I Mean, When I Order Coffee I Want It Filled Six Times

As long as the service is in the acceptable range, the server is getting 15% plus whatever it takes to round up to the closest dollar. Less pocket change for me, extra little bit for them. If they do something to make the service memorable (continuously getting another drink when I'm just finishing the one in front of me, fixing any mistakes made by me or them without any fuss, just being an agreeable person in general) they'll be getting at least 20% plus change.

I know it's not the best way, and people just assume you're cheap, but I will tip under 15% if the service is for shit. I've been tempted to write on the bill "I'm not cheap, you just suck" a few times, but decided that was a little overly passive-aggressive. And I'm not referring to slow service when it's busy; that's not their fault, and they'll still get their 15%. But when they aren't coming by to ask if you need another drink, or checking on the table at all, and it's slow as fuck but they're too busy watching the TV or chatting with friends, fuck 'em. I can't do it at my job and get away with it, why should they?

One thing that really pisses me off is when I go out with friends and they never tip. I explain to them that they're only getting minimum wage and they depend on tips as part of their wage. They then sit there talking about how they should "get a real job, like trades or something" if they want to get paid more. They don't realize that if people don't tip, they'll just up the wage of the staff and cover that by upping the price of food. They're gonna get the money one way or another. And on top of this, they complain when they get shitty service even though they're regulars at some places. Well no shit Sherlock, people remember you for good and bad. Just because you frequent a place doesn't mean you automatically deserve better service, you have to do something to deserve better service, like tipping at an - at minimum - acceptable rate.

 

I live in a country where the tipping culture is pretty much nonexistent. You can tip, but you won't get any angry looks if you don't. The average restaurant chain pays its servers something around 12-15$/hr so they don't really depend on tips either.

I was studying in the States a couple of years ago and obviously had to deal with the whole tipping thing. I ate out a lot and went to the bars a lot. I always tipped 20% in restaurants but secretly hated every moment of it. I guess I never got used to the concept or whatever. But in bars it was a different story. As a semi-pro alcoholic I appreciate the continuing booze flow. Some of the locals actually accused me of tipping the bartenders too fucking much. I guess I went a little overboard sometimes (or maybe they were cheap assholes) but the service was god damn excellent and that made me happy.

After returning home I tried tipping in bars and it didn't get me any extra service. I cried.

 

Wait, what? Please someone who knows about the business tell me this isn't what's happening. I rarely have cash so I'm always paying with plastic, and I've always logically assumed that the amount I write on the tip line on my receipt is going to my server and not the restaurant.

 

My digg comments on the same subject

"Move the decimal spot over. Double that. Then round it up so the total is an even dollar amount.

Leave $1 if you just got water. I hate when people don't tip just because they don't have a bill. The waitstaff is still taking their time to bring you your water."

"You guys (those who don't tip/tip very little/just spare change) are bitches. The waiter/waitress is still waiting on you. You have to give them something.
Most of the time you get poor service is because they're busy out of their minds, and simply don't have time to be attentive to every table."

"There's more pressure on the waiter not to drop the expensive steak or the nice bottle of wine, though...high stress work, ya know."

I said it as a joke, but it kinda makes sense right.

 

I'll say this: waitstaff who aren't relying on tips to live have a very, very different attitude about their jobs than waitstaff who make minimum wage or less. One waitress openly mocked a girl I was with for ordering a glass of milk instead of beer. The fuck did she care? She made her money either way.

A Czech guy I met told me he and his friends would go to tourist-y restaurants and wait for Americans to leave the tip on the table so they could go over and pocket the cash after they left. The staff wasn't expecting the tip, so they never missed it. Smart. Scummy as hell, but smart.

 

As far as I know, the thing about tipping on plastic is that the server is forced to pay taxes on it, it is reported income.

Damn Indiana, I make $4.25 an hour plus tips. When averaged with my tips, I make about $28 an hour. This fluctuates, obviously.

 

Me being poor and in college and all when I go out to eat I will always tip exactly 15%. It is what my dad does, and what I have done since as long as I can remember. There has only been one time when I haven't tipped and that was because the server at TGI Fridays didn't even make it to our table as we waited patiently after we arrived for at least 30 minutes when the restaurant was not even close to being full.

My mom tips nearly 25% a lot of the time...and I grimace whenever she picks up the bill. I think this is more contributed to the fact that she is terrible at math rather than generosity.

 

They don't take it all, just a percentage. Any tip that is charged goes on record, so you have to pay taxes on it. Plus, atleast at our bar, they take a percentage out to cover the credit card machine fees. So no, not all of your charged tip is going to the restaurant, only a percentage and usually not a big one. Cash is just better because that's usually all cash in hand to the server.

 

But doesn't paying cash also screw over the kitchen staff and busboys? My one friend who is a server says he only reports about 50% of his cash tips, mainly to avoid taxes, but wouldn't a side effect of that be the people they have to tip out getting less?

 

You guys seem to have it more organised in the states. I know of a few bars that when you pay by card, give you the option first of 'service gratuity' or something like that. You put in the amount you wish to tip and then pay for the total. After a few months of putting a few quid tip on the total each night, I found out from a friend working there that they never got any of it.

 

Our tip outs are based on food/liquor sales. So no, it doesn't matter.

 

At my establishment we tip out 3% of our sales to bussers. I often personally hand them an extra couple of bucks randomly so they are always sure to clear my section first, keeping a steady turnover.

 

Is $28/hr at the high end for servers/bartenders? As a casual observer based purely off that figure it to me shows tipping has caused wages to get completely out of synch with market forces. In the economic sense both are low skilled jobs; however at that rate it would put it above many higher skilled jobs such as teachers or nurses.

Before anyone gets all ruffled and defensive, I don't intend to get into an argument regarding what servers/bartenders deserve or that teachers/nurses are being screwed. Our economic pay structure is one decided by market forces and based purely off my own assumptions regarding barrier to entry, talent required etc: comparatively this figure seems high.

 

It is high, I work in an affluent part of town. It's hard to get in there, as nobody leaves until they graduate or die. Most days I'll walk with at least $120 cash. Most other servers for other places walk with $60 on average.

Edited to add: I am a damn good waitress. I greet most of my guests by name, have their beverage ready when they walk in the door(if its predictable) and ask about their kids or fucking cats or whatever their life revolves around. I usually have a higher tip average than many of my coworkers as well.

 

My tipping has changed since I've gone back to school. When I was working, the norm for me was 20%, and you had to work pretty hard to fuck it up. Now that I don't have any income coming in, after a night at the bar, I try to leave somewhere between $5 - $10 dollars on my tab (which usually comes in between $30- $50).

Anyways, a friend of mine is a shitty ass tipper. She flatly refuses to tip. Her reply to these type of things are "It's a recession buddy! Whatevs!" That shit gets so irritating. I can understand saying that to the homeless guy, because not all homeless guys are actually homeless, but the same attitude applies towards wait staff. The fact that she is impatient as hell combined with her shitty history of tipping does not endear her to many waitresses or bartenders. She and I go to the pub around to the corner pretty frequently. The owner knows me, the bartenders know me, hell, the guy from Venezuela who brings out my delicious buffalo wings knows me, but have no clue who the hell my friend is. I told her that I went without her one night, and the owner was comping me free beer. She got pissed and wanted to know why that never happens to her. Combine this with the fact that she's from NYC and is used to paying $10 for a mixed drink, I fail to see the issue with tossing a couple dollars on top to ensure a favorable impression is made. She still would pay less then she did in NYC and receive more value for her dollar.

I look at refusing to tip as a character defect. It speaks to a sense of entitlement. Just like wait staff who demand 20% on every transaction speaks to a sense of entitlement. Take care of me, and I'll take care of you, to the best of my ability.

 

On a good day, I'm making about $25 an hour. But then again, I am in the homeland of hipster PETA fucks who tip negative 3 dollars. Clearly I need to go work with Pimptress. We're going to open a bar together. Tits and ass and booze. This is what we will call it.

 

I'm down, I managed a bar for two years before I had kids. It would be fun, we could have jello wrestling on Thursday nights...

Agreed! It is as if they deserve special treatment for being fucking martyrs.