(avitania)
As many Consumerist readers have pointed out over the years, you’re generally under no obligation to leave a tip for someone who provides you a service. That being said, most of us still do — and for a seemingly increasing number of services. That’s why we want to know about those situations in which you almost always leave a little extra.
So, assuming competent service, for which of the following 9 things do you think tipping is part of the standard operating procedure. You can select as many from the list as you’d like (and tell me in the comments about the items that didn’t make the list).
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I do, however, tip for back scratchers at sporting events.
Here’s my barbecue fork, lift up your shirt please…
Butt Scratcher!!! Get your Butt Scratcher!!!
Cue the angry “Nobody tips me to do MY job!” commenters in 3… 2…. 1….
Or the “Yeah, I give em a tip: Don’t play with matches”.
You want a tip? Don’t cook bacon naked.
Nobody–and I mean nobody–has felt real pain until they’ve done that.
Does a apron count?
That depends, is the apron mesh, lace or otherwise thin and gauzy? If yes, aprons count as being nekkid; if no, you’re overdressed for a bacon party.
Considering his avatar picture, I really hadn’t wanted the image of him cooking bacon wearing only a thin gauzy apron. . .Thanks a lot.
Don’t you mean sausage-fest?
Actually I really wish someone had given me that tip. It was a lot of years back, and extreme level bachelor cooking, but I learned the hard way that one AT MINIMUM wants an apron while cooking bacon. It’s valuable advice!
“Nobody pays me in gum…
“
No one tips me for posting angry comments!
Especially angry “3..2..1…” comments!
Yeah, darn it… the hubby and kids really should tip me for doing the laundry and making dinner……..
Tech support would be so badass if people tipped me.
Our tech guy is overworked, so I generally buy him a tea or a cookie if he sorts something out for me.
cookies…
is that why so many tech support personnel have gone over to the Dark Side?
I tip to the cutest girl behind the counter !
Hitting on is not tipping.
it is if you do it right! Hey-o!!
Tipping, tapping, I always get those two confused. It’s made life so complicated…
you’ve obviously never played “just the tip”
I love that game. Everybody wins!
No “None of the Above” for the resident cheapskates?
I had thought about that, honestly. But I couldn’t make it so that some wiseacre couldn’t select “none of the above” and then also pick all of the above anyway. I figured those who don’t tip for anything at any time will probably let us all know in the comments.
They usually do. I’m always amazed by people who confuse a lack of basic social niceties with Stickin’ It to The Man.
If you don’t tip anyone, ever, then you are a worthless human being and your opinion doesn’t matter anyway.
If you say things like that unsubstantiated on an internet blog, the comment may apply to yourself as well.
Reflexive pronoun abuse!
Wait, no. I’m just tired and cranky.
Sorry, but have to agree with you there.
Gee, here’s extra money for doing whats expected of you.
I don’t tip because society says I have to. I will tip if they put in the extra effort. Tipping automatically is for the birds.
Hope you never order from the same waiter or waitress twice. They might spit in your food.
Any server who would do that doesn’t deserve a tip.
Why would I go back if I didn’t tip them in the first place? Usually if the service is crap – attitude from wait staff/management, food is horrible, food arrived late and generally all around unhygienic dining area/wait staff, they get zip. I start off every meal from around 15% tip and for every infraction I start deducting till I feel the amount is justified. I give an establishment one chance to impress me and if they put in the effort they will be tipped. I’ve been a waiter for over 10 years and know first hand that what keeps customers coming back is presentation along with good food. As a patron now, I will not tolerate shitty service and I’ve sworn off a couple of places near me and never been back. Again, tipping automatically is for the birds.
Agree. I come from a long line of family members who have been waiters and I know fully well the hard work that it takes but I also know the other side of it. Getting a tip is not a entitlement, but it is earned.
Agreed. I do the same thing as well as add on percentage points for awesomeness, especially being good on a shitty shift. When the resturant is packed and you’re the only waiter on staff, but you still manage to make it over or make eye contact to see if we need anything, you get mucho tips. Also if the food is cheap, you get a minimum 20%, because that’s not fair.
Didn’t say it was right for them to do that, I’d just be worried about it if I didn’t leave a tip and went back. I do adjust the *amount* of the tip downward dramatically if the service is lousy. But I never leave zero, and wouldn’t unless they’ve done something horrible.
Actually no – once I did leave nothing, as the waitress was too busy text messaging someone in a corner during our entire meal to ever come back once and see if we needed anything. I never went to that place again.
Problem I run into often, is a restaurant with great food, but lousy service. Really bugs me. I want to go back with the hopes of getting a better server. When I get a great server, I always ask to be seated in their section.
We had a waiter recently that was fantastic. Drinks refilled the second they were empty, and I noticed him scanning our table frequently and discreetly from a distance to see if we were low on anything. Empty plates were whisked away in seconds. He was great, and very friendly without being intrusive. Not only did we tip very well, we told the manager what great service we’d received from him.
Serving food like you’re running a protection racket is just embarassing for society. I really hope this doesn’t happen. Who are these waiters who do this, middle-school dropouts?
“If I don’t get a tip, not only will I not make a maximum effort, but I will make a proactively negative effort. And violate local laws to do so.”
I don’t get it.
Thanks, Steve Buscemi.
“Why tip someone for a job I’m capable of doing myself? I can deliver food. I can drive a taxi. I can, and do, cut my own hair. I did, however, tip my urologist, because… I am unable to pulverize my own kidney stones.”
+1
you stole my comment!
No idea what that’s from…however no one who has ever taken a taxi through New York during rush hour would say they can drive a taxi.
Dude got me from JFK to Times Square in 40 minutes at 5:00 p.m. I thought I was going to die a couple times, but he was freaking amazing! Driver got a nice tip from us.
And thus earned a tip – he did something more than providing perfunctory service.
Love it. I had an excellent urological surgeon, and I would have tipped him except he already left me broke.
+1 for Dwight Schrute
This was the first thing I thought of when I saw this poll.
+1
None. Now please stop publishing stories on how to tip.
REEEEAR! (Is that how you type the cat noise when chicks get catty?)
i would think “rawr”. RRRAAWWWRRRR (hissssss)
I think “Rawr” is related to flirting, than fighting. So I disagree. Unless you are coming onto me…
oh noes!
Also “Rawr” is the call for awesome thanks to Luke, Jen and Sean at tbtl.net
/shameless plug from a devoted Ten
how about you just post a link?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6z_3EZWkM1c
I keep on thinking of SomethingAwful (one of the most popular forums on the entire internet) and how posting anything about tipping will get a user banned because it’s a pointless conversation.
I’m surprised lots of votes for haircuts. Maybe because I’m a guy… and bald. Do women tip there? Because those hairdos are muy expensive.
I go to a $7 cut place, and usually give my favorite lady, Nancy, a $3 tip to make it an even $10. She even trims my eyebrows!
Same here, although I specifically have them avoid messing with my unibrow.
She trims them to a even length. I have a few of those weird 3/4″+ eyebrow hairs.
All guys get those eyebrow hairs as they get older. I took my “boys” (husband and son) to the barber a couple weeks ago, and the guy says to my husband “Time to trim the eyebrows.” Husband says “What are you talking about? I’ve never trimmed my eyebrows.” Barber says “It happens to everyone as they get older. Welcome to the club. Now close your eyes and hold still.”
Everyone gets hairier as they age (everywhere except their head.) Even women. Hell I never had a mustache until I hit 30. Now I’m on an offensive with bleaches and wax, and I’m considering laser hair removal. I thought that was bad, then my sister said “Just wait until you hit 40 and you get a beard!” Can’t wait. Every year, I get closer and closer to looking like a Wookie. Oh the places hair shows up… and the things I have to painful endure to rid myself of it.
Laser hair removal is not permanent, which makes it fairly pointless. Visit your friendly neighborhood electrologist if you want permanent hair removal.
(My sister’s an electrologist, and decided to become one after wasting hundreds of dollars on laser hair removal that didn’t work, even though her coloring and hair type are ideal for it. Now she permanently removes her own hair at home!)
I tip them extra for that, to help compensate for the extra wear my unibrow causes to their clippers.
I tip for haircuts because I can’t cut my own hair. Also, a bad haircut is very noticeable.
I found that I always get bad haircuts. And I always tip to $20 a cut.
As far as I’m aware, it’s standard (in the US, at least) to tip for a haircut regardless of your gender. It might be different at places where the stylists/barbers are employees, rather than renting the chairs.
yup, it’s been standard practice in my life from childhood. Meaning I learned the practice from my parents.
I find a good tip makes for more attention to detail. And more pleasantries exchanged..
Anyone can cut hair. Doing it well, however… I think not having to wear a hat or shave my head is worth an extra buck or two.
I tip for haircuts…. the place I go is $14 for a men’s cut, so I’ll usually give $3. Worth it IMO, especially since in addition to the cut they do a shampoo/condition.
The gal who does my hair is the only person (myself included) who can make the annoying flippy thing my hair does go away. I definitely think that’s worth extra!
I always tip when I find a good hair stylist (I’ve had several) because it’s really hard to find someone who strikes a balance between doing what you want and making good suggestions when what you want sucks and you don’t know it. I had one horrible stylist ignore everything I said and I ended up hating my hairstyle. When you have enough of those kinds of stylists, you’re thankful for the good ones!
I tip because I endured three years of bad haircuts to find the person that can do what i wanted my hair to do. She schedules me at the drop of a hat, and I give her good tips to make sure she likes me.
I always tip the barber. It’s $12 for the cut, so I toss in $3 and make it an even $15.
+1… My barber charges $7 so he usually gets $10 from me…
I always tip at least 20% for haircuts, even when the cuts are expensive. It usually makes the stylist appreciative, so they bend over backwards to do a good job on repeat visits. Worth it to me!
And to avoid the chick-mullet. This is something I wish to avoid at all costs. I tip.
Actually, I tip because I adore my stylist, and she does a great job, better than anyone I’ve ever been to. She spends hours on my hair, goes above and beyond (and usually spends a fair amount of time giving me a scalp massage). I trust her with my hair – she’s got a lot more talent with ideas for what she should do than I do – and I’ve never come away unhappy.
I know, hot button here @ Consumerist, but really. You KNOW that the employers aren’t paying minimum in hopes that tips make it up, and they do have to pay if they don’t make minimum, but why get your face recognized at a restaurant as a non-tipper? We had a consistent stiffer at a casual dining restaurant I worked in, and since you can refuse service to anyone as long as it isn’t discriminatory under a protected status, everyone did. The servers knew they would lose money if they served that person/family. So no one served him, and he left. So now this person will chose someone else to go and stiff. However, the manager thought it rude to tell the person “no one will serve you because you don’t tip”, so he will continue to do this practice….
I’m not sure how this is constructive, but i needed to rant, so
/rant
Perhaps it would be best if your employer chose to pay you a decent wage as opposed to expecting customers to make up the difference.
Aww. You’re too precious!
1. Not a current employer
2. Um, I think I covered that. The whole, you know that they make below minimum, and that they will make up the difference, but way to look like a douche and guarantee shitty service if you don’t tip and come back to the same dining place.
They don’t make up the difference. I was a waitress/hostess for two years, and never did I get boosted up to minimum if my tips were bad. Also, your tips are taken out of your paycheck anyway. I got a paycheck for four cents once, and I had worked three shifts with something around 30 bucks for all of them combined, which is like 2 dollars or something an hour. It was not cool.
It’s done at the end of the year I do believe. So on average if you made minimum wage they’re in the clear. They expect waiters to be able to budget, unfair I know.
Yeah, they probably make it up at the end of the year, but make you think you’re getting a Christmas bonus or something.
Your employer was breaking the law.
“Perhaps it would be best if you had a magic wand to make things completely out of your control bend to your will.”
I love tipping posts on Consumerists! It’s so entertaining to read how real assholes justify not tipping the delivery guy.
This tipping thing is a rather ugly and very American cultural idiosyncracy.
Most other countries we’d like to compare ourselves to actually pay their service employees a living wage, with none of this “please sir, can you spare any change” nonsense.
Living in Germany, it’s hard to get the tipping out of my system. I keep thinking I’m doing something wrong.
Yes, very American. Unfortunately, it isn’t going anywhere. It’s the American Way!
worked for a business that paid tipping wage, but didn’t really get a lot of tips
never doing it again
I went to a Touristy restaurantin Germany once, because well, I wanted to drink at the Brau Hause in Munich, and the waiter tried to tell me that the “Gratuity is not included” in those exact words….DESPITE a line on the receipt that said “Service Fee” or something to that effect.
Knowing tipping is not prevelant he got what he deserved especially since he went out of the way and basically told me I needed to tip him.
Bad move on his part.
As much as I hate the concept of tipping, I’ve also experienced the level of service in those other countries without tips.
Yes, it’s amazing what happens when you pay a decent wage and treat service employees like professionals isn’t it? They take much more pride in their work.
Or is this not what you meant?
Strange… I was thinking it was funny to see how real assholes justify paying non-living wages…
Personally I’d never take a job that was based on me kissing ass for tips in order to make minimum wage. Christ, they pay minimum wage at McDonalds.
I have a question for those that have Sonic Drive-In restaurants in their area, or ANY drive-in restaurants for that matter: do you tip them for delivering the food you ordered?
Out of the several people I’ve asked, I’ve seen them split 50/50 on this. I park and order at their menu board, and they have card swipe machines built-in, so I pay for my meal right there. And then they walk out and give me the bag(s) with food and drink.
Is that any different than a McDonalds employee giving you food from across the counter?
It is absolutely different. It’s just like a waiter in a restaurant bringing the food to you. The server at Sonic is coming out into the parking lot to bring you your food. The server at McDonalds is standing there at the counter, and you go to them.
Yeah, but a waiter comes to take your order, deliver your drinks, refill you, deliver your appetizer, take your plates, deliver your entree, check on you, pick up your plates, and deliver you dessert. A lot more than skating out to your car.
Lets see what a carhop does out of that. They take your order over the intercom(maybe not the exact one, but its likely a carhop took the order) which is supposed to be picked up within five seconds I think, they deliver your drink, they deliver your appetizer, theres a little thing under the sign to put your trash so they take your “plates” if you leave anything there, they deliver your entree, they deliver your dessert, and one of the review things when the secret shopper comes is that they are supposed to do a check to see if you need anything else. So they don’t refill you. But thats because refills aren’t free. If you pay for a refill, I bet they would refill you.
And some of them wear skates.
Sonic has meals with “courses”?
Did I say that. They bring you those things. You just get them all at once. Then again, you could order an appetizer, pay, then order an entree, pay, then order a dessert. Just because theres no set order that they bring those three things doesn’t mean that they cease to be what they are. If you order mozarella sticks, a hamburger, and an ice cream I see that as an appetizer, an entree, and a dessert. And very fatty.
Not that I’m arguing against you tipping. I wish we could stop expected tipping and lose the tipped employee wage. And I think giving bad service to a bad tipper is a bastard thing to do. When I’m paid to do a job I do it to the best of my ability. I was just pointing out that from a certain point of view(young Luke), the carhops do in fact do most of those things you mentioned.
Well, the waiter/waitress does multiple trips. I don’t tip the person who brings me to the table, and that’s only one trip.
Ha ha, the maitre d’ brings you to the table where you get your appetizers, and to the table where you get your entree, and to the table where you get your dessert . . . .
I guess you never been to sonic before.
After you order they deliver all of your food and drinks at the same time.
So … maybe a smaller tip would be the way to go — they do more than the staff at McD’s, but less than a Waiter.
A waiter takes your order, and visits you several times during the course of the meal.
For example, at a restaurant, when a second person (that’s not your waiter) comes out with a large tray to deliver your food; do you tip him?
Or the guy that goes around refilling water? Or the host/hostess?
At some restaurants , the waiter gives x% of the bill to the runner/bussers. So yes, the 2nd guy who brought your food is tipped.
So I guess I have to tip at Corner Bakery, Noodles and Co, and Dairy Queen, since they give me a number and someone brings it to the table where I sit?
At Noodles they have the servers specifically say “And we do not accept tips” whenever you order. For some reason this made me want to tip them more…
The Sonic I worked at, the owner made use of the lower tipped employee wage. I think they really made about $4.25 an hour before tips or something. So I tip there because I know they are being paid a wage that expects tips.
And it is a little different than a mcdonalds employee bringing you your food at the counter. They have to walk to you, you don’t have to walk to them. Not much of a difference, but its there.
After reading this, i’m going to make an effort to tip consistently at Sonic.
I didn’t know that. And I think its BS that they don’t get paid the same as any other fast-food employee,but in fact get paid less.
Not true. They get paid just as much or more before tips. I know several Sonic employees.
But there IS no counter at Sonic.
There is a counter at every sonic I have been to.
Both I’ve been to had nowhere to speak to a human face-to-face. I had to place my order through a speakerbox, then sit at a bench and wait for my food to be brought out.
I don’t tip if food is just handed over the counter or brought once. Waiting involves coming back.
To answer your question directly: No, I wouldn’t tip at Sonic if someone brought my food to the car.
I don’t tip at a restaurant if I’m just picking up a to go order. Dining in or delivery is a different thing entirely though, I always tip.
If it’s a restaurant where I frequent, I’ll leave a tip for take out.
I absolutely refuse to tip at Sonic. As far as I’m concerned, they are no different than the person working the drive-thru at McDonald’s or Arby’s, they just have to go a little further to hand me the food. They do nothing that deserves a tip.
It looks like the general consensus seems to be about 50/50 here, as well.
If Sonic pays these people with tips in mind, then they are doing a huge disservice to their own workers by not doing ENOUGH to imply that they are getting special service when you visit a Sonic.
People are inside their cars, they will usually have a “Drive Thru” mentality when it comes to service.
Tipping at sonic is stupid. An ex girlfriend of mine used to work there and come home with 200 extra on friday nights. I bet that it got cut down a lot when they installed those credit machines on the signs though.
I never tip at Sonic because anyone who takes 45 minutes to retrieve two cherry limeades or a mini banana split clearly doesn’t want to be tipped. If Sonic ever put me in a position where I had to ask myself whether to tip, my survivors would have to tip someone to clean up the spot where my brain exploded.
Is it me or is this survey and/or results set up poorly? The percentage is a meaningless number. It doesn’t show that X% of the time that of people tip for each category. For example, right now, it shows 17% for Dinner at a restaurant. I am sure that more than 17% of the people that responded tip at a restaurant. The number of votes is a bit helpful. Am I wrong?
No, you’re right. i was wondering the same thing
Yeah, it’s a bit bad. Not entirely useless, but almost.
Yes, the results are set up poorly. The poll isn’t using total number of voters as the denominator. Instead it uses total number of checked boxes. So, for example, if all voters checked all boxes, meaning a 100% tipping rate for each item, the results would report 11% for each item (1/9=11%–there are 9 checkboxes). So it’s hard to tell. But I’m going to guess around 90% of Consumerist readers tip for dinner at a restaurant, so you can extrapolate from there. That would mean perhaps 30% tip for hotel housekeeping, for example.
I was noticing that I didn’t check a number of the boxes because I never use those services, not because I’m a bad tipper (I’m actually a very good one). But the poll has no way of accounting for that possibility. Poorly designed!
I always women masseuses a tip, at the end of the massage.
Did you forget a word?
That’s not a tip, it’s a crime.
Only in 49 states and one city!
If she’s a ‘masseuse’ and not a licensed massage therapist, I imagine she well deserves it.
Is it better if she has a license? More therapeutic?
what about car wash? what is the proper amount to tip for a hand wash and what is the proper amount for a auto wash with drying/detailing?
I base the tip on the price of the service:
$16.00 service: wash/dry, tip: $5
$35.00 service: wash/handwax, tip: $10
At at regular car wash, I tip a buck or two for a regular wash. $5 or $10 for a wax or detail, depending on what’s being done, and how good it looks when they’re done.
Now that I have a guy that comes to my house to do the cars, I only tip if I think he’s undercharging me. He owns his own business, and it’s his job to charge enough. The first time he came, though, he told me it would be $55, then he spent 9 hours (really!) vacuuming dog hair. I paid what I thought the job was worth, which was quite a bit more. Now that he knows how long it’s going to take to get great dane hair off the inside of the roof, he charges appropriately, and I just pay what he charges.
The poll results would make a lot more sense if each item was evaluated individually. It doesn’t make much sense to say that 16% of the total votes are for tipping at a restaurant. It should be more like 90%
I normally don’t tip hotel housekeeping unless I make a slight mess or have an excessive amount of garbage.
When I have access to a concierge lounge of some sort (usually at Marriott’s) I tip the attendant if they are helpful.
I usually tip housekeeping $1/day. In the grand scheme of things it’s not that much money compared to what the room is costing me, and those people do a really demanding job for very little money.
If I manage to make a big mess I leave a more generous tip.
I only tip housekeeping if I accidentally leave a “firewood” style pile of oozing corpses in the middle of the room.
You’d think you’d only make that mistake once!
My best friend worked as a hotel housekeeper for a while. Completely thankless job, heavy time pressures, poorly paid, and people who stay in hotels make far worse messes than they think they do (maybe they’re used to someone else picking up after them?). Her advice, if you want to be nice to the housekeeping staff:
- put your trash in the trash can
- strip your own beds (it really does save them a remarkable amount of time)
- even a dollar or two left as a tip helps a LOT, because the rate-per-room they get works out to such a low number.
And leave your towels on a big pile in the middle of the floor. … Some people think it’s polite to hang everything back up before you leave. It’s not.
Only 17% of people on consumerist tip at restaurants? Did people not understand that you can vote for more than one thing here, or do consumerist readers only eat at MacDonalds?
It’s a broken poll. The numbers all add up to 100%. That’s not 17% of all the surveys taken, it’s 17% of the total boxes checked in all surveys.
In other words, the site that provides polls can’t properly provide polls.
Ahhhhhh. Math. It’s not for everybody.
The percentage’s aren’t being computed correctly… they’re taking the number of votes for an item divided by the total number of votes for all items. The should divide it by the number of people voting…
Either that, or Consumerist readers are total cheapskates.
No tips for the IT help desk?
Guess someone’s got to start the trend…
At one place I worked, we could give “on the spot” awards to anyone we wanted. They got a $5 Starbucks card or an amazon gift certificate or something like that. I gave them out to the IT folk like candy anytime I had any contact with them. You never know when you’re going to need them to solve your problem NOW!
I will gladly fork over an entire pay check if I ever meet a help desk employee who doesn’t act like my request is forcing them to crawl through a mine field that’s also littered with broken glass and dirty needles.
Took me two months to get Adobe 9 Pro installed on my laptop – just got it this afternoon.
Please tell me they don’t allow you to install on your own.
I don’t work in IT, per se, and I have admin rigths to my work issued laptop. Out IT was outsourced and you have to call a different state to start the arduous process for a help ticket that gets issued to a guy you could walk over to in the time it takes to drill down through the prompts on the phone.
That being said, I am, for all intents and purposes, our on site IT help for our users who don’t like calling the helpdesk and the helpdesk should thank me for doing the menial stuff.
Although, there are a few people I rotated their desktop just for fun and walked away.
You would be surprised at what we find under your desks and cashwraps.
I would give it back to you if you manage to come up with an issue that doesn’t come across as Chinese water torture administered by Rain Man.
Seriously, though, I do love my users and they love me back. There are just a few I’d like to send off on the spaceship to nowhere.
Then your IT Department sucks. I work in IT myself, and for every moment a user isn’t working, we aren’t making money.
Its also true: You’d be surprised at what we find under your desks or under your keyboard. Filthy people.
True Story: Girl here was just let go for male porn on her computer.
Is your company hiring?
in all seriousness, like someone else mentioned, if the people I work with aren’t working, the company’s not making money. Often times people tend to micro-manage IT departments, which causes what you describe more often than not. Which is a shame, because we are quite capable on our own.
“I got three breath mints and one death threat scrawled on a napkin. I hope I don’t forget which breath mint came from the napkin guy.”
Let me preface this by saying i checked pretty much all the boxes and tip on par or better than most people I know.
I just wish i could avoid using services that require tip. It would be nice to be able to get a good dinner and not require a waiter/waitress thats going to add $20 to the meal because of tip. I only tip valet if it’s an option or I knew that was the case before I arrived at the destination.
I’ve always felt like people who work for tips always made a killing compared to an hourly/salary job, so it agitates me that I look like a cheapskate if I don’t pay 20%.
You realize the base cost of the food would be more if there were no tips, because the required increase in the waitstaff’s salary would be worked into the overall cost…
That’s part of why the restaurants want to keep it the way it is. You come in, see the prices, and base your decision on that. Then the bill comes and with tax and tip that $15 entree is now $19.
Sure, but why do I have to tip more for the same service because the food costs more? On that same point I typically feel like I’m not treated as well at nicer restaurants because I’m relatively young (25) and probably don’t look like I’m going to tip excessively.
Yes, and people who don’t like tipping would be fine with that.
People don’t resent the cost of food. People resent being guilted into giving someone money. If there wasn’t pressure from society making people feel obligated to tip then tipping wouldn’t be an issue.
This! I so agree with this post!
Seriously, folks, tipping is neither a reward for good service or an incentive to provide it. It is a guilt trip device designed to allow powerful businesses to take advantage of their employees and customers by paying substandard wages. Charge service fees and get it over with, I will never ever bitch about the high cost of food as much as I bitch about tips.
The legal minimum wage for food servers in NY is 4 something dollars. Yes, about twice less than the normal minimum wage, and many restaurants pay their servers the bare minimum required by law. They believe this meager wage is justified since they also receive tips.
People don’t tip the beer vendor or hot dog vendor at games? I either let them keep the coin change or slide them a dollar.
If you’re hauling multiple cases of ice cold jesus nectar to the upper echelons of a stadium, I tip the shit out of you because I want you to visit frequently throughout the night. If you’re shuffling around with that baton of lighter-than-air cotton candy in buckets that are whacking people all willy nilly…I will order more beer.
I guess if it’s a vendor who’s actually walking around, that’s different. I never see those guys so I end up walking to the concession stand, and I don’t see any point in tipping there.
Horatio, did that guy fall from the upper echelons of the stadium, or from…outer space?
I tip at bars, but at games I figured they’re getting enough of my money. Paying $12 for a pint really saps my desire to tip.
The dudes carrying food/drinks around the stadium get tips, but the dudes at the actual registers don’t (from me at least). Am I supposed to be tipping the guys behind the counter with actual registers too?
So you tip based on labor involved? Seems like a slippery slope. Should we be tipping the garbage pickup folks? What about the Stockers at our local stores? Etc.
Personally, I found that one difficult to answer. Do I tip the beer vendor who walks up and down the aisles, so I don’t have to get my happy self out of my seat? Yeah, I do. Do I tip when I go up to the concourse and get myself a hotdog? No, I don’t. Maybe that makes me a bad person, but I don’t generally tip people who are providing the equivalent of service that I get at a fast-food location.
I know that around here, some sports venues have volunteers working in concessions, to raise money for charities…the charity gets a percentage of the revenue. Would that fact change your inclination to tip the vendors?
Im not sure if anyone knows this but the avg wage for a waitress is about $2.50 some restraunt you bid for your job and dont get pay.. Because the fed govt considers tips as a part of the pay. the restaunt/club dont make up for the min wage if they dont make the tips.. I tip all servers
I always tip housekeeping at a B&B my husband and I hit up a couple of times a year. They give lots of little extras in their rooms and the rooms are full of lovely antiques (as well as pristinely clean and tidy). And since we plan to be repeat customers, we want them to look forward to our arrival.
Indeed. I travel a lot on business and I am required to tip when tipping is warranted, and even sometimes when it isn’t (for example, the waiter in Germany). I err on the generous side because I am aware it is an image thing for the company.
I didn’t tip the room cleaner at the last hotel I stayed at because he not only left the room half undone each day, but made himself at home in the drawer in which I had folded my nightgowns and underwear. Tip? That bastard’s lucky he didn’t get sued. No, scratch that, he’s lucky I didn’t walk in while he was playing with my unmentionables, or after I got done with him, he would have sung in a voice higher than mine.
The point of all that, other than a satisfying rant, was that just not leaving him a tip (rather than not leaving him a tip PLUS raising hell with the management) would have got lost in the background noise of all of the other non-tippers.
I’m probably slightly anomalous, as my local sporting events have concessions run by community groups (high school bands, cheerleading squads, etc), and tip money goes to a worthy cause — not sure how much of my $5-for-a-glass-of-mediocre-beer goes towards them, but whatever, a buck won’t kill me. Now, if I’m at an event where the concessions are run by the venue… not so much.
Last time I went to a hair stylist, they apparently didn’t think the tip I gave them was big enough, because they rang up a bigger one when they took my credit card.
I don’t use valet parking, but I imagine if you don’t tip they just help themselves to whatever you left in the car.
The fact that someone decides to take a low paying job in the hopes of receiving tips does not make me feel obligated to tip them.
I tip at restaurants when both the service and the food is good. Otherwise, no tip. I don’t care if the waiter/waitress does not control the quality of the food. Only a stupid person would stay and a waiter/waitress job where the food is bad.
I tip pizza delivery if it arrives within 30 minutes and the order is correct, providing there is no delivery charge. I will never understand why anyone would work delivering pizza for a shop that can not make 30 minutes, or expect a tip when the customer has already been charged for delivery. I don’t care if the delivery charge is not shared with the driver, only a stupid person would expect a tip in that situation.
Mr. Pink, is that you?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5ODhIFawfs
But seriously, if you haven’t noticed it’s kind-of a tough job market out there. Not everyone can chose to not work at a restaurant that doesn’t live up to your high standards, or at a >30min pizza place. And like or not, their livelihood depends on tips. So, pay up.
If it’s a tough job market, all the more reason not to tip. Service workers should be grateful just to have a job, and should cherish every paying customer
Wow….
This poll is broken. If you assumed that everyone tipped for dining, then you could compare the number of votes received by each other category to the number of votes in the dining category. However, this is probably not true — there are probably people who don’t tip for dining who do tip for other categories, and there are probably people who wouldn’t have checked any boxes at all.
Until the survey is fixed, and a substantial number of people enter their results, this poll is basically meaningless except for the most obvious intuition.
I tip for all of the above in the poll, except for “Food/Beer at a sporting event”, and “Coffee shop/Deli”.
I believe in tipping, as its expected for many of these situations. That said, I just can’t tip at a sporting event after geting ripped off for mediocre concessions. Additionally, the coffee shop or carry-out type place having a tipping jar is a recent trend, but one that I see as unneccessary. We all have our limits!
I’ve been known to slip the waitress at my favorite out of town casino $20 at the beginning of the night. The drinks are free, but by tipping well I never have to worry about a watered down drink, wondering were the hell my waitress is, etc. It also nets me coupon for a free buffet from time to time, so it’s worth it.
This. When I gamble, the first tip is really big. I never have to wait for a drink, and it doesn’t stay empty long. Even when playing nickel slots!
Here is a tip,
don’t eat yellow snow
I tip a buck or two sometimes when I eat out. Also for a hair cut. Thats it.
Does that mean only 17% of people tip at a restaurant?
Don’t tip for coffee unless I order an espresso drink and the task requires actual skill. Even then i don’t tip much. I know this is a contentious one, but I just don’t see why brewing coffee and filling a cup merrits a tip.
I agree, and I had a barista-ing job where tips were what made it possible for me to make ends meet. No one that I worked with was resentful of customers who bought brewed coffee and didn’t tip, either.
I thought it was nice when customers tipped me for brewed coffee, but I did often wonder why, unless I had done something like discuss the coffee with them or remember how they liked it. With espresso drinks, the skill and care of the barista makes a big difference (at least in shops where it hasn’t been automated all to hell), but not so much with brewed coffee.
(Of course, some people just don’t like change in their pocket, and if they wanted to give it to me, that… was more than fine.)
If I’m standing on line and ordering at a counter, sorry, no tip. But I do tip bartenders, so I’m a big fat hypocrite.
I agree, I mean why should I tip the lady that got my bagel out of the case anything? Why is there even a tip line? I hate writing a zero in there.
My family had food to eat during the ’81 recession thanks to tips my mom earned while waitressing. So yeah, I tip.
Not a well-designed poll. Apart from the weird way it shows results, there’s no “I don’t know” option.
I never go to sporting events, so I don’t know if I would tip. I haven’t bothered to find out what’s considered customary. Likewise, living in a driveable area with a car, I don’t take taxis. If I leave it unchecked, it makes it seem like I support not tipping, but really, I just don’t have an opinion.
You need to specify if the food delivery already has a delivery fee. You also need to change your poll to a yes, no or N/A box. I mean, I don’t go to sporting events, so I didn’t check the box. However, if I did, I would likely tip. But it’s not applicable to me. Where I live, we don’t have taxis. But if we did, I’d tip.
I also tell the person taking the bags to my room at resorts.
I will say that this poll reminded me I forgot to tip the housekeeping at the hotel I stayed in tuesday night.
I picked all of them except:
Food/Beer at a sporting event. I never, ever buy from the ambulant vendors. All they have is crappy Budweiser in a plastic cup. You have to get up to find the Labatt. As long as I’m up, I get my food from a stand, too. So, same as fast food.
Coffee shop/Deli: c’mon, this is fast food. If there’s insignificant change, I may pour it into the tip jar, but then I don’t really consider that a “tip” — it’s just insignificant change.
And a qualifier: I said I tip the valet parker, but only where the valet service is “free.” Paid valets don’t usually get a tip, but there are exceptions.
Another qualifier: If tip the chambermaids if I’m going to be there more than a night or two. If it’s a tourist town, then maybe I’ll tip even if it’s only for having stayed a single night.
I’ve worked at lumber yards, loading much lumber, bags of concrete, sweating your ass off, for many years, and only got tipped a couple times. Someone walks over to yor table with drinks, food, and the bill, and we tip them. People in lumber yards don’t make minimum wage, but it’s not like were rolling in money either. IT’s backbreaking work, and people don’t even think about tipping.
I Tip everyone but the hotel house keepers… and it is usually because I don’t have my room serviced while I stay… I pretty much tip everywhere else… kinda like Rodney Dangerfield in Caddy Shack.
Not tipping for food delivery puts you at the bottom of their priority list.
Voted yes for everything except stadium vendors and hotel housekeeping.
I only tip a buck or less at coffee shops and delis (and other over-the-counter eateries), and only if I like the place and plan to come back regularly. Yes, it’s basically a bribe
As a son of a waitress and one who spent early working years in minimum wage service jobs, I tip anyone that will accept them.
Once watched 8 people in line to get taxis in Vegas during CES, not one person tipped the door man that was hailing cabs. I did and was treated like a VIP when he happened to be at the door.
Food Delivery with the addendum that if there’s a delivery charge, then they get no tip.
I would check out http://www.tipthepizzaguy.com . I looked online once to see if I should tip even if there is a delivery charge and I got to this site. It’s interesting and quite informative, actually. I usually just tip $2 since whatever I buy usually isn’t much. If I were to order a ton of pizzas, for example, I’d tip more. You get the picture.
I don’t understand why people don’t think it’s important to tip hotel maids.
If someone cleans my toilet and changes my sheets, having no idea what might have gone on in them the night prior, I’m going to give them some money.
It’s weird trying to tip someone you never see.
I remember when I was young my family was at a restaurant and we saw someone try to take a tip left for a waitress on a table. My dad stopped them and let the waitress know. After that we never just left money on the table. Tips go directly into the hand of the person I want to have it.
Missing from the list: Tow Truck Driver; Kid at the Garden Store who loads the mulch in my car; Skycap
I don’t take taxis (rural), use valet parking (cheap), or go to sporting events. The only thing I don’t really tip for is my coffee or a deli sandwich (depending very much on the deli in question. Sometimes you have to tip because it’s so awesome you don’t want it to ever go away).
For those people that tip housekeeping staff at a hotel, are you staying at Motel 6, a moderate hotel (Hampton Inn, Holiday Inn), High End (Hilton, Marriott, Sheraton) or Resorts (Waldorf Astoria, Ritz Carlton).
Moderate business class. It depends where I am and what’s available. Hampton In and Suites in Louisiana, the kooky Elegante with the Ten Commandments monument next to the door in Odessa, Holiday Inn in Fort Smith, Hilton at Heathrow, the attractive little cheap beachfront place with atmosphere in Ventura, the historic B&B in Aberdeen, the Marriott next to the airport in Hannover, the Kempinsky Mall of the Emirates (scary expensive) in Dubai… but it’s hard to find a not-fancy business hotel in Dubai.
And adding to that the fact that I live in Houston, everyone can now play “what industry does speedwell work in,” heh.
Gah… You’re really getting me thinking here. I’ve narrowed it down to “A big corporate company that does (blank)”
How sad is that? lol. I guess the trouble is that since I live in Houston too I know how diverse our corporate-ness is so it’s hard to nail down.
Oil tools manufacturing, which makes me real popular these days in chat rooms… LOL
You forgot “Strippers” on the list.
For those people that tip housekeeping staff at a hotel, are you staying at Motel 6, a moderate hotel (Hampton Inn, Holiday Inn), High End (Hilton, Marriott, Sheraton) or Resorts (Waldorf Astoria, Ritz Carlton).
Sorry for the double post – The site crashed and I didn’t think it went through.
I tip housekeeping no matter where I’m staying, especially if I stay more than one night. Generally the first day I’m there I leave a note asking for extra towels and a $5. If I’m staying for a week, I also tip halfway through the week and and at the end of the week. I’ll tip more at a really high class resort, but I tip at all of them.
I don’t do a ton of sports/events things, but I’ve not seen a tip cup that I remember. I probably wouldn’t, as I usually just get a Coke.
I tip the rest…I always figure Valet will give you crappy spot or not be so careful if you don’t tip. (Nice reasoning, I know). I find the haircut/hair-do tipping odd as it’s usually so expensive to begin with but I guess it’s expected and if you go back to the same person, well, you have to. I’d rather that type of fee be built in!
I’m an free-lance journalist who relies on information given to me by other people.
Should I tip my tipsters?
Just as long as you don’t work for Gizmodo….that might get your house raided by police…