Tipping Etiquette

[chozoone19]

I keep a card in my wallet that gives the 15 or 20% tip amount depending on the bills dollar amount [I round up or down depending on change value]. Most places I will give the 15% amount but for the occasionally slightly nicer restaurant I'll go the extra bit for 20%. Another factor of which level I choose and on occasion if I give a little extra amount is how well the service was, primarily from the waiter/waitress but also just over all; was the greeter/host person polite and efficient getting me and others their tables, is the restaurant and in particular the table clean, how long it took for the food to arrive and how good it was. Depending on how I feel in regards to these I may leave a few extra dollars if I have them or charge a larger tip amount if using a card. Overall on a good night I tend to give a little bit more than what the 20% would be.

 

[Azure-Supernova]

As GrandmaFunk pointed out a few minutes ago, some states don't have a minimum wage. What do you do then?

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires payment of at least the federal minimum wage to covered, nonexempt employees. An employer of a tipped employee is only required to pay $2.13 an hour in direct wages if that amount plus the tips received equals at least the federal minimum wage, the employee retains all tips and the employee customarily and regularly receives more than $30 a month in tips. If an employee's tips combined with the employer's direct wages of at least $2.13 an hour do not equal the federal minimum hourly wage, the employer must make up the difference.

When an employee is subject to both the federal and state wage laws, the employee is entitled to the provisions which provides the greater benefits.

A quick Google informed me that only Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Tennessee are the only states that do not adhere to this law, but the federal law preempts that. Out of those five only Tennessee isn't covered by a promised wage law. So yeah, if you rely on tips in Tennessee then you're fucked.

 

[GrandmaFunk]

Also, if tips are expected as they are for people doing you a service then why don't you tip EVERYONE such as the person at the bank, the person in the shop, the person in the hospital.

Banks: wouldn't that actually be illegal? seems like it would lead to conflicts of interests.

Shops: lots of shops have tip jars, and that's usually where my change ends up.

Hospitals: Being form the land of free health care, it's not really applicable for me.

---

I'm not going to defend the fairness of which jobs deserve tips and which don't, I agree that it's very arbitrary.

that being said, using that as an excuse not to tip someone in a position that custom dictates is tip-worthy is pretty lame.

and again, only really works for Steve Buscemi.

 

[Bomberman4000]

One summer I worked as a delivery guy and it truly sucks getting stiffed on a tip. That's how waiters and delivery people make their money. I think one of my waiter friends told me once that he made HALF of minimum wage regardless of how many hours a day he worked.

We used to run lunch specials for $4.95 after tax, and more often than not I would get stared down until I fished a nickel out to give the customer. It was either that or I'd get checks written to the restaurant with no tip included. It was a small, local restaurant so we didn't have a set delivery charge or figure tip into the overall bill. We trusted the generosity of the customers. I was hoping during this summer I could make enough to trade in my truck and get something more gas efficient. Because I kept getting stiffed on tips, and my paycheck was set at a specific level, I still drive a truck that doesn't get good gas mileage (because it's already paid off) and have to put more money in gas every week. There were days I'd work a full day, open to close, and walk out with $44 (all day work is 2 shifts totaling 12 hours for $20 a shift. That equals around $3.34 an hour) because people would stiff me on tips. I barely made enough money to keep gas in my truck let alone buy another vehicle.

Anecdotal example aside, I personally don't see why waiters and servers get paid as little as they do. Anyone who's worked in a restaurant can tell you horror stories of customers, bosses, other co-workers, so I try to take all of that into consideration when I tip someone. I've also looked at it as "how much of a convenience is it for me that this person has this job and is doing this for me?" How much do I value not having to think about if my drink is low? How much do I value being able to stay at home during the game while the pizza guy brings me dinner? How much do I value empty plates being taken away so they don't clutter the table?

It all varies from place to place. And there is something to be said about the attitude of the waiter/waitress as well. Friendliness gets you more of a tip from me than being pissed about your job. I'm a big fan of rounding as well. If the "tip percentage" gives me some asinine number for the change, I round it up.

So I guess to wrap it up, while I don't think there is a set percentage people should tip waiters, I do think some common sense has to come into play. If a waiter serves a table of 6 who complain and rack up a sizable bill that person deserves more than a $2 tip. The longer you occupy a waiter's time, the more you should tip them. The longer you sit at one table, the more you limit the amount of turnover that table can see.

This is all under the pretense of course that the waiter is not a colossal asshole or doesn't spill anything on anyone.


EDIT: I live in South Carolina, near Myrtle Beach (one of the biggest tourist spots in the state) and it sucks balls to work in the service industry around here. Often times you can ask a waiter what OTHER job they have and get an answer other than "this is my only one." Locals around here don't have the disposable income to tip well, and it's very apparent how people from other areas view southerners based on how well they tip (this is not a "set it stone, always how it is" statement so please don't read it as such).

I saw a northern couple one time leave a $5 tip after sitting at one table for 2.5 hours and racking up a bill of well over $100 and they debated as they left about whether or not it was "too much." The wife justified it by saying "that's a lot of money to them." I felt so bad for the waitress who worked that table because she worked hard to make sure they were happy and got almost nothing to show for it.

 

[Mr Fixit]

While all this discussion is wonderful--
no one has actually addressed my primary question:

what do you tip at restaurants withOUT standard table service, excluding fast food style joints?

I know a place like that, very awesome deli style place called McAlisters, but anyway I don't usually leave a tip when I eat there. If the service is really over the I will leave a couple of dollars, or 2 cents if it's crap. I think one of them said they get paid regular wages.

 

[Dogstile]

>people taking this thread seriously

Go back to /v/ with this shit.

Some people here don't like 4chan and want their own discussion.

OT: England here, we don't really tip. Only time I have is when I had a pretty awesome level of service

Edit: I really didn't have any idea how bad it was over in America. Your system is really quite broken.

 

[Macgyvercas]

I tip 15% as a standard, 20% if I feel they did a great job, and 10% if the service was subpar.

 

[Bomberman4000]

Saying they made 1/2 of the minimum wage confirms the area they live in has a minimum wage, surely is it horribly illegal to pay someone that low if there is a minimum wage in place?

I don't know the law exactly, I'm just telling you what I know based on my experiences with working in restaurants and talking with a lot of friends who do as well.

In most cases, tips are factored in as part of a salary. I've seen owners entice unsuspecting applicants with "Waiters only make this, but you keep 100% of the tips you make, and there's no cap on what you can make in a night. You can make as much as $300 a night" and their eyes light up. While this is technically possible, it's unlikely. And the applicant will jump at the opportunity because to someone in the position of applying to be a server (generally speaking of course) that kind of statement sounds like a gold mine.

But as I understand things to be, as long as the tips that person makes plus whatever the restaurant is paying them equals minimum wage then it's not illegal. However, because tips come in cash, it's incredibly fluid and difficult to make any set plans when a large portion of your income fluctuates from one day to the next. Some restaurants who don't see a lot of business will pay someone closer to minimum wage because they know the tips that will come in won't balance it out if they do.

 

[Berenzen]

I was a bartender for a while, and tips were typically needed. Up here in Canada, if you're part of the food service industry, it is legal to give people under minimum wage to a certain extent, so you count on tips.

Anyway, I could see very large tips on some days and small to no tips on others. Nobody wanted to work dollar draft day because normally you didn't get any tips at all, unless someone paid you at the end.

Biggest one I've seen- I was paid/tipped $100 to give a guy precedence when serving people. This happened only once though. Normally I made about 40-50 dollars in tips.

OT: It depends on the restaurant, and the quality of the service. If it's mediocre it's normally around %10, good- %15, amazing will be %15 tip plus another %5 right to the server. If they're really chatty and they miss my cues telling them to buzz off, it's 2 pennies.

 

[Wintermoot]

>people taking this thread seriously

Go back to /v/ with this shit.

>trying to green text
>only works on 4chan
>/v/ is the vidya board
OT
how much you feel like tipping but also the service you get
for example if you get a cold pizza in a busted box don,t

 

[Springs1]

If the food isn't cooked correctly I may say something but I don't blame the server.

It sure CAN be the server's fault if the food isn't cooked correctly:

1. They can put in the order wrong into the computer such as "Medium Rare" instead of "Medium well."

2. They can BRING out something obviously cooked wrong such as if bacon isn't covered up by anything if the person ordered it EXTRA CRISPY, but appears limp, it's YOUR SERVER'S FAULT FOR SERVING THAT TO YOU. Same thing with times I have asked for fries not overdone, yellow not brown, what do some stupid servers do, BRING them BROWN to me very OVERDONE.


http://www.bunrab.com/dailyfeed/dailyfeed_images_feb-07/df07_02-04_baconn.jpg


You can tell in this picture above the bacon is very crispy just by simply LOOKING at it.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_vv2IGE5obwk/RwVi-0hZziI/AAAAAAAABjc/m6bP-Te_wJE/s320/IMG_8338.jpg

You can tell in this picture above, the bacon is NOT CRISPY, just by simple LOOKING at the bacon.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DzuAhw_RcXU/TAyZ38A67EI/AAAAAAAAALo/R6zLKIKy1do/s1600/DSC_0006.JPG


You can clearly see the fries are overdone in the picture above if the customer ordered them "NOT OVERDONE, lightly cooked." I would REFUSE to serve this plate if the customer ordered the fries not overdone.


http://www.orthogonalthought.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/dsc_6087_550.jpg

In this picture above, you can see the fries don't appear overdone and the bacon is NOT CRISPY. If a customer asked for their bacon to be crispy, I would REFUSE to serve it and I would have enough CARING and COMMON SENSE to get that fixed **BEFORE** I brought it to the customer only to have the customer send it back or leave me a bad tip for not caring about their food.

If another server is involved, if the original server that took the order put the order in correctly, then these issues would be on the other server, not on the kitchen staff for not noticing them BEFORE leaving the kitchen by comparing the ticket to the food.

However, if the food has been cooked but arrives cold or I won't tip. At that point it is punishment for the server.

Cold food is most of the time NOT your server's fault. Once, my husband had a chicken sandwich that the chicken felt like it was from the *FREEZER*, NOT cool, but LITERALLY COLD. Do you expect your server to TOUCH YOUR FOOD? I didn't think so.

Another time, I had a bowl of bisque that came out extremely fast that I ordered when greeted even before we ordered our entrées even, I had to send back, because it wasn't WARMED UP ENOUGH.

I will say SOMETIMES it can be your server's fault if they leave your food sit. I am just saying you aren't thinking about MOST of the time that it's NOT the server's fault why your food is cold is all.

 

[ShadowStar42]

Two clicks from the link you provided.
http://www.dol.gov/elaws/faq/esa/flsa/002.htm
And I quote

learn the goddamn law

 

[Jodah]

If the food isn't cooked correctly I may say something but I don't blame the server.

It sure CAN be the server's fault if the food isn't cooked correctly:

1. They can put in the order wrong into the computer such as "Medium Rare" instead of "Medium well."

2. They can BRING out something obviously cooked wrong such as if bacon isn't covered up by anything if the person ordered it EXTRA CRISPY, but appears limp, it's YOUR SERVER'S FAULT FOR SERVING THAT TO YOU. Same thing with times I have asked for fries not overdone, yellow not brown, what do some stupid servers do, BRING them BROWN to me very OVERDONE.


http://www.bunrab.com/dailyfeed/dailyfeed_images_feb-07/df07_02-04_baconn.jpg


You can tell in this picture above the bacon is very crispy just by simply LOOKING at it.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_vv2IGE5obwk/RwVi-0hZziI/AAAAAAAABjc/m6bP-Te_wJE/s320/IMG_8338.jpg

You can tell in this picture above, the bacon is NOT CRISPY, just by simple LOOKING at the bacon.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DzuAhw_RcXU/TAyZ38A67EI/AAAAAAAAALo/R6zLKIKy1do/s1600/DSC_0006.JPG


You can clearly see the fries are overdone in the picture above if the customer ordered them "NOT OVERDONE, lightly cooked." I would REFUSE to serve this plate if the customer ordered the fries not overdone.


http://www.orthogonalthought.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/dsc_6087_550.jpg

In this picture above, you can see the fries don't appear overdone and the bacon is NOT CRISPY. If a customer asked for their bacon to be crispy, I would REFUSE to serve it and I would have enough CARING and COMMON SENSE to get that fixed **BEFORE** I brought it to the customer only to have the customer send it back or leave me a bad tip for not caring about their food.

If another server is involved, if the original server that took the order put the order in correctly, then these issues would be on the other server, not on the kitchen staff for not noticing them BEFORE leaving the kitchen by comparing the ticket to the food.

However, if the food has been cooked but arrives cold or I won't tip. At that point it is punishment for the server.

Cold food is most of the time NOT your server's fault. Once, my husband had a chicken sandwich that the chicken felt like it was from the *FREEZER*, NOT cool, but LITERALLY COLD. Do you expect your server to TOUCH YOUR FOOD? I didn't think so.

Another time, I had a bowl of bisque that came out extremely fast that I ordered when greeted even before we ordered our entrées even, I had to send back, because it wasn't WARMED UP ENOUGH.

I will say SOMETIMES it can be your server's fault if they leave your food sit. I am just saying you aren't thinking about MOST of the time that it's NOT the server's fault why your food is cold is all.

If it is cooked right but sits for awhile you can tell. In your example that is a problem with the cook. The cook didn't cook it all the way. If, however, the chicken wasn't frozen but was just cold/room temperature when it should be hot that is the server's fault for letting it sit.

Cold food is not the same as under cooked food.

 

[guitarsniper]

I tend to find a "standard" tip to be double the sales tax, which is 9.75% where i live, so that comes out to just under a 20% tip. i'll round up to the nearest dollar if i feel like i got good service or down to the nearest dollar for poor service, sometimes more for exceptional or terrible service.

 

[ShadowStar42]

While all this discussion is wonderful--
no one has actually addressed my primary question:

what do you tip at restaurants withOUT standard table service, excluding fast food style joints?

For restaurants without table service I base it entirely on my experience typically ranging from $0-$5. Restaurants like this don't (tend to) pay below minimum wage since tips aren't expected.

 

[Jodah]

One thing that made me smile is the people that say "If you don't like it find a new job." Because we are absolutely swimming in jobs right now huh?

 

[Myan]

Chef of nine years. So yeah, I guess you cant tell who has worked in hospitality.
And it is your fault if you are too damn lazy to learn the law and find out what you are entitled to. If you don't wanna put in the extra effort, don't go looking to others for a hand out.

Lying out your ass to cover it doesn't do much for you, mate.

As GrandmaFunk pointed out a few minutes ago, some states don't have a minimum wage. What do you do then?

Actually. There is a federal minimum wage for this very purpose and employers are required to pay a minimum of $7.25/hr [http://www.dol.gov/dol/topic/wages/minimumwage.htm]. Some don't, or pay "under the table" to get away with it, but it's a crime to do so with massive fines associated with any reported (key point there) infraction.

 

[DeltaEdge]

It's your money, therefore it may be expected of you, but it is not necessary. If you feel that you have been adequately service, then leave an adequate tip (15% is probably fine). If you have been serviced excellently, if you are willing and your budget allows, then tip a bit extra. If they did a very shitty job serving you, well than I have an anecdote for that.
Some time a few years ago, my father and I were in a restaurant which serviced us terribly. They forgot about our order, and came by our table around an hour later to take our order and offered no apology or compensation, and instead, they were quite rude to us. My father had just bought me a giant penny that was about as big as my hand as a souvenir from the place that we had visited, so when the tipping time came around, that's what they got, a giant penny with no monetary value whatsoever.
So yeah, you don't have to be a dick like we were when we received horrible service, but don't waste your money on people who won't even bother to service you properly when it's their job.

 

[ShadowStar42]

Chef of nine years. So yeah, I guess you cant tell who has worked in hospitality.
And it is your fault if you are too damn lazy to learn the law and find out what you are entitled to. If you don't wanna put in the extra effort, don't go looking to others for a hand out.

Lying out your ass to cover it doesn't do much for you, mate.

As GrandmaFunk pointed out a few minutes ago, some states don't have a minimum wage. What do you do then?

Actually. There is a federal minimum wage for this very purpose and employers are required to pay a minimum of $7.25/hr [http://www.dol.gov/dol/topic/wages/minimumwage.htm]. Some don't, or pay "under the table" to get away with it, but it's a crime to do so with massive fines associated with any reported (key point there) infraction.

The federal minimum wage for employees who receive tips is $2.13/hour