I suspect very few report all of their cash tips, so that would bring down the median reported wages.
Who changed it to 20%
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I suspect very few report all of their cash tips, so that would bring down the median reported wages.
VanWinkle
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My late wife, a waitress for 15 years, trained me on tipping at least 20%. If I attempted to leave any less, a dirty look was coming my way soon. Most waitresses work their #$% off and deserve a decent wage through their tips.
nvestysly
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I'm amazed this topic has received pages and pages of replies. And.... now I'm about to add to the comments. I've scanned through many of the comments but have not read every single post so I apologize in advance if I'm repeating others' themes.
There are certainly times when I tip 15%, sometimes less. For instance fast casual where I pick up my own food and may even clear my own table. For full service, sit-down, meals I lean toward 20% and that has become my norm over the past 7 - 10 years or so. Certainly if we occupy a table for long period of time, the amount of the tip is more generous. Holidays deserve an extra tip in my mind but I won't fault someone for giving a standard tip even on a holiday.
I noticed when suggested tip amounts are printed on the receipt the percentages seem to be 18, 20 and higher. Very seldom do I see 15% or lower suggested tips preprinted at the bottom of receipts unless it's a fast casual establishment.
Once in a while I've been in a very generous mood, perhaps on a holiday, when the service has been very good and the server has been very personable, and tipped 100% but keep in mind the total bill was not very high to start with.
DW and I tend to eat at local establishments with BOGO meals, early-bird specials, happy hour drink prices, etc. In those cases we tip on what would have been the non-discounted amount.
As others have mentioned, we don't tip on the taxed amount. Only the food and beverages.
On edit, we've spoken very frankly and openly to several servers and kitchen staff at a local restaurant we frequent. This place has reasonable prices - it's pub food - and has very low staff turnover so they are doing something right. One of the kitchen staff has been there since the start - over 20 years. He has purchased a house, raised his children and sent them to college, has a new car every few years and indicated he has never felt oppressed or downtrodden in any way. I'm sure there are many in the restaurant service industry that are in low paying jobs and can't seem to find their way forward in a financial sense. I was pleased to see that some people are "successful" in this field of work. It's not all horror stories about working three jobs and sharing an apartment with several other people.
There are certainly times when I tip 15%, sometimes less. For instance fast casual where I pick up my own food and may even clear my own table. For full service, sit-down, meals I lean toward 20% and that has become my norm over the past 7 - 10 years or so. Certainly if we occupy a table for long period of time, the amount of the tip is more generous. Holidays deserve an extra tip in my mind but I won't fault someone for giving a standard tip even on a holiday.
I noticed when suggested tip amounts are printed on the receipt the percentages seem to be 18, 20 and higher. Very seldom do I see 15% or lower suggested tips preprinted at the bottom of receipts unless it's a fast casual establishment.
Once in a while I've been in a very generous mood, perhaps on a holiday, when the service has been very good and the server has been very personable, and tipped 100% but keep in mind the total bill was not very high to start with.
DW and I tend to eat at local establishments with BOGO meals, early-bird specials, happy hour drink prices, etc. In those cases we tip on what would have been the non-discounted amount.
As others have mentioned, we don't tip on the taxed amount. Only the food and beverages.
On edit, we've spoken very frankly and openly to several servers and kitchen staff at a local restaurant we frequent. This place has reasonable prices - it's pub food - and has very low staff turnover so they are doing something right. One of the kitchen staff has been there since the start - over 20 years. He has purchased a house, raised his children and sent them to college, has a new car every few years and indicated he has never felt oppressed or downtrodden in any way. I'm sure there are many in the restaurant service industry that are in low paying jobs and can't seem to find their way forward in a financial sense. I was pleased to see that some people are "successful" in this field of work. It's not all horror stories about working three jobs and sharing an apartment with several other people.
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BeachOrCity
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I do find the suggestions that exclude everything under 20 and include 25 30 or more to be particularly annoying
Midpack
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Texas Proud
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So, went to Chili's today for lunch... sat in the bar for quick service... well, not so quick...
Guy takes my order... and I wait and wait and wait for my chili... which BTW is already made and should be out quickly... he does bring this out..
Then later, a bit slow, is my main dish.... brought out by someone else... set it down but did not ask if I needed anything (I did not or would have spoken up)... so eating away and no check on things... again, I do not need anything but it is their job...
Then it is time to pay... going to pay on their machine... nothing is on it... no server to be seen... finally he comes and I point to the machine and he does thumbs up.... but nothing... he finally comes by with another machine so I can pay...
I still gave 15%... but IMO service has declined in most places and they do not deserve that salary increase... I will stick to my double of taxes making it a bit over 16%...
Guy takes my order... and I wait and wait and wait for my chili... which BTW is already made and should be out quickly... he does bring this out..
Then later, a bit slow, is my main dish.... brought out by someone else... set it down but did not ask if I needed anything (I did not or would have spoken up)... so eating away and no check on things... again, I do not need anything but it is their job...
Then it is time to pay... going to pay on their machine... nothing is on it... no server to be seen... finally he comes and I point to the machine and he does thumbs up.... but nothing... he finally comes by with another machine so I can pay...
I still gave 15%... but IMO service has declined in most places and they do not deserve that salary increase... I will stick to my double of taxes making it a bit over 16%...
Midpack
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An example of poor service, we’ve all been there. Is that representative of all servers and restaurants you encounter, or an exception? We dine out at least twice a week. I’d say most servers do a good job, with a few exceptional, and a few not so good. And not so good is sometimes due to the kitchen, or just understaffing servers or peak hours.
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BeachOrCity
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Nothing at all wrong with 15% in the scenario below.
I do have to say I just don’t like it when the server hands me an iPad and wants me to select tip in front of them. It’s not that I dont want to tip it is just uncomfortable But I don’t have a solution for this. I will say however that if the “suggested choices” are all considered a high tip I would find that disconcerting. So far I have only experienced that in cabs. 15/20/25 is perfectly fine
I do have to say I just don’t like it when the server hands me an iPad and wants me to select tip in front of them. It’s not that I dont want to tip it is just uncomfortable But I don’t have a solution for this. I will say however that if the “suggested choices” are all considered a high tip I would find that disconcerting. So far I have only experienced that in cabs. 15/20/25 is perfectly fine
Corporateburnout
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I don't believe this discussion is still going........
Montecfo
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Industry connected people will always seek to "enlighten" us by informing us of the latest trends, which will always appear as envelope pushing. It certainly does here.
I am not sure why the "who can't afford a buck or 2 or 3" doesn't apply to low wage folks such as counter help at retail stores, grocery cashiers or others?
The reason is counter help is not traditionally a tipped position in the US.
And the continuing focus on wage levels misses the point in my opinion. Tipping is about tradition and personal service, not wages.
LRDave
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There is a sweet spot between total bill and number of times the table turns.
Music Lover
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There are a lot of traditions that are no longer practiced due to progress. But businesses have taken advantage of the fact that people have traditionally tipped certain jobs and deliberately suppressed or eliminated their wages, and legislation has been enacted to support that "tradition" which forces people to tip servers.
As myself and many have stated, serving isn't rocket science. It's an entry level job that anyone with average intelligence can perform competently with a couple days of on the job training. Sure, sometimes it's busy and they have to work hard...but so what? There are hundreds of low paying jobs where people have to work hard and many of them are in far worse conditions than a comfortable indoor space. Spend a week shingling houses, digging trenches, or shoveling gravel. The grunt labour in those jobs doesn't make anywhere near as much as a server in a popular restaurant.
Montecfo
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Are you unaware of how many gas station attendants are single moms and dads? Are you ok with the poverty rate of gas station attendants?
Do you know that gas station attendants do not earn a "living wage" and should be tipped?
ShokWaveRider
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Excellent Article, but goes against your chain of thought. (I think)
I love the "Get over it" part.
Montecfo
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Most servers do not seem to feel taken advantage of. Most make good wages including tips. People who don't may be in the wrong profession.
There are easier and harder jobs. Wages are not based on how "hard" a job is. It is supply and demand.
And tipping is customary and continues to be practiced. But individuals can still view it as some strange form of charity or "protest" by leaving extravagant tips (for the poor wait staff), no tips (to "punish" greedy restaurant owners) or avoid restaurants altogether as a personal crusade against this menace.
I also disagree that anyone can do it. Sure, anyone can deliver a plate of food. But being an effective and successful waitperson requires a far greater skill set, including attitude, ability to multitask, hustle and efficiency.
Just sayin'
EvrClrx311
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Freakanomics podcast just recently did an hour long segment on tipping and just how irrational the US is with it... highly recommend it if you're at all interested in how and why tipping exists in the US...
They described studies into the psychological effects of tipping an how it would take an entire generational shift to ever get away from it. We are quite literally raised to feel good about tipping, to the point that if restaurants ever required that we stop, we would be less likely to eat out... I speak of 'we' as a generalization here. I for one, would be happy removing tipping and moving simply to hard pricing for food/services.
Some of the key parts of the series that I picked up on...
- Tipping has kept the fine dining industry down in the US, because culinary students realize that at higher end restaurants, with high prices, the service staff get more money than they do (sadly), even when tips are shared, the service staff end up with way more of the tips, which doesn't really seem fair, does it? Many talented chefs move into service and away from cooking, reducing the overall quality of the food prep at our restaurants.
- Tipping has everything to do with face to face. When Americans are given the option to tip (like in Uber) after service is completed and we don't have to see the person who is collecting it again, we tip very little and not very often. In 2018 a total of 11% of Uber rides lead to a tip, of an average of less than 7%... also 62% of Uber riders have never tipped, under any circumstance.
- Nothing highlights the irrationality of tipping like the hotel industry... where most people (85% or more) will tip a bellhop an average of $5 for carrying their bags to their room. A service that they are already paid to do as a part of your hotel stay, and that only takes them on average 4 minutes of their time to accomplish. Yet, only 3% of people leave a tip for the cleaning crew that deals with our most intimate messes from our hotel rooms and are paid about the same as the bellhop. The difference here is the face to face interaction.
- When restaurants in the US try to remove tipping by actually stating on their menu and receipt NOT to tip and set pricing with service included (say a $14 burger instead of a $12 burger)... it seems that 80% of people leave the restaurant feeling negative about the experience of not being able to tip. Part of this is control, or thinking we can reward good service, but mostly it's something else entirely: People would actually prefer to pay more, and leave a tip, than to be told not to tip because it's already included - it's a dopamine thing, we think we are being generous, when given the choice to give something away - despite it being so taboo to decide not to. This one I found so fascinating.
- Despite our individual feelings about how and why we leave tips, studies have shown that people overplay their own tips as being service related, while apparently 95% of us are guilty of tipping based on things that have nothing to do with service. Age and gender play the largest role in tipping values, outweighing service by a factor of 2 to 1. Yes, you may be guilty of this without even realizing it.
They described studies into the psychological effects of tipping an how it would take an entire generational shift to ever get away from it. We are quite literally raised to feel good about tipping, to the point that if restaurants ever required that we stop, we would be less likely to eat out... I speak of 'we' as a generalization here. I for one, would be happy removing tipping and moving simply to hard pricing for food/services.
Some of the key parts of the series that I picked up on...
- Tipping has kept the fine dining industry down in the US, because culinary students realize that at higher end restaurants, with high prices, the service staff get more money than they do (sadly), even when tips are shared, the service staff end up with way more of the tips, which doesn't really seem fair, does it? Many talented chefs move into service and away from cooking, reducing the overall quality of the food prep at our restaurants.
- Tipping has everything to do with face to face. When Americans are given the option to tip (like in Uber) after service is completed and we don't have to see the person who is collecting it again, we tip very little and not very often. In 2018 a total of 11% of Uber rides lead to a tip, of an average of less than 7%... also 62% of Uber riders have never tipped, under any circumstance.
- Nothing highlights the irrationality of tipping like the hotel industry... where most people (85% or more) will tip a bellhop an average of $5 for carrying their bags to their room. A service that they are already paid to do as a part of your hotel stay, and that only takes them on average 4 minutes of their time to accomplish. Yet, only 3% of people leave a tip for the cleaning crew that deals with our most intimate messes from our hotel rooms and are paid about the same as the bellhop. The difference here is the face to face interaction.
- When restaurants in the US try to remove tipping by actually stating on their menu and receipt NOT to tip and set pricing with service included (say a $14 burger instead of a $12 burger)... it seems that 80% of people leave the restaurant feeling negative about the experience of not being able to tip. Part of this is control, or thinking we can reward good service, but mostly it's something else entirely: People would actually prefer to pay more, and leave a tip, than to be told not to tip because it's already included - it's a dopamine thing, we think we are being generous, when given the choice to give something away - despite it being so taboo to decide not to. This one I found so fascinating.
- Despite our individual feelings about how and why we leave tips, studies have shown that people overplay their own tips as being service related, while apparently 95% of us are guilty of tipping based on things that have nothing to do with service. Age and gender play the largest role in tipping values, outweighing service by a factor of 2 to 1. Yes, you may be guilty of this without even realizing it.
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I had 20/25/30% tip options presented to me when ordering a pizza for delivery from a local pizza chain. I normally tip well, but in this case, I really felt like giving no tip. I entered a custom tip amount, but in retrospect, I should have entered zero for the tip and give the driver cash.
Data collection around tipping is all about trying to extract the maximum from the consumer. I have no doubt that the pizza chain knows exactly what they are doing. And their pizzas aren’t cheap.
I imagine this is a selling point for Square and other payment processing companies. We can help your business maximize tipping income!
travelover
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This was a humorous episode. https://crazyfacts.com/mythbusters-tested-breast-size-and-its-correlation-with-cash-tips-received/.............. Despite our individual feelings about how and why we leave tips, studies have shown that people overplay their own tips as being service related, while apparently 95% of us are guilty of tipping based on things that have nothing to do with service. Age and gender play the largest role in tipping values, outweighing service by a factor of 2 to 1. Yes, you may be guilty of this without even realizing it.
BeachOrCity
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Best youtube video this week!
ShokWaveRider
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Proves a point that service quality has nothing to do with tips received....
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