Tipping in relation to item prices, a question.
 

To start, I'm a good tipper. I believe in tipping and generally tip 20%. If I get exceptional service it can go up from there. I have a bar I frequent and get the same thing every time, a 16oz Draft Guinness and a Lagavulin (single malt scotch) neat. I may order two to three set-ups in an evening meaning my server may have to come to my table three to four times at most. No fancy mixing of drinks or anything, just a beer and a shot. I don't engage in conversation, I make no demands of the wait staff, I just sit quietly and wind down from the day. The Guiness runs $4.50 a pint and the Lagavulin is $8.00 a shot. At the end of the evening my tab is usually $37.50 and I leave a 20% tip. Not a bad tip for as little work my presence causes. On the other hand, someone can sit and order one $1.50 Bud draft after another, running the waitress ragged demanding free bar snacks etc and end up with a tab of only say $15.00 or $20.00 and even leaving a 20% tip still have paid a lot less in tip then I did while making much greater demands on the server. My question then is should the tip be based strictly on the price of the tab or should the amount of actual work involved be considered?

I always consider the "extra work" as part of my tips.

In NYC I generally tip 20%, and work down from there. I expect the extras to be done for the 20% here in NYC, just part of the competitiveness.

But when I go outside of NYC, sometimes I tip 15% and then add on for extras, extras such as making sure food ordered a particular way comes that way (wife is picky), extra plates, settings, extra coffee/soda refills, or even an extra side item or substitution on the menu.

ive been in the industry for a few years and this is my $.02 .

gratuity is 15%, those who dine alot or work in the industry- the standard is 20%.
i base the service, quality, and overall experience into this. granted there are a few things that cannot be controlled by the server, those they shouldnt be held accountable, like a loud baby crying in the corner.
as far as tipping according to ticket, well, that comes with the territory. an expensive dinner/drink is naturally going to have higher ticket than a cheap dinner. as far as my service, i take note of who is out to spend their money on my product/restuarant and i give them the extra attention because i know they are spending more, thus a greater tip. not that i give poor service to those who dont spend alot, but i give extra attention to those who do. in return, i expect to be rewarded with good gratuity.

If you are dining in the bar - then 1 -2 dollar tip a drink is more than appropriate then 15 - 20 percent on food... If you are dining in a restuarnt, and have had a bottle of wine - then generally the rule is 10 -15 percent (at most) on the wine - and 15 - 20 percent on the food order.

As I stated in the previous tipping thread....I base mine on service....Im not going to tip more just because the I ordered Beringer over Sutter Home and given the place Beringer can run 1.50 to 2.00 more over Sutter or the "house" Zinfandel. There is no difference in what had to be done to get me my higher priced wine for my dinner

Now If Im sitting at a bar socializing or partying (which for me includes no more than 3 glasses of wine OR two beers) I will add 10 dollars to whatever my tip is IF the service was even half way decent

In England, you don't tip in pubs and 10 - 15% in restaurants. I only tip 15% when the service justifies it.

Drinking is a national sport here and if you tipped every time you bought you'd be broke.
The only time you see tipping is in a trendy pub and if you do, then you do it to guarantee prompt service next time.
The bartenders get paid to work. It's their job to serve you. The tip isn't customary, it's there to get them to do their job quicker.

That's the general view over here.

Also, when I pay for my meal with a card, I don't add the gratuity, but rather do it with the pound coins or note that I have on me for the purpose.
Idon't know why, but I guess I always thought I'd prefer the money got to the server and not be taxed.

Can they be taxed for it if it appears on a receipt?

I always take service into consideration. I am a good tipper (in restaraunts, I rarely go to bars), but if the service was crappy, the tip reflects it. I guess I take work into consideration as well....if I am at a place where I serve myself except for drinks, I usually leave a smaller tip.

The servers around here have to claim 8 percent of their total sales for the shift. Generally, they recieve much more than that overall. However, the are required to claim that same 8 percent, even if they get stiffed. It kinda evens out in the end. If the tip is put on the card, then the server can't say they only got 8 percent on that particular transaction.

I generally don't put the tip on the card, if I have the cash to cover it.

Question:
Would you tip in MacDonalds?

What's the difference between a person handing you a shake and burger over a counter to a person opening a bottle and handing it to you over a counter?

Nope. but places like Starbucks and Subway (sandwich shops) now all have tip jars out on the counter...

I tip if I feel I have the money and that the person has done a good job. If I am not satisfied with a job, I do not give tips. I'm cheap, I know. This position is easier to justify if I go to Europe where the service is always included, but I won't tip if the service sucks.

I tip for good service:

10% : above average
20% : Waiter/Waitress giving really good service.
30% : Telepathic... Free refills and stuff when you want them, not 5 minutes later or whatever.

Here in Britain I have tipped bar staff though it is normally not done, unless of course you want excellent service on the next drink or you have spoken to the barman/woman. (if you sit and talk to them then thats an additional service so its fair to tip...).


In France I tip -15% on average (Gratuity included), I do not tip unless service is something above what is expected (taking order, serving food clearing up). Additional service costs should not be included... its my choice to tip or not not their choice to take a tip no matter what. If they believe that they will always make a tip then service goes downhill... why bother working harder if there is no payoff?

This is a good question. I used to have a friend who worked at a fine restaurant with a great wine list. A great dinner for four there might range from $250 to $600, depending on what the customers drank; the restaurant had many $100/200 bottle wines, plus brandies, dessert wines, and so on. So does the waiter deserve a larger tip just for serving a different bottle of wine?

If the waiter chooses the wine or recommends the wine to the patrons as a perfect complement to their meal (having already discussed their taste in wines), perhaps yes. He or she is providing a service. But if the customers already know what they want, I'm not so sure.

A bunch of business books have chapters on "tipping etiquette" and the general rule of thumb, though of course it's dependent on the restaurant, but in a better restaurant (ie not chain places, not family style places, not places where you would probably find children) that if the waiter abley assists you with a bottle of wine, then the tip is 10 -15 percent at most on the bottle - and 15 -20 on food. -- Never would you tip 20 percent on the bottle of wine. (restuarant is already marking it up 100 percent)

I've also seen tipping guides that say booze should not be inclulded in the tip, or should be minimally included. (there was one restuarnat, that the waiters had an interesting little scam going- if you waited in the bar for your table... and had a drink.. the waiter would try and have you carry the bill over to the table - so you'd factor in those drinks where they did absolutely nothing - into the tip... Settle up with the bartender and tip him accordingly, before heading to the table.

Behold! The power of the SEARCH button.
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Absolutely the waiter does. Here is why:

In almost every restaurant the servers have to tip the bar. In many of them it is based on a percentage of the drink sales (usually about 10% of the bar sales). Say you have dinner for $250 and spend $250 on drinks. The final tab is $500 but you don't want to tip on the drinks so you leave a 15% tip on the $250 ($37.5). Because the bar sales were $250, the bar is due $25 from that table. Now the server gets only $12.5 which is essentially a 5% tip on just the food sales. Even worse, the restaurant makes the server claim 8% of sales as tips so he has to report 8% of $500 ($40). The 'tip' you gave him ended up going only to the govt and the bar. Server got nothing.

The insane thing about the whole situation is that you spent $500 on a meal. That is very luxurious and extreme but in the end you go cheap on the tip.

So the government automatically taxes a restaurant for money made from tips?

I'll never put it on the receipt again....

/puts on old payroll tax accountant hat

in most places waitststaff is paid somewhere between 2.10 and 2.15 per hour, they have to claim the amount of tips it takes to get them to minimum wage for the hours they worked...whether they made them or not..and its that amount the restaurant is taxed on....it wont make any difference if you leave the tip as cash or on your credit/debit card

/takes hat off

Damn. Poor guys/gals.

Here they get minimum wage, no less.
Tips come on top of that. I'm going to have to ask around and see what the tax law is like in England.

That doesn't mean one has to use it. I can remember at one time that people didn't tip or tipped less if it was a buffet. Now I find myself tipping for buffets much the same as I would at other places. The barbers who cut my hair as a boy didn't work for tips, now when I have my hair cut there is always a tip jar. I suppose we can be conditioned to do many things. At the airport, why do I tip the skycap and not the person at the ticket counter? Why do I tip the parking shuttle driver and not the person I pay for my parking? :shrug:

If my server is good, I'll always tip 20%, regardless of the price of what I've ordered or the preparation/work involved. I figure that anybody who has to deal with people all day (and rely on their kindness for their pay) probably needs all the help they can get.

Plus, I always hope that I'll be remembered as a good tipper.

Nice idea for the waiter, except that they get taxed whether you tip or not - the government assumes a certain percentage (I wanna say 7, but don't quote me on that) as a tip no matter what because they assume the waiters won't declare cash tips.

Here, they tax on 8% of the total bill. If you tip 15% and the restaurant takes half of the tip (for busboy, chef, etc.) they're getting taxed on more than they're making. For this reason, I tip 18% minimum unless I was displeased with the service. I've tipped as much as 30% when I made them do a lot of extra work and they did it with a smile.

At bars I tip a little differntly then anywhere else because it depends if I have a tab or am just getting drinks at the bar. If I dont have a tab open, I will usually tip .50 to a dollar per drink, but if I have a tab, I will tip the 15-20% depending on the service. But it's up to you.

I only give tips if I get excellent service. Give me bad service then you can forget about it.

Aaah - I live in a land where tipping is a bonus, not an expectation. Our government forces employers to pay their staff a decent wage to begin with. Travelling to the US confused the shit out of me...

I have a tipping question, figured id ask it here instead of in a new thread. When I get take out, do you tip the person at the register? I normally do, only because I dont know what the hell to do! I dont know if I should be or not.

I also know a guy here who wont tip a hairdresser. IMO they deserve tips as well!!

I don't tip the person at the register at the take out place, if I have something delivered, then a tip is usually given. but for just ringing out my order, nope.

following up with Mal... if you tip the person at the register do you tip at McDonald's? Starbucks?

I don't unless like Mal, they do something extra, like deliver it.

yeah its one of those things. I was in San Francisco traveling for work, and I was at Chilis. There was a sign over the take out counter, said "tips appreciated". I feel like I should tip the cook, but the guy who takes the orders really did nothing for me....in my eyes. I just tip because I feel like ill get better service (no mistakes, hot food) in the future.

has anyone ever tipped their UPS guy? talk about a good idea! they really treat you GREAT afterwards. no wet packages, no broken items, and a great attitude. this christmas, when you are getting things delivered, give your UPS guy 20 bucks. you will be his best customer. NO i dont work for UPS. :)

Am I the only one who tips a little extra for being served by a really hot chick?

absolutely not! cheers!