Do You Tip At Eateries? (page 4)

LV101

Yes - even when gratuity tips (18%) are included in the bill and all the food deliveries. Live in a tipping town - even tip the mailman for taking time to ring doorbell and scan packages to be returned. I carry or have X amount of cash on hand weekly just for tipping.

WingCommander

Eateries? Yes. Coffee shops like Starbucks? NO. I typically give 20% tip as well. I don't at Starbucks because their pricing is already outlandish rip-off for what you are getting. Would you tip at McDonald's? NO! Now, a locally owned coffee shop? Yes.

joey jojo

Well Luckyned, the reason 'not everyone knows this' is , believe it or not, not everyone lives in the U.S., or a country where tipping is expected. Tipping is a by-product of a time when ex-slaves did menial jobs and the boss didnt want to pay a proper wage, so it was subsidised by tips.

Owning a restaurant must be great if you dont have to pay your staff minimum average wage and yet, you charge the customer full price and expect them to compensate your staff.

How does it make sense that the tip is based on the cost of the meal or drink? A $100.00 bottle of wine takes the same effort to open and pour as $5.00 bottle, doesnt it?

When I go to a restaurant here where I live, I order the meal, eat it, pay my bill, say goodbye and leave. No stress over the size of the tip, and , the service is usually always fine- the waiter says hi and smiles, chats and does it genuinely , without putting their hand out. Sometimes we might round up the bill, but not often.

I understand that its probably not going to change anytime soon, and so- good for the wait staff if they make out like bandits in the meantime.

minimus

Joey, I’m glad I’m not in the business of waiting on you. Wait staff understand that they get a job and they basically live off the tips. They know that they are not getting paid lots of money by the employer. That’s an understood agreement.

carla

In the Midwest of US the hourly wage of a wait staff is $2.38, that is why it is customary to tip wait staff. The tip is 'earned' by their service. Some establishments pay a bit more, maybe 5.00 per hour and you still rely on your tips. Tips are taxed and the waitress must fill out a slip for the employer every week. If you don't fill out the slip the govt. expects that you made at least 10% tip (that was a number of years ago not sure of % today) on each bill and will be taxed accordingly. If you leave no tip they still must declare that you did. If you run out on your bill the waitress must pay the bill herself unless the owner is a nice guy and takes pity.

The wait staff is usually expected to tip the bartender and busboys at the end of the shift from her tips and is entirely up to the waitress. So if a bartender was chatting up a cute guy instead of getting your drink orders ready the bartender could get a lesser tip from the waitress for the night. Kitchen staff (cooks, chef's etc) are not tipped by wait staff because they make higher wages.

I also worked at a private club where no tipping was allowed and the wage was quite good, private members were tools but that's how it goes.

I was a waitress and understand the tipping situation however I do not tip at a sub shop and often not for coffee either because most barista's make about 15.00 per hour and some even get health care. Though I don't really go out for coffee so to tip or not is an afterthought "oh crap was I supposed to tip?" or else I tip too much.

If you watch your waiter/waitress you can see if they are one of the good ones or not. Back in the day I refused to work anywhere there was shared tips. Just made for lazy co-workers while one or two worked their butts off.

joey jojo

Minimus- I would take care of you. :)

carla

Oh joey! you don't go to the same places do you? aren't you afraid to eat the food then? Wait staff do remember people who frequent the place and do not tip. I do not condone anyone ever doing anything to food (if it is not a criminal offense it should be and should be prison time not huber) but I have heard of people who do to get back at bad customers. Not so much years ago but I see it in the news every now and again.

Also joey, go to a truly fine upscale steak house and then a local pub, the quality of wait staff is quite different. Some fine dining places wait staff won't even get to wait on a table until they have been there for months in training. Wait staff in some upscale NY restaurants have been at the same place for 20-40 years and can make upwards to 80-100 thousand a year. Yes, it would be quite rare but the quality of service is also quite different than you local corner tap or pub & grub.

The best customers were generally a bunch of guys on an outing like golf or bowling and the beer was flowing. They were jovial and tipped very well. Older women were generally the worst, insisted on separate bills even though there was standing room only and then they argued about pennies and nickels. A certain racial group did not seem to understand or care about tipping either and were highly demanding. Nobody liked waiting on them, not being racist it was just a fact. Got so bad the wait staff had to take turns because we all knew we would be running our butt off for them and they actually cost is money in the long run due to having to declare the 10% tip on their bill which they never left. Sometimes we drew straws to see who had to wait on them or at times the manager had to step in and decide who would be the unlucky wait staff to get them.

If you don't have enough money to tip at a sit down restaurant then you don't have enough money to eat out, go through the drive through or eat at home. Just my 20%.

minimus

Carla, great post. Jojo thank goodness I’m not a waiter because you would be generous with your dollar tip. No thanks JJ. Lol

joey jojo

Ok, at this point I should probably explain, before I get forever typecast as a tight wad.

In Australia, a 20 year old worker gets paid the equivalent of about $16.00 per hour USD. That's the minimum wage. It doesn't matter if you wash the dishes, or wait on tables, your boss has to pay you at least this much. More experienced staff can negotiate for more pay. And yes, some customers will often leave tips, either directly, or throw some change into the tip jar.

Not only that, but the boss also has to pay an extra 9.5% to the employee, based on whatever they earned that week into a retirement fund for the employee, similar to 401k in the U. S. The employer has to pay the extra out of his own pocket and it applies to full time employees and casual employees.

So, with the minimum wage and the superannuation, the employee is guaranteed to get at least $17.60 USD per hour.

I've travelled around the world and I haven't noticed any significant difference in customer service anywhere, regardless of tipping. I've eaten at silver service restaurants in Europe, UK, and eaten at roadside stalls in places like asia and Jamaica.

carla

Well, never mind joey! things are different down under and in other parts of the world. Eat well and enjoy your outings

Do You Tip At Eateries?

Share this