Poll: Should you always tip for "direct services" ?

[Amethyst Wind]

I don't come from a tipping culture, good thing to because I'll only tip if I think the service has been above what was necessary.

I also don't like that, while employers will make up the difference to reach minimum wage, if tips cover the gap then employers don't have to pay their staff properly. Tips should always be something extra on top of your paycheck, not part of it.

 

[kitsunefather]

Your poll leaves out:

"Yes, even when I'm unsatisfied"

that is the stupidest thing i have heard. why tip for alright service. why not try to change the system so these people are actually paid a decent wage no matter the tips received. it just seems like such a broken system that you are helping support.

Immediate Answer: Main reason I tip when I'm unsatisfied is I've worked in service positions, and I know that it isn't always the person in question's fault that the service may not be good. If I never see my server except when they take my order, and end up being waited on by the cook for the entirety of my meal because my server is busy trying to flirt with a table of sorority girls, he gets no tip, but I will go out of my way to catch the cook and tip him (yes, this is specific because it happened to my wife and I).

Long Term Answer: Actually, whenever I see petitions to affect minimum wage, or to repeal laws that treat service workers unfairly, I sign them. I vote for repealing laws like the ones that Arizona and Florida uses, but in the immediacy it isn't exactly the employee's fault the system is bending him over a table.

Main thing is, in Arizona I was more lenient on what bad service was, and would tip better while trying to vote and support the repealing of service laws where I was able. In Washington, where delivery drivers make 10 an hour on average, my expectations of service are higher.

And let me clarify, if the service is repulsive (as in the example above), I don't tip the person who did it.

 

[Flamezdudes]

Meh. I'm like Mr Pink in Reservoir Dogs, no way am I giving them tips. I'm only 15, almost 16 though... but that's not the point!

I just don't see a reason to.

 

[Keepitclean]

If letting the pizza delivery guy keep the change out of convenience counts as tipping then I tip. Other than that I have never even heard of tipping existing outside of TV or movies.

 

[kitsunefather]

And let me respond to this, too.

if someone is being paid to provide me that service. say a wage etc. i dont think i should tip them as well. if they want more money then they should ask for a raise, form a union, or do something.

I've worked in retail unions. They're utter crap by and large. They take about two hours of pay a week, and pretty much put on the kneepads when it comes to negotiation, because retail employees are considered about as irreplaceable as toilet paper rolls.

i also hate it when people think that if you dont tip then you are scum. the employer that is paying you crap wages are the scum

Of course you aren't. That's the whole point of a gratuity: its a voluntary addition to the check/expense of the service that is intended to be a reward. The moment it becomes mandatory it loses all meaning. I found out a pizza place my friend worked at actually kept logs about whether a person was a good or bad tipper in their computer system, and would move orders accordingly, so I stopped ordering from there.

Basically, my feeling is its voluntary, but simply saying that they can ask for money really doesn't hold up. Its unskilled entry level work most of the time, so employers have no incentive to pay well. Legislators in states that allow the 'implied gratuity' idea to continue are over-estimating how much income can be had from tips.

 

[Keepitclean]

Basically, my feeling is its voluntary, but simply saying that they can ask for money really doesn't hold up. Its unskilled entry level work most of the time, so employers have no incentive to pay well. Legislators in states that allow the 'implied gratuity' idea to continue are over-estimating how much income can be had from tips.

Just out of curiosity how much did you make from tips?

 

[Kortney]

Depends entirely on the country you are in. In some countries waiters rely solely on tips. In other countries they don't.

 

[kitsunefather]

Just out of curiosity how much did you make from tips?

All told about $15, but I never worked in a field where I expected to be tipped. I got $10 for tying someone's Christmas tree to their car one year, and $5 from an old lady for rearranging her trunk so we could fit her purchases in it.

My brother worked as a bus boy in Florida, and his employers pooled tips and divided them as an addition to his paycheck every week, but I remember he made about $3 an hour wage-wise.

 

[imperialreign]

Exactly. Ex-fucking-actly. I absolutely love those people. "I need this, this, this, and this done all within [insert insane time frame here]. Do it." And its done within the time frame and they hop in their car and drive off without so much as a thank you. I've been perfectly happy with a freakin' thank you but some people can't even say that. They just get in the car and drive off. That burns me up. I'm not ASKING for a tip, but common courtesy can help keep me going in the day.

Absolutely agreed . . . it's a thankless, grueling job, and the majority of customers just don't care. I've even pointed out before that the amount of technical and diagnostic knowledge we contain in our heads is easily on par with any specialist doctor out there . . . modern vehicles are not easy to work on or diagnos.

TBH, back OT - I've gotten to the point (because of the above) where I've taken a Dwight Schrut approach . . . I don't tip people for jobs that I could've performed myself.

 

[crazyfoxdemon]

I have no problem with tipping for good service.. If a server was good or went out of their way to make the experience good, then I'll tip them accordingly... I don't like it when a restaurant DEMANDS a gratuity... A tip isn't a right, its a reward for doing a good job..

 

[DiMono]

Depends on the quality of the work, and if it's a job that customarily is tippable (i.e. the guy at the auto impound probably isn't expecting a tip). If they do a good job, give them a tip. If they do a poor job, tell them that their poor service cost them a tip. People need to learn that rewarding mediocrity is not a positive thing.