[N/A] Do people not Tip Anymore?

ARFlyer

ARFlyer

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Driving back home today from my normal quarterly trip to Dallas, I picked up a nasty bolt while passing through the 635/121 construction boondoggle. I didn’t get alerted until a short time later and pulled over to find my left rear about 10 lbs low. Thankfully, I carry a portable compressor and found myself driving to Terrell for the closest Subaru dealer.

Anyway long story short, the extremely small Subaru dealer was unwilling to help but directed me to a local one bay tire shop. The lone worker quickly hurried out and spent the next 20 minutes fixing my tire in the cold pouring rain. The worker said the cost was $10 so I handed him a $20 and told him I only wanted $5 back. He looked at me dumbfounded and ask why as the repair was listed at $10. I told him it was a tip for working in the cold rain when most people would have told me to go bother the Firestone across the street. He said thank you and proceeded to check my other tire pressures before waving me on my way back home.

Do people not tip anymore when the service is above and beyond? Yeah I know it’s his job but the dude happily fixed the hole in 45F pouring rain and thanked me for the business.
 
Myself, I would have gotten the change (hopefully two 5 dollar bills) and then offered the tip. I am guessing the worker also was the owner. I appreciate owners that work their own business.

And yes, I tip linemen at the airport. They do remember me. I make sure to carry a pocket full of 5 dollar bills just for that.

Restaurants, 10 to 15% unless the wait unit does something really spectacular for us.
 
Good on you to tip. At Americas Tire, they'll do the patching for free, but they still get a tip from me for taking care of me.

Once I had a tire that was almost bald and the Americas Tire said they coudn't patch it because of the tread depth. After explaining how far from home I was, and that I just needed to get back home and would buy a new set there, they took pity and patched the tire just to help me out. I gave a healthy tip to them for being kind... and hopefully continue to do so for other motorists.
 
It does seem like tipping is something that's gone largely by the wayside over the past 20 years, except for restaurants where it seems like people try to shame customers into tipping 20% for standard service. I imagine some of it is that we've largely gone away from carrying cash these days.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
I imagine some of it is that we've largely gone away from carrying cash these days.
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I honestly cannot remember the last time I paid for something in cash.

Edit: Haircut. Otherwise, I've got nothing else I can remember.
 
asicer said:
I honestly cannot remember the last time I paid for something in cash.

Edit: Haircut. Otherwise, I've got nothing else I can remember.
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Anything I don't want my wife to know about (e.g. present for her), I purchased is in cash. Sadly she can see the deduction from the bank account, so she knows it went somewhere.
 
In Mexico the tipping culture is everywhere. It's not needed to be much, but a few pesos here and there are appreciated.

The grocery baggers are good with 5 or 10 pesos.

Rounding-up a little for the guy pumping fuel, or the guy that stood in the rain to fill the propane tanks? Absolutely.

Here in the US, I kinda lost my senses, and offered the grocery bagger $2.00. That was met with a surprised person, saying, "I can't take that".

Yet restaurants are starting the "recommended" tipping at 18%, and going up, while simultaneously raising prices due to rising labor costs.

Yet, the service from many of these individuals is dismal at best. They have no idea how to care for a dining customer.

When you ask 'em for a little water or a refill on iced tea, they look at you as if they're a dog that's just been shown a card-trick.
 
Rgbeard said:
Yet restaurants are starting the "recommended" tipping at 18%, and going up, while simultaneously raising prices due to rising labor costs.
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I can remember when the 'standard' tip in a restaurant was 10%. Then it went to 15%. Now restaurants automatically add 20% if the party is 6 people or more. What if the 'service' didn't warrant a tip? Remember the definition of TIP - To Insure Promptness. I have left 0 for a tip - once or twice in my life, but I have done it. Also, it is supposed to be computed on the pre-tax amount, I'm not tipping on the governor's cut. Around home the restaurants all provide their 'suggested' tip amounts based on the after tax amount. I don't say anything to the server because they didn't program the computer, but I do my own calculations.

I don't tip in Seattle or in the town of Seatac. Period. Since they changed the law to require a 'living wage' and set the minimum wage to $15/hour I figure they got their tip in the increased wages. Others do the same. Probably cost the servers some income due to that. Oh, and Master Park at SEA adds a $.99 a day surcharge due to the increase in the minimum wage. Guarantees I don't tip the driver.

All these other people who expect a tip? Sorry, I don't buy that. I got a salary for doing my job, they can too.
 
I always have singles for the hotel van drivers. That’s the bulk of my tipping plus when I eat out at restaurants but I usually just put that on my card.
 
We tip generously for good service.

I’m more interested in the Subaru dealer telling you to pound sand. :)

They sell tire warranties around here and love tire business, since most of the time, Subarus need all four done at once and owners here want good all weather or even swaps of summer/snow tires.
 
denverpilot said:
I’m more interested in the Subaru dealer telling you to pound sand. :)
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Not that surprising. Car dealers sell tires; they don't repair them.
This was from my dealer service department. I think it's typical about the tires, although in this case it's also the single worst dealer service department I've encountered in over 50 years of driving.

upload_2020-2-12_9-52-45.png

Anyway, I know enough not to buy tires from a dealer. So I go to Costco, tell the sales guy my dealer said it can't be repaired so I'm going to need new tires. He says, let us look at it first. If we can fix it it will be $11.95; if not we'll credit that to the purchase.

I left Costco a half hour later, $11.95 poorer than when I walked in.
 
midlifeflyer said:
Anyway, I know enough not to buy tires from a dealer.
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Funny thing is, and it must be a local thing... all the local Subaru forums say to do their tire warranty here in cow town. They don’t repair, they just replace. No complaints from any metro dealership or the big one in the Springs.

One of those weird local idiosyncrasies. Some dealer must have started offering a decent deal and the rest had to keep up.

A friend has had two new complete sets of tires swapped on his Subaru (he happens to use Shortline) for next to nothing... whatever their cheap per tire insurance price was.

Usually that stuff is prorated but the tires (good brand names too) had defects. Technically only two bad tires but because of wear and AWD, they stick an entire set on.

Similar forum stories to his. Interesting.

We didn’t do it but it wasn’t offered on the junk tires they put on a three year old one. They’ll last a year and I’ll be over at Discount like I’ve done for decades. They’ve also replaced entire sets for me. Helps that the history page is miles long in their computer. Ha. They like me.

The big plus on the Subaru thing seems to be it’s also tied to their free (for new cars) roadside assistance thing. So you don’t even have to go to the dealer. :) Push Starkink button, receive tires. LOL.
 
I know three or four younger kids who work in the service industry as they are going to school. All kids of friends.

They are pretty unanimous in their opinion that the older the clientele, the smaller the tip is going to be.

One kid works at a local diner and told the story that when big group of old people comes in they flip a coin and a loser has to wait on them because they know the tip will be very little or completely nonexistent. just one more reason to be embarrassed of my generation. And honestly, I think a lot of the responses in this thread confirm that.

Those who ***** about the percentage of restaurant tips going up seem to fail to take into account that the wages of the waitstaff haven't come close to keeping up with inflation over the last 30 to 40 years. Actually no minimum wage worker has come close to keeping up.
 
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I tip 20 dollars no matter the service. Hotel ride, hair cut, carry my bags or anything else you're getting a $20. Restaurants I usually tip 20%
 
denverpilot said:
We tip generously for good service.

I’m more interested in the Subaru dealer telling you to pound sand. :)

They sell tire warranties around here and love tire business, since most of the time, Subarus need all four done at once and owners here want good all weather or even swaps of summer/snow tires.
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Yep! My local one will fix the tire most of the time. They’re the only dealership outside of NW AR.

So I figured I’d stop by one in the area. This place was the smallest dealership I’ve ever seen. It’s in a strip mall with the cars on one side of a Tractor Supply parking lot. The actual dealership was just a empty dollar general type store with a curtain dividing the service dept from the sales floor. The sales floor was just a arrangement of some desks and one desk for the front desk lady.

The guy said it would be almost a two hour wait as he was fully booked that day. His screen only showed two cars and one was getting picked up as I spoke with him.

One thing that was odd is that he was happy to help until I told him I didn’t purchase it out of their dealership. I’ve been to other cities and those dealerships have always been more then happy to help me. I wonder if it’s a DFW thing like you said.
 
I hate the tipping culture, especially for jobs that don't really warrant tipping. That said, as I've gotten a littler older (and, frankly, as my income has increased), I've become more generous with tipping, particularly in restaurants. I try to remind myself that it's not the server's fault his/her boss (or the industry as a whole) doesn't want to pay a regular wage and that the server is relying on those tips.
 
timwinters said:
Those who ***** about the percentage of restaurant tips going up seem to fail to take into account that the wages of the waitstaff haven't come close to keeping up with inflation over the last 30 to 40 years. Actually no minimum wage worker has come close to keeping up.
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I never used to tip much in my younger years . Then both my daughters worked in the food /bar industry while going to college and later . The older Daughter is a 5'10 Blond. quite nice looking . One day a fellow asked if he could have any thing on the menu. She said "of course". He threw the menu on the floor and said . "Stand on this" .
She handled it well as at the time she was a divorced working mother and needed all the tips she could muster.
 
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At restaurants I will tip well for what I consider 'above and beyond' service or being a generally nice person, but I will also leave a $1 tip on a $50 tab if they suck just so they know that I didn't forget to leave a tip at all. How's that for passive aggressive?

I'll also tack on a few bucks for an Uber driver if their car doesn't smell like incense and they're not overzealous about being a chatty Cathy.

Other than that, I don't use a lot of tip-able services these days.
 
I overtip for almost any service. None of the housekeepers, tire fixers, porters, waitresses, etc are in it to get rich and retire...many work multiple jobs just to stay alive. I can remember when I was I was flat broke....if I can help, I will.

Bob Gardner
 
I tip for services where the person's wage is adjusted for tips such as food service. I will occasionally tip for a service I think is under priced, or people who go over the top. If you are doing the job you are hired for then no I do not tip.
 
Tipping isn't a thing in most countries outside of the US. Personally I find tipping to be annoying but I still give decent tips at table service restaurants. And the hair cut people.
 
CJones said:
At restaurants I will tip well for what I consider 'above and beyond' service or being a generally nice person, but I will also leave a $1 tip on a $50 tab if they suck just so they know that I didn't forget to leave a tip at all. How's that for passive aggressive?
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I did that once decades ago. The cook ran after me waving a cleaver!
 
bradg33 said:
I hate the tipping culture, especially for jobs that don't really warrant tipping. That said, as I've gotten a littler older (and, frankly, as my income has increased), I've become more generous with tipping, particularly in restaurants. I try to remind myself that it's not the server's fault his/her boss (or the industry as a whole) doesn't want to pay a regular wage and that the server is relying on those tips.
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I'm exactly the same way. Don't hate the playa hate the game!
 
rtk11 said:
Anything I don't want my wife to know about (e.g. present for her), I purchased is in cash. Sadly she can see the deduction from the bank account, so she knows it went somewhere.
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That's why you go to Walmart and get $20 cash on the purchase...
 
Sac Arrow said:
Tipping isn't a thing in most countries outside of the US.
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That reminds me, I need to check on my other wife...

I was in Luxembourg on a business trip a long time ago. There were three of us and we were all new to international travel. We went out to dinner our first night, pretty jet-lagged and dopey because of that...and beer. We were going to be there for almost 2 weeks so we decided we'd take turns buying dinner to help simplify our expense reports ( I dunno if it worked or not, we were too tired to think of anything else) and this was my night to start.

After a really nice dinner for the three of us at an outside table, I paid the bill and left the normal tip I was always used to leaving. I was actually surprised at how little it cost, even with the exchange rate. As we were leaving, the waitress started chasing us down and trying to hand back the tip I had left. She spoke very little English, and none of us spoke Luxembourgish. I had just enough German and another guy had just enough French that we were able to sort of figure out what was going on. She said we (I) had tipped too much. I said no, that was fine. But she insisted. A minute later her mother, the owner, came out. She spoke English a lot better than she thought, and explained what was going on and how tipping worked where we were. She had also traveled to the US quite a few times, so she understood what happened. Apparently it was an embarrassment for the daughter. We sat with mom and ended up talking for about a half hour, I don't remember if we had another beer, but maybe. She was very nice and we ended up at her bistro a number of times. Eventually, I straightened things out with the daughter and we left. As we were leaving, one of the guys said, "I think you just got married!" She WAS cute!
 
Ah, tipping. Is this the place to drop the "M" word? :D
 
Bill Jennings said:
Cheap and nasty, but has gotten me and my bike home too many times to count. No auto place will touch a bike tire, so one has to be self sufficient. This kit, a small 12v inflator, pliers, screwdriver, and a razor blade and Bob's your Uncle.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Slime-11...-f49-1703afe211674b&athancid=null&athena=true
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I had a flat on the family truckster (Chrysler Pacifica) on the way to Florida last year. Chrysler provides a lousy 12v pump and some watery fix a flat in lieu of a spare, which proceeded to run right out the nail hole. Thankfully I had managed to get it to a truck stop before it went totally flat, expecting that the factory kit would fail. The truck stop had that exact kit in the link. Took 2 plugs to seal it, but it got us from Tennessee to Florida and back to Illinois.

No tips required.
 
Ghery said:
What if the 'service' didn't warrant a tip? Remember the definition of TIP - To Insure Promptness.
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Remember, don't blame the waitstaff for a kitchen problem. I tip generously for table/bar service and my haircuts (despite there being less and less to cut!). I tip the line guys, and just did last Saturday for the pre-heat but when it comes to standard jobs people are being paid for I'll admit a tip rarely crosses my mind.
 
When I was college age I worked as a security guard and one of my locations was a hotel across from a the airport. The driver went home at 10:00 and part of my job was picking up the late air crews after the driver left. Inevitably the old battle axe crews from the big airlines would have a single flight attendant or pilot tip you a buck for handling all their bags. The young airlines (who remembers People's Express?) besides having young good looking flight attendants each of them would tip you a buck.
 
I get two-dollar bills from my bank and tip one for each van ride. It's easier than constantly trying to make change so I'll have enough $1's on hand.

I think I average around 32 van driver tips per month so $64, or so. I don't even want to know what the total in tips on all my meals on the road add up to.
 
I always tip a $5 at airports (not at home as I use the self service). I was amazed at the great service I got when I first started. I asked several linepeople after I did it and they said that they are used to getting nothing.

Your mileage may vary....
 
I used to think the only places people tipped were restaurants and the sorts of hotels where they have someone to carry your bags for you. I wouldn't have known tipping elsewhere was a thing if it weren't for internet discussions like this one. I still don't really do it and I find the practice annoying and awkward. I'd be happier if we had a system like they do in Australia where they pay their waitstaff enough and nobody tips. The menu prices are higher of course but it's a lot less awkward to me.

I can only remember one time I was ever tipped- back when I was a teenager doing housecall IT service. I appreciated it but I felt weird on the receiving end of it too.... I swear it's just a cultural thing.
 
I tip everyone that will take it. Maybe I'm a sucka, IDK. But on a per year basis, I bet I'm out only $100.
 
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