TIP, GOD! JUST TIP!
 

Alright so I deliver pizza, and if you think we like using our cars and putting wear and tear on it for 5.15 an hour (minimum wage in idaho) you have got to be kidding.

I've had people write me checks for the exact amount, take the pizza and shut the door leaving me standing there with so many bad things on the tip of my tongue.

is it that hard to exercise the common courtesy of tipping? I dont care if its a DOLLAR, but jesus, just tip, its not like that dollar means that much to you. if you cannot afford the extra dollar for a tip, then you cannot afford to be spending your money on pizza, quite simply put.

now im not saying everyone should only tip a dollar, thats just the minimum. on average I get 2-4 $ for tips on my runs.
but theres no worse way to put yourself on my shitlist than to stiff me.

I con understand stiffing someone for bad service at a resturaunt, but I get these pizza's to people in less than half an hour after they CALL to make thier order.

blah, i just had to rant, I got stiffed like 4 times last night and some guy gave me a nickel for a tip, I about wanted to shove it down his throat and tear his head from his sholders, what a prick!
"oh wow my order is 16.95, here let me write the check for 17, you can keep the rest."

god I wish it wasnt endangering my job to put these people in thier place.

raaaawr.

another pointless rant.

Not exactly pointless.
I can understand your frustration - getting stiffed is not fun, especially when there's only a few opportunities per hour.
I always tip the pizza guy well - I don't want any "extra' toppings on my next order.

But, I lived on tips for quite a few years myself, so I've always been a good tipper.

Truth be told, when it comes to pizza delivery, I'm sure there are a lot of people that just don't know better - they may think your employer compensates you for the gas and mileage.

Tipping a nickel is just wrong, though - that jerk was probably just too lazy to subtract $16.95 from his check register.
I would have given him 5 asspennies change back.

Yeah, I've waited tables, which makes a person a more patient customer and a much better tipper. I hate when people tip based solely on the percentage of the bill...I think quality of service should be added on top of that, especially if its above and beyond the call of duty. Then again, I've only worked in inexpensive family type resturants, so I'm probably a little biased.

I am with you brother. I have been in your shoes, not pizza, but similar situations where people are just cheap ass biatches! Don't takt it personally. Just realize that their next order might come with above said "extra toppings".

Same here, I also never send food back at a restaurant.

I'm usually a good tipper, 15-20 percent based on service at restaurants, 2 bucks when I get my haircut, but the first time my roommates and I ordered delivery they gave me the money to pay. I didn't know I was supposed to tip the pizza guy because I had never ordered delivery before. I felt like a complete bastard later once I realized I was supposed to. Poor guy, counting out exact change, probably wanting to kick my ass. We didn't order out from that place again, so no "extra" toppings came out of that deal.

Move to my town and you'll get good tips when you drop off a pie at my house. Ive worked a long time in food service. I worked in a retirement home dining room where tipping was discouraged... Even though I gave my residents the best service possible. Ive also been a bartender and dealt with good and bad tippers both. One guy in particular comes to mind. He orders two bottles of Dom Perignon (we're talking about $300 worth of champagne) and tips out $5! And this was on new years eve! My folks took my friends and I out for dinner one time to celebrate my graduation and the service was fucking horrible. I did not tip the "added gratuity for parties of 7 or more" and this fucking idiot of a waiter hits me up in front of my family and friends for more money! That guy was lucky to go home with his head on his shoulders. But to make a long story short, tipping isnt required. It is a gratuity. My advice would to you would be to find a job where you dont have to depend on the tips as additional income. Start robbing banks or something.

I worked at Safeway as a courtesy clerk (read: bagger, grocery hauler and cart collecter) for a while and they actually make it a point to tell you that you cannot accept tips. Of course, I later discovered that if you are pleasent and help people they will tip you no matter what you tell them. I had people who would slip money into my hand, physically put it in my apron pocket, even drop money on the ground for me to "find".

And FTR, I ALWAYS make sure I have enough to add a tip, even if it's only a dollar or so, when I get delivery.

Move to my town, it's actually considered rude not to tip here. Was hanging out with some high school friends over thanksgiving break. And I paid the dinner bill with CC when they paid with cash, and they were wondering why they had to pay $24 when their meal was only $19. I said "it's the tip." And one of my friend was saying "15% is only $3." And that sorta made me mad. I just told him "sorry but these waiters and waitresses don't make a lot of money as it is, you better tip well."

It really is amazing how cheap some people are. I usually tip a minimum 20%, more depending on service. Heck I even tip the gas station attendants when it's freezing or raining (I get my gas in NJ). Give it to those that earned it.

I tend to tip a lot.

But I live in Australia where tipping is uncommon. Maybe a little in a restaurant, but certainly not delivery guys, taxi men, bar tenders, cafes etc. I'm absolutely in the minority when it comes to this.

A lot of my friends (both Irish and Australian) say things like "Why should I tip? They're only doing their job" etc.

On the other hand, I appreciate that tipping is assumed or expected in the US, so Americans who don't tip are probalby just being pains in the ass.

Mr Mephisto

I just want you to know that I feel your pain amigo. I am a waiter and I've seen the good and the bad.

I SWEAR TO GOD WE'LL UNIONIZE ONE DAY! :)

A nickel for a tip? That guy has balls!

Shauk, I hope the best for you and people start tipping you like you apparently deserve. Good luck!

I always tip well (15 to 20% or more)

2 years as a Domino's driver, baby :)

Shit, I'll even tip the Subway sandwich maker a buck
because I'm a picky SOB. ;)

heh im a dominos driver, its a fun gig. I like my job, its just the people who stiff me when im standing in the raid being crotch raided by thier dog and pestered by thier kids (getting hit in the leg over and over with metal tonka trucks is a little annoying)
eh, as always, I like my jobs, as long as there are not people involved.

I never stiff on the tips..whether its a delivery guy, resteraunt, or hairdresser. Stingy people who dont tip make me ill to my stomach. *shivers*

i guess i take the approach that a tip is earned, not a right. Just cause you took a lousy job, and did it correctly, does not mean i should pay you extra for your lack of interest. If you get my pizza to me in a timely manner, hot, and not upside down in the box, you get tipped. If you take an hour and its cold and crappy, you did your job, nothing more. So i will pay you nothing more. If you go out of your way to be good at what you do, and make it an enjoyable experience for the customer, and make me want to go there again, you get a reasonably sized tip. Because you did more than you HAD to, you got a bonus. If your that fast food guy that wont even look at me when you throw my food out the window, you have done the minimum job requirements ONLY, so thats all you deserve to get payed. If im at a restauraunt, i dont care how nice or expensive, and the waiter never comes by to ask me how the food is or offer to refill my drinks, then he has not earned a tip. I dont care if i spent 1,000 dollars on dinner, or 2 bucks at Jacks... if im not worth the effort to you, then your lack of effort certianly isn't going to cost ME money. Im not gonna pay extra for nothing.

I am not stingy when it comes to tips, but i have no quallms about stiffing you on your tip if you dont do anything to deserve it. It even kinda angers me that these days people see tips as a right...not a bonus you get when you do your job well, rather that doing the crappy minimum requirements.

Do pizza delivery guys really not get comped for their gas?? That sucks!

I always tip at least $1 on pizzas (which is usually pretty close to 15%). Usually I prefer not to deal with coins in an order, but I think I'll grab a handful of coins from my coin jar in addition to that if it's not close to 15%. Hope the dude won't be offended... :)

In my country tipping is not usual.. people earn enough not to need tips to make it.

I tip when the service has been extra good. Once me and a few guys I went to dinner with tipped $80...

People with low income jobs like cleaner, garbagemen, janitor etc seems to make around $1500/month here. That's including waitresses.

Shauk,

I would be working my ass off to find another job. It's good to work in a situation like that so you know what its like, but its enough to know you don't want to do it for too long. That sounds like a rip that they dont pay for the use of your own car; I would definately find another place of employment.

I usually tip pretty well. The web site http://www.stainedapron.com/ will have some funny stories for you if you work in the waiting or even the pizza delivering industry. They have some funny stories on there, also it makes you not want to rip off your waiter/delivery guy.

We always tip, even if he pizza guy is late, which, by the way, is happening more often.

I've had too many friends over the years struggling to make it and a brother who delivered pizzas for a while.

I always tip the delivery guy, usually 3 or 4 dollars. The only time I didnt was when it took him two hours to get it to me.

http://www.coronaproductions.com/tp/...ervoir_dvd.jpg

Mr. Pink has a pretty interresting view on tipping and I kind of agree with him. Tipping should be something people add on for good service, not because it's expected. The problem is that companies in America factor in tips to their employee's wages, and decide that they can pay them less. Thus people expect tips to bring them up to the wage they deserve, and since that always doesn't happen, they get frustrated.

I'm not saying that I don't tip, I tip pretty well actually, but the American system of tipping is inherently flawed. :|

On a side note: I'm assuming you get compensated for gas/mileage in someway?

You chose your job. Tipping is never required and should be grateful those who do choose to give you one do. Tips aren't to be expected, they are to be earned. Put a little more effort into it and maybe you'll be rewarded, but even if you're not, the customer is in the right it is their money and their choice.

I deliver pizzas part-time, and have noticed that people in the richer neighborhoods don't usually tip worth a damn, and usually the big tippers are people who don't seem like they would be good tippers, based on how I perceive their financial situation to be.

I don't know why this is, or if anyone else has noticed this. Maybe the people who have lots of money have lots of money because they are stingy with it ;)

I usually try to not let it bother me when I don't get a tip. I figure if I have a bad attitude towards them, then I have just lowered myself to their level!

I work for tips now and it amazing me how cheap some bastards are, when the pizza guys comes it is usually 4 to 5 bucks. I believe that you pay for service and when I order a pizza it gets there pretty quick and hot.

With that kind of attitude, I would guess, "No - that wan't a mushroom."

I used to be a bartender I know how hard it is to work off tips and low wage but I look at it this way to iff the service sucks you dont get a good tip end of story iff i get good service ive been know to leave a 20 dollar tip on a 40 dollar meal which isnt a bad tip as you all know I had a guy meet me at the door one day saying somthing because of the tip but when my drink sits on the table empty for 10 or 15 minutes I dont think that deserves a tip and thats what I told him jmho on that

I was a pianist in a restaurant for three years, and I was paid pretty decently by the restaurant ~ $12 an hour. I ended up putting a tip jar up because people would just come lay money on the piano, and that just looks tacky. I took tips to be a gauge of how they enjoyed my performance. The nights i've earned successive $20 bills tells me that I'm doing my job right :)

tipping is essential at all times when anyone does any service for you at all. I just had a guy fix a chip in my windshield of my car and when he was finished, I tipped him. Even though I'm paying for the service, I still tip and I think that is the right thing to do always. sorry about the bad tippers and the stiffers, i feel for ya.

Yea I can feel for ya. I know how hard it is to survive on minimum wage and use that to pay for gas and car fee's.

Yeah, I've noticed this too. Maybe it's because a lot of rich people are born with money and have never held any service level jobs in their life. They have no idea how much pizza boys, waiters, etc. depend on tips. Middle and lower class groups are more likely to have worked these types of jobs and can empathize. Obviously, this is just a generalization, but I've noticed it before.

I wish I had those Resevior Dogs quotes. Basically though it comes down to not everyone can enter this magical high paying job. A single mother with little education and a child to feed working at some restaraunt can't just take off a year and attend some community college to further her education, unless she plans on having everyone starve. In a general sense of the idea, yeah you pick your own job. Just don't believe that everyone has such freedoms though. You know why everyone isn't retired at the age of 35 and is earning a hefty pension? Because the world isn't perfect and those crappy jobs that some dont' want are the life blood of others. If you've ever been in a financial hardship, you know would know how goddamn stressful it is to have to worry about your mortgage and feeding your children etc.

that sucks dude, i try to tip 15-30%

basicly waht ever is the change and a few bucks

the worst payment ive given for pizza (dont think that you sicko) was $25 in quarters and dimes not a single peice of paper in it. i apologiesed for it and he got a $5 tip in quarters as well.

Like Mr Mephisto I live in australia, so its not expected that we tip because employers actually pay well enough for the person to not have to rely on tips. I've never tipped anyone.

I have a question... when you guys tip your pizza guy, and say the price is 8 bucks, and u wanna give him 2 bucks tip.. and you have all singles.. do you just give him the 10 bucks together and let him sort it out? or do you seperate the tip?

I was a bagger for a local supermarket. We weren't allowed to take tips, but I only took two. The first one was from a lady, I don't think she was making much more than I was at the time. She was really sweet and actually helped me load her car. I didn't want to take her tip, but at the same time I felt it would be rude to refuse.

The second guy had three carts worth of food, he didn't help with a single cart. I had to pull two of them behind me. He didn't help load or anything, as he left he offered me a dollar. I didn't want his fucking money, so I said no thanks. He threw it at me as he drove off... I almost keyed his Lexus the next time I saw him there.

I now live in a no-tip country. It is so nice to not see a tip jar on the counter of every freaking place of business from 7-11 to the dry cleaners. Not even at Starbucks here. The service is uniformly good. You don't feel the staff sizing you up when you walk in the door and deciding what kind of tip you will probably leave and then what kind of service they will give. Your address isn't catagorized by the delivery people. I got tired of the feeling back home that every Tom, Dick and Harry had their hand out. This is how it ought to be.

Edit: I didn't want this to sound like I begrudge those that legitimately could earn tips, like waiters, pizza guys, cab drivers, etc. As long as you provide the level of service that merits a tip you'll get one from me when I'm home. My point was more that here they pay service people a living wage, so they don't have to rely on tips to survive. This is how it ought to be.

I'm poor now, so i can't tip, if i get a pizza, it's a treat...(im in college) but later in life i'll tip well, I promise!

I'm with aurigus about searching out another place to work. Face it, there's not much future in delivering pizza.

An intelligent guy like you can do better-- just get out there and show a few people that you'd be a quality employee and you're set.

Even if you don't think you know anything worthwhile, don't have a degree, or don't have any marketable skills... all employers want is someone who is willing to learn things quickly and follows directions well. After delivering pizza for so long, you deserve something better.

As my family being a regular of a pizza delivery joint and a personal customer to a couple other places, I can honestly say that we're in the habit of tipping well enough. And the product comes out good, and if it comes out a little better with a nice smile and more checks on refills because I tip, so be it.

But that you guys got me thinking that I should tip to keep from getting my food sneezed, spit, or jizzed on...

Sigh. What countries are you guys in that don't have tipping for the norm...?

Japan's got no tipping, and the service is generally second-to-none. I wonder how much of the service quality has to do with the lack of tipping and high pay and how much has to do with the culture.

I've only sent food back once. I was paying premium dollar for a tenderloin steak and ordered it medium. It showed up well done. The only problem was the replacement show up rare. I didn't even bother to tell the waiter. I tipped reasonably well as the waiter provided good service, I won't be going back there any time soon.


I disagree. I feel tipping is necessary when someone receives a reduced wage because the employer expects the wage to be compensated by tips. Therefore I tip waiters/waitresses, cab drivers, delivery people, etc. I don't tip the cable guy or the guy I buy my tires from as they already recieve a decent salary.
I can't belive someone would stiff a delivery person on the tip. If you are too lazy to get in your car and go pick up the food yourself (take out) then at least have the courtesy to tip the person delivering the food a couple of bucks for the convenience they provided.

I almost always tip 20%. I tip 15% if service is below average, but I usually don't go below 15%.

As for returning food, I don't see how one has to do with the other. I rarely send food back to the kitchen but if it's not the way I ordered it, it goes back - end of story. I paid the price to get the meal the way I asked for it and it's not unreasonable to accept that.

I think you hit the nail right on the head. Me myself always tip the pizza guy heavely. There is no set amount we (my roomate and I) tip, usually if the total comes to around $15 we just give him a $20...partly for our convinience and also so he doesnt have to make change and can get to his next delivery faster. Also we should at least compensate him for bringing us our food because we were too lazy to get off our asses to go get the food :D.

In the restaurant is a completely different thing. I have a kind of sliding scale that i try and follow when tipping. The tip starts off high between 15-25% and can go up and down depending on how the service is. If the waiter jsut forgets about us until we are ready for the check then the tip will drop. On the other side, if the waiter refills drinks without asking us or strikes up some interesting small talk then the tip can get pretty high. I think the highest I tipped someone was 100%. Although my sister and I just went out for ice cream and the bill came to about $5 and i just threw down $10. usually the highest i go is 30% on average.

I always tip waiters, delivery people, cab drivers, and especially my barber (he has the power to make me look like either an idiot or a sexy bitch, i will not piss him off).

One thing I can't stand is people working at stores asking for tips. You poured me a freaking cup of coffee or pulled a donut out of a basket what the hell do you want?

I've noticed that people tend to tip a lot better in NYC than SoCal, but far more stores in SoCal have tip jars. Of course this might be a feature of my friends in NY coming from more humble beginnings than my Southern California ones.

Same here. Restaurant food is also very expensive so I don't feel like tipping. When I'm abroad, food is really cheap so I usually tip good.

I think they're related. Service usually sucks here; no smiles slow waiters etc. If tipping was common we would've gotten way better service.

Time to look for a new job my firend. I've had more than my share of jobs that involved tipping. People, for the most part, are cheap bastards. The more money people have got, the tighter they hold on to it. Try to find a job that pays better so you don't rely on the charity of your customers.

I tip for service, from nothing (and I explain to them why) to 30%, depending, but I err on the high side. The minimum for anything is $1.00, even if the charge is only $2.00. Pizza dudes get $3-4 for one-two pies, even if late, because I have to assume it wasn't their fault. I mean, why would they cruise around when time is money??

i dont think that people should be expected to tip.. .(well rich people can) but people work hard for thier money and have bills to pay.. im not saying tips are bad.. but shouldnt be expected

pizza delivery is so incredibly stupid... I bet your dont even have insurance( you need special insurance for commercial driving) and yours will probabluy be normal insurance... you pay for the insurance.. you pay for the gas.. and they dont pay you much... the problem with pizza delivery is cheap employers.. not customers

Yeah, I'm 17 and my sister ordered a pizza (she's 15) ONCE. Yes, we had just a bit more than exact change...Like maybe 50 cents. My sister gave it to the pizza delivery guy, smiled, and said thank you. The guy was like: Can I get your number?

Hahaha.

/waits to see <i>Insane</i> changed to <i>Banned</i> in 3...2...

I should not be expected to tip, as a customer. If your employer dosen't think you're worth the extra cash, why should I?

Maybe he meant he was 17 at the time.

yeah maybe he/she was 17 at that moment.

i doubt their that stiff with age rules... especialy once a person has proved them self.. if i were 17 id be banned tho :P

I tip if the service is good. My opinion is that what the employees make is the employer's responsibility, not mine.

The tipping culture is just another way to fuck over anybody who isn't their own boss.

expectations only lead to dissapointments.

The larger the expectation, of course, the larger the dissapointment.

Hey, the way the economy is, be thankful you have a job right now.
My husband works construction- and as his company was slowing down, he was loaned out to the sister company. His co-worker at the sister co. (who used to work for the other co.) kept telling him he should come work for them. He chose to go ahead and join the sister co. A DAY BEFORE the other co. folded and laid tons of people off.

Yep, ditto that. Restaurants for sure, and to the bar person if they're cute or are doing a good job. Pizza guys? Hell no!

[QUOTE]Originally posted by anleja
[B] I deliver pizzas part-time, and have noticed that people in the richer neighborhoods don't usually tip worth a damn, and usually the big tippers are people who don't seem like they would be good tippers, based on how I perceive their financial situation to be.




I used to diliver on a military base and I found that the enlisted men tipped well, the NCO's tipped like a mofo and the officers not at all for the most part. Go figure!

I live in South Korea, where tipping is no expected at all either. Like in Japan, the service is normally excellent, much better than I got on a regular basis (even tipping well) back in the states. I still have a habit of tipping though. Karma I guess. But there have been a few times when I have tried to tip a cab driver or waitress and had them refuse because of the cultural aversion to tipping.

Tips aren't a "right" in some circumstances. Maybe for a pizza delivery guy, but not in all cases. I'm sure you're well-informed that waiters and waitresses make about $2-$3 an hour? They LIVE on tips. No, they don't just want tips...they live on them.

At most restaurants, the dishwasher, cooks, preps, busboys, cashiers...managers, bartenders, EVERYONE that works there gets at least minimum wage except for the waiters and waitresses. That puts them in a different situation. They depend on your tips.

There are untold shit-sandwiches that take place behind the scenes at restaurants as well. What if a customer just told a waitress that she was an ugly bitch that needs to get a better job? It's hard to put on your game-face for the next customer when stuff like this happens. What about when customers say, "bring me another straw, and don't touch it with your grubby fingers this time." This happens all the time. If the food comes late...is that the waitress' and waiter's fault? No, they don't make the damned food. They deliver it. If it's late, it's the cook's fault. The only thing I can agree on is refilling of drinks...all waiters and waitresses should come by at least every 10 minutes. That's a key aspect of service.

I think waiters and waitresses should make at least minimum wage everywhere including tips for the shit that they have to put up with. I couldn't do it. I know deep down that if I was a waiter and a customer said something like the comments I mentioned above, I'd blow up on them. Waiters and waitresses should get a tip at every meal unless they're rude. If they aren't rude but simply deliver poor service, at least leave them something...customers don't know what goes on behind the scenes at every restaurant.

-Lasereth

Ya but business will get the money out of the customer one way or the other.. if tipping were eliminated and servers were paid more we'd just take the blow in higher prices. At least with the tipping system we get to decide what the server earns based on his service.

And yes if you dont tip (if your service was good) you are a stingy and really dont deserve the service you got. Some people also just dont realize in a bad situation, tipping can be your leverage to force some good service out of your server. I love seeing a slack server suddenly get on the ball when you put your tip money on the table and tell them for every fuck up or 10 minutes that go by without checking in, 2 bux gets removed from the table and goes back into the wallet. Thats a last resort but sometimes has to be done. And it is effective.

Check out the Stained Apron!

All I can say is that the American idea of paying food servers based on the idea that "they'll get tips" and taxing them on those (possibly nonexistant) tips, is horseshit. That minimum-wage exception needs to be deleted STAT!

Most food servers working in a halfway decent establishment make quite a bit more than minimum wage. In fact they usually do pretty well because of the tipping system. Servers, bartenders etc usually make a damn decent living if they are good. Theyd probably make alot less if you left it to the employers to pay them and killed the tipping tradition.

Then they should stop complaining.

From Stained Apron:
"Order FOR little Johnny, no matter how cute you think it is to see the waitress trying to coax his order out of him. You KNOW what your kids eat. Avoid the trying process of the child changing his mind 20 times or refusing to order while the waitress stands there waiting and waiting and waiting."


That made me laugh. My mom always followed that rule. I took her out for her birthday a couple of months ago (i'm in my 30's now) and she ordered for me. Old habits are hard to break I guess ;)

My shithole job pays waaaaaaaay less than that. Yay for customer service slaves!

I tip based on performance. 15% or more for full service, %5-10 for buffet style.

I try not to tip on my credit card. Cash is preferred.

I do not tip for poor service. Not to anyone. If my pizza is 2 hours late, no tip. If the driver is pissed and its not his fault, then he needs to figure out why he is late and fix it for next time. I do sympathize with him/her but poor service should never be rewarded.

If the local guys get my pizza to me in a timely manner, sure I'll tip. If it take an hour to get my pie, don't expect a tip. I don't care if it is the cooks fault, you can take it up with the person responsible.

Granted, I live only 5 minutes away from virtually all pizza shops in town, so it's not like a great deal of time / effort is expended there. Top it off with the fact that the guys here get paid per delivery, not per hour.

I work for a private club, and get paid $2.50 an hour plus tip shares. There's a 19% gratuity tacked onto everything, and the cash from that goes to the theoretical tip share pile. It's then split among all of the servers based on hours worked. this means that we get paid somewhere between $8 and $15 an hour. It's a great system, because it means you can't get stiffed, but the people that come have been encouraged to not tip, so regardless of how good a job we do, we tend to get the same amount. Now, getting coats for people (especially at functions) I get tipped reasonably well ($1-$2) considering I'm just getting someone's coat.

The problem is that the idea of the tip has changed from what it used to be. There used to just be a jar at the front that said "To Insure Prompt Service" on it, which was basically a bribe to get seated and served faster. Somehow this mutated into the system we have today, where people get paid less than minimum wage on the basis that they'll be getting tips to make up for it.

Now, on a good note, if you're making less than minimum wage before tips, they tax you as if you were making minimum wage (as far as I know, our tipshares get taxed since they're on our paycheck :( ) but if you're making more on tips you got untaxed funds!

You'd think that, but I couldn't even begin to count the times that I've had orders sitting under heat lamps for upwards of 20 minutes, waiting to be picked up. And by the time the server got around to picking it up, they'd have to bring it right back because it's cold. Guess who they would blame?

I always heard in college that if you don't tip the Pizza guy, you go to hell.

and it wasn't even a religious school.

You tip for service. Most of the time the servers act like they are doing you a favor. You give good service, most of the time you get a good tip. Act like you doing a favor, you never get a good tip. Sometimes you have to take the bad with the good.

I believe that it's a combination of culture and the current economic situation. I currently live in Japan and teach at a JHS, and I see 9th graders sweat over both SHS entrance exams and job interviews. Employers want efficient, courteous people with experience working for them at all times, even in the graveyard shift of the corner 7/11 or gas station. It's very difficult to find a job here and anyone who doesn't treat every customer like a minor deity will find their ass canned soon enough, which means looking a new job to pay for the already outrageous living expenses out here.

Customer service / food service workers don't get paid much, and that's without tipping. Also, the concept of a tip jar would be completely alien to them, since it would make them feel like beggars on the street. In Japan, there is a very strong adherance to the concepts of "tatemae" (facade) and "hon'ne" (inner feelings), so everyone will show pride in what they do and refuse any tip, even though they might live in a hole in the wall and desperately need the extra cash. In fact, in this country, tipping is insulting to anyone, no matter what their situation.

Lord knows many people I see regularly deserve more money than I give them. My barber consistently gives me the best haircuts, which come with a wash, neck/upper back massage and tonic for 3,000 yen (about 30$), which is actually pretty cheap out here. And not a single stray hair falls on my clothes at any time. EVERY convenience store clerk welcomes me, apologizes when taking my money, carefully bags what I bought, bows and wishes me a good day, no matter how brusque I may be. Waiters / Waitresses always have a smile on their face and service is consistently prompt.

Again, this relies a lot on culture, but the cost of living here make any job a good one. I wonder how I'll react whenever it is I return home to Montreal...

From Resoviour Dogs:
NICE GUY EDDIE
Okay, everybody cough up green for the little lady.

Everybody whips out a buck, and throws it on the table.
Everybody, that is, except Mr. Pink.

NICE GUY EDDIE
C'mon, throw in a buck.

MR. PINK
Uh-uh. I don't tip.

NICE GUY EDDIE
Whaddaya mean you don't tip?

MR. PINK
I don't believe in it.

NICE GUY EDDIE
You don't believe in tipping?

MR. BLONDE (laughing)
I love this kid, he's a madman, this guy.

MR. WHITE
Do you have any idea what these ladies make? They make.

MR. PINK
Don't give me that. She don't make enough money, she can quit.

Everybody laughs.

NICE GUY EDDIE
I don't even know a Jew who'd have the balls to say that. So let's
get this straight. You never ever tip?

MR. PINK
I don't tip because society says I gotta. I tip when somebody
deserves a tip. When somebody really puts forth an effort, they
deserve a little something extra. But this tipping automatically,
that's for the birds. As far as I'm concerned, they're just doin their job.

MR. BLUE
Our girl was nice.

MR. PINK
Our girl was okay. She didn't do anything special.

MR. BLUE
What's something special, take ya i the kitchen and?

They all laugh.

NICE GUY EDDIE
I'd go over twelve percent for that.

MR. PINK
Look, I ordered coffee. Now we've ben here a long in time, and
she's only filled my cup three times. When I order coffee, I
want it filled six times.

MR. WHITE
What if she's too busy?

MR. PINK
The words "too busy" shouldn't be in a waitress's vocabulary.

NICE GUY EDDIE
Excuse me, Mr. White, but the last thing you need is another cup of coffee.

They all laugh.

MR. PINK
These ladies aren't starvin to death. They make minimum wage.
When I worked for minimum wage, I wasn't lucky enough to have a job that society deemed tipworthy.

NICE GUY EDDIE
Ahh, now we're getting down to it. It's not just that he's a cheap

MR. ORANGE
--It is that too--

Heh heh. Reminds me of a friend of mine who pretty much never tips.

Me: "Umm, aren't you going to put down a tip?"

Friend: "Nope. Maybe if I and enough other people don't tip, that'll encourage the waitress to get a better job where she doesn't have to rely on the charity of her customers. Why are you getting on my case? I'm just trying to help her get into a better position in life!"

Me: "And save money, you tightass."

Friend: "That too."

I don't mind tipping but when people expect tips when they don't deserve them irritates me. I always tip the pizza guy but If I am picking the food up from the restaurant now thats ridiculous that I should tip the person that is already taking my money at the register common.

I don't tip for take out. They're not doing any serving.

Yup,

This is what's it's come down to.

Employers won't pay a decent wage,

Employees expect a tip,

And when they don't get it, they give shitty service and/or adulterate your food with bodily substances.


That is fuxored.

I always tip people. Using between 15 and 20 percent. Sometimes more and sometimes less. For the delivery person I will give 4 bucks.

What I hate is the expectation from a server that I have to give them a tip. They earn their tip by performing a service. If it is not performed properly then they don't get a tip.

I have on occasion not given a tip.

I also understand that some things are out of the control of the server. Like if the food takes a long time. It usually isn't the server's fault. If they come and explain to me the situation and take care of my needs then in that situation they will probably earn a bigger tip.

At one resturant I went to, after you got the bill, you were supposed to go to the cashier to pay. Paying with CC, it got swiped through the machine and I was supposed to punch in the amount that I wanted to leave as a tip. I don't know what I was on, but the tip that I left came out to 70 cents! I guess the keypad wasn't responsive enough, anyway I felt so bad that I went back to the table and left a $10 instead of the $7 I was going to give.

I too will tip according to the service at a resturant. I don't tend to tip more than the 15% at buffets unless of course the person that's taking the dirty dishes away is polite and nice.
A few weeks ago, I went to chinese food buffet, the service wasn't anything special. My friend insisted on paying for my meal (who am I to agrue!) and the waiter kept hovering behind her trying to look at what the tip was going to be. After a few dirty looks he ended up finding some tables to clear. When he came back and took the CC slip, he noticed the tip and started giving us dirty looks. It took all the constraint in me not to kick that fucker's ass.

One thing to factor in here. Tipping is very "American" for the most part. In a large percentage of the world, tipping is an outright insult. It's like telling your server "you can't support your family, here, let me help you".

So if you're ever stiffed by someone foreign, especially someone from the East, don't think they're just being rude.

I have never tipped in my entire life. Not once. I moved to the States from Europe last year, and where I am from we don't tip. Try to tip a cab driver back home and he'll ask you if you're trying to get him fired. Not only do we not tip, they're not allowed to take it anyway.

I've hated the idea of tipping ever since I first heard of it. Mostly I just hate the fact that it is something that is supposed to be voluntary, but at the same time it is expected of you. There are a few places in this town where you can get quality service, and I wouldn't mind tipping. But for the most part, the people working these shitty jobs really aren't trained for customer service at all. I don't know if you even need customer service training when you take a delivery job or not, but from the looks of it I'd say no. None of them have learned to smile, they mumble when they speak and swallow half of their sentences. And that's what I am supposed to pay extra for? I don't think so.

And quite frankly, if you get stiffed on a tip and you spit a loogie in the customer's next order or something, then you obviously did not deserve the tip to begin with.

Based on this thread it would seem that a lot of people working in delivery jobs are, quite frankly, selfish bastards. Just because you do not get tipped doesn't mean it is somehow malevolent. We had a man and his daughter living upstairs, and they were definitely poor. He worked when he could and they had almost no furniture; the daughter didn't even have a bed, just a mattress on the floor. Once or twice they ordered a pizza, because they did not have a car so they could drive to the closest pizza place to pick one up. I know this because the daughter asked to use our phone to place the order, since they could not afford a phone.

I don't criticize as to whether they should have used that money for other than pizza. For a family like that a pizza once every few months can be a treat that means more to them than it would to you or me. I don't know if they tipped or not, but I certainly would not expect them to.

I reward good service with good tips. I reward shitty service with shitty tips. It's all about the attitude of the server. I cooked in a restaraunt for two years in high school, actually making less than the servers. The servers would average about $75 apiece in tips on a good night, which was about about half of what I would make in a week on an hourly wage of $5.15. If I was lucky, I would get a dollar "tip" from a server at the end of the night. Becasue of this, I would much rather give my tip to the cook than the server.
*RANT*
The attitude that tips are REQUIRED fucking pisses me off. It's called a gratuity for a reason. If you really want a thankless job, try being a cook. Try dealing with cramped, hot working conditions, grease burns, and dealing with servers who don't understand that it takes longer than three minutes to grill a steak. Try putting out dishes that you are proud of, that are meant to be savored and enjoyed out as fast as possible, only to have the server leave them under a heat lamp for 15-20 minutes. Try all of that and more, and to not recieve tips, nor expect them, and then listen to someone who is pissed off because they only made $40 in tips for the night. *End of rant*

All that being said, I think that everyone should have the experience of working in the food service industry. It definitely gives you a different perspective on things and a lof of respect/understanding for those in the industry.

If your server or bartender is having a rough night, being nice to them can pay off extremely well. I once had a bartender charge me $3 for what should have been about a $20 tab because I was courteous, patient, and understanding when she forgot to place my order to the kitchen. So I left her a $10 tip. Now every time I go there, she takes good care of me, as do the other bartenders.

I have a couple friends who are waiters...or servers....whatever...it helps us understand. Anyway when friends and I go out we always try to avoid making a big mess and if we do we leave a bigger tip. We're actually usually pretty good tippers regardless, unless the service is especially bad.
I know this detracts from the original post about tipping pizza delivery guys. I try to tip those guys well, if for no other reason than I know I would get pissed if I was delivering and got stiffed.

I'd like to see a study comparing average wages/salaries for servers, say in restaurants, around the globe, and comparing it to the cost of living in those countries/cities/regions. Granted, it would take a boatload of research to do the study, but if it's been done before, I'd like to see it.

If anyone's interested in some US data:
http://www.payscale.com/salary-surve...11557/fid-6886
This shows various breakdowns of wages in cities and states around the US.
Only things missing is the comparison to cost of living.

figured id bump this since i just saw a thread asking what the deal with tips was.


Update, I still work delivering pizza.

Basically, yes, its supposedly voluntary to tip, but at the same time, expected.

The reason being, turnover rate would be astronomical if no one ever tipped.

I've put over 20k miles on my car since that last post. My car is starting to act up, yet again.

Would you do that to your car for 5.15? I dont think you would. Its expected because if you dont tip, you will cause the company you are purchasing the delivery service from, to have to find people who will work for crap.

Thus you get a bunch of new drivers who dont know the difference between cedar ct and cedar st. Dont know the difference between west 3rd and east 3rd. Who forget your drinks because they dont know how to read to order tags, who take over an hour finding your place because they dont know where your street is because you live in that new development that isnt on the city map just yet.


These situations occur frequently.

Basically, Tipping is your way of saying "hey, I dont think you make enough money, here have a little bit of mine, since im the one directly responsible for you having to come out to my house"

Seriously, if I make 2$ a delievery, Im sitting good at what equates to be about 10$ an hour doing delivery work. I only work for maybe 4 hours a day, And its just enough to get by, and not enough to fix my car if something goes wrong, but thats what loans are for i guess.

Maybe I can relate to you an experience I had that might help you out a little bit.

I once complained to my dad (in the course of attempting to get the keys to *his* car) that driving the truck to the gym (15ish mile drive, nasty gas guzzler, 2.50 a gallon...) and back is, as best as I can work out, a $5 trip. He says to me, "Listen here Ben Stein, go put ten bucks in so you can make two trips."

Hope that helped.

And the person with the gun to your head forcing you to deliver pizzas is......

Funny how the customer has become the asshole for not tipping and the employer sneaks out of the picture chuckling, being able to get away with slave wages and making the customer deal with what obviously is his responsibility.

In the States this is a custom, not law, am I right?

I feel that if you're not happy with what you're making, wage or tips, get another job! Pizza delivery? Everyone orders pizza, the rich and poor alike, so you're gonna get stiffed more often than not.

It's not just about the tips is it? It's also about the wear and tear on your car, constantly being on a clock, dealing with asshole customers etc. Time to find a new job friend.

ok first off, if they were paying you only $5.15 an hour to drive your own car and there was NO tipping, and you knew that when you applied for the job, you'd be a moron and there'd be no hope for you. The reason you applied for the job is because you knew that you'd be making a good chunk'a change off the tips. Your employer, on the other hand, knows that you know you'll make a good chunk'a change off the tips and therefore won't require as high an actual salary. So your employer pays you less, charges me less for the pizza, making it possible for me to get it more times, which gets you more runs and more tips.

Do some houses stiff you on the tip? Yeah. But when you complain about that, be sure to mention that other houses give you more than the average tip.

Let's look at another area of the service industry that expects tips. Bellboys.

They carry your heavy bags up to your hotel room. Sure, they get a few bucks for that, no problem.

But THEN they start wandering around your room, showing you the window (um, yeah, I can see there's a window there, thanks dude), the thermostat (I'm smart enough to get a job that pays me well enough that I can afford this room and you think I don't know how a hot-cold dial works?), the fact that the drapes do, in fact, open and close, and the fact that there is, astonishingly enough, a bed on which there are pillows. He then expects another $5 for this guided tour of the room. Sorry Jack, no dice.

See where I get annoyed is not that tips are expected as a reward for good service. I get annoyed that tips are expected no matter what the service was like. I've actually been told "for bad service, tip 15%. For good service, tip more." Bull SHIT! Crappy service? Crappy tip. Consider yourself lucky. If you perform like a moron on your job, you lose 2-3 bucks. If I perform like a moron on my job, I'm out looking for a new job.

When I used to deliver pizzas it seemed like the poor people living in trailer parks usually tipped better than the assholes living in half million dollar houses. I never understood why.

Maybe because the poor person understands the plight of a pizza delivery person (worked shitty jobs themselves) more than a rich asshole who inherited daddy's estate and has never done a hard days work in his life.

Who knows?

I used to be a pizza delivery guy too when I couldn't find anything else and what some guys said is true...the rich are usually cheap and the average joe's are great.

I also got tipped 5 cents once and I used a line I heard in a comedy show one time. I said to the idiot (really happy like) "Wow, thank you so much...now I can take that round the world cruise I've always wanted to take."

It felt so good to say that and guess what...they guy called the pizza shop and when I got back my manager gave me shit...in front of my co-workers and customers (which you should never do if you are in management). Suffice it to say, I found a new job a week later and quit. What a relief.

MY family was in Florida one year, and we went out to a nice Italian restaurant for dinner. The bill came out to about $100 US between five people, but hey we're on vacation...may as well spend a little.
Anyways, when my dad got the bill at the end of the meal, there was the $100 food price, and the 15% tip added right onto the bill bringing the expected price out of my dads pocket to $115. He was not amused.
We always tip, but a tip is something you earn, not something you expect. Basically, the restaurant could count on us paying their employees rather than leaving it to chance as to whether or not we'd leave a tip. Its a decision made by the customer, not by the company.
If the service was piss poor, would you feel that a 15% tip required by the bill is justified?
Still irks my dad today.

Have any of you seen the "Curb your Enthusiasm" episode about tipping?

Because god knows that no one who is rich actually every worked for it or earned it.

i like to tip the pizza dude or dudette pretty good as i know that they aren't making much (most times) and its a job thats got to be done. although i know that i am paying the salary of someone that the owner of the pizza joint should be, but why take it out on the employee. its not there fault. just like people who call into call centers and yell at the first person you talk to, ask for a supervisor, they make more and thats there job not the poor person low on the pole.


formed after a uni job doing tech support.....:(

I'm one of those people who never had to work as a waitress or anything, but I still tip A LOT. I just feel bad for how shitty people treat waiters/waitresses. So I always tip the pizza guy, the carhops and the waitstaff way more than necessary.

I have seen some people completely chew out and go off on waiters for minor things and I don't know how they stand there and take it without bitch slapping the customer! Guess that's why I've never worked in that industry. :D

I don't usually let my husband do the tipping because he has certain rules (like his glass can never be empty) that decreases the tip by a percentage each time. It's like a little formula he uses. He tipped a guy a penny once (and the service WAS horrible) instead of not tipping at all, just to insult the guy. We still go to that restaraunt all the time and we've never gotten that guy again. This happened like 2 years ago or something. If we get seated in his section, he gets another person to cover for him. I still feel bad about it though, but I'm more forgiving than my husband.

If you get really lousy service at a restaurant, there is a better alternative to not tipping. Talk to the manager. Usually you'll end up with a free meal or a gift certificate or something (plus the waiter/waitress will probably be reprimanded if not fired)