Is tipping a N. American thing?

[Jstew]

Wow, I don't know where you people live but here in Minnesota the tip for decent service is 20%; poor service is 15%; and terrible service gets a penny. If you are only tipping 10% on a regular basis, DON'T GO BACK TO THAT RESTAURANT - you will get some "extra" ingredients in your food if they recognize you!

Yeah same applies here in Michigan, must be a midwest thing. Or are we just too nice?

 

[RonFrank]

Wow, I don't know where you people live but here in Minnesota the tip for decent service is 20%; poor service is 15%; and terrible service gets a penny. If you are only tipping 10% on a regular basis, DON'T GO BACK TO THAT RESTAURANT - you will get some "extra" ingredients in your food if they recognize you!

You can easily see where we live as it's in most of our profiles.

Why would anyone tip 15% for poor service? A tip is a reward, not automatic IMO.Or at least that is how it works in the USA. A restaurant that would sabatoge their food because a customer is not a good tipper whould not stay in business here very long.

I eat lunch out most every day, granted not necessarily all the time sit down. 15% works fine, and I'm a regular at a lot of places, and on a first name basis with the owners and wait staff in many Resturants.

They would rather see my continued business even with a 15% tip than have the occasional business with a better tipper. In Downtown Denver the business lunchtime repeat crowd is what makes the difference between an empty building,and a thriving biz.

As I indicated in my first post, some owners are not seeing tips at all from people visitinig Denver, and for those that offer sit down service near the convention center that has become an issue.

 

[RikRaeder]

The 15%/less alchohol guideline I mentioned only applies to restaurants. At a bar, I usually slide an extra dollar or so per round (depending on the size of my party) maybe missing a round here or there. If I am served promptly and don't have to inflate a safety sausage to get the server's/barkeep's attention, I'll usually leave a few dollars more when I leave. Those are my own personal guidelines. I'm always careful to notice if the establishment adds a service charge or not. If they do, too bad for the servers, although the servers usually get the built-in gratuity. This is almost always the case for larger parties in California.

 

[Zeeman]

REALLY?? I've been eating out in Canada for over 30 years and have NEVER seen a tip added to the bill. Sure it wasn't just a tax?

Not all, just a select few - one place was in Whistler (Araxi I think) the other was in TO (forgot the name) Though Canada was generally free of this (been there about 5 times and only came across those 2 that did the forced tipping thing) I only added Canada because I did experience it to a small extent

Z...

 

[Zeeman]

Shouldn't we really tip gas station attendents???

Now you're just stirring the pot...

z...

 

[Kim]

If your beer was $10, then you WERE tipping my dear! Even the most expensive beer in the states rarely runs that much for a 6-pack. So while I'm not sure what the cost of beer is over the counter in Iceland, it sure sounds like the profit margin could be as much a 1000%.

This is a tax thing. Scandinavian taxes on alcohol are incredibly high - much the same as the attitude to cigarettes is in other countries. You'll find similar prices in Norway and Sweden, with Denmark slightly lower, but still a LOT higher than the rest of Europe.

 

[minnesota01r6]

You can easily see where we live as it's in most of our profiles.

Why would anyone tip 15% for poor service? A tip is a reward, not automatic IMO.Or at least that is how it works in the USA. A restaurant that would sabatoge their food because a customer is not a good tipper whould not stay in business here very long.

Ron, the "I don't know where you guys live" was a figure of speech.

I tip 15% for poor service because I realize it is my money that the server uses for rent, gas, car payments, etc. I reward people with 20%, or sometimes 200% when they do a great job, but I understand that everyone has a bad day at work, and I guess we midwestern residents are more sympathetic to that. Or perhapse it has to do with the fact that I used to work as a server.

Restaurants don't sabotage food, but servers do. I never did so myself, but I routinely witnessed servers depositing various bodily fluids on entrees of customers who left crappy tips.

Finally, I think you are lumping the server in with management/owners of restaurants. Owners and management really could care less if you leave a tip. They are always happy to have your business, because they don't make anything off your tips anyway. Servers, on the other hand, require tips in order to earn a wage that is above poverty level.

 

[almitywife]

as Zee said, we only do it if we get exceptional service.

its not suppose to show up on your bill automaticaly at the end of the night, you dont have to tip the conceirge, the taxi driver or the girl serving you coffee unless you choose to.

now the aussies in this industry figured out ages ago that the americans automatically put their hand in their pocket to pull out a few bucks for a tip and they arent going to knock back any free money so take it and say thankyou - but you wont see any australian paying someone a buck to someone for opening their hotel door.

when at cafe's you will see a tips jar - but thats more for the spare change you dont want to keep. in australia we no longer have the 1cent or 2cent coin and the 5cent coin is just about useless so i throw my 5cents in there.

 

[Zeeman]

As mstevens said, I have trouble tipping an amount that would be worth more than about $10 an hour. I, very rarely, go to some really nice restaurants here in Sydney, Tetsuyas being one of them - it's a 3 hat restaurant, and it has been in the top ten in the world for as long as I can remember, I think it's number 4 this year - or maybe 8. not sure. Meals there cost about $150, plus wine (usuually also about $150 - but it can go crazy if you so choose...) there is no way I'm putting $60 on top of that. no way - it's expensive enough as it is! I think $5 - $10 each is about as far as it goes.

Z...

 

[Scubatooth]

For dining, tips are generally 15% in the US. This amount should not include the price of alcohol.
For other services, it's entirely up to the person spending the money. No server in their right mind would EXPECT 20-25%. You've been paying too much! Of course, some of us are worth that much...

Having worked/ing in the service industry 5+ years and we have to tip out on all of your sales including alcohol, which depending on the establishment is anywhere from 3-7% of there servers sales (i.e. it comes out of your tips, and is divided amongst the hosts, food & drink runners, busboys, hosts, and bartenders; even if they did nothing to help you the whole night).

So if you don’t tip on the drinks your just cutting that persons take home pay even more (which in most states is 2.13 a hour + tips and doesn’t cover the taxes on your reported tips).

I would love it if people would leave 20% or more because it means that at the end of the day I would walk with maybe 15-20%. My normal average is in the 18-21%(before tip out) but lately it’s down hill because the state of the economy and gas so it’s around 15% right now, which means im walking at the end of the night with 10-12% of my sales. Sales are up compared to last year but im making less this year then I was last year.

For those that think working in a restaurant or the service industry is easy or quick cash, needs a reality check. So before making any comments go work in a restaurant for more then six months (say at least from labor day through St. Patrick’s day), and then you can comment.

I should probably post the rules on tipping from a server’s point of view but I would probably get banned for it.


RonFrank I can agree with you on that and there has been a time where the grat was shoved on the bill and the service plain sucked (and that’s my opinion from working in the industry) and in one case it was a 4 star establishment and was a party of 12 of my friends who all work in the industry, it was a Sunday night and the place was not even 20% full. When I got the bill, which the server dropped it and left in a hurry because he knew he didn’t do a good job. So when I saw the 18% added to the bill I was not happy. So after showing the bill to the rest of the table which all of us weren’t happy either. I went and got the GM of the establishment (who was the owner/exec chef) and told him what happened and that the auto grat needed to be removed as we weren’t going to give 18% for bad service (even I will leave 15% if your ok - not good as I know how hard the job, and had bad nights where it showed, and can empithize, but in this case even 15% was to high). For which the owner went in there system and took the grat off and discounted the bill to make up for it. We paid and left, but never went back or recommended that place to anyone. The server made almost 15% as we tipped on the original total not the comped total (so in reality was closer to 8%). So if this happens in the future and you don’t think service was adequate talk to a manager.

Which brings up something else that everyone should do. Is that if something is comped off (or given to you for free) your bill for reasons like your meal was cold/not hot enough or not cooked right/to your liking, don’t penalize the server as its not there fault; it’s a hourly wage cook in the kitchen), but most don’t, and as a result the person who messed up doesn’t have there income penalized but the server does. So tip on the orginal total not the comped total

As for regulars I would rather get 15% from a person on a regular basis (3+ times a week), which is better then the dice roll tip from the general public. Being a regular at an establishment can have its perks to; as where I work management buys drinks and meals of some of regulars.

Those that tip bad or are abusive on a regular basis are noted by the staff and when they come in don’t get taken care of by the staff because of there history and management know it as well and wont listen to any of there complaints either, and in some cases your name and description may be sent to other establishments as a FYI. So they either learn to tip/act better or find a different establishment.

Trust me I could go on and on about people that come to restaurants and their behavior and tipping habits; it would make a priest blush. Some people wouldn’t know what good service is even if it hit them.

Whew