How Much do you tip? Do you feel the need to Tip big always?

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It's Friday which means we all will most likely take the next two days to relax and spend our hard earned money on an array of discretionary consumption.

In the Opinion Section (A11) they had an article about Waitresses and minimum wage. "How to Put A Waitress Out of Work" by Michael Saltsman

It made me wonder this morning while at the gym. How much do you tip in various scenarios and do you feel you are obliged to do so because you make more money than the average person.

Here is my breakdown:

Bars: 25% minimum on the tab then i round up to the closest 5 or 0 in dollar amount. I have OCD mind you.

Pubs:20% If i am going out for a bit and a beer. Nothing fancy just normal. 20%

Dinner spots: 30% and you REALLLY need to piss me off to get below 25%.

My Mother was a waitress while putting herself through college and always taught me to tip well because a lot of people do not.

Trying to see if I am generous or losing at the game of life.

Thanks and have a great weekend.

 

20-30% at restaurant, but nothing less than 20% unless it is a shit show. Minimum of $5. see note below. (or at cheap places such as iHop, i honestly feel like those guys work just as hard as they would at any other restaurant and 20% usually comes out to about $1.50, so that's where the minimum of $5 comes from)

bar/pub/club- $2 for first drink and $1 for every additional drink.

im glad to see there are some others that aren't cheap. in fact, it looks like im on the lower end of the range here. I have friends that will tip 10% and not a dime more. usually i end up leaving the difference to get it to at least 20% on their end. cheap bastards. if you can't afford the tip then you shouldnt be eating at that restaurant.

 

20% seems to be the generally accepted norm in North America nowadays, with additional tips for outstanding services. The more interesting question is, do you tip before or after sales tax? In high tax cities like Chicago or NYC the differences can be very substantial.

Too late for second-guessing Too late to go back to sleep.
 

I spent a decade working in restaurants and bars so I tip like a motherfucker. Realize that with taxes and tipout, servers only break even on tips at about 4-6%...they don't keep everything you give them. Cheap tippers piss me off, even if the server makes a mistake, they're only human...it's extremely rare that a server is an actual asshole and doesn't earn a tip.

also: friending local bartenders is a reaalllllly good way to get a new level of access to everything

Get busy living
 

15% for average meals 10% if something annoyed me 20% for great service or an above average restaurant 25%-30% for exceptional (only time I actually did this is when I went to Upstairs at '21') 20% for hoes, generally 30% if swagon 20% or $1 at bars, more if I want to get to know the bartender well 50% for my $8 haircut

All after tax in NYC

 

I'd be interested to see the American reaction to tipping included in your tab like it is here in France. They generally tack on a 19% tip here (and the wait staff does much better than minimum wage, btw) and if the service was really exceptional you might leave an extra 2 or 3 Euro. I've actually been chased down by a waiter for leaving too big a tip.

 
Edmundo Braverman:
I'd be interested to see the American reaction to tipping included in your tab like it is here in France. They generally tack on a 19% tip here (and the wait staff does much better than minimum wage, btw) and if the service was really exceptional you might leave an extra 2 or 3 Euro. I've actually been chased down by a waiter for leaving too big a tip.
A decent base salary would be nice, and I really see the low base in America as a prime example of how patriarchal we are - as low as $1.70 in some places, really bad, you coulnd't get away with that in a traditionally male dominated industry. But I wouldn't have done that job for 10 or even 15 an hour. The ability to pull in a few hundred bucks on my off time is the only reason I still do it at this point. Most people here don't look at it as a career once you get outside of higher end restaurants in cities...it's just a way to make money.
Get busy living
 

I start with 20% in mind. Every time there's a small fuckup, I knock off a percent. If there is a big fuckup, I knock off 5%. If it's literally the best service I could hope to expect, I up it to 25%.

In practice, here's the distribution...

0% - roughly 5% of the time 1-9% - roughly 5% of the time 10-14% - roughly 20% of the time 15-19% - roughly 50% of the time 20% - roughly 15% of the time 25% - roughly 5% of the time

-MBP
 
manbearpig:
I start with 20% in mind. Every time there's a small fuckup, I knock off a percent. If there is a big fuckup, I knock off 5%. If it's literally the best service I could hope to expect, I up it to 25%.

In practice, here's the distribution...

0% - roughly 5% of the time 1-9% - roughly 5% of the time 10-14% - roughly 20% of the time 15-19% - roughly 50% of the time 20% - roughly 15% of the time 25% - roughly 5% of the time

Almost identical to what I put in as well. I tend to go higher than friends though because they're often bad tippers. When I'm broke though, tips suffer. No surprise there.

"You stop being an asshole when it sucks to be you." - IlliniProgrammer
 
Funkfreed:
I'm just curious, why did you add "It made me wonder this morning at the gym" to your post?

Cause had to pay dues and thought....should i tip or not?

Eventus stultorum magister.
 
abacab:
15% rounded up to nearest dollar for average service. If anything awesome, maybe 18%. I am not the only table they are serving that hour, so I don't need to provide their whole paycheck (which is still substantially more than McD staff who are under lot more pressure if you ask me).
Sorry, no comparison in most cases, I've done both and MikkyD's is a slacker job.
Get busy living
 

10-15% always. Usually I take 10% and then round up to the nearest dollar, so it ends up being around 12%.

What can I say, I'm a poor college student. I've worked foodservice before as well; doesn't have any bearing on how much I tip. Especially since most of the service I get is horrible. Or maybe I just have extremely high standards for service.

Currently: future neurologist, current psychotherapist Previously: investor relations (top consulting firm), M&A consulting (Big 4), M&A banking (MM)
 

Always viewed tipping as earned, not an obligation. I could really just stand up and pick up the dish from the kitchen. Mistakes made? Of course, that's human. Won't negatively change my tipping unless you really did screw up and have an attitude problem.

If a waiter treats me like how a patron should be treated, I reward him or her fairly, handsomely for exceptions. If a waiter tells me the dish I ordered is out and I chose a cheaper one and he tells me it's the same price as the original because he's too lazy to go and change it, then fuck him. Zero tip. % for things in life should stay with taxes.

And to hell with the "I barely make anything" argument. Get rid of your American entitlement and go find something else then, shit.

 

I've meaningfully changed my tipping in the last year or so. Now that I generally frequent the same five or so places on a regular basis, I've upped my tipping substantially. If I'm eating dinner by myself, I'll often tip 40% to 50% if the person takes the time to hold a conversation with me. On a very rare basis, I'll throw out a massive tip ($100 tip on $20 bill) if I'm feeling particularly generous and I think the person could use it. This tends to happen around bonus season!

I'm an extremely easy going person, so I don't tend to tip based on service -- pretty much any service level is acceptable to me. Instead, I tip a minimum of 20% and increase it if I get the perception that the person is a good person. I also tip more if the restaurant appears empty and it doesn't look like the person will make much money that night. Weird criteria, I know, but it works for me. Silver Banana for the guy above who said he tips a minimum $5 at places like iHop. It pains me that waiters and waitresses at diners seem to work harder than anyone else and have total bills that come to $15 for two people. Absurdity -- I always tip lots in these instances.

CompBanker’s Career Guidance Services: https://www.rossettiadvisors.com/
 
CompBanker:
I've meaningfully changed my tipping in the last year or so. Now that I generally frequent the same five or so places on a regular basis, I've upped my tipping substantially. If I'm eating dinner by myself, I'll often tip 40% to 50% if the person takes the time to hold a conversation with me. On a very rare basis, I'll throw out a massive tip ($100 tip on $20 bill) if I'm feeling particularly generous and I think the person could use it. This tends to happen around bonus season!

I'm an extremely easy going person, so I don't tend to tip based on service -- pretty much any service level is acceptable to me. Instead, I tip a minimum of 20% and increase it if I get the perception that the person is a good person. I also tip more if the restaurant appears empty and it doesn't look like the person will make much money that night. Weird criteria, I know, but it works for me. Silver Banana for the guy above who said he tips a minimum $5 at places like iHop. It pains me that waiters and waitresses at diners seem to work harder than anyone else and have total bills that come to $15 for two people. Absurdity -- I always tip lots in these instances.

The above is pretty accurate for me...although I've never left $100 on $20. I typically will leave the IHOP or Waffle House servers anywhere between $5 and $10 above the price of my meal.

I often leave extra because I know some people I'll eat out with will literally leave a few dollars on a $40 meal ticket.

I am a pretty generous tipper overall. I don't expect stellar service or round the clock attention, but keep my drink full and get my order right and I'll live. If the order comes out wrong and it can easily be fixed...like the wrong sauce on a burrito or something I can scrape off...then I won't even mention it, half the time it's the kitchen's fault anyways. I don't typically voice my concern with my tip, I generally just won't come back if it was really bad.

One thing that does bother me is if my order comes out wrong and the server didn't write anything down. If you have a super great memory, that's awesome, but if you try not to use a notepad and then screw things up, that tends to make me a bit mad, especially when you have several people at the table and those folks are subbing things out of their meals.

Regards

"The trouble with our liberal friends is not that they're ignorant, it's just that they know so much that isn't so." - Ronald Reagan
 
cphbravo96:
One thing that does bother me is if my order comes out wrong and the server didn't write anything down. If you have a super great memory, that's awesome, but if you try not to use a notepad and then screw things up, that tends to make me a bit mad, especially when you have several people at the table and those folks are subbing things out of their meals.
"i dont write shit cause i aint got time" - weezy

i do the same thing as cph but u got to be mindful of busy waiters/rappers like weezy

 

10-15%.10% is easy to do in your head, even after a couple of bottles and then I just add on a couple depending on the experience. Leave a couple dollars (5 and under) for the busboy.

CNBC sucks "This financial crisis is worse than a divorce. I've lost all my money, but the wife is still here." - Client after getting blown up
 

Usually between 20-30% depending on the service. Most I've ever tipped was when I went back to college and saw a friend of mine bartending who I knew had huge money troubles throughout college. Gave her a $50 tip on a $3 drink.

 

Generally, $1/drink or $2/drink if drinks are good or bartender is hot. Sometimes it depends who you hang out with too. Standard for dinner is 15-20%. I don't think consumers should be paying tips vs. owners, but since that's how it is for now I go along. Service and food would have to be exceptional for me to tip above 20%.

Of course there are exceptions: I've given $40 tip to bartenders in order for her to give me strong drinks all night. I've given waiters 50% tips after i had special requests/situations in the restaurant and they were very accommodating.

For people that claim that they give huge tips everytime they go out...i would say it's foolish. Waiters and bartenders work hard, but they make good money, so i never feel bad for them.

Do what you want not what you can!
 

My rule of thumb is 20% across the board at restaurants unless either 1) The service sucks or they royally fuck up my order or 2) The service is fantastic. The former happens more often then the latter, but I tend to tip cheaply 3-4 times in a year on average because it takes a lot to piss me off and usually I define cheap as less than 15%. The last time I tipped cheaply, I left a 2% tip (not my doing - it was the people I was with who wanted to. I was going to leave 0) for absolutely shitty service. My friends and I went a place called Cafe 210 for lunch. It was a gorgeous day and we sat down. Our waitress came over, took our drink orders and came back 30 minutes later with our beers but no water. She didn't come up to check on us at all during the meal except to take our order, drop the food off and pick up the check. My friends and I got so fed up of not having water and waiting 45 minutes after getting our beers for some H2O that I went up to the bar and asked for a 64oz Pitcher and some glasses just so we could have an alternative beverage. I get back, sit down and start pouring waters out as she comes out with our food and water. She didn't even check on us - we were sitting there for 20 minutes after finishing trying to flag her down so we had to ask another waitress to get our check. It was just a fucking shitshow. The only upside to that lunch was that we were comped a double order of Clem's BBQ Wings by the Kitchen since we (my friends and I) knew one of the cooks and he was shocked as hell to hear that we were there asking for him.

If I'm a regular at a place, unless something royally gets fucked up and it's not properly fixed, I tip 20-30% no questions. Bars, my rule of thumb is a buck if I'm standing or sitting at the bar and tip accordingly if I'm sitting at a table and having a waitress or waiter take my drink orders.

 

Just curious..to the people who occasionally throw down a monstrous tip relative to the overall bill: do you worry that this might make the server feel like shit? I'm not saying that I would feel like shit, I'd gladly take a $100 tip on a $50 tab..but I've heard of instances where this might occur. I guess it would apply more to the situation where you know the server (like NewFirstYear's case above), where the person knows that you know they could use the money, and she might feel like a charity case or he/she might mistakenly take it as a sign that you think you're better than them (hopefully that's not the actual case). I know I've left abnormally large tips before (50-60%), so just wondering what other people think about that. Oh and I generally aim for 20%, 15% minimum.

Attention campers, lunch has been cancelled today due to lack of hustle. Deal with it.
 
PerkisPower:
Just curious..to the people who occasionally throw down a monstrous tip relative to the overall bill: do you worry that this might make the server feel like shit? I'm not saying that I would feel like shit, I'd gladly take a $100 tip on a $50 tab..but I've heard of instances where this might occur. I guess it would apply more to the situation where you know the server (like NewFirstYear's case above), where the person knows that you know they could use the money, and she might feel like a charity case or he/she might mistakenly take it as a sign that you think you're better than them (hopefully that's not the actual case). I know I've left abnormally large tips before (50-60%), so just wondering what other people think about that. Oh and I generally aim for 20%, 15% minimum.
Perhaps, but there is no way to know for sure how they will react. Really need to use your judgment, particularly if the person is a friend. In general, I don't think you should refrain from leaving a large tip because there is a chance the other person might feel offended.
CompBanker’s Career Guidance Services: https://www.rossettiadvisors.com/
 
PerkisPower:
Just curious..to the people who occasionally throw down a monstrous tip relative to the overall bill: do you worry that this might make the server feel like shit?
It works to the servers' advantage to get paid more. Getting 100% tips was part of what made me go back to school and get a better job; I wanted to be able to live like that.
Get busy living
 

A few bucks, irrespective of the percentage that makes. Why should I tip the waiter more for bringing over the food just because I ordered a $100 steak compared to a $10 salad?

Just because I'm in the US doesn't mean I stick to that (in my opinion, sorry) fixed percentage tip. Where I'm from waiters/waitresses are paid better and I'm glad people don't stick to some percentage, but just add several bucks. And I've never seen a "service charge" or anything added to the tip, I'd flat out refuse to pay that.

 
Fredbird:
A few bucks, irrespective of the percentage that makes. Why should I tip the waiter more for bringing over the food just because I ordered a $100 steak compared to a $10 salad?

Just because I'm in the US doesn't mean I stick to that (in my opinion, sorry) fixed percentage tip. Where I'm from waiters/waitresses are paid better and I'm glad people don't stick to some percentage, but just add several bucks. And I've never seen a "service charge" or anything added to the tip, I'd flat out refuse to pay that.

Many places have been doing this...I don't mind it as it saves time for me to calculate and I'm no obliged to leave anything higher since already predetermined the rate...I do wonder what happens if you get a shitty service? I never had this experience, but should you demand your tip money back for shitty service? In any case wouldn't be a pleasant situation.

Do what you want not what you can!
 

I usually tip fairly well, 50% is pretty much my go-to for service exceeding the expectations (obv. My expectations for McD are different from my expectations for a 5star restaurant) but when I get shitty service I do go out of my way to drive a point and don't care if I make people cry. Want to ruin my event/evening with your shitty attitude? Works both ways.

More is good, all is better
 

In agreement with the people who start at 20% and work their way around that as things progress. At bars I'm usually drunk and tip way better, and always tip heavy on the first few drinks so I have his attention for the night. As long as you don't bug me you get 20%, if you go out of your way and do even the smallest thing to make my night more enjoyable, it's 25-30%, and if you do something that increases the chances of me getting laid you may very well see 40%. It's hard to get on my bad side but if you have a bad attitude, make me look stupid in front of whoever I'm with, or do something to upset my girl then you're probably getting a tip in the 15%, 5%, or 0% range (respectively).

I hate victims who respect their executioners
 

I never tip and never will. My tip has always been 0$. Money is mine, I won't share it with anyone. I dont care about other people, especially when I dont know them. I just pay the price of goods as specified on the menu. Besides, why would I give my money away to a fucking hypocrite waiter kissing my ass? I know he's just trying to steal my money by being falsely nice. I would prefer if he was indifferent, because he would be sincere. When waiters I dont know smile to me, I see it as an offense and insult.

Regarding ballin with high tips, I think it is fucking retarded. Why do you need to impress other people? Only neurotic people with serious self esteem problems and 0 self-centering do it. If your happiness relies on the outside, you'll never be happy. Happiness is inside of you.

 
fund:
I never tip and never will. My tip has always been 0$. Money is mine, I won't share it with anyone. I dont care about other people, especially when I dont know them. I just pay the price of goods as specified on the menu. Besides, why would I give my money away to a fucking hypocrite waiter kissing my ass? I know he's just trying to steal my money by being falsely nice. I would prefer if he was indifferent, because he would be sincere. When waiters I dont know smile to me, I see it as an offense and insult.

Regarding ballin with high tips, I think it is fucking retarded. Why do you need to impress other people? Only neurotic people with serious self esteem problems and 0 self-centering do it. If your happiness relies on the outside, you'll never be happy. Happiness is inside of you.

I can't tell if this is serious or tongue-in-cheek. If you're serious about this then you are borderline sociopathic who few people would or should associate with.

Array
 
Virginia Tech 4ever:
fund:
I never tip and never will. My tip has always been 0$. Money is mine, I won't share it with anyone. I dont care about other people, especially when I dont know them. I just pay the price of goods as specified on the menu. Besides, why would I give my money away to a fucking hypocrite waiter kissing my ass? I know he's just trying to steal my money by being falsely nice. I would prefer if he was indifferent, because he would be sincere. When waiters I dont know smile to me, I see it as an offense and insult.

Regarding ballin with high tips, I think it is fucking retarded. Why do you need to impress other people? Only neurotic people with serious self esteem problems and 0 self-centering do it. If your happiness relies on the outside, you'll never be happy. Happiness is inside of you.

I can't tell if this is serious or tongue-in-cheek. If you're serious about this then you are borderline sociopathic who few people would or should associate with.

I'm not sociopathic because I enjoy life with my friends and treat them with reverence (which includes paying for their meals, drinks, trips or hotels). However, I don't give a fuck about people I dont know and think it is an offense when they smile to me, talk to me or kiss my ass. This is why I never pay tips to waiters. When someone I dont know smiles to me, I want to punch him. I only smile to people that I personally know and love because it is a gift to them, and think everyone else should do the same. Maybe it's hard to understand for you americans who are false and hypocritical and always smile to everyone. Everytime I see an american dude, I see his teeth, because they are always hypocritical and smile. But I dont trust them, they just want to do business with you and take money from you. Same for waiters. Fuck them, never tip.

 

Once in a whir someone stiffs me, but it's rare and usually an accident. If someone stiffs me twice, I'm liable to kick their ass. The people who don't tip usually don't have many friends since they are a social pariah, if someone doesn't tip in a professional context I dissociate from them.

Get busy living
 

Normal restaurants I'll tip 20-25% always. Diners or less expensive places (ya know, where the bill is like $11) I'll typically tip 30-50%. For any service where the person has to touch me (haircut, pedicure, massage) I'll typically tip 30-40%. If I'm attracted to the service provider then by unconscious force it's typically at the higher end of the range.

I just try to live by the golden rule of "do unto others as you would have them do unto you."

Array
 
Virginia Tech 4ever:
Normal restaurants I'll tip 20-25% always. Diners or less expensive places (ya know, where the bill is like $11) I'll typically tip 30-50%. For any service where the person has to touch me (haircut, pedicure, massage) I'll typically tip 30-40%. If I'm attracted to the service provider then by unconscious force it's typically at the higher end of the range.

I just try to live by the golden rule of "do unto others as you would have them do unto you."

Completely agree with this.
If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses - Henry Ford
 

This thread has completely shifted my views on tipping. Before reading through these posts, I tipped 15% at restaurants (Denny's, IHOP included), and 20% for exceptional service. When friends tipped $3 on their $7 meal at Denny's, I made it a point to comment on how their tip was 40%! I felt like that was fine, because I had cheap parents who felt that tipping was some American nonsense. I'll definitely up my tipping to 20% standard from now on.

 

Honestly, In Australia we usually don't ever tip.

However, working in a bar sometimes in the past, if we make it clear that we expect that we'll be tipped, our hourly wage went from about $25-30 an hour to over $60 an hour on a good night. I only used to work about 2 shifts a week for a bit, and bought a nice (for a college student) car and funded a trip to Asia and Europe on it. Yeah, it's a low pay, but it's only a supplement for my student support.

If someone tipped me well, he got better service. Tip every round of drinks, I'll be there to offer a round of drinks often, particularly if you are a regular. No tip, and you're my last round, but I'll still go round because you might tip at the end of the night. No tip and rude to me, I'd ignore you all night, you're not worth the cash.

 

I tip 15-20% for average to above average service, and I adjust expectations accordingly (i.e. I don't expect the same standard of service at a neighborhood pub that I do at Per Se). I'm happy to tip 25-40% for great to exceptional service, but I'll also tip 10% or less for bad service.

Waiters and waitresses should not expect people to tip them just because they depend on tips. It's the other way around: Because they depend on tips, they should work to earn them. A tip is an incentive for good service, not a handout. People who tip 15-20% for bad service just because they sympathize with the waiter are ruining it for everyone.

Note that these amounts are all on pre-tax. Wait staff should be tipped because of their work, not their states' tax regimes.

 
Edmundo Braverman:
I was always taught that tip was an acronym for "To Insure Promptness". Which is why it's often a good idea to give the tip up front, especially at a bar.
THIS. The best customers do this. By best, I mean coolest and best paying...the type that are welcome back.

To the kid above who doesn't tip: don't go into business. People will write you off and you don't stand a chance. Seek professional help.

Get busy living
 

Mandatory tipping is a fucked up concept, and I only very occasionally tip in poor countries where I might give $2 or $3 on top of the bill. That, or if the bill is 680 units for example of some worthless currency, I might give 700 and forget about the change. Granted, I'm not an American, but in developed countries I never tip, especially not in America.

Part of this is because I hate some of the aspects of what is generally considered "good service". I don't want the waiter to make conversation with me, I don't want him/her to ask me where I'm from, how my dinner is half way through it, how my day has been and so on. And I especially do not want the waiter to arrange my knife and fork for me, arrange my napkin, pour my wine, place menu's in front of each individual diner, decide the order of my consumption by bringing the salad before the steak (I prefer the steak before the salad), and so on. I prefer to do all that shit by myself.

That's why I love Chinese restaurants. You walk in, the waiter gives you a smile and points to a table. You sit down, and the waiter brings a bunch of menu's. But instead of pandering to you by placing menu's in front of you individually and generally fucking about, the waiter almost throws a stack of menu's on the table and lets you distribute them amongst yourselves as you see fit. The waiter comes back 5 minutes later, asks "are you ready to order yet?" and you say yes. The waiter goes around the table, collects drink orders at the same time, and says "thanks" as he/she leaves (by waiter I mean waiter/waitress). Three minutes later the drinks come out, and if the drink originates from a bottle, you get the bottle and an empty glass. Another fives minutes later (eight minutes after ordering), the food comes out (all at once). The waiter places it on the table with a smile, but doesn't feel the need to say something stupid. At the end of the night, you walk towards the exit and pass the counter (correctly placed near the exit of the restaurant), and pay the bill. You don't bother tipping unless your especially pleased with the food and no nonsense service. You then leave the restaurant after a thoroughly enjoyable meal with no fucking about.

 
jacksooon999:
Mandatory tipping is a fucked up concept, and I only very occasionally tip in poor countries where I might give $2 or $3 on top of the bill. That, or if the bill is 680 units for example of some worthless currency, I might give 700 and forget about the change. Granted, I'm not an American, but in developed countries I never tip, especially not in America.

Part of this is because I hate some of the aspects of what is generally considered "good service". I don't want the waiter to make conversation with me, I don't want him/her to ask me where I'm from, how my dinner is half way through it, how my day has been and so on. And I especially do not want the waiter to arrange my knife and fork for me, arrange my napkin, pour my wine, place menu's in front of each individual diner, decide the order of my consumption by bringing the salad before the steak (I prefer the steak before the salad), and so on. I prefer to do all that shit by myself.

That's why I love Chinese restaurants. You walk in, the waiter gives you a smile and points to a table. You sit down, and the waiter brings a bunch of menu's. But instead of pandering to you by placing menu's in front of you individually and generally fucking about, the waiter almost throws a stack of menu's on the table and lets you distribute them amongst yourselves as you see fit. The waiter comes back 5 minutes later, asks "are you ready to order yet?" and you say yes. The waiter goes around the table, collects drink orders at the same time, and says "thanks" as he/she leaves (by waiter I mean waiter/waitress). Three minutes later the drinks come out, and if the drink originates from a bottle, you get the bottle and an empty glass. Another fives minutes later (eight minutes after ordering), the food comes out (all at once). The waiter places it on the table with a smile, but doesn't feel the need to say something stupid. At the end of the night, you walk towards the exit and pass the counter (correctly placed near the exit of the restaurant), and pay the bill. You don't bother tipping unless your especially pleased with the food and no nonsense service. You then leave the restaurant after a thoroughly enjoyable meal with no fucking about.

The imaginary Chinese restaurant you describe does sound like good service. That said, you also sound like a jackass -- if you want your steak before your salad (which is bizarre), all you have to do is say so. Moreover, good waiters at nice restaurants are no nonsense -- I've never had them try to make conversation with me, and I've only seen them do so when someone at the table initiates it. I don't know anyone who considers being irritating good service. Good service is being accurate, attentive, and efficient.

 
jacksooon999:
Mandatory tipping is a fucked up concept, and I only very occasionally tip in poor countries where I might give $2 or $3 on top of the bill. That, or if the bill is 680 units for example of some worthless currency, I might give 700 and forget about the change. Granted, I'm not an American, but in developed countries I never tip, especially not in America.

Part of this is because I hate some of the aspects of what is generally considered "good service". I don't want the waiter to make conversation with me, I don't want him/her to ask me where I'm from, how my dinner is half way through it, how my day has been and so on. And I especially do not want the waiter to arrange my knife and fork for me, arrange my napkin, pour my wine, place menu's in front of each individual diner, decide the order of my consumption by bringing the salad before the steak (I prefer the steak before the salad), and so on. I prefer to do all that shit by myself.

That's why I love Chinese restaurants. You walk in, the waiter gives you a smile and points to a table. You sit down, and the waiter brings a bunch of menu's. But instead of pandering to you by placing menu's in front of you individually and generally fucking about, the waiter almost throws a stack of menu's on the table and lets you distribute them amongst yourselves as you see fit. The waiter comes back 5 minutes later, asks "are you ready to order yet?" and you say yes. The waiter goes around the table, collects drink orders at the same time, and says "thanks" as he/she leaves (by waiter I mean waiter/waitress). Three minutes later the drinks come out, and if the drink originates from a bottle, you get the bottle and an empty glass. Another fives minutes later (eight minutes after ordering), the food comes out (all at once). The waiter places it on the table with a smile, but doesn't feel the need to say something stupid. At the end of the night, you walk towards the exit and pass the counter (correctly placed near the exit of the restaurant), and pay the bill. You don't bother tipping unless your especially pleased with the food and no nonsense service. You then leave the restaurant after a thoroughly enjoyable meal with no fucking about.

100% agree. When a waiter plays nice with me (ie smile, ask how my day was, joke with my gf, interrupt our conversation and start some poetry bs on what the dish represents) I fucking hate him and dont tip. Actually, my girls ask me to not tip when waiters smile to them, look at them or try to start random conversations with them everytime they pass by. I call that respect and being professional. Shut the fuck up and serve my meal.

 

Pretty standard 20% on all food-related things where someone brings me my food. I'll usually round up to the nearest dollar.

30-50% on a haircut because the lady who cuts my hair has been doing it forever and she cuts everyone in my family's hair.

MM IB -> Corporate Development -> Strategic Finance
 

I don't understand tipping and only do so because it is socially expected.

I have no hesitation in leaving a shitty tip if the service I received was no better than what I would get at McDonald's, even if it's a nice restaurant. Conversely, I have no hesitation in leaving a fairly large tip at cheap mom & pop places.

Why tip a restaurant server, but not a garbage man, retail worker, and everyone else who performs a service?

 
Kools:
I don't understand tipping and only do so because it is socially expected.

I have no hesitation in leaving a shitty tip if the service I received was no better than what I would get at McDonald's, even if it's a nice restaurant. Conversely, I have no hesitation in leaving a fairly large tip at cheap mom & pop places.

Why tip a restaurant server, but not a garbage man, retail worker, and everyone else who performs a service?

and banker for that matter

Do what you want not what you can!
 
bossman:
Kools:
I don't understand tipping and only do so because it is socially expected.

I have no hesitation in leaving a shitty tip if the service I received was no better than what I would get at McDonald's, even if it's a nice restaurant. Conversely, I have no hesitation in leaving a fairly large tip at cheap mom & pop places.

Why tip a restaurant server, but not a garbage man, retail worker, and everyone else who performs a service?

and banker for that matter

Actually bankers do get tips, it is called a bonus, same with consultants and many other white collar professionals. A tip is akin to a bonus granted to the server/bartender for doing a good job. And much like the bonus, the amount of tips is also a function of the money that the firm/restaurant/bar makes.

Too late for second-guessing Too late to go back to sleep.
 
Kools:
I don't understand tipping and only do so because it is socially expected.

I have no hesitation in leaving a shitty tip if the service I received was no better than what I would get at McDonald's, even if it's a nice restaurant. Conversely, I have no hesitation in leaving a fairly large tip at cheap mom & pop places.

Why tip a restaurant server, but not a garbage man, retail worker, and everyone else who performs a service?

Because a waiter is making $1.75/hour; therefore, your food and drink are less expensive as a result. And you're on a finance board?

Array
 
Virginia Tech 4ever:
Kools:
I don't understand tipping and only do so because it is socially expected.

I have no hesitation in leaving a shitty tip if the service I received was no better than what I would get at McDonald's, even if it's a nice restaurant. Conversely, I have no hesitation in leaving a fairly large tip at cheap mom & pop places.

Why tip a restaurant server, but not a garbage man, retail worker, and everyone else who performs a service?

Because a waiter is making $1.75/hour; therefore, your food and drink are less expensive as a result. And you're on a finance board?

You are right Virginia Tech, but this is kind of interesting. Not to stray away from the thread topic too much, but why do restaurants get to pass labor costs to the customer? Why don't all industries just have the same model? If anyone can give me a good explanation I'd appreciate it.

Do what you want not what you can!
 
Virginia Tech 4ever:
Kools:
I don't understand tipping and only do so because it is socially expected.

I have no hesitation in leaving a shitty tip if the service I received was no better than what I would get at McDonald's, even if it's a nice restaurant. Conversely, I have no hesitation in leaving a fairly large tip at cheap mom & pop places.

Why tip a restaurant server, but not a garbage man, retail worker, and everyone else who performs a service?

Because a waiter is making $1.75/hour; therefore, your food and drink are less expensive as a result. And you're on a finance board?

This is ridiculous. I believe there’s something called minimum wage…

 

All labor costs are passed to the consumer. In fact, this model reduces fixed labor costs for restaurants and allows them to offer better pricing to consumers. Imagine if a restaurant paid its servers $12/hour, even at 2 pm on Tuesday. What would the net result of that be? Much higher food prices.

Array
 
Virginia Tech 4ever:
No they aren't guaranteed minimum wage. And you're a total dick if you don't tip your waiter or waitress.

If a Denny's pays a waiter $2/hour and tips through the day effectively total $2/hour, then the Denny's has to cover the $X/hour to meet minimum wage. If not, the waiter can sue and make way more than minimum wage.

I never said I don't tip, I never feel obligated to leave 'x' percentage as a tip/gratuity. What do you if you go to Peter Luger's and the waiter takes 20 minutes to bring you your drinks, another 20 minutes to take your order, never checks on you during the entire meal, you have to ask a different waiter for the check, and it takes 20 minutes to pay and get your card back? You should send him a fucking bill for wasting your time.

 
Kools:
I never said I don't tip, I never feel obligated to leave 'x' percentage as a tip/gratuity. What do you if you go to Peter Luger's and the waiter takes 20 minutes to bring you your drinks, another 20 minutes to take your order, never checks on you during the entire meal, you have to ask a different waiter for the check, and it takes 20 minutes to pay and get your card back? You should send him a fucking bill for wasting your time.

Amen.

Is the steak really worth $100? No. But a nice steak and a nice athmosphere that puts me in a good mood are. If I wanted just steak, I would have bought the best of the best at the store and threw it on the grill, and for a $100 could have definitely gotten more than just 16 oz.

Not getting good and prompt service means I didn't leisurely spend my free time, which makes the cost of that time to me equivalent to work rate AND I also lost money on steak.
So, in essence, shitty service on a $100 steak just cost me at least $200 (if they didn't waste too much of my time and if I am not having any wine).

Why the F would I want to reward someone for causing me a loss?

I couldn't care if the waitress has 3 kids dying from cancer at home, if the service is shitty, she is not getting a tip. If I'm gonna start doing charity at the restaurant, that's charity dollars that I could have given to charities I like and gotten a tax write-off on.

And if waiters feel underpaid at $2.30 or $1.50 an hour, they are free to go work jobs not generally considered to be underpaid, like retail. Just like bankers are free not to work 80-100 hours a week and instead take jobs with smaller, but more or less guaranteed pay.

More is good, all is better
 
Kools:
Virginia Tech 4ever:
No they aren't guaranteed minimum wage. And you're a total dick if you don't tip your waiter or waitress.

If a Denny's pays a waiter $2/hour and tips through the day effectively total $2/hour, then the Denny's has to cover the $X/hour to meet minimum wage. If not, the waiter can sue and make way more than minimum wage.

I'm sorry, but this is straight up and transparently fallacious. There are 50 different state laws plus municipal overlays, so this might be true in a handful of jurisdictions, but this is not true in the vast majority of jurisdictions. When you take a job as a server you are rolling the dice that you will make more than regular minimum wage on average. No guarantees.

Array
 

Location: NYC Restaurants: 20%+ Unless of course it was shitty service. Then it goes wayyyy down. Self-service restaurant: 0. Self service, what am I tipping for here? Starbucks / coffee shops: 0. because I don't do coffee. Subway or similar fast food (e.g. Chipotle): 0-the left over change I have after paying with cash. I'm also including in shops like this bagel place I go to multiple times a week. Pay 5 dollars cash and get 3.27 back, they'll get 1.73 thrown in the cup. Hair Cuts: 10000000%. Because 10000000% of 0 is still 0. (my fiance or her friend takes care of it) Apartment Doorman: Don't have a doorman, but our super gets 0 from us because he's a jackass. Hotel Doorman: Never done Hotel Cleaning Lady: Also never done. Coat Check: $1 at most if I'm forced to check my coat. If I do it willingly, then I'll throw a few dollars more. Taxis: 20%, goes up or down depending on how much they yell on their cell phone and their driving ability. Food delivery: $3-5 depending on distance/weather/how much they have to carry. Unique to my location: Stand Coffee (my fiance does this though): $1-$1.50 on a $1.50 cup of coffee. He has my fiance's coffee ready as she walks up and doesn't have to wait in line.

make it hard to spot the general by working like a soldier
 
Best Response
adapt or die:

Good god, not another tipping thread

Are Asian men less desirable?

Great question, I have a few other questions:

Should I wear a backpack to work?

Why are all these ladies at work wanting to ride my cock and why do I keep getting held back at work?

If my girlfriend fucks my boss, is she a slut or am I a pussy?

Why is affirmative action holding the white and Asian man down so much?

Will not drinking hold me back?

How many dudes has the average girl been banged by?

How exactly are you supposed to talk to girls anyway?

How far can a jet ski go on the Mississippi without refueling?

Is dropping out of finance to become a trucker cool?

Can anybody help me with some broscience for my workout or hangover routine?

And finally, is the user DickFuld for real?

 
PeteMullersKeyboard:

20% when it's appropriate, up or down based on either extra-good or extra-shitty service.

Wow that was fast, is someone here offended by my daring to tip someone less if they're particularly ineffective at their job? Haha.

"When you stop striving for perfection, you might as well be dead."
 

Really depends on the service. I will tip to adjust for coupons, discounted items, etc.

I also have done some unusual tip. Over the break I left a silver coin as a christmas gift for the housekeeper at my hotel(we stayed in Breckenridge).

 

Where are these imaginary Chinese food places that don't expect you to tip? Unless you either (a) take out or (b) are in one of those tiny fast food places that are more American than Chinese with plastic pictures of the dishes above you where 90% of the people take out and there are 2 benches that you can eat and throw out your own shit if you feel like it, then you're expected to tip. Yes, in general the service is curt without dicking around but they DO expect you to tip and WILL call you out on it if you don't, and rightly so. You're paying $5-10 on an entree; if you can't leave a few $ on the table it should be legal for them to slap you.

 

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Currently: future neurologist, current psychotherapist Previously: investor relations (top consulting firm), M&A consulting (Big 4), M&A banking (MM)
 

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Iusto eum eos at corrupti quis saepe sunt. Beatae odit sit natus voluptate ullam doloribus at. Voluptas architecto fugit expedita odit asperiores. Tempore facilis facere omnis temporibus est libero. Et non nisi eligendi aut.

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Harum laboriosam modi ut culpa id veniam minima. Nihil fuga sed aliquam optio. Consequuntur a commodi perferendis non. Eligendi id autem a blanditiis et est. Soluta voluptatum quia placeat quam ad consequatur eos.

Consectetur consequatur consequatur quod eum ea error deleniti. Dolores nam saepe rerum quasi quibusdam perferendis. Ab eum explicabo soluta consequuntur mollitia vero. Ut consequatur et vitae praesentium qui fuga esse. Provident amet recusandae fugit soluta officia. Perspiciatis veritatis sint consequuntur consequuntur soluta eius laudantium aut.

 

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