Non Escort Tipping

[+ sniper]

so then, what is the "take away" from this thread ? tipping is an individual thing and depends on the person AND the situation. Its not my job or responsibility to support these people who are low wage earners. But if I feel they provided me exceptional service in a friendly manner, I would be inclined to leave them something extra. Depends on my mood at the time.

 

Given that they are taxed assuming you do tip them, you are in my opinion ethically obligated to tip them the baseline amount. It's exploitive to reserve tipping for "exceptional" service when the norm is to tip and they are getting below the minimum wage. Particularly when it's a lower cost establishment in the first place and that norm is barely going to get them to minimum wage.

[+ sniper]

It's different if they give actually BAD service.

[+ quoththeraven]

For bad service I leave a token tip, like $1. That way the message is unmistakable and it's clear I didn't just forget.

[jjkrkwood]

Recognize that in some industries, wages are set based upon an expectation they will be augmented by gratuities.

 

So, rather than tipping only for exceptional (a subjective term) service.

Consider a moderate tip for good service, a generous tip for exceptional service, and no tip for bad service.

 

Perhaps the establishment should build the tip into the price of the product they sell, and compensate their workers accordingly, then make it the responsibility of the customers to make ends meet for the person actually serving them ? Honestly, I dont want to feel pressured when I frequent some establishment. Just bring me my fucking burrito and let me eat in peace and go home. I am paying for the product. Bringing it to me should be INCLUDED without making me feel guilty for not compensating a server.

[LaffingBear]

Perhaps the establishment should build the tip into the price of the product they sell, and compensate their workers accordingly, then make it the responsibility of the customers to make ends meet for the person actually serving them ? Honestly, I dont want to feel pressured when I frequent some establishment. Just bring me my fucking burrito and let me eat in peace and go home. I am paying for the product. Bringing it to me should be INCLUDED without making me feel guilty for not compensating a server.

Things are the way they are.

 

How effective do you believe wishing the corporate establishment will behave responsibly will be in the long run?

 

Anyone can tip as they please. But they're only affecting the working class on the lowest rung when they choose not to tip them because they dont like the way the system is setup. The bad managers & business owners won't care... they'll just shrug and tell waitstaff to do better if they want to earn more.

 

On a practical level, having grown up in the food service business, I can confirm that regular customers who were lousy tippers rarely get the best service.

[+ quoththeraven]

While I tip waitstaff and my hair stylist generously, I am philosophically anti-tipping. It's unfair to pay workers substandard wages in reliance on tips. It's borderline offensive to me that people in a service industry have to be incentivized to provide adequate service, keeping in mind as someone brought up with East Asian cultural touchstones, what I consider adequate service might look to others more like good or excellent service.

 

I completely ignore tip jars in takeout places.

[+ Keith30309]

I've started noticing that when I present my debit card for payment at some businesses I'm asked "Would you like to leave a tip with that?" rather than presented with a slip of paper into which I write the tip... and sometimes by the service provider themself. I can see how that would be a little awkward for some... I usually just say "Yes, x%". But I wonder if it's a subtle way for management to encourage tipping rather than simply a means to accurately capture the total debit amount of the transaction. Ironically I've seen a fair number of customers reply something like "no, I left it on the table" and wonder if it backfires.

 

Likewise with the payments via a counter-mounted or handheld iPad or other tablet... you're presented with options for various percentages to select. I see this in situations where, in the past, you needed to physically remove money from your pocket and it's a little more "in your face".

[foxy]

Money is like manure, it's not worth a thing unless you spread it around. - Dolly Levi

[Riley Wynters]

Position Avg Starting Wage

Server $3.50 – $7.50

Bartender $8.00 – $11.00

Lesee... the average server salary is $5.50/hr then. That's $44.00 for an 8-hr shift or in the ballpark of $1,000/month (the official average is $12,876/yr). Rent for a studio apartment in Atlanta averages $1,068/mo, or $12,816... leaving $60 for other expenses like day care. I tend to tip these folks generously.

 

On the other hand, the OP's Glass Installer seems to me like a pretty shameless opportunist and I wouldn't consider that a 'tippable' job unless he did something truly extraordinary.

 

Servers here in Atlanta make $2.13 an hour plus tips

[bigvalboy]

How many of you tip the Uber driver?

 

For the record, I tip them through the app. Compared to cabs, Uber service is exceptional, and I want that service to continue. I know the drivers don't make as much as sometimes is reported. In talking with the drivers, most are trying to bring in extra money to make ends meet.

[amused1]

Having been on both sides of this issue I have mixed feelings. I will say that I ignore jars at counters. I came up in an environment of professional service where it was a career When I moved from NY to MI I found that most servers out here were not professional, a big shock to me and it forever colored my tipping habits. I'm far more likely to be generous with my tip when I feel the service is professional. It may not seem fair, but it really is just my practice informed by my personal experience.

[+ Keith30309]

How many of you tip the Uber driver?

 

For the record, I tip them through the app. Compared to cabs, Uber service is exceptional, and I want that service to continue. I know the drivers don't make as much as sometimes is reported. In talking with the drivers, most are trying to bring in extra money to make ends meet.

I do

 

I've asked some Uber drivers to go way beyond the "point A to point B" transport job and they are almost always very willing to help. When traveling it usually seems to involve a trip to a drug store - a vital errand.

[Rudynate]

Having been on both sides of this issue I have mixed feelings. I will say that I ignore jars at counters. I came up in an environment of professional service where it was a career When I moved from NY to MI I found that most servers out here were not professional, a big shock to me and it forever colored my tipping habits. I'm far more likely to be generous with my tip when I feel the service is professional. It may not seem fair, but it really is just my practice informed by my personal experience.

 

I'm the same. I tip really well for professional service. I took my partner to a very hip restaurant in the Mission for his birthday. I liked the server right away, friendly and professional, but also kept his distance. My partner went to the restroom and the server folded his napkin while he was gone. I said to him, "NOBODY does that anymore." He replied,"Well, I do. " He would have gotten a great tip anyway, but folding that napkin got him a really great tip.

[+ poolboy48220]

friendly and professional, but also kept his distance.

I remember a server at lunch with a group of people from work. The server introduced himself to each of us individually, asked our names, and shook everyone's hands. Call me a curmudgeon, but I'm thinking "Guy, I've got an hour here. Let's get those menus distributed."

[Rudynate]

I remember a server at lunch with a group of people from work. The server introduced himself to each of us individually, asked our names, and shook everyone's hands. Call me a curmudgeon, but I'm thinking "Guy, I've got an hour here. Let's get those menus distributed."

 

That's beyond silly. Another thing I hate is when the server goes down on one knee while he's writing your order down, or when he/she actually sits down in the booth with you to write the order down.

 

But a former job made a snob out of me. I was a waiter in the formal dining room at the Petroleum Club. We were on the 37th floor with a spectacular view. We all wore custom-tailored tuxedoes; the service was all tableside - boning fish, carving meat, flaming desserts, cigar service, etc. etc. etc.

[jjkrkwood]

That's beyond silly. Another thing I hate is when the server goes down on one knee while he's writing your order down, or when he/she actually sits down in the booth with you to write the order down.

 

But a former job made a snob out of me. I was a waiter in the formal dining room at the Petroleum Club. We were on the 37th floor with a spectacular view. We all wore custom-tailored tuxedoes; the service was all tableside - boning fish, carving meat, flaming desserts, cigar service, etc. etc. etc.

 

 

I think the "knee" thing is just a "youth" thing? Wait till they get older. I've stopped getting on my knees when I provide service these days, now that I am older, cause when I got down, i as unable to get back up (without a little help)... Embarrassing.

 

Also now a-days, i wouldnt know how to interpret the "knee" things, since taking the knee when taking my order can be interpreted as him doing so under protest !

[LaffingBear]

Im a generous restaurant tipper... probably because I grew up in the industry. Im particularly generous, in terms of percentages, in diner and family restaurants. A diner server can run his/her ass off, and then a 15% tip can yield very little.

 

However, I admit to be a little flummoxed by some dining situations, like my occassional visit to a buffet.

[+ sniper]

Im a generous restaurant tipper... probably because I grew up in the industry. Im particularly generous, in terms of percentages, in diner and family restaurants. A diner server can run his/her ass off, and then a 15% tip can yield very little.

 

However, I admit to be a little flummoxed by some dining situations, like my occassional visit to a buffet.

I used to think buffets should get tipped less, but then I realized when I go ot Vegas I'm usually making several trips to the food which results in them clearing multiple plates, so they are doing pretty much the same amount of work as if it were sit-down. Now if it's a place where you are just issued one plate that you reuse or whatever, then I'd say 10 percentish is adequate.

[+ Billsboy4]

I once saw this note to leave at a restaurant with bad service: 'I looked for you all through the meal, now you look for the tip!'

[LaffingBear]

I used to think buffets should get tipped less, but then I realized when I go ot Vegas I'm usually making several trips to the food which results in them clearing multiple plates, so they are doing pretty much the same amount of work as if it were sit-down. Now if it's a place where you are just issued one plate that you reuse or whatever, then I'd say 10 percentish is adequate.

Cant speak for other states, but it's a violation of health codes in CA to take a used plate to the buffet.

 

Its about the level of table service. Some serve beverages, some offer beverages at the buffet. The Indian buffet may bring a basket of Naan to the table. Friends and I have a holiday tradition at an over-the-top gourmet feast buffet in wine country

 

I never tip less than 15%. And the more usual 25%-30% at the really decadent feast. Its the in-between places that leave me wondering just a bit.

[amused1]

I worked in both high end and all night coffee shops (read as diners) in NY. The staff at the diners were, for the most part, were just as hard working and professional as the high end folks. Different patrons and prices but both really worked hard to deliver. The difference in tips was amazing. I could walk out with 100s from one and, maybe 100 from the other. Knowing this, I tend to be more generous at lower end places when the service is professional.

[+ poolboy48220]

I've been to a couple restaurants where excessive familiarity is their schtick - a place in boston, back in the mid-80's, renowned for rude waitstaff. Calling you out when you didn't finish your potato, for example. Ours wasn't rude in that way, but she did plop herself down at our table, sighed "Oh, it's been a long day", and told us about the specials. :-)

[+ sniper]

I worked in both high end and all night coffee shops (read as diners) in NY. The staff at the diners were, for the most part, were just as hard working and professional as the high end folks. Different patrons and prices but both really worked hard to deliver. The difference in tips was amazing. I could walk out with 100s from one and, maybe 100 from the other. Knowing this, I tend to be more generous at lower end places when the service is professional.

My brother waited tables for three years after college. He said he had an epiphany when he realized that it was the same arm motion putting out a Denny's Grand Slam or a $200 bottle of champagne, but one of them paid a hell of a lot more. So he quit working at Denny's and went to work at the Hilton.

[gallahadesquire]

I only tip in the jars on the counter if they're cute...

What makes a jar "cute"?

[gallahadesquire]

Position Avg Starting Wage

Server $3.50 – $7.50

Bartender $8.00 – $11.00

Lesee... the average server salary is $5.50/hr then. That's $44.00 for an 8-hr shift or in the ballpark of $1,000/month (the official average is $12,876/yr). Rent for a studio apartment in Atlanta averages $1,068/mo, or $12,816... leaving $60 for other expenses like day care. I tend to tip these folks generously.

 

On the other hand, the OP's Glass Installer seems to me like a pretty shameless opportunist and I wouldn't consider that a 'tippable' job unless he did something truly extraordinary.

 

I had to have a tire changed in mid-Winter, here in New England. In the snow. In 5 degree (Fahrenheit) weather. I tipped $5 (there was no charge for the change, it being AAA).

 

Two guys came to deliver a new Washer and Dryer, into the Basement. At first, the guy looked at the stairs, and at the railing, and said "We can't do this." He thought for a second, and then said, "But we need customer satisfaction!" and took the railing off.

 

His buddy and he got $20 bucks each.