Tipping in North America.

[DB731]

Haha, I grew up in Alaska and behind the times, 10% was the top for great service... I got taught that in the states 10% was an insult. I still disagree with the notion that me giving money is an insult.

..I wonder if the insulted ever give the insulting money back?


I would argue with my brother about tips when we went out to eat. He tips, I don't. I find it easier just not to go, as eating is overrated anyway. That leaves me with barbers and hairstylists, and I tip anywhere from 0% to 15%, rarely more than that. As far as taxi drivers go, the only one I liked was the Robert De Niro character, so it's a 0% and I wish I could tip them even less than 0%, especially the ones who ask if I have alcohol in my luggage (it's against their religion).

 

[Gollnick]

... As far as taxi drivers go,... I wish I could tip them even less than 0%, especially the ones who ask if I have alcohol in my luggage (it's against their religion).

I only had that once, in the Atlanta airport. I said fine and asked the starter for another cab. He asked, "Is there a problem, sir?"

I said, "He doesn't want my fare... some sort of religious reason."

The starter and the driver had a very brief conversation and the starter concluded, "I'm sorry, sir. Please take this next cab. So sorry for the delay." Turning to the driver, "And you, go around."

"What!?!"

"If you don't want a perfectly-good fare, you go around... to the back of the line. That's the rule. Now go."

I suspect that the driver spent his time in line rethinking the extent of some tenets of his religion.

 

[Piso Mojado]

..I wonder if the insulted ever give the insulting money back?

It happens all the time: here's one my mom told me. She was working at a well-known Swedish restaurant here on Mother's Day. An old man came in with his old mom, had a nice fress and left an 8¢ tip. (The Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI inflation calculator says 8¢ in 1964 = 60¢ today.) This restaurant had a hostess to seat people who doubled as cashier. My mom saw the old man waiting to pay his check, put his 8¢ on the cashier's counter saying "I think this is yours," and went back to work. The old man huffed and puffed a few times, and asked the hostess "Didn't she think that was enough?" The hostess answering that it sounded like a good guess, he walked back to his table, put his tip back down and threw another nickel on the pile.

 

[dcmartin]

I am surrounded by restaurants both where i live and where i work. I patronize them regularly (not doing my waistline any good) and as a standard I double the tax (around 9%) here in Los Angeles. If the service is exceptional, I add to it, if I am forgotten about (I tip on the service not the food) I tip slightly less... I don't care how busy you are, I don't and won't make excuses for bad service.

 

[Tim20637]

My standard is 20% but if it's better I usually leave a little more. I figure if a few extra bucks can make someones day go better it's worth it.

 

[Stelth]

 

[UffDa]

I dislike tipping for several reasons.

I have talked to some waiters who told me that they either work for tips or are paid less than minimum wage since the IRS figures their expected tips to be part of their salary. (True? I don't know)

Wait persons are expected to pool their tips and everyone gets a share, so in effect, you are tipping the entire staff, even the slug waiting on the next table.

I have heard that some restaurant owners take a share of the tip.

What really pisses me off is when the waitperson adds 18% automatically to your bill. This is rare unless there are a lot of people at the table. I had this
happen when we were in Vail CO. The service and food was excellent and I would have left 20%. I told the waitress that she lost 2%.


A long time ago I had a card that you were supposed to leave on the table instead of a tip. What it said was that if you are not making a living wage, you
should negotiate with your employer. I never had the never to use it.

 

[The Government]

I can't imagine that there could be more convincing evidence for a false sense of entitlement than a person who simply states, "I don't tip."

If the only defense for that comes from a "scum of the earth" cop killing robber, I guess it makes sense.

 

[tjswarbrick]

It's been 15% since I was a kid, but my dad always gave 10% until my sister became a waitress. When she expained that they get LESS than minimum wage, but the IRS taxes them as though they get 15% tips on top, he started giving 15-20%.
Now, I read articles where they say 18-20% is the new standard, and it's 30% for great service. But, for me, that would need to be EXCEPTIONAL service.
Still, for the last 10-15 years, my wife and I have been saying "double the tax." Tax was 7.5% when we started, now it's in the 9% range. So we've gone from 15% to 18%, kinda with the times, without paying much attention.
These days, if I feel the waitstaff has done their job, I'll round up or down to the nearest 5 (or whichever "five" feels right for the place, the food and the service,) and plunk down a buck for every 5. Far as I know, most of my friends and family double the tax - some spend several minutes trying to work out the math. I'm an engineer, but when I'm on my own time I go for the easy math. Plus, it's not always accurate, but I generally feel those in the foodservice industry need that last 2% more than I.

Taxi drivers and barbers are usually "keep the change" for me, and hotel service I'll typically leave 2 or 3 bucks a night, when I check out.
My wife and I nearly died when we read that you're supposed to tip massage therapists and salons 20-25%. She's actually cut back a bit since then. (I think she's sticking with 15%, though, since there isn't any tax to double.)

 

[James Y]

My wife and I nearly died when we read that you're supposed to tip massage therapists and salons 20-25%. She's actually cut back a bit since then. (I think she's sticking with 15%, though, since there isn't any tax to double.)

I'm a professional massage therapist, and the average expected tip is 20%. The clinic I work at charges $50 for a regular 1-hour massage, which is inexpensive. Out of that $50, I get exactly 18.50. A $10 tip is not too much to expect, since massage therapy is hard work, believe it or not. I often get $15 and occasionally even up to $40 tips, but I never ask them for it. Of course, for a 90-minute session, $15 is the expected tip.

Jim

 

[DB731]

I can't imagine that there could be more convincing evidence for a false sense of entitlement than a person who simply states, "I don't tip."

If the only defense for that comes from a "scum of the earth" cop killing robber, I guess it makes sense.

Say again...?

 

[jnich67]

If wait staff give me good, solid service, I generally tip them 20%. It goes down from there if the service leaves anything to be desired. If the service is great, I leave a little more. I used to wait tables and I know how hard the work is and how awful dealing the public can be. I have something a soft spot for them - if they do a good job. The extra $2 or so probably means more to them than to me.

Jordan

 

[DB731]

It's been 15% since I was a kid, but my dad always gave 10% until my sister became a waitress. When she expained that they get LESS than minimum wage, but the IRS taxes them as though they get 15% tips on top, he started giving 15-20%.
Now, I read articles where they say 18-20% is the new standard, and it's 30% for great service. But, for me, that would need to be EXCEPTIONAL service.

That makes no sense and if true, I am surprised the IRS is part of it. Paying taxes on wages "you might be earning" or "you should be earning" as opposed to "you are earning".

 

[LeonJ]

I can't imagine that there could be more convincing evidence for a false sense of entitlement than a person who simply states, "I don't tip."

If the only defense for that comes from a "scum of the earth" cop killing robber, I guess it makes sense.

You lost me after "I can't".

 

[tjswarbrick]

That makes no sense and if true, I am surprised the IRS is part of it. Paying taxes on wages "you might be earning" or "you should be earning" as opposed to "you are earning".

It's been a while (like 20 years), but the way she explained it to me was that since her employer had no way of knowing exactly how much she earned in tips, they estimated the average amount each table she was expected to wait on in an hour would spend and added 15% of that to her claimed "income" even though they didn't pay it to her. I couldn't then, and can't now, figure out how that works - or how they get around the minimum wage requirements.

Off topic: I do recall my first job, minimum wage was $3.50. I made $3.50/hr as a receiving clerk. If I took a "promotion" to shoe salesman, my wage would drop to $3.00 an hour because I would now be elgible for commissions on my sales. Said the less-than-minimum-wage workaround was partly because they only had employees in one state.
Right or wrong, I didn't bite.

Jim: Believe me, I know massage is hard work. I guess I shouldn't be surprised how little actually goes to the therapist, but it's disheartening to hear. $50 is inexpensive. Around here, $60/hr is a "student" therapist or introductory offer; most places she's tried charge $70-$90 for 50 minutes. Anyway, thanks for the food for thought.

 

[UffDa]

I tip my barber 20%. She only charges me $10 because I don't have much hair. Besides that, you don't want to piss off a lady with a sharp instrument in her hand.

 

[De Plano]

I fell if you can't afford to tip you can't afford to go eat or drink (unless you go to McD's or something). It has always been 15 to 20%. In California servers and bar tenders make well below minimum wage and it is hard enough living on that.

On another note Mario Batali and his business partner got popped for skimming tips from his servers to pay for kitchen staff and settled for over 5 million, which makes me wonder how much they skimmed

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/20...rio-batali-settles-lawsuit-with-his-waitstaff

 

[Alberta Ed]

0% if the service sucks, 15% if it's good. The cabbie had no right to demand a penny over the fare.

 

[Ichop]

I worked pizza delivery once, grateful for anything more than 10%...

Being unhappy with 15%? That's ridiculous...

 

[DB731]

I fell if you can't afford to tip you can't afford to go eat or drink (unless you go to McD's or something).

With all due respect, that's kind of like saying "you can't afford to take a walk downtown if you can't afford to tip the aggressive panhandlers."

Also, why does McDonalds keep being brought up as some implied bad example? Their food choices are rich in calories, but it's a well established brand with an international presence that has been around for a while. Never had any problems with the service there or at Subway, or Wendy's..or any similar establishment.