To Tip or Not to Tip

33 thoughts on To Tip or Not to Tip

1. Yes, it’s appropriate to tip cab drivers. It’s appropriate to tip hair cutters or beauticians who work for the salon, but you don’t have to tip the proprietor of the salon if s/he’s the one cutting your hair. I always thought the acceptable rate for these things was 10%.

   Also, tip movers $10 – $20 or so. That’s a new one I just learned– mostly because I never had professional movers take my furniture until relatively recently.

   But european-style service charges are an excellent idea if only because it will put an end to “I control your tip and thus own your ass”-attitude cutomers sometimes take towards waitservers.

2. Here too is a waiter with an opinion on the original piece.

3. Of course, the gratuity included in, say, Paris, doesn’t eliminate the tip, since you often tip more than the set minimum. My thoughts on tipping crappy or intentionally nasty or rude service is this: of course you’re not obligated to tip assholes, but (and especially if it’s a place you go to a lot) I have found the following strategy effective: over-tip the asshole (say, 40%) and leave them a note, polite but to the point. In my experience, the next time you’re there, the asshole half the time will be miraculously cured, at least with regard to you. Alternatively, I have tipped the hostess or maitre-d and complained quietly to them (while stiffing or under-tipping or maybe even 14%-ing the problem server).

   But, as getting into it is kind of a drag, I think it’s only worth it at a place where you are a regular.

   (as for cab rides: 10% as a base-line, plus a dollar or two per bag for bags they have to handle; sometimes, in a foriegn country, though, I will wait to see if they try to round off [up] the fare; it really rubs me the wrong way when the cabbie, for instance, accepts ten bucks for a seven dollar fare and just sits there without making change and waits for you to ask for the change or get out of the cab; when that happens, I ask for all my change and give no tip; also (especially in foriegn countries or cities) if i like the cabbie i ask for his/her card so i can call him/her for all my cab needs. on my honeymoon, my wife and i even got personal tours of cities this way; cabbies usually love to show off their towns. anyway, too much information, but you asked…)

4. If the service is crappy in the sense that the waiter is overwhelmed or the food isn’t ready at the right time, it doesn’t affect my tip. If the waiter is an asshole, then no, I’m not leaving a tip. Yes, they put up with rude people and it’s hard work, but you know what? That’s not my fucking problem. I’m polite, I say please and thank you, I don’t ask for fifty different substitutions. I’m paying money to eat out, and it’s not fair for MY evening to get fucked up because the *previous* customer was a jerk.

   And there are plenty of asshole waiters who are assholes regardless of the behavior of their customers.

   That said, tipping is allowing the restaurant to shift its labor costs: you pay less for your food, because you’re funding the waiter’s wages directly. I tip (and not grudgingly, either), but it’s a shitty system.

5. I’ll kick in around 15% for average, unexceptional waiters; more if they went out of their way. I’ve never had any *bad* service, but I’d go down towards 0 depending on how bad it was. I’ve never taken a cab or paid for a haircut, so I can’t help you with any of that city stuff.

6. Having waited tables, I think a reasonable wage for waitstaff and a “european-style” service charge are great ideas. I probably tend to over tip. In restaurants, I figure out what 20% would be, and then round up to the next dollar. For cab rides, it depends on how far I’m going, and other factors. At minumium I’ll tip a dollar, more if it’s a fairly long trip and other factors warrant it.

7. I agree that tipping is a bad system for the reasons Myth says. That said, I’ve only ever once gotten a waiter I thought was really needlessly rude–she kept ignoring my table because we were a group of women in order to flirt with a group of men. But that created a dilemma–it’s one of my favorite greasy spoons and god knows I want to have a good rep with the staff. So I caved and gave 15%, when I usually give closer to 20%.

   That said–not way do I tip a dollar a drink. Of course, I live in Texas, so in many bars that’s a 50%-100% tip. In most bars I tip a dollar every other round or give change or somehow dial it down to 20-25%. And I’m well-liked downtown, so it’s apparently okay.

8. In Australia, tipping is not something that’s expected, and to tip is to say – thanks, you did a great job, or, I’m in a good mood etc… In many restaurants, there’s a tip jar at the register, and tips are shared out equally, or saved up for staff parties.

   Businesses are forced by law to pay their staff a livable wage, and while there’s often some disagreement about what’s “livable”, people working in the service industry don’t starve because no-one tipped them that day.

   It’s one of those things that makes me very happy to live here, despite the fact that our current Government is putting these rights under threat.

9. My little sister didn’t know the dollar-a-drink rule until recently, and was quite upset that no one had told her about it. Where do we learn these sorts of things, anyway?

10. I tip 15% for usual, good service. Where I live, the sales tax comes out to 14% of the bill, so I just take the tax and round up to the nearest dollar for a tip.

    In terms of drinks, I typically leave a large-ish tip on the first drink, and then whatever change I have left on the others. Paying a dollar tip on every $3.50 bottle of beer just seems ridiculous to me. Of course, I only really go to uncrowded pubs, so quality of service isn’t a huge consideration for me, since I’m usually the only one at the bar looking to buy a drink at any particular point.

11. Sidenote: I think the dollar-a-drink rule only applies in over-priced urban areas like New York, where a mixed drink is at least $7 or $8.

12. Umm…oops. Can’t say that I knew about rules for tipping bartenders/cocktail waiter-types. But, I’m a 21-year-old who was more or less sheltered during childhood/teenage years, so maybe I can be forgiven?

    As far as restaurant wait-staff, I almost always try to tip 20%. I was a waiter in high school who got stiffed more than once, so I fell their pain.

13. I tip my bartender a dollar a drink – and usually get a few drinks on the house as a result. I also tend to sit at the bar rather than a table.

    In restaurants, I tip over 20% for good service, much more for exceptional service. If my server is SLAMMED and I realize he/she is doing their very best (yet the service suffers due to the overload), I usually go 30 – 40%, depending on the job they’re doing.

    Can you tell I tended bar and waited tables at one time in my life?

    Rude or shitty service (for no good reason, i.e., I can see my server chatting it up with the crew while ignoring my waving hand) will get less than 5% and, if possible, a nasty report to the manager.

    The person who cuts my hair gets 20%.

    What about the barrista? I don’t order “coffee drinks”, just straight up black coffee and all that entails is turning around, sticking the cup under the caraffe, and handing it to me. I don’t think there’s much to tip in that. Yet, when I drop the spare change in the tip jar, I get a dirty look.

14. I learned the dollar a drink rule when I used to sit around and drink a bottomless cup of coffee for hours while I did homework at a local dive. I tipped on top of the coffee, and another dollar for every hour I took up space in the wait staff’s section. Extra tips if I never had to ask for a refill.

15. Oh, and mixed drinks around here are lowered during the summer because students are gone. That’s when I do the straight 15-20% tips on a tab. Once school’s back in session, I give a dollar a drink as prices are set at between $3.50-5.00 for a well drink.

    Campus bars, however, are cheap as hell. It’s too bad I won’t go to one. Scandalous, they are.

16. I’m always interested in this topic. I tend to eat alone because my husband is a picky eater or with my best friend. I’ve found that eating alone or with a group of women is the best way to find out if a restaurant provides good service. Mostly, I’m treated like crap.

    I tip around 20%, but round off to the advantage of the server if I get decent service. I tip 15% if I get crappy service. I think I should start leaving notes because most servers assume that women leave bad tips. If you treat me well when I’m not with a man, you get 25% or more.

    And I give my fabulous barber $20 for a $15 haircut even though he is the owner.

17. I tip in cash even if I use a credit card. In this state(i’m not sure about others) employers use tips as an excuse to underpay their wait staff, also there is this horrible Ronnie Rayguns law that assumes all waitstaff get 15% and have to pay taxes on that basis. I thought it was stinky and have been cash tipping ever since. No idea if it does any good.

18. I get a manicure, pedicure (both done by the same person), and eyebrow wax every two weeks. I tip each person 20% for their service. For higher end spas, this is pretty much the going rate. Plus the two people I go to are known for being the best at what they do at this spa, so seeing how they have more skill then everyone else, they deserve more.

    I usually tip about 10% for cab rides. At a restaurant/bar/lounge/whatever, 15% for average service. Less if they were shitty, more if they were outstanding.

19. I get my brows waxed every three-four weeks, and my lashes tinted on top of that every six weeks, and I always, always tip 20%. Sometimes slightly more, because I round to up to the nearest whole dollar amount. If someone’s putting hot wax on my face, I want them to like me, dammit. I tip my hairstylist 20% as well.

    At Christmas, however, I usually give a 30-40% tip. You know, Merry Christmas, and so on. Of course, because I see my aesthetician/hairstylist regularly, I have the kind of relationship with each of them that sort of demands a “Christmas” tip.

20. A dollar a drink on seven dollars is just under fifteen percent. On an eight dollar drink, it is twelve and a half percent. So your server will think you less than stellar.

    Tipping is often a game. The best servers know they aren’t really selling food and drink. They are offering hospitality. With such people, no equations apply and you can’t give them enough money. On the other hand, the service industry is notorious for cutting corners which is how tipping evolved in the beginning. Imagine what it would be like if doctors worked for tips. Of course we know politicians work only for tips. Oy.

21. I tend to leave $1 for a beer I get at the bar, but I don’t feel bad about occasionally making it $1 for the 2-3 I get when I run a tab. I figure it all works out in the end, and pouring a beer is a lot less work than making a mixed drink (and opening the bottle is less than that).

    I second Laurens point about staying away from the student bars around Laf, they are awful, the extra money for the non-student bars is completely worth it.

22. I don’t feel too sorry for servers or bartenders in NYC moneywise – sure they work hard, but my friends make much, much too much money to feel bad for them. More f-ed is the appearance criteria, sexual harassment, and lack of job security…

    Oh, and I would tip zero if a server was rude to me, though I’ve never experienced that.

23. I had movers move my office last year. We had grown a bit; it took four guys and two trucks, working from 8 AM till 10 PM.

    But apparently here in the Midwest tipping movers still isn’t the norm. I gave each guy $20, and overheard one guy telling someone on his cell “Yeah, we did pretty well today…”

    And I’ve been feeling bad because they probably deserved more.

    My Mom and my wife have both worked service jobs; if I don’t tip appropriately, I get whacked.

24. I start my tipping at %15 in restaurants. I waited tables for years, so I can tell if the service is bad because the server is new, or because the kitchen is slammed, or because they’ve chosen to give me bad service. If it’s clearly their decision, not affected by other factors, then I leave a very exactly calculated 15% and ask for a comment card. Complaining to a server does nothing, but comment cards usually go to managers, etc.

25. Making 2.15 an hour (in Tennessee) is enough to make a server cranky or rude. On a day with nothing but bad or no tips, servers are lucky to make their transportation expenses. Thus, I always try to tip decently. I have servers in the family so I guess I’m biased.

26. I tend to overtip horridly. On purpose. My hairdresser loved me. (until she finds out that I have been cheating on her with we cut when you show up based on some mythical style you tell us because my haircut which amounts to a crew cut was costing near 40 bucks because I always tip my hairdresser 10 bucks even at the free clean up because well, she gets paid little, makes me laugh and is fun to flirt with and/or scandalize. Unfortunately my haircut today at weedwackers anonymous made me remember why I pay that much)

    But I seriously, seriously, seriously resented paying the table fee at coffee shops in Italy. Seriously hated paying it in general elsewhere. And nothing annoys me more than when they add the gratuity automatically when our family dines en masse anywhere. They would be far better off not adding it in my case.

27. “What about the barrista? … straight up black coffee … all that entails is turning around, sticking the cup under the caraffe, and handing it to me. I don’t think there’s much to tip in that. Yet, when I drop the spare change in the tip jar, I get a dirty look.”

    I agree. It’s a joke. The tip is not for pushing buttons on the cash register (according to me); the tip is for — as someone pointed out — hospitality and service, and I would add, extended hospitality over the course of one’s stay. Therefore, it doesn’t make sense to tip a starbucks “barrista”/cashier any more than you would your pharmacist. And even if it did, wouldn’t it make more sense to tip when you leave, not up front? (it’s obviously different if your barrista is actually barrista-ing…)

    I go to a coffee place that also has a lunch and breakfast menu, and it’s the kind of place where you line up to order and you get a number if you ordered something from the kitchen, and after you’ve found your table in about 15 minutes someone from the kitchen finds you (by the number on a stick they’ve given you) and gives you your sandwich. If you want more coffee (or anything) you get back in line. Now, this place functions as a restuarant, and the people who work there appear to expect tips when you pay, but it seems wrong to — for instance — put eight bucks in the big jar when you’ve just ordered a brunch for your family when you haven’t even seen the brunch yet. It’s not like you can take the tip out of the jar if the food sucks. Not only that, but in such establishments, the tips are split up among everyone on that shift, so it’s not like you’re tipping anyone in particular for their particular hospitality. The one time I decided i would tip on the way out I got “the look” from the cashier for not tipping up front.

28. As Amanda mentioned, tipping is not considered required or standard in Australia. Most Australians consider tips optional and regard them as a reward for good service in addition to a livable, not a required payment to cover a person’s wage.
    I would never (in Australia, at least) tip for mediocre or poor service and I would be offended by a server who expected to receive what amounts to a bonus for treating me badly.

    Of course, when in Rome (or New York)… that’s a different story.

29. It’s funny how cultural differences express themselves even in attitudes towards tipping.

30. Making 2.15 an hour (in Tennessee) is enough to make a server cranky or rude.

    If I’m eating out, I am paying for the service. If I don’t care about service, I’d get take-out (now there’s another tipping debate). I don’t expect anything more than basic civility and efficiency, but if I get a rude asshole, I tip zero.

31. In my experience, service charges work out pretty badly for servers and bartenders alike. I’ve (and my colleagues) generally ended up making a lot less money.

32. I tip well. Probably too well. Haircut here is $16 – I will give her $10 on top of that. Highlights every 6-8 weeks are $35 and I usually give her $15. Mani once a week – $17 – $10 on that. Mani and brows (every two weeks) – $23 – I round up to $35 since the eyebrows are only six bucks. Mani and pedi – $47 – I will usually go 60 bucks. It’s all rounding.
    At Christmas I tip the equivalent of the service. So the woman who takes care of my hair gets $50, as does the woman who tames my evil brows and nails. (She earns it!)
    I have never had to wait to get in for my appointments. Never had a bad haircut, highlight, mani or pedi. Brows look good.
    I know what their commission is, and this is a small Midwest town. I figure they take the time to make me look ok – the least I can do is tip well.
    Servers at restaurants can expect 20-25%…more if they are slammed or just incredible. I’ve done a 100% tip a couple of times when the service was just amazing. Husband used to co-own a restaurant (they paid over minimum since people in the town RARELY tipped) and I know how that money is much appreciated.
    I’ve only had to do a “penny tip” once, and that was for waiting over an hour and a half for a completely messed up order and some of the worst service I’ve ever witnessed. Felt so bad afterward I never did it again.
    Just my $0.02.

33. I hate tipping just because it’s an inconvenience and I’m too absent-minded to figure out what to tip where and when. I like thinks straight-forward: the employer pays the employee a fair wage and I pay the employer for the service. Tipping as a matter of course seems to Byzantine, like I’m living in Mexico and have to bribe my way through any situation.

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