What is an acceptable amount to tip?

If they automatically include a tip, I think it’s important not to pay any more, unless the service was truly deserving of more. There are plenty of times when resaurants put the automatic 18% in really fine print, and then offer a big-print area on the signing pad for you to add on another 15% because you feel that you owe a tip and maybe had a few drinks since reading the very fine print on the menu. So now you’ve just given them a 33% tip, and they may have spat in your food anyway.

10%-15%, depending on bill and if I will charge it to my firm. More if waiter looks like a kid paying for school. Rude people get 0%.

what the protocol on a buffet? Seems like a gray area to me.

cfaatsb Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > what the protocol on a buffet? Seems like a gray > area to me. two bucks if they keep my drink full. Mongolian buffet usually like a 5 if they held it down.

@greengrape- if someone wants to clog up my table but is still ordering a drink or two that’s fine. It’s the people that stay an hour after their meal is finished and even the ice chips in their 4th Diet Cokes are melted away that bother me. I’d like to know who as actually been involved in the restaurant industry here. I bet they are the highest tippers. As a sidenote…I think everyone should spend some portion of their high school/college life in the restaurant industry. Servers and bartenders are always a fun and crazy group of people. The only high school/college job where you party every dollar you make away the same night you make it.

coke dealer?

I’m a good tipper (20-40% unless terrible, then 0-10%). Primarily because I used to take home 1/5 waitresses that were 7’s or above.

i’m usually an automatic 20% because i used to be in the business, but i’ll drop a zero every now and then if its awful - especially for bad bartending.

Tip policy at open bar? Depends on the event?

jcole21 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I’m a good tipper (20-40% unless terrible, then > 0-10%). Primarily because I used to take home 1/5 > waitresses that were 7’s or above. Years ago, I developed a policy for myself: “No more waitresses!” However, last weekend, I may have decided to break this rule.

bchadwick Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > jcole21 Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > I’m a good tipper (20-40% unless terrible, then > > 0-10%). Primarily because I used to take home > 1/5 > > waitresses that were 7’s or above. > > > Years ago, I developed a policy for myself: “No > more waitresses!” > > However, last weekend, I may have decided to break > this rule. HAHAHAHAHA YYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH BBBBBBBCCCCCCCHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAADDDDDDDDDDDDD!!! How’d you tip her (couple ways you can run with this one, I’m good with all of them!)?

thommo77 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > 15% for crap service, 18 to 20% for good service. > I feel bad for wait staff. They make a really low > hourly wage so even if the person is not that > friendly I would never not tip. I’m with Thommo as far as my tipping habits. Very, very occasionally, I will do 10%, for awful service (I can remember maybe twice it’s happened in like 5 yrs). I echo the comments that if you’ve worked in service, it makes you far more inclined to tip better. I’ve never been a waiter, but I’ve worked in service, and god almighty, some people think because they pay a bill at the end of the day that they can be a complete jerk. Ugh. The saddest thing ever is hearing a group of people invent reasons to round down on the tip as they’re calculating the bill. “We had to wait like, 5 minutes for menus” is an excuse, not a reason, to knock the tip down 5%. This is *incredibly* obnoxious to watch and just crappy manners - if you can’t go out to eat, fine. But don’t go out to eat at a $$$ place if you can only afford a $$ place and then try and make some back on the tip. Marginally related story: Recently went with someone to Chipotle and was blown away at how rude he was. Start to finish, was a jerk to the staffers as they assembled a meal in which he asked for (and got, without complaint) more of every single thing and then loudly concluded not by thanking them, but referring to them (the specific workers, not Chipotle) as ‘pretty cheap’. I then fired back that I would pay for his meal and the next one if he’d shut the f%#$ up and apologize, immediately, to both of the people he was insulting. He paid for his own meal, and I don’t eat with him anymore.

I worked at a hole-in-the-wall restaurant when I was in college. I honestly didn’t care that much for tips. They made you feel a little bit better but when you’re making minimum wage, it’s not like tips made a significant difference to the quality of my life. In this economy, I tip 10% - 15% depending on how I feel. I’m not the type of person who expects great service (checking in every 10 min, seeing how full my glass is every 10 min, etc). Just gimme the food, check back once during my meal for a drink refill and drop the check off. If I need you, I’ll call you over. Some people, my friends included, get very uptight when it comes to service and will dock points for not going above and beyond. As long as the server followed at a minimum my 2x checking in rule (1. Take food order 2. Refills and other things along with dropping off check), I’m fine.

On a side note, my cousin once worked at a nice restaurant as a waitress and a group of 3 or 4 didn’t leave a tip and she went to the manager and let her know. The manager ran to the front of the restaurant, and said Manager: Sir, you forgot to leave a tip. Him: Yes, and? Manager: Sir, it is generally expected that a tip is added on to the bill for our services. Him: Well I’m not leaving one. Manager: May I ask why? Him: I just don’t want to. Manager: Then we’re going to have to ask you to never eat at this restaurant again. I was quite surprised that the owner of the restaurant would give the manager that kind of authority and that this restaurant demanded tips. I’m not saying it was wrong, but that it was surprising that a restaurant would go through that much to communicate the message about tips.

jcole21 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > bchadwick Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > jcole21 Wrote: > > > -------------------------------------------------- > > > ----- > > > I’m a good tipper (20-40% unless terrible, > then > > > 0-10%). Primarily because I used to take > home > > 1/5 > > > waitresses that were 7’s or above. > > > > > > Years ago, I developed a policy for myself: > “No > > more waitresses!” > > > > However, last weekend, I may have decided to > break > > this rule. > > HAHAHAHAHA YYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH > BBBBBBBCCCCCCCHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAADDDDDDDDDDDDD!!! > !!! > > How’d you tip her (couple ways you can run with > this one, I’m good with all of them!)? A gentleman is discreet. But she did seem very happy.

bchadwick Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > A gentleman is discreet. > > But she did seem very happy. Bchad!!! Bchad!!! I bet she still can’t walk straight after that pounding.

topher Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > On a side note, my cousin once worked at a nice > restaurant as a waitress and a group of 3 or 4 > didn’t leave a tip and she went to the manager and > let her know. The manager ran to the front of the > restaurant, and said > > Manager: Sir, you forgot to leave a tip. > Him: Yes, and? > Manager: Sir, it is generally expected that a tip > is added on to the bill for our services. > Him: Well I’m not leaving one. > Manager: May I ask why? > Him: I just don’t want to. > Manager: Then we’re going to have to ask you to > never eat at this restaurant again. > > I was quite surprised that the owner of the > restaurant would give the manager that kind of > authority and that this restaurant demanded tips. > I’m not saying it was wrong, but that it was > surprising that a restaurant would go through that > much to communicate the message about tips. You’d think that that might come back and bite the restaurant on the ass. Can you imagine if he had videod that and put it on youtube. He’s entitled not to pay more than the stated price.

In many places outside the US, tips are included automatically on the bill (usually the standard is about 10%). However, they are, strictly speaking, refusable if the service was bad. It’s an interesting operation to try to refuse that tip. The wait staff is highly indignant when that happens, and many argue that because it’s written on the paper, it is required by law (perhaps in some countries it is). I’ve never done it, but I have watched others do it, and sometimes, when faced with atrocious service, wondered if I should have done it too, but didn’t feel like having the fight.

I’m more inclined to be sensitive about what % to tip based on the price of the restaurant. For example, I’m much more likely to tip 20% without hesitation at a diner or low-end restaurant, even if the service is bad. What do you really expect at a place like that? If you go to a nice restaurant and expect to pay for good service and the experience, it should be monitored more closely. This is frequently, at least in NYC, where I’m most dissapointed - there are too many restaurants that bill themselves as high quality because of the prices they charge rather than the actual quality presented (service, food or otherwise). -my 20%.

I generally start with 20% of the pre-tax total (15% is too much mental math for my feeble brain) and then round up or down to the nearest whole dollar amount for the total bill (I hate coins). So, I guess I generally end up in the 18% - 22% range. I will knock off a few bucks if the service was particularly bad. Have to take circumstances into account as well. I once got in an arguement with a friend’s wife who thought we were tipping $2 too much. It was 3:00 AM at a Denny’s and the waitress was a middle aged woman who I have to assume would have gained a lot more utility from that $2 than us since she was on the graveyard shift at Denny’s. My friend was there too, btw, not just me and his wife at 3:00 AM :slight_smile: