Tipping, what's the deal with

Discussion in 'Random Thoughts' started by Stuff Jones, Sep 10, 2019.

  1. msommers

    msommers High on Epipens

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    Tipping is such a stupid concept. I do it because it's a cultural norm in North America but at the end of the day it doesn't guarantee f**k all.
     
  2. gixxerwimp

    gixxerwimp Professional tricycle rider

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    Tipping customs here are pretty much the same as where @JustAnotherRando is. Fancier restaurants tack on a mandatory 10% that I'm pretty sure employees never see. There is zero tipping anywhere else. We tip the fast food delivery guy around USD1.50, and they're usually very embarrassed to accept it.

    I've never seen the "tip" option here* when paying by credit card. I flip my "tipping" switch on when travelling and one time in Slovenia I asked the waiter where I should leave the tip doing the credit card payment. He looked rather offended and said, "I earn my salary, thank you."

    Here's something I've always wondered. When Taiwanese go abroad, the tour guides always tell them they should leave $1 or euro on the night stand for housekeeping, whether it be N. America or Europe. I never stayed in hotels much before moving back here, and this was a new one on me. Does anyone do this? Housekeeping is a tough and thankless job, so I can see how a tip would be appreciated.

    *edit
     
    Last edited: Sep 10, 2019
  3. Cspirou

    Cspirou They call me Sparky

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    Just 20% no matter what the service. It's not a reward, its extortion. I hate paying it like I hate paying baggage fees. Just raise the price of food to cover it.

    Tipping is less about rewarding people and more about the power to punish them.

    Btw, this is the USA only. In France I don't really tip. When paying by card they don't even have the tip line.
     
    Last edited: Sep 11, 2019
  4. Bina

    Bina MOT - Shanling

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    Wow, 20% seems extreme to me. In my life in Czech I think I only gave such tip once, because it was super amazing place. Normally would be around 10% in normal restaurants, anything less(no service, sandwich place, etc) gets no tip.

    Now in China, few posh places will give you 4-5% charge on top. Some other places will automatically charge you 3-5 RMB (0.7 USD) per person for tea/utensils. There is no other tipping.
     
  5. LetMeBeFrank

    LetMeBeFrank Won't tell anyone my name is actually Francis

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    The problem is in the USA we can legally pay servers less than (about half) minimum wage because they will "more than make up for it in tips". You literally cannot live without tips as a server in the USA. I tip about 20% on average unless the service was shitty, in that case I do about 10% or less depending on just how bad. I refuse to tip at a place where I order by phone and carry out. I wish they would get rid of the loophole for paying servers less and just charge more for the food.
     
  6. DigMe

    DigMe Friend

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    In the US we tip 2 to 3 dollars a day for housekeepers. It is a pretty thankless job and its so rare that I come across a housekeeper that is not polite and gracious. Its also not necessary to have your room cleaned everyday.
     
  7. gixxerwimp

    gixxerwimp Professional tricycle rider

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    I agree, but my wife insists on it, especially as she's paying for it #myavatar
     
  8. rlow

    rlow A happy woofer

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    Come on baby leave some change behind
    She was a bitch but I don't care
    She brought our food out on time
    And wore a funky barrette in her hair

    Come on baby leave some change behind
    She was a bitch but good enough
    To leave some change everybody's good
    Enough for some change

    Some f'ing chaeaeaeange!

    The girl's got family
    She needs cash to buy aspirin for
    Her pain everybody's good enough
    For some change

    We all get the flu we all get aids
    We've got to stick together
    After all, everybody's good enough
    For some change, some f'ing change



    If you work a minimum wage thankless service job dealing with the general public where you generally have to take shit from customers constantly, and you have an opportunity (and means) to help out just a bit, just do it. Even going through the coffee drive thru, I generally leave a quarter or 50 cents behind (or whatever the change is I was going to get back) - it adds up, and these guys (mostly gals) count on it. Greedy business owners are not going to increase their wages period, unless it’s legislated, so helping out like this keeps many families afloat.
     
    Last edited: Sep 11, 2019
  9. rlow

    rlow A happy woofer

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    I want to add to this however based on the OP:

    I don’t generally agree with providing tips up-front before the service or product was provided, especially when we’re talking about something more expensive than say a coffee.

    In a decent sit-down restaurant, if you’re a jerk or serve me something that is clearly bad and then make a fuss about me returning it, you won’t get tipped. Mistakes in food prep happen, but if you push back on me about it, tip gone.
     
    Last edited: Sep 11, 2019
  10. Stuff Jones

    Stuff Jones Friend

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    How much do you tip your stable boy?
     
  11. Deep Funk

    Deep Funk Deep thoughts - Friend

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    My opinion will deviate a bit.

    I am Dutch and live in the Netherlands. Life here is not cheap, but still affordable. In the hospitality sector we make minimum wage but if you work less that 24-30 hours in the week on average, you will end up broke in most cases. (I have been a temporary hire with 0-hour contract for some years, I know the feeling.)

    I tip on two conditions:
    1. Appreciation of my fellow brothers and sisters doing a labour intensive job (know at least 50% of them are hoping to get out of it).
    2. Good service and/or actually trying to do a good job (when people give a f**k, you recognise it and appreciate it). It does not have to be much mind you, a good joke alone earns you my tip.
    In case somebody fucks up and simply will not apologise or try to fix the situation (politesse and a resourcefulness) that person does not deserve my tip. You can be grumpy, okay. You can be tired, that is life.

    When someone is simply not trying even a bit, f**k it. My wallet's contents will not be shared. I believe that in life you should treat others like you want to be treated. That little bit of decency makes life very pleasant.

    I have had colleagues who could not even do that. I will never miss those people.

    P.S.

    Standard for me: 10-ish %
    You make me laugh: at least 20-ish %
     
  12. elmoe

    elmoe Friend

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    Bad service, no tip
    Good service, at least 20%
    Great service, at least 30%

    Roughly, anyway. I only tip when there is actual service. You're taking my order behind a counter I walk up to I'm not tipping you.

    In America I generally tip: waiters, whoever is cutting my hair, whoever carries my luggage at a hotel, food delivery people, taxi/Uber drivers.

    In France I'll leave a tip on the table for a waiter at a café and food delivery people that's about it. Most people would get offended if you tried to tip them, it's a culture thing.
     
  13. Zhanming057

    Zhanming057 Friend

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    As a few others here have noted, tipping in the US is largely a necessity because restaurants pay staff less than minimum wage and expects the gap to be made up for by tipping. That doesn't mean that it's not an incentive mechanism as well, it means that people who are really good at their job (and who work at popular spots) can make above market wages. In theory this should mean that servers in the US have a reason to provide good service. In practice, this is often not the case...but I know a few guys/gals at well-reviewed places in NYC, and on a good night they can pull in $500+ on tips alone. That's not something you'll ever see in Europe.

    Now, if you give me legitimately bad service I will absolutely not tip. Bad food doesn't count, slow service because of issues outside of the waiter/waitress' ability to resolve doesn't count. It has to be something that the service person is directly responsible for. I can only recall a handful of instances where I left a 0% tip in the past couple of years. If you're racist, outrageously misogynist, or tries to pull a bait-and-switch, I would say that you really shouldn't be in the service industry to begin with.

    If I really like a place, I will tip beyond 25%. The places I really, really like and visit often I will make a point of giving each member of the Christmas day staff a big cash tip. As for OTC tipping, I would not do it personally unless the order is particularly large or complicated.
     
  14. DigMe

    DigMe Friend

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    This is funny but it kind of captures some of the psychology of tipping in the U.S.

     
  15. Biodegraded

    Biodegraded Friend

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    Stable boys, pool boys etc. are not tipped because it is expected they will be shagging the wives / daughters of the household. Tradition, you understand.
     
  16. Stuff Jones

    Stuff Jones Friend

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    Several commenters, perhaps not reading the OP, have defended tipping. I'm not attacking the practice of tipping in general in the USA. I've worked in restaurants. I've relied on tips for a good portion of my paycheck. I know how the system works. I tip generously (when service is good) in traditional tipping environments.

    My issue, again, is with a) pre tipping before any service is provided and b) tipping when very minimal customer service is provided.
     
  17. captkirk

    captkirk Khan's BFF

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    A) Not really something that I've experienced much. I guess it comes to play when you have an expectation that the tip will yield favorable treatment later on.

    The only example that comes to mind is when I walk in to a busy bar. With the bar tender running around, I typically don't make an ass of myself with trying to call them out. I'll find a space, lay a $20 down on the bar-top and wait. Good bar tenders usually pick this up quickly, ask what I need and I order. When they return with the drinks, they get the $20 and my card with a request to open a tab. Now each time I return, the bar tender helps me with little delay. End of they night, they get another tip.

    B) Not a fan of the tip jar sitting there with the cashier's expectation that I'll drop change, or the easier "add 10%, 15%, 20% tip" using a card because they made my burrito the way I requested. I just don't do it.

    Though.. following @Deep Funk, if said burrito crew made me laugh, smile, or made my little girls giggle, things change and I may provide some compensation...ultimately just how I feel.
     
  18. Deep Funk

    Deep Funk Deep thoughts - Friend

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    Reminds me of my previous job. Sometimes I had to make food deliveries by moped in Amsterdam.

    Some delivery guys always expected a tip. Some delivery guys never expected a tip. At worst some of these guys did not even bother with a simple greeting and "Enjoy your meal!", they still expected a tip.

    I still do not understand that attitude. Often I would greet, say "Enjoy your meal!" and even people who did not intend to tip still tipped. Then again I was so used to being in restaurants that I had become aware that at least a modest "Bon appetit!" can make the consuming of food and drinks slightly more pleasant.

    We agree with you \/

    The name of this thread is very general and non-specific. You might as well call it "Tipping" and we can respond with mountain tips, tipping on toes, ballet, the tip of a sword or even how to give tips by means of advice.
     
  19. Thad E Ginathom

    Thad E Ginathom Friend

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    I generally and mostly agree with everyone about everything in this thread. Which is probably a first!

    Just... the percentages you Americans pay as tips amaze me.
     
  20. Lyander

    Lyander Official SBAF Equitable Empathizer

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    The way I understand it, having been friends with more than a few Filipino-Americans who've visited the country because college here doesn't sink people into crippling debt (small upside all things considered), the reason people go and tip that much relative to the cost of product purchased/service rendered is that the prices are low with expectation of tips to begin with.


    An aside: I chuckled a bit when @treboR mentioned barbers generously earlier in the thread because I go at least 50% for them specifically. It's a holdover from time spent with my grandpa as a kid, he was one of those very old-fashioned types, a proper born-in-the-1910s, spend-half-your-life-at-a-company-and-get-a-nice-car-as-a-gift-from-your-boss-towards-retirement guys who held some pretty unfortunate beliefs but was kind for the most part. We were regulars at this one place and went together to get our hair trimmed every other week, it was good fun and we all got along really well with the staff there. Shit happened, his regular barber died after botched brain surgery while mine got gunned down during a mugging just a few years after. I haven't been there in about a decade now I think, but still have fond memories.

    Nowadays I just get my hair cut wherever, but the habit of being stupidly generous with tips (given cultural context) stuck. Gotta be nice to people holding sharp objects near your neck I suppose :p
     

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