Exactly! Tipping is good for the customer since it allows him to set the premium on good service. If people didn't tip, then waiters would all get paid the same and there would be no incentive to do well. Trust me. If you're a repeat customer and don't tip well, you will not get good service. I know that I sure as hell didn't treat people as well if they stiffed me or left a buck and I hadn't done anything wrong. The worst tippers imho: secretaries. They're rude and never leave more than a couple bucks.
Yeah, I don't know how the haircut thing works, I'm sure they get some of the 10 bucks, but I don't know. BTW, you guys are lucky that Texas waiters can't form unions. I hear they do that up north, make 10/hr + tips. I hear the service is God awful up there. R95, I see your analogy. Some waiters do seem snooty. But, those are professional waiters who feel as if they are lawyers. I work in a restaurant downtown Austin. I probably shouldn't get any more specific than that. Also, my friend is a mover. He says we're supposed to tip them also. He says he regularly gets 20-100/dollar tips. I don't know if that is a good policy...... Bad tippers : Politicians and state employees, they're on the state's money, so tipping 15% is all they can do. Teachers are kind of bad also. They tip horribly, and they love to run your butt around. They usually only order salads with lots of lemon. They also need seperate checks and complain when it takes too long. It's alot of multitasking, but if you have 10 seperate checks and one credit card machine, you can see why it may take longer. But, teachers don't make alot of money, so I guess it's ok.
I used to tip the pizza driver $2....back in the 80s when it was WORTH SOMETHING. I feel to be fair I must keep up with the value of a dollar. So, I will tip a delivery guy $4 to $5 now unless their really late. The same goes for haircuts unless the person screws up. Per restaraunts, I tip according to my service. If I think you are doing a good job, then you may get 20-25%. If subpar, then you may get 10-15%. I would tip a mover at least $20 bucks and possibly more depending on how hard they worked but I do all my own moving so. At pool halls or bars, I may tip a dollar for a drink but I'm not tipping every damn drink. I will say "thanks" the other times. Typically, I will tip based on effort. If your busting your ass, then you will be rewarded. If not, then you will be disappointed. You are what you.....err....service. I have sympathy for anyone in a waiter/driver type job. I would never want a job like that and I will never have one. I would rather die first and/or rob people. What about that waitress in Chicago(or somewhere up there) who got something like a $1500 tip because she laid her guilt trip sob story on some guy about how she has no car with kids and must ride public transportation to work and all this crap. This guy, on the other hand, was a well-off guy who felt guilty for having as much as he does so he lays a big fat tip on her. Wasn't that nice of him? I wish I were that nice. Kind of reminds me of that movie where Nicholas Cage split his lottery ticket winnings with the waitress played by what's her face....redhead, small cans, umm....the "Point of No Return" ninja chick....ahh....whomever she is. Maybe all waiters/waitresses should lay guilt trips like that on their customers. Then, they may get the really good tips. I've had that happen before where waitresses will break out their picture books and such while their waiting on you like "this is my dog on my sofa. this is my small, broken down home. this is my goldfish. this is my boyfriend(bad move....lowered your tip on that one if your good looking)." It's definitely the way to a better tip if you your sociable like that. Parents and older couples will fall for it especially. Surf
Isabel, Not to pick on you, but.... Hell yes they remember. And, don't feed me that load of crap about being on a limited budget. Those waiters are on limited budgets too. If you're on a limited budget go to Taco Bell. And, yes, most waiters get paid half of minimum wage. In fact, we still get half of the OLD minimum wage $2.13/hr. Not only that, but we also have to give the restaraunt 2.5% of our SALES not our tips. So, if you tip 10%, only 7.5% of that goes to the waiter. And, normally a waiter's pay check is very small because the gov't takes out taxes according to your tips not your salary. So, we literally live on our tips. --------------------------------- normal restaurant, i know, 15-20% Yup, I never get pissed at 15%, sometimes I think I deserved more, but I never look down on a 15% tip. Some waiters do however, of course I don't consider myself to be "super waiter" either. what about pizza delivery? a dollar, 2, what? I'd say $2 minimum, and up to $5. Also, from my experience, if you tip the delivery guy good, he'll let you keep your coupons... Bonus! getting a haircut? I cut my own hair, but a couple dollars for guys. For women, I think it's more, because there's more crap to do. do you tip the ppl at sonic when they bring food, if so how much? YES! I usually tip them similar to a buffet (see below), a couple of bucks. But, I admit it is kinda weird. if you goto a buffet, like ryans or golden corrall.. is it still 15%? No, not 15%. I usually think $1 per person is acceptable. If the guy/gal is exceptionally friendly or attentive, toss in a couple more bucks. ---------------------------------- ROXRAN, Define "bad service". If a restaurant is very busy, do you expect the same service as if you were the only person sitting in the restaurant? If so, don't go at busy times. You are not the only table in the place, so don't act like you are (not necessarily directed at ROXRAN, just at dumba$$es in general). ---------------------------------- JuanValdez, Many times (not always), hairstylists are much like waiters. Waiters are sorta like contractors, they are given tables and allowed to work them for tips. Hairstylists are often given "chairs" and allowed to work in an establishment for minimal salary + tips. ---------------------------------- My style of waiting tables does not lend to getting huge tips. I consider myself a "professional styled" waiter. By that I mean, I do my job. I do not sit at the table and laugh and talk and sell myself like a prostitute. I do however, have a lot of pride in my job. I always want to give every table good service (unless they've screwed me before, then they must suffer!). It's funny, most waiters complain that black people tip the worst. And, on average I'd say that's pretty true. But, the simple truth is that many black people get sh!tty a$$ service, and they get used to it, and they've never had the opportunity to tip well. I make an extra effort to give my African-American tables good service, and overall I do usually get better tips than the average waiter.
Dreamer, on blacks and tipping. I have never been a waiter, but have heard that stereotype by every single person I know who waited tables. In college basically everyone I knew waited tables at one time or another, most at one of the Pappas places. A BUNCH worked at Pappadeaux by the dome, and they said they would argue over who had to wait on black people, including the black waiters. So you may have a point about it being a self fulfilling prophecy....if waiters give worse service to people who don't tip well (which has been established over and over in this thraed) it stands to reason that they give blacks worse service. I actually approached a friend of mine who was African American about this tip deal. I asked him about tipping, he told me....”Hey they charge enough at restaurants, I can't afford to be giving them any more.” I explained that the waiters are working FOR tips and don't get paid much in salary, in which he replied, “They ought to get a different job then.” I tried to explained that if he couldn't afford the tip, he shouldn’t being going to that particular restaurant. His reply to me was, that he liked good food and had no intentions of not going. One of the more frustrating conversations I have ever had.
Ty_Webb wants to know who tips the worst. I'm gonna say this, and I expect to catch hell for it. It's been over seven years since I've been in that Industry but back then.... The talk amongst the restaurants and bars was always the same: African Americans tip the worst. Not just by a little bit....but we're talking about GROSSLY undertipping. The only way I feel even remotely comfortable saying something that is so incredibly UN-PC is that I worked hand and hand with several African American waiters, and they usually initiated the conversation. I've heard many times how they "didn't want to wait on the brothers." In fact, at the only place I worked in Houston, Dave and Busters, there was actually a word used to describe a table of African Americans, and I heard this from of all people...my trainer....who was, you guessed it: black. No, they didn't use anything like the "N" word, but this was the first time I ever heard this term used. At Dave and Busters, a table of African Americans were called a table of "Canadians." (Kind of funny, looking back....) Obviously, I'm not generalizing, as I waited on many African American tables where I got at least or better than the so-called normal 15%. Nevertheless, it was pointed out to me to expect less, and I have to admit.....it was true. I wondered sometimes if it was because I was white......or if maybe it was just a self-fulfilling prophecy. I remember going out of my way to work the hardest and do my best for African Americans. Still, I got several good tips, but on average, I still made a lot less with African Americans. Oh well, such is life. Also, I don't think tipping is as prevelant in European countries, but generally, I got lousy tips from visitors from outside the country.
actually when i waited tables the black people almost always tipped 2.00... 2.00 is a good tip when the bill is 10 bucks or so but then when the bill is 100 its not so great.. the worst actually in my opinion is white trash rednecks..they cannot tip.. i had this one white trash guy give me 90 on a 89.88 bill and said keep the change... by the way smokers usually tip better as well..
Smokers.... I have always felt you get better service in the smoking section, not sure why. Maybe they put the smoking waiters in the smoking section, and they can relate better to their customers
The lowest I will leave is 15% -- basically you could take my order, bring my food and drink, and ignore me the whole time, and I'll probably still give you that. The way I look at it is the vast majority of people just don't tip well. I would guess that the average tip is more like 10% (probably different for the nicer places, though). I figure I'm going to help make up for that. I also look at it as good tipping may actually improve service overall. Maybe you get bad service because no one ever tips -- why work your butt off if you're not going to get tipped for it? By tipping well, I'm getting you cheapskates out there better service. Hey, does anyone know if you're supposed to leave a tip in a hotel room after you check out for the maids? I've always wondered that, never done it though.
That's the $2 left over from not paying the paperboy in "Better Off Dead". I still see that dude riding his bicycle around screaming "I WANT MY TWO DOLLARS!!!". Last I saw of him, he was riding his modified bike up Mount Everest after the blind dude. The paperboy is not messing around....when he catches up to the black people who tipped $2, they tell him that the waiter has it. Then, you got a real problem on your hands my friend . I WANT MY TWO DOLLARS!
I'm not that cheap... I usually tip between 15-20% depending on the level of service (and, since I only go to the cheapest of sit-down restaurants, often the service is not that great... if waiters want better tips, first make sure to not forget about us and keep our drink glasses full. In a perfect world, I would just be able to go get my own drinks and stuff and all this wouldn't be an issue, but most restaurants aren't set up that way). Anyway... with all the stuff they have to do, do they even have time to calculate and see if you gave them 15% or 20% or what? Would they notice? I'm not worried about my tip as a percentage, but we tend to order the inexpensive items from the menu and no appetizers, desserts, or alcohol. The waiters might like us better if we did, but it's just unnecessary spending in my opinion. So the tip won't be as much just because the overall bill isn't as much. I sometimes wonder if they aren't nicer to people who drink alcohol with their meals, since they're spending so much more. Smokers tend to spend their money more freely overall on cigarettes, alcohol, food, and whatever they feel like at the time (so I've heard). That may be why they get better service. The racial stereotype... is just horrible, but I've heard that too. (perpetuated by members of that very same race, no less) The problem is that now tables of African-Americans are probably getting worse service to begin with because of stereotyped waiters. *sigh* most of us out here are not prejudiced, but it just takes a few to mess things up.
MAYBE the ones who CAUSED the sterotype by tipping so crappy are the ones to blame? Nah, blame it on someone else.
Dreamer, how bout the verbal tip ? "you were great. We're gonna request you next time. " And then they leave me 5 on 85. On African-Americans, yes it's generally true. I don't know why. But I go out of my way to give them excellent service. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. TyWebb, smokers are more laid back and alot tend to be servers. They do tip better in general. But in Austin, there really isn't a smoking section in most restaurants. Isabel, yes, we definitely can calculate 15-20 % in a matter of seconds. Tab is 60 bucks, 15 % = 9, 20 % = 12.
Nobody tips me when I'm writing code or testing an application for production and my incentive to do well is that my ass'll get fired unless I do well.
Dreamer, we tip 5 % of our sales. Bussers split 2.5, bartenders split the other half. Plus, the government automatically assumes we make 15 % per table anyway. Where I work, tips are 12- 30 % (a few outliers of course). But, in other restaurants, maybe not. I don't know the exact tax system, but if you sold 1000.00 worth of food, the government assumes you're walking with 150.00. On bad nights, you may not walk with that much. Then essentially you are being taxed on income that you may not have made. Rare occurence though. BTW, I also consider my service more professional. I don't buddy up to the customer. I smile, make sure I am available. But, once the dinner is dropped, I cehck on the drinks and make myself available. I don't go back every 3-5 minutes and say "is everything ok ?" That gets annoying. I think alot of customers want to be left alone, and if there's a problem, they'll find you. Pole, we use that word also !!!!! LOL !!!!
gr-8, I want you as a waiter! That is exactly what I expect. Why would I take someone to dinner so we could converse with a total stranger? Bring the food, fill the glass, smile, and collect your 25-30% tip.
