How much do you tip?

In My Humble Opinion
21

I agree, LifeOnWry has my vote for best tipping plan so far. However, I take serious issue with your assumption that your pizza guy was at fault for your pizza’s lateness/warmness.

People tend to think that they call up, some guy’s just standing around doing nothing except waiting for their order, some other guy has nothing better to do than wait for that pizza to come out of the oven, and then delivers only that pizza to that house. What could be more wrong?

A pizza shop (Ispeak from years of experience) is an elaborate coordination of people multitasking as efficiently as possible (given the volume of business and the staff).

The chances that your pizza was at least 35 minutes old when your delivery guy even first laid eyes on your order are quite high. He got the order when it was old, hence it was delivered later.

Consider the alternative, he was lounging in a parking lot, making his hourly $6, instead of making the $15+ he would make if he were hustling. Not likely.

I usually chime in on these tip threads because I think I have a pretty damn good idea of how the tip-ees take the tip. Pizza delivery is my forte in this manner, but I also have definite opinions as far as sit-down service is concerned.

I only tip less than %20 if the service was bad or just not good. There is no in between for me, %15 if you were only adequate, %20+ if you were at least good.

One thing I really like to impress upon people is that the whole percentage thing is just a guideline. If you tip %15 to the penny, not only are you super anal, but you’re also cheap. Think of it this way, a dollar buys you the same amount of goods that it buys your server. Should the fact that she only brought out a side salad to you (instead of a dinner), make a difference in whether she gets .76 or 2.50? The dinner plate didn’t weigh that much more.

All I’m saying is that good servers/bartenders deserve good tips, and crappy servers/bartenders deserve to get shorted. Rounding up to the next dollar when appropriate is genuinely appreciated. Think “He deserves $3.” rather than “%20 is exactly 2.43.”

One last note before I STFU, if you regularly order food for delivery, you are a known commodity. Great tippers are remembered down to their side order preference, bad tippers are remembered equally as well. Your tip average is not only known by the guy that usually delivers to you, it’s in his fellow driver’s list as well. Guess which one’s the drivers fought over?

22

Speaking from ~ 18 months of pizza delivery:

While none of this is incorrect, you’re also forgetting that during that 35 minutes that my (or yours, or his, or her) pizza is getting old and cold, the driver who isn’t bringing it to me is (likely) out with other pizzas (likely multiple addresses on a single run) , and (likely) making pretty good tips that day.

As long as my pizza gets there within an hour (of course, there’s exceptions if they tell you it’s going to be a lot more or a lot less than this) I’ll tip 3 to 4 bucks on a $12-17 order. However, if I get a cold pizza – so sorry! Probably no tip and maybe a buck if I’m feeling nice. If the driver makes it up (tells manager and I get a new, hot, comped pie) then of course I’ll give em a $5 when they come back.

A late, cold, nasty pizza is not always the fault of the driver…it may be poor scheduling on the managers part or maybe someone calls off late. However, I’m not ordering from them to tip well in case it’s someone elses fault. Want a nice tip? Make it right with me.

(Note that in the 5 years I have been ordering from the same shop, I’ve only not tipped 4 or 5 times out of a couple hundred orders)

To answer the OP:

I start with 20% in a restaurant. 10% means you were horrible. I’ve only ever not tipped two servers in my life, and they really deserved it.

At a bar, roughly a buck per drink I order but that may go down if I order a few at a time (maybe $3 or 4 drinks or $4 on 5 drinks). I would tip more per drink if I ordered anything that was complicated, but I never do.

23

If the service has been exceptionally good and it’s a “serious” restaurant, then I might tip 5-10%. On any other occasion (e.g. at less formal cafes, bistros etc) I wouldn’t leave any tip at all. In those situations I normally take take the bill to the cashier, hand over my money and simply pocket all of the change. Of course, the situation is different here, where tipping is not as common, thankfully.

24

So lads, what would you tip for a drink in a bar in the States?

I have been reading the thread with interest as I will be going to the States for the first time this year (woo hoo!) and don’t want to come over all stingy European.

Mind you, it would take some doing to beat you Americans. I don’t wait tables, but have been known to play Irish music in pubs. I either do this for fun or get paid already, but so many Americans give us huge tips for it. I want to be honest and say to you all here that there is really no need to tip pub musicians. But we do so appreciate the free round of drinks, though!

25

My parents tend to tip 10% for “average” service, 5% for buffets or do-it-yourself restaurants. I find this embarrassingly low, and always try to tip at least +5% over them. Sometimes we have minor rows over whether I’m “wasting” money by tipping more.

The really weird part is that my Dad used to work a stint as a waiter, so he knows how dependent the waitstaff are on good tips. I can’t grok it.

26

According to your guidelines, you’re a cheap bastard. I’ll say again, think of the dollar amount that you’re actually leaving your server. If your service wasn’t worth a tip, tell the manager, if it was, tip accordingly.

I completely agree with non-tips for crappy service. TIPS stands for To Insure Promt Service.

A %5 to %10 tip is well below the norm theses days. The people who give you your food need to feed their families as well, but you’d maybe prefer unskilled laborers filling your orders. You get what you pay for.

Poor tipping will always, always, equal lesser quality service. Unless, of course you are immune to the rules of tipping. In which case, you have carte blanche, so you need not care what the people that serve you feel. Good luck not getting spit in your food!

27

I normally leave $2 when I eat out and just forget the percentages… I’ll gladly add another dollar or two for attentive waiters though.

At bars, I typically knock it up to $5.
I guess I’m cheap.

28

Bands in the US don’t normally get “tipped”. A good rule for tipping US bartenders is $! a drink. You usually can’t go wrong with that ratio. As always, tip according to the level of direct service that you recieve.

29

That should read $1 a drink. Sorry.

30

You seem to understand that the time that your pie gets there is not neccesarily a function of the driver’s competence, this is usually true. The fact that your food was not delivered hot, is certainly grounds for replacement. How would this be the driver’s fault?

Quoting you: "However, if I get a cold pizza – so sorry! Probably no tip and maybe a buck if I’m feeling nice. "

I read your second sentence there, but it’s not always practical. It’s almost always not the delivery guy’s fault. Give him a buck or two, and when you take issue with the pizza shop, you’ll get a free pie. ( for reputable companies of course) If you tipped the driver at all, chances are much better than average that he’s on your side. You’ll get your free pie. You’ll have an advocate in the store, and you’ve established yourself as a compliant customer.

Tipped employees are generally quite protective of their regular customers.

31

How on earth would anyone know to spit into my food? The tip (or lack thereof) comes at the end of the process, after the food has been prepared and eaten.

The situation is not the same in Australia as it is in the USA. Tipping is not, and never has been, automatic. For one thing, restaurant staff are paid considerably better wages. As I said before, I’ll consider tipping for exceptional service. But if I’m in a small cafe, where I have a light meal, then I don’t usually tip the waiter. I can’t see that what the waiter does (i.e. take my order and then bring the meal from the kitchen to my table) is any more or less helpful than what the sales assistant does in a department store, or the cashier does at a supermarket - and I don’t tip any of them. That’s their job and the costs of paying them to do their job are factored into the cost of the product that I buy.

32

No, it doesn’t. And in Australia we don’t tip on a regular basis–the federal minimum wage is over $11/hour–so save the lecture.

33

**How much do we tip hairdressers? **

I have wondered this too.

I finally found a genius of a guy to do my hair and he is (in my view) expensive, but worth every penny. Last time I was there I think the bill was $60, and I gave him $70. I’m not sure if that was a bad tip or not (he works in an upscale salon) and if I should increase the tip at my next appointment or not.

34

What I tip depends on what I’m tipping for.

In a restaurant, I start about 20% and work up or down from there. In a bar, I usually tip about a buck per drink, then if I’m there for a while, I tip the bartender a five or a ten when I leave.

Pizza deliveries, I tip about the same as in a restaurant… but if it’s late, sometimes I don’t tip at all. I really don’t care whether it’s the driver’s fault or not, I tip to reward good service. If I get my pizza an hour or more after I order it, I didn’t get good service. I do make exceptions for this if they tell me it will be an hour or more when I order it.

35

15% to 20% for adequate service for lunch.
20% to 25% for adequate service for dinner.

I don’t know why I differentiate. I almost always end up doing 20%, but if I’m a bit short, I don’t feel bad about 15% at lunchtime. Weird, huh?

36

15%, and that’s pretty solid, no matter what the service. A server would have to be extremely hateful for me to not be able to say to myself, “Maybe he/she is just having a rotten day.” As for wonderful service, well, I’m poor. In that case, I say to myself, at least they got ME, a polite, easy, and friendly customer, which in food service is no small thing.

37

I usually leave 20% minimum. 5 years working in a restaurant taught me how absolutely horrible of a job it is! (and was great motivation to get my engineering degree!)

I’ll go well over 20% for very good service. The way I see it is that I won’t go out to eat unless I have the extra money to spend - including the tip. Some people see reducing the tip as a way to decrease their bill, but I think that’s completely unfair to the server.

Some things that will earn a higher tip from me:

  • Remembering where the food and drinks go at the table. I hate it when servers have to “auction off” the food. I would never let myself do this when I was waiting tables and I didn’t exactly work at a fancy restaurant! It’s not too hard to write the orders down the way people are seated, then arrange the entrees before taking them to the table. Of course, exceptions are made if people are moving around at the table.

-An over all cheery attitude is a big plus. Servers that can keep it together and at least appear to be happy even when really busy are somewhat rare. I remember I was always smiling and cheerful at the tables, but back in the kitchen is where I’d start complaining or making faces.

-Pre-emptive refills. I should never have to ask for a refill on a beverage that includes free refills.

I think the worst tip I’ve ever left was 10%… It was absolutely slow and horrendous service and I don’t think the waiter even said a word to us the entire time. He just kind of appeared at the table and looked at us until we said our orders. It was kind of surreal, honestly… (this restaurant is now out of business…)

38

I tip starting at 20% and work from there.
A few months ago I was in Denver and because it was snowing, I decided to eat in the hotel. The tip that night came out to about 600%.
Here is the deal, the kitchen screwed up the order, and it took almost 45 minutes to get my meal out. The waiter went to bat for me, and got the meal comped. I wanted to leave him a tip, because he had done so much for me. Because I was traveling on business everything has to be on my credit card for expense account purposes. So I instructed him to charge me for something, I did not care what, and bring me the bill. He went over and fussed with the register for a few minutes, and brought me a bill for $2.00 for a tonic water. I added a $12 tip and gave it back. The look on his face was priceless when he read the tip amount. Made my day. :smiley:

39

I’m an Australian living in the US for nearly 5 years now. I generally tip 15% in restaurants, since that’s apparently the normal thing, in both Canada and the US. I just round up a little in Australia, since that’s the norm there. I don’t really like tipping, but I will live in accordance with the customs of the country that I’m in.

40

I eat out three or more times each week, and I tend to tip “big” as an investment move. Plenty of times I have been seated before others when there was a wait, and I typically get great service. If service is sooo bad that I do not want to leave a tip, I discuss the situation with management.