Can someone please explain to me?

[gmoney]

Tipping/gratuity etiquette.

When I was growing up, the standard was 10%. In my early adulthood, while working in the industry the standard was 15%. Today, it appears to be 18%.

With inflation and current prices being significantly higher, it seems logical to me that the gratuity would increase just with the "%" being the key factor. So why does the "%" have to increase also?

Recently I've begun to take my father to these 'all you can eat buffets'. The only thing the server has to really do is bring you your drink and clear the dishes. Should this server get the same % as in a full service restaurant? I am aware that employers don't have to pay these type of employees minimum wage, but where do we draw the line?

 

[thewiz]

I usually leave 20% gratuity. At buffets or places where I do the work, I leave considerably less.

I know the boy works as a hair stylist. He said you leave 15% for the person cutting your hair and 5% for the person that washes it (if you get it washed). He has some clients that leave considerably more....some less (cheapskates!) lol!

 

[Lukeee]

I don't tip people and I don't know anyone who does. Obviously you leave any small change because why would anyone want that but we certainly don't sit around and think of how much we should give them. If they want more money they charge more.

I never understood tipping, although we do do it when we leave the country for some unknown reason.

 

[martin6]

If you don't tip me at least 15%, I wish ill upon you and your entire family and future generations as you walk out the door. Silently, of course. And when you run me around the restaurant, asking for more bread and another salad, making me sweaty and annoyed, you better leave me 20% if you know what's good for you.

I make half of minimum wage per hour. Try living off that.

 

[rnailsone]

I believe that tipping is between 15 and 20% but i'm an old fashion kind of person I tip according to service.

 

[racer2438]

We do the norm of 15%. but what we do is double the sales tax in our county which is 7-3/4% =15%

if service is under par then it goes down accordingly.

 

[justsimon]

I leave 20%. For takeout, I round up a bit depending on the total and how much I have.

 

[Scrub]

I understand what you are saying G-Mo and there is no easy answer.

If I eat in a diner where the food is less expensive vs. a fine restaraunt and get excellant service in each, why should I just give a 15% tip to each.

Obviously, the diner wait staff would get less as the food is cheaper.

It makes no sense and I'm always confused.

 

[Lukeee]

So am I the only person who doesn't tip? I feel evil now

 

[gmoney]

I'm still waiting for someone to explain to me why the % has to go up along with the increased prices!

I still tip according to quality of service. I think gratuity should be earned; not expected!

 

[martin6]

^^ It's okay. No people from the UK tip when they're here in the US either.

 

[martin6]

I'm still waiting for someone to explain to me why the % has to go up along with the increased prices!

I still tip according to quality of service. I think gratuity should be earned; not expected!

It doesn't. If you got a waiter at McDonald's prices, you should tip at least 15%. If you got a waiter at steakhouse prices, you should tip at least 15%.

 

[frankfrank]

[for martin6] Actually as I understand it, gmoney is asking why the % has changed over the years, when it used to be 10%. I think the 18% is standard, whether at a greasy spoon or an upscale steak-and-seafood house.

Unfortunately I'm clueless, I have no answer...

(oh piggy, if you double the sales tax, I guess that means you don't have to tip at all in Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire or Oregon - because they don't have sales taxes, LOL. So you're gonna move, right?)

 

[landers]

I usually tip depending on the change I get back, pennies, nickles and dimes stay on the table, quarters and up it depends on how high it would make the tip.

In Ontario PST plus GST used to be 15% so it was easy to tip 15%, you just leave as much as your taxes but now it's not so easy. I have no idea why the percentage goes up but I do tip according to service and not some predetermined percentage. I've left as little as a 2% ($1) tip and as high as a 100% ($14) tip.

 

[PhoenixRising]

So am I the only person who doesn't tip? I feel evil now

I don't tip either.

 

[LilBit]

Gary, it may have to do with the wages paid to servers. I'm not sure when the laws were passed that exempted servers and bartenders from minimum wage laws, but I imagine that's when the standard tip went up.

 

[martin6]

[for martin6] Actually as I understand it, gmoney is asking why the % has changed over the years, when it used to be 10%. I think the 18% is standard, whether at a greasy spoon or an upscale steak-and-seafood house.

Oh well then in that case, it's because people realized that 10% tipping = shit tips.

 

[thewiz]

I think the % has changed for a couple of reasons:

1. The value of the dollar just ain't what it used to be. A dollar used to get you a lot more.

2. What restaurants and others pay help has gone down in proportion to standard wages. Most restaurants and other businesses have cut the hourly wage of staff to the minimums possible so if the server doesn't get tipped, they don't even make minimum wage. I know the boy works as a hair stylist and pretty much lives on the tips; the salon gives very little in the form of the wage by the time everything is figured out.

3. The reason the establishments pay as little as possible is simple: they pay less in contributions to social security, unemployment taxes, and other business costs. Many also provide no other benefits so the employee pays everything ... out of their tips.

I know when I was younger and worked in a restaurant and bakery, I was paid a good hourly wage and all of the costs were paid by the business. I didn't get much in tips for counter work and didn't have to. Now, I'd starve (well not for awhile, but eventually).


So if he isn't behind his chair, he isn't making any money....

 

[gmoney]

Gary, it may have to do with the wages paid to servers. I'm not sure when the laws were passed that exempted servers and bartenders from minimum wage laws, but I imagine that's when the standard tip went up.

I was a waiter/bartender in the early 80's. I think minimum wage at the time was $3.35 or $3.75 per hr. I made $2.15 base pay. I needed my tips in order to survive. I had all the normal deductions any salaried or non-tipped employee would have. I have to admit, you could "fudge" on your tip income easier then than today as far as taxes go, but still; no one could live on base pay.

 

[LilBit]

I was a waiter/bartender in the early 80's. I think minimum wage at the time was $3.35 or $3.75 per hr. I made $2.15 base pay. I needed my tips in order to survive. I had all the normal deductions any salaried or non-tipped employee would have. I have to admit, you could "fudge" on your tip income easier then than today as far as taxes go, but still; no one could live on base pay.

When I was waiting tables and tending bar in 2002, I made $2.23 an hour. That may explain why servers rely more and more on tips.