What are your thoughts on tipping?

[just play]

I know other countries have different ideas on tipping, but here in the USA tipping is huge.

I was reading an article on yahoo the other day about a pizza delivery guy who delivered 85 pizzas totalling almost $1,500, and the people gave him a $10 tip. Now in a restaurant no one would dare leave that small of a tip on that kind of bill. I don't think he deserved the 15-20% tip, but $10? How many trips did he have to make to bring 85 pizzas to the door of the house.

I like reading the replies from people after reading the story, and most of the replies discusted me. Someone starting talking about counter tip jars for various places. The replies were...get a real job...I'm not gonna tip you for doing nothing...who cares if you make minimum wage it's not my problem...go to college...etc...

No one was talking about waitresses really, mostly just other places, like I said counter tip jars, or people at the restaurant who put together your meal for takeout. So after reading for about an hour I saw replies from people working in this places, saying what they have to do, what they get paid, and some even said putting your food together for takeout is much more time consuming than just delivering plates to a table.

Then some people chimmed in and said to those people who don't tip that they were in college, but had to have a job to pay for college and bills, some said they had masters degrees but in this economy had to take a minimum wage (or less) job.

So after this long winded post (I just wanted to add as much information as possible) what do you think about tipping...

1. waitresses
2. counter people who put together your food for takeout
3. coffee shops
4. deli workers who take your order, make your food and cash you out
5. delivery people

 

[chayton]

I usually tip everyone. I tip restaurant servers and cabdrivers and delivery people and if I get my hair done. Even if someone is not really good I still tip them something, and if they're really good I tip more. I have a feeling that most people who don't tip are people who have never had that type of job. I had this one acquaintance in AZ who grew up with her parents paying her way through one school after another, she never worked any 'service' jobs and she was adamant that she wouldn't tip unless she got exemplary service. I even caught her pocketing a tip I had left when we went to lunch together once!

I mean especially since when I was living in Phoenix going to school I decided to take a part time job as a waitress, at the interview the owner of the restaurant said something like, "Our normal wage is two but since you have experience we can start you at two-fifteen" and I was thinking, "...he can't mean $2 an hour...? It's not 1950!" But that's exactly what they meant - AZ being a 'right to work' state, at some restaurants you're expected to make minimum wage WITH your tips.

Of course I didn't take the job, and after that I tipped even more.

 

[chuzzleaddict]

Hello, in the UK where I am IMO tipping is quite a lot less 'popular' than it is in the US, a lot of people here are quite scornful of it like 'they're just doing their job, why should I give them extra?' type attitude. That said, it is also well known that in quite a few industries, you are expected to help the employee 'make up' their low salary with the help of tips,and it can be quite lucrative, in say the top end hotels, taxis, that kind of thing.

The places I tip are - pizza delivery, grocery delivery, hairdresser and the waiter for table service at a restaurant. I do not tip at take-out or buffet type of deal, coffee shops etc, nor any other delivery drivers unless it would be like a HUGE delivery coming in to the house with perhaps an install, like a washing machine.

But among people I know, I am in the minority, most do not like to tip at all and question why I do it. I have spent a lot of time in the States and think some of it rubbed off on me there!

 

[Casinomeister]

In Germany, tipping is kept to a minimum for a number of reasons. Most restaurants are family owned or small private businesses. When you sit at a table, in most cases that table is yours for the night. There is no handing you the bill before you are finished (like in the States), you have to ask for it when you want to leave. At that point the server will ask whether you want it separate or together, and they will either add it up on a small pad of paper, or ring it up at the cash register. When they hand it to you, you pay right then and there in cash (Credit cards are rarely used), and you round up to the nearest 1 or 2 Euros.

For a night out (pizza and four beers) that would be about 18 Euros - round up to 19.50 or 20. And the servers are appreciative about it since they don't rely on tips. Many of the servers are either part-owners of the restaurants, or they are paid well enough not to worry about a tip.

If you tip too big, they will think there is something wrong with you. If you do it around friends, your friends will think you are a braggart trying to be a show-off. You never leave a tip on the table unless you've used a credit card (rarely there is a "tip" section on most CC receipts). The waitress takes the payment - you place a Euro or two on the table and leave.

A lot of places invoke the honor system. When paying the bill, they ask you what you've eaten/drunk and add up the price. Some use your Bierdeckel (coaster), marking it with a pen each time you order a beer. When the party is over, you hand over the Bierdeckel and they add up the beers, and you find yourself a cab.

Cab drivers usually get the same sort of tip. You round up to the next Euro or two. Same at the hairdresser - you usually tip a Euro for an 18 Euro haircut. Pizza delivery - a Euro, maybe two.

This is one of the reasons I hate traveling in the States, tipping has become ludicrous. When it's mandatory, it's not a tip - it's extortion. If the servers and cab drivers feel they need more money, then the owners should adjust the prices accordingly. If the service is good, then tip. If it's not good or mediocre, then no tip. And if there is no tip, the server should just be happy about it anyway since the paycheck they are receiving should be good enough anyway.

And the service here in Germany is as good as anywhere else - sometimes better. So it's not like that 15% - 20% tip is getting you anything special. It's bullshit for all I'm concerned.

 

[Borgie]

I am also in the UK

I always tip taxi drivers, hairdressers - both the hair cutter and the hair washer if they are two different people, although more to the hair cutter and almost always waiters/waitresses unless I have had an awful experience. I will also tip someone delivering take away food.

I do not tip grocery delivery or online orders that are delivered.

 

[just play]

Chayton, I would agree 100% with you about the people who don't tip never had to work those type of jobs. I have worked them all, lol. I especially hated at some restaurants the waitresses would pool their tips, so if you wanted you could be a bad waitress and still get good tips.

I also tip everywhere, and tip nicely. When I used to drink my friends and I would frequent this bar, I would always tip the girl good on my drink order, so the next time I went up to the bar (there could be 20 people waiting around the bar) she would come to me first. I also notice in our local restaurants we get treated better, get more food, etc...I think the people really appreciate it and in turn show us how much they appreciate it.



Chuzzle, I knew some countries had different ideas on tipping but didn't know exactly which countries. We always tip takeout, but never tip washing machine deliveries. I didn't know people did that.

 

[just play]

This is one of the reasons I hate traveling in the States, tipping has become ludicrous. When it's mandatory, it's not a tip - it's extortion. If the servers and cab drivers feel they need more money, then the owners should adjust the prices accordingly. If the service is good, then tip. If it's not good or mediocre, then no tip. And if there is no tip, the server should just be happy about it anyway since the paycheck they are receiving should be good enough anyway.

And the service here in Germany is as good as anywhere else - sometimes better. So it's not like that 15% - 20% tip is getting you anything special. It's bullshit for all I'm concerned.

I look at this different. If the owners of certain places were to increase their workers pay, most of these small businesses would go out of business. These restaurants are not required to pay minimum wage, like other places such as 7-11 or something similar.

You don't believe if a party of 15 people come into a restaurant a mandatory tip should be included? I have no idea what waitresses make these days but it's REALLY LOW. They do not make minimum wage, tips is what makes their pay, not their paycheck. The paychecks are ridiculously low, it's laughable.

When we frequent our local restaurants we DO get better service because they know us. And to tell you the truth, when I waitressed and knew people that came in and didn't tip well, I will admit I didn't service them as good as others.


edit....

And if there is no tip, the server should just be happy about it anyway since the paycheck they are receiving should be good enough anyway.

This is strange to hear from you, living in the USA for as long as you did, you should know how little waitresses are paid. Their paychecks are nothing! Our current minimum wage just got raised or is being raised to $9 an hour I believe, waitresses make I would guess (I have no idea) $3-4 an hour...so their paychecks ARE NOT good enough anyway.

 

[dionysus]

We (meaning the bf and I)tend to tip espec. where the employee gets hourly minimum, so, waiter/waitresses, pizza/beer delivery, bartenders and cabbies. Standard is usually 20%, more if good service, less if bad. HERE, certain services get LESS than the standard minimum wage and RELY on tips, mostly restaurant and bar workers.

 

[chuzzleaddict]

My friends like to regularly remind me of the time when in the USA and renting a house in Florida,I got so flustered/paranoid about the tipping rules that I saw fit to tip our pizza delivery person $25 for a $12 pizza She walked pretty fast down the path hoping I wouldn't change my mind lol

 

[dionysus]

A nice thing we have here (a few of the ON cities I've lived in), is I can tip the beer delivery guy my empties; saves me carting them back, and he's ok with it, because it's still money to him.

 

[just play]

A nice thing we have here (a few of the ON cities I've lived in), is I can tip the beer delivery guy my empties; saves me carting them back, and he's ok with it, because it's still money to him.

What a good idea!

I don't think we have beer delivery guys here? (There could be but I'm not aware of any) You mean from a liquor store, you call up and place a beer order and they bring it to you?


Chuzzle...$25 for a $12 dollar pizza. Hahahahahahahaha. Even the other way around would be too much...$12 on a $25 pizza.

 

[Casinomeister]

I look at this different. If the owners of certain places were to increase their workers pay, most of these small businesses would go out of business. These restaurants are not required to pay minimum wage, like other places such as 7-11 or something similar.

This is the problem. There is something wrong with the system. It should have never gotten this bad. Businesses should have been required to pay their employees enough to stay above the poverty level. This is where capitalism fails us.

You don't believe if a party of 15 people come into a restaurant a mandatory tip should be included? I have no idea what waitresses make these days but it's REALLY LOW. They do not make minimum wage, tips is what makes their pay, not their paycheck. The paychecks are ridiculously low, it's laughable..

Sure, in the States it's normal for big parties to have one bill - and there is usually a 20% service charge tacked on. That's normal for the States. That's not normal here. For one thing, it's rare to have a party of 15 on one bill. You could have 15 people, and if they are couples or families, there would be separate bills for each small group and the normal tipping procedure would apply.

When we frequent our local restaurants we DO get better service because they know us. And to tell you the truth, when I waitressed and knew people that came in and didn't tip well, I will admit I didn't service them as good as others.

That's the thing, in Germany you don't have to throw money at people to get service - they do it because they are being paid to do it already

This is strange to hear from you, living in the USA for as long as you did, you should know how little waitresses are paid. Their paychecks are nothing! Our current minimum wage just got raised or is being raised to $9 an hour I believe, waitresses make I would guess (I have no idea) $3-4 an hour...so their paychecks ARE NOT good enough anyway.

You misunderstood me - what I said was what waitresses are being paid by their employers "should be good enough anyway". What servers in the States are paid is criminal. There is a minimum wage, and any respectable business should be paying more than just that.

In the States, there is a restaurant business environment that relies on churning out as many customers as possible. If you've never lived abroad, that may be hard to understand, but like I mentioned - here in Germany you never fell pressured to leave a restaurant. I'm sure if the waitresses here relied on 15% tips, they would be shuffling you out the door like in the good ol' USA.

 

[just play]

Bryan...Ohhhhhhhhhh. Ok your post makes more sense now. I was like huh? LMAO.

In the States, there is a restaurant business environment that relies on churning out as many customers as possible. If you've never lived abroad, that may be hard to understand, but like I mentioned - here in Germany you never fell pressured to leave a restaurant. I'm sure if the waitresses here relied on 15% tips, they would be shuffling you out the door like in the good ol' USA.

Yup that is correct.

I have a friend who went to Paris, and she couldn't get used to how slow everyone ate...I think I posted this here years ago. She said it would take people 3-4 hours to eat dinner, that is unheard of here. Even at home. We believed that is why people from other countries who ate slowly and talked/enjoyed their meal, drank more in between bites are thinner compaired to USA people.

Yes, this is the good ol' USA.

 

[conker]

I am another UK resident who tips quite regularly - cabs, waiters, bar tenders, hairdressers, hotel stuff. However, it is always at my own discretion and normally they aren't expecting it. I would agree that having been in some of those jobs myself, a tip can make your whole day that much better - an aknowledgement that you are doing a great job.

Having seen and expirienced the standard of service in the US and Canada I can say that I am a fan of tipping, what I don't like is that you are still expected to tip if the service has been poor or even non existant. A tip by its nature is a reward for a job welldone, not simply making up someones wages in a poorly paid profession.

I am not a fan of restaurants adding their discretionary 12.5% on to the bill, as I would assume that this is not always passed onto the person it was meant to reward. When companies abuse this then that is really f£$ked up!!

 

[dionysus]

What a good idea!

I don't think we have beer delivery guys here? (There could be but I'm not aware of any) You mean from a liquor store, you call up and place a beer order and they bring it to you?


Chuzzle...$25 for a $12 dollar pizza. Hahahahahahahaha. Even the other way around would be too much...$12 on a $25 pizza.

Well, it's any kind of dial up delivery service, for smokes, beer, liquor, pizza w/e. There's a couple actually called The Beer Guy and Dial-A-Bottle. The're listed in the phone book as delivery services. Friends tell other friends who they use that's cheapest.
If it's minus 30 I'm not hiking my ass out for beer; I'll pay the 8 bucks to have it come to my door.

EDIT: also good if you're 1/2 into the party and run out or you get surprise guests and can't drive cuz already 1/2 in the bag.

 

[IanO]

I'd agree that people who have relied on or worked for tips in the past seem more likely to tip themselves. It's certainly true for me. I'll tip waiters and waitresses, delivery people and taxi drivers, and I'm usually pretty generous, especially if I'm trying to impress a date

Tipping anecdote from my past.... cue wavey lines and harp music....

15 odd years ago (god I feel old) I was working in Sydney as a hotel porter and general dogsbody. As a crusty backpacker I was on next to nothing so the tips really helped. One day I was called to the front desk and asked to help an American lady gets her bags to her car. 'Woo-Hoo' think I, as Americans often made for the best tippers.

One short trip from her room to her car and she opens the wallet to 'give me a little something'. She then proceeds to pull three crisp australian $100 bills from her wallet and hands them to me. More money than I'd seen in the previous month!! I was stunned, but my mammy trained me well and I had to stop her. ''Umm, excuse me, but do you know how much this is?''. Turns out she thought it was only a couple of bucks, and when I pointed out the US to AUS exchange rate she went white. I handed her back the money, and she thanked me profusely. She then said ''Well I cant give you nothing... let me see... and re-opens the wallet. This time I can see inside, at the WEDGE of $100 bills. She must have had a few grand in cash at least.

she flips through it all, shrugs, and says 'sorry, I only seem to have $100's''. then gets in the car and drives away. Good thing I believe in Karma, eh?

 

[just play]

Well, it's any kind of dial up delivery service, for smokes, beer, liquor, pizza w/e. There's a couple actually called The Beer Guy and Dial-A-Bottle. The're listed in the phone book as delivery services. Friends tell other friends who they use that's cheapest.
If it's minus 30 I'm not hiking my ass out for beer; I'll pay the 8 bucks to have it come to my door.

EDIT: also good if you're 1/2 into the party and run out or you get surprise guests and can't drive cuz already 1/2 in the bag.

Sorry to keep asking you questions...lol...but I find other countries customs interesting.

You mean you can get a delivery of ONE PACK OF SMOKES?

In my area, all deliverys have a minimum price, pizza, restaurants, grocery, etc...

edit...it cost 8 bucks, so there must not be a minimum correct?


@IanO....HAHAHAHAHAHAHA....you could have told her you could break her $100.

 

[Osloking]

In Norway, people usually dont tip as it is already in the price, take a pizza for example, its coast you 45$ plus 12$ to get delivered, and the pizza dont taste good either. so total 57$ (im not kidding)

a "cheap" beer at local pub coast you about 13$ for 0.5L

i was at a restaurant with my girlfriend last week and we eat nothing special (2 meal + 2 drinks) 110$ bill

but i still tip IF the service is outstanding, but service minded workers dosent exist in Norway compared to US or Japan.

 

[Osloking]

I also should note that in Oslo, the waiter threat costumer differently to others, they threat you very nice if you are bit older in age and order wine or more expansive drinks at restaurant. when i was younger i worked at a restaurant and the waiter always was angry in the background when costumers ordered water as drink and gave them the ignoring face.

I grew up in Tokyo, if you get go to Japan once in your life time, you will notify what the real "customer service" feels like.

 

[chuzzleaddict]

OMG IanO, thats one hell of a story! I deffo think the karma will return to you though if it already has not, kudos on the honesty But can't believe she gave ya nuffin!

 

[Jasminebed]

Too funny this thread was here this morning, it was topic over coffee in my kitchen.

I tip, and I tip acceptably usually. People that serve alcohol in Ontario are allowed to be paid less. The days of 10% being a reasonable tip are gone, I'm usually around 15%. A buck a drink if you just pass it to me across a bar.

I always tip cabbies, unless they are rude. That's pretty rare. I tip less when you are lazy. That's not as rare. I get my hair done at a discount chain, and I tip around $3 on a 12 cut there. They are often quite surprised, they usually get a buck if anything. Most of them have spent 20 mins or so talking about their kids and listening to me talk as well.

I do not tip counter people in chain fast food establishments, or drive through.

Would never have occurred to me to tip furniture delivery or UPS.

@Dion ... If all things are equal, use Dial-a-Bottle. One of the partners with his father revived an old name, and I'd heard they had franchised. He was a trivia frenemy at NTN for a long time. Another trivian and one of the original partners is still driving for them, and $6 plus tip for just The Beer Store is way cheaper than taking a cab to go get it.

Not just any delivery company can deliver alcohol, the service has the responsiblity for no sales to minors, or too inebriated.

Food delivery gets 2 - 4 bucks.

And win or lose, I tip the BJ dealer when I leave the table if I've played more than a hand or two. I do not tip any online casino people.

 

[clees42]

tipping is not real part of the culture here in finland. Tip is pretty much included in the salary. Some people still do it when they are especially pleased with the food.

 

[polli123]

Me in Germany:


1. waitresses: 10%
2. counter people who put together your food for takeout:nothing
3. coffee shops: only pennies
4. deli workers who take your order, make your food and cash you out: nothing
5. delivery people: 10%

The service is included in the total over here, so you can save the tip.

---
In the USA i always tip between 15-30%, depending of the service. But i don't give any tips at counters (e.g. Subway) and coffee shops.

PS: i met a nice 22 years old bartender girl at the Aztec Inn, LV several times over 2 years. She drove a 350 Mercedes and i think she earned more with whipping drinks & titties than a local Bank Director here at good old Germany.

Cheers!

 

[Mouche12]

I usually tip everyone. I tip restaurant servers and cabdrivers and delivery people and if I get my hair done. Even if someone is not really good I still tip them something, and if they're really good I tip more. I have a feeling that most people who don't tip are people who have never had that type of job. I had this one acquaintance in AZ who grew up with her parents paying her way through one school after another, she never worked any 'service' jobs and she was adamant that she wouldn't tip unless she got exemplary service. I even caught her pocketing a tip I had left when we went to lunch together once!

I mean especially since when I was living in Phoenix going to school I decided to take a part time job as a waitress, at the interview the owner of the restaurant said something like, "Our normal wage is two but since you have experience we can start you at two-fifteen" and I was thinking, "...he can't mean $2 an hour...? It's not 1950!" But that's exactly what they meant - AZ being a 'right to work' state, at some restaurants you're expected to make minimum wage WITH your tips.

Of course I didn't take the job, and after that I tipped even more.

I am a bit derailing here... but your story about your acqaintance pocketing a tip reminded me of a very wealthy friend from the past, who would sometimes take (read: steal) ashtrays from fancy hotels and restaurants. I've experienced this several times and was bloody ashamed of it. What kind of mentality is this?

About tipping: I always do it, but I tend be more generous when I have more cash and when the service is very friendly. If the service has been very lousy though, I don't.

 

[chayton]

When I was young and cute and worked at a pizza joint I had this big group of guys who came in for pizza and drinks - there were like 8 or 10 of them and their bill came to like $300 by the time they were done, they tipped me $100!

And when I worked at another place there was this little old couple who used to come in and whenever I served them they left me a quarter - which was pretty impressive to the rest of the staff because they never tipped anyone else anything at all.

To be honest I never really cared about whether people were big tippers or not, the only thing I hated was serving people who were rude. You know the kind, usually some well off guy and his date, he's trying to impress her by acting like he bought you at an auction and she's treating you like something stinky that's stuck on her shoe.

Actually that reminds me of this couple that came in where I worked once - one of the other girls served them and I guess the date didn't like her, he left a fairly hefty tip and they were almost to the door and she came back and took it. lol.

TBH I don't think I could handle that kind of work anymore - I have no patience for rude or obnoxious people in my old age. I'd probably get fired the first day.