# Tipping a flat amount **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 11, 2013, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping-a-flat-amount/663203 "2013-07-11T04:11:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2013, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping-a-flat-amount/663203/61 "2013-07-12T19:05:25Z")
Am I the only person that enjoys leaving tips? ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2013, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping-a-flat-amount/663203/62 "2013-07-12T19:19:42Z")
Why, yes, I love the fact that I am forced to participate in a social charade that manages to piss someone off half the time and always leaves me wondering whether I look like a cheapskate or a chump. ---
**Author:** ![Macca26](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/13edae/32.png) [@Macca26](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Macca26)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2013, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping-a-flat-amount/663203/63 "2013-07-12T19:23:50Z")
> [@Bob Ducca](#): > > Am I the only person that enjoys leaving tips? Nah, I’ve never had a problem tipping either. I would prefer the ideal of having everything built-in - that $6 sandwich becomes $8.50, and the server is actually paid a decent wage up front, but I’m not going to change that with my tipping practice. In the meantime, I feel good about tipping an exceptional server up to 30% and knowing that I made their night, and possibly made up for the 5 other douches they helped that tipped a measly $0.25. If servers ever complain about poor tippers on the internet, I usually see droves of people coming out of the woodwork saying, “you knew what you were getting into!”, “don’t like it, get another job!”, and “you should be grateful for anything at all!” but a tip under 10% for normal service is as insulting as spitting into somebody’s eye. Go low enough and you’re effectively stealing out of their pocket, especially if they still have to tip out at the end of the night and pay a generalized income tax on what the government _thinks_ they earned. Why should anyone be grateful for being treated like trash? “Oh, but their wage is filled up to minimum by law so it’s fine” You think a server is kept very long if management sees them go under minimum wage more than a couple times? They’ll toss the server out in a heartbeat for costing them money, even if the server didn’t do anything wrong. If management even follows the law and pays them up to minimum to begin with. From my experience at mom & pop establishments, owners treat flaunting the law as though it’s their job. In fact, all my mom & pop experiences were far more crooked and exploitative than my big company experiences. The short of it is: If custom is to tip, tip already or you’re screwing your server personally. If you don’t like the tipping system, speak to your state reps instead of doing that. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2013, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping-a-flat-amount/663203/64 "2013-07-12T19:26:06Z")
> [@Bob Ducca](#): > > Am I the only person that enjoys leaving tips? I’m with you. If I can’t afford food/drink/nice tip, I can stay at home and eat. “Hey, thanks **kayaker** ” is cool to hear as well from a smiling waitperson. ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2013, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping-a-flat-amount/663203/65 "2013-07-12T19:47:57Z")
Dave Hartwick if you wanna leave a flat amount, leave a flat amount. What’s going to happen is that you’ll make some random waitpeople very happy and make other random waitpeople very unhappy and none of your actions (up to and including explaining yourself to these waitpeople ahead of time) will actually address or rectify any of the concerns you have with tipping culture in the USA. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2013, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping-a-flat-amount/663203/66 "2013-07-12T20:04:01Z")
> [@Bob Ducca](#): > > Am I the only person that enjoys leaving tips? Nope. Especially when the server does a good job, no matter how expensive the restaurant is. We have very few chances to give feedback in our culture. As for high end restaurants, my understanding is that regular customers at Galatoire’s in New Orleans have their own waiters, waiters who have been there for decades. I assume high end restaurants with bigger bills have their choice of waiters, as opposed to Denny’s which probably has high turnover. I have no problem paying a select group more, but I also expect more. But I also agree that it is easier to pay a higher percentage at an expensive place. ---
**Author:** ![Blackberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blackberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackberry)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2013, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping-a-flat-amount/663203/67 "2013-07-12T20:11:13Z")
> [@Dangerosa](#): > > By federal law, employers are required to ensure that tips equal at least the minimum wage, or make up the difference. So a tipped employee should never go home at the end of the night having made less than minimum wage… > > yeah, that happens. But it is the law. I know, but in my state they make at least $9.19/hr \*plus \*tips. Much different from states where they make at least $7.xx including tips. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2013, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping-a-flat-amount/663203/68 "2013-07-12T20:27:05Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > Nope. Especially when the server does a good job, no matter how expensive the restaurant is. We have very few chances to give feedback in our culture. Few chances to give feedback? … Open Table, Yelp, Zagat, Urbanspoon, Trip Advisor, The New York Times, The Washington Post, … ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2013, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping-a-flat-amount/663203/69 "2013-07-12T20:36:38Z")
> [@Blackberry](#): > > I know, but in my state they make at least $9.19/hr \*plus \*tips. Much different from states where they make at least $7.xx including tips. Or $3.50, plus tips. ---
**Author:** ![InternetLegend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/internetlegend/32/13154_2.png) [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2013, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping-a-flat-amount/663203/70 "2013-07-13T05:56:02Z")
> [@Delayed\_Reflex](#): > > Maybe you could do a pseudo flat tip by figuring out the average value of a meal for that class of restaurant (ie. so that you’re still adhering to the convention that you should tip more at more expensive restaurants due to fewer tables per server and higher service standard). You could calculate a reasonable tip based on conventional % (15-20%) then tip that amount every time regardless of what you order. > > So for example you tip $2 at a $10 coffee-and-sandwich cafe sort of place, $5 for a $25 casual sit-down restaurant, $20 when at a $100 fancy restaurant, regardless of what you happened to order that day. Or, you know, tip 20%. It’s really easy if you think of it as double 10%, so you just have to move the decimal and multiply by two. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2013, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping-a-flat-amount/663203/71 "2013-07-13T06:47:47Z")
Over here, tipping has only caught on in recent years. The cheapie places you never tip. Half a notch above and you might leave the coins behind on the tray they bring you your change on. But in somewhat nicer places, meaning anyplace with air con, you only tip a flat rate of about 20-50 baht regardless of the size of the bill. That’s around a buck or a dollar and a half American. Nicer places still, you might leave 100 baht, just over three bucks, but usually not more than that. Maybe the OP should try Japan. Absolutely no tipping there, no ifs, ands or buts. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2013, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping-a-flat-amount/663203/72 "2013-07-13T07:29:09Z")
> [@Dangerosa](#): > > By federal law, employers are required to ensure that tips equal at least the minimum wage, or make up the difference. So a tipped employee should never go home at the end of the night having made less than minimum wage… True, but a server who forces his employer to make up the difference is going to find himself without a job. ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2013, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping-a-flat-amount/663203/73 "2013-07-13T11:29:00Z")
> [@Labrador\_Deceiver](#): > > Or $3.50, plus tips. That is what she is saying. The states where you have to make at least $7.15 including tips are the same ones as the ones where you make a pittance plus tips. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2013, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping-a-flat-amount/663203/74 "2013-07-13T12:18:06Z")
> [@Tabby\_Cat](#): > > I’ve paid service charges all over the world, based of a percentage of my final bill. Japan, Europe, Australia… It does depend who you are, and where you are going, but in AUS the only time I see a service charge on the bill is because they are using a standard form, with a space for you to fill in a tip. And they do that because they serve foreigners. It’s not an a service charge in the sense it would be perhaps in France, where the waiting staff legally get a fixed percentage of the bill. And I always ignore the it when I see it on the bill. Any tip I leave in Melbourne, I leave as cash on the table. Taxi’s I pay the meter or round up. Concierge or Doorman, I wouldn’t know, because I don’t get out very much. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2013, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping-a-flat-amount/663203/75 "2013-07-13T12:22:54Z")
> [@Johnny\_Bravo](#): > > True, but a server who forces his employer to make up the difference is going to find himself without a job. And the employer is doing the server a favor by firing them, right? There is either no business, shitty clientele, or else the server sucks at their job. ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2013, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping-a-flat-amount/663203/76 "2013-07-13T14:05:04Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > It does depend who you are, and where you are going, but in AUS the only time I see a service charge on the bill is because they are using a standard form, with a space for you to fill in a tip. And they do that because they serve foreigners. > > It’s not an a service charge in the sense it would be perhaps in France, where the waiting staff legally get a fixed percentage of the bill. > > And I always ignore the it when I see it on the bill. Any tip I leave in Melbourne, I leave as cash on the table. The only time I’ve ever seen anything like a service charge is when I stayed in a hotel that catered to international guests. The only other thing I can think of like it is that some (many?h eateries have a public holiday surcharge of around 15%, because they have to pay penalty rates on public holidays (double time and a half). I never tip because we have minimum wage laws. I verbalize my thanks and recommend the place to others. If a service charge appeared on the bill, I wouldn’t go back. That’s just greed. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2013, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping-a-flat-amount/663203/77 "2013-07-13T14:49:25Z")
Tangential question: In countries where it is not customary to always leave a tip for the server in a restaurant, are there other people whom it is the rule to tip (in other situations), or is tipping just not part of the culture at all? ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2013, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping-a-flat-amount/663203/78 "2013-07-13T15:47:51Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Maybe the OP should try Japan. Absolutely no tipping there, no ifs, ands or buts. When I was first in Japan, one of the other foreign guys in my group had gone out to dinner on his own one night. He told us later that he’d left a tip (not realizing this wasn’t the custom), and the server actually ran outside after him to return the money he’d “forgotten” on the table. > [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Tangential question: In countries where it is not customary to always leave a tip for the server in a restaurant, are there other people whom it is the rule to tip (in other situations), or is tipping just not part of the culture at all? I know you don’t tip cab drivers in Japan, and off the top of my head I can’t think of any other kind of service worker who’d normally be tipped there. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2013, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping-a-flat-amount/663203/79 "2013-07-13T16:05:21Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Tangential question: In countries where it is not customary to always leave a tip for the server in a restaurant, are there other people whom it is the rule to tip (in other situations), or is tipping just not part of the culture at all? **NEVER** offer your physician a gratuity following prostate exam. ---
**Author:** ![Emtar\_KronJonDerSohn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/58956e/32.png) [@Emtar\_KronJonDerSohn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emtar_KronJonDerSohn)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2013, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping-a-flat-amount/663203/80 "2013-07-13T17:11:09Z")
I think the part that will get you in trouble is the whole “disclosed in advance” thing. You’ll give the guy your spiel and he’ll give you a plastered smile and say “uh huh… Uh huh… Uh huh… Great! All right then!” He’ll immediately walk in the back and say “you won’t believe this fucking guy. He’s lecturing me on how I should make minimum wage instead of $2.13/hour plus $200/day in tips. He did say he’s going to give me exactly $15 regardless of the bill or my service to correct this cosmic injustice, so I’m pretty sure I’m going to drop off his food and then his check and I won’t have to talk to him anymore and I’m still getting paid.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping-a-flat-amount/663203.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping-a-flat-amount/663203.md?page=5)