I really hope you are kidding. I don't need you to feel sorry for me, but some waiters have nothing else going on. But, they did choose the life that they wanted, I suppose. Maybe some people haven't had the opportunities in life as others. That isn't me. I'm a student, and I'm just working as a waiter to make a little extra spending money. Some waiters are single moms with two kids, but I guess that's just the way life goes.
At restaurants, i rarely tip less than 20%. For haircuts, I do that on a sliding scale, determinant on how much I liked the haircut at the time. If it is a haircut that I am very happy with, $4-5. And as for pizza delivery, I <i>was</i> a pizza delivery guy for a summer (Dominos). On average, in my region, each tip was between $1-2. So when I order pizza, I tip $2, unless it is 4 or more pizzas. There is no reason to feel bad about tipping them only $2, because, at least where I delivered, that was considered a good tip. At Sonic, I fluctuate a bit...if it is a decent sized order, I give them the change. If it is a drink, or dessert, or something of that nature, I don't tip at all. Hell, I was a pizza cook at Pizza Inn for a while as well, and I never got tips. I did more than those car-hop girls, so I don't think they really deserve much of a tip most of the time. Hopefully that doesn't make me a jerk.
DoD, Don't feel too bad. I worked pizza/chinese/steak delivery for 5-7 years thru high school and college. It was minimum wage but I would usually make about 100.00 per 6 hour shift. I drove like a bat out of hell, though. Wore out my car and got a few tickets as well. If a delivery driver stays busy he can bank. They deserve it, though - it is manual labor. ps - I never ever forgot a lousy tipper - take that for what you will
crac...errr rockHEAD, I was going to agree with you on this, but then I realize they actually bring out your plates and clean up your dishes after you finish them (If they are good). They pretty much do the same as a regular server except they don't take your order and deliver the food. And about the drinks, the service is usually so crappy I would much rather get up and serve myself. I actually believe a lot of people would agree with me. I think we would much rather get our own drinks, take our dishes to a dishwasher/dropoff point, and pick up a new plate than to deal with their crappy wait staff. GR8-1, I do understand where you are coming from about tipping the 20% and how you guys only make half of minimum wage .... but keep in mind making between $8-$12 an hour is not too bad for a non-career job. And tipping the bartender? I thought the bartender made the best tips in the joint!?
pizza delivery? $2-$3 getting a haircut? $15.00 for a $12.00 haircut (the lady that cuts my hair is older and thinks haircuts are too expensive even at $12.00. I used to pay twice as much for a haircut in Plano) do you tip the ppl at sonic when they bring food, if so how much? Very borderline. It is fast food. I'm never sure whether to tip or not, but I usually try to tip everywhere I go. Makes me wonder about people who work fast-food drive throughs. Some or horrible and rude. Others are very friendly and others really take their time to get your order right. Some drive-throughs require that one person takes orders, exchanges the money, prepares the drinks and disperses the food all by themselves. That's too much. They probably deserve a tip. I worked fast-food at Chick-fil-A in high school. Mall hours and closed on Sunday, but it was hard work at times and some people were extremely rude. I know how it feels. if you go to a buffet, like ryans or golden corrall.. is it still 15%? depends on the service, but I always leave something. valet parking? $5.00 carrying out groceries to the car? $3.00 - $5.00 luggage handling? $3.00 - $5.00 Sure-fire ways to get better tips... Pay attention to my kids (they are very well-behaved). Bring me a fresh drink before I run out, especially if you remember what I had to drink. Bring me my bill while I'm wrapping up, ask if I would like a carry-out, and come right back to let me pay the bill. Sure-fire ways to lessen your tip... Make me wait to pay my bill after I'm finished eating, especially more than 10-15 minutes. If you mess up or forget something I don't have a problem, but if you make me ask more than twice for something and especially if I never get it, that's poor service.
It isn't just the expensive restaurants that pay waiters way below minimum wage. It's every restaurant where tipping is expected which means pretty much every place you sit down. As a musician, I've had quite a few friends who have been waiters. I even attempted it myself but only made it a couple of days because the people are so damn RUDE! My sister-in-law was a hostess at a restaurant and routinely had people say awfully rude things to her. One guy even grabbed her by the back of her pants when she walked by and told her to bring him a drink! It is a VERY tough job. I try to always give more than I should. I don't calculate anything but at least leave $5 if the tab is less than $20 (usually what my wife and I pay because we don't go to expensive places). You know, the Sonic thing has always wierded me out. I go there on road trips quite often to grab a grilled cheese and some fries but I never knew how or if I should tip. Interesting.
I think you're going too far, dude. The "actual cost"? Tipping is gratuity. It is, by definition, a favor or gift given in return for services rendered. Now, I consider myself a good tipper. I was always told that 15% is proper (even though back in my parents' day, 10% was the standard). Now people say 20%. I generally tip that much, or maybe 25%, depending on service. But I have a decent job now and make enough money to cover that sort of thing. When I was in school I didn't always have enough to tip 25%, and I really think there is nothing wrong with tipping according to your means. And, this poor us because we make $2.13 an hour stuff is a little off. Waiters make good money after tips. Much of it they don't report on their tax returns. Compared to other, equally demanding non-college-degree jobs that don't pay tips, waiters are pretty highly paid. Also, I've had plenty of inattentive, rude, and otherwise subpar waiters, even at restaurants where I've eaten before and tipped well. What do I do in that situation? I hate to run the risk of being put on the restaurant sh*t-list of bad tippers, but I also don't want to reward a crappy waiter with a good tip.
Hey Space Ghost, a lot of times, it's busboys (bus persons) that clean up after you... but I have on occasion seen the waitstaff clean up... So I'll take all that into consideration next time I pull up and commence to scarfing at the buffet trough!! rH
I had to throw in a story that happened yesterday, since we're talking about tipping: 2 coworkers and I treated someone from work to lunch for his birthday at a nearby Italian restaurant. The bill came to approx. $48 - and everyone's share was about the same. I figure that with 3 people paying for four meals, that I would put a $20 in & get back maybe a dollar (3 times $19 = $57). $57 divided by $48 equates to a 18.75% tip - which isn't bad. So I put down $20, the guy to my right put in $20, and the "lady" to my left put in $13 freakin dollars!!!! . In my mind, she actually stole part of the waiter's tip - and in my book it was extremely tacky. Oh, and to make things worse - the guy who was having the birthday goes to this restaurant on a regular basis (I could have seen him offering a few extra dollars for a tip - I could see the calcualtions going on in his head). I can only think of 2 things that I should have done: a) put a few extra dollars in to get to the correct tip b) take the money off the table & use my charge card to pay the entire bill But instead of those actions, I did nothing. I knew it was wrong - and so did the other guy - but I guess I didn't think about the situation as clearly as I am able to now. This person is not someone I would normally associate with anyway - and for future references I know in advance what to expect and how to react appropriately. Moral of the story - ask for seperate checks (or maybe don't go to lunch with cheap/ sleazy people).
I never tip at Starbucks or any silly coffee bar. Hell, I'm already paying almost 2 bucks for a cup of coffee. All these people are doing is pouring it and giving to me at the counter.
what about pizza delivery? a dollar, 2, what? We usually order at least two pizzas and drinks/bread/whatever, and comes out about 3-4 dollars short of $30, so i just leave the change. getting a haircut? $2 do you tip the ppl at sonic when they bring food, if so how much? $1, or change if it's close enough to a dolar if you goto a buffet, like ryans or golden corrall.. is it still 15%? I don't remember ever tipping at either restaurant, but...
Cuttino, if I were you, I would let your co-workers know. Waiters don't really like to seperate checks, and some restaurants won't allow it. Also, seperate checks is another variable that slows the flow of the restaurant down. If you do ask for seperate checks, please be patient. yeah, pretty much true. I'm a guy, so I usually expect women to tip me a bit better. Not true at all. Men tip much better, and usually gay men tip the best. SamCassell, I understand completely. But, in my shoes, if the extra 3-5 % is the difference between not going out eating or not, I would just go to a less expensive restaurant, but that's just me. Also, being a waiter, I've actually stiffed someone one time. She forgot our appetizer, and we politely reminded her. Instead of being apologetic, she rolled her eyes at us. So, if I ever leave only 15 %, I usually leave a note that says "you would have gotten much more, we're waiters, but you blew it." As far as the tip just being a "gratuity," remember this, if restaurant owners were to have to pay their servers the required wage that waiters should get (let's say 10-15 dollars an hour), guess who's gonna be stuck with that bill ? The customers. Each entree would probably increase 5-6 bucks an hour. Or, the owner may employ less waiters. If you think service is bad now, imagine a reduced staff. BTW, I think the nicer the restaurant, the nicer the service. There are exceptions, but that is the general rule.
<b>Pizza</B>-$2 <b>Haircut</B>-$2 <b>Sonic</B>-I did in Katy, but outside of the Houston area, it seems that everyone I've talked to thought that tipping them was the stupidest thing they've ever heard. <B>Golden Corral, etc.</B>-Never go, so I dunno. <B>General Restaurants</B>-I start at 15%. It doesn't take much to get you to 20% or higher, but it does take a lot to get you below that. The best tip I've ever given was 75% of a $50 bill. Of course, it was my senior year in high school and my mom had given me the credit card to take me and my buddies to Outback since they helped us move. I worked there at the time, we got a big discount, and I liked the waitress. My mom wasn't happy. <B>Vendors at ballgames</B>-Depends on how cute they are. I normally give them a buck, but I also normally go up to the concession stand. Here's one, <B>Bars</B>-I usually open a tab, and pay around a buck a drink. gr8-1, you didn't answer me, it's cool if you don't want to. I also found in my experience of eating out, and I eat out way too much, that the nicer the place, the <b>ruder</B> they are. They seem to be too snotty, look down on me. Maybe they can tell that I'm not a normal patron, I don't know.
You're supposed to tip for haircuts? This is news to me. I'll have to apologize to all the barbers out there. I don't quite understand why barbers should get tips. With waiters, it makes some sense: you pay for the product and tip for the service. With barbers, the product is the service. Aren't you paying for the same thing twice? I like the French system better. In France, they work all the little surcharges into the price so no one has to do any math. The tax is already included. At restaurants, the tip that you are to pay is a line-item. There's no guessing and no under-tipping. Of course, there is also no accountability for a bad job, but the whole French economy is built like that.
