How much do you tip? - Page 5

oh come on, if we have reached a point where a server actually gets pissed off because they "only got 15%", that's when I start eating at Wendy's. please don't tell me other servers think like you

The majority of SF members seem to tip 15% by default, so I can`t imagine that being a BAD tip. Do non-SF members tip 20% by default?

When I get my hair cut, I tip everyone from the shampoo lady to the assistants. Since I always get my hair done with my wife the tips add up like:

$5 for shampoo
$20 for wife`s colorist
$10 for colorist assistant
$40 for 2 hair cuts (wife & I)
$10-20 for stylist assistant depending on amount of work

I don`t remember exactly, but the cuts are probably about $150.

I promise you that every server is unhappy with a 15% tip. If a tip was actually something extra, it would be different. However, tipping is a servers salary. Most servers are paid about $3.50/hour by the restaurant (mostly goes toward taxes) and if the restaurant is not busy they are sent home. If you have a problem with tipping more than 15%, go to wendys or order a pizza (15% should be just about right for the delivery guy). I'm sure the waitstaff at your local establishments won't miss you.

Actually I get by just fine tipping 15%, even at the restaurants I frequent. I always get treated very well with warm welcomes from many restaurant staff, owners, and chefs.

When I am out of town due to travel and don`t return to the restaurants for several months, they usually say they missed me

I think the worth of a tip is one of those things you really have to have some experience on the industry side to understand. From an absolute perspective, 15% is a perfectly fine tip: it's in line with what the accepted social conventions dictate, and, for the most part, no server should be significantly offended or upset about a 15% tip. Relatively speaking, though, 15% is a pretty sub par, even crappy tip. When I work behind the bar alone, I consistently average around 25% of my sales in tips, and that's after you account for the expected assholes that stiff me or significantly undertip (e.g. $5 on a $60-70 check) and the handful of to-go orders (which I don't expect to be tipped on) I take every day. Of course, my average is also skewed by a few regulars that show up and leave really high tips, but the reality is that the average bar customer tips in the 20-25% range, and that a 15% tip is a poor one in the sense that it is noticebly lower than the norm and brings down my average tip percentage. I don't like the trend of service industry employees trying to browbeat people into accepting arbitrarily higher tip percentage standards, so I won't try to argue that 15% is somehow unacceptable these days. I do, however, think that the 15% standard should be treated as nothing more than the minimum payment rendered for receiving acceptable service. In other words, giving a 15% tip is simply fulfilling your obligation for the social contract of tipping a waiter/bartender when being served at a restaurant/bar; anything less, barring bad service, is screwing over the server. Likewise, if your intent is to impress your server or give a reward for superior service, then you'd better be willing to spend noticeably more than 15%, and really, more than 20%.

My bad...I was thinking Louis XIII. I don't drink either of them.

I worked in the industry for many years, In San Francisco, Santa Barbara and San Diego. Unless you consistently provide very good service, you should not expect more than 15%. My theory was as follows: Decent service = 15%, better sevice (often w/ some more personal customer bonding) = 20%, exceptional sevice provided to sophisticated diners = "sky's the limit."

As far as tipping on wine, it just depends. How much of thew wine knowledge was yours vs. that provided by the sever? If I order a nice bottle after an interesting conversation with the somlier, with some effort put into presentation and pouring, I am going to tip much more than I would if I'm just telling the waiter what I want, they open and pour it and that's the end of it. WE ARE TIPPING FOR SERVICE.

What restaurant was this?

It's interesting to see that you don't expect to be tipped on to go orders. Do you think all bartenders feel this way? What about other staff (a host or hostess, or possibly if a regular waiter or waitress is expected to do it)? Do they typically expect compensation and if so how much for taking a phone order, retrieving it, and running your card? Would they even notice if you wrote a dollar in on the tip line on the receipt? Or is it just considered a peripheral task that it's assumed you perform to go along with the duties you get tipped for?

I don't expect a tip on to go orders for several reasons. It's not an ingrained social convention like tipping on a full service meal or on bar drinks is, and two of the main reasons for tipping in the former scenarios: that you're occupying time, seating, and the server's full attention in your being waited on, and that the server is forced to pay tipout or be taxed based on the amount of your bill, don't apply (bartenders typically don't pay tipout or get taxed based on a percentage of sales). Also, many restaurants delegate the job of taking to go orders to hostesses or even a designated to go cashier/waitress, who gets paid a higher than minimum wage hourly and doesn't have the expectation of consistent tips built into his/her pay structure. The only time I would outright advocate tipping on a to go order is if you are placing an extremely large one that takes up a lot of time and resources, or if you are placing one at the bar during peak bar hours (in that situation, you would be rudely taking away the bartender's time and opportunity to sell drinks to tipping customers if you didn't tip). Even then, the percentage requirements are more flexible than with full service.

I don't feel slighted when I don't get tipped on a to go order, and more often than not I won't tip on one either (unless it's a place where I plan on becoming a regular or if it's a place where someone I know is waiting on me). However, I do notice it even when someone just leaves a dollar on a to go order, and it does make a huge positive impression with me. So with to go orders, I'd say tipping is one of those things where you personally decide if you'd get more utility by keeping an extra dollar or two or by making a good impression on your server; either choice is perfectly legitimate.

I think this conforms with my opinions, especially the tipping on the wine and beverages portion. More service and better service = more tip. Simple open and pour = less tip. So on the $2000 bottle of wine, if I had a good discussion with the sommelier and the waiter paid close attention to serving that bottle throughout the meal, I'd have no problem giving the 15%, paying for the sommelier's knowledge and the waiter's attention to detail and service. But if I all did was call for the bottle and the waiter opened and poured it for the first glass and didn't work afterwards, I would be loathe to give that 15%.

Thanks for inside info. I wonder if drunk people tip more though

I tip 20% always, unless the service is horrible

drunks do tend to tip more or they forget to tip at all or they throw up and you have to kick them out. I think it pretty much balances out.

as far as what I said previously about 15% tips, I was speaking in regard to attentive,quality service, the way regulars are treated. I don't work at restaurants anymore, but if regulars are tipping 15% you are in trouble and chances are you tips will average less than 18% of sales. And if pooling tips it is even worse; you would be getting shit from the other servers about not pulling your weight.