the waiters,the hairdressers,the taxi drivers,the bartenders...
it almost feels like an obligation,but not the kind of thing you do because you REALLY do feel like,full heartedly.
who came up with the idea of tipping?WHY is it a proper thing to do?
it's their job!they are hired to please the paying customer,so that he will come back again!
I pay for the services,it seems normal that they should fulfil them decently... it's not like they're supposed to lick my shoe,just do the job they were hired for,and get a salary for
and the rules... give x% tip of the price you already paid for...
I'm not cheap,I just don't get it:)
can anyone enlighten me?

I pay for service, if I get bad service I never tip, in fact I will call the manager over and compain, I was at a restaurant last week, service was so bad, I called the manager over and demanded a new waitress or I would just walk out then,

So I use a plus or minus system all during my time there

Well here's a link to the history of tipping: The History of Tipping - From Sixteenth-Century England to United States in the 1910s (http://ideas.repec.org/p/wpa/wuwpeh/0309001.html). I didn't get a chance to read it (it's long), so if it's total nonsense, sorry!

Tipping is a funny thing; there are people who expect tips, people who want tips and don't get them, and people who never expect a tip for their service. Interestingly, one of the places I vacation, tipping is rare, but most of the servers expect one if you are an American!

I tip for good service, and I don't tip for bad service. Rarely am I in a position where tipping is manditory, but if, in that instance, I received bad service, I'll contest the tip.

Once, I was at a Chili's... and the service wasn't terrible, but it wasn't anything great either. Food got to us on a relatively slow side... and my water was refilled only once... so in the end, I left about $4 tip on a $35 meal. It's about 10%... and I figured, service wasn't too great... and it's at a Chili's... so who gives a flip?

... the server followed me to the parking lot, and said, "Sir, that was a $35 ticket..."

... in my disbelief... I just gave her $3 just to shut her up.

I will not tip if the service is bad. There have been plenty of times when I have not tipped. I HATE it when they automatically add the tip on the check if you have a party of 5 or more. What if the person didn't deserve the tip? ALthough now I do feel a little obligated to tip because I know how restaurants only pay minimum wage or less and the workers rely on tips. I understand what you mean how we already pay them by paying the actual check, but what if we were the ones who normally get tipped like they do? Would we want to work those jobs for $6.00 an hour and no tips for feeding people and cleaning up their mess?

thanks, jillianleab
I agree with you guys,I don't tip either when the service is bad
and no,I wouldn't want a job that pays 6$ an hour,because,thank God,I have the opportunity to a higher education=a better paying job.told you,it's not about the money I leave as a tip,I was just wondering why is it a social norm.thanks for your imput

I agree bad service = no tip.
Good service = tip.
I work for a good wage, but I also receive tips, I am never expecting one, but do so get excited when someone leaves one. I would be upset if someone thought I gave them bad service and still left a tip!

To Insure Prompt Service is the reason tips started. I really hate seeing Tip cups at 7-11 and the dry cleaners - what are they doing to earn it? Wait staff can make a great difference in your dining experience and minimum wage for them is $3.70. My husband always keeps our waiter hopping and we tip well usually 25%, but if the service is crap, we tip accordingly.

Let us not forget that the "bad" service we get, i.e. food coming slow, may not be the fault of the server, but the fault of the kitchen. And we are taking it out on the server when he/she cannot help it.

Oh goodness yes, it may not be their fault.
Emland, kind of like the automatic change in the cup for a cup of coffee? I know.
A tip is to be earned, yes, but there are some instances that a man/woman may have just had a really bad day (like their kid got suspended) (or their dog just died) there are so many circumstances we can come up with, but in the end it is still about service for sure!

All I know is that if I were serving you, you would be happy, and I am hoping to teach the "younger people" at my work how it all pays off in the end. Service with a smile!:)

People who hire service employees want the payment for those employees to correspond with how busy they are, and therefore, how profitable. It's like a weird form of commission... no customers, no tips. The restaurant caps their responsibility at minimum wage, which is lower for service employees. That way, if they have a crappy day, they aren't out so much money but have the service there just in case.

I think it's a terrible system but it's hard to get away from it because the only way establishments can eliminate tips at this point is to raise their prices so they can pay a living wage. Hard to compete if you're the first to do that.

So what to do? Tip based on the service but don't take everything out on that service professional if they do not have control over the situation. If your food is bad, send it back - that's the chef's problem. If you were promised a table and waited far longer than you were told, don't tip the matr'd or complain to the owner. If you waited a half hour after our coffee was poured for the cream? Well, that's the waiters fault.

Speak up so they can fix what you don't like, and give them a chance. No tip means that they were so bad that they owed you the favor of waiting on you on their own time, because without tips, they make nothing. Their entire paycheck generally goes into taxes.

That's kind of harsh, so I would only stiff someone if they were terrible and rude to boot. Just terrible at their job? 10%. Mediocre? 15%. Good or better - 20%. Really went out of the way? I'd throw in 25% and a compliment about them to their boss.

I work at a restaurant (have you noticed?) and I'm a manager that has to watch my best employees get "stiffed" table after table! Even though a dollar is not much, we have decided that regardless a dollar per person should be left, just for the sheer fact that they did wait on you and will be cleaning up after you leave. If the bill is big, say 40$ for 2 people, then you should leave at least 2 or 3 per person.

And as for the tip being added in with the bill for larger parties, more people more mess to clean up! And that tip just ensures that they won't being cleaning all night for absolutely nothing, and I have seen this happen too many times!

No one wants to work as a server, its not an easy job by far, don't believe me then try doing it for a few years. So there must be a reason they would do it, like school for example. They are doing a job, most people hate their jobs, so do you really expect them to be all chirpy all the time!

If you have a complaint, complain to the manager (ME), they will talk to the server, but unless they are just not coming to your table at all, don't STIFF them.

And you don't pay for service when you go to a restaurant, you pay for the ridiculously high priced food, and the employees never see a bit of that money. Its enough to make anyone bitter about their jobs.

Hey Bored, I also work as a manager, and I LOVE MY JOB!
Even when I have a bad day, I give people a smile, it makes them happy, and it makes me feel better! It is what you make it, I say!
I agree though, it isn't fun getting stiffed!:)

I have been a bartender, waitress and tavern owner. Yes, tips are figured into your wages but like all wages you need to EARN them. If you are a sucky waitress you get a sucky tip if you are a good waitress you get a good tip. If you ask me for a tip you get NO tip and if you tip yourself out of my money you get complained about.

I am a tipped employee and have been doing so for many years. I really enjoy meeting new people and I REALLY appreciate your tip in compensating my minimum wage. Yes, the restaurant industry should take care of our wages by paying more than minimum, but then they would have to raise their prices. ALSO, please remember that what you tip DOES NOT go only to us. We have to tip the host, the food runners and the bartenders (yes - even if you just drink water) and then we are taxed on it as well. Server's paychecks are never above a hundred dollars per check. As a server, it allowed me to be at home in the mornings to see my kids off to school and be home close to the time they got home.
This is the career I choose and I don't regret one minute of it.

thank God,i have the opportunity to a higher education=a better paying job.

Ouch. Most of the girl at my restaurant, (including me) have degrees, just some of us felt we should follow our hearts and be educated on something we are passionate about, not what makes us millions.. so haha, essentially, we're all qualified for something where there is no demand. Although most of us freelance our talents... The beauty about being a waitress is, we're not tied down by salary and we can do whatever we want when we want. I save throughout the year and travel for most of the summer while a % of my pay check goes in to rrsps. I only make $9/h but the way I see it, if I make $12/h in tips, that puts me up to $21/h, which isn't so bad.

People who don't tip are just plain ignorant, (which I don't blame them because how would they know) the problem is, some provinces (I live in canada) have a 'waitressing wage'.. minimum wage in Ont. Is 8/h and for a waitress, $6.85, not much. Waitress are expected to tip the kitchen and bartender (and sometimes, doormen) a certain % of their sales, not tips! So if you came to my restaurant and didn't leave me any love, damn right I'd be pissed because now, money it coming out of my pockets! And you can bet I will ask if there was anything wrong with your service I should know about...

I'd be pissed because now, money it coming out of my pockets! and you can bet I will ask if there was anything wrong with your service I should know about...

Don't get pissed; do a better job. My daughter walks out with an average of $132 in tips every night--AVERAGE. She works her butt off. Yesterday we were at breakfast, our waitress forgot my mom's coffee three times--finally my husband took the cup up to the counter, she forgot to put in half of our orders, never brought the bill until we tracked her down, walked away while we were at the counter paying and left my CC slip with the full number on the counter for all to see--I reached around and put it behind the cash register. Does she deserve a full tip?

Don't get pissed; do a better job. My daughter walks out with an average of $132 in tips every night--AVERAGE. She works her butt off. Yesterday we were at breakfast, our waitress forgot my mom's coffee three times--finally my husband took the cup upto the counter, she forgot to put in half of our orders, never brought the bill until we tracked her down, walked away while we were at the counter paying and left my CC slip with the full number on the counter for all to see--I reached around and put it behind the cash register. Does she deserve a full tip?
Absolutely not! ;) AND to top it off I may have wanted to speak to a manager as well!

I was addressing those who do not tips out of ethics whether the service is good.. obviously incompetent service doesn't deserve diddly squat.

Well most of these jobs pay minnimun wage, and among being polite they need the money.

well most of these jobs pay minnimun wage, and among being polite they need the money.

If you have a job, you should do it right!
These days you should feel lucky having a job, people are unemployed everywhere and are waiting to replace you to show they can do it better. ;)

I think it goes back many years ago, when waiting on tables and alike, was considered a lesser of jobs to earn a living by, it was known that the work was very hard and pay would be poor so tipping was a form of making up the wages.

I was a waitress on and off for quit some time, and I can tell you that service is EVERYTHING. I have gotten tips that ranged from $0.00-150! Generally if there is a big party, expect a big tip BUT not always. Like I said, it is contingent upon the quality of service.

When my boyfriend and I go out for dinner, I make sure that a (good) waitress/waiter gets a hefty tip because, hey, I know what it's like to do an awesome job and get a sh*tty tip, but on the flipside, when I first began waitressing, I have seen the ugly side of tipping as well.

My favorite way of commenting on bad service is to leave a 2-cent tip.

That shows I didn't forget, or just never tip, or whatever---I just didn't think the service was worth more than my 2 cents.

Good service, however, gets a 15% - 20% tip.

Excellent service gets a 25% tip.

Well Synnen,

If I were still a waitress I wish I would have had you as a customer.

Most if not all customers tipped 10% and I know I deserved better than that. Some people stick with the 10% rule no matter what.

The last place I worked I had to tip the bartender as well. If I worked in the bar that night and people only got drinks, well I would be sh*t out of luck for that night.

Hello:

Couple things. Your meal is less expensive because the tip isn't included. That's a good thing for you. So, you get your meals cheaper. Although, the savings are off the backs of your servers - not the owners of the restaurant. So, if it's fine with you to do that, then don't tip.

I happen to be in Mexico at this moment. The maid that cleans my room spotlessly earns 100 pesos a day. That's $10 bucks. 25 pesos is $2.50, and it ain't NOTHING to me, but it's 25% of her days pay! I'm happy to be able to make a difference in these peoples lives.

You posted your question under etiquette. I don't know why we have manners. We just do. Some people don't, and you're not required to. But, polite society has rules. Included in those rules, is looking out for each other.

excon

I usually tip 20% if the service was excellent probably 30%. We all have bad days and I am not going to punish someone cause I had to ask for another drink or ask them where my bill is. If I have a bad day at work my boss doesn't come up to me and say hey we are going to take away 10% of your pay today cause you were having a bad day.

Look, if it's obvious that they're understaffed and the waiter/waitress is trying as hard as they can to give good service, then that's a little different from being practically the only customers and having to break up her conversation with her co-workers to get a refill or to let her know there's something wrong with my food or whatever.

Good service is being willing to try, and even if you can't be super attentive, letting the customer know that you're aware of them and trying works wonders towards understanding.

If I'm having a bad day at work, my boss isn't going to dock my pay 10%, no--but at the same time, if I'm not being customer focused even though I'm having a bad day, or if I take my bad day out on my customers, you better believe that I'll be talked to about it, and if it happens after I've been talked to about it, I'd lose my job.

Look - I know it is rough to make a living being a waiter/waitress, but people who do this job should know that service is expected to be decent at least. If you don't like it then find a new job. I have never stiffed anyone, and never would, but don't expect 25% if I have to get up from my dinner to ask you for the third time to please refill our drinks and bring the salad dressing to the table. Don't be pissed at me if I only leave you a dollar or two. If it is obviously a sever issue, that will be reflected in your tip.

Look - I know it is rough to make a living being a waiter/waitress...


You shouldn't make that ASSumption, I make ten dollars an hour and average $130 in tip a night (six hours shift).. that averages to $36 dollars an hour! And best of all, I'm not tired down to a salary job when I only get two weeks off a year! Haha!

I think most of us the see the big picture here:

1. BAD service= BAD/NO tip! (And if your not making good tips and you think you give good service, then maybe you need to look at yourself, pick up the book, 50 Tips to Make Better Tips!)

2. GOOD service= GOOD Tip! Simple!

Spinphoto,

Did you work at a chain restaurant or a Mom and Pop's one? For me, it was a Mom and Pops which meant that 75% of customers we got were elderly people who did tip poorly when the service was beyond great.

Sometimes it's not the service that gets a waiter/waitress a bad tip. It's the people.

Hm. Now I just plain feel bad.

I was out at dinner the other day... and my bill came out to $50.

... so... I really didn't feel like leaving 20%... although the service was good...

... so I left... 10%? Maybe? Ruh roh.

I think $7-8 would be have been nice :)

In the uk, we tend to follow the crowd... if Joe bloggs tips a fiver then we'll tip six.

Hello:

If a server is good, the tips even out. Some people tip 10%. Then there are people like me who tip 20% - 25%. I used to work for tips.

excon

Hello excon,

What if a server gets those customers that tip 5-10% no matter how good he/she was? For three years I worked for tips as well and I'll tell you that some people are real a**holes! I believe the least amount I have gotton for a tip was .75 cents.

BB, I work at a Bistro and Pub, it's locally owned and operated.

I can not speak about the details of other industries, but I can tell you about foodservice...

Waiters receive tips because they do not receive a salary. In New York, the rate of pay for a server is $2.35 per hour. However, although a server is not guaranteed to make anything in tips, the federal government tracks their individual annual sales and requires that they pay income taxes of 15% of those sales.

When you take into account that in most establishments the server is then required to give a portion of their tips to the bartender, busboys and food runners they often end up paying income tax on more than they make.

This does not mean that you should reward a rude or incompetent server with a great tip. After all, the term tip is actually an acronym for To Insure Proper Service. However, if the problem is that the music is too loud, you don't like your table or the food took too long - these things have nothing to do with the server.

If the restaurant industry was to do away with the tipping system, they would have to raise food prices to pay the servers a fair salary - remember that these are long shifts, on one's feet, often dealing with rude customers.

Amen jjwoodhull!

I worked in a restaurant and the servers only made $2.25 and hour. ( that was also 8 years ago so it may have gone up by now) The rest of their income is made by how much you tip. It's polite. It's proper. If you were in that position and you were "serving" someone and you did a good job at it, wouldn't you want a tip? If you do a poor job then no. There should be no tip left. Your hairdresser earns most of her money from tips as well. They generally split 50/50 w/ the salon owner and they have to pay rent for "their" chair. So even though you're paying $30 for a haircut she's only making a percentage of that money. I don't know who came up w/ it. It's just a given if you want to continue to receive good service.

I am in the food service industry and tips are important. The servers in restaurants need to pay the bussers, host/hostess, and possibly the maitre'd (if there is one). The also, unless at a very very nice restaurant, get only about $2-$4 an hour. Tips are the main part of their salary.

Hi all!

I live in England, where tips don't play such a big part in our social lives, so this thread (and the conversation at the start of 'Reservior Dogs') really interests me!

I don't think I've ever tipped anyone other than waiters/waitresses and taxi drivers here in the UK; and even then it's never been a set amount of the bill, only ever what I can afford to give them.

Here in England people have started kicking off about the fact that some companies don't pay minimum wage because they think they should make that up in tips. Now I agree, that is just plain wrong!

What happens if you can't afford to tip them the amount they expect in the U.S. Should you go to somewhere that serves cheaper food?

I did visit the U.S. once and BOY that was a culture shock! Ha ha! Everyone wants tips!

Tips are reward for good service... Some jobs you don't make much hourly.. you rely on tips and commission for selling product.

Funnily enough, a couple of days after I posted my reply, this news story broke;

BBC NEWS | Business | Restaurant tipping law to change (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7533863.stm)

Our company has sent out "free" $15.00 gift cards for a dinner promotion to A lot of people. Now, customers are trying to use them at lunch when I am working and we CAN'T take them. Believe me, I so wish we could because there are at least four times per server per day when people are trying to use them and get mad at us because we can't. So, here comes the bad tip again. Plus, when dinner does start at 3:00 and I'm still there - customers are tipping out on the bill with the $15.00 taken off. These are gift cards, and the $15.00 is not voided off our sales. We still get taxed on the total amount, AND tip out 2% of TOTAL sales to the host staff, AND 1-2% to the food runner AND 1% to the bartender on our TOTAL sales! So, when you don't tip at all - you are costing ME money to wait on you. I "luckily" can count on two hands the amount of times I have been "stiffed" in my 20 years of serving - but, with these promo's I am hearing a lot more server's complaining. Please, if you have any issues with the food, let us know, we really don't want our tip affected by what we have no control over. Our managers do want to take care of you at the time it happens. Not, a few days later in an email. Okay, thank you for letting me vent. I also have a college education and started working as a graphic designer. Then, I fell in love, got married, had babies, wanted to spend more time with the family without jeapordizing our income greatly and became a server. I am pretty happy with the way our life turned out and have three grown wonderful children and an absolutely beautiful husband I am still madly in love with after 25 years. Thank you all you wonderful people for letting me have the chance to take care of you when you visit our establishment, I do greatly appreciate you supplementing my income. And I do believe that I should get taxed on your tips. Just not being required to be taxed on the tips I don't receive.