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How much do you tip?

jml90

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I realiZe that it depends on the service, but I went out with a few of my friends the other night and the bill was over $100 for us and one of my friends insisted that we should only give a 10%-15% at the most because of the price of the bill. FWIW the service was really good and he looked young probably trying to work his way through college. The rest of us wanted to tip around 20%.
 

NoVaguy

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typically 25% on my own, 20% with a group.

my friends and i stopped going out together with one guy in college because he kept doing what your friend did. actually, he kept refusing to do the math right and often tried not leaving a tip, probably hoping that the rest of us would cover.

in time, he was no longer invited anytime we were doing something that might involve a group tab.

10 years after graduation, and my friends still bring it up, just not in his presence, which isn't often. nobody really hangs out with him anymore.
 

Brian278

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For meals that I've been waited on 20% rounded up to the nearest dollar is my standard, and I add or subtract from there depending on how good the service is. At a bar, $1 per drink (I don't really ever buy anything more than a $5 pint at the Yardhouse), and I usually tip on water if I'm ordering it seperate from alcohol.

I parked cars for several years on and off in high school and college which has made me particularly sensitive to tipping of all kinds. I think anyone who has been a waitress, bartender, valet, etc. has a different perspective on tipping.
 

Augustus Medici

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Wow 20-25%? I usually tip 15% unless the service was extremely good. On the other hand, I still tip 15% unless the service was extremely bad as well.
 

Connemara

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I try to do at least 20%. I also tip pizza delivery guys pretty heavily, mostly because I did that for 6 or 7 months and I know how thankless a job it is.
 

Joel_Cairo

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Originally Posted by Brian278
I parked cars for several years on and off in high school and college which has made me particularly sensitive to tipping of all kinds. I think anyone who has been a waitress, bartender, valet, etc. has a different perspective on tipping.

Ditto. My minimum is 20%, but I have gone up to 50% on more than one occasion. I've worked a number of different delivery jobs, and I sincerely consider tipping to be one of the best shorthands for character.

Could also be class anxiety, to be candid, because rich people tip terribly. WHen I worked in a liquor store, there was nothing I hated more than getting called to the register to help some bourgie twat load his cases of merlot into his Bimmer. Invariably, he'd tip a couple ones, tops. The choice mark was always the blue collar guy who needed help getting his kegs of Miller into his truck. That guy would be ashamed not to tip $10. I remember reading an article about Boston sports fans, and it was confirmed by cncession stand employees and "getcher peanuts" guys that Hockey fans tip best, basketball fans tip worst.
 

Tarmac

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I tip more if they are female, and yet even more if they are hot.

Just kidding. I tip standard 15-20%. except for my hot hairstylist who I tip 33%
icon_gu_b_slayer[1].gif
 

aybojs

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Judging by my bar tab budget, too much, but I'm a bartender, so it's par for the course. I don't dine in at restaurants much, and usually sit at the bar whenever I get the chance, so I might not be typical. Barring bad service, I will never tip less than $1.50/drink or 25% of the tab; though the ceiling varies a lot depending on direct factors like how much attention my orders have required or how amiable the bartender/waiter was and on indirect stuff like whether or not I want to become a known regular at a place or work there in the future.

Off the top of my head the last few tips I've left were $5.75 on a $14.25 ticket at a late night diner (generally in line with my standard tipping practices), $1.50 on a $4 drink at a place where I was trying to say hi to a manager who wasn't there and just wanted a quick drink for the sake of having one, and $13 on a $12 tab at a really well-known bar at which my friend and I are trying to ingratiate ourselves with the staff at in the hopes of getting jobs there in the not too distant future.

I almost never run up big tabs (i.e. anything > $25), so I avoid this predicament myself, but I will definitely assert that having a big tab offers absolutely no reason to reduce the tip percentage. Servers often have their tips reported for tax purposes based on percentage of sales, and in the case of a waiter, the server will also have to pay out a fixed percentage of his sales to cover tipout for support staff like bussers, bartenders, and food runners. The rule of thumb is, if you're have the money to run up a big tab, you clearly have the money to leave an appropriate tip, so your friend was kind of a douche for trying to short change the waiter just because your group spent a lot.
 

TheIdler

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In a restaurant, in the U.S., I almost always tip 15%. Occasionally up to 20% for excellent service. I don't like going out with friends who have worked as waiters or whatever who demand that the whole group tip more than 15 (for ordinary service) just because they had to live off tips at one point. I also find many people tip 20% because it's easier for them to calculate. A dollar is also fine for a normal drink at a bar. I never know what to tip the person who cuts my hair, especially in different countries.
 

kakemono

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I usually overtip b/c my friends undertip. I'll go out to a normal eat-out place like a Logans, Outback, Chilis, OChrly's type place and wait and secrely watch what friends tip and try to add to mine what they leave off thiers. I go for 20% if service is good. A little more if the waitress is good looking.
smile.gif


It sometimes stinks b/c on a $12-13 tap, I'm amazed when they pen in $1. Therefore, on my $13 tab, I'll put about $4. What amazes me even more is my friend thats the worst about used to be a waitor and he likes to talk about bad tippers from when he was a waitor. You know, the normal "bad tipper demographics thing." Rich folks, old folks, black folks, teenagers, blah blah blah
 

GQgeek

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Never less than 15% unless service is really bad, but I haven't been to a restaurant that gives bad service ina long time. Sometimes I'll tip more for exceptional service.
 

TheIdler

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Originally Posted by kakemono
A little more if the waitress is good looking.

Why? I've never understood this. Not just asking you, but anybody who does this: do you hope to get something out of this? Haven't you already left by the time she even picks it up? I guess I can see it if she's bartending and you overtip from the first drink on, although even then I think you're throwing your money away.
 

Dragon

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15% is the standard for me. If the service is lousy, I`ll tip 10% or less. If it is good, then I`ll tip 20%, but usually no more unless I round off the numbers.

It also depends on what type of service. An expensive full course restaurant gives more detailed, attentive service than a noodle shop. I don`t see why a 20% tip would be required for just brining noodles to the table. On the other hand I would give 20% minimum at the places that really provide service.
 

topcatny

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I tip anywhere from 15% to 50% depending on the situation. At the places I eat at regularly I tend to tip better. For example at the diner where I often get breakfast with my kids I have tipped $5 on a $10 breakfast. The staff is always very nice to me and my daughters and the couple of extra dollars are worth it.
 

mbc

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Usually 20% or just below at most restaurants. I may tip more if it's a place I'm likely to return on a frequent basis. Rarely have I tipped a hot female waitress more than average, except under the above circumstances (i.e. she's likely to be my waitress over and over again).
 

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