Are you tipping enough?
 

I live here full time. When I eat out (several times a week), I tip at least 20%. More if I feel the waitress/waiter provided good service. They don't even make minimum wage before tips. After taxes, most make about 50 bucks a week on their paychecks.

I hear it is common during 'season' for a few of the folks that stay here only a month or 2 during the winter, to sit down with 5, 6 or more people for a dinner, and tip 5 or 10% (or less even), like they do in Canada (where they make a LOT more by the hour) , or in Europe.

A 'comped' tip on your bill would be 18%. I know it isn't because you don't have the money, that you aren't tipping a fair rate. I am going to figure it is because you didn't know, and now that you read this ... you know. In my opinion, tipping a waitress/waiter anything less than 18% is stealing from them.

Most folks do tip properly, and some maybe didn't know what should be tipped in this part of the world. Some of you knew, don't, and never will. I feel sorry for you almost as much as I do for the people who wait on you.

Nice post

Always tip 20% minimum and sometimes more if service is excellent. That's 20% of the bill excluding the tax portion.

My son works in hotel management and servers have families to support and do the things everyone else does.

Do not penalized the server if the cook made a bad meal of what you ordered.

Any complaints should be handled by management in an appropriate fashion.

Management doesn't always do the right thing but they should, if they want repeat business.

Where do you get your information on Canadian tipping? Yes on a per hour rate they are paid more but depending on the service ne ver heard in 60 years any one tipping less than 15 - 20 percent and remember while in the u.s.a. Add the current 25 percent dollar difference! Why do Americans not pay their employees more to live on ?

When did 20% become the standard? For as long as I can remember it was always a minimum of 15% for good service and more for excellent service. I usually tip 20% as long as the service is decent, but will tip 10% or less if I feel that the server is not doing his or her job.

I was at World of Beer last year having a few exotic beers and the server spent the entire time I was there talking to her friends. She came over once when my glass was still 90% full and asked if I wanted another. When I finished my beer, it was ten minutes before she could tear herself away to ask if I wanted anything else. I ordered a different beer and it took her five minutes to bring it. It's not that she was busy. she had plenty of time to talk with other people at the bar. My bill came to $9 and change. I left a ten and walked away. She was probably cursing me out as some old cheapskate, but the service was truly terrible.

What I heard, was that the waitresses and waiters in Canada made a bit more than $5 an hour, not needing as high a percentage for tips.

"Americans not paying employees enough to live on" is a fairly broad statement. Pretty sure there is a broad spectrum of pay scales for 'American employees' .... some are actually making enough to live on.

18% is the standard. 20% is easier to figure up in my head so....

That's pretty much my position.

Yea, me too. Easy to figure 20% so that is what it is.

Broad statement? So is "I heard".

And please don't forget to tip what the bill would actually be, not what you got discounted because of coupons or a two-for-one special. Ditto if part of your meal was comped.

and remember that the server not only makes well below minimum wage, but must help pay the salaries of co-workers such as the hostess, barback, busboy, etc. and that is figured at 18% of the tab regardless of the actual tip. Plus the IRS figures the income at 18% percent of the total tab.

I remember one evening when my daughter came home in tears. Most of her shift was spent on a large group that stayed for more than three hours. Ultimately, they left her a ten percent tip after commenting to the manager what a great server she was. That table cost her almost ten dollars out of her own pocket in tipping out co-workers and that's not counting the tables she could have served had these folks stayed a reasonable time and tipped fairly. She actually worked for free that evening since she paid out more than what she made for her shift.

It wasn't too long ago that 15% was the standard. I've noticed it going up over the years. I've seen some things that recommend 25%. I worked as a bartender and I understand that servers live off their tips. But I also understand that the minimum amount gets reported for taxes and that a lot of servers make a lot of money.

Nope, "what I heard" would be hearsay. A broad statement, is different.

That's what I do too.

Once you've been a server, you realize that the servers take all the flak out on the front lines, when the problem is often the cooks and/or spineless shift managers.

And sometimes, I over-tip simply because they need the money. I'll get along fine without those extra $2 or $3 in addition to the 15-20%.

I like encouraging people--especially young parents--to work and earn for their families, and work their way up to better positions or other job opportunities. Serving is a great place to meet clientele who are also employers that might want to hire them, and that customer-employer now knows first-hand the server's work ethic and customer focus.

a
I remember one evening when my daughter came home in tears. Most of her shift was spent on a large group that stayed for more than three hours. Ultimately, they left her a ten percent tip after commenting to the manager what a great server she was. That table cost her almost ten dollars out of her own pocket in tipping out co-workers and that's not counting the tables she could have served had these folks stayed a reasonable time and tipped fairly. She actually worked for free that evening since she paid out more than what she made for her shift.[/QUOTE]


It really hurts, to hear this. Not only did they stiff her but kept the table tied up so she couldn't make up the difference on someone more generous. I agree with another post that says you are a thief if you cheat a server.

Interesting how you would paint all Canadians with the same broad brush. Ontario has a minimum wage now of $11.00 per hour and will increase again in the fall. We, like some other posters have stated, typically tip in the 20% range. Canadians are very similar to our American friends in so many ways.

I don't see the logic in tipping a percentage.

It can take your server more time and effort to handle an $8 endless soup and salad order than a $24 entree. Should s/he get one third the tip just because I decide to have a cheap meal that day?

Same with wine. A $25 bottle takes no less time to open and pour than a $50 bottle. Why tip them half as much?

Just pay them what you think they deserve for their effort and professionalism.

I tip 20% or more because I don't order much, there are a lot of cheap skates and the waiter is doing the best they can where they work now.

The truth is tipping is very unfair.

If you go fishing on a private boat here is what happens. There is a guy running around doing what you don't know how to do or is outside your comfort zone. At the end of the day you have had an experience that would not happen without him. He bates the hook, he brings in the fish from the side of the boat, he takes out the hook and cleans the fish. He deserves a really big tip.

But what does a waiter do that you couldn't do for yourself? They take the scrambled eggs or lobster from the counter to your chair. They serve a VO Manhattan or a cup of coffee. Yet the tip is based on the total price not the service.

deleted

The 18% figure is inaccurate. Here is the direct rule from the IRS tax regulation for 2014:

How were your allocated tips figured. The tips allocated
to you are your share of an amount figured by subtracting
the reported tips of all employees from 8% (or an
approved lower rate) of food and drink sales (other than
carryout sales and sales with a service charge of 10% or
more). Your share of that amount was figured using either
a method provided by an employer-employee agreement
or a method provided by IRS regulations based on employees'
sales or hours worked. http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p531.pdf

As long as a servers are reported to receive 8% of sales the IRS gives the establishment a pass. Clearly this invites fraud as it is very unlikely any establishment has such a poor tip rate.

Open your mind a little. Not everyone knows what you know about fishing. This is why I tip the mates so well. I don't know anything about skydiving either but if someone helped me get down I would tip them well too.

"can't do without a couple of dollars"
That's a quote that has nothing to do with me. Where did it come from?

Get ****ed off at someone else if that makes your day.

ps I didn't add those asterisks. I'm not from around here.

Actually, I should have said comparing the difficulty of work of a fishing surrogate to a restaurant server is like comparing apples and oranges.

And I mentioned "can't do without a couple of dollars" because the subject is tipping and people who are cheap tippers.

I apologize if you are offended and I'll remove the post if possible.

I am not about to pass judgement on anyone regarding how they tip....and moreso what we say here on this board will have every little impact if any on how a person rewards a server for service.

Yes I have heard the stories about how people give 20 ---25 --or more percent as a tip. I congradulate them. On a cruise ship I am often asked should we leave something extra knowing the tips are already included in the cruise fare. I always say " you tip what you are comfortable in tipping...your under no obligation..but if the server provided you good service they should be rewarded..the amount is up to you. "

We are all adults and should know what the (tipping) customs are here in the US...yes it can be difficult when people from other countries visit the US or when americans visit foreign countires but its unfair to highlight Canadians in your example for it could apply to Brits, all Europeans and Asians or even AMERICANS.

The system is wrong and just like how we pay income taxes in america, so are our tipping policies and I dont expect a change in the near future.. All I can do is control my own actions..and thats what I do.

We went out to eat the other night at one of the country clubs. Our meal came to 36.00. Our meal was ok, as was the server. She was nice, but other than fill our glasses once, we never saw much of her. We paid for ur meal, and gave her 10.00 and told her that we needed change. We didn't say it was for her tip, but I am sure she should know that. She brought us back the change for the 10.00, but no change for the 40.00 we had given her for our meal. We waited for quite a long time for her to bring back the 4 bucks, and she never came back by our table, or looked our way. We tried to get her attention, but couldn't. We thought about walking into her way, but the longer we sat, the more annoyed we got, and finally decided that it wasn't right for her to just assume she could keep the extra money from the 40.00. So we left without leaving her any additional money which is why we asked for change. WE decided she got her tip herself-she would have been better off to let us figure the tip. She probably thought we were terrible, but it was not right for her to just assume she could keep that money. Ironically, if she had returned our money, she would have gotten that much and a lot more. Some may think we were terrible for not tipping properly, but she never returned, and we should not have had to chase her to get our change back. BTW, she had 3 tables inc. ours, so she wasn't horribly busy.

Ozzello ..... despite the fact that minimum wage in Ontario is $11.00, Canadians in general are a civilized bunch and understand that wages for servers in Florida are low. We tip accordingly, as do all Canadians I know.

I mentioned Canadians, and Europeans, to say some of the low tipping could be a mistake, due to different customs in other countries. Most of the US waitresses make 5 bucks an hour, less than minimum wage.

This post was in no way directed at any certain country or area, this post is directed at the people who know how much to tip, and don't. When they eat out with other people, they nit pic the food or the something anything else they can, as an excuse not to tip.

I direct this at post at the lady that stiffed her waitress, because the waitress called her "honey".

Why is it a fastfood restaurant pays minimum-wage, but a restaurant gets a pass on the law.

That's a good question! They get a pass, because we are all arguing over how little we pay in tips to these servers.

In all actuality, if we all stopped tipping, restaurants would be required to pay, at least, minimum wage....it's the law!

We are no longer tipping for good service. We now are tipping as a wage subsidy for the restaurant, so they don't have to pay a living wage to their employees.

I know that Darden restaurants take a minimum of 18%. If the tip on the credit card is more than 18%, the total amount is declared on taxes. If under, then the restaurant assumes some of the tip is left in cash and 18% is deducted. This seems to be the standard for most restaurants and why I always leave the tip in cash.

large group
 

I tend to give even more (25-30%) when I'm with a large club group because I know the extra work involved, but that's just me.

I had a waitress make change at the table one night and I was due back a penny in addition to dollars. She asked me if I wanted the penny and I laughed and said no...she replied "you'd be surprised" and I said, no I wouldn't....

I think being obnoxious to servers can go deeper than just being cheap. It is often a sign of someone with a mean streak and/or a need to control others or to feel superior. And they find it easy to pick on those in a position of not being able to stand up for themselves.

These types go through their days trying to make themselves feel better by making others feel worse.

The customer is not always right. The customer just might be a total :censored:.

$5.00 minimum, regardless of bill amount - but always 20% or more unless something is seriously amiss. Jimmie

I consider myself to be a good tipper - seldom less than a minimum of 20%. But $5 as a minimum is excessive if my breakfast or lunch is than $12.

What authority (who) makes the standard? Or, to put it another way, who declares what the standard should be?

Whatever you tip is nobody's business but your own.

Who makes up the rules for tip amounts? Why not give 50%? A person should tip on quality of service. But the amount should be up to the person giving it.
Some cannot afford a larger tip. Some can and don't for many reasons. No one should judge others by the tip they leave. Yes, I agree the restaurants pay too little to the workers. But, that does not mean others must make up the difference.
The restaurant serves food, someone has to bring it to you.
I leave tips based on service not what someone demands I should leave. I find that many give very poor service in and around the villages but still expect big tips.

Does that include buffets since all the server does is take your drink order?

"Am I tipping enough?"

Yes.

Thank you for asking.

My thoughts exactly. :wave:

And I get a little more tipsy after my second one.