each purchase or by leaving the money on the bar when I leave. It's not like she wasn't familiar with my normal modus operandi. She wanted to take the money I had sitting on the bar and put it in the jukebox. The problem was she just assumed it was ok and didn't bother asking me. When I stopped her she gave me a lecture on tipping which was ridiculous since I always tipped her. Besides which it is still my perogative as opposed to her take which was you tip no matter how poor the service is.
Posts: 2022 | Registered: Mar 2004
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Elizabeth: the service industry in general gets paid a lot more in Australia as a base wage than in the US. Also, hairdressers here tend not to have to "rent" their chair, they're just regular employees, sometimes on commission.
However I get my hair done by the guy who owns the salon. It's worth it to pay the bucks for a good haircut. I just don't see the point in tipping for it - or anything outside the restaurant/bar industry.
Posts: 2245 | Registered: Nov 1998
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posted
Troubadour, As Punwit said, it is your prerogative to tip or not. I am a good tipper because I survive on my partner's tips.
And, Punwit, the addition to your story puts the bartender in Mega-Rude standing. No server should ever lecture a customer. I would walk right on over to the manager and then out the door.
Posts: 10890 | Registered: May 2003
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posted
I tend to start around 20% and go up or down from there based on how good/bad the service is. I have issues with someone telling me how much I have to tip though, so when I'm in a large party, and they tell me that they've already added 15% gratuity to the bill, that's usually all they get, unless they've provided exceptional service.
I tend to tip a little better on Sundays, though. The after-church crowd (at least here in Columbus) has a bad reputation for being light tippers, so I try to compensate for that a little bit.
Posts: 159 | Registered: Jun 2004
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posted
Good thread Nick. tip 50% for exceptional service, 15%, maybe 20 for good service, 15% for marginal service and 15% for bad service, tip nothing if you cannot afford it or for truly horrible service, and hope it looks like you forgot. i.e. Rivka's Mom was right What if they're a nice person having a bad day and you make it worse? OK, so some of you just don't care but I'm a softy, so shoot me.
Posts: 1103 | Registered: Apr 2002
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quote:As a former foodserver (waitron?), I am a good tipper when the service warrants it. Because I am a former foodserver, though, I know when I am getting bad service due to outright laziness (as opposed to being very busy). So I'm pretty picky. I know what is acceptable.
Back when I was a waiter I noticed that other waiters or former waiters (actually, the gender-neutral form that I heard was "waitoid") were the best tippers. Waiters and former waiters tend to be completely forgiving of honest mistakes and slips due to having too many tables, and completely unforgiving of laziness. And, as you said, they always know which one is happening.
That said, I pretty much tip 20% as a minimum for everything. If the service is shockingly bad I will sometimes leave a note instead of a tip, but it has to be exceptionally and almost deliberately bad. It's not unusual for me to tip higher for particularly good service or for cheaper meals. And I always add the tip on the post-tax total instead of the pre-tax subtotal, so that adds a bit as well.
Oh, and when I was waiting tables we were supposed to declare 10% of our sales. The rationale was that after tipping out the bartender and bussers you'd usually have around that and if sometimes you were under, you'd be over other times and it would balance itself out.
Posts: 4534 | Registered: Jan 2003
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posted
Saxon, There are new laws lately. I will get back to you, but you have to declare much more than you used to.
Posts: 10890 | Registered: May 2003
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quote: What if they're a nice person having a bad day and you make it worse?
That's true. My sister is a server at Chili's, and she says that if she goes to work glum, she comes back with enough money in tips to buy a pack of gum. Posts: 4229 | Registered: Dec 2002
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posted
The point is, though, even if you are having a bad day, you are in the Service Industry. If you are having a bad day, and doing a bad job, you get a bad tip. It's your BUSINESS to make the customer happy, not yourself. It's a JOB. Now, I don't mean that you have to be chatty and perky...I don't tip waitrons on their personality (well, not usually)...I just mean that I need my d@mned iced tea refilled promptly and my food hot out of the serving window.
I get a little 'het up' about this.
"Having a bad day" is a cop-out.
And Troub's hair IS really amazing. I think he should tip EXTRA much. Hee.
Posts: 1545 | Registered: May 2002
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posted
Mack, That is why I always worked in the kitchen with the other grumps. I hear the crapola my husband takes with a smile and I shudder. there is one guy who comes into the bar who is obsessive compulsive. he is like Jack Nicholson in "As Good As It Gets." Steve just deals with it, and I get worked up just HEARING about it.
Jexx, you are right. If you can't stand the heat, get INTO the kitchen.
Posts: 10890 | Registered: May 2003
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posted
Waiting tables was the only job I've ever had that made me feel stress. I work on projects now where I could potentially destroy hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars of equipment with a slip of my hand and I still think waiting tables is more stressful.
Posts: 4534 | Registered: Jan 2003
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posted
My best friends and I go to the same place all the time (cause it's basically the only one we all have easy acces to) and there is this one waitress who keeps avoiding our table. We almost need to shout at her if we want something, and after one person has ordered, she makes a move as if she wanted to go, so we need to call her back. We can't figure out why she hates us so much.
Posts: 5700 | Registered: Feb 2002
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quote:The point is, though, even if you are having a bad day, you are in the Service Industry. If you are having a bad day, and doing a bad job, you get a bad tip.
I totally agree. I do a lot of tech support/customer service, and if I'm slow or rude or unresponsive, I'm not doing my job. It's not the customer's fault if I'm sad or tired or pissed off.
There's no need to respond to bad restaurant service with rudeness, but I think a bad tip or no tip is exactly what poor service deserves. Mark and I are particular about service; it's part of the "going out to eat" experience. If we're paying a ton of money to enjoy ourselves at a restaurant, we don't want to wait an hour and a half for cold food served with a sneer. We tip very well whenever someone does a good job or even just tries to do a good job, despite mistakes, but if it's clear they just don't care.... uh-uh. And we probably won't come back again, either.
posted
The thing about tipping bartenders is absolutely true. I tip even if I'm just buying a soda, and I usually get several free Cokes out of it.
The one person I always forget to tip is my hairstylist. I think it's because I usually pay with a check.
Posts: 9057 | Registered: Nov 2000
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posted
It annoys me, too. I feel like grabbing them by the collar and saying, "What have you DONE to get a tip???? I even fill my own DRINK!!!!"
I will, however, tip someone at a regular restaurant when I am coming to pick up food to take out. It's not expected, and it makes a little happy. I only tip a dollar, though.
(edit: was in response to tip jars at fast food places)
posted
My hairstylist is awesome. I love her and always tip, and for some reason, she always charges me less. She says it's 'cause she likes me, I have an easy cut (if you know what you're doing), and I have to come in more often than most women.
Which reminds me. I probably need a trim next week.
Oh, and my little sister is a cosmetologist AND a server! Poor dear.
Posts: 14745 | Registered: Dec 1999
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posted
I agree, my work has a tip jar by the register and frankly, I think it is very redundant. However,concerning tipping the pizza-dude, I would definately give one to him because they may be paid more, but at some places (like my work) they aren't on the clock when their out delivering.
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