how much to tip?

[Western]

I'm in the camp as some of you, I tip if the service is good, real good or just plain nice, I'll tip more. Bad service (happens allot) I will tip much less, a real ***** will get jack. I work out of town and eat out more than I care for, I have seen both ends of the spectrum.

One thing I do know, before complaining (that's how they see it no matter what) decide if what your eating is worth the complaint, they can do allot to your food when your not looking, risk reward type thing. I have waited until after I'm ready to leave it it was something that can wait, I've even told a few that their attitude got/ or lost them tip $$.

 

[brin]

I'm in the camp as some of you, I tip if the service is good, real good or just plain nice, I'll tip more. Bad service (happens allot) I will tip much less, a real ***** will get jack. I work out of town and eat out more than I care for, I have seen both ends of the spectrum.

One thing I do know, before complaining (that's how they see it no matter what) decide if what your eating is worth the complaint, they can do allot to your food when your not looking, risk reward type thing. I have waited until after I'm ready to leave it it was something that can wait, I've even told a few that their attitude got/ or lost them tip $$.

:thumbsup: Same here....I don't feel obligated to tip...A tip is meant to reward for above average attention and service...I refuse to be intimidated into believing I should support the employees of a restaurant for simply delivering our meal and then bringing the check..To earn the tip...there has to be some exemplary service otherwise I leave 10 to 15% unless it is just awful and then nothing...but I agree, be very careful sending any food you ordered back..and agitating the wait staff..they can get even by spitting in your food or worse...

 

[Grumpy Old Man]

I usually start at the 20 percent range too at a restaurant. If I'm dissatisfied enough to not leave a tip I'm likely saying something to a manager.
The place I'm getting my haircut now is $9 I usually give the girl a $20 and take $5 back in change.
I have no problem with a $1 a drink tip either but I'd be pissed if I had to wait to be acknowledged because the bartender was texting. In fact for a mixed drink I'm probably giving $2.

i see your in brentwood ,Ca We backwoods people in Tn aren't so likely to throw our money away for nothing

 

[DKCDKC]

I like to go out, but I don't have a ton on money. And I have more than some of the seniors I hang with. I also have daughters who got their start as waitresses during college. So I know their position. I probably average 20 percent, but vary all over based on service and attitude. I also go up a mite if I know those with me don't have a lot of money and can't give a really good tip.

I have a good barber at $11 - and I tip one or two bucks every time - as bills come out, so to speak. I do give him a $10 tip at Christmas.

Smallest tip ever - a nickel. On our honeymoon in a fancy NY restaurant Christmas Eve... Our meal came into sight from the kitchen, but the waiter in an almost empty restaurant dallied in conversation with another waiter so long our meal was cold. And then he rushed. I left the nickel so he wouldn't think I forgot.
Biggest tip ever - 100 percent. For a waiter, again in an almost empty restaurant at Christmas time, who took an order from a couple exhausted from shopping with a toddler, then sat down at an adjoining table and entertained the toddler for 45 minutes while we enjoyed a quiet meal.

 

[mikehaugen]

We gave nearly a 100% tip once. We had received a gift card that was good at a list of maybe 20 different restaurants, most were high-class and we searched for a couple, found one. It was getting late and was only about 1 hour from closing and since we didn't really feel like eating at this restaurant, we just sat at the bar for a couple drinks. Bill ended up being like $25, but this was a $50 gift card and it was one of those "use it or lose it" cards and was about to expire, so instead of let it go to waste, we put the rest on as a tip to the bartender. He was pretty decent, but I don't think I would ever tip anyone that much for any other reason.

 

[300UGUY]

I usually tip 20%, sometimes a little more. I don't go to a lot of new places, and the diner we have bfast at, I give a extra $10 or $20 at Christmas time. I've known a few waitresses, and it's a hard job that doesn't pay much. God has blessed us, and I feel we should share a bit. I see a lot of "Christians" that are absolute scrooges.

 

[lutt]

My tipping depends on how much they work our table to keep drinks filled,checking to see if you need anything or not and the like. I dont believe in these places automatically caculating the tip into the bill. If they earn there tip,I tip generously,if not no.My wife used to wait and bust tables at a place that made them put their tips in a jar and the end of the night,split them up, I dont believe in that either,we always make sure the waitress that waits our table receives the tip from us personally. LUTT

 

[daugen]

Seems that most of us are in the same basic range and that all of us will tip more for really good service.
And most of us have either worked in restaurants or known someone who has.

Probably a different discussion than that for tipping the cabbie in NYC who doesn't speak much English, tries to kill you several times each block,
and makes you want to leap out of the dirty cab to save yourself.

Ok, how about valet parkers? do they have to do anything special to get a buck or two, other than not wreck your car?

 

[Willl]

My reply would sound much like Western's.

But if I'm crunching numbers at the dinner table, I usually just double the tax amount.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

I tip well for good service from a waitress/waiter that knows what they are doing.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

In fact for a mixed drink I'm probably giving $2

she must have been awfully cute...:dance1:

The more you order, the cuter they get :laughing:

 

[RoyJackson]

I don't have a set amount, but I never go with an automatic gratuity.
It's rare I don't tip...and the service has to be atrocious for me not to tip.
Normally, it's about 15% of the bill. Exceptional service gets more...

 

[QRTRHRS]

Working as a caddie at an exclusive golf course way back when, we had a couple of golfers we called "Mac n' Duff". Where as a normal tip for 18 holes might have been up to five bucks, these two could only make 9 holes fortuately and would give you 50 cents. That and I had older sisters working in the diners as did I but only as a dishwasher.

I know how hard these folks worked or at least most of them so I give at least 20%. The places I frequent know me so they attend to us quite well.

For those that regularly do not tip even 15% for good service, maybe you should eat at home. I say that for the obvious but also because if you get to be known as a cheapskate, you won't ever get good service.

I will add that not only will I tip accordingly for bad service but will let the head honcho what's in charge know.

 

[whistlepig]

I always tip. Bad service is a reflection on restaurant. Leaving with out a tip is a reflection on me. I have the option of not going back if the service is bad. I have worked at restaurants. I may think that I have made the waiter/waitress look bad if I leave without leaving a tip. But not near as bad as what they say about me as I walk out the door with out leaving a tip. I won't be the caboose on a stupid train.

 

[jerrybob]

Tip range is 15% to 25%....depending on service. We usually don't have bad service but.....over the years....its happened a few times. Bad attitudes/bad service equals bad tip. On the rare occasion we have not left a tip.....I have made sure the manager knows exactly why.

 

[D7E]

I dont tip ...no one tips me

 

[Turbys_1700]

We eat at the same restaurants typically...
One restaurant we frequent every Friday night...
Has been in business since 1952...
We know the waitresses and typically tip 20% to 25%...
They know us and give us great service...
It is a family thing...

 

[jimmpatrick]

I dont tip ...no one tips me

Yes, but you're not paid $2.13 an hour.
In Britain 10% is normal in a restaurant. In France the service is included in the bill. I tip 5% there when service is good. But these countries have a minimum wage - of about $9 I think.
The American system where everyone expects a tip seems strange to us. And awkward sometimes. You arrive at the airport with dollars from the bank and what do you do when the smallest note is $100 and a low paid worker expects a tip? I don't like the system. I like to pay the price I see - with no tips or no tax to be added. However, it works in a way. The service in the US, in general, is better than in Europe.

 

[zonta223]

I come from a country that does not believe in tipping in any way.
But I just want to get something straight so I am not mistaking what is going on.
You are going to the barbers?.
He owns the business and is not on wages?
And you actually tip him!!!
My immediate reaction is why. If he can't make a living without the tip he should not be in business. And he is tipped for exemplary service? he did not cut an ear off :laughing:
And you pay a bartender to pour your drinks!!!! If you tip him you have to tip the person in the deli who sells you a coke, or the person who sells you a cup of coffee at Starbucks, do you tip the person who sells you a newspaper or magazine, the postman who delivers your letters, the person who presses a button so you can pump your own gas? where does it end.
I sell wine to the public at markets either by the bottle or glass. I don't expect to be tipped for doing my job and if an overseas visitor does offer a tip I thank them but gently refuse to take the money saying good service is given freely you should not have to pay for it and give them the full correct change.

 

[JDgreen227]

I rarely dine out but when I do, even at the local Chinese buffet place I leave 15% and when I get full service and the server does well they get at least 20%. I hated dining out with my former in laws, they would leave 8-9% even when given excellent service. Last time I did that my ex mother in law asked me how I was able to figure a tip so quickly, told her to take 10% of the check total and then I doubled it. DUHHHHH.