Tipping?? Is it just me or is this appalling

[DragonflyWing]

I’m sorry to say but I think the culture of tipping in America and the way it’s done in a lot of places is just greedy and insane. I lived in California and Wisconsin a few years back and it drove me crackers! I was expected to tip people that I asked for directions in the street (and that happened twice! so it was not a one off) you know, like you stop your car and you are lost and you ask a person in the street where to go? These people both put their hands out to us after they gave us directions?? And one looked like a normal, 50 year old professional woman, not a homeless person or someone who looked destitute. What is wrong with actually giving someone information or help without always wanting to be paid for it?

I also remember going out for a meal with a group of friends and e.g. the whole meal cost us about $60 and we ended up paying more or less the same as that again in tips….. WTF? So the meal was really worth $120 on the menu actually, wasn't it?

Whoa, what?! I've lived in NY and Wisconsin, and I have never in my entire life seen someone expect a tip for giving directions. Just some random person on the street? That's absolutely ridiculous! I almost have to believe there was a misunderstanding of some kind, because who in their right mind would ask for a tip for that? I can't think of any reason I would give someone a tip unless they were doing a job, i.e. waiter, hairdresser, etc.

As for the $120 meal, that means you tipped 100%...that's wayyyyy more than anyone expects to be tipped. Do you know why you all decided to tip that much?

 

[MommyJogger]

I’m sorry to say but I think the culture of tipping in America and the way it’s done in a lot of places is just greedy and insane. I lived in California and Wisconsin a few years back and it drove me crackers! I was expected to tip people that I asked for directions in the street (and that happened twice! so it was not a one off) you know, like you stop your car and you are lost and you ask a person in the street where to go? These people both put their hands out to us after they gave us directions?? And one looked like a normal, 50 year old professional woman, not a homeless person or someone who looked destitute. What is wrong with actually giving someone information or help without always wanting to be paid for it?

I also remember going out for a meal with a group of friends and e.g. the whole meal cost us about $60 and we ended up paying more or less the same as that again in tips….. WTF? So the meal was really worth $120 on the menu actually, wasn't it?

Don't get me wrong, I absolutely adored America and I love Americans and how the majority of them are so sweet and kind. But where is the sincerity in it all? Almost every time I was living there I was reminded by friends 'don't forget to tip' Tip who? what? that person who just gave me a paper bag to put my booze in?? In restaurants, how on earth do you know that the person who is providing excellent service is just doing it out of the goodness of their heart or not?. The fact is you don’t. It is so ingrained in the US’s culture that you just do it automatically without thinking of the purpose of tipping. I also had a friend who was a server at Red Robin and he made good tips as he was a very likeable character (genuine in this instance) so he always got good tips. But he made more money in a week than his best friend did in a whole month in a regular administration job. So I also think this thing about ‘topping up a poor wage’ is also a ruse to make the poor public pay up every time. Tipping should just and only be about getting a good service over and above what you expected at anywhere you see fit as a member of the public. It is not as it is in the US, just a way to add some sort of tax to someone. You might aswell just add the money onto every single bar bill, hairdresser bill etc etc. I think it’s so unfair and makes going out of an evening or staying in a hotel etc totally ‘money, money, money’ orientated and stresses people out (especially tourists).

That's the thing though - the federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour. However, employers of workers who get tips only have to pay $2.13 per hour! (That is unless the state they are in has a higher rate.) So unfortunately they really do depend on tips for most of their pay. I definitely think that they should still be giving good service, but I never tip waiters less than 18% and usually tip between 20-25%.

I can't imagine getting good enough service to tip 1/4 the cost of the meal. That's just crazy to me that over the years the "standard" tip has increased 150% (from 10 to 25%). I think waiters should be able to make a living wage, but when my waiter students are complaining about 'bad' tips while glued to their iphones before class, I find it hard to take them seriously. I'm sure they're good at their job, but they shouldn't be making more per hour than, say, nurses in the same area.

 

[babydust1990]

Nope, i rarely tip unless i have received excellent service! I never tip my hairdresser (its a ridiculous cost to get your hair cut anyway) and with restaurant staff, why should i tip them for doing the job they are paid to do? I worked in supermarkets and shops and i was never tipped.
The only people i really wanted to tip but couldn't were the nurses who looked after my little girl in the NICU, but obviously you can't go handing £10 notes to NHS staff but they seemed pretty happy with the vast amount of chocolates and biccies we got for them

As a nurse, I can say people who 'tip' us with biscuits/chocolates keep us going when we're too busy to have breaks! Nothing worse than having a sugar dip and theres no bloody biccies

What I really want to know is how the hell you americans figure out how much you should tip with all these unwritten rules I'd constantly have the calculator out

 

[Jess137]

^^^ I have a little credit card sized tip sheet that has percentages next to the amount Also there are phone apps! Lol

 

[Tiff]

What I really want to know is how the hell you americans figure out how much you should tip with all these unwritten rules I'd constantly have the calculator out

If you actually want to tip the "recommended amount" it was easy for us here as we had 15% taxes. So I'd always look at the bill and see what my tax was then use that as a guide.

But I'm a firm believer in tip what you want or can afford.

 

[Jaylynne]

It's really not hard to figure out a tip... Either do $1 for every $5 on the bill (20%) or take a decimal off the bill to find out 10%. So if your bill is $50, dropping a decimal place would give you $5. If you want to do the normal 15%, just half that 10% (2.50) and add it to the $5 which would give you $7.50 in tips on a $50 bill.

I usually do a standard 15-20% tip on most items where tips are expected. Or if it's the hairdressers, I normally tip $10/hr so if it took a half hour to cut hair, I'd tip $5-10 depending how much i like it. Hairdressers still keep part of the money i paid for the haircut itself so i dont do as much as i would for food. It's just how it is. If you don't have tip money, don't get those services. People remember those who stiff them.

 

[Noodlebear]

I live in the UK and would only really tip at a restaurant if the service was particularly good, it's not seen as abnormal not to tip or if you do to just leave a little x

 

[louandivy]

Its weird, even though I am from the UK I have always thought of tipping is completely mandatory and seriously judge my friends when they don't tip! Maybe its because I have Canadian parents though.

 

[misspriss]

I tip at restaurants, between 10-15% for bad to standard service, 15-20% for standard to exceptional. It's usually close to 20% though, because 10% is easy to figure then double it, usually rounding down to an even dollar amount so it comes out just under 20%. I'm in the US though.

I tip the hairdresser, because I go to a nice salon and I go like once every 18 months to 2 years! I figure if he remembers me, it's worth a tip That and I figure I'm only paying for it how often? It evens out. I cut DH's hair, so he doesn't have to worry about it.

That's it, I don't tip anyone else, but I don't live the type of lifestyle where there are a lot of people to tip. I don't take taxis or go to restaurants with people other than a wait person (no coat check, wine specialist, etc).

I do have a dilemma though. I tip massage people at spas (only been once!). I got a spa at my chiropractors office there, and I didn't tip, and I don't know if I should have? If the massage person had asked me to pay her directly, I would have just told her to keep the change, but she sent me to the front desk, where I pay my co-pays and stuff for the doctor, it didn't feel like a tipping situation...it was weird.

 

[Jaylynne]

I wouldn't tip for a medical service at a drs office. In a day spa sure, but drs office is just weird to tip!

 

[misspriss]

I wouldn't tip for a medical service at a drs office. In a day spa sure, but drs office is just weird to tip!

I know, but it was still weird to go either way...it didn't feel like a doctor's office treatment, ya know?