Master Index of Archived Threads


When, and how much, do you tip?

41Forever Mar 02 2020 02:49 PM

I thought this was an interesting article. [url]https://getpocket.com/explore/item/how-to-tip?utm_source=pocket-newtab I always go in the 18-to-20 percent tip range, but go higher if the service is super, or if the bill is really small, like at Steak n Shake. We don't go to a lot of fancy places, so our average bill is in the $25 to $35 range. I get that those people are usually working their tail off. I always use an app on the phone that figures it out for me (though it's not hard to figure out 10 percent and double it.) I always add it on the debit card, but someone told me recently I should always tip in cash -- or at least the waitresses like it better. Do you guys tip the baristas, as the article instructs? I didn't think the people in Starbucks were paid sub-minimum like the waitresses. It's incomprehensible to be that there are people who don't tip. Does that happen more than I thought?

Benjamin Grimm Mar 02 2020 02:56 PM Re: When, and how much, do you tip?

I usually tip roughly 20 per cent in restaurants with table service. I'm rarely at Starbucks, but it never occurred to me to tip there. I don't tip at Wendy's or Burger King so why would I tip at Starbucks? I usually put the tip on the credit card. It's easier, and I don't generally carry much cash. When I'm in a foreign country you often don't get the chance to put the tip on the card, so then I have to use cash, which is a nuisance.

kcmets Mar 02 2020 03:06 PM Re: When, and how much, do you tip?

Didn't and probably won't read article. At a restaurant, I figure what 20% is and round up or down based on the service. I don't tip at coffee places and the like. I give my fish guy $2 for cleaning my fish up, but he's just really nice and funny as all hell. And who likes to scale fish anyways?

Ceetar Mar 02 2020 03:12 PM Re: When, and how much, do you tip?

15-20, trending towards 15 the fancier the place. I rarely go above 20. It's not about the service, it's not even really an evaluation of the service. It's me doing the owner's job. If we're in a really cheap place that does regular waiter service, like a diner but we all had cheap things and the bill is like $18 I'll tip more because it's absurd to compensate someone $3 for an hour's work. Not that 4 or 5 is really better. If we're at a steakhouse and the bill is $200 they're gonna get closer to 60-70. (pretension aside, it's not actually 20x as hard to bring me my steak and baked potato than it is to bring me my $8 cheeseburger delux. ) I'm not tipping at starbucks. I'm literally ordering something off your menu and you're handing it to me. That it takes prep work is baked into the entire concept of the place. It's been ages since I've sat down at a bar and just drank, but a couple of bucks to start and then $1 per was the usual. I trend more towards $2 per at breweries unless it's the owner. That's about it. Unless I know how/when to tip I'm not tipping you. Random cable guy/etc. Take it up with your boss.

Double Switch Mar 02 2020 04:31 PM Re: When, and how much, do you tip?

A couple weeks ago, I had an incident that required the aid of a tow truck. I knew I'd have a flat tire waiting for me in a long-term parking lot near the airport when I returned from a trip. During the operation, the tow guy asked me what tires I planned to get after I told him I wasn't buying just one to replace the flat. Michelin Defenders, I said. He said, "Wha-a-at? You're putting Michelins on a little Civic?" I'd planned to give him a $20 tip for his work but why he thought I didn't deserve Michelin Defenders no matter what the car caused his tip and my generosity to disappear. People just don't know when to shut up. He simply could have said "good choice" and walked off with a twenty in his pocket. That said, I overtip (beginning at 20%) for a lot of reasons - being a return customer is one. Being a solo customer is another. I like being greeted by name and given a good table by waitstaff who know I appreciate that.

Lefty Specialist Mar 02 2020 04:52 PM Re: When, and how much, do you tip?

20% is my base. I go up from there depending on service.

MFS62 Mar 02 2020 07:05 PM Re: When, and how much, do you tip?

=kcmets post_id=32596 time=1583186796 user_id=53] At a restaurant, I figure what 20% is and round up or down based on the service.

This.

Later

LWFS Mar 03 2020 12:36 AM Re: When, and how much, do you tip?

Steak and Shake has servers? 20% and up in fine dining; usually more in diners and such.

Fman99 Mar 03 2020 04:12 AM Re: When, and how much, do you tip?

Yep same here. I only go below 20% if the service is poor. I also waited tables for a year right out of college. So not only do I appreciate good service, but I recognize subpar work as well.

metsmarathon Mar 03 2020 07:46 AM Re: When, and how much, do you tip?

i tip a dollar at my local coffee/bagel spots, but never at starbucks, dunkin, or panera. it just doesn't occur to me to do so at nationally franchised fast food / quick food operations. at restaurants, i usually start at 20 and round up to the nearest whole dollar tip. the extra pennies don't make too much of a difference in my life, and its a shame that they could make a difference in the life of another hard-working person. but at a minimum, even if the monetary reward isn't great, the emotional reward to having done a job competently and being rewarded appropriately may make all the difference to a person who's busting their butt waiting tables in a damned restaurant. why should i hold them to task for the inequities of waitstaff pay, while still happily pouring money into the pockets of the management? shouldn't i just not dine out if that were truly the case - why levy that punishment on the worker class? i would also argue that if you're ok with spending $200 on a slab of meat that is surely not sourced and prepared with 20x the grueling labor, then you can similarly inflate your tip to an equal amount, when that waitstaff is under the same level of pressure to deliver a dining experience concordant to the inflated price. basically, you should be mentally budgeting it in. unless you want to further contribute to the economic divide. i don't tip my garbage man and the like because, really, i don't know how. and i'm socially awkward. i tip a dollar or two at a time to valets, even if i could damned well park my own car. it should be no skin off my teeth if i'm dropping $100 on a meal to slide off a greenback for a dude to not crash my car. and my most recent tow truck operator walked away with a cool $20. i blew out two tires on the night of new years day. he totally earned that bonus just for being there. i kinda hate that tipping is such a big part of the apparent economy that it's so expected (and that the unwritten rules are still generally unwritten). but until and unless the inequity of lower wage service jobs is repaired across the board, i can't really begrudge people their lot in life, when i am so relatively privileged, and also clearly taking full advantage of the lower prices such inequities afford. OE: I know. i know. the above stated stance runs counter to my not-tipping at national chains, where the wages are surely lowest. it just feels like such a tack-on. and besides, i've no idea if the management is just going to pocket it or not. i guess from back when i worked in fast food, i never had a tip jar thta i noticed, and i cetrianly never received any paltry share of a tip jar. so i don't trust it's goodness. and i long ago developed the habitual expectation that fast food is purely transactional and struggle to adjust. plus, starbucks aside, i rarely fast food, so maybe i give myself emotional cover there. i suppose the whole experience of fast fooding is inherently icky so that the incremental increase in icky-feelings as a result of not tipping doesn't much move the needle. but now that i think about it.... maybe i will start tipping more at fast food. if i really feel that the wages are too low, why not share some small part of the burden? turning a $2 burger into a $3 burger isn't going to break my bank. talk the talk, walk the walk. now how the hell do i tip my garbage men...?

TransMonk Mar 03 2020 07:55 AM Re: When, and how much, do you tip?

At restaurants: 20-25%, but more importantly, I try never to act like an asshole. At a bar: $2 for the first drink and $1 per drink after. A valet or bellboy will get $5 from me. Other times I'll tip 20%: cab or Uber, hair cut (I've been going to the same lady for 10+ years now), large item deliveries to my house. Never fast food...though I rarely partake. And I'm not a coffee drinker.

Ceetar Mar 03 2020 08:16 AM Re: When, and how much, do you tip?

but now that i think about it.... maybe i will start tipping more at fast food. if i really feel that the wages are too low, why not share some small part of the burden? turning a $2 burger into a $3 burger isn't going to break my bank. talk the talk, walk the walk. now how the hell do i tip my garbage men...? same I guess. it feels weird because you just know some asshole guy that thinks running for president is a fun summer activity thought to himself "in lieu of raises this year, I'm gonna give you all a tip jar" and it feels like rewarding that. I mean, socially awkward works for me too. And it's really awkward to be (yesterday, at Moumons) asked by a server to answer the question that pops up, which is about a tip. Just all around. this cashier is being trained to beg as part of her job. It's kind of infuriating, like right there in the job training is "we don't want to pay you, beg from the customers". corporations are trying to make tipping at these places the social norm and I want them to have a living wage but I really really don't think I should be the one paying it. Same way with the garbage/mail people. Like, that's your damn job! I pay taxes. I don't even have input into this. We don't have a relationship. I can't reject you for another for balancing packages against a garage door like an idiot. Your doing a job for the town on my property.

cal sharpie Mar 03 2020 08:20 AM Re: When, and how much, do you tip?

My daughter worked as a barista in an independent coffee place for a while. Her attitude is "if I am just pouring you a cup of coffee there's no need to tip. If I'm making you a latte you should. If I'm making you a sandwich, you'd better." I follow her lead there. I tip 20% rounding up at all restaurants. $5 to the barber, $1 to the valet parker, the same $2 down to $1 at the bar referenced earlier. Up to $20 for people doing heavy work for me (unless they show an attitude).

Johnny Lunchbucket Mar 03 2020 08:28 AM Re: When, and how much, do you tip?

I can't bring myself to tip baristas and other counter takeout stuff. I only order a black coffee anyway. We tend to be good restaurant tippers 20% or more, rarely do I try to make a point unless the service is particularly inattentive. I have some issues on inflation and tipping. Like, haircuts are getting more expensive but I'm just as ugly as I've always been and it doesn;t take any longer to cut my hair than it used to, does the tip go up proportionately. Also have a problem with "autotips" on crowdsourced takeout food. For one you "pre-tip" them, the other, although I know they need it, don;t feel good about supporting the delivery economy in general --the actual restaurant is the one that gets screwed -- and are actively trying to do that work myself despite how easy it is to not

TransMonk Mar 03 2020 08:54 AM Re: When, and how much, do you tip?

One place I never tip is when donating online. They always seem to ask for a tip now which seems strange to me.

Edgy MD Mar 03 2020 12:00 PM Re: When, and how much, do you tip?

I try to use gratuity-dependent services rarely, but tip generously when I do. The idea that the proliferation of tips in certain industries has allowed them to escape minimum wage laws is ass backward.

Vic Sage Mar 03 2020 01:01 PM Re: When, and how much, do you tip?

when ordering lunch online, i always tip the delivery guy in cash, with the hope he'll just pocket the tip and tell his boss i stiffed him. Because fuck them, that's why.

RealityChuck Mar 04 2020 01:02 PM Re: When, and how much, do you tip?

Usually 15% of the amount including tax, which works out a little bit higher. I usually also round up.

Chad ochoseis Mar 04 2020 08:20 PM Re: When, and how much, do you tip?

=TransMonk post_id=32643 time=1583250858 user_id=71] One place I never tip is when donating online. They always seem to ask for a tip now which seems strange to me.

I was just going to say that. I don't need a freakin' parade in return for the 25 bucks I toss at some organization I happen to like, but I find it insulting to be asked to tip for the privilege of donating.



It wasn't long ago that 15% was the norm, and I still think of it as standard. I usually tip 20% in restaurants, but round down rather than up so it works out to be closer to 18%. Though I've been inching closer to the full 20% lately.



Uber/Lyft gets 20% or more for good service, 18% for ordinary.



I get my hair cut at a local barber school for $5. I'll generally tip the student $3.



Hotels puzzle me. I usually leave $2/day every day, but have no idea what the guideline is. I used to just leave $10 at the end of my stay, but the obvious problem I never thought of is that my room doesn't have the same cleaner every day, so the wrong person could get the tip.

Double Switch Mar 04 2020 08:36 PM Re: When, and how much, do you tip?

Chad ochoseis wrote: Hotels puzzle me. I usually leave $2/day every day, but have no idea what the guideline is. I used to just leave $10 at the end of my stay, but the obvious problem I never thought of is that my room doesn't have the same cleaner every day, so the wrong person could get the tip. I have that same conundrum. There's a small place I stay when I'm in San Francisco and the staff is pretty consistent so I usually leave $5 a day until I leave. There's a different place when I'm in Oakland, where I'll be again in April, and the person in charge of my room was always there so I handed her a $20 the day I left after 2 nights. She was great and I'm staying there again in April, hoping for the same general area (requested), and maybe the same housekeeper. I have no problem tipping well in SF due to the extremely high COL there and that all the hotel staff can't even afford to live in the city. I hope I'm at least defraying their BART/Muni fares. Now I'm retired, I can never stay in a hotel without tipping everyone who takes care of me. Usually, I leave $5-10 a day, depending on the city, on the piece of furniture the telly sits on and hope the right person gets it. Who knows how they are required to report tips. I'd love to know.

Ceetar Mar 05 2020 08:42 AM Re: When, and how much, do you tip?

Chad ochoseis wrote: Hotels puzzle me. I usually leave $2/day every day, but have no idea what the guideline is. I used to just leave $10 at the end of my stay, but the obvious problem I never thought of is that my room doesn't have the same cleaner every day, so the wrong person could get the tip. When you really think about it, this is pretty absurd. These people, in most cases, aren't making good/reasonable money. There's no real unified 'norm' for tipping them, hotels can't even be bothered to put out a dedicated envelope for them, which would absolutely get them more money. It's a place where you just might have random cash lying around from pockets and souvenirs and all that anyway. You never see the people you're tipping in a lot of cases, you have no idea if it's like, shared with the folks that are just in the back doing dishes or running extra towels up to the supply closets, etc. I've left tips out that I thought were obvious but then weren't taken. It's almost like their employers should be taking care of their wages. I've typically gone with like $5 the first night with the idea that 'hey, we'll tip you, keep refilling the soaps and stuff' but who knows if they even note that the next day and 1-2 every night after and maybe $5 at the end too, but i haven't stayed more than two nights in a hotel in 8 years so i'm a little rusty.

Double Switch Mar 05 2020 10:15 AM Re: When, and how much, do you tip?

If there aren't envelopes for tipping purposes, I'll use the notepad/pen by the useless phone, write "For the housekeeping" on a slip of paper, and fold it around the cash.

41Forever Mar 05 2020 10:19 AM Re: When, and how much, do you tip?

Hotels have always been a challenge, and I'm never sure what to do. Are hotel staffers paid a sub-minimum wage like waitresses? Never sure if we are supposed to leave something every day, or just the last day.

metsmarathon Mar 05 2020 10:48 AM Re: When, and how much, do you tip?

i also wonder if they're allowed to take cash left out, even if its obviously a tip...

Chad ochoseis Mar 05 2020 06:19 PM Re: When, and how much, do you tip?

=metsmarathon post_id=32866 time=1583430495 user_id=83] i also wonder if they're allowed to take cash left out, even if its obviously a tip...

I just got back to my hotel room tonight and my two bucks is still sitting on the desk, and I'm wondering the same thing. About 70% of the time, if I leave a few dollars by the TV or on the desk in the morning, it's gone in the evening. But sometimes not.

dgwphotography Mar 05 2020 07:15 PM Re: When, and how much, do you tip?

At restaurants, I usually tip 25-30%. I usually put it on my card, but if I have the cash, I'll personally hand it to the waiter/waitress rather than leave it on the table.