Do you put the tip on credit card or leave cash?

[pulykamell]

@Mahaloth

OK, here is my deal. I’m kind of sensitive, but here is what I do.

When I go up to pay at the local Mexican restaurant, the cashier always gives me the receipt to sign and add tip. Thing is, I always put the tip on the table. I feel bad writing “$0.00” or whatever on the tip line of the receipt, though.

So I write, “On Table” on the receipt. That way the cashier doesn’t look down and think, “Oh…cheapo.”

Is that a custom or did I make it up?

Writing “CASH” in the tip line is the custom that I’m aware of.

[FairyChatMom]

I rarely carry cash - everything goes on the card. If I knew of a place where the boss pocketed charged tips, I wouldn’t patronize the place. Frankly, I’d rather the system changed so servers were paid a decent wage and the menu prices were altered accordingly. But I don’t expect to see that in my lifetime…

[SciFiSam]

Cash. In the UK, employers are allowed to keep the tips themselves, and many do. I prefer the money to go to actual staff.

[foopyx]

@Absolute

I always put the tip on the credit card, because it allows me to use the tip amount as a checksum to detect fraud.

I calculate a tip amount that causes the total amount to be a round number (e.g. $34.00). I then add the whole-dollar digits together, and add that many cents to the tip ($34.07).

When I get my credit card statement, I can quickly verify that nothing has been tampered with without going back through my receipts.

I used to tip in cash, until i started using the tip as a checksum as well.

I figure out how much tip i want to leave, then adjust the cents (upwards), until it sums up to a palindrome.
$58.39 dollar dinner for two.

I’d start with a base tip of $9.

So, $67.39

Then another 37cents to complete my palindrome.

So on my CC statement ii should see $67.76.

[RealityChuck]

Credit care unless I’m paying cash for the meal.

[steronz]

@PunditLisa

I think it’s laughable how people go on and on about the need for all these great social programs, such as public health care and Social Security, yet think it’s virtuous to help the beneficiaries of these programs avoid their fair share of taxes.

If you want to help a waiter out, tip him/her well. If you want to help a local businessmen, do business with them. But paying cash for the sole purpose of helping them evade their taxes? No. If you want these great programs, then be prepared for EVERYONE to pay higher taxes, even people that don’t make much, because that’s the way the programs that directly benefit them are funded.

I was going to say this. My waiter friends say that they pull CC tips out of the register at the end of the night, or at least once a week, so it’s not like there’s any great benefit to having the cash immediately unless they’re a junkie. That means the only benefit to leaving a cash tip is so that the waiter doesn’t have to report it to either management (if the restaurant takes a cut for the kitchen staff or for overhead), or the government, or the credit card company.

But the government needs tax revenue, and the kitchen staff needs spending money, and the credit card company arguably performs the valuable service of allowing me to rarely carry cash. If it really troubles you that your 20% tip might only end up being 16.5% after fees and taxes are taken out, then just tip a little extra and be done with it, rather than trying to selectively scam various entities out of their entitled share.