Just figure out about 10% and double it (I round to something, well, round). 10% is easy, right?
For $26.15, 10% is about $2.60. Double it, you get $5.20. For that, if I’m using a credit card, I’d add $5, plus whatever gets it to the next dollar–I’d leave a total of $32 bucks, which would be a tip of $5.85.
Don’t mean to sound condescending. But 20% is easy, if you think of it this way.
Glad to hear about the job search. Yeah, I know tipping out is customary when there’s bussers, hostesses, ect. I’m glad to know it’s unheard of to just tip out to the house. I thought things had just gone terribly, terribly awry in the 7 years since I’ve waited tables!
Sounds like the owners of your restaurant are just being greedy (tipping out to the house, I mean. I’ve heard of tipping the kitchen but IMO, even this practice is rare.) Do you get a minimum wage? I wonder how those owners sleep at night taking their servers’ tips like that.
I tip based on service, because for me, customer service is a BIG ISSUE. I’ve worked in a restaurant before and depended on tips, but I at my worst was never as bad as some of the servers I’ve had handle me before. I’ve had servers cuss me out, I’ve had them dump food on my lap, I’ve had them act like something they did was my fault. I expect average decency when I come in to eat. For average decency, I tip around 20%. For above-average service, I’ve been known to tip 50-100% depending on how awsome the service was and how much money I have. But when someone acts like their dumping food on me is my fault? Nothing. If I can be nice to customers, and I am a bitch, lemme tell you, then anyone can do it. I got a call at work that my uncle had just died (I was pretty close to him) and no one could tell. It’s called professionalism - do not mix personal with work. It’ll get you far in life. And it’ll get you a good tip from me.
~Tasha
I think some bad customers may be laissez faire economics types. (Sounds like I’m bringing politics into this, but I’m not, really.) One of the models used by economic theorists is the idea that everyone tries to maximize the value of their money in the marketplace. So if they don’t HAVE to pay for something they don’t. And the example that’s often given is tipping – as one does not HAVE to tip, and the quality of the meal is the same however one tips, one simply doesn’t tip – it doesn’t make economic sense to. It is decidedly to the tipper’s disadvantage, however much it is to the servers’ and the servers’ employers’ advantage that they do. So the rational actor (that’s the term they use) never tips voluntarily, and since tipping is in most places voluntary, they almost never tip.
Maybe there are a lot of rational actors out there.
For the record, I tip 15 to 20 percent, almost invariably. It’s amazing how often servers are pleased with this. To me it just seems like the right thing to do.
Carlyjay, I am shocked, absolutley shocked.
I really believed that when I left a tip it went into your pocket and stayed there. I asked my son about it, he works in a factory but has a part time gig bartending for weddings, conventions etc. He informed me I am quite naive. The money in the jar at the bar goes nowhere before the house gets it’s cut. He said there are supervisors watching to make sure no one is “skimming”. No one but the house that is. That is soooo wrong on so many levels. Sounds like a shakedown racket to me. Oh well, I shouldn’t be surprised. I once had a job that my continued employment was based on my contributions to the union. Same game with a different face. It wasn’t right then, not right now.
I mean to imply that the waitstaff is supposed to inform the employer of a shortfall. The waitstaff is just supposed to report their tips. The impetus for the employer to allocate any discrepancy is that if they don’t, they may come under IRS scrutiny if and when the feds catch it.
Who says the standard tip is 15%? I grew up in a rural area and always believed a generous tip was 10%. 20% is unfathamable to me.
It seems that people tip based largely on their past job experience, and there are a lot of service industry people checking in. I supported myself when going to university by working at a full service gas station. This included pumping gas, washing car windows, checking tires, collecting money from drivers who did not want to step out into the cold, etc. Attendants started at minimum wage and eventually might get a raise based on merit. People working at restaurants also got paid at least minimum wage. The difference is that it is not customary to tip at a gas station. I received two tips of about $2 each in that career. I have since changed careers.
So I definitely tip based on merit. I find it unfair that service people have to pay a percentage of sales regardles of tips received. For the record I do currently tip about 15% if I am satisfied with the service. I will definitely go down from that if the staff provided poor service (which happens very rarely).
Oooops. It’s pretty much widely known and accepted that the standard tip in North America is 15%.
If you go out to dinner at a place that has gratuity automatically on the bill, for example at a banquet function or a package deal with a reataurant and theatre, the gratuity is always 15%.
If you buy travel guides or tourism guides for North American places, you’ll see that most books will tell you the customary tip for good service is 15%. Example here.
This is why I started the thread, because I’m wondering how many people, like yourself, aren’t aware of this custom. I mean, I thought it was widely known until I started working in the industry years ago, and it’s become more and more baffling to me the longer I do the job.
I have a couple simple guidelines:
I always “overtip” the breakfast waitress because the food is cheaper & the work is just as much.
If my iced tea is kept full, the waiter/waitress can generally expect at least 20%. More than that if my family is being demanding.
I always tip the bar tender well when I get takeout. A lot of folks do not tip at all, but since I do a lot of takeout from the same local restaurants, my orders are pretty much always triple-checked to make sure they are right.
I always tip at least 20%, unless the service was absolutely horrible, in which case I’ll tip 15%. If the waiter was excellent and really nice, I’ll tip 25% or 30%. Also, if I eat at a really cheap place like Denny’s or whatever, I will tip even more than 20%. Just because the meal was cheap, it doesn’t mean my waiter worked any less hard.
I think it is unconscionable that people tip less than 20% or 15%. That is selfish and aholeish. If you can’t afford to tip, don’t go out to eat.
The OP was asking why do people tip less than 10% regularly? I think it’s because most people are just selfish aholes. But there’s probably more than that. Is it because people are just plain ignorant about tipping? What can we do to fix this problem? Should restaurants add tips to the check? Should there be an ad campaign to educate people about tipping?
I’m a 20%-er. Sometimes more. I only leave less if three things occur at the same time: the food is crap, the service is crap, and the attitude is crap. No effort on the restaurant’s part equals no effort on mine.
The last time I left zero was the other day at my espresso drive-through. I always leave the $.75 change from the $3.25 latte. Always. The staff there are young, friendly, cheerful, fast barristas. It’s the fastest cup in town and they always remember the orders of their regulars. But last week there was a new gal serving up on my side of the shack. No problem: she doesn’t know me yet, etc. But she flings open the window and demands, without preamble, “$3.25!” No “hi”, “howdy”, “eat shit”, nothing. So I hand her four bucks, which she takes without thanks, and hands me the coffee that the other (regular) woman has made. Her body language told me that she expected me to say ‘keepdachange’, but I held out my hand for it, earning a sour look. Normally, I wouldn’t be so petty, but it pissed me off.
Again, I just don’t get this. I see that things seem to be different in the U.S. in that (IFIC) restaurant staff get paid less than minimum wage. Where I live service staff get at least minimum wage, and in our currently hot economy, probably more. Many people (most people?) who also work for minumum wage do not receive tips. Why do we nash our teeth for the restaurant industry? I agree it is probably a crappy job, but that is also true for many other jobs. What bothers me most is the amount of expected tip is no longer tied to service, and seems to be increasing. When does it stop - 20%, 30% 40%? I would prefer that the cost of providing a meal be included in the cost of the meal.
Adjusting for inflation, perhaps?
A fixed percentage tip such as 15% would automatically adjust for inflation. If a meal cost $50, the tip is $7.50. If next year the meal increased to $60 the tip is $9 at the same 15% tip.
The standard percentage for tipping in the US has risen slower than the inflation rate. I have a lot of etiquette books going back to the 1930s. In the 1940s (the oldest books I have that mention tipping), the recommendation at a restaurant is “a generous 10%” for “decent service.” This remained the standard throughout the '50s. By 1964, it was up to 15% and it’s still there today, although I’m expecting it to tip towards 20% any time. Most etiquette authorities today recommend “15 - 20%.”
As I routinely eat alone and when I do eat out I’m usually not anywhere where I’ll be paying more than about $10, my minimum tip is $2. As a single, undemanding guy I figure that’s fair. Otherwise, I generally tip about 20 percent, always rounding up to the next dollar. Heck, I’ll even leave a buck on the table for the guy that has to clean up after me at a place like Fuddruckers. As for drinks, I generally tip a buck a drink, though sometimes I’ll be a bit cheaper with the beer, since all the bartender has to do is pull it from the tap or pull a bottle out of the cooler.
Hey, can I just throw this in? My husband is a musician and works for wages plus tips. If you enjoy the show, why not throw in a few bucks? The people that really get on my tits are the ones that request songs all night long and never even throw in a dollar. He goes above and beyond and pulls out songs he hasn’t done in years for you and you can’t toss in a buck or two? Come on! Tip your musicians when you can if you enjoy the show.
I tip 20% on the total. If they’ve done something to piss me off, I’ll go down to 15%. I had to box my own leftovers today (which is another heated topic around here, for me anyway) which usually gets my server a smaller tip, but my waitress was way better than average in every other way, so I stuck with my 20%. Hey…it’s a national holiday, fercrissakes!
This is not necessarily true in the US.