Tipping
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Not at all, Susan...some do still go the extra mile when providing service, and I gratefully acknowledge my pleasure at them doing so. I personally pretty much do for myself, so not much opportunity to worry about it, except:
the wise waitress who keeps my dad's water glass full, smiles at my brother's silly joking, and doesn't bring my cheeseless cheeseburger (I'm alergic to milk) on a bun toasted in butter, gets at least 20%...usually more if one of us is trying to steal the check and needs to figure quickly
my barber (who remembers my name each of the 3-4 times a year he sees me) gets a couple of bucks if I say yes to trimming up my beard
and the little gal on roller skates at the drive-in (yes, we still have one and one still does) does quite well always
Oh yeah: there was a samlar driver (rickshaw jockey in Korat, Thailand) who got a hundred bucks once for outrunning a bunch of thugs dead set on doing an ugly american much harm
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From a Central Illinois perspective:
Shuttle Bus: A buck or two if they've gone out of their way to help.
Taxi: Hardly ever see a taxi here.
Porter: Never used one, but would probably be a buck or two.
Hotel: Knowing how poorly maids are paid and treated, I usually leave a couple dollars and say thank you personally if I can.
Pizza/Fast Food: If delivered, a couple dollars. Else none.
Restaurant: Where I am a "regular" and the food is good and not expensive, I tip as much as 50%. I get excellent service and they make sure that my table is happy and well served. The manager gives us freebies too sometimes. Generally between 10 and 25% based on quality of the service.Hairdresser/Barber: A buck or two if they've been pleasant - I go to cheap places and don't usually see the same person
Manicure:?? No idea
Masseuse:??
Facial:??
Other SPA??All that said, I would prefer a different system where service workers are considered to be real human beings and are paid a decent wage. That's not the system in the USA though.
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Once a waiter brought me my credit card slip to sign,
And as he put it on the table before I even had the
Opportunity to pick it up he said by the way sir it is
a custom here to leave 10% for the service.
On which I took the slip and signed it without leaving
him a dime.
I said to him Its agains my traditional religious beliefs to tip.
I honour Your custom but You must also honour mine.
By the way- I was totally dissatisfied with his service.Tipping shouldnt be something we take for granted
-as he put it : its a custom.We didnt have tipping at all here where I live but
when American tourists started comming over they
brought over the custom of tipping. And people
now expect it whatewer their level of service is.A new really expensive restaurant opened in my city
a couple of months ago. Good rich clientelle are
leaving large tips that a friend of mine told me he
earned more in a week from tipping than in month
from wage. No wonder that everyone wants to work
there. Before You know it it will be a privilage to
work there without a wage at all. -
Here in Canada people who receive tips are required to declare them on their income tax returns. I had a friend who worked as a part-time waiter explain to me that in his experience waiters and waitresses typically only declare 10% to 14% of their tips. He said they were expected to tow the line because if one waiter at the restaurant declared all his tips all the others working there would be under suspicion of tax evasion. He said there was considerable peer pressure to do as everyone else did and if he didn't he wouldn't be surprised if he would be beat up, or at the very leased framed for stealing or something else that would get him fired.
We worked out the implications of their illegal arrangements: In his restaurant a waiter working just 25 hours a week would have more after-tax income than someone working a conventional full-time job earning $45,000 to $50,000 per year! Of course one downside is they can't save money in a bank account or open an investment account at a brokerage as having money would raise the taxman's suspicion. Apparently it is not uncommon for waiters/waitresses to spend all their money as fast as they get it. And perhaps because they are relatively low status 'working-class' jobs, they falsely believe everyone else is doing much better than themselves. In reality they often have more spending power than the person leaving them the tip yet they feel themselves to be the ones hard done by.
Regards, Ross
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Hi Susan, Glad to hear that you are getting out and about
Tips! I have a simply enough rule. If I feel I have got a
good service, I tip. In other words tips should be earned and
not expected as part of the job!Mike
PS: And if I feel I am being pressurised into giving a tip,
this equals bad service. I have found this with hotel porters
mostly all over the place. -
Looks like I'm WAY overtipping. I feel sorry for everybody and I'm convinced that they have a hard life and I personally amd responsible for making it better.
Pizza and Chinese food guy get $3 at the door. Sometimes $4 when it is a big order.
Hairdresser ( on an $80 haircut and blow dry: $5 and the Hairwasher gets $1 unless they also did something else in which case they get up to $3)
The manicurest gets $3.(thank god I only do this for weddings)The porter, very rarely used usually $2-$3 depending on the number of bags. I have done $5.
Shuttle bus $2 ususlly if they help me with my bags.
Restaurants I am told are moving from 15% to 20% nowadays. I struggle with the before tax and after tax thing. Sometimes one way sometimes another depending on the service.I was giving $5 per day in hotels for the maid but I have trimmed it down to $3. I particularly feel sorry for the maids in hotels.
Taxi drivers were usually around $5 expcept they started raising their eyebrows and remarking what a good tip I was leaving so I clued in and started leaving $2 or $3 depending on the length of the ride.
I reiterate: this is a stupid way of doing things and I wish there were some one to appeal to to make it different. Hell, if the government legislated a proper minimum wage for service workers, we wouldn't have to do this. No one tips me for doing the job I am suppoesed to do. -
@sorgesu said:
Looks like I'm WAY overtipping.
I'm not so sure- after all most of the replies above are European where tipping is not so widespread or expected and almost all of the replies are from males who everyone knows are the meaner gender! LOL.
@sorgesu said:Restaurants I am told are moving from 15% to 20% nowadays.
That's an interesting issue- who on Earth invents these trends? The fact that restaurant tips are percentage based means they're already index linked to the current rate of inflation so why the hell should waiters be entitled to a better deal than the rest of us?! I'd love to see he look on my clients faces when I tell them that my fees are now moving from 15% to 20%... well, just because.
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Well seeing as I used to wait tables, way back when, I always tip 20% on a good waiter and good food. Even if the food is not that great but the waiter makes up for it... 20%. The lesser the service, the lesser the percentage.
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@sorgesu said:
. . . Hell, if the government legislated a proper minimum wage for service workers, we wouldn't have to do this. . . .
It's a matter of respect. In the USA, we do not show respect for people who serve others. In the USA, no one will admit to being a waiter. They are all doing the job temporarily until a real job comes up. Same for a cab driver or most other service jobs. We don't value people because they are people. We only value them for what they can do for us.
I remember how the "rude French" changed into the nicest people after I learned that I was treating them rudely. They expect, perfectly reasonably, that they are first acknowledged as as fellow humans. It also taught me how I treated my fellow Americans like machines. I don't think most Americans see much difference between a gas station cashier and a sophisticated vending machine.
Off topic, but related.
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@schreiberbike said:
I remember how the "rude French" changed into the nicest people after I learned that I was treating them rudely. They expect, perfectly reasonably, that they are first acknowledged as as fellow humans. It also taught me how I treated my fellow Americans like machines. I don't think most Americans see much difference between a gas station cashier and a sophisticated vending machine.
That's an interesting observation- it seems to explain why the French have gained an unjust reputation for being rude. I'be been to France several times and never found them to be more rude than any other nationality- even though I only speak very little French I found they were perfectly accomodating. Even when I had to say "Je ne parlez Francais, parlez-vous anglais?" I have never received the stereotypical French shrug, I was either answered "Yes" or "Non" with an apologetic raise of the eyebrows.
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@sorgesu said:
I reiterate: this is a stupid way of doing things and I wish there were some one to appeal to to make it different. Hell, if the government legislated a proper minimum wage for service workers, we wouldn't have to do this. No one tips me for doing the job I am suppoesed to do.
no no.. dont feel bad.. i'm pretty much on par with everything you have here.. and even worse, i tip $5 on a $25 haircut..haha.. and i definitely tend to tip more when i know i'm going to encounter this person again in hopes that it'll do something for me.. and at the very least, make me look good
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Susan,
I actually started to type a list like some of the others have, but then it occured to me....all you need to know about tipping is in a favorite movie of mine.....My Blue Heaven (Steve Martin)
Hope you can find the time to see it!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Blue_Heaven_%281990_film%29 -
About respect for others:
Eleven years ago, I moved to the South after living in the North for the first 50 years of my life. A few years after I moved, I visited friends in my former home town. At lunch, they were remarkably rude, not only to the server, but also to each other. They treated the server as a "servant;" no "please," no "Thank you," just indifference. They talked all over each other, not allowing anyone to finish a thought.
I had to wonder, "Was I like that when I lived here?" I couldn't wait to get back to the South, where courtesy is the grease that lubricates almost all interactions, even though it's often false courtesy. Nevertheless, I can no longer imagine not saying please and thank you to someone who is doing me a service, no matter how small. A tip recognizes both good service and a pleasant and helpful attitude. I tip in proportion to how I am treated.
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