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Thread: Tipping (as an act of kindness)

  1. #21
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mrs-M View Post
    Not intending for my post to come across as though I'm going against the grain, however, if service isn't up to snuff, our gratuities reflect, and if service is sullied, no gratuities. I do not buy the idea of an automatic percentage left behind for service, regardless of the level of service provided.

    You wouldn't afford a bonus to a contractor who built a home for you with substandard overtones, and the same should hold true for the food-service industry.
    I agree that poor service does not deserve monetary reward and service has to be pretty bad for me not to tip something but one time I did not leave a tip. The service was deplorable. Too much so to give details. I don’t know what the problem was with the wait person but I addressed it with the manager. I told the manager that I did not leave a tip and why. I said I did not know if this was her normal behavior, if she was sick, mad or whatever but he needed to address the situation with her or they would lose business over extremely poor service. There was nothing pleasant or cordial about the experience.

  2. #22
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    I am pretty sure everyone in BC gets a minimum of $9.50 or thereabouts, so tipping is great, but not as absolutely vital as when you are making a lot less. I can't believe anywhere is allowed to pay their waitstaff that little. That is rather incredible.

  3. #23
    Moderator Float On's Avatar
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    OK, I found this on a Missouri Labor site. So apparently it is now $3.625. But if you have a dead night -no tables or tips - then the employer must kick in to meet the minimum wage of $7.25. Its nice to see that there are so many states that do require the minimum + tips.


    "Compensation for a tipped employee must total at least the minimum wage rate which currently is $7.25 per hour. Employers subject to the provisions of the law are required to pay tipped employees at least 50 percent of the minimum wage of $7.25, or $3.625 per hour. Employers of tipped employees must pay more than 50 percent of the minimum wage rate to tipped employees if it is necessary to bring the employee′s total compensation up to at least the minimum wage rate per hour. In other words, the employer is required to make up any difference between the minimum wage amount and the actual base wage and tips received by the employee."
    Float On: My "Happy Place" is on my little kayak in the coves of Table Rock Lake.

  4. #24
    Mrs-M
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    Goldensmom. We seldom do the restaurant thing, but a few years ago (after an extended hiatus away) we planned a restaurant outing (while away for a couple of days), and egads, service was terrible! We waited an hour and half for our meal! And in the hour and half while we sat patiently waiting, the server visited our table just twice, and both times (after taking our drink order) she never returned with our drinks. Terrible. Needless to say, no gratuities, and happy to do so.

  5. #25
    Senior Member jennipurrr's Avatar
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    DH is a particularly good tipper, sometimes to the point where it irks my frugal sensibilities. I always try to tip above and beyond at lower cost places for the same reasons as LC...those servers are working as hard, if not harder, than upscale places, and for much smaller tips.

    I wish we paid our waitstaff more in the US, but I know it my state it is less than $3/hr and thus the tipping culture is engrained here. Once traveling internationally where the waitstaff were paid little and literally survived off tips and I was talking to a bartender...a group of Europeans (Brits maybe, can't remember) next to me left with out tipping. He and I discussed how he loved the Americans because they were good tippers (the hotel catered mostly to Europeans). But, in Europe servers don't have to worry about tips since their wages are enough already, and so most visitors didn't realize he wasn't making a wage, just tips. However it is done, I hope that servers get fairly compensated for their labor whether that is through a salary or tips.

    DH and I usually split Christmas between families and a couple years ago ended up with a long drive Christmas day. We stopped into a diner (it had to be a Waffle House, not much else open on Christmas) and I gave the server a $50 tip. I think I had heard it on Dave Ramsey's show that he did that occasionally, and I thought it was a good idea. I don't usually throw that kind of money around but I figured it was the least I could do...I figured no one would work on Christmas unless they really needed to. We snuck out really quickly and we could see her really excited when she found it. DH and I decided if we had to eat out on Christmas again we would definitely always do that. It made us feel good and could have made the difference in that person's holiday.

    Edited to add - I did want to mention if service is very bad I will definitely reduce my tip. If something is wrong with the food however, I will bring it to the attention of the server but I would not blame them for what happens in the kitchen. I definitely tip more for exceptional service. I was in the airport recently and some no name restaurant that I thought was just going to be blah and I had an amazing server. He recommended a fabulous local beer, was super friendly, told us where the free wifi was and gave us a coupon for a free app. That kind of stuff, in what was a boring, have to eat situation made all the difference in the experience.

  6. #26
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    In Ontario wait staff get less than min. wage (which is currently $10.25 per hour) I think they get about $9 or $9.50 but am unsure.

    I am so happy to read we have a lot of big tippers on this board! I did a lot of waitressing and bartending in my teens and 20s and believe me I LOVED getting those big tips!

    I am a generous tipper as well-20% for satisfactory and more if they were stupendous. Because I normally go out to eat with a group of women it is easy for each of us to throw in another dollar or two to make a super big tip for our wait staff

    If the bill is very low I give about 50% as well.

    This is something I think I may like to get back into in years to come-work lunch shift at a local greasy spoon-you make pretty good money, it's fun and no need to go to a gym to exercise!

  7. #27
    Senior Member catherine's Avatar
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    That's so cool that a bunch of frugalista's dig deep to tip people who work hard to earn a living in the service industry.

    I must admit, that I am a 20%-er for sure. My son works as a server in a restaurant, but in addition to that, I know that servers and taxi drivers and housemaids need those tips to survive.

    if I get terrible service, I'll still tip, but maybe 10%. If I enjoy my ride in a taxi, definitely 20%. And I always give $5 a day to those unsung heroes, the women who clean the crap out of our tubs, when I'm on the road. It burns me up when we're quick to give a (male) bellboy a couple of bucks for touching our suitcases but a lot of people don't think to leave something for people who have to take care of all kinds of nastiness in our hotel rooms.
    "Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it--every, every minute?" Emily Webb, Our Town
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  8. #28
    Moderator Float On's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by catherine View Post
    It burns me up when we're quick to give a (male) bellboy a couple of bucks for touching our suitcases but a lot of people don't think to leave something for people who have to take care of all kinds of nastiness in our hotel rooms.

    I agree. I tip well in hotels too - and it doesn't have to be a 5star rated hotel either, any hotel we stay at I leave a nice little Thank you note and a good daily tip. Even if I meet them at the door and just want fresh towels, I tip. Some people wait till the last day and leave one tip but I can tell you that whoever cleaned that day will take the whole tip, they won't split it with whoever cleaned your room the other days.
    Float On: My "Happy Place" is on my little kayak in the coves of Table Rock Lake.

  9. #29
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    I despise the expectant tip.

    I have been tipped twice in my service life as a mechanic for a total of $155 over the past 10 years of service.

    The $5 was for staying 2 hours past closing to make a hydraulic hose for an owner/operator of a machine. I tried to decline it, but he told me to buy dinner with it....OK!

    The second tip was a gift certificate for $150 onboard my Snap-On tool dealers truck, from a customer that I rebuilt his log truck engine and finished it on Saturday so that he could test it on Sunday and haul on Monday. For an owner/operator that can mean up to $1000 per day on a good paying haul.

    I have also been the target of complaints and un-needed stress inflicted by managers that lied about parts arrival times, and I stayed late and waited for parts only to have the customer utterly suprised by the fact that his truck was done early!!

    I do tip when service is above the mark, and when I do I don't use a formula I use gratitude and hand the employee a paper bill of at least $10. Because then it is a real thing that shows them that the extra does matter.

    Tip #1: First Hill Seattle at about 10:30 at night....a homeless mentally ill lady came into the IHOP and was talking loudly to herself and any employee that walked by about getting some COFFEE!!! The lead server for the night came up to her and was very pleasant and told her that she needed to leave and he would happily give her a coffee in a to go cup...she tried to get irrate but the guy was very kind and mellow. She left and my wife and I finished our meal. He got a $20 bill as we left and a thank you for his being nice to the lady. The bill was maybe $35?

    Tip #2: At a local tex-mex restaurant the waiter knelt down to take my wife's order because when she looked up at him the sun from the window was directly on her face. He got a $20 and a thank you. That bill was $65 and my wife gave a tip on the debit card as well.


    All in all I know some people depend on tips for their wages to be decent, but I don't belive that it should be expected. If it is expected then up your stinking prices 20% and pay the servers more!!! BUt anymore a tip on the reciept is not getting to the server that did the good job, it is split, then it is taxed.


    I have worked in multiple industrial service jobs and the job is much more difficult than serving food and the jerks are generally much more brash and rude when you do make a mistake, but I still do everything I can and never expect a tip.
    Last edited by tootall; 5-23-12 at 12:45am.

  10. #30
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    My Mom and I have worked in the restaurant business as have two of my sons. It is HARD work! So, I always overtip. Even if the server is not the best, I still tip generously. They make almost no money other than the tips and sometimes they share with the bus boy. If my friends and I sit and chat extra long, then I'm all the more so inclined to tip really, really well.

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