May I add one more question?
Do servers prefer cash tips over tips added to a credit card bill, or does it matter? My brother-in-law always tips in cash, no matter what, and is certain he’s doing the servers a huge favor.
I know the SDMB definitely skews older, but I’d think these days it wouldn’t really matter as far fewer people are carrying cash anyway. I know one person under 35 that always uses cash at a bar and that’s because he doesn’t want his boyfriend to know he’s be out after work!
95% of the time I’m using a card. The only exceptions are very busy places as I mentioned above, especially if I’m not known there.
Don’t know if this makes a difference or not, but I’ll sometimes put a small tip on my credit card to round it up and give the difference in cash directly to the server. I’ll do this even if the tip is already calculated in the total, if the service was exceptional because I’m assuming the CC tip will go into the till and be split among the staff, but I want to make sure my server gets a little extra.
I’ll even tip the busperson directly (though they sometimes can’t accept tips) if they did more than that had to (refill drinks, remove/replace empty plates that my server ignored, etc). However, I’ll reduce the server’s tip by that amount though.
Also, what’s the deal with your alcoholic drinks with your meal? I’ve heard different answers, tip separately for the food and drinks, and tip on the total? What if there’s a separate server for the drinks? Tip them per drink served? Most of the people I’ve gone out to eat with aren’t big drinkers, two-three glasses at the most so this hasn’t been an issue.
What about if you order a $300 dollar bottle of wine or champagne, which is already marked up way more than the food, do you tip 20% on that too?
I’m really clueless as the biggest tab I’ve had so far was $800 for eight of us at a fairly nice place and that included the 18% gratuity on the bill. Can’t remember whether I gave the server extra cash or not.
As I said in my saga above, I try tip tip in cash if I possibly can. It’s my libertarian hope that it will be easier to hide from the IRS.
At the casino, the slot department’s tips were entirely cash as we simply had no CC transactions on which to put one. There was a lock box in the change booth which was staffed by the slot department* and we would put them into the box to be shared the next day. Once a dealer who’d been playing slots came up to me and gave a $5 bill saying, “I wanted to give this to you because you’re so nice. Don’t share it because it’s just for you.” I thanked her, waited until she’d walked out the door, then deposited it at the booth anyway; that’s Just How It’s Done.
*In contrast to the cashier’s cage which was run by Accounting.
We are currently in Europe and coming from a country where tipping is supposedly not usual have been confused by some of the terminology.
As an example the other night is a restaurant there was a “discretionary service charge” which could be added to the bill. Of course it was (12 1/2%) and then they wanted a tip on top. Next day at the Hard Rock Café on the account was the actual bill, a space for a “service charge” and a space for “tip”. I asked the waiter- who was very good- what was the difference and he said he didn’t know. I just paid the bill and tipped the waiter in cash indicating I wanted it to go to him.
Maybe I am wrong but I felt they were trying to screw us. I have been told (true or not) that staff never see the “service charge”.
There’s a downside to that. I have an uncle whose income has been mostly cash based/under the table his whole life. He recently had a health issue that threatened to take away his ability to work. He’s close to retirement age, but he’s paid so little into the system that he wouldn’t be eligible for much SS, and he has nothing by way of retirement fund.
Continuing on with the drinks. I’ve also been to some restaurants that give you a separate drinks tab, including some where the tip is automatically added to the food. I’m assuming this would be calculated at different rate?
I see that you are not American, but even in countries where local residents NEVER tip (like here in Poland for example) servers who know you are an American tourist understand that there is a good possibility that a tip will be forthcoming, and so will tend to give preferential service to your table.
And at least here in Krakow, I would guesstimate that over 95% of the people that eat or drink at Hard Rock Cafe (which is the heart of the Rynek Glowny, Krakow’s stunning Main Square, which is likely the singlemost tourist-centric spot in the entire country) are tourists, so if there is anywhere around that would perhaps expect tipping, the Hard Rock certainly would be it.
Somewhat tangential question: How often do restaurant cooks or servers sabotage the food of customers who don’t tip, or are jerks? I have read awful stories but they are probably confirmation bias.
Another question - why do I have to tip on the sales tax?
Say a food bill was $10 and then they add on 30% so an additional $3. Do I tip on $10 or $13?
Where do you live that sales tax is 30%?
When I was Saturday bartender, I had a regular I knew well. He was a total pain. One afternoon, he was really punching my buttons. His tab came to $150. He wrote $175 on the tip line and tossed the receipt to me with some snarky remark. I handed it back to him and said he might want to review it. He started reading me the riot act about how I should be happy with $25, blah, blah. I lost my temper and called him several names and adjusted the slip for him. It was the Hole in the Wall in the nineties and I could get away with that sort of talk*. Legally, he’d have been up a creek. Morally, I couldn’t take advantage of a full time junkie.
*"Look, you fucked up smack head, I’m trying to save you the aggravation of explaining to your poor old mother that you can’t do simple math. I’ll be glad too take a 115% tip, though it still isn’t worth the headache of listening to you run your mouth all afternoon. Now take this adjusted receipt, get your keeper to take you home for a fix, and get that nasty goddamn hairbrush OFF of my bar. "
It’s just an example. Now answer the question.
DesertWife ran into the same thing only it was because as a med-tech, she mostly worked in government-run hospitals which made her exempt from the SS deduction. When she was no longer able to work, thanks to ALS, she applied for disability she was two quarters short and got nothing.
People who are exempt from SS due to government work generally have a pension. Did your wife have a pension without disability coverage?
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You don’t have to do anything.
As I mentioned upthread, some waitstaff think tips should be calculated on the basis of the bill plus sales tax, but that’s not how anyone must do it.
Interesting. When I delivered for Jimmy John’s years ago, we got paid straight-up regular minimum wage, plus tips. I didn’t realize drivers more typically got the tipped workers wage. This would have been back in 1997/98. Back then I’d typically average around $13-$15/hr with tips (which is about $20-$23/hr today in buying power.) That said, we paid for our own gas, got no mileage reimbursement, had to provide our own vehicle, etc., so that is why I assume we were paid regular minimum wage and not the tipped workers rate.
My understanding for many years has been that it is supposed to be based on the pre-tax bill. Have I been wrong, has there always been a debate… or did it change?
Also… seems I read on these boards that the bar portion of the bill is subject to question as well.
I’ve always heard pre-tax myself, though I think most people do post-tax (except for those who do stuff like double the tax line for the tip if they live somewhere convenient where using the tax line works for the tip.) Not aware if it changed, as it doesn’t really matter to me, as I just look at the total and and basically double it, chop off a number, and round it to whatever is convenient. (I mean, how pissy does that author have to be to complain about that? So a $50 bill is, say $55 post tax at one of the higher-taxed areas, so that’s a tip difference, assuming 20%, of $10 vs $11. Or, hell, even if it’s a $500 bill, that’s a difference of $100 tip vs $110 tip. Really, he’s scornful of that?)
Basically, it doesn’t fricking matter. Pre-tax, post-tax, whatever.