How much do you tip?

[Crawford]

I generally tip 15%-20%. Bump it up to 25% if the service is excellent, but typically not higher than that. Down to 10% if the service is bad, or lower if it's exceptionally poor.

This may be a bit of a regional issue, but... Do you tip on the pre-tax amount of the post-tax amount? I tip on the post-tax amount, but sales tax here is 12%. So my tip ends up being 28%-34% of the pre-tax amount. I think this is the 'correct' way to do things, but I've always wondered. Now in the past few years they've introduced the 'tip' function into the visa/debit machines, and if those machines have a % tip option, it's calculated based on the post-tax amount as well, which sort of confirms the way I've being doing it.

I don't tip my barber. Well, actually, I only tip my barber once a year at Christmas. I've been going to the same barber my entire life (literally since my first haircut). Throughout my teenage/adult life I've gone to to get my hair cut every two weeks, 26 haircuts a year. I generally get what basically amounts to a buzz-cut with a little extra attention to detail - and that costs $15. I started paying for haircuts when I was younger, and the thought to tip a barber didn't really occur to me. As I got older, obviously I realized that many people do tip a barber, but I always rationalized that my lifetime of loyalty to the same barber coupled with the frequency of my visits was tip enough. Maybe he thinks I'm a dick, then again, if I were to start tipping now it might be kind of awkward - sort of like tipping your friend. At Christmas I usually hand him $40.

Speaking of tipping your friends... How do you handle that? Acquaintances are easy enough, tip them well. But real close friends and family members. My sister has worked in the service industry and she's served me in the past... I've tried to tip her and she scoffs at me. I have close friends that work as bartenders, they're just as likely to give me a free round as they are to charge, I feel like I should return the generosity, but it's a little weirder just handing cash over to your friends.

 

[Britalian]

In Italy: zilch.

 

[Trompe le Monde]



I have close friends that work as bartenders, they're just as likely to give me a free round as they are to charge, I feel like I should return the generosity, but it's a little weirder just handing cash over to your friends.

Pay for the drink. They keep the whole amount. You saved yourself the tip. win-win

 

[P-K-L]



In Italy: zilch.

+1!

...and if you leave €5 you have a new lifetime friend.

 

[Hampton]

+1!
...and if you leave €5 you have a new lifetime friend.

 

[Ambulance Chaser]



This may be a bit of a regional issue, but... Do you tip on the pre-tax amount of the post-tax amount? I tip on the post-tax amount, but sales tax here is 12%. So my tip ends up being 28%-34% of the pre-tax amount. I think this is the 'correct' way to do things, but I've always wondered. Now in the past few years they've introduced the 'tip' function into the visa/debit machines, and if those machines have a % tip option, it's calculated based on the post-tax amount as well, which sort of confirms the way I've being doing it.

Always the pre-tax amount. Tax is going to the state, so it's not part of the service for which you're paying the restaurant. Tipping on the post-tax amount, moreover, would change the tip depending on the jurisdiction you happen to be in, which doesn't make any sense. I've also noticed that the built-in tip function for the visa/debit machines calculates tip based upon the post-tax amount. That is incorrect.

 

[imatlas]

I have close friends that work as bartenders, they're just as likely to give me a free round as they are to charge, I feel like I should return the generosity, but it's a little weirder just handing cash over to your friends.

Pay for the drink. They keep the whole amount. You saved yourself the tip. win-win

There's a local bar where where my friends and I are frequently comped for most of an evening's drinking. I always tip something between 50 to 100% of the actual cost of the drinks, for the reason you gave.

 

[fwiffo]

10 if bad or take away (I'm too soft to do zero), 15 round down if average or I don't get much value out of it like a buffet or dim sum, 18 for a normal place, 20 if I made a connection with one of the service staff and I'm likely to return - this includes drinks at a bar but I don't do it in Britain since I'm mostly asking them to pull a pint.

Beyond 20 gets into the realm of I get something free. It's worse when I travel because waitresses or bartenders will try to give me free drinks and the base amount is so small that I can't justify a huge tip on my expense form so I have to go out of pocket. I guess I'm one of the few people in the world with no expense limit or per diem (no I'm not ordering anything beyond $90 bottles). But if they're really nice I've gone as much as 40% for Christmas - problem is it kept encouraging them to give me free stuff which at some point I had to tell them politely to stop so I can properly expense things. I've never had relatives in service so I haven't had that situation before.

There is one local bar I go to once a week that I never expense. She invites me to her Christmas party for free once a year so I try to increase/decrease my gratuity depending on how slow her business is. Once I go past 20%, she tries to throw in free finger sandwiches, etc.

 

[P-K-L]



10 if bad or take away (I'm too soft to do zero), 15 round down if average or I don't get much value out of it like a buffet or dim sum, 18 for a normal place, 20 if I made a connection with one of the service staff and I'm likely to return - this includes drinks at a bar but I don't do it in Britain since I'm mostly asking them to pull a pint.
Beyond 20 gets into the realm of I get something free. It's worse when I travel because waitresses or bartenders will try to give me free drinks and the base amount is so small that I can't justify a huge tip on my expense form so I have to go out of pocket. I guess I'm one of the few people in the world with no expense limit or per diem (no I'm not ordering anything beyond $90 bottles). But if they're really nice I've gone as much as 40% for Christmas - problem is it kept encouraging them to give me free stuff which at some point I had to tell them politely to stop so I can properly expense things. I've never had relatives in service so I haven't had that situation before.
There is one local bar I go to once a week that I never expense. She invites me to her Christmas party for free once a year so I try to increase/decrease my gratuity depending on how slow her business is. Once I go past 20%, she tries to throw in free finger sandwiches, etc.

Probably it is the Italian influence but i am not used to tipping people too much any more and I dislike when waiters expect a big tip. Once they do a very good work they should get a tip, but they should not expect 10% on top for doing nothing except for fulfiling their work - taking my orders, delivering them and checking whether I need new drinks / refills.

The "free" sandwiches you refer to would be actually cheaper if you simply ordered them off the menu.

I understand you American point of view though, 20% and stuff.

 

[UnnamedPlayer]

$0

I live in a country where the staff are paid real wages and the burden of supplementing their income doesn't fall to the consumer.

 

[Piobaire]



$0

I live in a country where the staff are paid real wages and the burden of supplementing their income doesn't fall to the consumer.

Now, I'll admit I'm not so bright and economics sort of confuses me, but where does this extra money for a "real wage" come from then? The wage fairy?

 

[UnnamedPlayer]

Now, I'll admit I'm not so bright and economics sort of confuses me, but where does this extra money for a "real wage" come from then? The wage fairy?

The person who employs the employee.
I think they are called the employer?

 

[Piobaire]

Now, I'll admit I'm not so bright and economics sort of confuses me, but where does this extra money for a "real wage" come from then? The wage fairy?

The person who employs the employee.
I think they are called the employer?

And that person gets his money from the wage fairy?

 

[cptjeff]



And that person gets his money from the wage fairy?

The employer gets that money from printing an honest price that reflects the real cost, including service, on the menu, which is paid by you, the consumer. The employer then pays the waitstaff an honest and fair wage.

Straightforward and obvious.

 

[Piobaire]



The employer gets that money from printing an honest price that reflects the real cost, including service, on the menu, which is paid by you, the consumer. The employer then pays the waitstaff an honest and fair wage.

Straightforward and obvious.

Apparently not.

$0

I live in a country where the staff are paid real wages and the burden of supplementing their income doesn't fall to the consumer.

Hence my suggestion of the wage fairy.