Tipping Question (mrstjohnson)

 No. I tip around 20% at a full service restaurant. I tip other service things like getting a hair cut, dog groomed, etc. around 10-15% depending. I tip a couple bucks for take out, for the cooks. I do not tip at ice cream places, or at places where they just hand you your food at the counter. Forget that.

I'm pretty cheap, lol, but we never go any place nicer than Applebees, just order dinner and a drink and never need any special requests.  I calculate 10% b/c that's simple (move the decimal) and then add a dollar or two and round up to the next dollar.  Probably ends up being about a 15% tip.  My hair cut is $32-$35 and I give her $40.  For pizza delivery I add a dollar and then round up the total to the next dollar.

Last night I had Phil take me to this local place that makes my favorite soup.  Since I am sick and almost was shot in the head on Sunday I guilted DH into taking me, hehe.  They have a drive through and I ordered a quart of the soup.  On the receipt for me to sign there was a tip line and DH asked if I was leaving a tip.  I said no way!  It's the effing drive through, they just print all the receipts from the same registers.  Plus my soup was cold.

I've never tipped at a place like Panera, Coldstone, ice cream windows, etc.

 BF worked at an icecream store for many years as a high schooler and they REALLY appreciated every little tip. People who are working at those places aren't making bucketloads, so even $0.50 was very exciting for them. So, if the employees are particularly friendly or helpful and it's convenient, I always try to put my change (or even $1-2, especially if I'm with a big group) to show appreciation for good service. I don't think it's at all obligatory, but it is a nice gesture for good service.

At restaurants I always tip 20% or more for great service, but I will be quite stingy if the server is rude or unhelpful. For someone who is pleasant, responds to any concerns/requests, and keeps my water glass filled, I am inclined to be generous.

I don't tip at a deli or Starbucks either. For one, I feel funny dropping a quarter or 2 in , but there's no way I'm sticking a dollar in there for a $3-$4 purchase.

mrstjohnson

Just now I went downstairs and bought an off-the shelf salad and there was a tip cup with at least $10 (everything from $1 bills to pennies) worth of tips at the register.  They don't serve you there, the food is all prepackaged and in coolers - I just don't get it.  I am being cheap? 

Oh, and to comment on this - it's a well-proven fact that "priming" a tip jar encourages people to donate, so whatever's in the jar might not necessarily be all from customers!  Or the jar could have been last emptied a few months ago, or...

*most* of the point of tipping is because servers don't even made minimum wage -- they make more like $2.50 an hour THAT IS ALL.   Their tips ARE their wage.

When someone does an outstanding job for me (like the guy who is my colorist and the awesome woman who is Billy & Kee's groomer) I tip 20% plus whatever I can.

People on a till MAKE minimum wage and I don't tip them any more than I'd tip the girl who rings up my order at Wal-mart

Now if I'd handed that salad to the guy behind the counter to 'modify' for me particularly that's different.  But no -- I don't get conned into giving a tip when they already make an hourly wage and it is their choice to stand there (i.e., they aren't serving me specifically to ear their wage).

Now -- the kid at the curb-side take out at a bigger restaurant?  YES I tip them because they go to the kitchen, package the order for you, and generally anticipate everything you need, including putting your drinks up, getting hot bread/butter, etc.  They are providing the same service the server does PLUS they are bringing it out into the car (rain, cold, etc.)

David and I have some extra "rules" -- generally we are really good tippers but we also expect a lot I guess.  But the server who brings back our tip minus our 'change' (your bill came to $54.15 and they gave you change of $45.00).  THAT server loses a dollar (at least if everything else was ok). 

 Because that server ASSUMED you'd leave them a tip and take the change out of that.  No -- don't presume on me, a tip is a TIP, it's not a guaranteed wage or something I owe you.  It's something I do because you helped ME. 

Same thing tho, that server to for the same $54.15 bill gives me back $46.00?  He gets an EXTRA dollar because he was honest and didn't presume I owed him any part of my change.

The kid who snags the bill & money with a flip "You don't need change DO YOU??"-- he loses a dollar.  You haven't even counted it -- you presume on me again.  No way. 

But the server who has been pleasant, who truly acts as if they're glad we're there and glad to help us -- they're gonna get more than 20% really often, and particularly so if they've tried to be really helpful. 

However, by the same token, if a server has been abysmal and they've gotten a token 10% tip or something -- me, Ms. Quiet & Shy?  I'm gonna tell the manager on the way out WHY I tipped so badly because maybe they're gonna cause that restaurant to lose business with their attitude.

An Outback we go to regularly has recently had a proprietor change and two weeks in a row BOTH David and I got knives that were ... well, let's say "three-dimensional" (caked food on the knives that were rolled UGH).  Water stains don't bother me, but eating food with dirty utensils rolls MY stomach. 

I snagged the new proprietor and TOLD him and he's smart enough to realize when a regular points something like that out you need to listen.

If something was really heinous and we complained and wound up getting that food comp'd **and the service was fine and the error was handled properly**  -- we tip the server as if we had paid full price.  Why?  Because they did as much work -- and likely MORE -- because of a foul up and they shouldn't have to be negatively affected by it.

things are different today than they were 20 years ago.  NOW that server doesn't *just* bring your food.  They clean their area thoroughly, sweep, clean under and behind tables and often things like light fixtures and the whole coffee bar, salad bar area as well.  Often a server is there 1-2 hours AFTER they get cut and their shift ends just cleaning up and setting up their area.  And yet they likely only have 3-4 hours to make their entire day's work money. 

But no -- as generous as I am to someone who has been pleasant and has helped serve me and make my meal enjoyable, I DO NOT buy into the guilt of a "tip jar" UNLESS it is somewhere I go often and the people really DO extra stuff for me.  If I call ahead and they prepare something especially for me to go, to make my meal more pleasant -- yeah, I'll toss something in the tip jar.

But just being presented with a tip jar to guilt me into tipping when they simply rang up my order? Nope.

 See, I don't see a tip jar as a guilt trip at all. I don't have the slightest twinge of remorse if I pocket up that change and smile my goodbyes without a second look, and I usually do, unless the people are particularly helpful/pleasant. I see it more as, "if you are particularly pleased with our service today, we never mind a donation!" I certainly don't think people are - or should feel - obligated to contribute for precisely the reasons already cited.

But especially with young workers (who probably can't get a better-paying job), I remember my own broke high school days and what a luxury it was to go out and get a hamburger with my friends, or my BF who saved up his ice cream scooping earnings to buy himself a computer when he was 15, and I think to myself, "If these kids are hard-working and doing a good job, I'd like to show my financial appreciation." Again, totally not obligatory, but I don't mind that the jars are there "just in case."

I tip 20% at a full service restaurant and it's usually a bit more since it's easier for me to figure out if I round up to the next highest number divisible by 5 - not a math major here.  I don't tip in delis or fast food restaurants where I just get something in a bag to go and I don't let the visible tip jar guilt me into it.

Joyce

I guess I wasn't feeling guilty...just cheap   I eat lunch on a very strict budget - $4 a day no more and I usually I bring.  Yeah, I could see tipping at an ice cream place Cita especially if you are getting samples, kids screaming, etc.  they earn their tip.  I do have an issue with the tip jar at McDonald's though.

Just a thought, maybe I should put one on my desk.  Whenever someone asks me to do them a favor, run some analysis etc., I should get 10%.  Considering most of my projects run between $50 - $100K, that's a pretty nice tip

BF and I tip usually about 15% and then extra if we feel the service was better than usual.

Except there is one resturant, or diner I should say, that we give about 5$ or 6$ on our 12$ bill, and we do that because it is a VERY small diner, 2 waitresses, and BF and I go there nearly every weekend for breakfast.  The reason we tip so largely, is because as soon as we sit down, our teas are placed on the table, usually we don't even get our milk and sugar stirred into our teas before our entire breakfast is placed down for us lol we go there so often, they know already what we will have, and I suppose it helps that we order the same thing lol

But BF and I love it, and the two waitresses are SO nice to us, we really feel like we get great service at this place, so we tip well :)

I'm a server at a full service steakhouse, so I tip alot when I go out. Usually over 20%, but that's just me and I don't expect that from others. Most of us at work feel 18-20% is standard, but it's a somewhat nicer place and we really do alot for each table. Callie is right, our hourly wage is $2.13 per hour, and after taxes are taken out of my paycheck I'm usually getting checks of around $10 a week, lol, so tips are our wage, not just extra.

I also tip 20% to hairdressers and manicurists (?). Tip jars at counters, just depends. There is a deli by my house and I go there several times a week, so I do throw a dollar in the jar. Also the starbucks by work...so many of the servers go there on breaks, before shifts, etc, that we generally tip them as a good will gesture. I don't tip everywhere that has a tip jar, but if they know me, then yeah.

I saw an article on TV the other day that showed that the standard tip % is actually a regional thing - too bad that minimum wage isn't.

The thing about feeling that you should supplement a server's income who you assume is making less than min wage is this...  Servers have to declare and get taxed on their tips and the employer knows how much that is.  If the server does not make enough in tips to bring their wage up to the standard min wage of a non-server the employer is obligated to pay a non-server wage.

Personally - I tip on the service I have recieved.  If the server is pleasant and seems to genuinely enjoy providing service then the tip goes up, sometimes way up.  I've been there and I know how much it means.

I tend to be a very good tipper for good service.  It is a very tough job and I feel it encourages good service.  I don't tip the jars so often seen at the counter.  I understand that every little bit helps when you are making minimum wage but I feel like I am tipping someone to do something they are being paid to do.  I may rethink this after reading some of the other responses.  I like to help any person(especially younger ones) who has a job, no matter how seemingly menial. 

I met a really nice young man at a funeral recently (son of a distant cousin).  He is 19 and I asked him if he was working and he said he was embarassed to tell me where he worked.  I told him there is absolutely no job that he should be ashamed or embarassed by and he said he works at Chuck E Cheese or maybe it was one of the other of these types of pizza places.  I said that is fantastic and you should be proud that you have a job of any sort and to never apologize for doing an honest days work.  Sorry I got a tad off topic, didn't I?  But you see where this is leading me and so I guess I will tip the jar in the future.

On that note, our Dairy Queen DOESN'T have a tip jar. They aren't allowed, but if you give them a tip they can take it. I usually tip them because I like my cone with sprinkles AND dip and that's a PITA, I know!

Also, as a public service announcement - dog walkers also like tips! We don't make much, and I drive my own car (my own gas!) to all my houses. Our time slots are usually 30 minutes, and that's what we're paid for, but by the time you leash up the dog, get walking, come back, get the dog fresh water (and I *ALWAYS* wash the bowls!) and a treat and settle them back into their crate or whatever, it's closer to 40-45 minutes. I've always appreciated my tips and especially when people tell my boss what a great job I did!