Tipping

[LennG]

 Only in the United States, do people feel the need to tip, tip, and tip everyone who does anything for them. It has almost become an epidemic where you see Tip jars everywhere.

I read an article (can't seem to find it now), where they say when and where it is proper to tip and when and where tipping really isn't necessary.

Myself. I used to work in the service industry and worked in people's houses every day. Rarely did I receive a tip, but if and when I did it was appreciated, so do you tip say repairmen (plumbers, Technicians), or delivery people?
I usually tip a delivery man if they are delivering something heavy and have to work to get it into my house.
I tip my mailman for the holidays because I know him and he has been our mailman for years. Otherwise I probably wouldn't.
I always tip in restaurants, but depending on the service, that will increase or lower my tip
I do NOT tip the person who delivers my newspaper (but I really should)
I do not tip my auto mechanic. or the sanitation men who pick up our garbage
When staying at a hotel/motel I rarely tip the maid service
But on cruises, I always tip extra for special services
Lately, I see tip jars out for people who serve you fast food, ice cream whatever and if paying with a CC, the machine asks if you want to leave a tip, I never do, they aren't doing anything special for me. Is this right?
If I take a taxi/Uber/etc. I always leave an extra tip. If I get a delivery from a food vendor, again I tip the expected tip usually 18-20%.

Has tipping really become out of control, it sure seems as if everyone wants a piece of that pie. Again, only in America. If you go to Europe, in restaurants, the tip is included in the check, taxis you don't have to tip but a small tip is appreciated. In most countries, that is the pattern, tipping isn't necessary and no one will think less of you if you don't, but if a small tip is offered it is always appreciated.
When and/or where do you tip

[DaveBrown74]

I tip when someone provides me a personal service of some kind. Waiters, barbers, bartenders, cab drivers, hotel employees, our cleaning person at the end of the year (can call that a bonus or a tip I guess), etc. What I don't like is being asked for tips and I walk up to a counter at a store and buy something. The other day I bought a pre-made sandwich, and when I paid they put some IPad in front of me with the options of 20%, 22%, or 25% tips. This was for handing me a pre-made sandwich sitting in a shelf. It has gotten absurd. And I consider myself pretty generous when it comes to tipping. I like expressing my appreciation for good service with a robust tip if I'm in a restaurant or a hotel. But the way these companies are now effectively hitting the consumer up for compensation expenses for their workforce (on top of the markup they take from you for whatever good you are buying) is crazy and has really gotten out of control. And no other country does this either. Certainly none of our main western peers. It's nuts.

[LennG]

I tip when someone provides me a personal service of some kind. Waiters, barbers, bartenders, cab drivers, hotel employees, our cleaning person at the end of the year (can call that a bonus or a tip I guess), etc. What I don't like is being asked for tips and I walk up to a counter at a store and buy something. The other day I bought a pre-made sandwich, and when I paid they put some IPad in front of me with the options of 20%, 22%, or 25% tips. This was for handing me a pre-made sandwich sitting in a shelf. It has gotten absurd. And I consider myself pretty generous when it comes to tipping. I like expressing my appreciation for good service with a robust tip if I'm in a restaurant or a hotel. But the way these companies are now effectively hitting the consumer up for compensation expenses for their workforce (on top of the markup they take from you for whatever good you are buying) is crazy and has really gotten out of control. And no other country does this either. Certainly none of our main western peers. It's nuts.

 I had forgotten bartenders, who I always tip also, along with whomever is cutting my hair.

I agree, as I said about paying with a CC, like you said, the next image you see on the screen is how much of a tip you want to include with this purchase. Really, should I tip the guy who made the pizza, when I just buy a slice or two?

[Jolly Blue Giant]

I tip the bartender 1.00 for every beer, 2.00 for a mixed drink (I rarely drink them). Bartenders always keep track of me and are right there when they see I'm done with my drink

I overtip breakfast waiters in the typical diner. If my breakfast comes to 6 or 7 dollars, I leave a 5 spot. They work harder than a lot of waiters in a fine restaurant. They work their asses off, keeping the coffee coming, checking on you, etc., and it's an extremely fast-paced place. 15% is nothing on a quick breakfast. I often see people leave a couple quarters or maybe a dollar. That's not right IMO

When I go to a nice restaurant, I always read the bottom of the menu to see if the tip is included. It oftentimes is, so I don't tip unless the service was incredible, or I have the hots for a woman who waited on me

I never tip self-service places, and it's gotten where every vendor where you serve yourself has a readout on the card reader: 15%, 20%, 30%. Like WTF!!!

[ozzie]

Ok, here's my grumpy old man rant. I think the reason tipping has gotten so out of hand recently is because this generation of youth manning the fast food and service industries just don't want to work. They expect something for nothing. They want the minimum wage raised. Growing up, fast food jobs weren't considered "careers", they were a way for school aged kids to make a little spending money and get some work experience. It was a stepping stone so to speak to getting a "real job". Now, if I go to a counter and order something I'm hit with the counter person flipping an ipad around and asking how much tip I want to give. For What? You haven't done anything other than press a couple of buttons!
It has gotten out of hand. My sister recently ordered something online and was hit with a "tip" request from the retailer. That's ridiculous.
Call me a jerk, but I have no problem not leaving a tip unless someone put forth an effort and deserves it.

[Ed Vette]

The issue with tipping a percentage is that it is based on the price of the meal. Like Ric said, the breakfast waiters can work harder than someone who is serving a $100 per person meal. I catered an order for my office's Friendsgiving Party. There was a $200 minimum for delivery. If I tipped 20%, then that delivery tip would be over $40. He is working no harder than the Pizza delivery person. I did tip $20. on the online order, even though he didn't deserve more than $10. because I wanted it on time and with no screwups.

[MightyGiants]

Ok, here's my grumpy old man rant. I think the reason tipping has gotten so out of hand recently is because this generation of youth manning the fast food and service industries just don't want to work. They expect something for nothing. They want the minimum wage raised. Growing up, fast food jobs weren't considered "careers", they were a way for school aged kids to make a little spending money and get some work experience. It was a stepping stone so to speak to getting a "real job". Now, if I go to a counter and order something I'm hit with the counter person flipping an ipad around and asking how much tip I want to give. For What? You haven't done anything other than press a couple of buttons!
It has gotten out of hand. My sister recently ordered something online and was hit with a "tip" request from the retailer. That's ridiculous.
Call me a jerk, but I have no problem not leaving a tip unless someone put forth an effort and deserves it.

I see things quite differently.  What I see is a prime example of corporate screw-everyone greed.  Companies and owners see the increase in tip requests as the best thing since sliced bread.   They can pay their employees less than they are worth and keep more profits while passing the cost directly to the consumer.

If they told their customers they wanted an extra dollar or two for the hamburger meal (because they wanted to make more money), many customers would tell them to pound salt and go to another chain. Make it about tipping, and now they are pitting one working-class person against another and employing the need to make money with the guilt of not tipping. 

It's the perfect plan. Corporations get to effectively charge more, pay the employees less, and, best of all, the underpaid employees are made out as the bad guys (gals) in their whole scheme.

That's just how I see it.

[DaveBrown74]

I see things quite differently.  What I see is a prime example of corporate screw-everyone greed.  Companies and owners see the increase in tip requests as the best thing since sliced bread.  They can pay their employees less than they are worth and keep more profits while passing the cost directly to the consumer.

If they told their customers they wanted an extra dollar or two for the hamburger meal (because they wanted to make more money), many customers would tell them to pound salt and go to another chain. Make it about tipping, and now they are pitting one working-class person against another and employing the need to make money with the guilt of not tipping. 

It's the perfect plan. Corporations get to effectively charge more, pay the employees less, and, best of all, the underpaid employees are made out as the bad guys (gals) in their whole scheme.

That's just how I see it.

I think this is a pretty accurate take and I touched on some of the same points in my earlier answer. Which is to say, the corporations that run these chains are passing along compensation costs to the consumer this way rather than embedding it in the price of the product.

Of course, tipping, even though it's more "in your face" now than ever before, is still voluntary. I mean I feel I'm a good tipper. I routinely tip more than 20% in restaurants, and I tip on the whole bill (including tax and alcohol). I also feel I'm generous with other service providers like the person who cuts my hair, people who deliver food when we order in, and hotel employees etc.

But I don't let myself get guilt-tripped into tipping on occasions when it is totally unwarranted, such as buying a pre-made sandwich that is coming out of a glass case. Sorry, but I've been around long enough to know that that's not a tipping situation. If the company is underpaying its employees with the expectation that you'll take care of it, I'm sorry to hear that, but that's not going to make me tip an extra 20-25% in a blatantly non-tipping situation. So I have to believe other other consumers feel the same way. I know they do, because I have had this conversation with plenty of people I know before, and pretty much all of them feel similarly.

[Ed Vette]

It started to get out of hand during Covid. Rewarding for risking their health to serve the public. But I wind up tipping people most folks don't think of tipping. Like the deli worker or pizza counter or the worker who comes to shut down the sprinklers, gas station attendant, the postal worker, the sanitation workers at Christmas...

[LennG]

 In most restaurants, let's say, you tip 20% and it goes on your charge card. The way I understand it, all the tips go into one pot and then they are divided up equally among the waiters and waitresses. So if you get exceptional service from one particular waiter, and you reward that person, most times they don't see it anyway.
I would assume guys like Bartenders see their tip and probably keep it, but generally, it usually works the way I said. Even if I were leaving a cash tip on a table after I ate, the person cleaning the table collects the tips and I think, deposits it in the tip collection.
 Like I said before, when anyone cruises, the cruise line charges say $17 PP a day extra for tips for the crew. Years ago you USD to get little envelopes and then you tipped accordingly, but then the 'little guys' who you really never saw never got any portion of the tip, so this is the 'new' system. But that said, they still hand out little envelopes so you can REWARD anyone who you thought did a special job for you and many people do this today, including myself.

[Ed Vette]

I planned a class reunion last year for about 80 people. It was $100 per person and I tipped $5.00 per person after discussing it with the head of catering. There were about three people with a buffet style and hand passed hors d'oeuvres. The parking attendants were $1.00 per person. They get tipped by the drivers in most cases. So $400 divided by the weight staff and cooks seemed reasonable. Otherwise if we went 18% of $8000, it would have been $1440.

[EDjohnst1981]

I always find this interesting when I visit the US for pleasure or work.

Generally in the UK, for a semi decent meal we would tip 10-15% of the bill. If you've made an effort, I have no issue with that.

When I was drinking in bars in NYC and DC, I'd tip well, but then would be compensated with a decent scotch "on the house" when I left. But the bartender kept me in conversation, noticed when my beer was low - I had no issue tipping them.

At my local pub, most people pay by card - the card reader - like @DaveBrown74's sandwich example - automatically asks for a tip. I'm not tipping that - you're doing your job - it's a different experience when I'm away, if I'm in my local I'm with my goancee or my pals, it's unnecessary (when we eat in the restaurant there, I'd again too. But not for pulling. Plus I know these guys are making at least the national minimum wage, so I know there's a basic standard of living - not that it's fantastic mind you.

[LennG]

Ed

 Isn't the tip usually included in the check when you dining in the UK?? If so, are you tipping over that?

 When we visit London, we are so used to tipping everyone, from the doorman to a bartender, to a waiter and cab driver that we never even think twice about not doing it there. But, we talked to Londoners and they say it isn't necessary and only if you feel that you received excellent service should you offer a tip and usually a modest one at that. I know when we take a taxi in London, we usually give the driver a pound as a tip. I have no idea if that would be considered cheap, or generous, but the drivers always smile and looks appreciative of it.
 I would say, to me, at least, that seems like the appropriate way to go traveling all over Europe. If we feel we have gotten excellent service we tip extras, and that's about it.
 Have things changed in Europe to more the 'American' way?

[EDjohnst1981]

Ed

 Isn't the tip usually included in the check when you dining in the UK?? If so, are you tipping over that?

 When we visit London, we are so used to tipping everyone, from the doorman to a bartender, to a waiter and cab driver that we never even think twice about not doing it there. But, we talked to Londoners and they say it isn't necessary and only if you feel that you received excellent service should you offer a tip and usually a modest one at that. I know when we take a taxi in London, we usually give the driver a pound as a tip. I have no idea if that would be considered cheap, or generous, but the drivers always smile and looks appreciative of it.
 I would say, to me, at least, that seems like the appropriate way to go traveling all over Europe. If we feel we have gotten excellent service we tip extras, and that's about it.
 Have things changed in Europe to more the 'American' way?

Generally speaking, the tip isn't included in the bill - although several places are doing this now. I'd say the norm is that the tip is discretionary.

Tipping a cabbie a pound is probably fine. I think the change in the culture around more expectation for tipping - even the most basic service that's been highlighted here - stems from Covid. We moved to a nearby cashless society, where all payments were made via card. Some places still only accept card payments and won't take cash.

As such, I and many others my age (early 40s), no longer carry cash - so by asking for a tip for the most basic things like serving me a pint in the local, means you don't think about giving it - it's not like you're fumbling around for change in your pocket etc

[Ed Vette]

The credit card surcharge is what really annoys me. All small businesses now do it, where for years it was the cost of doing business. I don't carry cash except for emergency. I use Apple Pay for everything.