I’m in the limousine business. Most of my clients do tip, but the amounts vary. A typical charge for a ride to the airport is $40, and I get $5 most often as a tip. Of course, $6 would be 15%, and $8 would be 20%, and I could really get into that. But I think that clients frequently don’t bother to do the math, they just add a tip, and $5 is a handy amount. Now for my corporate clients, whom I send a monthly invoice, I add 15% to the bill. A few of them have instructed me to add 20%, which is actually the norm in this industry. I’ve always thought that a tip should be an expression of the customer’s own generosity or lack of same, and should be based on his/her perception of the service received. I have a few (thankfully, a very few) customers who don’t tip anything. On the other hand, I’ve had tips as much as 50% to 100% of the bill! Go figure. I do know this – whatever the client hands me is just fine. I also think that some people don’t tip because they were raised that way. It’s almost predictable, really, as to who will and who won’t tip. When I was in the taxi business, I found that black people usually did not tip at all. Maybe they just couldn’t afford it. The best tips frequently come from people who work in the service industry.
I think if we eliminated tipping in all the personal service industries, it would eventually crop back up again.
There are many customers who are willing to give a little extra for better personal service. Instead of paying $10 for a meal like everyone else, there are some willing to pay $15 just to get better service and attention.
So even if restaurants went off the tipping system, and employers pay their employees more and charge more for their meals, there would still be customers seeking better treatment with a few extra dollars. Of course, the restaurant could put up a sign, “Absolutely no tipping employees,” but there are ways around that. And as one customer sees another customer being treated better, he would do what he can to get the same treatment. And tipping would resume once again.
This is just the tip of the iceberg (forgive the pun), this can be seen in politics, also, where special interest groups will donate to a politician running for office in exchange for favors when the politician gets into office.
And David, if someone offered you $10000 to publish his biased article under your name, and you hypothetically accepted, that would be tipping, wouldn’t it?
There’s always another beer.
Gaudere, for shame!
Uh-uh.
It tolls for thee.
Of course truth is stranger than fiction. Fiction has to make sense.
Mark Twain