How to Tip In Every Situation

[Scuba]

I follow the same practices as you do. Have never tipped a plumber, contractor or anyone coming to our home to work on something other than our housekeepers. They get a tip at Christmas.

We also tipped our movers, in addition to providing lunches for them.

 

[ls99]

Holy bajeezus that's a long and complex list. What if managers started determining the compensation for their employees and simply charge us a pre-arranged price for providing goods and services? In the meantime I'll probably continue to tip too little sometimes and too much other times since I don't particularly care to memorize this list

Yep, that is the way I operate.

 

[Senator]

A 10% tip to the landlord would also be nice.

 

[exnavynuke]

If a job routinely pays below minimum wage because tips are expected to make up the difference between the wage paid by the employer and the "earnings" that are associated with the position, then I tip. As far as I'm aware, that isn't applicable to the vast majority of workers on that b.s. list.

The movers discussed earlier, for instance, earned $500 for 3 guys over 6 hours, which equates to about $27/hour. Now, they're not going to get all of that, but they're definitely getting a lot more than minimum wage out of the gig. I don't feel the need to tip someone I'm paying almost $30/hour for their services. Plumbers are going to charge me hundreds of dollars to be at my house for a couple hours and someone thinks I need to tip them on top of that? Screw that...

I strongly believe we should transition to a "no tip" society, but that's about as likely to happen in my lifetime as me winning the lottery.

 

[Blue Collar Guy]

We also tipped our movers, in addition to providing lunches for them.

I tip my furniture delivery guys before they start the process, It comes with the "listen guys please be careful , dont scratch my walls, everything is brand new speech." Everyone we know that had movers got bent over , what ever they were quoted was not even close to what the final sum was. My brother in law , who is a regular Joe, went ape when they went from one house to the next (a few blocks away). They quoted him X and then they said it was X plus $1100. I was regularly called upon for furniture moving in my old neighborhood, people switching apts. Not my type of work.

 

[Fedup]

If a job routinely pays below minimum wage because tips are expected to make up the difference between the wage paid by the employer and the "earnings" that are associated with the position, then I tip. As far as I'm aware, that isn't applicable to the vast majority of workers on that b.s. list.

The movers discussed earlier, for instance, earned $500 for 3 guys over 6 hours, which equates to about $27/hour. Now, they're not going to get all of that, but they're definitely getting a lot more than minimum wage out of the gig. I don't feel the need to tip someone I'm paying almost $30/hour for their services. Plumbers are going to charge me hundreds of dollars to be at my house for a couple hours and someone thinks I need to tip them on top of that? Screw that...

I strongly believe we should transition to a "no tip" society, but that's about as likely to happen in my lifetime as me winning the lottery.

I don't think those guys got $27 because you have to take into account of a lot of things. Like the cost of the truck and gas. It was a local move but still. The owner of the moving company also need to get paid.

However, I agree with you, we should move toward a country like Europe, tip should be minimum not a huge part of the bill.
Intereting, as a country we want to idolize Europe on almost everything, but not in the tip situation.

 

[Music Lover]

If a job routinely pays below minimum wage because tips are expected to make up the difference between the wage paid by the employer and the "earnings" that are associated with the position, then I tip. As far as I'm aware, that isn't applicable to the vast majority of workers on that b.s. list.

The movers discussed earlier, for instance, earned $500 for 3 guys over 6 hours, which equates to about $27/hour. Now, they're not going to get all of that, but they're definitely getting a lot more than minimum wage out of the gig. I don't feel the need to tip someone I'm paying almost $30/hour for their services. Plumbers are going to charge me hundreds of dollars to be at my house for a couple hours and someone thinks I need to tip them on top of that? Screw that...

I strongly believe we should transition to a "no tip" society, but that's about as likely to happen in my lifetime as me winning the lottery.

That sums it up for me...no way I'd ever tip someone who already earns good money, often more than I ever made when working. Wait staff earning minimum wage get tips, contractors and other well paid people don't get a tip.

 

[Fedup]

I tip my furniture delivery guys before they start the process, It comes with the "listen guys please be careful , dont scratch my walls, everything is brand new speech." Everyone we know that had movers got bent over , what ever they were quoted was not even close to what the final sum was. My brother in law , who is a regular Joe, went ape when they went from one house to the next (a few blocks away). They quoted him X and then they said it was X plus $1100. I was regularly called upon for furniture moving in my old neighborhood, people switching apts. Not my type of work.

We didn't get ripped off. But we didn't provide lunch because they told us they had a big breakfast. It's also cumbersome to provide lunch while moving was in process. Plus do you count the time they take out to eat as part of the hours they charge? What if they drop food on my new house? Who pays for the clean up. I believe we did provide water. But it was a hectic day. We didn't have lunch ourselves until they left us.

 

[jollystomper]

Am I the only one who thought you didn't need to tip service people you call to the house? It just wasn't part of my parents' culture and I never did it either. I always tip cab drivers, waitresses, and pizza guys but not plumbers, g AC installers, room addition contractors, etc.

Do I need to change my practices? I am not asking if I have to tip only if it is really expected. In other words, is failing to tip the plumber equivalent to stiffing a waitress?

You are not the only one. I do not tip service people called to the house. IMHO it sets a bad precedent.

Perhaps it helps that I have been told I have am "intimidating" air around me... so they are not expecting one and do not want to get me upset.

If service folks around on a major project, DW and I will put out a cooler with drinks and snacks and tell them to help themselves. We will also let them use our bathroom on the first floor. Those things alone seem to generate amazing goodwill.

Actually, as I think about it, the only "tip" I have given is if I want something done in a faster time frame. For example, we needed part of a garage wall rebuilt after an accident. The mason gave us a very fair estimate, but said he could not get to it for about six weeks. I offered an additional $100 if he was able to get to it and complete it within 2 weeks. It was done in a week.

 

[timemoveson]

The whole thing is an outrageous imposition on the consumer that only creates or perpetuates inequity and unfairness amongst the service people and more work for us to satisfy expectations.

Most Europeans and others get paid approrpriately and zero tipping is expected or required. Sanity rules.

Canadian somewhere in-between, unfortunately.

 

[Blue Collar Guy]

You havent lived until you tell a NYC yellow cab driver theres an extra $50 in it for you if you can get me there in 15 minutes. If i remember correctly TIP stoop for To Insure Promptness. This cab ride will give you a new respect for the word prompt.

 

[redshift]

+1. My favorite countries to visit are Australia and Japan, neither of which expect tipping in normal commerce. I hope I live long enough to see the US go that way, but I'm not holding my breath...

 

[Midpack]

+1. My favorite countries to visit are Australia and Japan, neither of which expect tipping in normal commerce. I hope I live long enough to see the US go that way, but I'm not holding my breath...

From what I understand, it's a tradeoff between good service and having to do rudimentary math OR variable service and not doing any math (math is a lame excuse IMO). I don't know about Australia or Japan, but I can tell you first hand the restaurant service in much of Europe can often be indifferent at best. Surly servers are not at all uncommon.

Though folks in bargain restaurants or counter service often work hard and make little, that's not the case for most servers. The minimum wage angle is mostly a red herring. I was a waiter in a mid-high end restaurant years ago, did my very best to make every diners experience as nice as possible, and made money hand over fist - easily as much as a degreed entry level engineer (from personal experience). Servers in middle and higher end restaurants make far more than minimum wage despite their hourly pay. They wouldn't do those jobs if the pay wasn't worth it.

But it's a debate with no end, or right answer. However, even if restaurants choose to build in tips as some major US markets have begun to implement, bad service will still have the same effect on the restaurant (complaints to management, or just never going back) - but the servers won't feel the pinch as quickly or directly. Since most people are afraid to complain, it could be harder for restaurant owners to catch on to bad servers.

 

[Fedup]

Not our experience. We had better or much nicer service from Europe for similar restaurants. For super nice restaurants but for the same price as USA, the service exceeded our expectations. Not at every restaurants though, there's always exceptions.

 

[Music Lover]

Servers in middle and higher end restaurants make far more than minimum wage despite their hourly pay. They wouldn't do those jobs if the pay wasn't worth it.

I know a server in a $5 breakfast special restaurant that worked 3 days a week and made $10,000 in earnings plus $30,000 in tips. $1,000 was declared as income and the remaining $29,000 was tax free...

 

[Midpack]

I know a server in a $5 breakfast special restaurant that worked 3 days a week and made $10,000 in earnings plus $30,000 in tips. $1,000 was declared as income and the remaining $29,000 was tax free...

There are several conclusions I can draw from that, not sure which one you're getting at. But if you implement service charges to replace tips, many servers will take home less (and/or pay more in taxes). I was a server in college and I know the angles...and they haven't changed entirely.

 

[Music Lover]

There are several conclusions I can draw from that, not sure which one you're getting at. But if you implement service charges to replace tips, many servers will take home less (and/or pay more in taxes). I was a server in college and I know the angles...and they haven't changed entirely.

Why would there have to be a service charge to replace tips? Pay the employees a fair wage instead and then they can be taxed on all of their income just like all the people that don't earn tips.

 

[Teacher Terry]

My DIL is a cocktail waitress in a casino. Here they get minimum wage plus tips. The bartenders get a share of the tips. She made 48k last year but works super hard. She works fast, is always nice, etc. People will follow her from bar to bar since she does not work the same bar all the time. Some don't make that much because they are not very friendly and do not work fast. She works days which has the lowest tips. In the winter she will work 3-4 days due to it being slower an din the summer 5 days/week. We also found in our 4 trips to Europe that the service was not as good as here in restaurants. I don't tip repair people that come to our house. If our food bill is small then we leave a much bigger tip.

 

[Blue Collar Guy]

I know a server in a $5 breakfast special restaurant that worked 3 days a week and made $10,000 in earnings plus $30,000 in tips. $1,000 was declared as income and the remaining $29,000 was tax free...

Yeah, I remember when waiters in my favorite restaurant got in trouble with the IRS, They wound up admitting they all made over 100K, and that was years ago. All cash too.

 

[Midpack]

Why would there have to be a service charge to replace tips? Pay the employees a fair wage instead and then they can be taxed on all of their income just like all the people that don't earn tips.

So you think restaurants are going to substantially increase servers hourly wages and eat the difference (as would have to be the case where tipping is the established norm)? The 'service charge' is usually buried in higher menu prices.

If you do a search, you'll find the US major market restaurants who have implemented or are experimenting with no tipping have all upped their menu pricing to pass the cost on to customers to increase server wages. One example: Why tipping is bad for everyone | New York Post

At lunch, “management will pay the floor crew out of revenue from a menu priced higher than it would be under the tipping system,” Colicchio said.

 

[Music Lover]

So you think restaurants are going to substantially increase servers hourly wages and eat the difference (as would have to be the case where tipping is the established norm)? The 'service charge' is usually buried in higher menu prices.

If you do a search, you'll find the US major market restaurants who have implemented or are experimenting with no tipping have all upped their menu pricing to pass the cost on to customers to increase server wages. One example: Why tipping is bad for everyone | New York Post

Sure, prices have to go up if there is no tipping, but I see very little difference between a $20 meal and a $5 tip or a $25 meal with no tip. Every other business where employees don't get tips somehow manage to make do.

Restaurants won't take it upon themselves to end tipping...it's a win/win for them. They get to pay the employees less and make more profit and their servers get mad at the customer if the tip is too small and not at the owner for paying them a crappy wage.

 

[Midpack]

Sure, prices have to go up if there is no tipping, but I see very little difference between a $20 meal and a $5 tip or a $25 meal with no tip. Every other business where employees don't get tips somehow manage to make do.

Restaurants won't take it upon themselves to end tipping...it's a win/win for them. They get to pay the employees less and make more profit and their servers get mad at the customer if the tip is too small and not at the owner for paying them a crappy wage.

It's not that one sided or simple, but not worth another circular exchange...

 

[travelover]

Perhaps a list of people NOT to tip would be easier.

 

[MuirWannabe]

Perhaps a list of people NOT to tip would be easier.

+1

I can assure you the IT guy would be on that list [emoji4]

 

[Sunset]

When I'm in a restaurant and I get bad service, then I leave zero tip. I'm not going to reward someone for bad service.
Sure some might say they will think you forgot, but if I tipped low, they would just think I'm cheap and still get some $$.
I do recall one time I left a penny on the table as the tip because the service was bad and I really wanted them to know I thought about the tip. !!