Tipping Etiquette

ErinGiam

I tip anywhere between 10% and 25% depending on service. If the service is not good I still leave a minimum 10%. If they were absolutely amazing, or if they are a friend of mine (have several friends that are waitresses and I go eat where they work and ask for them intentionally) then I leave 25%.

Sad story: one time, a large group of friends and myself stopped at a Denny's in a town we do not live in to eat. There were 9 of us and we came in around 10pm at night. Our waitress had just come on duty. We were all between 17 and 20 years old and we were a little obnoxious. We weren't bad kids, just a little bit like teenagers. We were there 8 hours and we drank more coffee than should have been allowed us in a year. I still think it is crazy they didn't charge us more for all the coffee we drank. As we were leaving around 6am, the same waitress that had stuck with us and put up with us all night long was just getting off. She was so sweet and so patient We drive the 100+ miles home and meet up when we get there (we were in different cars.) We are all talking about the trip we had come home from and our experiences of the weekend and the waitress from that night comes up. As we are all talking, we all come to the realization that every single one of us had neglected to leave a tip!! That woman that had put up with us all night, in a little dumpy Utah town made crap wage that night because we were just about the only customers she had all night. We called up the restaurant and tried to see if the manager would charge a card over the phone to tip the waitress (no such luck!) After trying everything else we could think of, we asked when the waitress would be working again. Luckily, the manager agreed to give us this information. 2 days later, 3 of us jumped in a car and drove the 100+ miles back up to Denny's and sat in her section. We pretended not to recognize her from before (although, I have no idea how she could believe we could possibly forget her) and ordered a coffee each. We sat there about 30 minutes, just drinking coffee and talking, waiting to see if she said anything or treated us differently. She was as sweet as ever, very attentive and never said a word. We left without saying anything. When she arrived at the table, she found a card (that had been signed by the 9 of us that were there the first night) in a sealed envelope with $200 cash. She ran outside and caught us before we drove off and gave us all a hug

absolutely LOVE this story!!!

Lesa_Sass

Not tipping is low class....Period.

TheRoadDog

To me, giving someone a tip means that they did above and beyond what their job is. You're tipping somebody because they made your life easier. That being said, I'll tip between 10-20% depending on the service. I (usually) do not tip people who simply bag up my food and hand it to me.

What? They are providing a service!!! Let me guess, you probably don't even tip the guy that bags your groceries at the supermarket or the electric company either do ya?

Is this sarcasm? Yes, they're providing a service that I ALREADY paid for.

The relationship between the Restaurant and your server is the same as between your Grocery store and your bagger.

TheRoadDog

Not tipping is low class....Period.

The more people we tip the more class we have?

Kitship

To me, giving someone a tip means that they did above and beyond what their job is. You're tipping somebody because they made your life easier. That being said, I'll tip between 10-20% depending on the service. I (usually) do not tip people who simply bag up my food and hand it to me.

What? They are providing a service!!! Let me guess, you probably don't even tip the guy that bags your groceries at the supermarket or the electric company either do ya?

Is this sarcasm? Yes, they're providing a service that I ALREADY paid for.

The relationship between the Restaurant and your server is the same as between your Grocery store and your bagger.

Yep, I realize that...but where I live, baggers do not get paid below minimum wage, therefore they don't "live" off of tips. My first job was a bagger and not once was I ever tipped. :sad:

TheRoadDog

To me, giving someone a tip means that they did above and beyond what their job is. You're tipping somebody because they made your life easier. That being said, I'll tip between 10-20% depending on the service. I (usually) do not tip people who simply bag up my food and hand it to me.

What? They are providing a service!!! Let me guess, you probably don't even tip the guy that bags your groceries at the supermarket or the electric company either do ya?

Is this sarcasm? Yes, they're providing a service that I ALREADY paid for.

The relationship between the Restaurant and your server is the same as between your Grocery store and your bagger.

Yep, I realize that...but where I live, baggers do not get paid below minimum wage, therefore they don't "live" off of tips. My first job was a bagger and not once was I ever tipped. :sad:

I think the fact that wait staff does not at least make minimum wage should be the issue.

moosegt35

To me, giving someone a tip means that they did above and beyond what their job is. You're tipping somebody because they made your life easier. That being said, I'll tip between 10-20% depending on the service. I (usually) do not tip people who simply bag up my food and hand it to me.

What? They are providing a service!!! Let me guess, you probably don't even tip the guy that bags your groceries at the supermarket or the electric company either do ya?

Is this sarcasm? Yes, they're providing a service that I ALREADY paid for.

It is sarcasm, directed at the people who get all up in arms about a server providing you a service, therefore warranting a tip. People provide services all day every day in other professions with no tip. I worked the front desk at a hotel in college and have done everything from jumping people's car, letting someone borrow my car, taking them towels, pillows, etc, NONE of which I was required to do and I think I got tipped about 5 times in 4-5 years. It just doesn't make sense to me that, like Mr. Pink says, we should tip these people here, but not these people, etc.

Thewatcher_66

I think that 15-20% is a reasonable amount. If the person provided outstanding service, I'd probably go a little higher.

I've noticed that a few eating places will actually add a gratuity amount in the check for food pickup. Basically, you tip them whether you want to or not.

Kitship

To me, giving someone a tip means that they did above and beyond what their job is. You're tipping somebody because they made your life easier. That being said, I'll tip between 10-20% depending on the service. I (usually) do not tip people who simply bag up my food and hand it to me.

What? They are providing a service!!! Let me guess, you probably don't even tip the guy that bags your groceries at the supermarket or the electric company either do ya?

Is this sarcasm? Yes, they're providing a service that I ALREADY paid for.

It is sarcasm, directed at the people who get all up in arms about a server providing you a service, therefore warranting a tip. People provide services all day every day in other professions with no tip. I worked the front desk at a hotel in college and have done everything from jumping people's car, letting someone borrow my car, taking them towels, pillows, etc, NONE of which I was required to do and I think I got tipped about 5 times in 4-5 years. It just doesn't make sense to me that, like Mr. Pink says, we should tip these people here, but not these people, etc.

I would agree with you! I definitely would have tipped you if you did any of those things for me.

Thewatcher_66

Another thing I'm learning is that tips, depending on the size of the establishment, do not always go to one server. The bus boy/girl gets a cut as well. Because more people are involved in serving you your foods, servers are now demanding more tips than ever. I remember when the standard was 10% but now it's all the way up to 20%. Pretty soon, eating out will become so expensive, I'm simply going to only go out on special occasions rather than someone make me feel guilty I didn't tip them $15 for a $30 meal.

Thewatcher_66

Mr. Pink: "So is working at McDonald's, but you don't see anyone tip them, do ya? Why not?, they're serving you food. But no, society says don't tip these guys over here, but tip these guys over here. That's bullshlt!"

One of my favorite movies!

Lesa_Sass

Not tipping is low class....Period.

The more people we tip the more class we have?

Please note the word "not" in my sentence. I did not say anything about an amount.

moosegt35

Not tipping is low class....Period.

The more people we tip the more class we have?

Please note the word "not" in my sentence. I did not say anything about an amount.

Neither did he??

MysteriousMerlin

Always tip. I aint' gotta make it myself or do the dishes, I'm HAPPY to tip!

geebusuk

Please note the word "not" in my sentence. I did not say anything about an amount.

Nor did the post you are quoting?

Do you tip the people that run MFP?

What sort of class-level would that earn me if I did?

moosegt35

To me, giving someone a tip means that they did above and beyond what their job is. You're tipping somebody because they made your life easier. That being said, I'll tip between 10-20% depending on the service. I (usually) do not tip people who simply bag up my food and hand it to me.

What? They are providing a service!!! Let me guess, you probably don't even tip the guy that bags your groceries at the supermarket or the electric company either do ya?

Is this sarcasm? Yes, they're providing a service that I ALREADY paid for.

It is sarcasm, directed at the people who get all up in arms about a server providing you a service, therefore warranting a tip. People provide services all day every day in other professions with no tip. I worked the front desk at a hotel in college and have done everything from jumping people's car, letting someone borrow my car, taking them towels, pillows, etc, NONE of which I was required to do and I think I got tipped about 5 times in 4-5 years. It just doesn't make sense to me that, like Mr. Pink says, we should tip these people here, but not these people, etc.

I would agree with you! I definitely would have tipped you if you did any of those things for me.

I didn't expect a tip, and was grateful when I did get something. My point was just that some people in the service industry do things for you that are well above and beyond what they are required to do and don't expect a tip while servers are doing exacly what their job description is and expect 20% or more.

Lesa_Sass

Always tip. I aint' gotta make it myself or do the dishes, I'm HAPPY to tip!

This, very much this! I did not shop for it, clean it, put it away, bring it back out, prepare it, wash up after preparing it, clear the table and put everything back away. I am happy to pay someone to do that for me.

I eat at the same establishments most of the time. I know what happens to peoples food that do not tip. Trust me when I say, it is best to not eat at the same place over and over again if you are not going to tip. There may be some extra ingredients in your food. We go to restaurants under the impression we pay the establishment for our food and the server for our service.

moosegt35

Always tip. I aint' gotta make it myself or do the dishes, I'm HAPPY to tip!

This, very much this! I did not shop for it, clean it, put it away, bring it back out, prepare it, wash up after preparing it, clear the table and put everything back away. I am happy to pay someone to do that for me.

I eat at the same establishments most of the time. I know what happens to peoples food that do not tip. Trust me when I say, it is best to not eat at the same place over and over again if you are not going to tip. There may be some extra ingredients in your food. We go to restaurants under the impression we pay the establishment for our food and the server for our service.

Do you tip the people at McDonald's? What about the guy that changes your oil? He has to get the oil out, clean up any spillage, dispose of your old oil and filter, and clear the bay for the next person.

Lesa_Sass

Always tip. I aint' gotta make it myself or do the dishes, I'm HAPPY to tip!

This, very much this! I did not shop for it, clean it, put it away, bring it back out, prepare it, wash up after preparing it, clear the table and put everything back away. I am happy to pay someone to do that for me.

I eat at the same establishments most of the time. I know what happens to peoples food that do not tip. Trust me when I say, it is best to not eat at the same place over and over again if you are not going to tip. There may be some extra ingredients in your food. We go to restaurants under the impression we pay the establishment for our food and the server for our service.

Do you tip the people at McDonald's? What about the guy that changes your oil? He has to get the oil out, clean up any spillage, dispose of your old oil and filter, and clear the bay for the next person.

I do not eat at McDonalds. And I pay the man that services my car quite handsomely, and yes, I have tipped him before.. As I do the people that clean my room in a hotel, park my car, and many other situations in which they are providing me with a service in which I do not want to do. I even tip my driver, maid and bellman when I live in an apartment in India.

Thewatcher_66

How about back in the day (or many of you may still go to clubs), when you had some old dude in the restroom with a bunch colognes, sprays, mints, etc. He would monopolize all the towels so that you would have to beg him for one and then he would give you a sideways glance if you didn't tip him a buck for handing you a towel to dry your hands. lol. Just brought back some memories.