I’ve just been listening to story on NPR about how some business school professors did a field study on customer service in bars (nice work if you can get it, right?). Among other things, they learned that bartenders, particularly if female, don’t like dollar bills because they’re “degrading”, vaguely reminiscent of strippers. So what do we do then? I usually try to tip in the range of
20-30% of the drink price, and a dollar usually fits right in that range. Would a pile of nickels and quarters be better?
Anyone who wants to clear their wallets of those degrading dollar bills can send them to me. I will dispose of them appropriately.
I have never heard of such a thing. I usually tip a dollar too. Anyone who is insulted by my tip can return it.
Sounds to me like some bartenders are overreacting.
Actually I have heard before that coins are degrading. I assume this is true only in America, where coins are so low-valued. But I’ll generally leave one or more coins along with the dollar if it just works out that way; if the pint costs $3.75 and I pay with a five, I’ll leave the quarter alongside the dollar.
My understanding of the story was that the female bartenders don’t like customers who wave dollar bills at them to get their attention. Not that they don’t like being tipped with dollar bills. You wouldn’t say that if they didn’t enjoy having dollars tucked into their clothes that they didn’t want a tip, would you?
That makes a lot more sense. Does either of you remember any details that might help a Google search? “bartender tip study” isn’t turning up anything relevant.
When I worked as a bartender, bills were fine with me.
Like lots of studies done by people unfamiliar with the industry in question, this one is also flawed.
It is not the dollar bill that represents the problem, it is usually the customer presenting it.
As a male, any tips I got were generally just left on the bar with a friendly nod.
Our female bartenders would often have them pressed suggestively in their hand or waved in front of them with a “Come here honey, I got this for you,” kind of leer as if they were strippers.
We had a deal where if a customer was taking up too much of a girl’s time trying to engage her in conversation, or being lewd or suggestive, she would jsut ignore them, and that customer would be handled by myself or another male bartender.
When they’d complain I’d say “sorry, she’s busy. You are stuck with ugly old me. Whatchoowant?”
Then they’d say “I’ll wait for her.”
“Sorry. You’re taking up space. Your stuck with me. Order or clear the bar.”
They’d usually leave.
The only thing that pissed me off is that Linda, this lady I bartended with who was very attractive usually got about 5 times the tips I did.
I’d end up doing this stuff for her all night long, but she never offered to split her high tippage and she’d complain all the time and make me listen to it. She acted like it was my duty (which I guess it was.)
But yeah, it could get pretty degrading for her with what people would do.
So, it’s not the dollar. It’s the way it’s used.
The proper way to leave a tip is to place it on the bar, and slide it back to the rail where the napkins and straws are. That way the bartender knows it’s meant for them.
If you want to make sure you get credit for the tip, do it while the bartender is in front of you.
believe me a bartender is immediately aware when people reach towards the rail. They’ll know you tipped them.
It is also gauche to refer to the tip. Say “this is for you,” or in other ways try to extract recognition or favoritism for it. Nothing is quicker to get you ignored and your drinks watered.
A tip is recognition of service already received, not owed.
Dollar bills are fine.
Anyone else see the commercial (I forget what it was hawking) where the waitress saved up to buy a stun gun and hid it in her apron pocket to discourage a particularly obnoxious and cheap regular?
Back to the OP, somewhat: I can understand how it’s somewhat gauche to make an ostentatious display of tipping; does “keep the change” fall into that category? I always felt it was just a way of keeping the bartender from having to make an extra trip back in my direction - I got my beer, the change is enough for a 20% tip, no reason to give it back to me. Nobody ever seemed to roll their eyes at me like I was being a jerk.
My apologies. “Keep the change” is perfectly appropriate. You’re not making a show of it and simply bowing to convenience.
Hee hee. I love that one. It’s advertising those machines where you can dump in a jar of change and get $$ back (minus the service fee, of course!)
Thanks for the, er, tips, Scylla. Glad to know I am tipping “correctly.”
Olentzero: I think “keep the change” is probably just fine. Or “no change, please” works too. Saying “keep the change” is only bad if you say it really ostentatiously, but you have given her a $20 for a $19.75 tab!
No, you have to wave the quarter like it’s minted from the gilding of the Ark of the Covenant itself and then get the waitress to hold still while you try to make it look like you’re not pawing her up and saying “This one’s for you from me, you sweet coffee-slingin’ dumpling, you. Keep the change.”
ultrafilter: All I can find is NPR’s summary of the segment:
It’s all right. I’d say Scylla pretty much set the record straight on this one.
Hmmm. Maybe I was wrong about something else as well.
Every now and then you’d have a group of people come in and open a tab on a credit card.
Most of the time they’d be at a table with a waitress, but a couple of times these groups would form at the bar.
Once in a while somebody in one of those groups would call you over and hand you a 20 or something. Sometimes they’d say something like “thanks for taking care of us,” or “I’d appreciate it if you’d keep an eye on us.”
It always occured with groups, mostly drinking on one tab, and usually there to consume a lot of drinks.
That gesture was always appreciated as groups with large drink orders always take a lot of time, and if you’re running a tab giving a portion of the tip up front, or tipping as you move along is sure to keep the bartender interested in your well-being.
The worst is people who would run $150.00 tab, and leave a five dollar bill on the bar.
The gesture tells the bartender that you recognize that his group puts more work on him and that you’re going to take care of him.
And, if you are going to tip a large amount of money (over $10.00 or so,) it’s probably a good idea to hand it over personally so it gets to the right person if the bar is crowded.
Finally, if you’re at a table and you plan on being there for a while, a nice (and productive thing to do) is give a tip to the cocktail waitress early on. At the same time also give half of whatever you gave to the waitress and had it to her seperately saying “This is for the bartender. Please tell him we appreciate the great drinks.”
Bartenders and waitresses usually split tips with the waitress taking 2/3.
Do this properly and respectfully, and the bartender will usually keep an additional eye on your table to make sure you’re happy.
Bear in mind that bartenders (and to a lesser degree waitresses) usually have discretion to give away the occasional free drink or round.
When this happened at a table being serviced by one of my waitresses, I’d usually look and see what they’d been ordering, and send over a “treat.” A round of my special margaritas, a pitcher of Premium beer, or some nice single malt, depending on what they were drinking and the size of the gratuity.
Management encouraged this, as it does wonders for repeat business, and keeping people at the bar.
People hate to leave if they feel like they have an investment in the bartender. Give them a free drink or two and they’ll buy twenty and stay all night.
I’ll also mention that people that if you are going to order Alabama Slammers, Daquiris, or other time intensive drinks, it’s a good idea to tip up front.
When people order those, I’d usually make sure they tasted terrible so I wouldn’t have to do it again.
When people ordered weird complicated sex drinks I’d usually just spritz some seltzer over grenadine and peach Schnapps or something.
You’re best off sticking to well-drinks, your Gin and tonics, Vodka tonics, spritzers, or your liquor by name.
When I’m at a bar, I make it a point to hand the tip to the person who served me to make sure they get it. That way I know the tip isn’t snatched up by some other bartender who didn’t even glance at me.
That said, it’s just presented like a tip. I don’t act like I’m buying a hummer the way these customers Scylla speaks of do.
As a single, smoking diner, I’m often seated in (or at) the bar.
It annoys me to no end that some bartenders, when taking the check and money, will ask me if I want change back (i.e. Can I keep the change as my tip). Well, let’s see. I’m one person, so my tab comes to not much more than $10. (I don’t drink alcohol, so that’s not a factor.) If I give a $20, that means I’m giving roughly a 100% tip. The answer to that is “Yes, I do want my change back, you presumptuous bastard.”
Robin
Yeah, I just heard the story again on the repeat, and I agree I misunderstood the gist, originally.
The one that gets me every time is when they give you change you can’t break into a decent tip. If I ordered $29.83 worth of food and drinks and pay with a 50, don’t bring me a $20 bill and 17 cents. I tip big, but $20 on $30 is a little high, doncha think?
That said, the server takes enough crap that that’s my only real complaint.
Actually, I do tip roughly 100%. But I don’t usually drink alcohol, only soda, water and iced tea, which all go for about $1 a glass. So in order not to feel like a cheap bastard who takes up space and returns no profit, I tend to match the drink price as the tip.
Even when I do drink alcohol, I usually tip around 40-50%. But then, this is my regular bar, and the waiters are good friends.
jayjay
I usually tip more on a small bill than I do on a large bill (and I tip 15-20% on those). Sometimes up to 50-60% of my tab, especially if the waitperson has been good about keeping an eye on me.