Do you tip?

NanaPat · Jun 19, 2017

In Canada, all the debit/credit card machines in restaurants have a "tip button" that prompts you for the tip. Usually you have a choice of percentage or dollar amount (or no tip at all). Once you enter it, it calculates, adds it to the bill, and gives you the total. You then have to accept that total or correct the tip. If you entered 150% or 1500% when you meant to enter 15%, you'd notice that the total was way too high and could correct it.

We've had this system for so long that I've lost my well-practiced ability to calculate tips in my head.

Some of the machines leave you totally on your own to decide how much to tip, while others have suggested percentages (plus "other"). I've noticed that recently the "suggested percentages" on some machines have gone from 10/15/20 to 15/20/25. The change hasn't affected my behaviour - I still generally leave 15%. But I wonder how many people have changed from 15 to 20 because of the psychology of being "in the middle".

One time I do tip more than 15% is when I go out for lunch with a group. Lunch is usually cheaper than dinner, and a group with separate checks can be a lot of work for a server, so I tip a higher percentage then.

My daughter tips more than I do (and figures it out in her head!) because she works for a small college and many servers are her students (or somebody else's).

4everchan · Jun 19, 2017

NanaPat said:
In Canada, all the debit/credit card machines in restaurants have a "tip button" that prompts you for the tip. Usually you have a choice of percentage or dollar amount (or no tip at all). Once you enter it, it calculates, adds it to the bill, and gives you the total. You then have to accept that total or correct the tip. If you entered 150% or 1500% when you meant to enter 15%, you'd notice that the total was way too high and could correct it.

We've had this system for so long that I've lost my well-practiced ability to calculate tips in my head.

Some of the machines leave you totally on your own to decide how much to tip, while others have suggested percentages (plus "other"). I've noticed that recently the "suggested percentages" on some machines have gone from 10/15/20 to 15/20/25. The change hasn't affected my behaviour - I still generally leave 15%. But I wonder how many people have changed from 15 to 20 because of the psychology of being "in the middle".

One time I do tip more than 15% is when I go out for lunch with a group. Lunch is usually cheaper than dinner, and a group with separate checks can be a lot of work for a server, so I tip a higher percentage then.

My daughter tips more than I do (and figures it out in her head!) because she works for a small college and many servers are her students (or somebody else's).

i see often 15-18-20

also in quebec tax is 14.975 percent... so when paying cash, people just match the tax amount.. no need to be einstein or take out the calculator... mind you.. i see lots of kids figuring their bills out with their iphone..

siri... what is the tip on my bill.... ?

NanaPat · Jun 19, 2017

4everchan said:
i see often 15-18-20

also in quebec tax is 14.975 percent... so when paying cash, people just match the tax amount.. no need to be einstein or take out the calculator... mind you.. i see lots of kids figuring their bills out with their iphone..

siri... what is the tip on my bill.... ?

Is Siri a good tipper?

4everchan · Jun 19, 2017

NanaPat said:
Is Siri a good tipper?

i don't know i don't have an iphone

Sam-Skwantch · Jun 19, 2017

Siri usually recommends an 18% tip but shows several results

At least that's what my iPhone is doing.

elbkup · Jun 19, 2017

I tip generously, usually 20% or more and often something extra around Holiday time mainly because I frequent the same establishments over and over (ie, the same diners/restaurants, same hair salon etc) and the same people provide the service again and again.. they know me, as a customer, and treat me well because they know what to expect.. While we are not friends personally, I "know" from general day to day conversations that most of them are struggling to make ends meet as students, single parents, or handicapped in some way. Not just tipping but showing care in other ways is important if one goes to the same place alot. The diner I frequent most has a bus boy that clears dishes etc who is physically impaired; he struck up the courage to speak to me one day .. a big deal for him and it moved me to see that such a small thing mattered so much. We now make it a point to smile speak to one another warmly at every visit and the other wait staff seems to have noticed and approve. It makes for good will all around, I think.

dawnsearlylight65 · Jun 19, 2017

Of course. I tip the barber when he cuts my boys' hair, the waiter/waitress when I go out to eat, and the housekeeper when I leave a hotel.

tulosai · Jun 19, 2017

I think it depends a lot on the country you are in. In the USA I always tip 20% to servers unless they were outright BAD; even if they were very bad I usually tip a least 10% because they are relying on that money to make ends meet due to the system there, which others have explained well enough. Here in Europe I do as the locals do- tipping isn't really expected but is appreciated and throwing down loose change (can be more than it sounds like becausue we have 1 and 2 euro coins here) or rounding up the bill is done routinely. I'd say usually if the meal is under 25-30 euros and service is okay to great people will throw down some loose change, average amount about 2 euro but no one is fussed about it. For poor service people may leave nothing. Over around 30 euros people usually round up to tip around 5% for good but not exceptional service, less for very average or poor service (may just throw down some loose change as for a cheaper meal or if the service was really bad leave nothing), and sometimes (rarely) may up to about 10% for truly excellent service. However in general people here just aren't worried about it like they are in the USA because culturally and socially things are a lot different here financially. If you are in Europe though you should know that while tipping generally isn't mandatory (and sometimes a service charge is added which you should look for first) these workers still aren't paid great and throwing down a bit of change or rounding up a bit can be quite appreciated and helpful if the service is good or better.

samkrut@mail.ru · Jun 19, 2017

DelRetiro said:
True, tipping practices in the U.S. are very different from most other countries. As a foreign visitor, you may not like it, but that's the way it is. Hate it all you want, it's not going to change just for you. Meanwhile, if you stiff (no tip) or undertip (5-10%) a waiter, bartender, cab driver, you are denying a worker what is in essence his/her salary. If you're a foreign visitor to the U.S. and don't know how much to tip, that's what Google is for, so you can't use ignorance as an excuse. If you hate tipping that much, then don't come here. I promise you not one single waiter, bartender, taxi driver, parking valet, bellman, or hotel maid will miss you.

del

Snow63 · Jun 19, 2017

karne said:
What? That's - that's - that's practically slave labour. And the US claims to be a first world country! It's a disgrace.

Could you pease tell us how it's done in Australia? Do people tip there?

Snow63 · Jun 19, 2017

The other question I have: is the food cheaper in the US than, let's say, in Europe? If employers are given a permission not to pay to their workers then their expenses are lower and it means that net price for the food should be lower, right? Or do they charge roughly the same as in not tipping countries and just make a bigger profit for themselves while customers pay their workers' salary? How exactly does it work?

Edit: also https://i1.wp.com/annieandre.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/japan-tipping.jpg?resize=375,491

carmina · Jun 19, 2017

Snow63 said:
I was on my vacation trip in Turkey and there was 20% tip included in my check so I asked a manager to remove it, because all the server did was literally transfer two beers from bar stand to my table.

They should't included tip to your check it is not a common thing here- I live in Turkey
%20 is way too much I usually tip %10 - and I always tip , we tip nearly everything
My guess you were on a summer vacation and some places try to rib off even locals like that so you sound wise not cheap

mrrice · Jun 19, 2017

Snow63 said:
The other question I have: is the food cheaper in the US than, let's say, in Europe? If employers are given a permission not to pay to their workers then their expenses are lower and it means that net price for the food should be lower, right? Or do they charge roughly the same as in not tipping countries and just make a bigger profit for themselves while customers pay their workers' salary? How exactly does it work?

Edit: also https://i1.wp.com/annieandre.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/japan-tipping.jpg?resize=375,491

This is a good question. California can be a very expensive place to live and the closer you get to the coast, the more expensive it becomes. One of the reasons I moved to the central valley after finishing my last tour was the cost of living. For the price of a studio apt in the Hollywood area, I was able to rent and then buy a nice sized two bedroom house with a large fenced in backyard and a landscaped front yard.

I think one of the biggest differences that "I" experienced between Germany and here in Ca. The servers have higher salaries in Europe and don't rely as much on their tips to make money. Even the nicest restaurants in LA pay their servers minimum wage when they are first hired. They basically survive off of their tip money. In fact, if the restaurant has a bar, the servers have to "Tip Out" to the Bartender, Bar-Backs, and Busboys. It can be very complicated.

charmblade · Jun 19, 2017

Snow63 said:
The other question I have: is the food cheaper in the US than, let's say, in Europe?

I'll take a stab at this. I live in Boston, where restaurants and food in general are on the expensive side. My husband and I went to Europe for two weeks last fall, and thought that generally speaking the prices were fair. I think that the prices tended to be slightly higher than here in the US, but once you considered the difference in not having to tip (or leaving a much smaller tip) the food was comparable or slightly cheaper in Europe. This was especially true in Paris and Belgium. In Amsterdam, however, we were amazed at how cheap the food seemed there. So I'm sure it depends on where you are in Europe, just like restaurant prices vary widely here in the US.

(Our experience may be influenced though by the much lower price of alcohol. We usually have a drink, possibly two, with dinner. The prices for beer and wine were much, much lower in Europe. So our overall dinner bills seemed to be noticeably lower than what we'd pay in the US. However, when trying to remember individual prices for entrees, what I said above is true to what I remember)

topaz emerald · Jun 19, 2017

[email protected] said:
That's not bad at all! The living minimum in Russia is $3,000 per year and the average income is about $8,000 per year.

As for tipping, I lived in the US for a while and I detest how tipping is done there. Everybody in service expects it. For example in the hotel a guy who brings your luggage to the reception, another guy who brings it from reception to the room and then starts annoying service of "explaining" how things are arranged in the room, a housemaid, a guy who brings your car, another guy who opens a door of the car, etc. And it is sort of my responsibility to have cash for all of them. The only other place where tipping is similar is Africa, some of the countries there. Another thing which made me angry is that when I lived in California in the 90s the standard tip was 15%. When I came there around 2001-2003 and left 15% the waiter was quite agressive saying that it was not enough. That's how I "discovered" 18% rule. They went even further: After 2005 I received the bill where you could select from 18, 20 or 21% tip - that was hillarious.

In Moscow the usual rule is 10% tip on services unless you are unhappy. If something goes wrong I don't leave tips. 10% is so common that many restaurants issue frequent visitor cards with 10% discount. Then you know that the price you will have to actually pay is the price you see on the menu list. I have many such cards. I cannot manage them all and sometimes restaurant decisions are spontaneous so that I don't have their discount card. Then the usual trick is to say that you either give me 10% off or I don't leave a tip. It works 90% of times.

The strangest tipping rules I encountered was on Maldives.

$12060 per year per person is very bad, especially in California, and especially in the Bay area, CA. Rent in the most ghetto parts of the bay area, CA is expensive too. Unless you pay like $300 to share a room with someone, you aint gonna make it. You will need government welfare, which is good. The medical benefits will be covered if you apply for it. You'll probably qualify for subsidized housing if you apply, but there is a wait list. Food stamp card is there for essential foods. If you apply to college, you get a lot of financial support. You just won't have any leftover cash. Most young people live with their parents until they can afford to move out.

You go to fancy American hotels? The only ones I know that have bellboys and service like that are fancy hotels. You should just drag your own luggage to your hotel room, no fee. We always do that. We never have housemaid explain how things are arranged in the room, unless the hotel is hella fancy and supposedly luxurious, but in my experience, we never tipped them. The only time we tip is for valet, that's if we can't get around it. At restaurants, if it's an Asian restaurant, I only tip 10 percent or I don't tip at all because in my experience, they never serve you that well, especially at dim sum restaurants. Usually, we tip 15%, or 20 percent if the service is good and if we like the waiter. We went to Portugal last year, and the Portuguese don't have tip, but we tipped them anyway because they served us very well. In general, if service wast just ok, we tip them less, if they were straight out rude or tried to trick us, we leave NO TIP, and walk out and we don't care what they say, but the Portuguese are very friendly people, and we always left generous tips.

You should see how it it is Jamaica or Haiti....these people really made me feel bad but they really try to rip you off.

CaroLiza_fan · Jun 19, 2017

dorispulaski said:
In the US, the allowable minimum wage for servers and other tipped employees can be considerably lower than for other workers. The amount varies by state.

Only 7 states require servers to be paid like anyone else
16 states use $2.13 per hour as the minimum wage for servers.
The remaining states lie somewhere in between.

https://www.dol.gov/whd/state/tipped.htm

The current US minimum wage for ordinary workers is so low that in no state can such a person, working full time, afford to rent a two bedroom lodging.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-rental-rates-rising-20170608-story.html

So yes, I always tip. But I wish the whole US tipping system was done away with, and that people were paid a living wage.

Reading your post (which I did not see at the time because it was posted while I was writing my own reply) has really shocked me.

Servers in some states are paid $2.13 per hour?! That's only £1.67 in our money. :jaw:

Here is a table showing what the current minimum wage rates in the UK are, along with US$ conversions:

Year	25 and over	21 to 24	18 to 20	Under 18	Apprentice
April 2017	£7.50	£7.05	£5.60	£4.05	£3.50
April 2017	$9.55	$8.97	$7.13	$5.16	$4.46

Source: https://www.gov.uk/national-minimum-wage-rates

No wonder North Americans are more generous at tipping than us over this side of the pond. You know that employees need it.

But, it really shouldn't need to be like this. It is scandalous that the basic pay is so low.

CaroLiza_fan

samkrut@mail.ru · Jun 19, 2017

topaz emerald said:
You go to fancy American hotels? The only ones I know that have bellboys and service like that are fancy hotels. You should just drag your own luggage to your hotel room, no fee.

It's a balance between the need to pay tips and "to look cheap". When I have reasonable bags I let the service take them. But 2 things are illogical: first is that there are no universal servers among the bellboys so that the one who started to take care of my bags will finish the job up to the room. Second is that they are always proactively eager to bring the luggage up but you have to say specifically that you need the help on your way down. Never was I asked if I needed the help with the luggage on my way down. But bellboys is not a big issue. The issue is how illogical tipping is in the US restaurants. At least the economic logic does not work. I assume that the lowest salaries are in fast food joints like McDonald's. You don't tip there. On the other hand, 20% tip is expected on a $300 bottle of wine in a fancy restaurant. Wait a minute, it's $60 in tips. Why?

In fact wine prices in restaurants is a topic of its own. And in Moscow it's ridiculous even without considering tips. They have the same markup, usually 100-200% on any bottle of wine irespective of its price. You buy a bottle for $10 - you sell it for $30. You buy it for $100 - you sell it for $300. You make $20 margin on the first bottle and $200 on the second one. I drink a lot of wine (at home) and I know the prices quite well. So, once I had an argument with a restaurant owner who was selling Sassicaia - a famous Italian wine - for $800. It's wholesale price was about $250. I said it was unfair to expect a customer to pay a mark-up of $550 (plus tips). Her reply was basically that rent was very expensive and rich people do not care and it's fair that they pay more. Well, I usually stay with beer in Moscow restaurants or with white: it's easier to get a decent white wine for a reasonable price.

topaz emerald · Jun 19, 2017

[email protected] said:
It's a balance between the need to pay tips and "to look cheap". When I have reasonable bags I let the service take them. But 2 things are illogical: first is that there are no universal servers among the bellboys so that the one who started to take care of my bags will finish the job up to the room. Second is that they are always proactively eager to bring the luggage up but you have to say specifically that you need the help on your way down. Never was I asked if I needed the help with the luggage on my way down. But bellboys is not a big issue. The issue is how illogical tipping is in the US restaurants. At least the economic logic does not work. I assume that the lowest salaries are in fast food joints like McDonald's. You don't tip there. On the other hand, 20% tip is expected on a $300 bottle of wine in a fancy restaurant. Wait a minute, it's $60 in tips. Why?

In fact wine prices in restaurants is a topic of its own. And in Moscow it's ridiculous even without considering tips. They have the same markup, usually 100-200% on any bottle of wine irespective of its price. You buy a bottle for $10 - you sell it for $30. You buy it for $100 - you sell it for $300. You make $20 margin on the first bottle and $200 on the second one. I drink a lot of wine (at home) and I know the prices quite well. So, once I had an argument with a restaurant owner who was selling Sassicaia - a famous Italian wine - for $800. It's wholesale price was about $250. I said it was unfair to expect a customer to pay a mark-up of $550 (plus tips). Her reply was basically that rent was very expensive and rich people do not care and it's fair that they pay more. Well, I usually stay with beer in Moscow restaurants or with white: it's easier to get a decent white wine for a reasonable price.

I don't think in the US there are any laws requiring you to tip. Someone can correct me.

Well, at McDonalds, they don't wait on you, so that's why they don't get tipped. I think in America, it's more a cultural thing to tip, like I saw on youtube Europeans don't understand why Americans box up leftover food and take them home. I saw one video, a French person thought it was take home food to feed the dog. We just don't like to waste food.

You pay $250 for a bottle of wine at a restaurant? Is this often? Then you are living a high roller life. I don't think we've ever paid this much for a bottle of wine at a restaurant because we know the markup is ridiculous as you said. Only at wine auctions or like them French wine imported from overseas that costs like 2 or 300/bottle. My husband is a big wine drinker too, so much he's become a functioning alcoholic. But most of the time, he gets his wine from Costco.
When he was poor, he bought his wine from a grocery chain called Grocery Outlet ($2-3 bucks per bottle, sometimes you can find a good bottle). Actually,, he still goes to Grocery Outlet to buy his wine when we visit our parents in California. We live in Houston, TX now, so they don't have Grocery Outllet here. He likes his beer too, but only from microbreweries.

tulosai · Jun 19, 2017

topaz emerald said:
I don't think in the US there are any laws requiring you to tip. Someone can correct me.

Well, at McDonalds, they don't wait on you, so that's why they don't get tipped. I think in America, it's more a cultural thing to tip, like I saw on youtube Europeans don't understand why Americans box up leftover food and take them home. I saw one video, a French person thought it was take home food to feed the dog. We just don't like to waste food.

You pay $250 for a bottle of wine at a restaurant? Is this often? Then you are living a high roller life. I don't think we've ever paid this much for a bottle of wine at a restaurant because we know the markup is ridiculous as you said. Only at wine auctions or like them French wine imported from overseas that costs like 2 or 300/bottle. My husband is a big wine drinker too, so much he's become a functioning alcoholic. But most of the time, he gets his wine from Costco.
When he was poor, he bought his wine from a grocery chain called Grocery Outlet ($2-3 bucks per bottle, sometimes you can find a good bottle). Actually,, he still goes to Grocery Outlet to buy his wine when we visit our parents in California. We live in Houston, TX now, so they don't have Grocery Outllet here. He likes his beer too, but only from microbreweries.

No, no laws require tipping, and if an employee paid servers wages fails to make minimum wage after tips the restaurant must technically cover it; however these employees often don't know this and when the do often if they apply for it they are fired as their jobs are largely 'at will' (can be fired for any reason with or without cause as long as not being discriminated against in certain very specific ways) since the restaurant then views them as a 'bad employee'.

As for places like McDonalds, the reason they don't tip there isn't really that they don't 'serve' you (or isn't just that)- it's that those workers are making minimum wage, not $2 an hour. So while they don't make anything near a living wage, they aren't relying on tips the way someone making $2 an hour does.

topaz emerald · Jun 19, 2017

tulosai said:
No, no laws require tipping, and if an employee paid servers wages fails to make minimum wage after tips the restaurant must technically cover it; however these employees often don't know this and when the do often if they apply for it they are fired as their jobs are largely 'at will' (can be fired for any reason with or without cause as long as not being discriminated against in certain very specific ways) since the restaurant then views them as a 'bad employee'.

As for places like McDonalds, the reason they don't tip there isn't really that they don't 'serve' you (or isn't just that)- it's that those workers are making minimum wage, not $2 an hour. So while they don't make anything near a living wage, they aren't relying on tips the way someone making $2 an hour does.

I've never heard of the min. of 2.13 per hour, omg. Is this really true? I think in CA, it's 10/hr, and 12 or 13/in San Francisco. No way, I don't believe it. According to the above link that was posted, it's 2.13/hr in Texas. I just googled the min. wage in Texas...it is not 2.13, it's 7.25/hr. I really don't believe any American is getting paid 2.13/hr. Better to be on government welfare and food stamp card. At least you'll get subsidized housing and full health care benefits, and money for food.

I think tipping is only for waiters, not for fast food workers who do get more than 2.13/hr.

eta; nevermind what I said, I'm reading that data wrong, lol

Do you tip?

NanaPat

4everchan

NanaPat

4everchan

Sam-Skwantch

“I solemnly swear I’m up to no good”

elbkup

Power without conscience is a savage weapon

dawnsearlylight65

tulosai

[email protected]

Medalist

Snow63

Pray one day we'll open our eyes.

Snow63

Pray one day we'll open our eyes.

carmina

mrrice

charmblade

topaz emerald

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CaroLiza_fan

EZETTIE LATUASV IVAKMHA

[email protected]

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topaz emerald

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tulosai

topaz emerald

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