To those who live in or who have visited the United States.
Growing up in the 90’s, the “minimum acceptable” tip was 10%, average was 15%, and a good tip was 20%. These days, I just round to the nearest dollar and tip 20%, but I’ve heard these days it’s not unusual to tip up to 40%!
What do you usually do?
I always tip 20%, more for exceptional service. I’ve worked as a cook for about 15 years, at various places from dive bars to fine dining. At some places the servers and bartenders make insane money, often more than the chef who is usually on salary and not eligible for tips. But at a lot of places, the servers barely make ends meet and live not only check to check, but hand to mouth, week to week depending on the business. I never assume anyone is making bank so I tip well as a professional courtesy and to make up for people who don’t tip.
Increasingly these days, I’ve heard about and worked at places where the tips are split with the back of house crew, up to 40%. That ends up meaning that nearly 50% of our monthly pay is in tips, and that’s a blessing and a curse. Having PTO is basically worthless because missing out on the tips hurts so much.
Here in Seattle, they just raised the minimum wage to just over $20 an hour, and tips and benefits can’t be counted towards that. It’s a step in the right direction, but because capitalism is going to capitalism, it means that’s barely enough to live in the city with a single income source. So I still tip well regardless.
Most places in the country are not that fortunate, so I encourage everyone to tip their servers. If you think you’re going to force owners to pay people more by not tipping, you’re not only wrong, you’re actively making life harder for people who will likely never make as much as you if you work any sort of office job.
The system sucks, and needs to change. Some people can’t afford to tip generously, and that’s fine. But if you don’t tip out of principle, you’re just an asshole.
Nothing, I live in a country where it’s the employer’s responsibility to pay their staff a livable wage.
In us states with no tipped minimum wage (such as Oregon), we still tip 20%
Nothing I live in Australia
They’re trying to make it a thing here. I refuse to participate.
I’m paying for a menu that has your decent wage built in already, I’m not gifting free money on top for just… doing your job?
Also wtf servers in places that do tip… you turn my words in to an entry in a tablet (or perhaps a piece of paper), then carry the food that other people created / prepared / transported / cooked all of 30 steps from the kitchen to my table and expect 20% of the bill? Insanity.
but I’ve heard these days it’s not unusual to tip up to 40%!
That seems pretty unusual to me.
I normally tip 20%.
Generally keep a baseline 20% unless service is either outstanding or abysmal.
But if your owner decides that they’re gonna nickel-and-dime service fee me on the tab and indicate it poorly, I’m probably not going to come back to the restaurant in question.
I’m usually 25 and round up. Probably closer to 30.
i live in vietnam. it’s a poor country. but restaurant workers here get paid in money, so they don’t need to work for gratuity. it would be strange or insulting if you tried to give extra money to the staff.
Seems like bs 🤔
which part
tipping being insulting. Sure, it depends on the amount, but I don’t believe tipping could be seen as something bad, especially if you’re a tourist
might be wrong though
the first time I experienced this was in japan. try it and find out I guess
I was going to answer, but then you clarified on the body of your post that you only wanted answers from people in the US, lol
0, after reading the comments I realised you do not want my answer, since I live in the EU
Appologies. My presumption was civilized places don’t have such barbaric practices
😘
I’m almost always a 25%. I used to work in the industry in a previous lifetime, and tips were what kept me afloat. Now I’m an overpaid professional, and have no qualm paying it forward.
The only situations I will tip much less is if:
- Service was just absolutely fucking abysmal due to very clear negligence.
- It’s one of these new hipster restaurants that keep popping up, where you order and pay for your food upfront and are expected to tip then as well, without knowing how service will be. I’m not talking about food carts or kiosks either, these are actual restaurants. I hate the expectation that I should just pay an extra premium without even having a chance to evaluate the experience.
Followup question, how much do y’all tip your landlords /s
When I have been in the us I used to tip around 15%. Accepted that as a weirdness of the us.
On my home country tipping is just weird and unheard of, so 0%.
Edit: last time I was in the us was like 15 years ago.
Typically 20-25 at a restaurant. I’m not a fan of tipping for transactions where I’m not served. I only tip when someone does something.
Zero. I believe that the negotiations of an employee’s market value are between the employee and their employer. I don’t believe that it is my responsibility to charitably subsidize a company through the subsidization of their employees’ wages.
While your argument is sound, a server can’t feed their children or care for disabled parents with sound arguments and principled stances.
Yeah the idea is ultimately that you help enable the system by participating. Ultimately nothing changes by a couple cheap assholes refusing to tip like this guy, so you should, it would only work if everyone decided not to. It would force the industry to adapt.
Your choice not to tip will make no difference to the company, but every difference to a person who suffers through customer service for a living.
“I don’t want to subsidize a company” is just you inventing a convenient way to justify what is essentially theft. Why stop at not tipping? You could probably get away with stealing IDK, playground equipment too.
Not tipping is theft now? Is everything ok bud?
At least in the US, tipping is the accepted way that we compensate certain people for their time.
If you habitually never tip, you are not paying for the service that you receive in good faith. This is theft of service.
If you don’t like tipping, patronize places that include the tip in the bill. Tell restaurant owners to change their pay structure to avoid it. It won’t be changed by you individually shirking your obligation to pay.
Oh no I’m such a thief ahah don’t call the popo. I pay the service and products when I pay the bill with the agreed prices. If US companies are so broke and poor that they can’t even pay their people, they should close. I don’t beg for money when I work, disgusting.
15% flat always. Canada has sadly embraced tipping culture so I’ll not deny anyone the going rate or judge them at their workplace - but Vancouver is also expensive as fuck and anything over 15% starts putting meals close to the 100$ mark.
Don’t pay it. In Australia they’re trying, and I remind them they get paid well, get paid overtime, get paid a pension, and get paid more to take holidays. After being paid all that, why is the shitty machine prompting a tip?
in Canada, usually 15%, if the service is outstanding or i’m a regular I’ll tip 20%
15-25% usually 20%. I have worked for tips so I get it.
My wife tipped 25% at an ice cream parlor last night. Which I thought was ridiculous considering he just pulled three pints out of a freezer behind him.
It’s too many places now.
