Quote:
Originally Posted by Whitley
I do not know how to start a thread, or I would have done so. You mentioned tip. In the past five to ten years tipping on take-out has become the norm. I use to slide a dollar across the counter when getting my coffee at DD. Now when paying for takeout, Chinese food, a pizza etc.they leave a space on the receipt to add a tip. Last night at a Chinese take-out it showed suggested tips, 22% (with amount), 25%() and 30%. This is for takeout.I had been tipping 10% for take-out and 20 to 25 for dine in. Is 10% too low (let's assume service is fine. They put the dried rice in the bag and handed it to me.).I understand I am older and most likely not up on what is customary (I recall an Uncle who tipped 12% because that is what it had been for years). Any advice is appreciated.
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We do, and have always, believed in (personally) rewarding those who have given exceptional service (friendly, efficient, check if anything missing or needed, hot coffee fill, and various services in hotels, cruises, etc.). HOWEVER... what you related (carryout, and places like coffee cafes, buffets, etc. that use the cash registers to "force" customers to go through a series of "tip" options, etc. have really become offensive. "Tipping" has gradually lost all meaning as tech advances have evolved into just a method of increasing the total bill, and the "custom" of personally rewarding someone with your personal "thank you" is now nothing more than a "service charge" for picking up a phoned in order ! I might add, for those who cruise often, since the days when cruising was relatively unknown and tipping was always done in a manner of PERSONAL (person to person) "thanks" to all who made the cruise so pleasant, this evolved into an automatic daily charge added to the bill in the manner of the many hotel taxes. Most recently, one cruise line tried (you can imagine the outrage) to keep a list of those who felt the service was not exceptional, and went to the hotel desk of the ship to have this, or that, tip removed. This resulted in a type of "black list" cruiser, but had to be dropped due to the push back by customers. "Way back" we often cruised on a line that required no tipping, the service was truly exceptional and the prices of the line were above the bargain lines. Even though no tipping required, the quality of the service was so high you wanted to seek our the individual employees and add additional cash along with a hand shake, sometimes even a hug, and with eye to eye contact. I know the old argument that there are just a lot of "cheap skate" (old term of my grand parents) people about, but...is that an excuse to reduce tipping to what it has become... an incentive for those who do a poor or very poor job of their assigned responsibilities to be encouraged to be even more irresponsible by receiving tips regardless. And before it all starts....LOL... Yes, I have worked many jobs that rely heavily on tips, at times in college I had as many as three such jobs at a time, and yes, I do know what it is to give my best and still get "stiffed" as we called it. But overall, the majority of people really appreciated the attentive service I always tried to provide (never hung back in the bussing area to check my phone and chat with my colleagues, had no cell phone or Facebook, or TicToc to check !) I have heard the joke among villages retail employees: What is the difference between a Villager and a canoe ? Even a canoe will tip once in awhile. I find that insulting and completely untrue. Overall, considering the limited fixed income of most retirees, most are extremely generous and understanding, even with inflation like we are experiencing, and they realize how tough it is on students and younger adults with families trying to manage on minimum wage and less. But I do maintain, if a person is very poor at their job, they should not then be encouraged to perform even worse by receiving a "tip".