When do you over tip?

[BeeZee]

@kayb, there was something online recently about a waitress at (IIRC) an Applebee's who had to pack a rather large "to go" order for a church group and got stiffed on a tip. It was supposedly an oversight, but she made comments about it online and got fired. Her contention was that the amount of time she spent preparing this large order (not one meal, it was dozens) took her away from the dining room where she would have the opportunity to earn tips. I think you should tip a small amount for take out if there was some assembly/prep needed. But when I take out at Panera Bread (chain) for example, which is paying at least min. wage (unlike what wait staff get), I don't feel the need to tip. I might drop the change into a communal jar if the service is cheerful, but for the usual sullen and unhelpful servers I see, not so much. When it is mostly self serve (like the "meat 'n three" types of places) it becomes kind of awkward. I sometimes go to an Indian buffet type restaurant for lunch. One that I went to, they did absolutely nothing, they dropped a pitcher of cold water on the table so I could refill my own water glass and didn't remove dirty plates. No tip left (although I admit to some residual guilt).

[DianaB]

In the parts of Europe where I am used to eating out tipping is very different, I think, to countries referred to so far.  In England we will usually tip around 10% and while this might seem mean tipping is not so much a part of the culture.  I don’t know what happens in chain restaurants: living in the country we rarely come across them, but I would be surprised if the employees of Macdonalds etc ever receive anything at all.  I will be happy for others to correct me on this.

 

When we first began to travel in Europe my husband and I studied our guide books and, in accordance with advice (going back some years) we always tipped at least 10% in other parts of western Europe.  In the early 1990s I visited Poland several times for professional reasons.  Colleagues advised that as a result of the astronomic inflation of that time generous tips should be given to anyone providing any form of service since salaries were not keeping up with escalating prices.  The currency has since changed but I recall giving the lift attendant in our hotel a handful of notes, several thousand zlotys (now, I think, extinct).  I asked my colleague if that had been too much, he replied that the sum had been equal to a few pennies so not really appropriate.  I left tipping to him for the rest of that visit!  The situation in Poland is of course very different now.

 

When living in France I would often dine out with clients or take them for coffee.  I noticed that they would be extremely generous with tips, especially in bars where at the time a coffee was usually 1€.  Handfuls of change would be deposited on the table by the clients as we left.  On one occasion I did a quick calculation and found that my client had placed almost 5€ on the table in coins of small denominations.  When I advised him of this, and of the price I had paid for our 2 coffees, he was amazed.  He had simply seen an opportunity of ridding himself of a pocket full of change without thought of value.  I noticed during those years that people not familiar with the currency would often pay for things with a note rather than taking the time to count out unfamiliar change (I have a long sighted friend who does the opposite but I won’t wander off to describe that approach )!  As a result my non-French clients ended up with huge amounts of change and bar staff were often therefore rather well tipped.  I think they simply didn’t consider the value of their change in the same way they would with their home currency.

 

Last week I spent some days with close friends who, as you might know, were restauranteurs before retirement.  The topic of tipping came up in general conversation and I asked if 10% was still the anticipated gratuity in France.  My question was met with laughter.  I was told that in years past servers did not receive a salary and so relied upon tips as their income.  This practice is long since abolished, France has a minimum wage and (almost) everyone is paid for their work.  The exceptions are irrelevant here.  Restaurant/bar/hotel etc bills will all include advice that service is included in the total price and my friends were adamant in saying that as a result they would never tip however excellent the food or the service.  This is what they have paid for in the sum determined appropriate by the establishment concerned.

 

I was told that when still running their restaurant the only clients that left tips were ‘foreigners’, most often English (they consider all English speaking peoples English and can’t discriminate accents between English English and American English).  

 

I was amazed at the information on tipping.  Of course I had seen ‘Service Inclus’ on restaurant bills but we often see similar in England and I had not imagined that this really meant tipping was not expected.  This did help me understand the reaction of staff in the few Parisien restaurants where we eat reasonably often.  I had thought the exceptionally warm welcomes simply a result of our repeat visits and expressions of interest in the menus and staff.  When we have particularly appreciated a meal we have certainly tipped in excess of 10% as we would elsewhere. We have accepted the little extras offered at the end of the meal as simple generosity but my friends have advised that we have perhaps embarrassed restaurant owners or waiting staff and they are anxious that we receive value for our money!

 

I guess we will never properly understand a culture that is not our own.  This is a topic I intend to discuss with others when next in France.  For now our tipping won’t change.  The minimum wage is clearly better than having staff entirely dependent on tips but it is as the title indicates and if a small gratuity can bring a little joy to those doing a job involving hard work at less than ideal hours I am happy to provide that.

 

To finish, the one aspect of tipping I really dislike is that of certain English establishments where one is presented with a bill that doesn’t include a total.  When paying by card as is often the case one is invited to add the tip in writing so that it will be included in the total transaction and deducted from your card alongside the menu charges.  If I want to tip I want to do that in person for the benefit of the individual who has provided the service.  I appreciate I can be criticised for this but I don’t claim to be perfect!  I have yet to tip in this way, when I do pay by card in such a situation my tip will be given as I leave, in cash, to those directly concerned.

[ElsieD]

Interesting topic.  When we tip, and pay by credit card, we usually leave cash rather than adding it to the credit amount for the simple reason to make sure the tip is not reduced by whatever amount the owner pays to the credit card company for processing charges.  Sometimes that is not a lot, but it's the principle of the thing.........

[suzilightning]

On ‎3‎/‎7‎/‎2018 at 9:56 PM, bokreta said:

Wait, have I been rude all my life?

 

I've only ever stayed in US hotels while in transit, rarely for more than a day.  I've also only stayed at utility level places.

 

It never would have occurred to me that I should have been tipping the housekeeping staff for doing what I have little active interaction with.  I've also never asked for any "extras" - I tend to travel at minimal maintenance levels.

 

 

Not rude but do remember that before you checked into that room, even if only in transit, the room had to be totally cleaned and all linens had to be checked and changed.  Dust, vacuum, wet mop the bathroom, clean the toilet and if a kitchen or kitchenette everything cleaned and an inventory checked.  I used to be able to turn a room in about 20 minutes but a suite would take 2 of us about 30-45.  If you stay only one night it all has to be done over again.  When we travel we tip 5% of the bill to housekeeping.  If we are staying several days in the same place we tip each day JUST in case the regular housekeeper has the day off.  

 

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I think this has been addressed before, but I forget what all was said. What about picking up something to go at a restaurant? 

 

We were getting takeout from the same place while without power and tipped about 20% each time.

 

 

 

 

[Martin Fisher]

"When do you over-tip?"

When I'm a bit too 'tipsy!!!' LOL 

[suzilightning]

22 hours ago, ElsieD said:

Interesting topic.  When we tip, and pay by credit card, we usually leave cash rather than adding it to the credit amount for the simple reason to make sure the tip is not reduced by whatever amount the owner pays to the credit card company for processing charges.  Sometimes that is not a lot, but it's the principle of the thing.........

We do the same thing for the same reason.  What can I say great minds.....

The least I have tipped recently was 10% as the waiter bungled just about every stage of service INCLUDING delivering the check then picking it up for payment.  Sitting at a table for a little over half an hour to get and then pay the check when there were only about half of the tables filled seemed..........a bit much, especially as we could see the waiter standing around talking with other staff.

[lindag]

Something I don't quite understand occurs when I dine out and put the charges on my credit card; the next day the charge for the food is posted to my account; then the next day that charge is replaced by the charge for the food and the tip together.  I've always wondered why it's a two-step process.

[Martin Fisher]

2 minutes ago, lindag said:

Something I don't quite understand occurs when I dine out and put the charges on my credit card; the next day the charge for the food is posted to my account; then the next day that charge is replaced by the charge for the food and the tip together.  I've always wondered why it's a two-step process.

 

It's an authorization hold, AKA card authorization, AKA preauthorization.

It's account verification, which also places a hold on the funds until the transaction is completed.

[Toliver]

On 3/10/2018 at 6:51 AM, DiggingDogFarm said:

 

It's an authorization hold, AKA card authorization, AKA preauthorization.

It's account verification, which also places a hold on the funds until the transaction is completed.

The pessimist in me thinks "someone" (the banks? Credit card companies?) put that money that is being "held" into an overnight escrow account that earns a very low interest. But multiply that "very low interest" by millions of consumers and...someone is making a lot of money off these transactions and it isn't the cardholder or restaurant. 

[BeeZee]

@Toliver, you are not imagining, and it has been going on for a long time. I did business with a company in the 90’s whose business was based on that concept, making money off the float.

[lindag]

11 minutes ago, BeeZee said:

@Toliver, you are not imagining, and it has been going on for a long time. I did business with a company in the 90’s whose business was based on that concept, making money off the float.

But my question is why the charge is made twice...first for the food and then the food and the tip combined?

Edited March 13, 2018 by lindag (log)

[BeeZee]

@lindag, an educated guess would be in how the accounting is done for the restaurant...as the food/bev is one “bucket” and tips are another one that gets reported separately to the IRS as income for the server.

[Tri2Cook]

I never over tip. I tip based on the service provided. Whether that's 0% or 50%, it's never under or over tipping... it's tipping as warranted.

[Orbit]

We tip 20% unless something is particularly well-done, then it might be a little more. I tend not to reduce tips for bad service because I know the server isn't getting minimum wage and around here, is an under-trained college student.

[MetsFan5]

I think the tipping culture is different not only between countries but also regions of various countries.

  I tip the curb side check in baggage handlers 10-20$ depending on the weather. 

   My husband and I cleaned our suite completely of garbage and washed all the dishes and utensils and pots and pans and left $50 as we never had them come in during our stay as it wasn’t practical with Maisey. She didn’t make a mess at all— I wiped her paws before we’d go back into the hotel and she definitely never had an accident.  I feel like we probably should have left more. I generally abide by the $5 per day tip but in this instance with the dog, I still doubt myself. 

 

  20% for food delivery is basically our minimum. More if the weather conditions are awful. I figure if we can afford to splurge for someone else to bring us dinner then we should tip accordingly. 

 

  I over tip on Uber. In part because 99% of my trips are cheap (less than $12) and also to keep my rating up. 

 

  The difference between 15 and 20% as stated above doesn’t mean a lot to me but it means a lot to the person receiving it. And it pays off— the local, really good pizzeria had tons of yelp reviews that they take a long time to deliver. Same with the local sushi place. They always deliver well in advance of the expected delivery time. 

 

   I guess I view tipping as this/- if I don’t want to do it my self (whether self parking,  driving myself, picking up food, going grocery shopping, etc) and have the economic means to pay someone else to do so, I should tip accordingly. 

Edited March 15, 2018 by MetsFan5 (log)

[Cronker]

On 13/03/2018 at 11:01 AM, BeeZee said:

@lindag, an educated guess would be in how the accounting is done for the restaurant...as the food/bev is one “bucket” and tips are another one that gets reported separately to the IRS as income for the server.

 

Yes, it’s for this reason.  At least, here in Australia.

At the end of shift, when you are settling the card machine, tips are shown as a seperate “pool” of transactions.  It’s done this way firstly to ensure that tips are accounted for correctly (ie: not double taxed) and secondly as a deterrent for owners to pocket the tips themselves.

There are still very dodgy practices by owners trying to get their hands on the tips, in some restaurants.

It used to be common for owners/management to rule that breakages, walk-outs or comped meals come out of tips.  This is illegal now.

 

In Australia, we have a decent living wage, and tipping is an exception rather than a rule.  Tipping is generally for excellent service or, sometimes, large groups.

When waitstaff see an American tourist come through, they will knife each other in the back to get them to their table section.

[Kerala]

On a slightly different tack, it saddens me that the person I most want to thank, ie the cook who made my food, usually doesn't get a look in. I think some restaurants do share the tips with the kitchen staff.