Tipping question re: services

In My Humble Opinion
21

See, this is why I think this is a messed up system. I would never think to tip a plumber, since they make a professional wage. And again, I’d hate to think that they were charging less than what they expected to make, and then walk away pissed at me for not paying what they felt they were worth. However, I can’t afford to tip 10-20% for every time I pay an individual to do something for me.

I hate to be constantly contrary here, and I totally get the loyalty bit you mentioned in your previous post. The big issue I have is when the requested fee is not the expected fee.

22

All of this tipping really gets to me. I almost avoid going out just because I don’t like to tip, though I do when we go out and above the 15%. This is why I’ve started going to a no tipping salon to get my hair done. I never knew such a place existed until six months or so ago. I pay more, but now I pay and walk out.

When I first went there I asked the woman if she like it without tips and she said at first she didn’t, but now she does. I also asked what happens if I do try and tip her and was told that the next time I came in that tip would be taken off of my bill.

23

Damn! I thought it was easy too until you said this! When I went to the doctor and he checked my prostate, I forget to give him a tip! I feel so gauche now.

24

Plumbers get tipped? What the hell? msmith, if you’re reading this thread, this is the kind of wacky tipping culture I associate with NYC.

I’ve never heard of tipping a plumber, and I really hope it’s not traditional in NC.

THe only massage I ever paid for was at a massage school. Afterwards, when I was paying up front, I discreetly asked the receptionist what the standard tip would be (since I had no idea, being generally clueless about this sort of thing). He told me it was forbidden for the students to accept tips. Cool.

Daniel

25

Have you ever hired someone to work on a house or apartment? Plumbers, carpenters, painters, electricians- they don’t get tipped. My insurance agent used to come to my house- he didn’t get tipped either. Doctors making housecalls wouldn’t get tipped just like visiting nurses or home attendants currently don’t get tipped. About the only people who come into your house and do get tipped are delivery people and maybe a housecleaner hired through a service.

26

I tipped a plumber once who made a late night emergency call - $40 on a $200 bill.

27

No way am I tipping someone who makes better money than I do.

28

I just spent three weeks in Egypt (Flickr link coming, eventually). You have to tip (baksheesh) for everything. You tip the bathroom attendants a pound (Egyptian pounds, not English pounds), or you don’t get toilet paper. You tip museum attendants five or ten pounds, and they won’t notice when you whip out your camera. I ended up keeping my wallet in an inside pocket, and two other pockets contained $US and Egyptian pounds, just for tipping.

While I was attempting to cross a street, a cop came up, stopped traffic and led me to the other side. While I was wondering whether or not to tip him, he just said, most of the way across the street, “Tip?” I honestly worried that overtipping or tipping people who didn’t get tips might offend people. Nope; they’re okay with it. (I resented his help; I was doing just fine. I had a plan, dammit.)

That would have been my big tipping in Egypt story, but when we were going through customs to leave Egypt, I thought for sure that our ever peppy tour guide would hold back a little. But no, he went around a corner, I saw some money change hands, and bang! Another line opened up, coincidentally right where we were standing. Guys are standing around with machine guns, and part of the accepted process is to bribe people to to get special treatment? AAAAACK!

By the end of the trip, I’d run out of $1 bills and most low-denomination Egyptian money, so started tipping with what I had left: $5’s, $10’s and a couple of 50-pound notes. One of the last luggage attendants I tipped under this unfortunate policy basically wanted to give me a blowjob right there by the curb.

At least it’s consistent in Egypt: posted prices mean nothing, and everything is negotiable. In the US, it’s vague and I don’t like it. As for tipping, I generally follow the rule that if someone is working for The Man, I will tip them. Plumbers and Electricians, Roofers, etc. are all professional and usually independent contractors; I don’t tip them. All people delivering large things get tips. Though I want to tip them, the UPS and US Post Office get no tips, primarily because the scoot away so quickly I can’t tip them.

I know a massage therapist who fills in at a local spa – they get reamed, and not in a good way. Costs are $55 for a one hour massage, and the massage therapists get $25 of that money. It’s criminal. Now that my back problems are under control, I rarely get massages, but when I do, I tip $20 because I think they’re getting a raw deal.

Oop! I looked it up once: USPS rules prohibit monetary tips and anything worth more than $20. I don’t know if UPS has any rules.

29

Maybe even sven meant that plumbers get tipped if they have to work on the toilet, but they don’t need a tip if they just do something to the sink.

In any case, I agree with groo - (disclaimer: I’m against the tipping system in the first place) - the tipping system in the USA is a mess. There are too many cases where you don’t know how much to tip or even if you should.