Hmmm…seemed to me like tipping was becoming quite expected in certain establishments when I was home in Oz last year. My advice to you regarding your non-tipping practices overseas? Eat at fast food joints - no tipping required.
- cough college student cough *
Oh, and I haven’t read it yet, but thanks for the Pit thread. I’m nearing 2000 posts and I was begining to fear I’d reach that milestone without a Pit thread devoted to me. 
Sorry, you don’t get a free pass for that.
Tipping (in this country, at least; I’m assuming you’re here because you haven’t used ‘well, they don’t tip in my country’ as an excuse) is part of the cost of a meal. If you can’t afford to tip, then don’t go out to a restaurant where it’s customary; where the wait staff has to live off of those tips. Stick to fast food.
Only by American Tourists. They don’t expect Aussies to tip – and that’s straight from a friend in the service industry.
People in the industry here are paid enough that they don’t need tips. They just have started getting used to a nice bonus from Yanks.
On preview it looks like SGF has beaten me to it.
LCC, do you still have an Australia accent or is it American? Perhaps staff at restaurants/pubs pick up on signs that you’re used to the American practice of tipping.* I’ve never encountered a situation where tipping was “expected”.
- Notice how I gallantly restrain myself from asking whether you wore white sports sneakers, a “fanny” pack, carried a camera and tucked your shirts into your blue jeans while you were back home?
Well, in a lot of the establishments I went to my change was returned to me on a tip tray, and my credit card receipt had a “tip” line.
And a lot of my Aussie friends tipped! Not the 15-20% we tip here in the States, but around 10%. I’m not talking about the corner pub, mind you.
And regarding this:
OMG! As if! :eek:
I think any self-respecting New Yorker would be shot on sight if they were caught in that ensemble!
It’s my experience that when it comes to people describing their own tipping habits, “generous” is a commonly-used and extremely subjective term.
When paying by credit card, I always do my best to avoid round numbers. Like, I’ll tip $2.68 on a check of $16.19 (16.6%) for a total of $18.87.
Just curious, is there any reason for this, or is it just a habit?
… Why?
This is a joke, right? What’s the point of “avoiding round numbers?” Like, are they scary or something? “Show us where the round numbers touched you.”
Seriously, been in the industry for almost seven years, and people who tip weird amounts that result in weird totals have always baffled me. People who tip weird amounts that add up to an even total also baffle me; it’s not as if your credit card statement’s going to be an even number either way…oh, and another thing, who cares if it is?
As per the OP, Anyanka, I do indeed tip my stylist. 20%, always. She’s a one-woman operation, so I don’t have anybody else to tip, but when I went to salons where different people did various things–colorist, shampoo girl, etc.–I tipped them all individually.
And I “overtip” in general. Been paying my rent with tips too long not to; being a college student, BlackKnight, is one of the goofiest excuses I’ve ever heard. I was a college student who tipped. We exist! Feel free to join us! Come towards the light!
And if you hate the whole practice of tipping, feel free to avoid establishments that expect it. Lots of places don’t. You’re a college student, for God’s sake. Surely you’ve got the brains to figure out which is which, right?
While I always tip in the appropriate situations, and usually more than the recommended 15% (my personal “good tip” is when I sit at Steak 'N Shake for a couple hours drinking coffee and reading (not when they’re busy), and tip $3 or $4 on a $1.09 cup of coffee if the waitress keeps the cup full, because that’s just plain good service), I disagree.
If tipping were, indeed, part of the cost of the meal, it would be illegal to not tip. It is not, and thus you can infer that tipping, although customary and a good idea and even a large portion of the waitperson’s pay, is NOT “part of the cost of the meal.”
That’d be akin to saying, “purchasing popcorn and a drink is part of the cost of attending a movie.” Even though (as I’ve read someplace on the boards) most of the theater’s profit comes from concessions, you’re certainly not required to buy them.
Also, please note there is a concurrent thread in the pit on this issue.
Maybe I have been doing the wrong thing.
I don’t tip my current stylist because she is a she is the owner. I have always figured that because she owns the place, she sets the prices and she gets all the money it was silly to tip her. When I use to get my hair cut by an employee I always tipped. And, I did give the owner a little bit extra at Christmas. But, I would never tip the owner on a regular basis.
Another Aussie here and no I generally don’t tip in Australia. If there’s a couple of bucks left over I might leave it behind but I wouldn’t do a calculation and see if it approached the 15% mark. This would only be in restaurants. Never for any other service.
Overseas I try to follow local customs.
In the US I think I tipped anyone that did anything for me lest they think I was a cheap Aussie and ‘withheld’ any further services.
Ditto in Argentina.
In the pacific area I also tended to tip well, because I believe that they are not paid well at all and they could use the tips.
On the matter of the tip line on CC bills, never. If you (or your recepit printer) think that makes me feel bad, tough luck buster. Don’t try and guilt me into a tip. You simlpy won’t get it.
I always tip the girl who gives me my haircut, because she does a good job, and I like the results.
In restaurants, I do not tip if the service is poor. I modify this occasionally depending on how busy the place is. Sometimes, if it’s a rush time and the restaurant is understaffed no amount of scurrying around will produce good service, simply becasue the server has too much to do. In contrast, a slow restaurant with a server that stands around looking stupid and still provides bad service never results in a tip.
For a good reason! When in Rome…
sigh
Look, I don’t like the system either. That being said, taking it out on the poor waiter or waitress who depends on tips to make a living is just low and crass.
I have no sympathy for people who don’t tip.
It’s a combination of my being weird, and what Audrey Levins said:
My husband is a light tipper. I’m a heavy tipper. I tip hair stylists the most (bad hair insurance). I won’t tip if a waiter or waitress is downright rude or grumpy. They need to get over themselves and quit taking their crappy lives out on their customers. When I’m in a restaurant, I expect prompt, courteous service. And if I don’t get it, it comes out of their tip (and I’ll tell a manager, too!).
Like other posters here, I tend to overtip. I will hardly ever tip less than 15%, usually 20% is my minimum. Mostly because I tend to frequent the same places a lot, and tipping good means I’m remembered, and get better service the next time I’m there.
Oh, and
I use my debit card for just about everything, so using even numbers makes balancing the checkbook easier.
Well, looks like the hamsters are hungry this morning and devoured my post… Let’s try this again.
I’m a tipper but really dislike the whole system.
I believe tipping should be reserved for superior service and not “expected” or “part of the cost of the meal.” Servers should be paid an honest wage and the product should be priced accordingly. Absolutely every other “non-tipping” industry in America seems to work well using this system.