WasWild:
I need a "Miss Manners" book to figure it all out.
I read this in the Denver Post recently.
The going gratuity for good restaurant service has climbed to 20 percent. Is it the market, or are we just spending more?
By Douglas Brown
Denver Post Staff Writer
HERE'S A TIP:
Think before forking over 15 percent of your restaurant tab to the smiling waitress.
She might frown.
A 15 percent tip, for many servers, has become more slap-in-the-face than selfless-gesture-of-generosity.
The going tip rate for good service at restaurants now is about 20 percent of the bill. For superb service? There's nothing strange about a 25 percent gratuity.
"I tip on everything," says Rachel Levin, 24, who works at US Bank in downtown Denver. "I tip 25 percent for good service, but I will tip 15 percent for bad service."
These days, "20 percent is the standard," says Meagan Pence, 26, a Hooter's waitress. "If you get below that, you are questioning what you did wrong as a server. Or you wonder why they came out if they can't pay for service."
The tip for good service reached 15 percent in the 1970s and remained there for decades. Why the quiet upward drift?
No expert can give a definitive answer. Ask for explanations, and you'll get a range of answers.
One of the world's leading tip scholars, Michael Lynn at Cornell University in New York, says tips have floated up during the past decade because people "tip for social approval."
"If I want the server's approval, I have to leave at least the minimal they expect, and the more I leave, the more approval I'll get," he says. "So that puts pressure on the social norm. I need to at least tip that, or preferably more. And as more people
are tipping, more to get that approval, the norm goes up. We are striving for social position through the eyes of the server, and we are in competition with everybody else for that."
What the market decrees?
Lynn studies tipping as a psychologist. Orn Bodvarsson, a professor of economics at St. Cloud University in Minnesota, views tipping through the machinations of the marketplace.
"This tip, this national norm, this is what I call the market price for service," he says. "Just like there is a market price for oil, there is a market price for service. For many years that price for service was 15 percent."
Now, he says, "the market is responding by upping the price of service. That's one explanation."
Jorge de la Torre, dean of the college of culinary arts at Johnson & Wales University's Denver campus, has noticed tipping's helium lift. He's also observed that the service charges restaurants often apply to parties of six or more people is now routinely 18 percent.
Some restaurants calculate tips for diners on their checks. A recent bill from Giampetros Pizzeria in Breckenridge calculated tip amounts for 15, 20, and 25 percent.
Bills with pre-calculated tips are common at Colorado ski resorts, de la Torre says, because the resorts attract hordes of foreigners, many of whom do not understand tipping rituals and rules in the United States.
De la Torre credits the dot-com boom of the late 1990s, in part, for the boost in tipping. Before the boom, he says, 15 percent was the standard. But the dot-com era, when money was almost alarmingly free-flowing, changed everything. It didn't take much to compel people to part with their dough.
He also points toward the blossoming of food media, especially food television.
"People are foodies now," he says. "They are understanding the essence of restaurants. ... People are more educated about the restaurant business; they understand what the waitstaff is working off of, the low hourly wages. They depend on tips."
20% makes math easier
People may have latched onto the 20-percent nod because "the math is much easier," says Leah Ingram, the author of "The Everything Etiquette Book," published this year. "I wonder if in our rush-rush world, the easier math has led to the 20-percent tip."
"The only time I take out my tip calculator is when I get horrible service," she says. "And I'll leave 14 percent, and I'll talk to the manager."
Another possible reason? Better service in general, says Guthrie Schaffer, the general manager of the Coral Room restaurant in the Stapleton neighborhood.
"I think there is a much higher emphasis these days on hospitality and service," he says. "I got into the business in the early 1990s, and you did service, but that was it. The genuine care of the guests wasn't there, like it is now."
It's also a "generational thing," he says. At his former restaurant, the clientele was older, and 15-percent tips were much more common than at the Coral Room.
"We're much less concerned with our money," he says. "I mean, my father was a lot tighter than I ever was."
When asked about how he tipped, Bill Thode, 41, a Denver lawyer, offered the old standby: "15 percent the standard, 20 percent for excellent service, 10 percent for poor service."
Then he gave it some more thought.
"I tend to tip 20 percent, but my wife complains about it all the time," he says. "I guess I do fit into this tip-creep" phenomenon.
Kyran Hubel, 23, a financial analyst in Denver, thinks the age of the tipper plays a big role in determining what kind of tipper he'll be.
"Most of my friends at one point have worked in the service industry," he says, and having worked on the other side, they understand the importance of tipping.
Hubel tips "the standard," he says - 20-25 percent.
Is a 15-percent tip the sign of a cheapskate?
"Someone my age, yeah," says Erin Gilbride, 27, a portfolio analyst in Denver. If she's eating out with people and sees that the person paying the bill is proffering a 15-percent tip, "I'll hide more money on the table," she says. "I do it all the time."
Will the tip plateau?
"I don't see it going to 25 or 30 (percent) anytime soon" for standard service, says Tom Mason, owner and operator of the popular website tip20.com. "I think 20 percent is a round number that people can swallow. But who knows?"
Staff writer Douglas Brown can be reached at 303-820-1395 or
djbrown@denverpost.com.
The goods on gratuities
Tip what you think is warranted, depending on the service. The percentages and dollar amounts below are only guidelines. If
the service was poor, tip less and talk to the manager. If the service was exceptional, feel free to give more.
AIRPORT
Skycap $2 per bag or more if heavy; an extra $5-$20 if you're late and he helps you make your flight. Yes, airports in 14 cities now charge for skycap services, but many of those folks make just barely $2 an hour.
Electric cart drive $2-$3 per person
Taxi, limo, etc. 15 percent of total fare; 20 percent if driver helps with bags.
Driver of courtesy shuttle $1-$2 per bag
NO TIP REQUIRED
Starbucks or other coffee chain, fast-food restaurant, buffet or cafeterias - but if a person fills your glass, tip that person $1 or $2 personally. Others requiring no tip: travel agent, Realtor, appliance repairman, cable installer, carpet cleaner, piano tuner, house painters.
More goods on gratuities
HOTEL
Valet $1-$3 for returning car
Doorman $1 if he gets a cab for you; $.50-$1 if he gets your bags out of the car; $1-$2 if he carries them to your room
Bellman $1-$2 per bag if he carries them to your room
Concierge $5-$10 if he helps get you hard-to-get reservations or tickets; optional tips for advice or directions
Room service 20 percent of total bill, but make sure it already hasn't been added to the bill
Maid service $1-$2 per day
Most bed-and-breakfasts have a no-tipping policy; if the cleaning staff is hired, tip the same as for a hotel
SALONS
Barber $2-$3
Hairstylist or colorist 10-15 percent
Massage therapist 10-15 percent
Spa package 10-20 percent
RESTAURANT
Bartender 15-20 percent, or $1 a drink
Wine steward 10 percent of bill
Coat check $1
Four-hour meals If you're at the table for longer than two hours, tip double
MISCELLANEOUS SERVICES
Car wash $2-$3 for a car; $3-$5 for an SUV
Pet groomer 15 percent of the bill
Pet sitter Not required, but 15 percent is appropriate
DELIVERIES
Furniture $10-$15 per person
Flowers $2-$5 unless bouquet is large
Pizza 15 percent, but not less than $2
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