reason for and amount of tips

[KingB]

Another one.
When you stay on a hotel, do you leave something when you check out and how much? While vacationing at Aruba, we befriended some members of the cleaning staff and found out that the tips are a major portion of their income and I was told that some guests do not leave anything.

[Pajaro]

When I was stationed in Iceland the locals made it very clear that we shouldn't tip. Tipping sent the message that we were rich and the waiter needed our help. They didn't see it as a way of rewarding performance.

On another point, waiters always prefer getting tipped in cash vs via credit card. The credit card machine leaves a paper trail so the tip must be declared as earnings. Cash goes right in the pocket.

As a complete aside, when someone walks out without paying the bill at Olive Garden or Red Lobster, the waiter gets a warning. The second time it happens they get fired. The thinking is that the waiter just pocketed the all the cash and told the restaurant that the diners bailed. I had several friends lose their job because of high school kids eating for free.

[TromboneAl]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Webzter I did once leave a 200% tip but that's another story...

Lap dance.

[Webzter]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TromboneAl Lap dance.

One tip was for a waitress who gave me her panties for a game my friend and I were playing.

One tip was for a waitress who was waiting on a bunch of us obnoxious guys at a cheap restaurant and putting up with way more than she had to (stuff like wanting crayons and more and more straws, etc, childish crap).

For an introvert, I was an annoying dude in college (to say the least).

[JOHNNIE36]

Just reading these posts reminds me of how much I hate tipping except in the following trades:

1. Waiters and waitresses. I generally calculate 20% of the amount of the bill. I'm very frugal and therefore calculate the tip based on the untaxed amount.
2. My barber gets a buck whether he needs it or not. Probably has more money than me but he does a good job and it's a habit.
3. Cleaning lady. She needs the money.
4. Cart guy at the golf course. Habit again.

Nobody else gets a tip. If you live in a big city, I guess the doorman, taxi drivers and restaurant hostess gets a tip but not down here.

Around the holidays, there is generally a list in the newspaper of who to tip and how much. Bullcr*p. Postal workers, trash collectors and the like do not get tips from me.

[Gumby]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mulligan I pay the 20%, but remember the good old days of 10% and preferred that! I do have a tipping etiquette question though. We have been buying a bottle of wine occasionally when we eat out. My GF says you don't pay the 20% of that cost. I have continued to pay for it, but it does seem wrong. Just to walk over and uncork or twist off the top results in doubling the tip with little increased service to the whole experience. What is the correct procedure?

I always tip 20% of the full cost, bottle of wine and tax included. We eat out often and the waiters always remember and take care of us.

[Gumby]

Quote:

Originally Posted by W2R The percentage we use for a tip is larger when the total bill is smaller. A waitress/waiter depends on tips to earn a living, and even if working in a cheaper restaurant often will work just as hard as those employed by expensive restaurants. We never tip less than $3, and that can be 25%-30% sometimes.

+1. For someone to serve me lunch, $5 is the minimum tip, regardless of the amount of the bill.

[devans0]

When I get the chance, I use coupons, then give the coupon amount to the server as a bonus to the earned tip (20% and bump up to the next dollar). It makes the hassle of coupons worth it to make someone smile.

Once, I gave a Midol as a tip. That is a story better left unsaid.

[WM]

Quote:

Originally Posted by KingB Another one. When you stay on a hotel, do you leave something when you check out and how much? While vacationing at Aruba, we befriended some members of the cleaning staff and found out that the tips are a major portion of their income and I was told that some guests do not leave anything.

I was getting ready to ask about this too. Growing up we didn't stay in hotels all that often, but I'm pretty sure we never left a tip. And when we did stay places, it was usually a motel 6 level place.

The first time I saw someone leave a tip for housekeeping was when I was traveling with a business partner and we stayed in a much nicer place. She tipped $5 each day, I think, and that was for a two-room suite.

Since then I've tipped on business trips (because they've been nicer hotels) but not at the lower-rent places that DH and I stay when we're traveling for fun. Then again, DH and I often stay in efficiency places where there's no service unless you request it.

What do other people do?

[samclem]

Quote:

Originally Posted by WM [re: Tips for hotel maids] What do other people do?

Overnight stay: If the room is well cleaned: $5. Price of the room is irrelevant.
I tend to stay in hotels a lot for work, and I leave the "Do Not Disturb" sign out for 4-5 days at a time. I don't need the room cleaned every day, so I'm an easy customer for the maids. At the end of the trip, I leave $5 for every time the room was cleaned. I've got no idea if this is high or low.

The folks who clean hotel rooms often get paid very little. I've also heard that sometimes unscrupulous folks from the front desk scurry around and pick up tips from rooms of departing guests before the maids arrive for work later in the AM. So, I usually leave any tip (with a "thank you" note) where it will be found, but not out in the open.

[Free To Canoe]

Engineers and tips.

[JoshTrent]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mulligan I pay the 20%, but remember the good old days of 10% and preferred that! I do have a tipping etiquette question though. We have been buying a bottle of wine occasionally when we eat out. My GF says you don't pay the 20% of that cost. I have continued to pay for it, but it does seem wrong. Just to walk over and uncork or twist off the top results in doubling the tip with little increased service to the whole experience. What is the correct procedure?

Honestly this will depend on the level of service provided at the Outlet & the price on the Bottle.

IF A) you are a patron at a 5 Star Restaurant & ask for advice from the Som, the Som produces the proper bottle & services your glass for the evening - a good tip may vary from 10-20% depending on the price of the bottle. (for some reason I doubt people on this board would put out $1k on a bottle of wine, but 10% on a $1k bottle would be acceptable) ALSO - if you don't drink the whole bottle, please offer the remaining amount to the Som to consume, this could offset a portion of the Tip. Please note in this dining case, it would be prudent to tip the Som separately from the Servers.

IF B) you are at Chili's and buy a bottle of wine (~$25) then I think 20% would be a good "starting point" (up or down depending on the situation) OR just include the price of the bottle in the sub-total for tip calculation.

Of course I would never tell someone how much to tip.. but I would say that the tip covers the Experience & Service of the Meal.. you have already paid for the food & wine.

[Bestwifeever]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sue J ...We give the tip money to the waitress/waiter in cash. What they do with it in terms of busboys or staff who brought the plates is up to them. I like to know the person who handled our order got the cash.

Same here--and I've heard (may not be true?) that if you add the tip to your credit card, it's typically reduced by the percentage that the restaurant has to pay to the CC company. So giving the tip at least in cash means the waitstaff gets all of it.

[JOHNNIE36]

Quote:

Originally Posted by devans0 When I get the chance, I use coupons, then give the coupon amount to the server as a bonus to the earned tip (20% and bump up to the next dollar). It makes the hassle of coupons worth it to make someone smile. Once, I gave a Midol as a tip. That is a story better left unsaid.

Good point. Whenever we get a coupon, like $5 off the total bill, I look at it as the tip being paid for. We're talking $10 dinners here, not expensive places. Waitress would get at least that much. I'll bet a lot of people don't tip with consideration given to the coupon. They just use a % of the bill, period.

Also, if the waitress gives good advice on selections or if the check is prepared with a senior discount included, I generally give that amount back in the tip.

[naggz]

I wish acceptable tipping at restaurants was changed from a percentage, to a set number.

Maybe something like $5 a head.

If I order a free tap water and an $8 sandwich vs a $6 drink and a $40 surf n' turf, the work was the same for the wait staff, why should the tip change?

[MichaelB]

Not that it means much, but without exception the people I know that worked for tips (or low salary + tips) are generous when tipping others.

The money I saved from tips as a paper boy paid for half of my first year college tuition bill, and it was an expensive private school.

[Geoffrey]

I believe wait staff should be paid a repectable wage and the cost added to the price of the food. Tipping for service makes no sense to me. I spent 10 years in Japan and the service was EXCELLENT (better than the U.S.) -- there's no tipping in Japan. I agree with those who can't understand why tips are figured on the basis of a percentage of the bill . . . makes absolutely no sense to me.

[FUEGO]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pajaro On another point, waiters always prefer getting tipped in cash vs via credit card. The credit card machine leaves a paper trail so the tip must be declared as earnings. Cash goes right in the pocket.

This is exactly why I put the tip on the credit card if possible. To make sure that the waitstaff pays taxes on income. No reason to exempt them from taxation.

[Meadbh]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FUEGO This is exactly why I put the tip on the credit card if possible. To make sure that the waitstaff pays taxes on income. No reason to exempt them from taxation.

Absolutely. And if I'm going to be claiming the meal as a tax deductible expense, I need a paper trail.

[samclem]

Tax avoidance ≠ Tax evasion

Unreported tip income = Tax evasion