Tipping

[libra1022]

I'm typically a 20% tipper for good service, but I've been known to go up to 40-50% for outstanding service that just really blows me away (which I will admit is a tough thing to do!). For bad service, my server will still be tipped, although in the 10-15% range...I don't know that I've ever left less than that, but I do want to make a statement that the service wasn't up to my expectations.

As far as other services...pizza delivery gets 15% normally from me, take out restaurants (like the Chinese walk up place I like to frequent that know my order the minute I hit the door) get normally $2 so around 20%, and my hairstylist gets a nice bit at 30% since he always goes out of his way for me and does a fantastic job. I'm trying to think if there's anybody else that I tip on a regular basis, but I honestly think that's it.

ETA: AJ, we have 2 separate minimum wages, one for servers and one for regular service employees. I'm not sure how it's worded, but there's 2 totally separate ones. Bartenders tend to make somewhere in the middle of these 2 as well, they are normally paid more than servers from what I understand, but still not quite the regular minimum wage. My server friends make $2.01/hour my bartender friend makes around $4.00/hour and regular minimum wage is (omgosh I'm sorry I don't even know for sure but..) around $5.15/hour.

[Texicana]

Don't forget some servers have to tip out busboys and bartenders, sometimes even hosts/hostesses. It really sucks.

[Marley]

For meals: around 12-15%.

For my haircuts, around 20%.

[Dinahann]

Brodie, I don't mean to sound like a snot, but how can wages for servers be lower than minimum wage? Isn't minimum wage, well, the minimum you can pay someone to do a job?

I guess my main problem with the concept of subsidizing someone's wages is that there are many jobs that ALSO pay minimum wage and those performing them don't get tipped - telemarketers, security guards, store clerks, fast-food workers, janitorial staff, etc. They all provide services (well, okay, telemarketers are often a pain in the ass, but I'm sure my point here is clear) but who subsidizes their wages?

If you want to tip, fine. But feeling obligated to tip? :phhht

When I last waitressed, (in 1992, admittedly) I made $2.13 per hour plus tips. The government taxes you on 8% of your total sales, unless you rebut that in some way by keeping your own records and itemizing on your taxes at the end of the year. So for example, if you serve $1000.00 worth of food in one night you are expected to make $80.00 in tips. If you make $2.13 per hour for 4 hours that's $8.52 that your employer pays you, yet you're taxed as if you made $88.52 in wages. I never received a paycheck for the two years I worked at an upscale restaurant. I got the form showing how much I made, but the check was $0.00.

The way the law reads is that your wages plus tips must equal minimum wage, but in practice it can be a big hassle for a waitperson to stand up for themselves. If they do, they might find themselves working the outside area in the sun, or the section near the kitchen or bathroom at their next shift. Most waiters will work the slow shifts in the middle of the week in hopes of striking it big on the weekend, and many waiters have their own clientele who ask to be seated in their section because the waiter knows their preferences.

More info than you wanted to know? It's really not fair to the waitperson who can do everything right and still get stiffed for a tip because someone doesn't like the convention of tipping.

[KaiCee]

I would have to say I overtip most of the time. I am a people pleaser at heart and can't fathom the idea of someone (even a food server I don't know) might think I am cheap. So, it's 20% at least. Unless the service was truly terrible and the server has an attitude. Most of the time, when service is bad..it's because the server is new or the manager made them take over more tables than they can handle...so I don't fault them for being slow. But, if I see them standing around chit chatting with other employees and they obviously ignore my attempts to get their attention, I will tip very little. Oh, and if the bill is really small...say I ordered just a soda? I over-over-tip. For a $1.50 soda or drink at a bar - I would leave three dollars at the very least.

In my state they add 8% (I think) sales tax to the bill - I tip on the price of meal + tax.

[AJane]

The way the law reads is that your wages plus tips must equal minimum wage, but in practice it can be a big hassle for a waitperson to stand up for themselves.

Wow. That is definitely not the way it is here in Canada. In my home province, there was a different minimum wage for construction work (considerably higher than the regular minimum) but I don't know if it's the same in all provinces. Minimum wage here is either $6/hr or $6.15, I can't remember which. That is for wait staff and anyone else whose job is deemed (un)worthy enough for minimum wages.

My apologies, I had no idea there were 2 different *minimum* wages in the U.S. I was baffled as to why you are all such generous tippers, now I see why

[Dinahann]

Minimum wage here is either $6/hr or $6.15, I can't remember which. That is for wait staff and anyone else whose job is deemed (un)worthy enough for minimum wages. My apologies, I had no idea there were 2 different *minimum* wages in the U.S. I was baffled as to why you are all such generous tippers, now I see why

Now I see. I didn't know you were from Canada, AJane. And your minimum wage is higher than ours!

[AJane]

Yeah, but you don't wanna be paying the taxes we do, Dinahann...by the time provincial and federal taxes are taken, and unemployment insurance, and Canada Pension contributions...there ain't much left.

[J.D.]

I've never been a server, so pardon my lack of experience. I do understand that servers rely on tips as income, and that restaurants are not required to pay minimum wages. I always figure the tip into the price of the check, and my percentage depends upon the service I receive.

However, people working at, say, Jamba Juice, Burger King, or Starbucks (et al.), have tip jars on the counter is ridiculous. These kids are paid way over minimum wage (unlike the restaurant servers who rely on tips as wages) and I don't believe tips should be part of their pay.

[scarlett530]

Sorry in advance--this turned into a long-winded post.

to Brodie and Dinahann! I waited tables for many years (the last time was 97), I made 2.13 an hour + tips. Oh yeah, and for the hour that I was there before and/or after shift, not making tips but doing side work, I also made 2.13 an hour. We got taxed on what we should have made (based on sales) whether we made that much or not. By the time taxes were taken out, I had no paycheck, so I relied completely on tips.

Waiting tables is a very demanding job, and it is hard on your body physically. You can make really good money one night, but that is balanced out by the next night where you made nothing. I worked in a very small "Country Style" restaurant, I've made as much as $120 a shift and as little as $8.00 a shift. I actually made more money on slower shifts because I could give customers more attention than when we were really busy. Speaking from a server's point of view, I can tell you guys that there is nothing more frustrating than being so busy that you can't get back to check on customers as much as you'd like because you are so busy. (You can just see your tips going out the window!) Also, the waitress pretty much gets blamed for everything else as well, from being out of paper towels in the restroom to the cook having a bad night and being slow to get food cooked or the food not coming out exactly the way the customer wanted. In the place I worked, we were also expected to look out for all customers, whether they were "our" customers or not. The theory being, if a customer needs something, they get it, and that when the tables were turned, you knew that if you couldn't "coffee and tea" your customers at a particular moment, someone else would return the favor to you.

If wait staff got paid minimum wage, like it has been said before, the food would cost you more money in the long run than a tip would. It is also very frustrating to go out of your way to make sure a customer's every need is taken care of and not get a tip. I have had customers who sent me on about 20 extra trips (and I am sooo not exaggerating) after this and that and the other, have a $20 food bill, and then plop down a buck like they are doing you a huge favor. Granted, I always knew that there were people who lived on a fixed income, etc. who couldn't leave as much as others, but me personally, if I can't afford to tip, I'm not going to go out to eat. On the flip side, there are also generous customers who tip a little extra. And if you think that your waitress does not remember who is a lousy tipper and who is a good tipper, and give the good tipper faster service than a known lousy tipper, then sadly, you're wrong. (Yeah, it's not supposed to be that way, and you are trained to treat everyone the same regardless, but it doesn't happen that way.)

I actually enjoyed waiting tables for the most part. It's fun to meet all kinds of people, and most people do tip decently. I really got burnt out on the profession though. It is amazing just how rude people can be, and how they think that they have a right to downgrade and insult servers. Should you be obligated to tip? In a perfect system, no, and you shouldn't be obligated to leave more than the standard 15% if the service isn't good. (You DO have the right to expect good service!) You also, IMO, shouldn't be obligated to tip everyone who plops down a tip jar. However, if you go into a restaurant to be waited on, you should expect that tipping is just part of the package.