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[ghostofsparta]

For cases where that might actually occur: you're still basically saying that it's ok to not pay an adult a liveable wage. No one can get by on minimum wage, not on their own.

So either have enough money to tip your bartender or stay home with a six pack. Wasting a bartender's time to then shaft them on the tip is helpful to no one but the shitty owners who aren't paying their staff well enough, which for many non-tippers is the person they fault for the poor wages the bartender has. Funny how that works.

I dont see how that's my problem.

What about the Joe who also makes minimum wage and stocks the food I buy at the super market? Should I tip him too? Or only the guy that walks 2 feet to bring me a beer?

I see what you're saying, and there is an issue but I refuse to be the solution.

 

[Freedom = $1.05]

I dont see how that's my problem.

What about the Joe who works at the super market who stocks the food I buy. Should I tip him too? Or only the guy that walks 2 feet to bring me a beer?

I see what you're saying, and there is an issue but I refuse to be the solution.

Then be a jerk and don't tip a bartender. There is no scenario where you don't tip your bartender and come out looking good. Keep rationalizing it, but just know that bartender knows you don't tip and will do his/her best next time you come around to avoid you. So I hope you don't like that bar, or you don't have a date with someone who wants to go to that bar.

If you like going to that bar then be a good patron and pay a tip. If you don't like tipping bartenders because you have some deep rooted resentment about doing so then be a sensible person and don't bother the bartender. If this bothers you, then buy some beers at the corner shop, where there is 0 expectation that you tip anyone and they'll be grateful for your business, and stay home/go to a friend's house.

Last, there isn't a woman or man who you'll date who is going to find your lack of tipping to be something they appreciate about you. Nothing says "what a catch!" like a stingy date who won't even tip a bartender.

 

[superdeluxe]

A Miami diner complained on Chowhound of an automatic 24 percent gratuity for a buffet lunch: “I’m a consistent 20 percent or better tipper, but a 24 percent included tip on a buffet Sheesh.”

automatic gratuity at a buffet? Da Fuq is that.

 

[see5harp]

I always tip like $1 for a beer but never do so for a drip coffee. If it was culturally acceptable I would never give a tip for a beer. If it's a busy night at a bar there is literally no service or social interaction besides the money exchange.

 

[superdeluxe]

I tip my local barissta, because she always gets my drink just right. Also they tend to have cheaper prices, and a better rewards program, so I always tip (Free Drink after ever 6 purchased)

 

[PrivateWHudson]

I've never been to Cafe Grumpy but from looking at their website, it looks like a high-end coffee place, and in a lot of those, coffee isn't just poured from a pot into your cup. Espresso needs to be ground, hand-tamped, then the shot needs to be watched for 30 seconds or so while it's being pulled. Then foaming and adding the milk to cappuccinos, etc. takes more time. It's a decent amount of work that takes some real training to get right, so I don't mind at all tipping $1 on a $2.50 double shot. I assume the $2 and $3 options are for orders of multiple drinks.

Isn't all of that why it's a $4.00 cup of coffee, and not a $1.50 cup of coffee? Isn't that their job? I get tipping servers that make $2.50/hour due to the weird laws around paying servers, but why tip the guy who's getting paid a fair wage to watch the shot get pulled or whatever.

 

[rainking187]

I don't even understand the buffet one, it's been a while since I went to one, but last time I did the only employee I had any interaction with was the cashier. What would you be tipping for exactly?

 

[ghostofsparta]

Then be a jerk and don't tip a bartender. There is no scenario where you don't tip your bartender and come out looking good. Keep rationalizing it, but just know that bartender knows you don't tip and will do his/her best next time you come around to avoid you. So I hope you don't like that bar, or you don't have a date with someone who wants to go to that bar.

If you like going to that bar then be a good patron and pay a tip. If you don't like tipping bartenders because you have some deep rooted resentment about doing so then be a sensible person and don't bother the bartender. If this bothers you, then buy some beers at the corner shop, where there is 0 expectation that you tip anyone and they'll be grateful for your business, and stay home/go to a friend's house.

Last, there isn't a woman or man who you'll date who is going to find your lack of tipping to be something they appreciate about you. Nothing says "what a catch!" like a stingy date who won't even tip a bartender.

You seemed very troubled by my non tipping. I like it. Use that passion to change the system (or don't, it's the same to me).

 

[Freedom = $1.05]

You seemed very troubled by my non tipping. I like it. Use that passion to change the system (or don't, it's the same to me).

But what do you think about the points i made? Anything constructive to add?

 

[Zoe]

I don't even understand the buffet one, it's been a while since I went to one, but last time I did the only employee I had any interaction with was the cashier. What would you be tipping for exactly?

It's for buffets where somebody tends to your drinks.

The worst implementation of this is at Souper Salad. Not only are you paying at the beginning of your meal, the soda machine in newer remodels is right out in the open with a freakin' sign above it. But god forbid you try to fill your own drink.

I remember when that was just a cafeteria line place where you picked a soup or salad.

 

[Kinitari]

Automatic gratuity is next level of this bullshit. I got auto grat'd on a bill a little while back at 18%, and I was planning on tipping 20%. The menu said auto grat would be applied on groups of 5+, but it was just me and my girlfriend. When I got the machine to pay, I checked the bill and saw the auto grat and was just confused, so I'm holding the machine forever, click the lowest tip option because I'm dumb when I'm flustered, and then realized I just tipped 28%.

Like.... What the fuck. I just wanted to be nice and give a generous tip because the waitress was nice, but instead I left feeling gross.

 

[andycapps]

How do you feel about restauraunts that have mandatory valet parking?

They won't even allow you to park your car yourself, despite there being a relatively small parking lot with clear open spaces available. They force you to hand over your keys in normal climate weather and of course you must tip. It's bull shit. This happened to me at a place that wasn't even that nice. The dude literally walked 4 feet to get my car.

What got me recently was a restaurant my wife and I went to that had complimentary valet parking. I pull in to park myself and try to park and they come up to my car and say it's complimentary. So we eat and come out and they bring up the car and open the door for me and the dude is just standing there expecting money, and then I realized that it was complimentary but they do it for tips. And I had no cash. I felt pretty bad afterwards.

 

[soul creator]

What got me recently was a restaurant my wife and I went to that had complimentary valet parking. I pull in to park myself and try to park and they come up to my car and say it's complimentary. So we eat and come out and they bring up the car and open the door for me and the dude is just standing there expecting money, and then I realized that it was complimentary but they do it for tips. And I had no cash. I felt pretty bad afterwards.

A feature of tipping systems, not a bug

 

[jamesinclair]

I don't even understand the buffet one, it's been a while since I went to one, but last time I did the only employee I had any interaction with was the cashier. What would you be tipping for exactly?

I leave a few dollars if

-They remove your old plates quickly
-They refill your drink
-They bring condiments/chop sticks / other special requests

Honestly, if you see them rushing around grabbing mountains of discarded plates and refilling drinks, you realize they work 20x harder than and waiter at a regular restaurant

 

[Sho_Nuff82]

The DipJar shown in the article? Company VP of sales went to my HS, is an old classmate's brother. Small world.

 

[andycapps]

A feature of tipping systems, not a bug

Definitely.

 

[Jado]

I tip 20% for bringing service to me and doing a job well done. It makes no sense to tip 25, 30% or more for basic tasks at a shop. Honestly prefer if service industry people got paid better by employers and we banned tips altogether. Slightly higher menu prices could easily support this.

 

[King Cobra]

Do you tip for drinks at a bar?

Yes I do since they are making my drinks, also it makes me more noticable to the bartender.

this is only a way for corporations to make more profit margin!


there should be laws abolishing tipping and making companies pay a livable wage to their service industry employees

Uhhh, I hate this statement so much. Unless they are going to pay their servers 20$ or more and hour you will be hard pressed to find a decent waiter who would give up tips for anything less than that. You don't seem to have any idea how livable tip money can be.

 

[Maximus.]

I don't usually tip a guy for pouring a cup of a coffee for me. Maybe if they actually had to prepare it or something, but I'm a no frills guy when it comes to coffee so this hasn't happened to me before. Even then, I would have taken the few seconds to tip an amount lower than $1, regardless of whether the guy was looking at me or not.

Now that I think on it, I've seen this iPad thing before at coffee shops before; that time I remember hitting "no tip".

I hate when tips are asked from you when they did barely any work. I was at this craft beer place where they had those square iPad payment systems and I said no tip and the lady gave me a nasty look. I just smiled because she literally just poured me a beer. I had to carry it back to my table myself.

I have noticed more places asking for tips for providing no real additional service. Also, I find that many servers in restaurants do below the bare minimum, but when its time to pay its like they are your friend. Tipping shouldn't be forced on us, it is meant to be a gesture of a customer being happy with the service they received.

 

[gutter_trash]

this is why I carry cash for small items under 20 bucks and cab rides.

fuck off with the auto 20% minimum

 

[Zen_Arcade]

Yeah but you're assuming that the teenager at the Burger King, who is content earning minimum wage and working limited hours, is earning a the same rate that the bartender, who is earning less than minimum wage and probably pay real bills and stuff and works full time, is.

I mean, if you're ok with people earning less than minimum wage and you only making it harder for them then your example is great. Otherwise, it's not a good look.

I don't drink very much, so I don't run into the bartender problem often, if at all anymore. The only exceptions are when people have a celebration of some kind, and when you're the guy that doesn't drink, you don't pay for a shot all night because everyone wants to drink with the guy that doesn't drink for some reason. But I'm not going to tip someone for handing me the drink I paid for.

So what if I was raised to tip 10%? (edit: I've noticed my dad usually tips about 10%, even if the service was fine. Some might see that as "bad" tipping, but maybe 10% was normal for most of his life? Is he supposed to track and keep up with inflation now?) Some people say 15% is standard. Will that prevent my food from being spit on? Some people have said 20% is standard. Some states have stronger minimum wage laws, do I tip less there? Some states have higher cost of living, do I tip more there? I know I tip restaurants, sure. Oh yeah, and pizza delivery drivers. But wait, package delivery drivers don't get tips? And they do far more heavy lifting than a pizza delivery person. But I get it, pizza delivery drivers only get minimum wage, and it's an extra optional service, that's why you should tip. Oh, look, there's a delivery fee that gets charged when I order delivery, obviously that means that the cost of delivery is covered by that, right?

Taxi drivers? Do I have to tip on Uber? They drive me around too. So does the local bus service, do I tip the bus driver as well? The person who takes my luggage at the hotel is supposed to be tip. I think. But I can take my own luggage, do I have to run the person down when they rush to grab my luggage, because I actually don't want to pay for the "service"?

Arguing for payment based on a vague thing like "tradition" may be a "functional" system, but I have no idea how one could argue that it should be the preferred or optimal system. Healthcare through an employer is "tradition" in the US, but it's hardly the best way to provide health care services to a nation, according to pretty much all evidence.

I'm not even necessarily saying I'd be against them getting rid of tipping. I'd miss the occasional money I'd save if I get bad service, but that doesn't happen often enough either way for me to get mad at the change.

I'm just saying that some people that live in America seem to make tipping a lot more complicated in their heads then they need to. Being a foreigner visiting a new country and having weird differences from your country is natural, so it's not surprising that you'd be confused by things and need to ask these questions.

But I've never seen people in real life get as confused by the tipping etiquette as I have people on GAF. Every time I go out to eat or go to a bar with people we don't have to sit around questioning what we are going to tip. It's instinctive and no one sits around complaining about it. But on GAF there are tons of people, and a lot of them seem to be from America, that are asking the same questions about our culture that you, a person who has never been here and doesn't know the customs are asking.

 

[mentallyinept]

I had a similar experience on Saturday.

I went and got a haircut at this swanky new barbershop in town, old school chairs, barbers in the traditional white lab-coat-esque garb. Warm-lather shave + cooling aftershave, cool barber to talk to, it was a great experience.

I was fully ready to leave a nice tip, when the "cashier" guy using his iPad POS system asked me if I wanted to leave a tip in full view of the whole lobby area. Before I could respond he then suggested a tip of X dollars, again in front of everyone. I acquiesced since it was around what I was planning to tip anyway, but it soured the whole experience.

It's none of your or anyone else's fucking business if I wanted to leave a tip or not. You are not the judge of my satisfaction level. Just give me the damned iPad and I'll punch in a tip, if I want, at my discretion.

 

[Horse Detective]

I had a similar experience on Saturday.

I went and got a haircut at this swanky new barbershop in town, old school chairs, barbers in the traditional white lab-coat-esque garb. Warm-lather shave + cooling aftershave, cool barber to talk to, it was a great experience.

I was fully ready to leave a nice tip, when the "cashier" guy using his iPad POS system asked me if I wanted to leave a tip in full view of the whole lobby area. Before I could respond he then suggested a tip of X dollars, again in front of everyone. I acquiesced since it was around what I was planning to tip anyway, but it soured the whole experience.

It's none of your or anyone else's fucking business if I wanted to leave a tip or not. You are not the judge of my satisfaction level. Just give me the damned iPad and I'll punch in a tip, if I want, at my discretion.

What city are you in?

 

[mentallyinept]

What city are you in?

Frederick, MD

Edit: Why do you ask? Is it against the law to do that in certain cities?

 

[arab]

I think we all know this was true

 

[dsp]

Frederick, MD

Frederick GAF checking in. Where is this place at?

 

[mentallyinept]

Frederick GAF checking in. Where is this place at?

E 4th St. Downtown.

FYI, I'm not trying to bring a hammer down on the place, it was a great experience up until the very end when this guy was a jackass.

 

[dsp]

E 4th St. Downtown.

FYI, I'm not trying to bring a hammer down on the place, it was a great experience up until the very end when this guy was a jackass.

I understand. I just wanted to know 'cause it sounds pretty cool and I don't have a barber.

 

[old]

$6 for a coffee. The only way that's worth it is if you hang out for a while and get your money's worth of atmosphere and wifi.

Thank god, I brew mine at home.

 

[moka]

I'm 21 and live in the United Kingdom. I can honestly say that I have never tipped anyone, ever. Not even the pizza delivery guy or the taxi driver. I'm paying the taxi driver to drive me to a location, what's the tip for? I don't understand...

 

[perfectchaos007]

$6 for a coffee. The only way that's worth it is if you hang out for a while and get your money's worth of atmosphere and wifi.

Thank god, I brew mine at home.

The new Keurig models have tip jars built in the machine

Lol

 

[dsp]

I'm 21 and live in the United Kingdom. I can honestly say that I have never tipped anyone, ever. Not even the pizza delivery guy or the taxi driver. I'm paying the taxi driver to drive me to a location, what's the tip for? I don't understand...

Well the most common time Americans tip is at restaurants because we're expected to make up for the fact that most waiters/waitresses make shit for money.

 

[moka]

Well the most common time Americans tip is at restaurants because we're expected to make up for the fact that most waiters/waitresses make shit for money.

Well, that's a fundamental problem with the compensation system in place at American restaurants. Not the customers'.

 

[NimbusD]

this is why I carry cash for small items under 20 bucks and cab rides.

fuck off with the auto 20% minimum

Tipping cab drivers is especially ridiculous, they don't make a base below-minimum wage like actual tipped workers. Of course I still tip because the culture is that you either do it or feel like an asshole. But 20% is insane.

 

[DrSlek]

http://youtu.be/q_vivC7c_1k

 

[Delta Assault]

Interesting point:

This push for higher tips seems to be based around places that primarily employ white, middle class youth (youth being 16-29).

Your average barista is a hot college blond or some hipster dude with $2,000 worth of tattoos.

Meanwhile, the guy at the deli counter is a 42-year old arab immigrant while the cashier at Mcdonalds is a middle aged hispanic woman. No one is yelling to tip them, even though theyre making less and probably have more bills (kids, etc).

Might there be something else at play here?

Jesus Christ. I haven't seen this much stereotyping since the last Michael Bay Transformers movie.

 

[nel e nel]

I buy from them regularly and I believe I generally spend $17-18 per pound. They're locally roasted and fresh as fuck and you're not gonna get that from Starbucks.

I sorta feel that if you can afford to live in any of the neighborhoods that has a Grumpy in it you can afford to pay a little more for a pound of beans.

You know Greenpoint is still a mainly regular working folk Polish neighborhood, right? Sometimes folks will sacrifice a few bucks on their coffee to live in a family friendly neighborhood that still hasn't been gentrified to all hell yet.

 

[monlo]

$4.... For a coffee?

 

[TyphoonStruggle]

Coffee places at the university have have credit machines where they flip over and they say you have to choose one and sign. I never tip for the coffee, but they damn sure make you feel bad for not tipping anything for a $4 cup of coffee.