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Should I still tip 15%?

cmsmith

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Originally Posted by Cary Grant
I agree except for the "even if service is bad" part. I'll never reward incompetence.

Tough call, if he/she is tipping out kitchen as well, and the food is good but service is bad its a tough call. I find myself tipping 3-5% on poor service. I don't think at that level it is a reward on any level. Obviously if someone is especially rude or really ***** something up I might not tip, but I can only think of one or two occasions in which a no-tip felt appropriate.
 

akatsuki

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I'll tip low if service is bad.

But then again, I also man up a bit and tell them exactly why I am tipping them the way I am.
 

Cary Grant

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Originally Posted by cmsmith
Tough call, if he/she is tipping out kitchen as well, and the food is good but service is bad its a tough call. I find myself tipping 3-5% on poor service. I don't think at that level it is a reward on any level. Obviously if someone is especially rude or really ***** something up I might not tip, but I can only think of one or two occasions in which a no-tip felt appropriate.

Oh I have tipped the kitchen before without tipping the waiter.
wink.gif
 

itsstillmatt

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Originally Posted by gdl203
There is usually a lot more waiting staff per patron in nicer, more expensive restaurants. Dinners are also often longer which means there's less turnover of tables, i.e. less checks. So when tips are divided, you need to take that into account.

Personally, I tip the same % regardless of the amount. That % is also higher than 15%.


Exactly. I am usually the last one to say "Americans are so ******* clueless," but when it comes to service in restaurants, Americans are really ******* clueless. It is, at a high level, a very skilled job. They aren't just slapping down your plate.

Originally Posted by akatsuki
I'll tip low if service is bad.

But then again, I also man up a bit and tell them exactly why I am tipping them the way I am.


You need to be careful with this, though. If bad service = slow service, it probably has nothing to do with the waiter and everything to do with the kitchen.
 

akatsuki

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Originally Posted by iammatt
Exactly. I am usually the last one to say "Americans are so ******* clueless," but when it comes to service in restaurants, Americans are really ******* clueless. It is, at a high level, a very skilled job. They aren't just slapping down your plate.



You need to be careful with this, though. If bad service = slow service, it probably has nothing to do with the waiter and everything to do with the kitchen.


Oh, I definitely have gone into the kitchen to hand money to the cooks directly. If not, I write a long note on the tab explaining why or talk to a manager. I am not really all that picky, so this happens pretty rarely.
 

EvilBob

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It goes like this. A standard tip should be 15% of the total bill. Yes, including alcohol. If you're tipping less than 15% then you are indicating that there was something genuinely wrong with the service. This is something that should be brought up with a manager. If there was not enough wrong with the service to warrant speaking to a manager about it then you're being nothing but a cheap ass by giving anything less than 15% End of story. Very good service, excellent service or something you consider above and beyond deserves more than 15% Save for very very expensive meals or bar tabs this usually equals only a few more dollars for you and very easily could make the server's night.

Also, tipping really is how servers, waitresses and bartenders make their living. If it is a place you visit frequently, it really is worth your while to have the people waiting on you consider you an excellent tipper. You will receive excellent service on a regular basis.
 

akatsuki

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Having travelled pretty extensively, I will say that tipping as a mandate does nothing to ensure better service though.

Plus here restaurants have started adding surcharges as if it was a damn cell phone bill. Personally I think it is crap.
 

itsstillmatt

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Originally Posted by akatsuki
Having travelled pretty extensively, I will say that tipping as a mandate does nothing to ensure better service though.

Plus here restaurants have started adding surcharges as if it was a damn cell phone bill. Personally I think it is crap.

In SF? That is generally the surcharge for the "Healthy SF" plan currently destroying restaurants around the city.
 

Don Carlos

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Who still tips 15%? I thought 20% was the new standard, and has been for quite some time?

The rules of thumb I've either been told, or have made up as I've gone along, are:

20% for servers at restaurants.
15% for delivery people.
15-18% for cab drivers.
15-20% for other, miscellaneous service people expecting tips on percentage of fare.
Two bucks for the dude at the front of the hotel who calls you a cab.
Five to ten bucks for a bellman who brings your bags to your room.
Ten to twenty bucks for said bellman if your hotel is five stars or higher.
$X per month to the host at the hot new restaurant that you or your firm is bribing / keeping "on retainer."

And, of course, you tip some percentage more or less for any of the above if service was extraordinarily above or below expectations.
 

MetroStyles

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Originally Posted by Arrogant Bastard
Who still tips 15%? I thought 20% was the new standard, and has been for quite some time?

The rules of thumb I've either been told, or have made up as I've gone along, are:

20% for servers at restaurants. Yep
15% for delivery people. Yeah, although I usually do cheap deliver so it's $2 or $3 tops.
15-18% for cab drivers. I do about 15% for cabbies, but if it's below $10 I generally round up or round up plus a $1
15-20% for other, miscellaneous service people expecting tips on percentage of fare. I tip my hair person about 17%. I tip the hostess $1 when I pick up cheap Thai food.
Two bucks for the dude at the front of the hotel who calls you a cab.I hate this one. What a ******* joke. I can call my own cab.
Five to ten bucks for a bellman who brings your bags to your room.Always refuse this service, except in Japan.
Ten to twenty bucks for said bellman if your hotel is five stars or higher.Lol.

And, of course, you tip some percentage more or less for any of the above if service was extraordinarily above or below expectations.Yep, though I rarely go about 20-21% on dinner, unless the place is a diner or something.


..
 

randob300

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Originally Posted by kevinbrownshakedown
It's pretty standard practice to not tip for alcohol at a restaurant. So if your $150 meal was including a $60 bottle of wine, tip for $90.

Quit being a cheap ass. You're downing a bottle of wine worth what the wait staff makes in a day; throw them a few extra bucks.
 

gdl203

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Yeah, tipping $20 to the bellman bringing your bag is a bit of a joke...
 

HgaleK

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Originally Posted by kevinbrownshakedown
It's pretty standard practice to not tip for alcohol at a restaurant. So if your $150 meal was including a $60 bottle of wine, tip for $90.

Not at all. Wine can make a tab for waitstaff. As someone else said, the $15 extra isn't going to kill you if you're dropping that sort of cash on a meal.

Also, Arrogant Bastard is right about the standard being about 20%- at least in Austin.
 

Don Carlos

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Originally Posted by gdl203
Yeah, tipping $20 to the bellman bringing your bag is a bit of a joke...

No ****, I don't like it and usually refuse the service as well. I've been at some hotels where you have no choice in the matter, though. The bell ninjas swipe your **** the second you enter the premises. Tipping higher for a high-end hotel usually doesn't get you anything, but it does spare you the indignity of being labeled/gossiped as a cheap-ass amongst the hotel staff. Those folks talk, and if they don't like you, they're going to make your life a living hell through a thousand minor inconveniences.
 

gdl203

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Originally Posted by Arrogant Bastard
No ****, I don't like it and usually refuse the service as well. I've been at some hotels where you have no choice in the matter, though. The bell ninjas swipe your **** the second you enter the premises. Tipping higher for a high-end hotel usually doesn't get you anything, but it does spare you the indignity of being labeled/gossiped as a cheap-ass amongst the hotel staff. Those folks talk, and if they don't like you, they're going to make your life a living hell through a thousand minor inconveniences.

No offense but I think you're mistaken in thinking that $20 is the standard tip. Whoever told you that was yanking your chain. A $20 tip to a bellman is at the very tail of the curve - you're seen as an oil prince when you do that, not a normal customer.
 

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