Tipping - the great debate

RadishRose said:
AC I totally agree on tip jars when exchanging my money at a counter for food. No tip is needed...how else is the shop going to sell their food if nobody hands it to the customer and takes the money??? It's NOT like we are being served while we dine and cleaned up after! There is no "service" involved!

Hairdressers who ask when taking the credit card for payment:"do you want to add something to that?" should be told off. How dare you ask for a tip?

I had a lady who cut my hair for a long time open her own shop eventually. The first time I went to her shop, I gave the credit card and she had the nerve to ask me if I wanted to "add something" to the total. I told her that she, being the OWNER should not be accepting a tip in the first place, let alone ASKING for it. I never went back.

Now the CARPET CLEANER trying to arrange for a tip made my blood boil! That really takes the cake.

I tip for meals in restaurants, salons, taxis and food delivery. I at first tried to tip for my rare grocery delivery, but they were refused; the store won't allow it.

If people wouldn't feed those tip jars, maybe they would go away.
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The best post in this thread. :clap:
 
It really feels awkward to tip someone that probably makes more than you do. Airport baggage checkers.
 

The restaurants within my retirement community always add a 15% charge to the bill, for the "tip." Some people add a little bit to that, if they were very pleased with the service. Is it really
any different from just boosting their prices by 15%? I don't see how that can really be called a tip. A tip is supposed to be optional.
 
I consider myself a good tipper…customary percentage be damned

If I get good service in an eatery, I’m laying out some good cash
If I get lousy service, I become forgetful….or lay out pennies

As far as other services, for me, it’s a judgement call

Popped a tire on a curb awhile back
Stopped at a tire store
The kid came running out, replaced the tire with a new one, changed out the spare and bade me a nice day…sweat pouring off his chin
I offered him a tip
Wouldn’t take it, company policy
I stuffed it in his shirt pocket ‘well then, consider it a gift’

I’ve done this with other services, can’t remember what, but if they don’t have a shirt pocket,
or they’re of the fairer gender, there’s a hand shake, and a subtle monetary exchange with a folded up twenty or two

It’s a feel good for me, thinking it puts a spring in their step

And, well, it’s a reward
For good service

Anybody that suggests a tip?
I give ’em a tip…… of advice
 
We always tip at resturants and I also give a gift to our mailman. I don't put anything in a tip jar because I am not sure where the money will really go to.
 
I still remember the time I was called to see the lady at such and such address about an intrusion. I sped to get to her home where I found this lady, who was a least 80 y/o answering the door. She told me that her smoke detector has been going off since 4 that morning. It was now 6:30. I just took out the battery and told her that it must be defective because I couldn’t find any smoke in the house.

Before, I left her home, she offered me a tip. I told her that the state police does not accept tips. She says, “Oh, how nice.” Then, she all but demanded that I take a bag of her cookies, which I reluctantly accepted. I thought that the boys on day shift will enjoy them with their coffee.
 
I won't tip less than 15% in a restaurant no matter how bad the service is. Well I suppose if the server cussed me out and threw a drink in my face I'd probably stiff them, but nothing like that has ever happened. My mother worked as a waitress to support us when I was a kid and I know the kind of crap they have to deal with. Not to mention the restaurants take advantage of a loophole in the law to pay them way less than even minimum wage. I'm surprised more of them aren't surly. And for average and above service I'll go to 20-25%.

A couple of weeks ago I took my old computer in to a repair shop. After they checked it out the lady who runs the shop called me and said she recommended I just write this one off because it wasn't worth the $372 it would cost to fix it. When I asked her what I owed her she said " no charge". When I went to pick it up because I want to pull the hard drive out before I recycle it I asked again if I owed her anything and she said no. So I said well at least let me pay for your lunch and I handed her a $20 bill which she accepted.

On the other hand I think the lawnmower shop is gouging me when they said it's going to take another $120 bucks to fix my mower over and above the $85 that I had to give them up front to cover the basic annual servicing. Normally I pay things like this in cash. But since I feel I'm being gouged when I go to pay that additional $120 I'm going to throw down my credit card so that they get stuck with the 2.5-3 percent processing fee. It's a small gesture but it will make me feel better.

I feel the same way about the dentist. $115 bucks for a routine cleaning and another $50 for X-Rays. $165 bucks total. What a racket. No cash for you. You get the credit card too. As I said, I prefer to pay for most things in cash. But if I feel like I'm being gouged I pay with my credit card to punish them.
 
I would hate to live in a culture where tipping is required. It seems so complicated and contentious. I believe in a system where all workers are paid a living wage with overtime rates and other benefits etc. Somehow I feel like I am dispensing charity when I am faced with the prospect of tipping someone. I would prefer to pay a higher price for goods and services if it means better wages and conditions for the workers.

When I am on a cruise I am very aware that the staff are probably poorly paid and they are certainly away from their homes and families for long stretches and I am very happy to show my appreciation with a monetary gift and a thank you note.
 
Warrigal said:
I would hate to live in a culture where tipping is required. It seems so complicated and contentious. I believe in a system where all workers are paid a living wage with overtime rates and other benefits etc. Somehow I feel like I am dispensing charity when I am faced with the prospect of tipping someone. I would prefer to pay a higher price for goods and services if it means better wages and conditions for the workers.

When I am on a cruise I am very aware that the staff are probably poorly paid and they are certainly away from their homes and families for long stretches and I am very happy to show my appreciation with a monetary gift and a thank you note.
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Tipping is not required in the US - it's optional.
 
Warrigal said:
Agreed, but if nobody tipped, how would some workers be able to pay their bills.
My point is that their very living depends on this optional custom.
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It’s incentive….to bust yer butt in providing good service

sometimes called earning it
 
Warrigal said:
Agreed, but if nobody tipped, how would some workers be able to pay their bills.
My point is that their very living depends on this optional custom.
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You seem to think restaurant worker wages are the responsibility of customers. You are wrong - they are NOT. My point is that too many people are subsidizing cheapskate restaurant owners.

Furthermore, a lot of workers are underpaid, but they don't get tips nor are they permitted to carry around a tip.jar.
 
applecruncher said:
You seem to think restaurant worker wages are the responsibility of customers. You are wrong - they are NOT. My point is that too many people are subsidizing cheapskate restaurant owners.

Furthermore, a lot of workers are underpaid, but they don't get tips nor are they permitted to carry around a tip.jar.
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Those are my points too. Underpaid workers should not be underpaid. Minimum wage for adults should be a living wage.

As I understand the history of gratuities, it was a European custom, particularly in France. Waiters in high class restaurants were not paid at all. In fact they actually paid the restaurant owner for the position which was very lucrative. They would receive generous gratuities for showing a customer to a good table and for ensuring that his dining experience was pleasurable and that his guests were impressed by his status.

Because of the close association of between republican USA and republican France I assume that this culture of tipping in service vocations became the norm. It never became the norm in Australia which grew out of an English penal colony. Australia in the late C19 and most of C20 was strongly unionised and aggressively egalitarian. Those days are disappearing but we still find tipping problematic. We are OK with leaving the change for the waitress or barmaid but very awkward about working out the appropriate size of a tip for service in other situations. We are fish out of water and very ill at ease.
 
Warrigal said:
I believe in a system where all workers are paid a living wage with overtime rates and other benefits etc. Somehow I feel like I am dispensing charity when I am faced with the prospect of tipping someone. I would prefer to pay a higher price for goods and services if it means better wages and conditions for the workers.
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That's exactly how I feel about it.
 
fuzzybuddy said:
I don't like our tipping system. I believe it is demeaning, and arbitrary. Your server is not some peasant fawning for tips. A person's livelihood should not depend partially on the generosity of others. I would abolish this custom, if I were King.
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Count me in on that too.
 
I believe that if you get service period, even if it's poor, you should tip a minimum of 15%.

In fact, I will go so far as to say that anyone that doesn't tip at least that much in a full service restaurant is an asshole.
 
Trade said:
I believe that if you get service period, even if it's poor, you should tip a minimum of 15%.

In fact, I will go so far as to say that anyone that doesn't tip at least that much in a full service restaurant is an asshole.
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HAH! Love a strong opinion.
This asshole just can’t spring for a tip for bad service.

It’s rare, but it’s there…when business is slow, and there’s no excuse, not even a shift change

(but, I do know what yer sayin’, and cheers to that)
 
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Gary O' said:
HAH! Love a strong opinion.
This asshole just can’t spring for a tip for bad service.

It’s rare, but it’s there…when business is slow, and there’s no excuse, not even a shift change

(but, I do know what yer sayin’, and cheers to that)
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Here in Alabama the restaurants get away with paying their servers $2.13 an hour.

I think that is absolutely criminal.

So if I get served at all I will tip a minimum of 15%.
 
Trade said:
Here in Alabama the restaurants get away with paying their servers $2.13 an hour.

I think that is absolutely criminal.

So if I get served at all I will tip a minimum of 15%.
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$2.13/hr IS criminal

Got this from the link below;

Minimum wage laws protect all employees, whether or not they receive tips.
Employees are entitled to earn the full minimum wage per hour as set by federal or state law.
Currently, the federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour.
The minimum wage in Oregon is currently $10.25, but it will increase to $10.75 on July 1, 2018


https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/oregon-laws-tipped-employees.html

I consider the tip custom a bit beneath humanity
But will rigorously lay out cash for good service, whether in the form of tip or extra payment for services
I've held to extra cash lay out as more bonus than anything else, as it's been due to gratefulness, or outright earning, not some custom

But $2.13/hr?
I'm now a bit more educated
 
Re: restaurant servers in Alabama
This means that Alabama employers can pay as little as $2.13 an hour, as long as the employee earns enough in tips to add up to the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour. However, if you don't earn at least $5.12 an hour in tips, your employer must pay you the difference.

The average server in Alabama earns $10.81/hr.
https://www.indeed.com/salaries/Server-Salaries,-Alabama

In Ohio:

Ohio allows employers to take a tip credit of 50%. This means employers may pay employees as little as $4.15 an hour for 2018, as long as the employees earn enough in tips to bring their total hourly wage up to at least the state minimum.

In Caifornia:

California treats its servers differently than most states in the Union: it is one of seven states that pays tipped employees the state minimum wage, $9 per hour, instead of the absurdly low federal minimum of $2.13 for tipped employees. ...Tipped employees' hourly minimum would be required to remain at $9.
 

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