Should I still tip?

Groundpounder said:
If you buy something, you’ll get change. If you use some service that is normally something you’d tip for, like a van ride or going to an FBO, bring some $5’s. It’s not hard, I’ll go to the bank every now and then and get $50 in $5’s. Depending how much I am flying, that lasts me at least a month. Once I start doing the airline thing, I’ll be tipping a lot more van drivers, so maybe I will have to go more often.
Click to expand...
You should see the bank tellers’ faces when I go in about once a month and ask for $100 in singles:)
 
kayoh190 said:
Yeah, I've even been tipping for takeout to help the local establishments.
Click to expand...
Yea we try to only eat local. Sometimes, it’s tough because they’re more expensive but at least the money is going to them and not a corporation
 
MauleSkinner said:
Do wait staff fall under the minimum wage laws, or can they be paid less?
Click to expand...
I dunno for sure. I think it varies from State to State. Like I said above, checkout the laws where you are. I know there was a push to Federalize it. Can’t remember if it passed.
 
Salty said:
Another problem I have with tipping is, I generally don't carry cash. If I do have cash it's usually 20's. I'm not going to carry a wad of 5's every where I go just in case I need to tip somebody.
Click to expand...
I’ve asked if they have like $15. They always do. No attitude like it’s tacky or something. They understand and appreciate I made the offer.
 
bflynn said:
I didn't say I won't tip. But I resent tipping to make up for cheap bosses. I also resent tipping when the only time I've seen a server is when they took my order and then I have to flag down someone else to get refills on drinks, check on food, and deliver the bill.
Click to expand...
I don't think restaurant owners would have an issue paying full hourly wages on waiters if other restaurants did the same. The current compensation model rewards employees for working the busiest times and providing attentive service. With a fixed pay system. Managers would struggle to staff the busiest times and have to aggressively send home staff when things slow down. That would likely result in an employee backlash and strong pushes for unionization, aka Starbucks. The current model is probably best for owner, server, and diner.

The only way I see tipping go away is if the server model goes away, i.e. using online ordering, self serve. And yes I know everyone's trying to get in on the tipping scheme.
 
Groundpounder said:
Once I start doing the airline thing, I’ll be tipping a lot more van drivers,...
Click to expand...


So how much should I typically tip an airline captain when exiting the plane? 20% of the airfare? Do I tip the first officer separately? What about the cabin crew? Baggage handlers?
 
Brad W said:
ahh tipping. Ugh.
What's really bugging me lately is the places where you pay up front but still get service. I want to support good service, but I find more often than not pre-tipping seems to mean nothing to encourage good service. (not a surprise really....). In these situations I often try to just leave a small baseline tip up frontso they don't treat me like some sort of a tightwad.... and then tip a little more after...but sometimes that's not very convenient either.
and I sometimes wonder if to the server that looks like a small tip up front that by the end of the meal has been more or less forgotten about so when I leave a few more percent at the end to bolster it, then that just looks like a short tip.

I find the 15% or 20% debate almost funny....seems to be driven by folks that earn tips.
As far as I recall, it used to at least, be some sort of irs baseline of 10% used in calculations...so approx 15% was 'considered standard, more if good service or less if poor service. less than 10% was basically a negative tip...
Now I just don't know where any of it stands...
Click to expand...
These new POS systems love to shake you down for a tip regardless of what you're getting. When I see them often I pay cash so I don't have to go through the awkwardness of silently being shamed for not tipping on my untoasted bagel.

I've noticed that the many ethnic food joints don't seem to prompt for take-out tipping, presumably a cultural difference that reflect less of an expectation for tipping.
 
Half Fast said:
So how much should I typically tip an airline captain when exiting the plane? 20% of the airfare? Do I tip the first officer separately? What about the cabin crew? Baggage handlers?
Click to expand...

If you’d like. Personal decision. But those aren’t positions that are normally tipped.
 
Federal minimum wage for tipped employees is $2.13 so not a lot there…
 
Groundpounder said:
I find it pretty amusing that a bunch of people that fly and/or rent airplanes, which is a pretty expensive endeavor, are bellyaching about tipping an extra 5%.
Click to expand...

Technically, it's an extra 33%.

But then again, I order water when I eat out.
 
Last edited:
MauleSkinner said:
Do wait staff fall under the minimum wage laws, or can they be paid less?
Click to expand...
It varies by state but, at a minimum, the hourly wage plus tips must be no less than the Federal minimum wage. If the tips are short, the business must make up the difference.
 
Last week we flew to KORE, went to the white cloud diner. Their AC had broken so they were just closing up early. They took us in as the last customers. We ate and the bill came to just over $30 so we left them a fifty as thanks!
 
luvflyin said:
Speaking of tip sharing. I used to be craps dealer in a Casino in Reno. All tips from all the games were pooled and divided equally. Some of the girl dealers didn’t particularly like that system.
Click to expand...
BTW, what were your thoughts on a customer putting your tip on the PASS line rather than giving it directly to you?
 
MauleSkinner said:
Do wait staff fall under the minimum wage laws, or can they be paid less?
Click to expand...
There is a separate minimum wage for tipped employees. Much lower than regular minimum.
 
MauleSkinner said:
Do wait staff fall under the minimum wage laws, or can they be paid less?
Click to expand...
There's a tipping exemption to the federal (and most state) minimum wage law. A tipped employee can be paid a base pay as little as $2.13 provided their tips bring them up to the minimum wage of $7.25.
 
First let me preface this with I always tip 20% at a restaurant, $5 at the local burger joint were 20% would be less than $5 and during the height of the pandemic at our favorite place “where everyone knew our name” and they could only do takeout we left $100 when we picked up our take out. Now for what has always bothered me that the tip is based on the price of the meal, not the service. For example Alice at the diner works as hard as the server at an expensive steakhouse. However because the tip is based on food price Alice makes less that the fancy food server. Seems like either an inequity in tipping for Alice or an obscene amount to pay a server for the same service. Anyone else ever considered this since a tip is based on the food cost and not the actual service?
 
Honestly, due to Covid I haven’t dined out much in the last 2 years, but I hate the idiotic US tipping custom. What irks me is the new business model of trying to shame the customer into tipping more while the business owner divides the servers tips with the kitchen staff. I am not increasing my tips so the restaurant industry can increase profits by passing payroll expenses to the uneducated customer.

I dined out last week for a family function and didn’t find the meals were much more expensive at an above average priced restaurant. The service was good from a rookie waiter and I tipped him 20%. I wouldn’t have felt guilty tipping 15%.
 
Not my job to figure out how somebody in a restaurant is paid. If I get good service and I can trace that service to a particular person, I’ll leave them a cash tip.

If a restaurant owner has 4 employees (greeter, seater, server, busser) all working for tips, I’m probably not eating there.

Was in a cafeteria place somewhat recently that had a tip line. That got a big ol’ nope.

Was in a brewery today. 3 beers, a pretzel, and merch was over a buck and a quarter. Waitress still got a hefty cash tip for being nice and attentive, not transactional.
 
might consider if the current ‘scheme’ when away and restaurant owners got rolled into the current minimum wage, what would happen to meal prices and the service quality.
 
RonP said:
First let me preface this with I always tip 20% at a restaurant, $5 at the local burger joint were 20% would be less than $5 and during the height of the pandemic at our favorite place “where everyone knew our name” and they could only do takeout we left $100 when we picked up our take out. Now for what has always bothered me that the tip is based on the price of the meal, not the service. For example Alice at the diner works as hard as the server at an expensive steakhouse. However because the tip is based on food price Alice makes less that the fancy food server. Seems like either an inequity in tipping for Alice or an obscene amount to pay a server for the same service. Anyone else ever considered this since a tip is based on the food cost and not the actual service?
Click to expand...
Yeah. I have no formula I use, but the waiters at the occasional Gucci joint we go to with a celebratory hundred dollar bottle of wine get a much smaller % than the the one at the hash house breakfast joint. Twenty bucks is about my limit.
 
Charlie Golf said:
In MA, the minimum for waiters is $6.15.
Click to expand...
Yes. But given the staff shortage I am betting that actual pay is well above minimum. Most jobs are advertising at least $15 an hour for even fast food.$15/hr. Plus 20% is getting up there. I am not going to stop tipping. But it may make me eat out less. Eating out was always expensive, even more so now. I was just curious what you guys think.
 
The way to look at it is everything on the menu is 20% above what is printed as a price. it's just a gimmick to make it look cheaper than it is. When you pay a tip, you are essentially paying the wait staff for the restaurant owner. Paying more than 20% is optional. But if the food is bad and the waiter is good, pay the tip and complain to the management, and don't come back. It's not fair to punish the waiter for good service if the kitchen staff is lousy, they will eventually get the message and either fix the problem or be gone.
 
Washington state does not delineate tip earners from non-tip earners in their minimum wage law. So a server in Seattle is getting at least $15/hr + tips. I admittedly did not know this the first time that I lived in Washington. Just like my wife did not know that the other states chose to stiff their service staff and allow the businesses to not pay them accordingly. It wasn't until I was fussed at by a local proprietor (oversees) for trying to tip his staff, that I finally understood that the tipping system that we "enjoy" here is just another way to keep the poor, poor. Take my pennies peasants. :raspberry: :sigh: :stirpot:
 
Morgan3820 said:
Yes. But given the staff shortage I am betting that actual pay is well above minimum. Most jobs are advertising at least $15 an hour for even fast food.$15/hr. Plus 20% is getting up there. I am not going to stop tipping. But it may make me eat out less. Eating out was always expensive, even more so now. I was just curious what you guys think.
Click to expand...

I'm sure you're right about that...every restaurant we go to is short staffed.

We seem to be cooking at home a little more now--but it still doesn't faze me to fly somewhere, burning $7/gallon gas, to go have lunch. :lol:
 
I hope people quit going to restaurants. I hope they go belly up. I hope people get mad. Runaway inflation doesn't solve itself.
 
asicer said:
BTW, what were your thoughts on a customer putting your tip on the PASS line rather than giving it directly to you?
Click to expand...

Every time I’ve ever played blackjack I would ask the dealer if they wanted a straight up tip or for me to place a bet for them. 100% of them wanted the bet placed.
 
I successfully made it through high school and college without working in food service. My wife, however, waitressed at a semi-formal restaurant shortly after we got married (and were both in school). I have no problem leaving a short tip to show displeasure with the service I received, but my wife has 'enlightened' me to scenarios where the wait staff is being held up by the kitchen staff, and has conditioned me not to penalize the wait staff for something that is out of their control. On the flip side, though, she can spot a lazy waiter/waitress from a mile away and will make a point to make sure I notice it as well and tip accordingly.
 
I eat out on business trips overseas, I have seen no difference in the quality of service with their model than ours. On the contrary, I hosted an English friend here for a while and she was absolutely livid at how (female) servers behave, as far as she was concerned they were "pushing their t*ts in (my) face" to get bigger tips. It's time to end the system and pay people an honest wage. Think of all the occupations in the US that are paid a non tipped wage, there is no discussion about getting better service with a tipped system. It is all a made up system, and we all buy into it.
 
Walboy said:
I thought 15% was the standard on pre sales tax total. I've never heard of 20% as the expectation.

I agree, if the tip is too much, eat at home. It's healthier too.
Click to expand...
Sometimes, when you're sent out of town on work, eating at home is not an option. In fact, at least one day this week I'll be at the mercy of a courtesy car to dinner, drop off the car, and walk to the hotel.

As far as I'm concerned, giving too generous of a tip isn't my job, and I'd rather not eat junk.
 
Went to a sandwich place last week, they had a sign that stated "Due to inflation, there is a 10% service fee". The POS also asked for a tip, beginning with 20%. This is for a place you order at the counter and then they yell your name for you to come pick it up.

I rolled my eyes at the girl behind the counter and hit Zero tip. Stuck $1 in the jar.

Won't be going back
 
cowtowner said:
Went to a sandwich place last week, they had a sign that stated "Due to inflation, there is a 10% service fee". The POS also asked for a tip, beginning with 20%. This is for a place you order at the counter and then they yell your name for you to come pick it up.

I rolled my eyes at the girl behind the counter and hit Zero tip. Stuck $1 in the jar.

Won't be going back
Click to expand...

I would have turned around and walked out.
 
I typically tip between 15% and 20% if they have done the basics of take my order, keep my water filled and check on my a couple times. If the service has been below that I'll tip 10%. If I feel the tip has to be below that I'm speaking to the manager and I'm doing it after I settle the check so there isn't a suspicion of trying to get a discount on the meal. Additionally if the service has been amazing like my water being filled without me even noticing it, food coming out properly timed (don't drop the entree on my table 3 minutes after you bring me the appetizer or salad) and the food the recommend was amazing they are getting 25%+ and I'm letting the manager know they have an awesome employee.
 
I had an experience at a restaurant where the waitress placed the plate in front of me, and a roach ran across the plate. I smacked the roach with my hand, flattening him and scattering my french toast, then raised my hand to show the rest of the table what happened. Everyone broke out laughing.

The poor waitress was mortified. Afterwards we left her a good tip. I took everyone's check and went to see the manager. He apologized, and took the checks. But we did make sure the waitress understood that we did not blame her.

This was about 35 years ago. It was an older restaurant had those old heat lamps over a counter to keep food warm until the wait units could get the plates to the customer. Those heat lamps were notorious for attracting roaches. Just a little bump on the lamp can knock out a few roaches.

Yeah, charging a service fee for groups over 2 and adding an automatic 20% tip are just ways to keep from raising the menu prices. For me, raise the price of the food instead of hidden fees.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top