tipping? yes, no, where?

[Ken Gargett]

tipping does vary from country to country. i have mates who take the view that no one pays them extra for doing their job so why should they? others religiously give 10 or 15 or 20%. i'm certainly not a big tipper but i usually leave something, usually 10-15%. if the service brilliant, more. 

but i have no hesitation to leave zero if not happy with the service. 

this from the 'Eater' site. they are obviously from the top big school. 

thoughts? 

 

The No-Tipping Point

Inside the twisted minds of deliberately bad tippers

by Monica Burton  Jul 27, 2018, 9:30am EDT

Illustration by Kevin VQ Dam

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“I don’t tip because society says I have to,” says Mr. Pink, the crook played by Steve Buscemi in the 1992 Quentin Tarantino film Reservoir Dogs. “Alright, I mean I’ll tip if somebody really deserves a tip. If they put forth the effort, I’ll give them something extra. But I mean, this tipping automatically, it’s for the birds.”

More than 20 years later, there are real people, dining among us, who still feel that way.

“I just don’t feel the need to tip that much,” explains Sam, a 29-year-old woman living in New York City. “I spend a lot on food and alcohol and travel because I enjoy those things. I’ll tip a little bit but I don’t feel like I need to tip a lot.” Sam knows that she should tip, and shame around not tipping well is one of the reasons she has asked not to be identified by her full name here.

Her standard tip is around $5, whether the bill is $50 or $100. (This is up from $1 or $2, the amount she’d drop when she first started dining out as a college student in Indiana.) There have been times when she hasn’t left a tip at all — not because service was bad, but just because she didn’t feel like tipping that day.

Sam knows the amount she chooses to tip isn’t the norm. In fact, one of the reasons she doesn’t think she needs to tip is because she believes everyone else tips enough to make up for it. “They’re making $5 off of me and the next person they’ll get like $25, $30, and that’s all going to their pocket, so what’s the difference?” she says. “I’d rather spend that money on other things.”

Sam says her friends all tell her that she should tip at least 18 percent, but she just doesn’t care that much. “I’m not going to be rude and say I don’t care, but I actually really don’t care,” she says. “That’s not my concern. I don’t know you. You chose that profession.”

Studies say that when it comes to bad tippers, most are just people who don’t know any better. According to Michael Lynn, a tipping expert at Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration, 40 percent of people aren’t aware that they should be tipping between 15 and 20 percent. “My guess is that’s true for most people,” he says. “You have to know the norm.”

It’s true that some bad tippers, according to Lynn, can’t afford it. “They may not have the money, or they have so little money that the alternative uses of it are more important to them than the social approval that comes from tipping,” he says.

A recent report from CreditCards.com supports the idea that bad tipping correlates with lower incomes. It claims that millennials are the worst generation of tippers (with 10 percent of millennials surveyed admitting to not tipping restaurant servers at all) and theorizes that adults under 37 have less money than older people and therefore tip less. But voluntary, informed bad tippers like Sam can afford to tip — they just don’t. For the birds.

Anti-tipping sentiment has naturally found a home on Reddit, the popular venue for unpopular opinions. “If you want more money get a better job,” reads one comment on a thread asking the bad tippers of the internet to explain themselves. Another Reddit commenter thinks that a tip is the server’s to gain or lose, not a required cost of dining out. “I have absolutely no problem leaving nothing as a tip if I feel that the service didn’t warrant one,” the commenter writes.

James, 22, who lives in midwestern Canada, where it’s customary to tip between 15 and 20 percent, is against tipping on principle. “I feel no pressure to give a tip because I think customers supporting the ridiculous low wages are preposterous,” he says. “The establishment should be paying a living wage for a professional server, and I am of the opinion that when this happens service will go up rather than down.”

When James dines out, which he does a few times a week, he says he plays a rounding game with the bill at the end of the meal. “I will add a few dollars and round it to an even number, say a $36.87 meal being tipped $3.13 to make $40.00,” he explains. “This isn’t because I want to tip, it just gives me a little mental math game and I like even numbers.”

James isn’t alone in recognizing tipping as a problem. To be sure, tipping as a system is bad: It fosters sexual harassment, worsens racial inequalities, and encourages worker exploitation. Because of this, some restaurants have signed on to the growing no-gratuity movement, led in part by New York restaurateur Danny Meyer. But at most restaurants, diners are still expected to add a standard 20 percent to their restaurant bill. For servers, tips aren’t bonus money — they’re money they depend on to make a living on top of a wage that can be as low as a few bucks an hour. That not all diners pay up is just one more problem with tipping.

One need only Google “bad tippers” to see that money and age aren’t the sole factors contributing to bad tips. While Reddit users can freely and anonymously display their disdain for tipping, bad tippers with public profiles are covered on both entertainment blogs and local news sites. Tiger Woods, Sean Penn, Barbra Streisand, and Madonna are all rumored bad tippers. They’re not principled millennials, and presumably they have the money to add 20 percent to their restaurant tabs, so for people in this category, is not tipping well simply an inexplicable character flaw?

Lynn says the more “puzzling” question isn’t why people don’t tip, but why they would tip at all. To provide some explanation, he created a “motivational framework” for tipping in a 2015 paper. It proposes five different reasons why a person might tip: a desire to help servers; to reward servers; to secure future good service; to gain social approval or self-esteem; or merely to fulfill a sense of obligation. “These positive motivations for tipping are opposed by a desire to keep the tip money for other uses and a dislike of the status differences implied and created by tipping,” Lynn concludes. In other words, the desire to keep that money and a general discomfort with tipping can conflict with all of those good reasons to tip. And for bad tippers, those feelings completely trump the fact that tipping is the right thing to do.

The shame of not tipping, or tipping badly, compels most of us to hand over the money we’re expected to. But deliberately bad tippers are impervious to social shaming. They’re not concerned with future service, and they aren’t interested in providing a reward for a job well done. Some may find tipping to be fundamentally wrong, but maybe, actually, they’d just rather... not.

[anacostiakat]

Base my tipping on quality of service.  If good then twenty percent.  If less than good then maybe less.  If bad then none. LOL  This is for wait staff and selected others like dog groomer, etc.

[NitrousPurger]

Millennial here. Regular 20% tipper. I hate the fact that it’s percentage based. Why should I pay the waiter more because I order filet mignon vs the hamburger? Is it any harder for them to carry me the plate with a filet on it? My response to people who don’t make enough money through tips, or encounter someone who didn’t tip 20%... go find another job. I don’t get to sit at my job and complain I’m underpaid. P.s. I’ve never worked in the food industry and always felt like I should have so I can appreciate it. 

[SigmundChurchill]

I generally leave 20%.  If the service is bad, I leave 15%.  The waiter/waitress would have to literally insult me before I would leave them nothing.  In the US, restaurants pay the servers below minimum wage.  They are allowed to do this because of tips.

If tips are included in the bill, I just leave whatever the restaurant charges, and will only leave extra if the service is impeccable.

[Wilzc]

I’m Asian.




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[Jimmy_jack]

I’m in the US, I always tip for service, amount depends on quality.

Been to London twice, always tipped, always got stared at like I was an imbecile. 

[nealnyc]

Tipping for me depends where I am.  In the US I generally leave 20%, sometimes more, sometimes less (for bad service).  When traveling it gets a little more complicated.  In countries where tipping is not expected I still do tip if I am at a foreign branded hotel or restaurant (Westin, St Regis, etc) as they get used to tipped due to the large foreign customer base who tips.  But I do see the changes taking place everywhere towards tipping, it is becoming more expected all over the world due to the influx of travelers from "tipping" countries.

[Stump89]

I worked in restaurants when I was younger and I know it can be a tough gig sometimes. I will tip generally 18-20%. If service is great I will tip more.  There have been a few times where I felt service was so poor that I chose to not tip, few and far between though.  

[bozoshoes]

My feeling is ; The only way Communicate to the kitchen staff is through the server. When a server brings you a meal that he/she knows is not acceptable, then I have every right to “dock” them in the tip. The server is your advocate in the kitchen, and when I was in “the business” An experienced waiter/waitress would never bring a subpar plate to table. Sometimes they would even call management into the situation.

[Derboesekoenig]

Like others have stated, depends on where I am. If they are in the US and I know that they make their money in tips, I tend to leave 25%-35% or more, especially if they did a great job. I also leave CASH, as I believe they are taxed on their tips if you write it into your check if you pay with a card. And who is a fan of the IRS? 

[Nino]

Being European I always hated the "mandatory" tipping in the US.
It mostly feels like blackmail and mostly gives you a fake sense of friendliness.

If service is good I will decide and if it's bad no decision needs to be made.

Easier here in Europe where staff have minimum wages, treat you mostly well and you don't need to have a bad conscience after a good dinner.

BTW : This is exactly how we do it over here :

When James dines out, which he does a few times a week, he says he plays a rounding game with the bill at the end of the meal. “I will add a few dollars and round it to an even number, say a $36.87 meal being tipped $3.13 to make $40.00,” he explains. “This isn’t because I want to tip, it just gives me a little mental math game and I like even numbers.”

 

[bpm32]

3 hours ago, Wilzc said:

I’m Asian.




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Hmm, it could one one extreme or the other then....

[BellevilleMXZ]

I usually give 15% for good food/service at restaurants. I do realize its varies depending on where in the world you are. I have friends that come from holland for some week long snowmobile trips every couple of years, and we had a bit of a "discussion" when i saw they were not leaving anything. Most dont make a lot , and I dont mind. That said for shit service I have left none. For really good service with other things, I have wrote emails, etc when someone has gone above normal service in other types of transactions. So much negativity anymore it seems when dealing with the public, its nice to bring it too light when someone does a good job.

[El Hoze]

Definitely depends on the location. I remember being in a bar in Amsterdam years ago when first traveling abroad for work and leaving a decent tip and the bartender acted as though I had offended him. “I don’t need your money” he said. In the US I rarely leave less than 20% unless I need to send a message. I am a regular at many restaurants where I’ll tip well above 20% as I like getting the VIP service as I’m an impatient person. I remember having a great meal in Buenos Aires one time that was super cheap and I left a large tip. The waiter showed it to the manager and the manager hugged him. 

The Mrs is from DR where you basically need to tip everyone you come in contact with. It goes a long way there in terms of service and a few dollars can literally have an impact on a persons ability to feed their family. It’s a win win. 

[SmokenWhisky]

Out and about at home in British Columbia Canada here all servers make minimum wage to start so I generally go with the following

15% - below average to average service

18% - good service

20% - great service 

The only times I've tipped over twenty percent would be when I've gone out with my wife and an ex coworker from her bar/restaurant days comps us some drinks etc. 

When not in Canada I generally tip more. In the US I usually start at 18%. 

I think the worst tip I ever left was when out with friends whom all worked in the bar industry and our service was so bad that they decided to make a point and only tip 10%. It was actually the worse service I'd probably ever experienced. 

It does seem crazy though that even if service is bad I always leave 15%. Maybe they're just having a bad day. 

I recall going for breakfast recently and everything was bad. Slow service. Ordered a coffee was brought a coke. Wife asked for hard poached eggs and they came runny. Food wasn't good. Asked for water twice, never got it. Still left 15% hahaha

[luckme10]

In Japan, they don't tip. It's considered an insult and they generally won't accept it anyways. 

[BrightonCorgi]

My cousin use to manage Sparks in NY and some other fancy places.  He is a now a waiter at a Capital Grill and retiring soon.  He said you are crazy to tip 20% on wine.  There is no service difference in pouring a $40 bottle or $400 bottle.  He felt like $5-8 a bottle is plenty of tip.  For me with wine I follow that, but also tip higher when it's a round of mixed drinks that involves real work.  4 beers and 4 Old Fashioned's are quite different and should be tipped different.

That being said, I hate tipping.  I'd just rather be charged more and that's that.  I know that is not the case for much of the service industry, but I wish it was.  I hate feeling like I have to hand out cash to every step to a hotel room, restaurant seat or what have you...  A few friends tip 20% no matter what.  They could be spit on by the waiter and told to F off and still feel they need to tip 20+%.  I don't get that either...

I like the locales where you just round up a dollar or so and that's it.

[Ender1553]

When in Europe, generally round a little, but it depends on where and what exactly, and the service.

In the US, service based as well, but the "extra" the servers make isn't baked into pricing, you have to tip it.

My cousin use to manage Sparks in NY and some other fancy places.  He is a now a waiter at a Capital Grill and retiring soon.  He said you are crazy to tip 20% on wine.  There is no service difference in pouring a $40 bottle or $400 bottle.  He felt like $5-8 a bottle is plenty of tip.  For me with wine I follow that, but also tip higher when it's a round of mixed drinks that involves real work.  4 beers and 4 Old Fashioned's are quite different and should be tipped different.
That being said, I hate tipping.  I'd just rather be charged more and that's that.  I know that is not the case for much of the service industry, but I wish it was.  I hate feeling like I have to hand out cash to every step to a hotel room, restaurant seat or what have you...  A few friends tip 20% no matter what.  They could be spit on by the waiter and told to F off and still feel they need to tip 20+%.  I don't get that either...
I like the locales where you just round up a dollar or so and that's it.

I follow the per item as well. I think it's crazy to tip 20% on a bottle of wine like your example.

Also, I'll go to "Taquerias" with my family and you can feed 5 for
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[dangolf18]

In countries like Italy it's almost rude to tip as they think you're rating their service. I have no problem tipping, but prefer it that way. Also I can't stand phony friendly servers.

[throberto]

444jn

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[ayepatz]

“Keep the tip,” said the leper to the prostitute.

[bpm32]

Has the tipping percentage gone up in the US? I feel like it used to be 10-15%, but the standard seems to be 15-20% now. It’s probably just that 15% is harder to figure when you’re drunk than 20%, so I blame math.

[Ender1553]

Has the tipping percentage gone up in the US? I feel like it used to be 10-15%, but the standard seems to be 15-20% now. It’s probably just that 15% is harder to figure when you’re drunk than 20%, so I blame math.

There has been a little bit of a push for it I feel like. I feel like there has been a big push from advertising agencies to get people to tip more so that companies didn't need to raise wages, or raise prices to cover higher wages. (Think de beers pushing "a diamond is forever" way back)

 

I used to wait tables, but nothing annoys me more now than when ever higher % grat is added to groups of a certain size. As a server, I always made more than the added grat and as a consumer, I don't like being pushed to tip a certain amount. If its required, then the resto should just bump prices 20% and not accept tips

 

 

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[oliverdst]

Brazil 10% mandatory.

Some places includes it in the menu price and do not charge you in the end. In this case many waiters lie that the tip is not included and the customer can tip as much as he likes. Lol

[Islandboy]

Here in Hawaii, where the cost of living is quite high, I tip 20% unless something’s gone horribly wrong, which I find rare. I’m fine with infusing my good fortune and aloha into the local economy, and sharing with hard working folks who serve me. What goes around, comes around on an island, and that’s just the way I like it.