To Tip or Not to Tip!?
Have you ever wondered how much to tip when purchasing food to-go, getting a hair cut for yourself and/or your kiddos, receiving assistance with baggage at a hotel, getting a massage, paying a housekeeper, etc.!? Although I almost always tip at least 20% when dining out, I am sometimes a little more perplexed as to what to tip in those situations.
Check out this helpful Guide to Gratuity Etiquette: How to Be a Total Tipster created by Mint.com that goes over what tip amount you should be giving for various services, such as spa services, bartenders, cleaning services, postal carriers, and more. Check out some of their helpful tips:
I’m from no tip culture country (Japan). I used to be a waitress for 3-4 years making minimum wage. I didn’t get tipped once. But we say Japan gives best customer service.
I moved to US and sometimes I don’t get very good service and still “have to” give tip. I feel very strange about tipping. I’d feel so much better if restaurants bring up some price to pay workers a little bit more and eliminate tipping system instead of customers judging how well waiter/ waitresses do.
You don’t “have to tip” If you receive truly poor service don’t tip. If your buser was good just slip him/her a tip. Yes I also was a waitress and a d## good one.
I know I don’t have to. But even if I get truly poor service, I also know that servers most places don’t even get minimum wage, so I tip them anyways. It’s just the social obligation I feel for tipping. I just think restaurants should pay more to workers.
In my opinion, restaurants should have to pay their servers a wage they can live on, just as all other employers must. I don’t tip if I receive poor service. A tip should be viewed as a bonus for performing well.
But they don’t and people have to live. I’d rather give them a tip than pay for their welfare. Either way you’re going to be supporting them. You never know why you service is bad. Maybe another server didn’t show up and they’re slammed or their dog got run over that day. Maybe the kitchen isn’t operating at full capacity and it’s not their fault as a server. I try to assume it’s an off day especially if they are polite and cheerful, but mess up my order or are slow.
It’s hard not to tip when you know these people are only making $2.13 an hour…I think people who tip nothing at all are selfish, unless the waitress or waiter was rude to them purposely or purposely negligent. Everyone has their bad days and most restaurants aren’t understanding about call in even if they are sick, much less anything else so you never know what is happening in that persons life that may affect your service but they can’t take off for fear of being fired. Also, there are many situations that can cause your server to become overwhelmed, hostess sitting that server 2 or 3 tables back to back, food coming up all at once, restaurant understaffed. I always take a look at the environment in the restaurant and my servers appearance of staying busy in to account when I feel I didn’t get the best service. Tipping is a part of our society when we dine out, everyone knows to expect it when they go out. If you can’t afford to tip or don’t want to tip then you can’t afford to eat out or need to be eating out.
If waitress and waiter are expecting to live on tip, they should always be professional.I don’t know why customers have to worry about what is happening in their life?
It is true that servers are “paid” $2.13 an hour. This goes completely to Uncle Sam and the server does not receive this. If restaurants were to pay servers more what would the rate be? Minimum wage? I don’t think there would be a lot of people willing to do such a depending job for so little. Also the food prices would probably have to go way up so the restaurants could “afford” to pay the servers.
Yes I am a server. Yes I depend on my tips to pay for bills, food etc.. Yes I know it is my job and I should be professional and I do try to be. But I am also human, and things affect me and I have bad days at work. The difference with “tipping wages” is if I have a bad day my pay suffers, if an hourly (salary) job person has a bad day their wages don’t suffer. I also think that just as a server should be professional a guest should be courteous. Imagine someone yelling at you about your job or your boss saying to you ” I don’t like how slowly you did xyz today, so I am docking your pay” when you know that you were slowed down because of another employee.
All that being said, I do like my job and I know what it takes to make sure guests have the best experience possible, still some people just don’t realize that 10% for amazing service is a poor tip. Especially on a small bill and when the people stay at the table for much longer after paying the bill–thus continuing to take away from possible earnings.
If someone did something to make you happy tell them, if they are in a position where tipping may be appropriate, tip them with a happy heart. What goes around comes around so spread love! 🙂
I know it all depends on location and how busy it is and everything, but do they usually make minimum wage amount after tip?
Doesn’t the employer have to make up the rest? In my state, minimum wage is 8.75. the employer pays $2.35 to restaurant employees and claims a tip credit for the rest. If the employee doesn’t make $6.40 an hour in tips, then the restaurant has to pay the rest to make up for it. At least that’s how it is here… I thought that was nationwide LAW though?
What about places like Panera Bread where you order and pay ahead of time and then actually wait for your food to get put up on the counter so you can take it back to your table. Should we tip in these situations?
I wondered also…but they have a sign that says no tipping.
I am a married father of 3. I lost my job a year ago when my company filed bankruptcy. I can’t find another job because I am either overqualified or underqualified. About three months ago I took a job as a server at On the Border in the northern suburbs of Atlanta Georgia. I make $2.01 per hour. My tips are supposed to make up the difference to get me to minimum-wage, but they never do. I usually work about 55 hours per week. After taxes, I am lucky to take home $280 per week. It’s a far cry from the $1100 per week I took him just a year ago. I am a business professional yet I am shocked time and time again with tables of people that have $70 bills and leave me two dollars or three dollars after I have waited on them for an hour or two. I would be lying to you if I told you that servers don’t profile their customers. I can almost tell you which customers are going to tip and not tip. By the way, I’m not Caucasian
I don’t know if it varies from state to state, but in my experience with serving your employer is legally obligated to see that you make minimum wage. Maybe there are exceptions, but I think they have to make up the difference.
I can empathize with your situation, and I’m sorry to hear about it. People should treat others with respect in all situations. I’ve been a server at a buffet restaurant, I would come home with pocket change, if even. I always tip when we eat out because I know how hard servers work. I tip extra when I can tell the server is overworked, or stressed, or makes my family smile or laugh. It is a tough job and people have no idea unless they have done it. Good luck in the future!
I’m So sorry to hear how rotten customers have been to you. Hang in there! I can relate to you on the employment front. I have a graduate degree from an excellent school, spend hours a week customizing my resume for different jobs and am not even getting interviews. Things have to improve in this economy! Sounds like those kids of yours gave one heck of a dad.
I am sorry you are in this position. However, your employer should not expect the customers to pay your salary. They should be required to adhere to minimum wage laws just as all other employers must. Then any tips you receive would truly be a tip.
AGREED!!!
I completely agree with you. Tips were never intended to take place of a person’s paycheck. It is getting out of hand, and people are starting to expect tips left and right.
I am so sorry to hear that. My 16 year old son works as a buser at a restaurant and makes $7.25 an hour plus he gets tips. And the restaurant is a buffet, so he’s basically just clearing the table of dishes. He comes home many nights with $40 – $50 in tips (he’s very handsome and friendly, the customers love him). I would get another job some where else if you can, home depot or lowes pay well, and have good benefits (from what I’ve been told, don’t know first hand). I think it’s crazy that any employer would only pay $2.01 an hour, seems really wrong to me. We always tip 25% or more, for this reason, and because I see how excited my son is when he comes home – I also don’t want to be know as a cheap tipper.
So my biggest question is, do many restaurant owners make so much money because they only pay their employees $2/hr? Who benefit from tipping the most is restaurant owners?
I tend to agree. The resturaunt sets up an evironment where a waiter/waitress is necessary…its not like i can serve myself at a resturaunt where I am seated and my order is taken to the back somewhere. But servers are often treated as though the resturaunt is doing them a favor by letting them work. And basically, the only reason they pay them $2 and hour is because the Gov says that the servers have to pay taxes based on the sales they make…usually 10%. so the resturant is really just covering they”re butts by paing them that. So all in all…this is a way to get free work out of people. the employer gives employes a server and makes the diner pay them. I just think if you are going to have a resturaunt that has servers…adjust the prices of the dinners and pay them.
THEN>>.there is the problem of…the hostess seats me, and takes my drink order, brings the drinks, the waitress takes the order, and sometimes a completely different person brings out the dinners….then the busboy cleans the plates, and the waitress brings the bill…who the heck do I tip?
You tip the servers, and they tip out the food runners and bussers. Runners and bussers usually get paid more hourly and receive a small percentage of the servers’ total tips.
Keep in mind servers are taxed on the dollar amount that the establishment takes in, so they report the tips based on the sales not on what the servers actually make, So in some cases, after they tax the server, if they didn’t make good tips, they owe more then they made
I agree completely!
If the tips are good, then the servers benefit since most in my opinion don’t report that money to the IRS.
Yes, servers are required to report all tips to the IRS. Much different and much more strict than when I was a server many, many years ago. And, if what a server reports is not a certain percentage of what their checks amount to for their shift, the IRS can and will ‘audit’ the situation, causing trouble for everyone. I have worked in a few different industries that include tipping as part of my wage. Restaurant, hospitality and beauty industries.
I always tip. I know what it is like to be a single woman and have to pay a mortgage on $1.00 an hour. If the service is poor, I may not leave as generous a tip, however, that person still waited on me. The problem may be in the kitchen or with the chef. Besides, no one is perfect and everyone has a bad day every now and then.
None of the people I have known in the service industry reported the full amount of their cash tips.
Actually sometimes it’s the opposite. I work in Tax industry and there are some benefits that you get if you show a certain amount of income. sometimes People want to report way MORE income in tips to reach that number to get maximum credit. On some occasions we did call the restaurant owner to cross if they can really make this much in tips.
cross check*
I tip at restaurants 15-20%, my hairdresser gets a standard $5 (my haircut is only $13), and most importantly I tip my tattoo artist. I was appalled to hear the expenses my artist pays, including rent just for working in the shop, and most people don’t tip because they don’t know if they should. Of the $60 an hour she charges, she makes about $15 of that after costs, which isn’t a lot when your job isn’t stable. So please, if you get tattoos and your artist did a good job, tip them! Most artists rely on it!
I have always wondered about the appropriate amount to tip my tattoo artists. They always say that tips are not necessary but are appreciated for good work. I do always tip but I’m never sure of the “right” amount.
People really drive me crazy. A tip is not for good service. It is how people pay their electric bill. You act like if you don’t tip the servers didn’t get a bonus. No, you just didn’t pay them. Even if the service is terrible tip people. I have tipped 50% plus in the case of exceptional service. If you can’t afford to tip STAY HOME!
Yes, Courtney exactly. Reading these comments is frustrating. It is irritating how people feel about tipping. If you don’t want to tip, learn to do everything yourself and spare all of the hardworking people out there.
But a tip IS for good service!! I tip wait staff, always, unless they’re terrible. Larger tip if they were great. But if I go to someone’s house and they cut my hair to my specifications, why should I tip them? They quoted me a price for their service, they preformed that service, and then I paid them. If it wasn’t enough to pay their bills, then they should charge more. I know that this isn’t the case in all circumstances, but for most things, it is! If I ask how much it is for something to be done and then they do what was asked of them, why should I pay them more? If someone goes above and beyond the job description, then they get paid above and beyond. If people expect more for their service, then they should CHARGE more for that service.
Wrong. A tip is for good/great service. If you are a bad server I’ll treat as such. We tip well above the 20% IF the server deserves it. But if a server treats us poorly is lazy or sloppy you will get much much less if anything at all and We will talk with your manager. If you can’t be a great server go get another job that does not involve working with people. To many people these days feel like the are entitled to things they have not earned. I have worked as a server.
No, tipping is supposed to be for good service. Originally, tipping was only for extra special service.
That’s a bit of an awful thing to say, “if you can’t tip stay home”. That’s like saying if you don’t know how to provide good service OR if you need to make more money then you should find a better job.
i see what you are saying..but i think that was all taken the wrong way. I also agree, when you go to a sit down resteraunt…there is an unwritten agreement that the waiter/waitress works for you, and you pay them…I think if you cant tip…go to a fast food place or a resteraunt that does not have servers.
For us it’s not about if we can afford it really we can. It’s about does the server deserve it. We understand that if the food as an issue then most of the time it’s a problem with the kitchen unless the food is cold. We take that into account and bring the issue up and we don’t dock the server. But just because you are a warm body trying to serve the table does not entitle you to a 20% tip. What is it with this generation thinking they get a trophy just because they showed up. Around here we call it the trophy generation.
Well said, Lyn96!
What gets me the most is the thousands of people who do not get their child’s teacher a Christmas gift or end of year gift. You will tip total stranger but not give a gift to the person who spends the most time with your child.
I think that is a completely different thing also. You’re talking about a State worker, with State benefits, that is paid well to work 9 moths a years and still has 2 weeks sick pay, and vacation time. Not to mention that most of the time “I” am the one doing the teaching…
As a teacher, I’d like to say you have a pretty skewed understanding of my working conditions. That being said, I don’t expect Christmas presents from my students. However, a certain amount of respect for the amount of work that I do both “on the clock” and off from parents would be nice.
Just wanted to say that I respect people in teaching profession. I got to understand them more when I became PTA treasurer .. I was really surprized to see that they spend their own money to get what’s needed for their classroom. I Always, Always send gifts at the end of the school and at Christmas. I even give gifts to Bus driver, Lunch Ladies and anything my kid say is super nice at her school.
I think it’s a wonderful gesture to give a teacher a gift…but not necessary. Some people cant afford gifts, and a lot of teachers don’t even WANT/can’t use a lot of things most children bring in. Teaching is a paid profession with benefits, not a minimum wage job.
I consider that unethical & a bribe. Government employees are BANNED from taking bribes.
Really you are saying a teacher is a government employee?! What about the mail carrier?! They are salaried with great benefits, including vacation time. But, you tip them? Mail carriers should be banned from taking a tip, or bribe as you mentioned. Also, applies to sanitation workers, they work for the state.
Opps well I guess I always “bribe” my daughters teachers then.. I don’t purchase them a gift! I give them CASH for Christmas! Let them use it on themselves how they want to and then I don’t have to worry if they can “use” the gift!
Totally agree Heather! So glad you mentioned it. People will tip everyone, garbage, delivery, mail, but will not even contribute $3 towards a gift for their child’s teacher, someone who is with their child 7 hours a day. But they manage to get a manicure and a pedicure on a weekly basis and cry poverty. Ridiculous and so cheap!
My point is if you can’t afford to tip, you shouldn’t be eating out. Don’t short change the sever because you don’t want to spend any more money. In NC (where I live) servers make $2ish dollars an hour. Tips are suppose to be for making up the difference between there and minimum wage. I have never seen an establishment pick up the difference if that is not the case. So basically if you don’t tip, those people make less than minimum wage. Flawed system yes but that’s just the way it is. And perhaps I’m eating at the right restaurants or maybe I’m just nice but I’ve never had service that didn’t warrant a tip. It was never that bad. Things happen, I get that.
Really? Love your attitude. I’ll eat where I want when i want and if its good service then I will tip. If its not then I won’t. Period. It is not up to me to make up the difference for what someone is getting paid. You want a tip? Then the service better be darn good. This tipping crap is getting ridiculous. Tip this person tip that person. Buy this person a gift…on and on and on. You want to tip…more power to you. But telling people not to eat out? Whatever. Have a good evening.
Right on Meg! I agree with you completely! NO ONE has the right to tell someone else if they should eat our or not and especially to be so RUDE as to tell people that if they can’t tip they should stay home. Shame on you COURTNEY. Last time I checked the US OF A was a FREE COUNTRY.
Amen!
NO ONE has the right to tell someone else if they should eat our or not and especially to be so RUDE as to tell people that if they can’t tip they should stay home. Shame on you COURTNEY. Last time I checked the US OF A was a FREE COUNTRY.
The server is being shortchanged by the owner not the customer!
Get your head out of your a++
Exactly S! Like your comment- short, sweet and to the point!
no..it is not how i pay my electric bill. but the electric comapny and I have an agreed on price I pay for what I use. You are comparing apples to oranges. When I go to a resturaunt I EXPECT good service. My rule is 30% when I walk through the door…but honestly, that percentage drops from there. If the service is poor, the tip drops. Like someone above said, there is a sense of entitlement in this country…just because you are a warm body doesnt mean you deserve being paid. I understand you are woking for “me” when you are a server…but I expect you to do your job. we decided this year to leave the meal planning up to a resuraunt for holidays and take a break, (for personal reasons). For easter, we had the best server and left a $50 tip on a $36 check. Christamas on the other had was quite possibly the WORST waitress on the planet. We still gave her a small tip to help cover the percentage of the check that she has to claim…but it was not easy. I wanted to leave nothing. I know waitesses, and they are the most critical of other waitresses when we go out. And they are the first to say not to give a “good” tip for bad service.
If a tip were mandatory, it would be INCLUDED in the bill OR you would not be allowed to leave the restaurant without paying it. I’m very sorry that servers don’t always make enough to pay their electric bills, but that’s neither an excuse for poor service, nor a reason to expect a generous tip from every single customer. I happily tip for good service, and I even tip for bad service… though I do so to a far lesser degree.
Still, the fault is neither with the servers or the customers. It is the fault of the restaurants who are abusing their employees.
A TIP is for GOOD service. A customer is not obligated to tip.
NO ONE has the right to tell someone else if they should eat our or not and especially to be so RUDE as to tell people that if they can’t tip they should stay home. Shame on you COURTNEY. Last time I checked the US OF A was a FREE COUNTRY.
I wish they would just change the pay schedule so EVERYONE gets at least minimum per hour and do away with tips. I won’t ever leave a tip for places that make a normal hourly rate. Starbucks, fast service food joints?!? Really? Everyone puts out a tip jar nowadays
I don’t have a problem with tipping. But I’m noticing more and more that 18% and 20% tips are being printed on receipts at restaurants. The problem is…they are listing the tip based on the total amount and not the subtotal (before tax). So…it is not convenient because I have to figure out 20% of the subtotal anyway. For people who don’t notice this and tip based on this, they are paying more than they intended to. Has anyone else noticed this? It has become more common in the last year or so.
Some restaurants where I live will include the tip/gratuity in your bill if the table includes several people. A group of us went out to eat, each was going to get their own bill and no one requested more service than anyone else (no special diets/drinks, etc.). When the bills arrived and we were all getting ready to pay I looked at my bill and discovered they had included the tip. Most just pulled out their money and were going to pay the total AND leave a tip. When I pointed it out to people, they were appalled. In the end the waitress lost money because we were all going to leave more than what the restaurant had put on the ticket and the restaurant lost some business because it was years before some of us went back. The restaurant stated that they did it because large groups had stiffed the waitresses in the past.
they actually do that because if the party is that big, people that are $5 tippers no matter how many people are discoraged ffrom doing so. It is actually quite common to add a tip for a large party. on most menus, it warns that parties of a certain side with include a gratuity in there bill. I have seen others that said not to tip because gratuities were included..
It is wrong!!! Restaurants should be paying their employees!!!!!!
What was wrong was no one knew that the restaurant was going to do this. The waitress almost was tipped twice as much as she should have been. This would not have been fair to those who were in the group. In only one case would the bill have been close to $20, the rest were between $10 and $15 and if I remember correctly the restaurant had figured the tip at 15% – we were planning to leave approximately 20% so the waitress lost money on that deal. If a restaurant is going to figure the tip onto the bill you pay than they should be upfront about it not hide it in the fine print where most people will miss it.
A lot of times your server does not have control over an automatic gratuity being added for large parties. I’m really tired of hearing people take it out on their server when, most likely, he or she didn’t want to put it on there in the first place but “restaurant policy” forced it. I’ve been in the business for many, many years and I’ve worked in places where I’ve said to the manager, “I don’t think we should add the gratuity, they’re really great, they’re really happy, I think I’ll get a better tip if we leave it off” and been told, “Nope, it’s restaurant policy, it HAS to be put on” and then I get, to the penny, the gratuity that was added. I actually have said to people, when leaving the check, “I wanted to let you know that the restaurant adds an automatic gratuity on all parties over X people, please feel free to adjust the amount at your discretion” because, no, the gratuity amount is NOT required. It’s put on there because, a lot of times, a large group will just toss in money to pay their meal and not take into account that there’s a $300 bill and only $10 left over for a tip.
I guess my original comment is not clear. This is not for a big group, just my family of four. The tip is not added on as mandatory, the amounts are suggested according to the percentage. I just have a problem with the suggested amounts being based on the total including tax and not just the subtotal.
I wish everyone would make a fair wage. That said, I have been a server in the past and I know the struggle. Though I don’t make much money myself, I always factor in the cost of the tip BEFORE patronizing a restaurant. And I always always always tip servers. 10% for terrible service, 20%+ for stellar service.
I saved for 2 months to be able to treat myself and my husband to massages for Valentine’s Day and I factored the price of the tips into how much I needed to save.
I am a bartender. I work my butt of for my customers. I only make 2.63 an hr. The most upsetting thing to me .. is when i am serving a couple.. the man leaves me the tip.. and the woman takes it back ..puts it in her purse..& i end up with nothing after 3 hours…of 2. Dollar drinks at happy hour…but really for the most part people are gr8. & i end up with 18 percent on average.thx for the rant.I closed and was at work till 3.am..this morn.. from shift start at 5p.m my long shift.
Wow, in my book that is stealing! Unless she was the wife, and then it is just poor taste!
my mom was famous for that…:(
I’ve had that happen so many times! Or, the guy will go to sign the charge slip and she’ll cross out the $10 tip and leave $2. Why are women so crappy to other women? I’m WAITING ON YOU, I’m not trying to take your man. Any friendliness is just because I want a good tip! lol In fact, I try to make a point to always ask the woman FIRST what she wants and pay more attention to HER so she hopefully won’t think I’m flirting with her man. No thanks, got one at home who doesn’t hang out in bars! 😉
In Oregon restaurant staff gets paid State minimum wage not Federal. When my dad was alive he tipped based on service – if he had coffee the coffee cup wasn’t to go empty and if not coffee the water glass wasn’t to be empty. Hot food came hot, cold food came cold and everyone’s food arrived within a reasonable time frame. That was great service and rewarded accordingly.
Now everyone seems to feel that they should be tipped. I have had friends who charge $25-$35 an hour to clean a vacation rental (west coast not east coast prices) and put out tip envelopes. Maids in my area feel that people who are staying at motels should tip them. Often this isn’t for doing anything more than their job – we’re not talking about special services (extra towels – my key doesn’t work, etc) we talking cleaning the room and making beds.
Before anyone complains I clean houses and take care of people’s pets so I do service work. I don’t expect gifts, tips and freebies from the people I work for. If they WANT to give me something extra (and I do get rewarded by them and I appreciate it) that is THEIR choice not my demand.
Beautifully said Sarah.
I waitressed for a few years when I was younger and I feel bad for those people. It is truly hard work and a ton of people don’t tip. Maybe it depends in how you are raised?? I love it when my family of 6 orders pizza and stuff and the delivery guys looks at the tip I give him and says “are you sure you don’t need change?” (I usually give 5 or $6) (20 plus percent ALWAYS at a restaurant and sometimes 30 percent) I’ve always tipped a ton, maybe that’s because I worked at those placed when I was a kid and I feel bad, or maybe it’s just because I know they have families to feed and bills to pay just like everyone else!!! (I recently tipped the girl at the haircut place $5 for my sons $12 haircut and she almost fell over)
“Maybe it depends in how you are raised”. Were I come from and how I was raised was to praise and reward good/great work. Not reward poor work.Not every child got a trophy or a star you had to earn it. I am not going to give you a tip if you don’t do your job. If I see you leaning you could be cleaning and I better not see you on your cell phone. We as a family and how the children are raised have a very strong work ethic. Why on earth is this so hard to understand. If you have personal issues leave them at home that is part of a hard working person. Why should I part with the money we worked hard to get just to give it to someone who believes they are entitled to it because they are a server of food.
Amen lyn96! Well said!
Same here. Where I come from (16 years ago) there was no tipping system at all. If you pay someone extra (in case you didn’t have change) it was actually insulting more like kind of “Do you think I am poor and you are showing pity on me” kind of feeling. Honest and self respected people just refused to take more than what they asked for their Product or service. It included beauticians, restaurants. Unless you are really really poor or homeless no one took extra penny. I agree that it was very hard for me to understand this concept of tipping but that was when we first came here. i started with 10% but now 20% at least for good service. And just today I found out that there are jobs in USA that only pays $2-3 per hour. I thought everyone gets at least minimum wage. that was shocking.
Definitely tip your newspaper carrier….trust me..I am one. We get up early in the morning and in all kinds of weather. We deliver to homes that don’t shovel driveways….sidewalks…don’t provide any kind of porch lights….we deal with dogs and critters. We even encounter burglars. We work hard to provide good service. We love getting card at christmas and treats once in awhile. We have to pay for our own supplies….it is a thankless job.
If you carry the paper up to the porch and leave it outside the door, sure, I think that deserves a tip. Ours throws it from their car and sometimes it’s near the porch, sometimes it’s in a puddle, sometimes it lands on dog poo. And we get the annual self-addressed envelope asking for a tip in with one of our December newspapers which I just toss because I don’t feel that I’m getting any kind of service that warrants a tip. Our mail carrier and trash collector DO get a “tip” (a gift card for coffee) every year because both of them do provide what I consider excellent service beyond what is required (for example, making sure my lids are secured to barrels on windy days so they don’t blow down the street).
What about Starbucks & their digital tipping? Really? $5 a drink + a tip?
I will never tip at a place like starbucks unless I for some reason have some giant complicated order one day. If you don’t/can’t tip at a place like McDonalds, why there?
Sue,
That’s what I always remember hearing that you didn’t have to tip the owner.
I bought a box of Campfire mints last week and they had a tip jar out. Was already shocked because the mints were $5, up from $4 last year. As a former Bluebird/CF Girl I know it is not about the value, but WOW.
I live in WA where minimum wage is $9.47. If you’re an employee of anything, you’re getting paid at least $9.47…Servers, baristas, people who work at salons, etc.
To me, this whole tipping debate should be divided between the parts of the country who get like $2 an hour and the parts who are earning minimum wage.
Server jobs are coveted around here because you make bank. My server friends are always bragging about how much money they make. I tip 15-20% but this has been starting to kill me and and considering these people actually make enough money to have a really good middle to upper class life, I’m thinking of having 10% be my standard tip. As someone also making minimum wage where I don’t receive tips, I don’t think I should have to shell out an extra 20% every time unless I’m blown away or think that person could really use it. With that said, I also don’t really frequent chain restaurants where you can clearly see those people hustling. My friends and I usually go to smallish specialty lounges, and we go frequently. The food and drinks are somewhat pricey and we go during times when they’re not busy. It’s usually between 2-4 people working the joint, cook included. A lot of times our server is standing around because her only job is to wait on the only 2 couples in the place. A lot of times they are drinking themselves. These are the kinds of places I frequent a lot and need to know why I should still be tipping this much because after reading all these comments about servers making $2 an hour busting their butt….and the places I frequent are making almost 10 and mostly standing around, talking with customers, or drinking themselves, I do NOT feel inclined to continue tipping them this much….
I also get my hair done by a salon owner…She’s a one-woman show….Last time I just got the ends of my hair dyed and it was $85. You pay on her iPad, which suggests a 15 or 20% tip. I left 20% which put it over $100. Now I’m seeing people on here saying you shouldn’t or don’t need to tip a salon owner…?
One of my closest friends is from King County, WA and now that minimum wage is that high they have made the decision to no longer tip in those areas of the state. It’s great for the employee that they no longer have to struggle against below minimum wage rates but it so means cost of food at service establishments had increased. Since the servers basic needs are now met, it eliminates the need for tipping. Unless the service was absolutely amazing, this is the one area where I would say you don’t need to tip any longer because these people now make a livable wage…. Though I’m in complete disagreeable about what WA did with regards to their wage hike… But i don’t live there so I don’t have to deal with their fall out from it either
“It’s great for the employee that they no longer have to struggle against below minimum wage rates”
Servers in WA have never made below minimum wage rates.
King County, WA has passed legislation that a wage hike is to increase in increments over the coming years to reach $15, and that begins in April. But no one makes $15 minimum wage as of yet except for the city of SeaTac, WA. I also do not agree with the hike but yeah….no $15 minimum wage anywhere except SeaTac, a very small city that mainly houses the airport.
So what is your opinion on tipping a minimum wage earning ($10/hr) server?
So I was right… I live in WA too and I also thought everyone makes minimum wage. I feel happy now. 🙂
You should move to Washington state. Minimum wage is 10,plus tips.
In some counties of Wa St it is going to up to 15 an hr.
Yes, in Seattle (where I live) they have enacted a $15 minimum wage.
King County, WA has passed legislation that a wage hike is to increase in increments over the coming years to reach $15, and that begins in April and I think I read it’s supposed to take up to the year 2018 to reach $15. But no one makes $15 minimum wage as of yet except for the city of SeaTac, WA. I also do not agree with the hike but yeah….no $15 minimum wage anywhere except SeaTac, a very small city that mainly houses the airport.
So what is your opinion on tipping a minimum wage earning ($10/hr) server?
When my fiance and I go out to eat, we still tip, (10% if service is good, 15% if phenomenal and less than 10% if service sucks) but do not tip exorbitantly (more than 20%) knowing that the servers are getting a decent wage. Most times, they will be earning above the minimum wage before tips, since Seattle has a high cost of living so a lot of eating establishments will pay over minimum wage. The servers in most nice restaurants around here make a very comfortable living. One entree here (in Seattle) can often cost as much as a whole dinner does in other parts of the country. Thank goodness for Groupon, otherwise we would go out to eat less frequently. We do always tip on the original amount even when going out to eat with a Groupon.
Haha I live in south Alabama! I couldn’t take the WA cold lol!!! It’s freezing here at 55!!
WA, cold? Are we talking about the same Washington state here? Alaska is cold, NY is cold. WA state not so much. It’s been in the high 50’s, low 60’s in the Seattle area. 55F is not freezing.
I always tip,no matter what the service is like. These people (and I am thinking of restaurant employees in particular ) get a ridiculously low amount of hourly pay,and they have to rely on tips.
Everybody has a bad day.
There are rude people (=customers) everywhere.
You never know what is going on in someone’s life,and what problems they are having.
So my husband and I always tip well,no matter what.
It should not be the customer’s responsibility to pay these peoples’ wages. The employer should provide a good wage and then the tips would be icing on the cake.
Well said, Leigh!
I used to be a server in a past life, so I can see both sides of the argument. My motto has always been good tip for good service, minimal tip for bad service. I think you should always tip SOMETHING. If service is that bad to the point where you feel you shouldn’t tip ANYTHING, you should always speak to the manager.
HOWEVER, I do notice an extreme sense of entitlement with some servers (mostly the very young) these days. Many think they cant just do whatever and still DESERVE a 20%-50% tip. I also see comments with waiters complaining about how much they make and how they work soooo hard. Serving has never and will never be a high paying job for most. You aren’t performing highly skilled tasks, you are putting food and drinks on a table. People do MUCH harder jobs and get crap pay. Jobs that many servers would never do because of pride and ego. So either find one of those set minimum wage jobs or cease with the complaining.
Thank you Hope! My thought exactly! I have a masters and manage millions of dollars for a company on a daily basis but I’m not making six figures myself. I work hard and climb the ladder and one day I may make what I feel i have the capability of being worth in a dollar figure but while I respect that service industry work can be difficult, and I will always tip… I do not think that a server doing a rudimentary job is “entitled” to make what I make or more. These jobs are traditionally meant to be temporary jobs while people better their skills or education and have the ability to move on. These jobs were never intended to be permanent jobs for people
Amen! Hope you hit the nail on head. I agree completely! You don’t see people who do the really nasty job of cleaning toilets and stuff like that complaining how they are not getting tipped.
I waited tables for a while, mainly because I was moving around the country a lot and that was a job that was always in demand. At every restaurant that I worked at, the servers were required to clean the front of the house and the bathrooms, and these were midlevel restaurants, not incredibly expensive but not super cheap and serving alcohol. We would need to be there an hour before they opened and an hour after they closed, scrubbing everything from top to bottom each morning and each night. We were also responsible for making sure all the dishes were sparkling clean, cups and glasses, and silverwear were spotless. I was excellent at waiting tables, people had to tell me to stop refilling their drinks as I never let them get below halfway empty and I triple checked each order before serving it, but it is very hard to make ends meet when you are making that little per hour, especially on slow days. They didn’t cover healthcare so when I injured myself at work, I basically had to man up, fix that broken bone, and keep on with a smile on my face because nobody wants a bitter or sad waitress and if you can’t work, you don’t get paid.
So I was right… I live in WA too and I also thought everyone makes minimum wage. I feel happy now. 🙂
I come from the old country, where tipping meant rounding up to nearest dollar. I just don’t gt tipping in general. Nowadays, you go to a hotel and you see an envelop from the cleaning lady for tip. Well, what I don’t get is that i am paying for a clean hotel room so the hotel needs to hire staff to ensure that rooms are clean and pay them sufficient amount for it. It’s not my duty, i paid the room price!! I may leave a buck or two if they did something super special. Same with restaurants, why am I paying servers salary???? I am there paying for the meal, which is served by servers because cooks can’t do it. It’s the restaurant owners job to pay for their staff so that people get their meals served. Why would they pay servers $2 an hour and make their customers pay for the rest of their salary???!! That’s just crazy to me that they can ge away with it. On that note, I do tip 18%, but i don’t agree that it should be an expectation.
Another thing is that it seems a ot of people are tipping because they feel bad because servers make so little. So is that the guidelies for tipping? if you make below certain amount you get tipped? or is it truely based on service and not the salary made. Beauce if it’s serice, then where do you stop. I mean if you’re a pharmacist you provide service in filling meds. They don’t get tipped, some might say it’s my job to do that. Well what if they go over and beyond, call you insurance, save your life from a dangerous dose, do they get a tip for service??? Again I think employers hould pay sufficient wages and tips should be only for over and beyond service. So if in WA, servers get paid $10/hr I think that is a wage and a job they agreed to and tips should not be expected.
Agreed Anna!
I tip servers 20% ish-more if the service was really good, a little less if it was really bad. But I always always tip. ( in the US)
I agree with others that servers should all be paid at least minimum wage, but until that time comes ( in every state) I will keep tipping because I know it is part of their pay.
I work at a hair salon, and wash people’s hair. I only work for tip. Some people tip me $1 but some $5 or so. For holidays is a little bit better. But, they are many people that don’t tip at all. We know already who tips and who not, because those are standard customers. People with less money are the best tippers. Rich people tip very little or nothing, I guess that is why they are rich LOL. Some days I work for little money but other days for more, it really depends. What gets me mad is that some people will tip hair stylist $50 and don’t leave any tip for us 🙁 I guess they are thinking that stylists are paying us, which they are not.
In all fairness, unless you’ve worked in that kind of salon or know someone who washes hair for tips only, you have no idea. Until reading your post, I assumed there was some sort of set pay. What if more than one person touches you during your salon visit? Do you tip every single person? I assumed that the stylist would tip out the persons helping him/her. Perhaps there should be a little sign saying shampooers only work for tips where you work.
Btw……it kinda stinks that you work with a stylist getting 50 dollar tips who in turn gives you nothing…
It is very upscale salon and people pay a lot of money for hair but not everybody tips. Like I said some people don’t know that stylists don’t pay us. Usually who ever starts the client has to finish, just because of the tips sharing, unless that person is busy, but in that case some clients split the tip between the shampooers. Some says I feel that I get in 8 hours shift less than stylist from one tip 🙁 But what can you do, it is a job and it pays. I am glad that I can put food on the table for my kids.
I would have no idea that the shampoo person needs to be tipped separate from the stylist. I’ve worked in high end restaurants where I have a busser, food runner, etc and I always got the tip and then tipped them out at the end of the night along with the bartender (usually 10% of what I made to each of them, I’d usually tip more if they really helped me out above and beyond or I had an especially filthy table or huge order that they took care of).
All this tipping is madness and I wish it would go away and the restaurant/salon/etc. owners are forced to pay everyone they employed a proper salary..I don’t think it’s fair for people to have to guess how much everyone makes and supplement their income by tipping…I seriously didn’t know people are making $2-3 an hour…that’s insane (see I don’t eat out that often and its rude to ask how much someone make..so I don’t ask and don’t know). When I did eat out pre kids..i had time and was able to afford a meal for myself and a guest and still tip the 15% (though I just did it because everyone was doing it..and because I had the money)..i can’t do that now with kids in tow…after a 5 minutes wait, my kids will have jumped all over the place…so eating out is not something we do anymore. I also don’t have money to pay for the food and tip when we’re on one income so it’s also the reason we stay away. I think the restaurant/etc. are dishonest in selling their products as cheaper to get people to come in but then basically say oh wait..you have to pay for my worker..I’m not paying them enough so while you’re at it kick in a 15-20% so people who work for me get an adequate salary. If they are paid adequately, then if they got something extra, it would have been because they truly value their customers…and the tip will have been for something they are doing beyond their expectations.
What about a resturaunt where the only employees are behind the counter and they put a tip jar on the counter? (ice cream place, ect) I don’t imagine those employees only make $2 /hr. It seems presumptuous to expect a tip when you are only dishing up a snack, no real waitress-ing going on.
I usually just leave whatever coins are leftover when I pay. Like, if it’s $3.45 and I pay with a $10 I’ll take the $6 and toss the .55 in the jar. When I was a kid and worked in a coffee shop I usually got .10-.25 tips if any but at the end of the shift I’d leave with $20 or so and I thought that was great.
A bit off topic- I’m upper management for a big box retailer and some ways for our employees’ to get rewarded or receive bonuses is by the positive feedback. With that being said when your provided good service in an area when you can’t tip with money “tip” with your comments or completing those surveys on your receipts. We are always quick to complain, we should also look for opportunities to praise!
I always give feedback 🙂 sometimes I go to the customer service, sometimes I fill out online.
I really shouldn’t read the comments when this question comes up. The greed and anger and lack of empathy always makes me so sad.
Yes, you should tip. It is the cultural norm and thus what should be done.
We tip 20% in a restaurant as our base and go up for excellent service — if someone notices a soda needs a refill quickly that’s our little joke of “oh their tip just went up!”
And before people jump on “well I can’t afford to!”
We are a family of four. I stay home and my husband is a postdoc making less than he did as a grad student. We don’t go out very often but when we do, we tip! As others have said, If the extra $5-$10 of a tip makes it so you can’t afford to go out, you shouldn’t havebeen there in the first place – money is really tight when you can’t afford that (I know!:)
We always consider that if we have budgeted to eat out, we can add an extra $5 and have it not affect our budget for the meal too much (skip a soda or dessert or appetiser) but it might make a big difference to the server especially when they are apparently dealing with SO many people who don’t plan to tip.
I am a very good tipper and I don’t make a ton of money. If I order a $5 meal and I keep the table for an hour, I’ll tip $5 because if I went somewhere else and ordered a $25 meal and kept the table for an hour, I’d give that person $5. I also go to trivia every week and I only ever order the small chicken salad and a soda, b/c the small salad is still huge. It comes to $10. We are there for 3 hours. I always tip $10 b/c I’ve kept her from seating more parties that night that would have spent more. I don’t like feeling like I’m taking money out of someone else’s hand.
I do struggle with other places – do I tip the guy that helps me to the car at the grocery store? Do I tip the pick-up person when I call ahead and order my food. More often than not, I will tip something but not as much as if I kept a table.
I don’t know why I become so compelled to read these type of posts knowing that people are you gm to have extremely different opinions than myself. I have been a waitress/ bartender for my entire career(15 years). Granted, for the most part, I make an excellent living! There are some people, despite how great of service I provide, that are going to leave me nothing. I can usually pick them out based on personal experience and so I try to go above and beyond with top notch service and still nothing! I run a 9 table section sometimes and when it gets sat back to back to back, my service will slow down. Sometimes, tables run me to death or have a food complaint and I’m trying to deal with that table only to have another table run out of something to drink and another table dropped their fork and then another table needing an extra dressing! I’m overwhelmed trying to get everyone everything they need! People don’t realize that. I deal with grouchy, I hate the world, the world owes me, I’m not tipping this blonde Barbie looking white girl, you don’t deserve a tip, hateful people on a daily basis but I also wait on the most happy spirited, I want to help, kind, compassionate, understanding, sweetest people also! I am only one person trying to make a living and feeding my children. I work extra shifts because the company I work for just reduced our tip share taking 100$ every two weeks out of all of our checks to make sure the host makes minimum wage so our company doesn’t have to pay them out of their own pocket. So I work more hours to make the same pay. Please understand that every situation is different and I can almost always guarantee that if you receive bad service, the next time you come in, pick the same waitress and I bet it will be a different story! Exceptions to every rule of course though! I love my job and I choose this occupation because I’m off every day by five, I can take off whenever my girls have a school function and I’m off on the weekends when they are out of school! So please, bless people and you will be blessed in return! I truly believe that!!
What do you guys usually tip for carryout from some restaurant? I was confused on whether it would be the typical 15 – 20% or something lower, or nothing at all. For example, if I go and order something at a restaurant and it takes about an hour to get all my food (other people ahead of me, takes time to cook the food, etc). I don’t order or drink anything while I’m waiting, and I’m not leaving a mess of plates for anyone to clean. I just want to get my food and go. So what are you supposed to tip then?
Nothing. Why would you tip anything when there was no one to serve you and you had to wait an hour for your food??
yes, you should tip on a togo order. believe it or not, the waiters/hosts have to put together the orders and prepare it. Of course it doesn’t deserve a full 20%, but 10% is a good rule of thumb.
F, just go with what you think is right. People will have differing opinions and answer differently based on what they think (case in point – me and kell just gave you 2 very different answers).
I used to work in Nassau Coliseum and Citi Field as an usher. Both places paid us per event, not hourly. It didn’t matter how many hours we worked, so we depended on tips.
Nassau Coliseum required us to be there at least an hour an a half before the event started. Citi Field required us to be there three hours before the event. In addition, we were responsible for clearing out the seats before we were released.
People think that because they pay for their ticket, they are entitled to treat ushers anyway they want. In the Coliseum, I would take people to the seats they PAID for, and then have to listen to them complain about how bad their seats were. In Citi Field, I would have to deal with people who simply decided they were going to move down to a better section, because they were plenty of empty seats available. In both places, I would have to put up with nasty comments like “who the hell did I think I was” and “go F myself, try and stop me”.
I can assure you I do not own the Coliseum or Citi Field. I was simply trying to do my job. I can also truthfully tell you that the most generous tip I ever received was two dollars, and that was only after finding a patrons phone on the floor.
Next time you are enjoying a concert that started three hours later than it was suppose to or enjoying a baseball game that has gone into the twelve inning, think of your ushers.
I tip well 20-30% and sometimes even more because I know how poorly servers are paid and I like to make someone’s day. I have 2 teenage sons and I drill it into their heads that if they don’t have money to tip then they can’t afford to eat out. That being said, I would rather have higher menu prices so that all customers are paying their fair share of the server’s wages and get rid of the tipping system all together.
Also, I am a teacher and I don’t want kids to give me gifts. I always feel bad when they do. I love my job and I don’t need any gifts.
That’s how servers should feel too…. It’s there job!
Julie, I understand you do not want to get gifts but you should not feel bad if you do. I can assure you that if my kid didn’t like a certain teacher they just refuse to take gift for her 🙂 It’s gratitude. But in so many years it only happened once that my daughter didn’t want to take anything for a teacher.
I always tip, I live in California the waiters get paid minimum or plus. I used to work as waitress and snack bar to me the snack bar was more work then being a waitress. But I feel that if you provided a good service tip are a good bonus but shouldn’t be expected.
Ok, so how much do you tip on your To Go order? I really would like to know.
I tip based on the quality of service I get. If I am somewhere and the person is truly trying to make me happy, and giving me good service, etc. then I will tip accordingly. However, I don’t feel like I, as a tax payer who works hard every day at work, have to pay EXTRA for people I personally do not know just because their place of employment does not pay them enough. You don’t like being a waitress because the family didn’t tip you 20 percent, then I’m sorry but get another job! There are tons of other jobs that pay minimum wage or above and provide a steady paycheck every two weeks. Stop complaining because people didn’t tip you enough!
I remember my first job was cleaning tables at a family-owned restaurant. I didn’t get to wait tables since I was just starting out, and I remember one man tipped me $10 one night. It was the nicest thing a customer had ever done for me and I will never forget that!!!
My very favorite part of all the comments here is the underlying theme of about half of them talking about “entitlement”. Yes, I feel entitled to a tip when I am basically watching your children for you while they run screaming like possessed banshees through the restaurant while you and your friend completely ignore them. Yes, I feel entitled to a tip when I watch your precious child squeeze an entire bottle of ketchup on the cloth seats while showing off their best Mel Gibson “Braveheart” impression and I get yelled at for letting them do that when I was across the room serving another table. Yes, I feel entitled to a tip when you and your entire youth/church/whatever group come in and take up four tables to just have water and coffee for three hours, demanding refills and fresh pots of coffee every ten minutes, stopping me from having other customers using those tables, customers who will buy something that costs more than $1.29 and will tip me more than a generous, shiny quarter or better yet, those fake five dollar bills that talk about how “the only tip you need is that Jesus loves you and will provide for you in the afterlife.” Well, I kinda need shelter in this current life and my apartment doesn’t take Jesus bucks. I don’t need someone to leave me keys to a brand new car, I just wish they would recognize that that food didn’t magically float over to their table, the cups don’t just automatically get full again, the extra napkins didn’t just apparate over right when you spilled your drink. Waiting tables is hard, labor intensive work and looking down your nose at your waiter? Rude and not cool. I bet you that one day, your child or niece or nephew will be a waiter for even just a little while and you will hear stories about people who do terrible things like throw a piece of food in your face because you weren’t fast enough with the extra napkins, and you will be horrified. Karma is a fickle mistress.
Girl you tell them!!! I couldn’t have said it better! At $2.13 an hour, we are absolutely entitled to a tip!!
No I don’t think so. Entitled? Really? It’s not up to other people to pay your wage and your entitlement. Wow.
Yep, Meg is right.
Once again. My children were well behaved as little children and now as young adults/adults are beyond polite. When we go to a restaurant we are the table that almost buses itself I make sure if anything should fall and believe me it that was rare because we taught manners to our children we would pick it up. I have been a server so yes I will use the term entitlement.
I am a delivery driver for Papa Johns in a rich area. I still get stiffed on a regular basis. I am considered to be a very good driver, but I am also the only driver from 9-5 most days. Things happen. I have to take 2-3 deliveries at a time on a daily basis. Sometimes the orders are 20 minutes apart in DRIVE time. People still get angry, I get cursed out weekly. For every person who actually tips 20%, I get 10 people who tip 5% or less. I’m not entitled. I’m a 23 year old single mom who is paying to myself through college with those tips. Its not a pity trip. I am providing you with the service. If its going to cost you $5 in gas, and I’m saving that for you, then it makes sense to tip. Customers get BIG discounts but still won’t tip. I deliver $300 orders all the time and barely get tipped. I make $4.25/ hour while I’m on the road so if I don’t get tipped I make less than minimum wage.
I would love to get a BUSINESS OWNERS take on tipping, a salon owner, restaurant owner.
Many of you say that these owners should pay these service job employees all more money so we dont have to…but I bet there would be a lot LESS jobs out there if this were to happen, and the prices would most definitely go up.
I mean I want to hear from a salon owner, restaurant owner, I want their opinion..not regarding tipping the owners..
I work in a casino and I see how people treat the cocktail waitresses and it’s awful. Honestly, about half do not tip them at all when they are serving them FREE drinks! Then there’s the groups of three, four, five people or more who will order a round of drinks and hand her $1 for all of those drinks as if she should fall over thanking them. I’ve also heard people comment about, “Well, she obviously doesn’t need the money, look at her hair and nails, I bet she’s in the salon every day!” Yes, actually, she IS at the salon all the time because the casino REQUIRES her to look that way. She will lose her job if she’s not perfectly done up when she reports to work. And they have to pay for all that out of their own pockets whether they made good tips that week or not. So that waitress who looks like a million bucks with perfect hair and nails, she’s probably taking home about the same as the lady who’s cleaning the restroom. Don’t punish someone by how nice they look, thinking they don’t need the money!
Then there’s the groups of three, four, five people or more who will order a round of drinks and hand her $1 for all of those drinks as if she should fall over thanking them.”
Well if you’d rather have nothing, then they should have left you nothing. I hate people who can’t **APPRECIATE*** ANY tip. I worked at a donut shop/diner back in 1998-2002 off and on a little over 2yrs worth, which I made min. wage(back then was $5.15/hr) plus tips. I so appreciated a dime, a quarter, a penny even, ********ANYTHING********** IS BETTER THAN NOTHING! Even a penny I had rathered than NOTHING at all. It ADDS UP!
They should thank them, not fall all over, but they should be thanked, because a dollar from every customer that does that in one shift can make a lot of money. If you serve 30 rounds of 4-5 people groups, you’d make 30 bucks more in a shift.
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I just love how all my comments get deleted. Thanks
You know…when it all comes down to it. I am a very generous tipper. I understand you are working “for me” when you are waiting on the table I am at…and it would be a cold day when I let my kids misbehave in public (and believe me, they know better than to try)..but i still hold true..if service is poor, then the tip will be also. I take everything into account…how busy the resteraunt is, is the kitchen the problem, etc. But when the restuaunt is empty, and me and my sons are the only ones there, and there are 3 waitresses huddled and gossiping about how much they hate their jobs (yes, we can hear you O_O… and the service is poor…my attitude starts to soar. Thats when I feel the “entitlement’ comes into play. I’m nearly the only one in the resteraunt and I still cant get decent service!?!?!
Another thing that peives me…I order a pizza…I go and pick it up…and there is a tip jar. For what? Or I go to a fro-yo place where I get the bowl, I fill it with the fro-yo of my choice, I get the toppings, and I carry it to the register and I pay….what is the tip jar for???
Seriously!
Wow, hot topic!! I don’t have the time to read through all of the comments so this may have already been addressed. I did read quite a few early on that said restaurants should pay more to their servers instead of relying on tips. My parents own a restaurant. It is a family business and the servers there are also family. It is a small steakhouse in a smallish community and it is not uncommon for my niece to earn more (on the hour) than I do on my 20$ an hour job. Also, I would like to say that, BY LAW, servers cannot make less than the federal minimum wage. The servers hours, hourly earnings and reported tips are figured and if it comes out to less than minimum wage, the restaurant has to pay the difference to bring it up to the federal minimum wage. Now whether the minimum wage is sufficient or not is another issue entirely, but restaurants (at least my experience with them– and I have worked in several) are not abusing their servers.
What about tipping your dog groomer?
I always tip my dog groomer. I feel like it is similar to a hairdresser and I tip them too.
I own my own spa business and it chaps my hide on #3 if they own their own business no tip is required. Do people NOT understand that people that own their own business have overhead and work harder than anyone else in the place of establishment to better their name and business? Why then, would it not be necessary to tip your massage therapist? I don’t get 100% of the monies paid to me for doing a service…it goes to the operations of my establishment. Ugh! I really do appreciate the ones that go above and beyond and tip accordingly, and those are the ones that keep coming back and I treat a little better each time. So remember that the next time you are getting something done by an owner of an establishment…