“It can be very unsettling to not now the proper amount of gratuity or tip
designated for someone offering a service whom you’d like to show your
appreciation with money. If you’re with a group, the rest of them might
not know it, but you’re panicking. You don’t want to deliver the money
the wrong way, you don’t want to tip too lite and seem like a cheapskate,
and you don’t want to give too much to come off like some kind of high
roller or won the jackpot for a slots game. The pressure
is on. What do you do?”
Below, I will try to cover as many workers in the service industry as possible, and show you how and how much to tip them. Feel free to print this out to carry with you if you feel the need to. There’s nothing wrong with taking a peek before you set out or stepping into the restroom and consulting your guide. You’ll find yourself prepared and confident.
This short list will give you tipping information on some of the more popular, frequently visited members of the service industry. Use the search feature to find more tipping guides.
- Food Server
- 15 – 20%
- Buffet – 10% if someone is filling your drinks, napkins, etc. while you’re dining.
- Takeout – $0 – $2. Don’t feel pressured to leave anything. Usually, the person in charge of the to-go orders is being paid a wage equal to or higher than the state required minimum wage. Basically, they’re doing the job they’re paid for and shouldn’t expect tips.
- Drive-Thru – $0. And check your bag. You’re order is probably wrong.
- Casino Cocktail Server – $1/drink
- Bartender – $1/drink or $15-20% of the total tab….unless he/she’s “hooking you up.”
- Bus boy – $0 unless he did something the waitress should have done. In that case, $2 is fine.
- Coat Check – $1/item.
- Bathroom Attendant
– $1. You know he or she is going to make you feel like crap if you take a hand towel and don’t leave a buck. If you know you’re not going to have to use the restroom again, duck out. (This is personal. I don’t like this guilt trip and pressure when using the restroom. I’d rather it be empty and I dry my own hands.)
- Musician – $2-$5 if he stops by the table or plays a special request.
- Lounge band or musician – $1-$5
- Hair Stylist
– 10-20% You be the judge on the service you received and tip accordingly. Last minute or after-hours appointment? Make it 20-25%.
- Barber – $2. More if you get a shave, wash, shoulder & scalp massage, etc.
- Manicure, Pedicure, or Facial
– 10-20%
- Massage Therapist – 10 – 20%.
@ doctor’s office? $0 - Shoe Shine – $2
- Golf Caddie – $20/person
- Movers
(light) – $10/mover
- Movers (medium/normal) $20/mover
- Movers (hard work. long day) $50-$100/mover
- Casino Dealer – $5-$25/winning session
- Tip Jar
– $0 almost always. You shouldn’t feel obligated to tip someone for doing the job they’re paid to do. Making coffee or a sandwich is not hard or unreasonable work for the wage they’re paid.
Add your thoughts or opinions in the comments form below. We’d appreciate it.
i’m a waitress at a buffet, and unfortunately i only get paid $2.63 an hour, so 10% tip sucks. and although we only get drinks for the table we do a lot of work that is not seen by the tables it self, but it can still benefit them. a tip is a tip, so it should be giving according to the service, but if I am filling your drinks, taking dirty plates from the table, and getting napkins, plus other items for the table i would still like my tip to be between 15-20%. What tables don’t see is that i constantly need to carry plates, soda cups, ice, roll silverware, clean your tables, clean floor, while still taking care of 6-8 tables. So no, 10% tip is not good enough
I’m sorry to say this, but I think you are wrong. When I go to the buffet I service myself and your background work is a matter of your contract with an owner (manager). You are entitled to at least minimum wage from your employer. If you are only getting 2.63/hr while not receiving tips, – bring this matter to your state (city) labor regulation board. It is not right to pass the problem of business owner not paying you to your customers.
The only correction I’d make is that the “15-20%” for a food server should only come into account if 15% is $3 or more. 20% on a $10 ticket just doesn’t cut it, especially for good service.
Thanks for the info on tipping movers! I’m about to move and am going to hire movers for the first time. I was wondering about how to tip them, so thanks for that!
Those guys work hard. It’s easy to be lazy and careless with that job. What results from such behavior to your belongings. If your movers are quick and careful, throw them some money. Also, I’d bet they would appreciate a bottle of water!
I agree with all but one of your etiquette rules. I frequently work our carside service at Applebees. When I do I have no other tables in the dining room I am strictly carside. Do you know how much I am getting paid? $2.13. same as every other server. Typically if it is a restaurant you are getting carside service from the server helping you is still receiving server pay. And we still work just as hard. We answer phone calls submit the order expo the order ourselves bag it. correct it if the kitchen has made a mistake and bring it out to your car. I’d say 5%-to 10% is good for a car side server. A takeout restaurant that only does take out such as Little Ceasers or a Chinese then yes. They receive minimum wage tipping is not necessary.
I had no idea Applebees carside togo employees were paid server wage (below minimum wage). There should be a list somewhere to find these things out. Jeez. That carside to go seems like a lose-lose situatin for employees int he front of the house. Servers hate to-go orders (people aren’t coming in to site down) and togo order people (like at your work) are only getting $2.xx/hr.
There should be a list but Applebees is not at all a server focused restaurant. My GM made me Car-side to go on both friday AND saturday nights for a solid month. When I talked to him about how this is not paying my bills he simply said “but you don’t tip out on carside” ( woo hoo so I didn’t have to give 15% of NOTHING to the hosts who obviously didn’t clear my tables because I HAD NONE) We also do not grat parties of ANY SIZE at applebees and our side work to leave typically takes up to an hour after we stop taking tables ( of which they are so concerned about our 2.13 and hour they sometimes illegally ask us to clock out before doing them) They also make us (again, illegally) wash dishes. In NC it is against labor laws to have servers who are not being paid minimum wage do dishes. Our policy however is to disregard this law and management often refuses to check us out and take our money so we can go until we have done a rotation in the dish pit. Servers at Applebees get treated worse that shit. Unfortunately it’s the only job I could find. But at least I have informed a few people that Carside to go still depends on tips. We still do NEARLY the same amount of work. Our guests just don’t see it and therefor don’t feel the need to tip because of that.
Gotta love when shift leaders and checkout persons/managers hold you up when you’re ready to leave. At $2.13/hour, they can easily afford to keep you on the clock a little longer while they do things. As for the dishes, not letting you leave until someone does them, that’s simply not right and doesn’t sound legal.
Outback Steakhouse is the same way for Curbside Takeaway. They make the same as servers, sometimes a dollar more, but it’s still way less than minimum wage. I’ve worked at several different stores, but typically the food comes out on plates, so then you have to box everything up, get all the sides, make sure there are toppings for the baked potatoes or extra butter for their extra loaves of bread, silverware, napkins, etc. etc…and then after that, we walk it out to your car, for your convenience, so your lazy a$$ can sit there and not move, and then run back in since you forgot to ask for 12 sides of dressing for your salad, and then back again because you want me to refill your drink that you just sucked down while I was getting you your half gallon of dressing, oh, and did I mention it’s raining now, too?
A few weeks ago, one of the girls went to a car and the lady gave her cash for the order, and it looked as if she had given extra for the tip, but she had just given her a bunch of ones. The togo girl said, “Thank you!” and went to walk away, and the lady gave her this weird look and was like, “Umm…I need my change!” and so the girl apologized and went to get it, which turned out to be like 60 some odd cents. She brought it back to her and the lady goes, “Yeah! Now if you had came to my house, I would have tipped you, but I came to you!” Umm…you’re forgetting that you STILL were too lazy to get out of your car and walk inside!
So yeah, I definitely say you should fix the takeout statement, at least when it comes to ordering it from a sit-down restaurant.
I’ve been aware of the “car-side” situation for years…and always throw the guys and girls stuck with that spot $15 or $20 every time I use that service.
It sucks that you guys get fucked like that, and don’t get regular minimum wage, or even a little more.
I work at Ruby Tuesday and it’s the same way there. When I first started there were a few people who got paid 6 something an hour plus their tips.. but I got stuck with 3 an hour.
Recently I have begun to ask every to go order if they would like me to add on the 10% gratuity or would they rather handle it themselves. Now I do have some regular customers who always take care of me, but it never fails that people don’t understand what 10% is.
Once I was delivering an order to a hotel behind our restaurant and I told the girl that we always add 15% for delivery orders. Her check was $9.80.
She told me that 15% seemed like a little much, but that she promised she would tip. When I got there she gave me $15 and said to keep the change, she just couldn’t afford 15%. I seriously had to bite my tongue.
It’s also really funny how there will be these people who say “What is gratuity?” and I tell them “Well, it’s a tip for me because I’m getting your food together, making sure it is correct, and bringing it out to your car all the while making the same as servers.”
“Oh, well I will just come inside and get it.”
I always want to ask them if they’re also going to take the time to ring it in, scream at the kitchen for it, and put it all nice and neatly into the bag. These people don’t get biscuits. In their FACES. lol
I get stuck with EVERY Friday and Saturday night to go shifts.. which happen to be the only ones at our restaurant. If I request off then they don’t even bother scheduling someone else.. they just make the bartender do it.
I don’t expect a tip off someone who comes in and makes their own salad. Although I do think it’s ridiculous to wait around for me to find a manager to make change when the total is $9.80 so I can give you your twenty cents.. if you don’t have twenty cents to lose then you should probably get a salad at the McDonalds next door. Just saying.
Ruby Tuesday has that gangsta salad bar, right? That thing is awesome.
When I worked at applebees less then a year ago, carside was paid $7.25/hour, granted that was for franchise vs. corporate. Still, thats bull.
I managed a subway for like 5 years and completely agree with the “Tip Jar – $0 almost always.” When the headquarters started letting us use a tip jar, I really didn’t even want to put it on the counter but did only because the take/leave a penny thing was attached to it.
HOWEVER, if you call a store a store at 10:00am and place a catering order for 40 people that you need by 11:30am, or show up Sunday morning with 2 school buses full of your traveling sports/dance team, leave a tip, please. Even if it’s just a dollar. I can’t even remember all the times that I quadrupled what would be a rush hour productivity goal by myself with out even getting a thank you.
If you think this is unreasonable, than call the store and give them a heads up the day before so they can make arrangements.
My little brother has delivered pizzas and/or worked at Subway for years.
His Subway stories are the shit nightmares are made of.
I think that everybody working at Subway deserves a tip…simply because so many people treat those hard-working guys and girls like pieces of dogshit.
I just don’t agree. Someone at Subway, at least here, is making a minimum of $7.25/hour. I know what it’s like to work at Subway. It’s the same as lots of other jobs. I used to be a shift manager at Smoothie King. Damn near the same work routine. We had a tip cup out, but I didn’t expect a tip. It was nice if someone left one but I didn’t deserve one. Minimum wage jobs are for teens, temporary financial bandaids for people struggling to find work, and people with handicaps.
I’m down for the tip jar at Subway not because of the work involved, but for the shit those poor people have to endure.
From the stories my buddy told me, the customers at Subway–black, white, and everything else, seem to hold those employees with something less like disdain and something more akin to actual contempt…downright hostility.
I think they should get tipped for the shit they have to put up with.
But, that’s just my opinion.
I don’t see how the Bathroom Attendant guilt trip is any different than the musician guilt trip, ESPECIALLY if he comes round the table. If anything that is even more of a guilt trip considering you may be on a date– basically forces you to tip the guy even if you didn’t want his attentions.
You need to do better research on “Takeout”. I do takeouts at my restaurant, on top of bar tending. But I make the same amount of money as every one else when it comes to wage. Takeouts also require work when it comes to getting drinks while they wait, especially water. Don’t assume that they get paid more, because I have never met anyone that does and I know for a fact that I don’t. Takeouts hurt my upsales and screw up my total sales into makng it look like I don’t declare all of my wages.
I agree. At my restaurant, a BBQ Joint in Asheville, we call it to-go instead of takeout. It is, however, almost the same exact concept. On my shifts I’m either a food runner/host or a food runner/to-go orders since we do counter service.
Basically the way that it works is that the to-go guy/girl has a phone attached to their waistband that they carry the whole shift. While they may be bringing out orders to tables, seating a group of people, or bar-tending they still have to answer the phone before four rings.
We still get paid the average hosting/serving wage. Which is $2.75 an hour for the servers, and $4.50 an hour for hosts. All front of the house crew splits the tips at the end of the day.
I worked in a coffee shop and didn’t expect to get tips. After all, I wasn’t waiting on the customer at their table. I took their order, made it (or another employee made it), set it on the counter, they came and got it. Then, (usually), if they ordered food or had coffee in a mug, they threw their stuff away or brought it back. Why would I expect a tip from that? I don’t think the people at McDonalds expect tips, and that’s kind of the same thing. Also, I made 6.75/hour, not 2 or whatever waiters were making at the time (this was 5 years ago).
People won’t believe this is real
Well it is real….don’t know how I can convince anyone. I worked at The Coffee Guy in Spring, TX for about six months when I was 16 years old. It was my first job. Whenever someone put a tip in the jar, I thought, oh that’s nice, whatever. But if someone didn’t put a tip in the jar (most people), I didn’t really think twice about it. I didn’t think “oh, what a stingy jerk, I so deserved a tip for turning around, filling that cup up with coffee, putting a lid on it, turning back around, and handing it to him.” And yeah, a lot of drinks are slightly more complicated than that, but none were so intricate and difficult to make that I felt they deserved a tip.
Id like to know who came up with the concept of bathroom attendant. I mean thats a slap in the face of man ettiquette. You go in you dont strike up conversation, you don’t make contact, you respect other guys space. Have you ever heard one man say to his male friends, I’m going to the bathroom, who wants to come? Men just don’t do that sort of thing. It’s a solo operation: You do your business and you get out. Who said to themselves I need assistance in the bathroom, they should hire someone to hang out in the bathroom to attend to my needs. And another thing, I cringe when I see valet parking. Now don’t get me wrong. I have no problem paying for parking, it is the idea of some random stranger who has questionable job skills and no interest in the well being of my property, driving off in my ride. Maybe hell be gentle, maybe he wont. How come I can’t just park the car my damn self and pay for the use of the parking? I think the person who came up with valet parking was the same guy who came up with bathroom attendant. Whats nexct? toilet paper attendant?
This is why I think it should be the culture to tip less in Canada– my friends who are servers get paid $9-10CAD/hr, with between 20-30% tax on that, and yet still they expect 20% tips.
The servers that deserve the 20% tips are in the US where they have inadequate minimum wage legislation that get paid $2/hr. Canadian serving is kushy by comparison (due also in part to the tendency of Americans to be slightly more demanding/rude).
You know, california doesn’t do the $2.13/hr waitstaff thing. There is no “make minimum wage in tips” and employers are not allowed to deduct from tips or salary if a certain waiter/ess is making a lot. In CA you make $8 minimum for every hour you work, and then your tips are added on top. I live in CA and it’s funny to me how people here seem more entitled to tips and they don’t even know about the way waitstaff is paid in most of the country.
$8.00 PLUS tips?!?!? Holy hell. Then again, I’ve been to California and holy cow is it expensive to live there.
“You shouldn’t feel obligated to tip someone for doing the job they’re paid to do.”
Plate carriers’ job is to carry plates.
Plate carrier is obligated the same minimum wage as everyone else. (Check your laws, kids… if you don’t make minimum wage in tips you’re owed the difference.)
Don’t tip at all – not obligated to – since they’re getting paid to do the job they’re paid to do.
Glad you cleared this up for us.
Now if only everyone would stop tipping you’d be paid that “fair wage” you deserve.
As long as you do not mind paying 3-4 times as much for your meals.
Let’s just forget about those extra steps I take to insure that my chef follows your glutein-free diet, or when I create a vegan dish that is delicious based on my extensive menu knowledge even though I work at a high end seafood restaurant, or better yet I make sure that u have a specially prepared meal so that you do not fall prey to your shellfish allergy. Forget the fact that I am not paid to box your food for YOU to take home or provide you with a to-go cup of tea beacuse you are going to run errands. Not to mention the extra time it takes for me to filet your Flounder table side or present and serve a botlle of wine to the table. Who cares about the fact that I prepared a free birthday dessert for you and the rest of the hoopla that it entails. I seriously doubt that you are the one person in the world who has never had a waiter do one if not a number of these things for you.
McDonald’s employees don’t even make minimum wage. What I do in my job goes way beyond asking if u want to super-size it. If you do not want to tip your waitstaff, which is the way the American economic system is set up for you to do, then move to Europe and pay a per plate price that is twice as high because the gratuity is included in the menu prioe.
Also take into account that no matter what you tip me, 3% of my sales are taken by the restaurant every night to help pay the hosts, busboys, and bartenders wage. To put it simply for you: if you have $100 tab and leave me no tip, you just cost me $3 so that I could serve you. This is legal and the way it works here. If I am having to be supplemented a wage so that I make $7.25/hr because you left no tip, in reality I am making $4.25 because u just stiffed me on a $100 check. I suggest you learn proper tipping ettiquette, because you obviously don’t know as much as you thought about wage laws.
This blow-job compliments of Ikari:
“You shouldn’t feel obligated to tip someone for doing the job they’re paid to do.”
Plate carriers’ job is to carry plates.
Plate carrier is obligated the same minimum wage as everyone else. (Check your laws, kids… if you don’t make minimum wage in tips you’re owed the difference.)
Don’t tip at all – not obligated to – since they’re getting paid to do the job they’re paid to do.
Glad you cleared this up for us.
Now if only everyone would stop tipping you’d be paid that “fair wage” you deserve.”
Submitted for your approval:
No more waiters/waitresses/servers–just fast food and convenience stores.
No more bartenders–just liquor stores.
No more delivery drivers–come pick your shit up.
Congratulations, Ikari. If we followed your advice, the entire fucking world would look like a black neighborhood.
And no one–not even the blacks themselves, wants to live in a black neighborhood.
If I may, a barrister is a highly paid legal representative, a barrista is the guy that makes the nice coffee
Not that I’m against tipping baristas or anything, but there is NO rule to tip you, as there are servers. It’s not about how hard your job is or how much work you do. It all comes down to are you paying taxes on your tips? (as far as I know, NONE of my barista friends do.) a barista gets tipped and earns a little extra, but it is not budgeted income because you get a paycheck. Not only are my tips my only income, but I get taxed on a set percentage of my sales whether I MAKE IT OR NOT. which means I usually owe at the end of the year too since my $2.13 an hour isn’t enough for insurance and taxes. AND I have to tip out based on yet another percentage of my sales, NOT what I make.
They’re not saying don’t tip baristas, it’s just not required for your actual survival like mine is. As for your work is harder, you apparently have No idea how mentally taxing serving can be. Physical labor is only one requirement of being everyone’s whipping boy (aka server). Once more I have tipped baristas, but since I’m a server i really can’t justify a $5 cup of coffee anymore either :p
“Tip Jar – $0 almost always. You shouldn’t feel obligated to tip someone for doing the job they’re paid to do. Making coffee or a sandwich is not hard or unreasonable work for the wage they’re paid.”
This is bullshit. You have no idea what wage your sandwich maker or coffee shopkeep is making. You are paying extra depending on what quality of coffee or sandwich you are ordering.
And…
A great quality sandwich and cup of coffee can be ruined by shoddy workmanship, as well as a mediocre combination of sandwich materials and coffee beans can be improved to perfection if the sandwich maker or barista goes the extra mile to make sure every step in the process is done well. Chances are, you, as an uninformed customer don’t know the difference and are judging the quality of your product as a result of the infrastructure of the business, and not the performance of your service worker.
You obviously have never made a great cup of coffee or an amazing sandwich, for the 50th time in your 8 hour shift. By the looks of it, you have probably never worked in a service industry position in which you can improve on your craft.
I know sandwich makers and barristers make at least minimum wage. A Server makes $2.13/hr (here in Louisiana). Big difference. Where do you draw the line on tipping? I mean, the lady at the gas station rings up the same shit all day. Tip her?
He’s right. If we should feel obligated to tip someone who makes a sandwich for minimum wage, then we should also need to tip everyone who performs a service for us. I don’t find it fair that someone can get additional tips including their minimum wage when I get the same tips while working for 3.60/hr.
“A Server makes $2.13/hr (here in Louisiana).”
LIAR.
“This hour, Amy earned $3.50 in tips. Her employer must pay her a cash wage of at least $3.75, to bring her total earnings for the hour up to the Louisiana minimum wage of $7.25.”
http://www.minimum-wage.org/louisiana-tipped-employee-minimum-wage
Typical of plate-carriers… they guilt-trip that extra dollar out of customers with LIES and EXTORTION. (“Hey, you should tip us or we’ll stick our dick in your food!”)
There are many better ways to get back at shitty customers and it has nothing to do with tainting food. That’s just wrong.
He is right; there are other ways to get back at people. I have never tainted food, but I guarantee that I have had my payback
Only somebody that has no class would even jump through that ill-logic hoop and make that connection. Also, as I told u in a previous thread we do more than carry your plates. Do not confuse the treatment received when dining inside an establishment with driving thru and somebody asking if you want fries with that. Huge difference! If you are too ignorant to recognize that fact, do us all a favor in the service industry and stick to drive thru. If you are making those assumptions, you should just consider all of your food tainted and stay home.
The quote suggests the server did not make an hourly wage on TOP of the $3.50 in tips, but many servers do. Had she not made an hourly wage, then yes, $3.75 would be the difference. However, if you subtract the $2.15 federal minimum wage for hourly tipped employees, and the offset required by law would be $1.60. Since the employee will undoubtedly have more tables before the end of her shift (and hopefully better tips), her tips will be added to her hourly wage, and, if still short of the $7.25/hour minimum wage after all tips and hourly wages have been averaged across her shift, then yes, the restaurant is obligated to make it up. However, no matter how poor a server you are, you are easily able to recoup $3.75 an hour, or you don’t deserve to be on the floor. Hope that cleared things up for you.
Nothing for the valet parkers eh?
I always take care of the valet parking peeps.
When you’re out of town, they’re great for making connections…
Hi. I was in a restaurant over the weekend with four friends. My girlfriend and I had been in the restaurant a few times before and the food is good, and we wanted to bring some friends to share and support the business. So there were five of us total, only two other tables had customers. Since they werent busy, a second waiter helped our waitress. The bill came and one of us calculated a 20% tip. We agreed it seemed too low. I looked at the bill and saw our waitress had forgotten 3 items. We pointed that out and she added them and gave us the revised bill. We recalculated the tip – which at 20% seemed still fairly low, because the food was inexpensive, so we raised it up to 25%. In the interim, the owner sent out a small dessert for each of us, no charge. We collected and paid $80 on a $64 bill; a $16 tip. They stared at us after we paid, and then a little while later she came back with the check booklet and we said no that (the change – $16) was for you. She didnt really smile as usual and it seems to me that they were disappointed. My partner and I previously left about a 30% tip, because we are vegetarians and our bill when dining ourselves, tends to be less than omnivores, but we figure they still have to carry out the same amount of food so we tip a little higher percent. Last time the bill was $24 we left $31, even though the waiter had spilled something on my girlfriend (we said no problem accidents happen no big deal it would wash out; they did apologise profusely). Do you think it was rude for them to stare at us and it was a fair tip? Or because they sent out the small dessert we should have tipped even more? It really is because their food is inexpensive and it is BYOB. Plus they seem to not be good at math and getting all the items listed and they do alot of takeout. I probably would have left a $20 for the tip, but one of my friends had used his 20% tip calculator on his phone and we rounded up to 25%. It’s not like we stiffed them – it was $8 each for the two of them and we are easy customers, we even piled up the dirty plates on the end of the table for them. And we told them of their mistake where they shorted themselves. Also, it was not busy – the did not need the table, and we didnt stay very long anyway – we wanted to go out and walk. We could have left them a 20% tip on the wrong lower bill and they would really have lost out. It is a little (eastern) Indian restaurant in a strip mall with no real decor, but the food is good and I really like the restaurant and had thought we had a good relationship with the owner and waiters. My girlfriend heard from the owner’s niece that two weeks ago when we were there, the party of 14 that was there (all eastern Indians) did not leave any tip. We sat at a tiny cocktail table and put our food on chairs, because all the regular tables were pushed together for the big party, We still left a 25 or 30% tip. They had given us that complimentary dessert, then, also. I guess we can go again and see how it feels and what happens, but I feel kind of uncomfortable now and if I feel uncomfortably pressed with staring to leave a bigger tip, I will instead probably stop going there and go more to the other nearest favorite Indian restaurant but that is across a toll bridge. We still go to that one, even though it is further away, across a toll bridge and a little more expensive, because we love those guys and want to support them and always have a good time there. What do you think? Maybe they were staring for some other reason, but they weren’t smiling, as usual.
Uh…did you ever think to simply ASK them what was wrong?
I love massages. These are the best dallas massages.
You can make money at restaurants by putting in negative values, larger than your bill, as a tip.
Admin, I am constantly baffled why you continue to approve comments posted by someone who’s interested in illegally STEALING MONEY from the restaurant industry, and promoting this activity to other servers/food industry workers.
I mean, fair’s fair and all, but if servers actually start doing this, managers will wonder where they got the idea, and you could be seen as encouraging this sort of thing, since you have to approve every comment that gets posted to your site.
Just some food for thought (no pun intended).
So I’m racist if someone comments on here they don’t like a particular race? I’m encouraging or promoting illegal activity because someone may or may not have found a flaw in whatever software his/her restaurant uses? Gimme a break. I approve almost anything because I don’t feel like everything needs a big censor. Certainly there’s a line, but someone commenting about some scam that makes no sense surely doesn’t cross it.
If someone did find a way to mess over Squirrel, Macros, or whatever system, and posted it here, it would be doing those respective companies a favor by enlightening them about the flaw in their system.
Had the software in question been mentioned, then no.
However, the comment “You can make money at restaurants by putting in negative values, larger than your bill, as a tip” can generally be taken as “here’s a way to screw the restaurant you work for out of money they are legitimately owed”.
So I feel you could tread with slightly more caution here. Allowing discourse and discussion (as you have with the “Black People Don’t Tip” thread) is one thing; giving someone an unchallenged voice as to how to cheat a business out of capital is entirely another.
Just a friendly warning, from someone who’s been warned about this type of thing in another industry.
Honestly, I don’t even remember approving that comment. I think at one time comments were automatically approved.
I also think you should revise the tip jar statement…and I did catch your comment that “tip jars are shit”. How nice. Like greenfield above me, I also worked at Starbucks for two years, another independent cafe for 5 months, and have been in my current position at yet another independent cafe for 2 years. Over 4 years coffee experience. When I started with Starbucks, I made $6.85 an hour. More than $2.13 but not by much…especially when you consider attitudes like those of the website maintainer (who I cannot believe, as someone who works in the industry, would actually reply to someone “tip jars are shit”). At my cafe, I am the only one working. So, unlike, say, a busy restaurant with a staff of 30, I am responsible for:
-taking orders
-tendering cash, credit cards and the like
-preparing custom, manually made (no automatic machines) espresso drinks, fruit smoothies, teas, coffees, espresso blended beverages, hot chocolates, chais, etc. etc.
-preparing FOOD such as panini sandwiches, toasted bagels, and fancy dessert plates of cakes
-wrapping pastries, sandwiches, cookies, and trays of brownies
-keeping these displays full at all times
-maintaining a clean and fully stocked condiment bar of 5 different types of sugars, napkins, straws, stirrers, hot lids, cold lids, cinnamon nutmeg and chocolate powders, sugar water, honey, and 2 different types of creamer
-maintaining a clean cafe, which includes bussing & wiping tables and mopping up any spills
-maintaining clean and stocked bathrooms
-washing ALL dishes
-taking out ALL trash
-doing ALL the ordering for my store
-bank runs and maintaining petty cash
-general cleaning and stocking
I could keep going but I think you get the idea. Oh, and I do all that while waiting on 30+ customers an hour. I do between $400 and $500 on my shift BY MYSELF at a COFFEE SHOP. When I started, I started at a dollar above minimum wage because I had management experience at Starbucks. I was told BY THE OWNER (who runs this small chain in a very large city) that tips are EXPECTED at my job and he pays his employees with that in mind. All baristas with this company start at minimum wage. We do not receive paid vacations, paid sick leave, holiday pay or even time and a half for working on a holiday, health insurance or anything even remotely resembling benefits of any kind. Yes, waiting tables can be exhausting…you have to be a kind, talented, patient individual with the multi-tasking abilities of a God…but I would venture, as greenfield did above, that being a barista is JUST as exhausting if not MORE so. You think people are particular with their food, just see them with their coffee. I cannot believe you would include bartenders in your list and then proclaim that those of us who do SO MUCH MORE but have a tip jar out are shit and only doing what we are “paid to do”.
You come make coffee, you fuck, and tell me how easy it is then. That is the same attitude of “waiting tables can’t be THAT hard…” I was so excited when I found this site and I cannot express how disappointed I am that the maintainer HIMSELF would have such an ignorant and harmful attitude towards other service professionals. Now I’ll be wondering every time I leave my minimum of 20% even for bad service/up to 45% for great service tip whether or not my server is some ignorant asshole who’s going to run me all over the place toasting bagles, ordering 3 large espresso drinks and oh, did I mention that those were SUPPOSED to be ICED, and stiff ME in the end…
Thanks for the excellent comment. I really appreciate you contributing to the conversations.
I have only one comment to share with you right now. When you write, “I was told BY THE OWNER (who runs this small chain in a very large city) that tips are EXPECTED at my job and he pays his employees with that in mind.” Do you not realize that’s completely in his best interest? Does he pay you more on days when tips are scarce? Kind of a comment fail.
Oh, I have one more comment to share. I don’t think it’s fair to compare your coffee hustle to the work of a waitress. It’s really not the same. I’m sure you deal with a lot of shitheads, but that’s life for everyone in the service industry. I stand by my tip jar statement wholeheartedly. You don’t have to agree with me. If we all agreed, this site wouldn’t be so lively.
I hope to read more from you in the future. Again, thanks.
In contrast to your opinion:
I’ve made coffee for a living. I’ve waited tables. (Not to mention working just about every OTHER position FoH and BoH in a restaurant)
The plight of the Barrista is worse than that of the Server.
Coffee consumers, as a rule, are more difficult and annoying than general restaurant consumers.
Also, unlike servers, Barristas have to remember an asanine amount of recipes, and skillfully reproduce them. Servers aren’t cooking the food… and most couldn’t if they tried.
(Do remember, I’ve also been a line cook)
You think the multitasking surrounding tableservice is more overwhelming than the multitasking for coffee-bar service AND preperation? You’re sorely mistaken.
Barristas typically have a much longer list of side-work and prep-work to do their job than servers as well.
I’m glad as HELL I don’t make coffee anymore.
Tips are shittier. Wage is about the same, but the wage paid (by the owners) for services rendered (to the owners) is a much lower ratio.
When crunching the numbers and comparing the labor intensity.
Barristas make less per hour after tips, and do more janitorial duties.
Serving is a fucking cakewalk.
Easy money. Biger money. Less to complain about… though we always make more complaints. Whee!
I have also been both a barista (at two coffeeshops) and a server (at three restaurants). From my experience, the job of a barista is often a stressful and thankless one, more so than that of a waitress! And waitresses, overall, often make more money.
Overall, the workload was more for me in a coffee shop than as a server —often a barista doesn’t have anybody helping them as they make sandwiches, create intricate and beautiful espresso drinks (hopefully), juggle orders, engage customers with a
, answer phone calls, and clerk.
On top of this, baristas must (often single-handed) wash dishes, Windex windows, stock inventory, sweep and mop floors, scrub stinky toilets (custies been drinkin’ coffee all day), clean espresso machines with harsh chemicals, take out leaky trash bags, etc.
So, please, don’t underestimate the job load of the barista
PS. I am very happy that I am back serving in a restaurant! I like my current job and am actually treated like a valued human being by my boss. With this support it is a lot easier to deal with the once-in-a-while shitty customers that come in.
PPS. This website is really fun, thanks Admin!
The same could be said for anyone in the service industry. Your employer shouldn’t use tips as an excuse not to pay you adequately. If his comment is a fail then your blog is also a fail.
Thanks for your reply. This blog is far from a fail.
I agree with the person directly below your comment:
waitressing is a walk in the park compared to working at a cafe. I have done both and working at a cafe was BY FAR MORE DIFFICULT
Here is the thing about all of the work that u have listed. Almost 75% of your bullet-points are things that you are doing to maintain the owners shop and have nothing to do with you providing an actual service to the customer in the manner a server does. These are things you listed that a restaurant pays somebody minimum wage to do and have nothing to do with customer service, therefor do not deserve a tip.
-keeping these displays full at all times
-maintaining a clean and fully stocked condiment bar of 5 different types of sugars, napkins, straws, stirrers, hot lids, cold lids, cinnamon nutmeg and chocolate powders, sugar water, honey, and 2 different types of creamer
-maintaining a clean cafe, which includes bussing & wiping tables and mopping up any spills
-maintaining clean and stocked bathrooms
-washing ALL dishes
-taking out ALL trash
-doing ALL the ordering for my store
-bank runs and maintaining petty cash
-general cleaning and stocking
I’m a very good tipper. I wouldn’t leave you shit if I new who you were. Tipping is not a requirement. It never has been. If you don’t like what you make and depend on tips, go find another job. I have made coffee, cooked, bused tables, washed dishes, mopped floors & have done food prep & never once did I ever receive a tip for what I did. the wait staff did & they did less work than anyone. Like I said, don’t make enough money. Go find a real job. I did & retired @ 48 years old.
this poster is off their rocker a bit. i think the priviledge of being retired has soaked this persons brain and made them slighty stupid or perhaps just ignorant.
of course tipping isnt a requirement, i dont think “lindsay” was implying anything different. if you get shitty service, dont tip. but if you do receive service that is above and beyond, there is no excuse for not tipping a barista, even just your small change. how many people are there who will bitch about tipping at a coffeeshop but gladly throw down a dollar for the top popped off of a beer at a bar??
do you really have a position or are you just still frustrated that you weren’t tipped back in the days that you did these above things you mentioned? …of course your observations dont take account of the way society has changed in the time since you have done this. not to mention you could still move up/work hard/realize some version of the “american dream” back then too, without having to have some expensive yet nearly worthless degree. …not quite as so today, Senior.
does anyone here really think that you can maintain any kind of living on the wages that 99.9% of service jobs provide? who wouldnt just go get another, higher paying job if the opportunity was available??? what an ignorant, priviledged statement. “retired at 48…” for many of us in a younger generation we will NEVER retire even though we will work harder and longer than any other previous generation. =
you might as well ask a blind man to will his eyes to “just see”.
i would bet the poster “poor lindsay” is a shitty tipper, too. i cant believe some of the ignorant drivel i have read on this board.
if a person is working for tips at a less than four star establishment, chances are they are NOT there simply by choice.
once again, let me clarify, if you receieve poor service from a person who earns tips-DONT TIP THEM.
if a person provides you with personal service and clearly works for gratuities, provides excellet service, etc…get your head out of your ass or refuse to patronize businesses that put the financial burden of having employees on the customer.
Personally, I’d never support any notion that a Service Industry worker should be left out of the tipping game.
Put that tip jar out. If’ I’m there in line, I’m gonna throw something in it.
I would like you to include other tipping categories also, such bellman doorman etc.
I seriously didn’t even know one was supposed to tip salon personnel (or wahtever you call people who cut your hair and paint various parts of your body).
Don’t forget to tip your tattoo artist at least $10 for ever hour they work on you.
Only if they’re working for someone else and not running their own shop.
Ditto for cabbies.
I’m fairly happy to tip for all these things. But the one I think is total BS is bartenders. $1 to pour a beer and move it a few feet to where I’m sitting? I’m sorry but that is bullshit. If I paid $5 for that beer, they just got 20% for what amounts to less than one minute of work — or more than $60/hr. If I ask for a martini or pina colada, that’s a little different, but no bartender deserves $60/hr — not even $30/hr.
I also think your massage range is unfair. Why does a waitress get 15-20% for what is essentially unskilled labor and in the course of a one hour meal requires about 10 minutes of their time. A waitress can easily multitask multiple tables at once. Keep in mind I am not complaining about what we tip waitresses.
A massage therapist gives you their undivided attention for an hour or more, working extremely physically the entire time. That is worth 20%. Most people don’t realize this but massage therapists are lucky to get 1/3rd of what you pay — at many places, they get a lousy fixed wage like $10 per one hour massage. On top of this, they usually have to spend time prepping the room between sessions, so they’re not able to do 8 hours of massage a day — most are lucky to get 5 or 6 max. And they don’t make any other money while they are not working. If you only get two appointments one day, that’s all the money you earn. It’s extremely hard to make a decent living at this job. You’ve also dropped maybe $10k in the educational requirements, hundreds more in licensing fees and required exams, and then you have to do continuing education classes for the rest of your career at roughly $20 a credit hour (typically 12 such hours a year is the requirement by most states). And you have to pay for your liability insurance. So there’s a lot more business overhead that a massage therapist contends with over a mere waitress or bartender.
On top of ALL this, massage therapists are usually hired as subcontractors, so they don’t get any employment benefits, no paid leave of any kind, no 401k, no insurance, no worker’s comp if they get injured, and they pay full Self Employment Taxes (employees only pay half, something most employees don’t even realize).
So please, if you got a satisfying massage, tip your therapist what they deserve, which is AT LEAST what a waitress earns. It’s a skilled trade that is grossly exploited. The business pockets all the dough.
Keep in mind if your therapist is running their own biz and keeps 100% of the charge, it’s a very different story.
I think tipping the bartenders goes more towards trying to get swift service if the bar is very crowded/busy and trying to get stronger drinks. If the service is no faster and the drinks no stronger, I don’t leave a dollar on each drink. Even better, I’ll start a tab and tip out something meager.
If you can’t afford to tip the bartender or waitstaff stay at home and drink and go thru a drive thru and eat fast food!
Staying home- that is very good advice.
Why would anybody go out in a bar and pay 5 to 10 times the cost of booze for someone to pour it for them is beyond me. I enjoy my booze at home at BBQ parties and it costs me a fraction of the cost and at least I don’t fall victim to the gov racket known as liquor license.
You tip the bartender well so he doesn’t short your drink. The reliable tipper may even get a strong one using that extra he just shorted ya for.
If you’re really a sucker with the cash (like when you’re abusing a corporate account) they’ll even occasionally slip you “free drinks!” (The ones he didn’t serve to the patrons that didn’t pay him enough.) All those 1/2 shots and 3/4 shots he’s been shorting customers for adds up… especially when you’re selling them to someone else for a little extra under-the-table cash.
Don’t pay your dollar for him to pop the cap on your $5 Bud Longneck? He’ll have his back to you while washing glasses. You can stand there like an idiot for a while.
Order top shelf? Bartender thinks you’re cheap, or a poser who knows nothing about quality alcohol? Watch ‘em… you probably just got booze out of a plastic bottle. He’ll be drinking the fine shot himself, hooking up his friends (or the barslut of the night he’s planning to bang) or selling it to a “good tipper” for a little extra cash.
Most bartenders are just crooked as shit. I know… I’ve worked with plenty of ‘em.
good post. accurate.
Screw you both.
Bartenders earn every cent.
We set up the bar, keep it stocked, put up with drunken idiot behavior, etc. We are also paid the server wage because tips are how we are expected to make money.
Bartenders ABSOLUTELY make the difference for a venue. If I like a bartender (friendly, fast service, maybe even hooks me up from time to time) I wil be more inclined to return to that venue AND I’ll definitely be tipping well.
It annoys me when people complain about tipping a bartender. I hate when people say they’re not going to pay $3.50 for a beer then tip $1.00 (making the total for that beer $5.00) when they can buy a 6-pack from the store for $6.00. Yeah, you surely can pay a lot less for beer when you buy it from the store, but you’re also not going to be out socializing, at an event, etc.
I’m with you, Tamara.
When people drink alcohol, they oftentimes get rambunctious. To say the least.
They can get loud. Stupid. Flirty. Violent. And, sometimes that booze leads to other things–namely dope…and that amplifies everything.
Bartenders earn every penny of their tips and paychecks. Anybody who thinks otherwise can **** ** **** until their lips fall of.
I agree wholeheartedly.
While I wait tables right now, I’m a bartender by trade.
And, anybody who thinks $1 per drink or 20% of the total tab is good enough is going to get real thirsty real quick sitting at my bar….
you don’t think $1/drink is good? I think when I ask for a bottle of beer, and I give a $1 tip, that’s easy money.
Okay so I forgot to put the security code, so it says “INVALID CODE!” when I press submit comment. So I write the code, and then submit it properly.. And it gets posted twice?
I was wondering why this happens. I’m about to update the security now. Thanks!
Is it true that hairdressers should get tipped 20%? But they’re getting paid pretty well hourly right? I feel bad because when I was a teenager I only tipped $5-$10 on my $40-$100 cut or Coloring sessions (and the first couple of times I didn’t tip at all because I had no idea what a tip was.. My family never ever went out to eat either.).
Lol @ the Drivethru Tip.
I still like to put money in tip jars if it’s really busy. It keeps up their morale and lets them know you appreciate them.
I usually give food deliverers about $4-$6 (about 12-20%) and servers about 25-30%. At LEAST $10 even if it’s just a $30 bill. The way I see it, I’m taking up their time (or the bartender’s time, if I’m eating at the bar) and therefore I should pay them for their PRESENCE, not just for my actual food/drink. I HATE it when a couple sits at my table for two hours, orders two waters and shares an entree, then tips $2 because their bill was only $12.
THANK YOU for this post! Good reference. But definitely should revise it to encourage tip jar contributions, and also include delivery guys!
As a man, and I think this could be true for both genders, I tip my barber or whomever is cutting my hair, based on how good the haircut is, how much the haircut costs and how pleasurable was the experience. This leads me to tip different % each time.
What I want out of a haircut is minimal talking, fast working and a nice looking haircut. If I’m somewhere with cheap prices and good haircuts, I’ll tip more…let’s say $15 haircut I’ll tip $5. That’s 30% gratuity. If I’m at some fancy salon that takes forever cutting my hair, talks too much and cuts too slowly and the haircut ends up being shitty, the percent is going down. Those experiences usually cost me $30 for the haircut and I’ll tip $5 even though I don’t want to tip anything.
Tip jars are shit to me, and delivery people should definitely be tipped. I’ll update this list soon.
Admin, the only problem I can see with your logic on the no tip for takeout would be that at some restaurants (especially smaller establishments), it is the waitstaff’s responsibility to take the order, submit the order to the cooks, and usually bag the order and gather all condiments, finally accepting payment from the customer. Takeout orders are notorious for being placed during peak operating hours, therefore servers are in the weeds and scrambling around to assemble these orders, and it is possible that the takeout order has interrupted their ability to give excellent service to their tables. No tip on a to-go order could be a slap in the face to some, and it might be unwise to give this advice to people. Remember, you even tipped the bathroom guy a dollar.
Typical server bullshit attitude in this article. It’s not all of them, but I would hope there would be a little more love for the people the server has to work alongside i.e takeout folks. Take out folks like 10%. If the place is ridiculously busy, and by some miracle you got your pick up order before your lunch hour was over, tip you bastards. I give it up if my order is hot, there’s napkins, utensils, mints. You know, the shit I’d get if I were dining inside the restaurant. The pizza place I frequent always works double time to get my pizza in the oven before the other pick-ups because they know I tip.
Whether a take out employee is getting minimum wage should be of no concern to the customer. If you get good service (this requires you to actually recognize and be able to differentiate between normal and good service) you should tip. I go to tiny cafe where the service is mostly counter, but the staff is so pleasant and helpful, they get 20%. I know they will always go the extra mile to make sure my food is tasty and correct.
I’ve got to disagree with you. If you’re working the take out area at a restaurant, you’re likely making a wage. You’re likely responsible for taking the order, checking the order, including plasticware and taking the payment. This really isn’t different from someone who works at a pizza place (taking order, preparing order), a sandwich shop, etc.
I know this because I’ve done it. Tips are nice, but I know what I signed up for. If take out people should be tipped as “the norm”, who the hell would want to be a server when you can make, at least, double the hourly wage + tips + not have to deal with all the bullshit involved with working the floor?
Where I work, most carside employees make $5.25/hr. They are expected to expodite food in addition to the normal answer the phone/take orders/package food duties. They sometimes even run food for us. I’m not saying a carryout worker deserves as much as a server, but a few bucks is nice.
Aren’t you expected to do SOMETHING at any job?
Which is exactly why I don’t believe in tipping anyone.
I’m sure you’re tired of defending your opinion regarding tip jars and take out people, but I have some logic to add:
I have been in the industry since I could hold a job at 14, and I have some disagreements.
When I was a kid, it was easier to find employment at a local mom-and-pop, pizza joint, etc that paid under the table at a rate slightly lower than minimum wage because employment was easier to come by. In that scenario, while doing take out, I never expected tips, but they definitely were appreciated. When I waitressed and took take-out orders on the same shift, it was slightly more hectic, but not to the point that my dine-in customers didn’t notice that I was busy and exercised a bit more patience.
I have a general checklist that I go through before I decide to tip a take out person:
If they weren’t friendly and efficient on the phone taking my order, I don’t usually tip.
If the owner or manager of the restaurant is taking my order or cashing me out, I definitely don’t tip.
If the take out person is a wage employee who sits on a chair behind a cash register and has NOTHING to do with the food packing, checking, or production efforts, I don’t tip.
If there are younger people at the register and/or it is a family owned business, I ask the employee if they actually receive their tips before deciding. In a lot of cases, the employer will keep the tips in exchange for the employee getting a free shift meal, or something of that nature. In that case, I don’t leave anything. The employer should provide that at their discretion, regardless of stealing money from their employees.
At a starbucks or coffee joint, I usually leave my coin change from the transaction. Whether its 10 centers or 99 cents, I know if everyone threw in a little, Baristas have potential to earn a fair amount of extra tips. It is reasonable that a busy Starbucks Barista takes and makes 60 coffees per hour. If they averaged a tip of 10 cents per customer, they’re making an extra $6 in wages on top of their hourly rate. That’s pretty good for someone who is [most likely] a ceramics major at the local community college…
If I order catering to-go, I ALWAYS tip 10% or more, and try to get the take out person to designate some money to the expo. Also, if I order take out from my server while I’m dining in at a restaurant, I always tip at least 15% on the take out, knowing they tip out on the sales.
I have a formula for delivery drivers, too: You have to ask if the restaurant charges a delivery fee, and whether that goes to the driver or the restaurant. This is important to know up front.
Despite that amount (which I’d just deduct from what I’d normally tip…), I automatically start at 15% or $5, whichever is higher, and add $1 per mile I am away from the restaurant (after the first mile). If I order $50 in food, and I’m 2 miles away, I’ll tip $9. If I’m within a few blocks and get $20 in food, I’ll throw a $5 in the drivers hand.
Technically, this service is solely a convenience to ME, designed to cater to customers outside of a traditional restaurant atmosphere AND create job positions. From my experience, delivery drivers only need to get paid server minimum wage because they’re “tipped employees,” and they incur more expenses than a food server because they deal with the cost of gas, vehicle maintenance, etc. With that being said, they also only incur 20 seconds of face time and don’t even have to talk to you.
As with any aspects of the service industries across the board, I feel like you have to use common sense and discretion. Providing the guide you did is helpful to the average consumer with no knowledge of the service industry, BUT…its not as black and white as “15-20%” all the time.
Side note regarding bar tenders (re: a comment from ‘not important’)–I’m under the assumption that the target demographic for this website are people in the service industry. Therefore, wouldn’t you get ITB discounts at bars on a pretty regular basis, making it more worth while to tip a bar tender? My drink of choice, Jack and Coke, at my local bar with ITB 7 nights a week costs me $3.00. There is NO reason for me not to tip at least $1.00/drink, as the average cost of that drink is $6+ in any other bar in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
I find your blog entries pretty insightful for the most part, though. Kudos.
That’s a really good comment. I appreciate your contribution to the site. What’s not going to change is my view on tip jars. In general, I don’t like them and choose not to tip. That being said, I DO sometimes put money in a tip jar when I feel like being nice to someone or some people who look like they are working hard and have a friendly attitude. Oh, and they better get my order right.
I just left about 60 cents in a tip jar at a local CC’s coffee house. I got a $2.00 breakfast blend hot coffee. The girl taking my order wasn’t friendly and all she had to do was turn around to pump hot coffee from a canister into a large cup, take my money and give me my change and receipt. This too all of 30-45 seconds. She didn’t even say “thank you” or “have a nice day”. I put the $0.60 in the tip jar (that was raging with cash at 11AM) not because she did a good job but because some of you made me feel like such a dick. I went in there hoping to get a smile and friendly service, service worthy of a tip so I could think to myself, “Hey, I understand why people on my site think tip jars are a good thing.” Fact is, this chick made a 30% tip for being a robot that can make change and pump coffee into a cup. I don’ t like it.
It seems like people on here talk the most about tipping Baristas. Besides these folk often seeming smug, I am not into paying $5.00+ for iced coffees and whatnot. I love me some gas station coffee from Exxon’s On-The-Run or Even Circle K’s coffee.
I thought you were a complete dick before reading you actually tipped someone with a tip jar.
and the reason being i work as a to-go person at the moment while finishing school.
And i kind of like my job. But i hate all the bitchy ness i have to put up with.
people know if they complain they get free food. well the downside to that is.
they dont think about yes i completly agree if you feel you had bad service complain.
but i know there are certain types of people who complain because they know they can
get free food. so they complain even if nothing was wrong.
here is an example of an order i took. i gave someone free fries. something they
didnt even have to pay for. mistake on my part. bc when i gave them 1 serving which
is what they would have got if they paid for it.
they decided to complain and say i didnt give them enough. along with that.
they didnt tip when i did something to save them money i didnt have to do.
anywhoo point being im glad you tipped someone who had a tip jar. because for me
when i get a tip i remember that person and i know that next time there here they
will get even better service. same goes to people who dont tip. i remember them as
well. and no im not going to go out of my way to give anyone bad service.
but i will give them the bare minimum and nothing else. were as someone who i know
tips i go out of my way to get them anything and everything they ask for within
reason. like if people have to wait a while for there food. i will personally go to
the manager and ask if they will allow me to give them a free desert or appetizer
now the crappy thing on that is people normally dont know im the one doing that.
they think its the manager so ne whoo im proud of you sorry for the long rant. ADD
You should really add valet to the tip list. I and my fellow valets have had numerous conversations with people asking what a good tip is. In general, where we work in a busy downtown locale, there is complimentary valet for patrons. We are the only place in the entire downtown area that has complimentary valet.
If you were to park yourself anywhere around us, it would cost at least $7 – 12 dollars, so an average tip should be $5. If there is a charge for valet, nine times out of ten, the valet receives no portion of the charge. So in that case, depending on the amount of the charge, you should tip at least $3.
This seems to confuse the hell out of people, especially the elderly. Finding a quarter on the ground, handing it to me and saying “here for you” and then not tipping anything else, is more insulting than not tipping at all. True story.
Definitely include delivery drivers!! Pizza/chinese! MMMMMMM!
Some restaurants only pay their togo staff the same server min wage WITHOUT a tipout (Outback Steakhouse for ex.), but they also do everything for you while you sit in your car. “Curbside takeaway” is what some places call it. What do you guys think should be standardish for them? 8-12%? More? Less?
What? You’re not even gonna mention delivery drivers? Granted we get paid more that wait staff, but we still only make $5 an hour and we have to use our own cars, which means covering our own gas, oil changes and other assorted maintenance out of our own pockets.
Agreed. Our our drivers get stiffed a lot of the time. Although we pay them around $7 per hour, they have to use their own cars and gas. Plus some days they have only a couple of deliveries per shift. We charge a $2 delivery charge on each order that we give to the drivers (most companies don’t even give the drivers that charge) but some delivery customers still don’t give them anything!
I ALWAYS take care of the delivery drivers–regardless of what my bill is, you’re going to get at least ten bucks off of me. And, that’s if my bill is $30 or less. The more I order, the bigger the tip is going to be–the delivery driver is your friend..
But, I gotta mention something that happened to me tonight that kinda pissed me off.
I ordered a pizza from Dominoes. It was late, and they were the only ones open. So be it.
The guy on the phone tells me that my order is going to be $15. Now, on every other order I’ve made from this joint, the kid bringing me the pizza has always added on $3…so, I figured that there must be a delivery fee that the guy on the phone never mentioned.
Turns out, there is no delivery fee, and the kid has been sticking me for $3 every time…and this is WITH me throwing him the type of cash tips I’ve already mentioned.
I don’t mind tipping. I’ve never stiffed a driver…or that particular driver.
But, I don’t like getting fucked like that. Even for that small amount.
Our to-go people get paid $2.13 as well, but they are included in our mandatory tip out (Bussers, host staff and bartenders are also included.) Not only that, but they usually get stuck doing salads, desserts, and silverware (which is why I really don’t mind them getting some of my money.) Still, it’s nice to get something off of huge orders. If it’s huge orders, especially if it’s rushed or delivery, you should leave SOMETHING.
I think you should revise the tip jar statement. I have worked at bars, full service restaurants and also at Starbucks, and I can tell you that it is just as difficult working at Starbucks as it is at any bar or restaurant. Making espresso drinks is actually way more challenging than popping the top off of a beer or even pouring a half yard of foamy beer. You don’t have to tip a lot, many people just leave their change. I tip a dollar when I have one or I will give my change, and I try to leave at least 50 cents. They do make more than minimum server wage, but usually make only $7-$8/hr. so every penny counts. Remember that they do everything there-mop floors, clean drains, clean the toilets, etc. I was more tired after pulling a double at Sbucks than I was after St. Patty’s day at the bar. Just my opinion.