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11/16/2007 09:06:22 PM · #1 |
okay....so this is kind of random but I need your opinions PLEASE!
So i go to get a hot chocolate almost every morning and I pay with my card. On the reciept it has a space to tip and the amount you want to tip.
Question: Is it proper to tip when you are buying a hot chocolate or other hot beverage? I never tip for little things like that. Am I not being polite? Is it like eating out at say olive Garden. Yeah, you are going to tip, but if you don't then people think you are rude...
So, am I rude for not tipping?
Also, what about when I get a hair cut? Do I need to tip them just for cutting off 2 inches of my hair?
So...that was really random guys. |
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11/16/2007 09:11:50 PM · #2 |
How much is the hot chocolate, how good is it, and also consider, how is the service? Depending on these factors, and if all are favorable in your opinion and taste, I would tip...
And yes, the quality of the time you spend with the person who takes the tips off your hair is also relevent to the tip. It all helps when you go back and people do remember those types of gratitudes...Just my two cent tip
Michael
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11/16/2007 09:15:14 PM · #3 |
Yea, you should tip the person who cuts your hair.
If you are going to a coffee shop type of place, I would not leave a tip or maybe put a buck in the tip jar but if it is a restaurant, yes, I'd leave a tip.
Message edited by author 2007-11-16 21:15:30. |
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11/16/2007 09:17:00 PM · #4 |
It's all about service.
Did the person doing the service go the extra mile? Tipping is a way to say thanks ... and to motivate them to do it again (for you or someone else).
I suspect the person serving hot chocolate doesn't have to "do" much more than put it into a cup and serve it to you. The person that cuts your hair, on the other hand, should take their time and do it right.
I always tip the hair cutters ... I figure, I'm putting my "trust" in their ability to do the job right. And if what they did turned out alright, then I want to thank them.
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11/16/2007 09:18:24 PM · #5 |
Here are my thoughts on this:
1. Tips should be proportionate to the value of the service.
2. The customer service provider's wages should be taken into consideration when calculating a tip.
3. Consider the likelihood of being served by the same person again.
4. Never leave tips on credit card receipts. That's how the IRS tracks server income; and dodging taxes is one of the very few perks of kissing ass for a living.
5. When in doubt, dig a hand-full of small change from the bottom of your purse and make a big production of noisily dropping it into the tip jar. |
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11/16/2007 09:18:37 PM · #6 |
| LOl glad in NZ we dont have those dilemas! |
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11/16/2007 09:20:35 PM · #7 |
Good time to empty out spare change you don't want in your pocket.
Usually I expect some kind of service. Do you tip the cashier at McDonalds for pressing buttons, turning around, picking up a tray and giving it to you? I don't.
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11/17/2007 12:54:09 AM · #8 |
anything "service" oriented should be tipped.
10% on the low end is average for tipping.
service oriented jobs is just what it means. someone whom is providing a service. the barber, the coffee maker, the wait staff, the concierge, the taxi driver, the baggage carrier, blah, blah..
when I was a bartender, I wore a button on my lapel that said "No Tip, No Trip!"
I tip 20% for great service, and 10% for just some service, and $1 for anything less then what could be called service.
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11/17/2007 12:58:49 AM · #9 |
| Easy enough, I tip for my hot chocolate and I most definitely tip for my hair cut .. I don't care how much he cuts off, if I want it done right every time I tip him!! (hint, always use the same hairdresser, I've used my current for 6 years now) |
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11/17/2007 01:13:21 AM · #10 |
I get tips at my job (as a dog groomer),and I think it just shows that your customers appreciate your work. Getting a tip means more than getting $5 here and there..it means they value your service and like what you do! I'll even tip people at Tim Horton's..(I used to work there too,and you get more tips than you'd think) - IF they're polite and friendly! :)
Message edited by author 2007-11-17 01:14:33. |
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11/17/2007 01:32:55 AM · #11 |
If you are sitting at a table and a waiter/waitress serves you, then, yes, I would tip. Usually 15%, with a US$1 minimum. If you are walking up to a counter, ordering, and waiting until they call your name, then no, I don't tip.
I have a similar question for you all...
How much do you tip the guy at the car wash? I'm referring to a regular car washing business where they vacuum, hand wash and dry your car. I go once a week (or maybe bi-weekly) for a $12 wash and normally tip $3. Is this appropriate? It's 25%.
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11/17/2007 01:36:29 AM · #12 |
I tip cabbies, skycaps, my barber, chambermaids, and waiters. I do not tip anybody behind a counter who handles my food for merely a few seconds.
Let's say you tip your Starbucks barista .50 for your $3.50 latte. They likely serve 20-50 people an hour. That would be an extra $10.00 to $25.00 an hour. Seems a bit excessive to me... |
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11/17/2007 01:40:15 AM · #13 |
I agree. It annoys me when I walk up to a counter and they have a tip jar. I go to this pizza place and the cooks put the food on the counter above were they are working and you just grab it on your way out. so why do they have a tip jar at the counter where I order and pay? For what? taking my cash? they expect me to tip for taking my cash on already overpriced food?
Originally posted by AperturePriority:
If you are sitting at a table and a waiter/waitress serves you, then, yes, I would tip. Usually 15%, with a US$1 minimum. If you are walking up to a counter, ordering, and waiting until they call your name, then no, I don't tip.
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Message edited by author 2007-11-17 01:40:29.
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11/17/2007 01:40:33 AM · #14 |
Originally posted by DrAchoo:
Let's say you tip your Starbucks barista .50 for your $3.50 latte. They likely serve 20-50 people an hour. That would be an extra $10.00 to $25.00 an hour. Seems a bit excessive to me... |
I would imagine that they would split those tips between the cashier, the bar-back, and the mixer/name caller. ;-)
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11/17/2007 01:42:10 AM · #15 |
Originally posted by Man_Called_Horse:
anything "service" oriented should be tipped.
service oriented jobs is just what it means. someone whom is providing a service. the barber, the coffee maker, the wait staff, the concierge, the taxi driver, the baggage carrier, blah, blah.. |
Guess I need to get out my TIp Jar in the Emergency Room then. They tell us all the time that we don't have patients and that they are customers. And I do "service"...getting family members coffee or sodas, food, etc., even though I feel that I could better use my time. Never mind the other 5 patients that need some pain meds. :)
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11/17/2007 01:59:15 AM · #16 |
I beleive that a tip is gratuity for good service. I am not afraid to walk out of a restaurant without tipping. I feel that the employer pays the server to bring me my food (and now days you don't even get served by your waiter/waitress, just some random person from the kitchen). If the server wants a tip then they need to give good service. My drink should never go empty, I shouldn't have to wait for or ask for my check, the server should check to ensure that my food was prepared proerly after a few bites, and check again later if I need something. That is good service and I tip generously for that.
On an interesting note, tipping is not the custom in Korea. When you get away from the Americanized Koreans, they will nto accept tips, however here around Osan it is expected that you tip the same way you do in the states. The taxi drivers on base get very upset when you wait for your change. The Hajimas in the bars expect you to tip them when you buy a beer. Because it is expected, I jsut refuse to do it.
Again, gratuity for good service, not an automatic supplement to their income.
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11/17/2007 05:33:38 AM · #17 |
Originally posted by BHuseman:
I beleive that a tip is gratuity for good service. I am not afraid to walk out of a restaurant without tipping. I feel that the employer pays the server to bring me my food (and now days you don't even get served by your waiter/waitress, just some random person from the kitchen). If the server wants a tip then they need to give good service. My drink should never go empty, I shouldn't have to wait for or ask for my check, the server should check to ensure that my food was prepared proerly after a few bites, and check again later if I need something. That is good service and I tip generously for that.
On an interesting note, tipping is not the custom in Korea. When you get away from the Americanized Koreans, they will nto accept tips, however here around Osan it is expected that you tip the same way you do in the states. The taxi drivers on base get very upset when you wait for your change. The Hajimas in the bars expect you to tip them when you buy a beer. Because it is expected, I jsut refuse to do it.
Again, gratuity for good service, not an automatic supplement to their income. |
I had that similar dilema when stationed in Okinawa, the Japanese don't tip (I've heard they actually consider it an insult, not sure) so I always wondered if you are supposed to tip the people that work on the base (barbers, taxis, commissary baggers (my sister does .25 per bag at the commissary), etc). Most of the time I didn't tip unless it was just letting them keep the change.
I always try to leave at least 15% and more if the service is top notch. I do have friends though that have no problem with leaving a penny when they aren't happy with the service...they consider it more of an insult than nothing at all. Always feared going out to dinner with them just in case the service wasn't up to par.
Word of wisdom for those of you that pay with credit card. I was actually in a restraunt when a manager found out one of his wait staff was writing in his own tip amounts on the receipts if the customer didn't. Some people just leave it blank and leave the tip on the table, so this person was getting HUGE tips. Now if I leave a tip on the table instead of on the card I make sure I mark out the tip section and write in the total amount. |
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11/17/2007 06:21:07 AM · #18 |
Tip If the person was polite, and gave good service. Most servers dont make minimum wage by the hour. It is some insanely low amount, because the Fed averages tip amounts in to compensate. I always tip 20% for great service, and sometimes its a little more ( I always round up).
10-20% for ok-good service. If the server was really bad, innattentive...etc they get $1. I always tip my hairdresser. My hair is down to the top of my butt, so when I need it cut or highlighted, it is a P.I.A. and lots of work, she always gets 20% from me. I only leave my change at the Dunkin Donuts as they arent usually very friendly but I love the coffee.
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11/17/2007 07:27:53 AM · #19 |
The late Frank Zappa said it best: "Don't Eat the Yellow Snow"
(I thought that was a good tip anyway) |
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11/17/2007 07:41:04 AM · #20 |
The better the service the higher the tip, outstandingly friendly and helpful people will get a lot from me, up to 100% of the bill in some cases.
Mediocre people will get a decent tip 15-25%.
People who have the "I deserve a tip no matter what I do" air about them lose points fast, people who are lousy at being friendly and helpful lose points fast, people who have all these qualities will get some loose pocket change no matter the size of the bill. I rarely carry loose pocket change.
As to the 'counter people handle food for thirty seconds but we still have a tip jar' - exceptionally rare for me to tip, the person (or people) needed to have gone out of their way for something or been super duper helpful. Or I was being a butthead or had a difficult order.
Overall I err on the side of high tips - I appreciate good service and am willing to show my appreciation. |
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11/17/2007 08:03:28 AM · #21 |
| Ok...here's one...they have a valet service at the hospital. There is no tip jar and there used to be a sign saying no tipping. But, that sign has disappeared. While I was waiting for my car to be collected...I was talking with another woman waiting for her car...neither of us knew whether or not to tip. |
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11/17/2007 11:01:08 AM · #22 |
^ I would have asked in that case ... "Do you take tips now?"
I make plenty of money, so I figure "share the wealth." If there's a tip jar I'll toss in my change and maybe an extra buck. I leave 20% or more on a good meal at a sit-down restaurant, 15% for mediocre. I don't leave anything at buffet-style places since I'm getting the food myself. I'll even leave money for hotel housekeeping people if I'm there more than a night or two and they have done a nice job cleaning up my room (or if I've trashed a room particularly bad having a party there). I tip the pizza guy $3-5 depending on how quick he gets it to me, no more of that $1 crap. |
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11/17/2007 11:11:30 AM · #23 |
Let me preface my comments by saying that I actually AM a decent tipper; I understand that food servers, in particular, rely on my tips to earn a living wage. I will tip 15-20% as a matter of course, and sometimes as high as 33% or so, though rarely.
That said, there's an aspect of tipping (an aspect being mentioned in this thread) that drives me CRAZY: this is the idea that you need to tip, say, your haircutter, to be sure that you will get quality work from him/her in the future.
That's SO bogus, to my way of thinking. Haircutting, especially, is not a "service", it's a craft. If you can't rely on your haircutter to do a good job then s/he isn't much of a craftsman, right? That's like saying "You should tip your photographer to make sure s/he does their best work on the PP" or something.
Not that I'm AGAINST tipping haircutters, mind you; I have done it. But that's not WHY I do it.
Anyway, haircutters fall into different categories. My barber, for instance, owns his shop and works alone. I don't tip him, because he keeps all the profit from his work. If he needs more money, he can raise his (very reasonable) prices. On the other hand, young people who cut hair for the chain shops are not especially well compensated, and they do not control their own prices; they can use the extra income.
And when it comes to restaurants (I am rambling here) why do we tip for "service" but never tip the cooks? They get paid crap wages, and they almost never are a part of the tip pool. I know, I used to be one. I was a "chef", I got paid well enough, but my COOKS were Mexicans and got paid minimum wage. Is not their cooking as much of a "service" as putting plates on a table is?
Some of the most fun times I have had dining out, at least as far as personal satisfaction goes, have been when I was so impressed by unexpectedly good quality in the food that I went back to the kitchen and tipped the cooks directly. They don't expect that, let me tell you, and it really brightens their night :-) Especially because when a customer comes back to the kitchen and asks "Who cooked my Canard a la Orange?" they are expecting to hear a complaint...
/end ramble
R.
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11/17/2007 11:49:53 AM · #24 |
Originally posted by Bear_Music:
And when it comes to restaurants (I am rambling here) why do we tip for "service" but never tip the cooks? They get paid crap wages, and they almost never are a part of the tip pool. I know, I used to be one. I was a "chef", I got paid well enough, but my COOKS were Mexicans and got paid minimum wage. Is not their cooking as much of a "service" as putting plates on a table is? |
Of the 15 (or so) restaurants in which I've worked, only one or two required tipping the kitchen. They never got much and it didn't seem to improve their attitudes. The relationship between service staff and cooks is often tenuous and fraught with personal issues.
It didn't take me long to learn that a little sugar goes a long way; and that smart servers take good care of the cooks with lots of compliments, courtesy and a drink after work, when things go well. It was rare for a customer to come into the kitchen; and everyone usually panicked because kitchens are a real mess when it's busy. But I always made a point of passing customer praise along to the cooks.
I think it sucks in general how most restaurant staff are poorly paid; especially when the owners drive up in expensive sports cars!
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11/17/2007 12:22:13 PM · #25 |
When I worked at Disney World, the servers were paid the customary server's wages, and if they walked out with less than $200 cash tips in a night, they were of the opinion that it wasn't worth their time to show up. They "tipped out" the food runners, which was a job rotated amongst the servers which they hated since runners never got as much as servers. I was a seating hostess, responsible for populating their tables, made minimum wage, and I didn't get a damn thing from the servers unless one of us was pulled to be a runner if they were short-staffed. In a year that happened exactly twice for me, and I remember being very excited to go home with $80 in my pocket (and I know the servers stiffed me because I was just a hostess, not one of them). The server's hourly wage worked out to something around $30/hr after tips - and that was ten years ago. I still don't make that much.
Message edited by author 2007-11-17 12:22:26. |
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