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[...] Christian wrote an interesting post today on How To Tip Like A GentlemanHere’s a quick excerptIt?s common to place up to a 10% side bet for the dealer. Poker dealer - $5 per session. Winners usually tip at least $10 and sometimes as much as 10% on bigger wins. Drink waitresses - $1 chip per drink. … [...]

Great article - really useful set of tips (pun intended...)

It got me thinking about a couple of other situations where some guidance would be helpful: At a coffee house, should you tip? And how about if you use movers - should you tip the guys who load and unload your stuff? In my case, on the movers, I tipped the driver $50 when they finished loading, hoping it would help encourage him to take extra care of our things...It's a lot of money in some ways, but the moving bill was in the thousands so it didn't seem outrageous to me.

Any thoughts on those situations?

I have a friend that's a mover, he says he and his crew get $10-$50 per move, depending on how much trucks [small houses are half a truck, large villas could be 2-3 trucks]. My friend makes tons, get gets like $5 per hour [minimum wage in Israel] and then tips, they do like 3 houses per day. So that comes out to like $80-$190, very good money....

The one that gets me is the bagger at the grocery store, particularly those who carry your bags out to the car and load them up for you. Is there a standard accepted rate?

Full service gas stations. I always tip the attendant a couple dollars, or round it to the next $5,

You make it sound like one should give money left and right :)

Tip someone at a self-serve? I mean, you're the one that's doing the serving in there... the tip should stay in your pocket!

Great summary.

A couple of questions:

1. When there is a tip jar, what do you do? I normally just tip every once in a while if I get good service.

2. This one is always tough for me... take-out. I've started tipping 15% assuming some service in the assembly. But, what do others do? Is that too much or too little?

All these are about 5% too low. During college, I waited tables, tended bar and valet parked cars at a 5-star hotel (not all at the same time). I tip everyone a little more now because of it, and it helps a lot when that is your income!

NOTE: THIS DOES NOT APPLY TO STARBUCKS. Their employees are paid rather well and get benefits packages. It's aimed primarily at non-chain coffee shops where the workers are typically paid minimum wage and are using equipment where a good latte takes lots of training, effort, and skill.

Coming from somebody who worked in a coffee shop for two years (finally quit because they promoted me to assistant manager without giving me a pay raise) - if you're a regular, tip well. We had a guy who always left $0.50 minimum on his $2.50 drink, and he got the best cappucino we could make every single time, and his drink got bumped to the front of the line, meaning he was in and out in under a minute, while other non/lesser tipping patrons would be there for 2-3 minutes, and their coffee didn't get as much effort. If you're not a regular, tips are always appreciated, but we were more forgiving. So general guidlines:

Black coffee: a quarter will make sure you always get treated well. It's easy for us to do, so whether you get one cup or 5, a small tip is always appreciated.

1 milk-based (latte, mocha, etc.) drink: .50 on a regular basis will mean you get phenomenal microfoam and amazing shots every time.

More than one drink requiring shots/milk: Tip proportionately. We would have some people order 4 drinks, and tip us $3. They got 4 great drinks. Others would order 8 drinks, and not tip at all. We didn't give a rats ass how their drinks tasted. We would never spit in their drinks, but their shots might have been a bit stale/bitter, and their milk might be slightly scalded.

/me gets off his soapbox.

$10-$15 for a bell hop is OUTRAGEOUS and pompous.

No more than $5 even in a 5 star hotel.

...but why am I tipping someone for doing their job? Who tips the McDonalds worker for doing their job of serving me? Who tips the policeman for doing his job to protect and serve? Who tips the clerk in the music store for finding a CD for me? Who tips the computer programmer for slamming out good code? They are already being paid to do their job, yet they are expecting that I compensate them for...exactly what?

Excellent service means you did your job well, but you don't get a cookie every time you do something excellent. A waiter, hatcheck girl, or anyone working in the food service industry deserves fair pay for performance with raises when applicable. It is despicable that I am supposed to compensate these food service industry workers because their employers are cheap bastards who won't pay these workers a decent living wage.

I work in mental health, and by the code of ethics, we are forbidden to take compensation beyond our salary from assisting clients. This is to prevent a dual relationship from occurring (or worse, the accusation of favoritism). I don't tip because the person is already being paid, they're doing their job, and if they don't like the money they're being paid, get another job! Don't take a job as a waiter, bartender, server, et cetera, if you are assuming that people will give you free money because you DID YOUR JOB. That's why they get a paycheck.

Enjoy your job, accept the paycheck as the monetary reward. I do, and that's all I can legally and ethically accept. A compliment to me from a client or a client's family is worth more than money. If I want/need more money, I get a 2nd job or a new career. I don't expect my clients to support me above and beyond what I agreed to earn when I took the job.

tip a poker dealer?
I guess whilst you are already essentially throwing your money away you shouldn't bother uping the ante.

imho, 15% in a local restaurant is too little. 20% is the standard.

Here in Australia I cant think of any situation where we are required to tip, except at a skin bar or a five star hotel (neither of which I have been to). We just don't tip here. I've caught hundreds of taxis and had a thousand meals out, and never has anyone even hinted that a tip is expected. So if you travel to Australia keep in mind that we don't give tips here so you will seem even more impressive when you tip and you will probably get even better service. And for Australians traveling to America, well, I guess they had better add another 12 to 15 percent to their budget.

Tipping is something we don't have to worry about here in Australia. All-in-one pricing and more reasonable wages... makes sense doesn't it?

metroknow - the fact about tipping movers is a great one. We moved a few years ago and hired professional movers. I hadn't thought about tipping them (being relatively new to the custom of tipping for non-restaurant services), but once they were done unloading (in the summer heat), we offered them a cool drink. While the 6-pack of Pepsi didn't cost us more than $5, the gesture totally blew the driver and the movers away. After taking a few minutes to relax, they rewrote the bill and knocked off 2 hours of transit time, which was totally unexpected.

It just goes to show - it's the gesture, not the amount, in many cases.

As a waiter and bartender for the past 6+ years, the standard for your server is 15-20%, this has gone up in the past few years.
And as far as bartenders go, that really is a situation where you want them to see you tipping them, we really do remember which people we saw tip us for their drinks and who stuffed all of their change back in their pockets.
Another note, coins, by themselves, are considered insults to most servers, and especially bartenders, if the service we've provided isn't worth a dollar to you, you can pretty much bet we won't be rushing to make sure you're taken care of next time.
All that said. . . bar tipping is tricky, if you're running a credit card tab I would say that 20-25% is acceptable, however if you're paying cash it's a good idea to leave at least a dollar every time you order drinks, more if you're ordering multiple drinks or something complex or tedious (mojitos come to mind)

Just my .02

Interesting. However, my boss doesn't give me an extra handout on my paycheque because I was bright, cheery and helpful around the office that day.

I somewhat disagree with your restaurant tipping advice. Modern restaurants (in NYC at least) allow a more discreet tipping experience by taking out the discrete tips. Attempting to drop cash in the hands of the host, sommelier, coat check, etc. is far too frenetic a responsibility for a customer who should be focused on enjoying himself; and most persons serving in these roles, having understood this, will often make the experience all the more awkward by refusing. Bad, bad, bad, advice! (Also, I'm not sure it is even advisable to use the term "maitre d'"). My experience in the last ten years has been one of leaving a gratuity with the meal that is generous enough to cover all services received, and I believe restaurants employ a system where this is anticipated and split equitably. The exceptions to this would be ordering cocktails at the bar before your meal or taking your coat from a coat check that is physically separated from the rest of the establishment (and may even have a designated receptacle for tips).

No matter the level of discretion, leaving a trail of cash deposits through the course of a dining experience will only make you look like a greaseball. Just don't forget when it comes time to tally up everyone you must consider.

With 10+ years as as a Tux clad Captain in my younger days, I can agree wholeheartedly with the above.

I was however surprised recently to see at a fairly famous LA restaurant, the wait staff automatically adding a 22% tip in the gratuity line on a VISA slip, I was with my Japanese clients and they were sponsoring the dinner for 8.

I quietly went to the manager to bring this to his attention (mind you they had already included a 15% surcharge that was listed on the bottom of the menu), his smiling comment was that they always do this as a "service" for foreign visitors, because they probably don't understand our customs or don't know how much to tip.

While the service was acceptable, it was not worth 37%!

End result was a new slip and 0 tip (they would have to be happy with their published 15% and a short lecture from me.

A tip should always be at the discretion of the guest and never considered a birthright.

For anyone that eats at Panera Bread:

Either bus your own damn table or leave a tip.

I just moved last week and tipped my three movers $20 each, giving it all to the guy in charge of the team.

I don't tip at coffee shops if I'm getting a regular brewed coffee, but I'll tip a dollar for anything more time-consuming like an espresso or single-batch drip.

I work at a college campus bar, and we see a lot of bad tippers. Although its not always the case, some do tip good, the majority of college kids (even parents too) are lousy tippers. In this case % doesn't always justify a good tip. When I work I work very hard to make sure all my customers are satisfied, and a lot of times I get stiffed (or something like a quarter on a $4.75 drink), and its really annoying. Remember I'm making $2.13 an hour and I depend on tips to make a living.
Just keep this in mind when you go to a bar...$1 or $1 and the change per drink is a good guide for tipping, if you buy a few drinks at a time give a couple bucks and the change and i guarantee that your server will take care of you all night, and if you really want to ensure good service tip really well (30-40%) on the first round and tip good on the future rounds (sometimes this will be to your benefit because most bars have money set aside to give free drinks to good customers). If you buy a round of shots, try to tip 15-20%, 15% for good service 20% for excellent service, and even if the service is bad 10% is still a reasonable amount to tip. Remember you want to have fun at the bars, so treat the servers and bartenders good so they have fun too.

Dont forget to tip your ski/snowboard instructor, thats a majority of our wages and it sucks when you go a day without getting a tip. Personally I think I do more at my job than a waiter will do at times, and definitely a bell hop. No offense to those occupations

Also, my above comment could be completely offbase (ie, I may simply have been assuming these things). Perhaps someone reading who works in the industry could clarify the matter.

There may also be a regional aspect to these practices. I live in a city that has refined the high-end dining experience to almost ridiculous extremes; it's entirely possibly the "old school" rules still apply in less gastronomically-obsessed locales.

I also want to say the general point of your article is excellent: a generous tip, given discreetly, is a beautiful thing. The hair stylist tip can also not be overestimated. It makes a world of difference for future service (assuming you return to the same person, of course).

we need to cultivate the tipping culture here as well ...

unless its a fancy restaurant or exceptional service i don't see why tipping should be standard and expected. most restaurants include gratuity either on the bill or in the price of the meal, if servers are depending on tips as a part of their income then maybe they need to go work another job with higher pay.

as a customer, when i pay for my meal i'm paying for the food, the preparation, service and overhead costs of running the restaurant. when i pay my bill, i've already paid for the service provided. what other industry expects customers to pay for their goods and services and then kick in part of their payroll expenses to top it all off?

i'm not saying tipping should never happen, but you'd better do something spectacular and anecdote-inspiring if you expect a tip from me.

[/mrpink]

I still dont understand why i should tip anyone. They are paid a wage as it is, they shouldnt be tipped just because they serve me personally. It is their job.

Do I tip a steward/stewardess? Do I tip my teacher? Do I tip the cashier in Wegman's? no, these tipping thing is just stupid, and so are those who claim that tipping is a must.

Most moving companies disallow tips. In lieu of a tip, write a letter to the company about the movers in question. The moving company I worked for in college gave out $50 bonuses for letters of praise and letters/customer comments directly affected your position. In fact, a letter of praise can have a much longer lasting effect on a wage than a single tip can in nearly any profession.

Tipping is absurd! Also, it is unreported and not taxed, and thus not part of the economy. The service industry needs to stand up to managers and demand fair wages. It is ridiculous that this black market still exists.

Actually, the federal government considers tipping servers (of the food variety) to be practically mandatory - hence the just-over-two-dollars minimum wage set for waiters/waitresses. Although the law states that the server should receive the regular hourly minimum, should their wages for a shift average out to less than five-bucks-and-some-change, this is rarely observed by most restaurant owners.

Regarding the terrible food tipping policy. If the food is bad, you should tip less. I used to work at a restaurant and if someone got terrible food and left a normal tip, the cooks were never really notified of the problem, but when someone left a not-so-great tip, the cooks were notified and the food from thereon out was looked after much better.

tipping is stupid, waiters earning $300 a night?? I had a friend who was a trained cheff, 4 years of training and he earned only $10/hr while the pretty blond in front with no training was earning $200-300 a lunch shift. Thanks to American tourist this culture is spreading around the world, the only people who really profit are the restaurateurs who get away without paying their staff a proper wage.

In New Zealand (and for that matter Austriala and the UK) there are unions and liveable minimum wages of $11.25/hr (or $90 for an 8 hour work day) - [1] http://www.ers.dol.govt.nz/pay/minimum.html

I'm amazed that your nation has accepted such a low minimum wage given your high tax rate. The US Dept. of Labour at http://www.dol.gov/esa/minwage/america.htm#Massachusetts shows Massachusetts has the highest min. wage of $8/hr, may be workers need their tips to get by from day-to-day?

[1] Employment Relations Services, Department of Labour, Govt. of New Zealand

Average Tip is now 20%, if you leave 15% then don't be suprised if the server is slow or inattentive next time

One Question and one comment:

How about when mostly having drinks, seated at a table? I've been advised $1.00 per drink, and then 15% (+ or -) for food service...

And, If I've paid in cash and received large denominations in change, I tip with the lowest if I don't feel like waiting to ask to have it broken into smaller bills. I suspect this is a plan to encourage large tipping. Either way it's very inconsiderate to the customer.

Good advice. I was wondering if you should you tip a travel guide? If so, how much? I took a day trip in France which cost about $200 per person. What do you think my tip should have been, if any?

In the beginning you mention to be discreet about tipping, and that you're not giving fido a treat. Yet near the end you want to explain to the waiter that you're not giving a nice tip because of his quality of service?

Are you an idiot or what? Mistakes like this prevents people from taking your advice seriously. When you make a post such as this, you are assuming you are an authority on the posted subject. Make sure you are before you assume.

For those who think to follow this type of tipping advice. Ask yourself this.

Why don't you tip the guy at McDonald's who not only takes your order, but also gets your food at an assembly line pace?

You want another good one about tipping, this one never fail me and most of the server will fight for you once they see you coming to that restaurant which my wife has been always amazed on how well we are served or over-served. simple but very effective, as soon as you sit-down on your chair looking on the menu and the server ask about your day/order give him/her advanced tip of maybe $5-10 dollar depending on the class of the restaurant.

they will be suprised about it because they are used to receiving tips at the end not before the food is served . if will make them think about you knowing, if you are good tipper before your food is served what more after it. at first ,it may look like you over tipped them but think about that food been served is from the person you haven't met or never know if his/her mood is good that day and giving them advanced tips make you look classy.

Nat
www.workersinc.com

No advice here on how to tip my supermarket cashier.
Or garbage man.
Or train conductor.
Or librarian.

And for that matter nobody tips me in my job. I deal with clients, I frequently indulge in special work tailored to their needs. Am I doing it terribly wrong or is this entire arbitrarily applied tipping thing just wrong, wrong, wrong to start with?

Ryd

Only useful if you live in the States.. the rest of the world this does not apply!

This guide, while good, is a little antiquated.

Here's my tip to not only tip like a gentleman, but to also get preferred treatment.

for instance, since many restaurants nowadays will put an 18% gratuity on the bill for parties of 5-6 or more, 18% is becoming more standard. once you get to that point, however, 20% isn't much more, and it's a lot easier to calculate. plus, if you frequent a place, or come back sometime later, people remember how much you tip, and it comes back to you in good ways.

Also, an important note is that you tip on the bill, meaning including tax, and not the pre tax amount. a server doesn't have time to figure out how much you tipped on pre tax amount.

One thing that's missing here is how to tip at a bar. This one is easy. A dollar per drink. doesn't matter how it's poured or if it's just popping off a top of a beer, a dollar per drink is the best way to get the best service. If there's a volume special, like a pitcher, or a bucket, tip at least 20% depending on the cost, this is usually 2-4 bucks for me. Especially in a crowded bar, bartenders remember if you're a cheapskate. in a uncrowded bar, chances are you'll get one of the 'comps' they're allotted every night.

baristas are 10 - 15%. especially if they have to make a complicated drink.

if you think tipping is bunk, eat in. this is how these people make their living, and they get paid less of a wage for it.

Regarding not tipping if the service was bad, my take on it is, I let the waiter/waitress know if anything is wrong. If my food is cold, if its wrong, appetizers show up after the entree, or any number of things. I give them a few chances to make things right, and if it stays bad, I 1) let the manager know and 2) make it a point to send an email to the customer service address available at any website for a business, or make a call to customer service.

I do however tip either nothing if the service was horrible or tip 3 cents as I was once told by someone who frequents the finer dining institutions of the world, that 3 cents is the global middle finger tip, and a clear sign that service was pathetic. How true that is, I don't know, but it made sense to me.

If service is excellent however, I make it a point to tip very well, and also let the manager know and customer service know through an email or phone call.

Being a server for awhile myself, I will always tip 20% for any restaurant that I know that the server is working hard, regardless if its a diner or 4 star.. in face people at cheaper establishments are sometimes working even harder! Also, if you stay for a long time, you are really using a space that could be bringing in more money for the server.. no problem, just factor that into your tip and it will be much appreciated. Serving is not an easy or laidback job, and when you are only making about $2/hr from it in wages, tipping is very important :)

Don't Forget To Tip Your Pizza Guy!

The common courtesy is 15% for normal service

On small orders, when 15% is less than $2, the proper amount is the $2 minimum standard. It should be a $2 minimum to have someone come to your house.

-20% or more if the service is excellent.
-10% or less for poor service. Nothing for very bad service.
-If the order is $50 or more, at least 10%.

It's considerate to tip slightly more during bad weather

In rain, snow, extreme cold, or extreme heat, at least $1 more. It's thoughtful. The service is greater.

It's also considerate to tip slightly more for long distance

If your location is more than three miles from the store, it's considerate to tip $1 more.

If more than five miles, increase by another $1.

Remember that a five-mile drive in a residential area can take 30 minutes for the ten-mile round-trip.

Tips are appreciated. Thank you for tipping the pizza guy.

www.tipthepizzaguy.com

Why I like Japan: no tipping.

I work as a bellhop at a fairly luxurious resort in Scottsdale, Arizona. The standard for helping a guest to his room is $5, with the occasional $10 and rare $20. During superbowl weekend I saw a $100 tip for a simple task.

If you can answer the above question, then you'll know the real reason why you tip and not the reason that the author of this blog is telling you.