More on Tipping: Large Tips??

[OldSaw]

So when do you feel compelled to leave a particularly large tip?

Yesterday, someone else picked up our lunch tab and said, "I'll get this, you get the tip." The normal tip would have been about $3 and $5 would have been on the high side, however, since I didn't have to pay my half of the bill, I left a $10 tip. The service was not outstanding, but being the recipient of someone else's kindness compelled me to give more.

On a related note, I am always amazed at how cheap some people are. I had another occassion where someone else picked up the tab for three of us and the other fellow with me was trying to figure out what 10% was, to the penny! I was embarrassed.

So do you ever feel just plain generous sometimes and leave a larger than normal tip just because you want to, not necessarily because the service was over the top?

 

[C Reed]

I'm a large tipper in general, I'm not rich but I've worked for tips and I find that I generaly recive good service.

I tip largely at places I visit often, a dollar + the coins from my change in the tip jar at my local pizza place and coffe shop, $2 a drink (or $3 for cocktials) at the bars I freequint. I find that this (along with a smile and talking to people like people not servents) gets me preferantial treatment, good service and even discounts.

The guy at the coffe shop on the corner knows I drink Black Americanos or Eral Gray with lemon, the girl at the pizza place knows my name so do all the bartenders. I like it that way and I like when people are happy to see me.

I also have a good number of bar tender freinds, I go on the nights they work to say hi if I'm free, if they knock a drink off my tab I'll tip them the cost of the drink +$1 or 2, just feels right to me.

 

[VampyreWolf]

My standard tip is 20%. I will go down to 10% for poor service, RARELY do I not leave a tip, even if it's just a couple bucks. I will tip substantially for great service (I've had a few very happy servers and bartenders over the years), and they tend to remember you for that.

Even when I was making minimum wage (or slightly above), I tipped well. I've worked in food, and know how hard they work for the tips (doesn't matter if it's individual or group tips).

If the service is great (food was quick and fresh, coffee stays full for my entire stay), I make sure to tip the waitress directly as a number of places do group tips (everyone gets a share even if they haven't earned it). If they take a while to get me a menu or coffee to start with, I just add the tip at the till and it can go to the group.

There are a couple restaurants I'll sit at, drink coffee and read for a few hours. Get an appetizer, and go through a lot of coffee. You should see the tips they get when I do that (and for little more than making sure my coffee is full).

 

[dpm802]

So when do you feel compelled to leave a particularly large tip?

I tip better at my regular places ... usually about 30~35%. it gets me better service the next time I go in there. One way of looking at it is that I'm leaving them a tip for the NEXT time I go in, not the present one. They know, they remember. It pays off in my best interest.

Yesterday, someone else picked up our lunch tab and said, "I'll get this, you get the tip." The normal tip would have been about $3 and $5 would have been on the high side, however, since I didn't have to pay my half of the bill, I left a $10 tip. The service was not outstanding, but being the recipient of someone else's kindness compelled me to give more.

I think you overdid it. $5 would have been plenty.

On a related note, I am always amazed at how cheap some people are. I had another occassion where someone else picked up the tab for three of us and the other fellow with me was trying to figure out what 10% was, to the penny! I was embarrassed.

Want to talk about embarrassed? I used to go with my friend to a diner. He liked to sit at the counter because he thought the waitress didn't have to walk over to the table so they didn't have to work so hard.

I would usually get coffee and a bagel, or a small sandwich platter. He ordered coffee, just coffee. He liked to go to this diner because they offered free refills. He'd sit for 2 or 3 hours, and get up to 8 refills. The coffee came to $0.95, he paid with a dollar, and left a nickel tip.

So do you ever feel just plain generous sometimes and leave a larger than normal tip just because you want to, not necessarily because the service was over the top?

Its rarely that I go into a place for the first time and they give me outstanding service. If they do, they get a generous tip, up to about 35%. My usual default tip for standard service is in the range of 20%.

 

[Carlin]

I don't tip, ever.

Then again, I don't go out, or order delivery . In the past, when I could afford to go P) I would do around 20% tip.

 

[SRock]

I tip large at places I truly enjoy and expect to frequent more often in the future. I also tend to tip more generously when the service is spectacular and/or I can tell the server could use the help. I'd rather give a few extra bucks to make someone else's life a little more pleasant than just let it sit in my wallet.

 

[impulseballer]

I'm a large tipper in general, I'm not rich but I've worked for tips and I find that I generaly recive good service.

I tip largely at places I visit often, a dollar + the coins from my change in the tip jar at my local pizza place and coffe shop, $2 a drink (or $3 for cocktials) at the bars I freequint. I find that this (along with a smile and talking to people like people not servents) gets me preferantial treatment, good service and even discounts.

The guy at the coffe shop on the corner knows I drink Black Americanos or Eral Gray with lemon, the girl at the pizza place knows my name so do all the bartenders. I like it that way and I like when people are happy to see me.

I also have a good number of bar tender freinds, I go on the nights they work to say hi if I'm free, if they knock a drink off my tab I'll tip them the cost of the drink +$1 or 2, just feels right to me.

I think of myself as a good tipper as well but tipping shouldn't make employees have to do that stuff. It should be normal practice if you come in often. I don't know if it's because you need to feel that way but again I don't know you lol.

 

[TimMechEngr]

I tip large at places I truly enjoy and expect to frequent more often in the future. I also tend to tip more generously when the service is spectacular and/or I can tell the server could use the help. I'd rather give a few extra bucks to make someone else's life a little more pleasant than just let it sit in my wallet.

This is how I feel. I've been at the mercy of having my income dependent on customer generosity. I've gone without eating because of having to pay bills or buy Christmas presents, again based on customer generosity. Those whose income is mostly based on tips (especially in the restaurant business) need our help. Yes, some people's attitudes need adjustment, both customers and employees, but the joy you bring to a waiter/waitress/server/delivery person is immeasurable. Always remember, "What goes around, comes around". Some of us are more fortunate in life than others. Although I now have a good full time job and have had for several years, I still work delivering pizza 2 nights per week. I'll never forget what it was like when that was all I had. Now, it helps fund my B&B habit!

 

[Stubblefield]

I leave a slightly larger tip if I know the server. Otherwise, 20% on the total.

 

[Pescara]

This is how I feel. I've been at the mercy of having my income dependent on customer generosity. I've gone without eating because of having to pay bills or buy Christmas presents, again based on customer generosity. Those whose income is mostly based on tips (especially in the restaurant business) need our help. Yes, some people's attitudes need adjustment, both customers and employees, but the joy you bring to a waiter/waitress/server/delivery person is immeasurable. Always remember, "What goes around, comes around". Some of us are more fortunate in life than others. Although I now have a good full time job and have had for several years, I still work delivering pizza 2 nights per week. I'll never forget what it was like when that was all I had. Now, it helps fund my B&B habit!

I agree. If I can spare it I have no problem being generous. If I can't spare it I adjust my choices.

Ever see My Blue Heaven with Steve Martin? "It's not tipping I believe in. It's overtipping"

 

[Kouros]

I get a $10 haircut and leave my Barber a $5 tip because nobody buzzes my hair like he can. He takes 30-45 minutes each time and is meticulous. I figure a cut like that would cost $75 in Beverly Hills so ***...

 

[dpmtherrien]

No problem at all on tipping large, as long as the service rates it. Having worked for tips its not that hard to make someone feel welcome and taken care of. I also know that there is nothing like a very small tip, to in most cases, make someone wake up and realize they need to make some changes. I say in most cases, because there are some people who will never get it, these are the ones who don't last long working where tips are necessary.

 

[Uncle Erik]

I tip usually close to 20% and it's rare to find bad service.

I tip over 20% when service is really good. Last night, the family went to a restaurant we've gone to for years for my mother's birthday. The waitress was terrific, and I gave her 30%.

Also, I go way over on cheap meals. There's a place that does a $2.99 breakfast nearby. I am *not* going to leave a 60 cent tip - $3 is my minimum, sometimes another buck or two.

At the bars I frequent, I usually do $1 to $1.50 per drink. I occasionally stop in at one on holidays (I'm a regular) and give a $5 or $10 to the bartender on duty.

 

[C Reed]

I think of myself as a good tipper as well but tipping shouldn't make employees have to do that stuff. It should be normal practice if you come in often. I don't know if it's because you need to feel that way but again I don't know you lol.

I would say its more because I always smile and say hi, talk to them a bit. I also stand out in a crowd, I'm 6ft 6. I live in Manhattan, there are 3 pizza places ad about 6 coffee shops in 3 blocks of my house, I go where I go because the food/ coffee is better and the servers are nicer, I tip well because I know I'll be back in the next few days. They know my name cause I told them it, not because I wrote it on a tip. I just like spreading the love at the small places in my hood, rather then that place in midtown I stop at once or twice a year.

 

[Duamuteffe]

My kid brother and his friends always fight to see who can tip the most. None of them have much money, but they've all worked in food service and they know how absolutely appalling it is, and how much you depend on those tips to make a living when your pay scale is so low. It's so heartening to watch them strive to be generous, for no other reason than that they can. If the server looks run off his/her feet, I've seen them tip 100% just to make them smile. It's definitely influenced my own tipping habits. We're not well off by any means at the moment (ah, start-up companies...) but when we go out, we try and tip as well as we can. A lot of those servers are in school or otherwise scraping to get by. There but for the grace of God, as my mother likes to say.

 

[Jim B.]

this is how i feel. I've been at the mercy of having my income dependent on customer generosity. I've gone without eating because of having to pay bills or buy christmas presents, again based on customer generosity. Those whose income is mostly based on tips (especially in the restaurant business) need our help. Yes, some people's attitudes need adjustment, both customers and employees, but the joy you bring to a waiter/waitress/server/delivery person is immeasurable. Always remember, "what goes around, comes around". Some of us are more fortunate in life than others. Although i now have a good full time job and have had for several years, i still work delivering pizza 2 nights per week. I'll never forget what it was like when that was all i had. Now, it helps fund my b&b habit!

+ 1

 

[ouch]

I don't tip, ever.

Then again, I don't go out, or order delivery . In the past, when I could afford to go P) I would do around 20% tip.

The last time I went kayaking I taped a picture of my wife to the side of the boat, so it wouldn't tip.

 

[Doc4]

Now that I'm married, I tend not to give big tips to really hot waitresses quite as much.

I'll tend to tip more for my "regular spots", both because I return because the food & service are good, and a bit of the "tipping for next time" thing.

Sometimes you can see the waitress is working her butt off covering way too many tables (someone called in sick?) and even though I don't get great service personally, I'll tip well because the service was good in the circumstances.

The waitress who keeps my coffee cup from ever getting empty is darn sure going to get a good tip.

This is how I feel. I've been at the mercy of having my income dependent on customer generosity. I've gone without eating because of having to pay bills or buy Christmas presents, again based on customer generosity. Those whose income is mostly based on tips (especially in the restaurant business) need our help. Yes, some people's attitudes need adjustment, both customers and employees, but the joy you bring to a waiter/waitress/server/delivery person is immeasurable. Always remember, "What goes around, comes around". Some of us are more fortunate in life than others. Although I now have a good full time job and have had for several years, I still work delivering pizza 2 nights per week. I'll never forget what it was like when that was all I had. Now, it helps fund my B&B habit!

The next time I get pizza brought to my house I'll be sure to give the delivery guy a tube of TOBS.

The last time I went kayaking I taped a picture of my wife to the side of the boat, so it wouldn't tip.

"... and Tyler too!"


(We'll see if he gets it.)

 

[Obsessed]

(We'll see if he gets it.)

Well, it would help if you got your types of boats straight . . .

 

[ouch]

Now that I'm married, I tend not to give big tips to really hot waitresses quite as much.

He bought a house in the first six months.

"... and Tyler too!"


(We'll see if he gets it.)