In the US, tipping is as American as apple pie.
As a kid I remember going to restaurants with my folks and figuring out the tip for Dad. And he obliged me almost every time simply because he knew I loved to do that sort of thing. His rule was 10% for poor to fair service, 15% for good service, and 20% for excellent service.
In fact, for as long as I can remember, the accepted tipping guideline for good restaurant service in America was 15%. Not any more. That standard decisively shifted around the turn of the 21st century. In fact, the standard moved so much so, that 20% has become the unspoken expectation today for merely average service.
Until recently, one restaurant I typically frequent offered a handy “tipping guideline” at the bottom of each meal receipt showing suggested tips of 15%, 18% and 20% — supposedly for fair, good and excellent service. However, my most recent bill from there now includes suggested tips at 18%, 20% and 25%. Ridiculous.
Oh yeah, Len? You’re a pathetic cheapskate. Just like your dad.
Sorry, but I don’t think so.
I realize my opinion doesn’t endear me to the great majority of American servers — but my recollections regarding tipping standards are backed up by the Wall Street Journal. They report that the standard tip for servers was 10% in the 1950s before it climbed to 15% in the 1970s.
Unfortunately, that 50% raise in the standard wasn’t enough to arrest the tip inflation. In 2014, Bon Appetit proclaimed that “20% is the new 15%.” And the Huffington Post has boldly suggested that restaurant tipping of 25% to 30% was becoming “the new normal.”
What?
It makes me wonder if tip creep will ever end. If not, our great great grandchildren will be coughing up a 50% tip for average service (and 60% if it is excellent).
So why are tipping rates continuing to climb?
Well, the Wall Street Journal provides us with an intriguing clue, based upon a theory posited by a Cornell University professor who studies tipping: Most people give excessive gratuities to make a good impression on the server. Likewise, most people tend to leave average tips for poor service because they don’t want their server to dislike them.
Let me repeat the professor’s last point: Most people tend to leave average tips for poor service because they don’t want their server to dislike them. Really?
Talk about upside-down psychology.
Over the slow march of time, that attitude not only encourages tip inflation, but it also fosters an entitlement mentality in the restaurant staff. After all, why break your back to provide excellent service when you can slack off and still get a 15% tip from weak-kneed customers who are afraid of “insulting” their servers?
Never mind that it’s the customer who should be insulted after spending their hard-earned money, only to have it ruined by poor service.
The truth is, when it comes to tip inflation, we have nobody to blame but ourselves.
On second thought, I blame all of you because, frankly, I don’t think that way. I always provide 15% for good service, and 20% for excellent service — and if my server is truly extraordinary, then 25%. But for those very rare occasions when I get fair or poor service, I give 10%. Hopefully, the smaller tip will encourage him to do a better job next time. And if that happens to tick him off — well, I don’t really care.
Neither should you.
Think about it: We usually patronize sit-down restaurants because we’re hungry and looking for a relaxing evening away from the kitchen — not because we’re trying to gain a few more “friends.”
So why worry about a server disliking you for dispensing a poor tip that properly reflects upon their lousy service?
Besides, don’t you have enough friends already? In the off chance that you don’t, drop me a line. I’ll be happy to friend you on Facebook.
Photo Credit: ralph and jenny
10% for poor service, I leave nothing. Of course when you do this ZERO out the tip, with two lines across the whole field and write the total very distinctly to avoid the server from changing the values. It was done to me once, and I am glad to say the waitress was looking for a new job after I received my credit card statement.
The reason waiters and waitresses are pushing for higher tips is because their wages aren’t going up. Minimum wage wasn’t raised for almost a decade and it definitely hasn’t kept up with the cost of inflation. Also, the cost of meals at casual dining spots are down because of the recession. You can get two meals and an appetizer for $20 at Chili’s or Applebee’s.
Unfortunately, service seems to have gotten worse. I seem to remember servers being much more friendly and attentive. Now, it’s difficult to get their attention and then they seem annoyed when you need something.
Part of the reason wage isn’t going up is the service industries fault. They fight minimum wages increasing because they are making well over that. Yet they argue how little the Tip Wage is to get more tips. A pathetic cycle of playing the victim.
I agree with Bret as to why expected tipping rates are going up. The big problem with this is that the burden is being placed on customers to increase the wages of servers. That’s a crock if you ask me and I refuse to accept that. I agree with you that 15% is a fair tip for avg. service.
Bret, come on. Servers have a job to do. I have some experience in the server arena-if I was disturbed about my ‘wage’ not going up, I would work harder to do a good job and hopefully get a better tip. Tipping is not about what the industry is paying or about when minimum wage went up, yada, yada, yada. It’s about service right now, during your meal or whatever.
I’m cheap and I’ll be the first to admit in. 20% isn’t the new 15% for me. I stay at 15% and if you’ve done a GREAT job I might go up to even 25%. That has to be really exceptional. Crappy service? Nada. I mean not a penny. I vote with my money.
That said, if I frequent the place often, I’ll leave 10-12% because, as I said on Twitter, I don’t want them to spit in my food the next time that I go back. It’s self preservation, and it’s worth it!
I always just double the tax from the bill for a tip. I think that’s around 16% in my area. Of course, that’s for good service 😉 if it’s not good service, I leave a $5. But if it’s really bad service, they’ll get $1-$3.
Len,
It has been 15% for decent service ever since I remember. But I might leave more if I am worried that the waiter might not like me. Just joking!
Len, Here is another take. With these times of low inflation, restaurant meal costs have not increased much. If one feels the cost of the meal is relatively affordable, based on their income, they may feel more apt to offer a higher tip to better compensate the server.
I don’t care much if a server likes me, since I tip at the end and we probably won’t remember each other the next time we meet. I do tip 20%, though, because I want servers in general to feel confident in the effort/money relationship. Think of it this way: you can’t influence the service you get on Thursday by tipping at the end of your meal, but you can influence the service someone else gets on Friday, positively or negatively, but only very generally. For this reason, tipping is a terrible system. If a server is willing to do A for 10%, B for 15%, and C for 20%, but has incomplete information on how a patron is willing to pay for A, B, or C, much less which constitutes “good,” “exceptional,” or “poor” service in the mind of any particular patron, the market’s not very efficient. Much better to raise prices and wages, so all information is in the open and everyone can make decisions accordingly.
I am a generally a high tipper- usually more than 20 percent if the server was good. I had zero money for a good part of my life, and now that I am no longer struggling, I like to help those that are working hard.
However, if the service is poor, that is another story. Then they aren’t working hard and don’t deserve much.
My personal policy is to tip 20% for good service. But I rarely go out to eat so its a treat for me and for them. Ever once in a while I will go to a fast food place (like MCD breakfast) and I like to tip a little something at the drive through window or at the counter. They don’t expect it and its something special I can do because I know what it was like to work for minimum wage.
@ Pat@DNW: Pat, Some restaurants have policies in place where if someone wants something to go, the server is only to provide them with a container and not package it for the customer. As a server, I would suggest you ask for the container…many servers aren’t as conscientious as I am when moving the food from plate to container and I’ve seen some unhygienic things happen (server picks up food that fell onto counter and tosses it back in container, server uses fork from different customer at same table to scrape food into container, etc). *I* stop servers when I see them about to do stuff like that and mention it to management but to be honest, in my busy restaurant (and some of the other ones I’ve worked in), I think I’m the only one who really cares.
I second this note. As a former waitress, I saw way too many fellow servers doing quite disgusting things to food, including using their hands to help move it into the container. ALWAYS ask for a container, and box it up yourself at your table. I never let my server pack it up for me.
I almost always do 20% because I used to be a waitress, so I’m biased.
I didn’t realize everyone was doing it, but from the comments it seems like that’s the case.
I agree with your numbers, Len. I don’t think it’s my job to make up for poor wages and don’t agree with that reasoning for rising “standard” tip amounts.
Oh, tipping inflation has been one of my pet peeves. I don’t mind the 20% for good service at a restaurant, but I’ve done entire posts on the tipping gone wild in America for goods and services that never had tips in the past. Examples – the chick scooping my ice cream, someone pouring me a coffee, the guy in the bathroom trying to hand me a towel that I could grab myself. I don’t tips forced upon me for things that didn’t garnet tips generations ago. If this is the new normal, I don’t like it.
Take a look around you though. The venue, whether the experience is a luxury or a necessity will help you figure out why these jobs that didn’t get tipped are now getting tips. Who’s pouring your coffee? Are you at a high end caf buying $7 coffee or are you at a diner? The person in the bathroom handing you a towel, is it a high end restaurant or bar, or a hole in the wall? The person opening your bottle of wine or your beer, did you just pay $100 to see your favorite band but just can’t spare a few to the servers?
Chances are those jobs didn’t exist in the past because you made your own coffee. You weren’t eating premium ice cream with all the toppings mixed into it. Your luxurious lifestyle is putting you into contact with all these tipped position. Show some gratuity.
I just wanted to point out minimum wage isn’t actually minimum wage for servers. This is from the Bureau of Labor Statistics website “but the employer must pay at least $2.13 an hour in direct wages” yes you read that right the MINIMUM a server can be paid by a business is $2.13. The idea is the tips make up the difference allowing them to make at least the federal minimum wage. What people don’t realise is that doesn’t always happen.
My rule of thumb is good to very good service gets 20% or more and what I’d call standard service gets 15% poor service less. This is mainly because one place I frequent I know was only paying the waitresses $4.18 an hour. If they got few tips they didn’t even make minimum wage.
Chris, but isn’t it the employers responsibility to ensure the tip + direct wages = at least minimum wage? I work for a pizza chain where the drivers are paid slightly below minimum, and we have to be mindful of their tips to make sure they’re not working for below that standard.
Chris that is true in some states but not all. In some states they are getting around $10/hr or more minimum before tips ($15 in many cities) and others only $2.13, with many in between. As someone who lives in a state with no tip credit and a relatively high minimum wage I’ve always wondered why tipping is generally consistent as a % even with an 80% or more disparity in base cash wages.
I personally don’t think that people are all that concerned about the server disliking them.
I do think that many people want to avoid appearing cheap or negative in front of their dining companions. Who wants to end a date or business lunch by complaining about the waitress? I find that this is especially true for groups splitting a check.
Other people might tip out of a sense of sympathy or obligation, reasoning that everyone has bad days and servers make basically nothing without tips.
There may even be a few who are afraid of being confronted over a lousy tip, but that not’s really the same as wanting the server to like them.
Both your articles are fantastic. I was a waiter back in college in the mid-90s, got 15% tips and was thrilled with my takehome. The whole “20%” thing just got started because it’s easier to mentally calculate 20% (move decimal to the left and double) than 15% (move decimal to left, take that number and add it to half of itself), then waiters got used to it, now they demand it. I’ve heard many of them justify their claim that 20% should be the minimum tip by bringing inflation into things. Well, since tipping is a percentage, and inflation has brought up the cost of food, tips automatically keep place with inflation, even at 15%. Kids become waiters because the tips make it a very lucrative job – way more than folding jeans at the gap. Customers need to STOP giving in to the pressure to increase tipping percentages. If we stopped this egregious overtipping, and waiters started bringing home less, they might be tempted to get jobs outside the field. This would make restaurants have to pay more to attract good waiters, and so maybe they would pay a decent base wage. Why should restaurants be the only industry not required to pay minimum wage, and thus thrust their payroll responsibilities directly onto their customers? Another thing, because waiters’ pay is all about tips, they have to turn tables fast. That means they are constantly rushing customers to finish their meals. You can’t enjoy a leisurely meal – plus, it’s a medical fact that people who take their time eating their meals are less overweight and healthier. Not only is the tipping making our meals more rushed, it’s making us fatter.
That is ridiculous! I tend to throw a dollar on purchases under $10 and then the same as you above that. 15% for good, 20% for excellent and more for amazing. If the service is terrible I leave 0 or sometimes just a penny or a quater. After all the tip is to pay for service and if you don’t get any why should you pay?
Same here. I can’t understand why someone who does a lousy job gets a standard tip. We tip very well for excellent service, and hardly at all for below average.
Same here. I don’t think 20% is unreasonable, but it’s not something I give out all that often. Frankly, most service I receive doesn’t deserve 20%.
“most people tend to leave average tips for poor service because they don’t want their server to dislike them.”
The problem is that people aren’t growing up anymore. They’re perpetual teenagers who fret over what everyone thinks about them. They buy cars and houses they can’t afford then fight like crazy to get someone to bail them out when things go haywire. They get semi-frugal only when everyone else is, they let their hormones dictate whether they stay faithful, they want everything they see on TV, and live their lives text messaging on the highway … and these are the adults?
Sing it, brother! You are 100% correct!
Today I accidentally got in the restaurant but as a result, I had very little cash for tips, though the service was good. Do I tip very little or nothing at all?
Bret:
Inflation has impacted the cost of food. If the tip is based on the cost of food, then the tip has also gone up over the years. In other words: people need to quit their griping.
When I take my family out to eat, the bill is almost always around $70. If I get good service, I’ll tip 20%, which I think is generous for 45 minutes of work (it works out to over $18 per hour not including minimum wage). Servers almost always work more than one table per hour. I know there’s some tip sharing going on, but overall, it’s not a bad gig and it’s great experience for kids.
BTW – I have been known to leave much more than 20% for outstanding service.
Right on!
Gosh Len, looks like not many are griping about your tipping policy. It is right in line with mine also.
My son was a server while in college. He was fine with 15%. Unfortunately he had many of the 0% even with good service(at least in his opinion).
Great service is not a standard any longer. I usually also thank the server for going out of their way verbally in addition to the money. And if there is a floor manager around-let them know when your server does a good job!
For us, 10% is for okay service, 15% is for good service, and 20% is for “Wow-I want them to come and work for me if I had my own business” service. If the service completely sucks, I talk to the manager…
I’m going to have to agree with you again, Len. This is getting to be a habit! I give 15% for average service, which around here is common. I have to be impressed to give more. Terrible service means I’ll probably complain to a manager, and then never come back. There are so many good restaurants around here I don’t have to tolerate crappy service.
I agree with Bret why servers are pushing for higher tips. However, the recession (which I think is a depression) is hard on just about everyone. Workers are required to do more for the same money, or less in the case of my friend who works for an airline. Servers will just have to hustle more if they want bigger tips.
That’s funny that people want their server to like them. I could see if they live in a small town or they have to go to that place regularly, but otherwise, who cares? I don’t eat out a lot so I rarely see the same person twice.
I tip 20% almost all the time (in cash, in singles if I have it), and it’s not to get the server to like me. Although there is some merit in this if a person is a regular. I have been blessed to never have had to wait table. My 20% is my signal to karma to keep from ever waiting tables, and if I do have to wait tables don’t let it be for a long period of time.
That is my tip policy. If I go out, I do the tax and tip calculation in my head before I order. If I only have $20 budgeted to the meal, I better be able to eat, tip, and tax with $20.
Oh boy did this really crack me up:
“So why worry about a server disliking you simply because you gave them a poor tip for poor service?”
The other night the service was so bad that when we asked to take some food to go, the server just handed us the container. She did NOT even bother helping it all. So of course she got less than 10%. One of my friends felt bad. But at the end of the day, how can you feel bad?
It might have to do with the frequency of how often you go to a certain restaurant. Visiting from out of town, chances are you are going to leave a normal tip, regular, chances are you know more people attending / working at the restaurant.
I completely agree. I still base my tip off of the 5 10 15 rate. I’m sure some servers would call me stingy, but I’m not. I am well aware of how much wait staff makes, and how much they don’t make when there is nobody there and they are doing menial work, but it’s a menial job that requires menial education. In some finer restaurants where the wait staff is better educated on wines etc then their pay goes up because the food price goes up. My last anniversary a 15 percent tip was 52 dollars for 45 minutes work. A quick scan of the place and some head math put that guys earnings at about 500 an hour for probably 4 hours a week fri/sat which comes out to 50 grand a year not counting the smaller amount for the other days of the week which is more than educators make here.
Crazy I say are the suckers who tip blindly on ‘social convention’.
Next, we’ll hear you need to tip the bank teller, the shoe salesman, and the grocery checkout clerk.
If service-industry staff can’t survive on their wage, unionize or do something else for a living. EARN a tip and it’ll be yours. EXPECT a tip when you’re undeserving of one, and suffer the consequences.
No tips for fastfood, delivery, cabbies, paperboy, dentist, snow-shoveller. The rates posted are the rates paid.
Poor service? gets One Penny.
Which would otherwise be zero, but the penny says hey you scumbag I didn’t forget the tip, it’s actually a penny because the experience you provided was sub-par.
Average service 10% of the pre-tax amount.
Above-average service, 15% of the pre-tax amount.
Stellar service, on the other hand?
No pre-set limit. Could be 100%, or even more.
Think 10 points is stingy? Let’s remember, the majority of cash tips remain hidden under-the-table and the amount needs to be grossed-up to reflect it being tax-free.
Exemplary performance merits exemplary recognition.
10% standard is a fair amount for a fair level of service provided.
Tipping for poor service rewards incompetence.
Tipping amount inflation:
The standard has always been 15% of the PRE-TAX amount, maybe a little higher for a low-priced meal, like breakfast at Dennys. Thanks to the internet and lots of posts by service industry people and “Guidelines” sites that purport to speak societal standards, they now proclaim that 20% is the new 15%.
Oh, and when those handy tipping guidelines are printed at the bottom of your receipt, they are always calculated on the after-tax amount.
Since service people have bought into the 20% standard, it is now expected. If you leave 15%, they feel STIFFED.
Service grade inflation
The bar for “exceptional” service has been lowered. A lot. The following are now considered exceptional rather than standard service:
– The waiter can give the order to the person who ordered it without asking (“Who ordered the XXX?”)
– Your water glass/coffee gets refilled once before the check arrives.
– Your empty plates are taken away before you put your coat on to leave.
I agree with this. 20% is NOT the standard except by people who declare it to be the standard. I used to visit “Waiter Rant” quite frequently (mostly for the laughs of strange happenings) and the majority of current and former waiters/waitresses complained they never received the new standard tipping rates. Most of them didn’t know the laws either that read they’d make minimum wage even with $0 tips. Their employer has to see them get minimum wage at the end of a pay period. Their base pay is $2.18 because the industry knows they’ll be generously tipped enough to make more than minimum wage.
You’re so right, Tom, about the pre-tax amount. I resent when they try to trick us into paying tip on the sales tax. And as far as service grade inflation, when I have to get up out of my seat to go looking for a waiter/waitress to refill my coffee or water, or to take my dessert order, they have disqualified themselves from receiving a tip. One thing I might point out is when you said, “the standard tip has always been 15% of the PRE-TAX amount.” Actually, I have been living long enough to remember when the standard tip was 10% – for many, many, many years. And a cup of coffee was still 10 cents in the 1970’s, with unlimited refills. How we were hoodwinked into raising the tip to 15% is beyond me (that’s a 50% raise), and as far as 20% or 25% – forget about it! Menu prices keep up with inflation, and tips are a percentage of the menu price, so there is no need to increase the tip % on top of that. In our state, minimum wage has gone up to $15/hr for even tipped employees, so they are now earning $15/hr plus tips on menu prices that are increasing due to the increase in minimum wage, so that means their tips are even higher than before. No need to increase the tip % – as a matter of fact, the tip % should go down now that the minimum wage pays a living wage all by itself.
My thoughts exactly!
While some may feel that 5% is not much of a difference and shouldn’t matter. Even at a modest casual dining place, at, say, $50 for dinner for two, that’s a $10 tip. A LOT of people these days are chosing to eat at home, or eat at self-serve restaurants. That requires no tip at all, and saves 20% right off the top.
Servers: be happy with your modest 15% tippers. They have chosen to give you the opportunity to make a living.
You are right, Tom. Five percent may not seem like a big difference over one meal, but over a lifetime of restaurant meals, it becomes a significant amount of money.
I never tip for lousy service. In fact, if a server starts out on the wrong foot — i.e. not taking a moment to say, “I’ll be right with you” if the place is particularly busy and we’re waiting for drink orders to be taken — I usually ask to be re-seated in another section.
As mentioned, if I am spending money to eat out, the least I expect is good service. And I tip accordingly.
In every job I have ever had, I did my best to give 100% to customers and clients with every interaction.
I tip on the high end (15%-25%) most of the time because of medical needs, I have to make special requests. I feel that since I require more service I should pay more. I have been known to not leave a tip and talk to manager if my medical needs are ignored.
I also am a repeat customer at the local place and it seems that the generous tip in the past has been rewarded in better service today.
don’t go out to eat where you have to be waited on if u don’t want to tip! dollar menu right down the street. servers get paid 2.01-2.13 an hour! some places the server has to tip out other employees a percent of their sales, so if you don’t tip enough the server will have to pay to wait on you. if you are going to tip bad DO NOT go back because servers remember and talk about who tips bad or good!
servers might make that 18.00 for that one table but had to waited on you for hour and a half, plus they will only have one other table, and then they have to tip out the busboy, the qa, the hostess, and the silverware roller! what if there is no business? no business means no money! its a game of chance. here, i’ll give u a job where u might make 2.01 a hour to 10.00 a hour! it’s a gamble. just because you tip 20% doesn’t mean the next three tables will tip 20% or leave anything for that matter! again, i think people expected more than they use to. i understand that prices have gone up and your chicken is smaller but this is not the server’s fault. servers get paid 2.01-2.33 a hour this has not changed for decades!!!!
quit your job and become a server for a year then tell me 20% is too much to tip!ha
Well said. They don’t realize that they have to tip out other staff food runners, bar, etc. So if you don’t leave a tip or a crappy one that waiter is actually paying out money. Does that make you feel like a good human being? If you don’t have the money to pay for your service, i’m sure there is a McDonalds down the street.
Thank you. I totally agree with you. My husband is a server at a high-end restaurant who worked his way up to be there. Comments like all the ones before yours make my skin crawl. The attitude of “well if you don’t like it, then find another job!!!” is so misguided. If you want to continue being served at a restaurant, someone has to be there to serve you. Tipping is the custom here in the USA. If YOU don’t like it, then go find another place to dine out!
Then they should fight for a real pay check an stop harassing ppl. Also why don’t your tip ppl working in Walmart , McDonald’s that a soul crushing job, how about the teachers, garbage man
I am a full time server at a chain restaurant where I have worked for two and a half years. I can tell you that I tip twenty percent when I go out to eat, although I have been known to tip ten percent for appalling service. I have never not left a server a tip – no matter how horrible I perceive my service to be, I cannot say for sure that it was my server’s fault and not the fault of the kitchen staff, the bar, or even management. It is true that servers only make $2.13/hour and that this wage hasn’t increased in decades. It is understood that if you are dining out, your tips will be combining with my hourly wage to make standard minimum wage – patrons are expected to tip, and to clear up any confusion, industry standard is 18.5%. It is also true that servers tip out. I give 3% of my SALES, not my tips, to the bar and to the hosts. This means that on a $50 bill upon which I did not receive a tip, I am required to pay $1.50 out of my pocket because as a server, I support the wages for the bartenders and the hosts. Just keep all of this in mind. Serving is incredibly challenging but it can be very rewarding for servers who are willing to work hard and smart. In our current economy, I am grateful to have a job at all and I wouldn’t have stayed at the same one for two and a half years if I weren’t making enough money to support myself.
Ok, for starters minimum wage for tipped workers has been stuck at $2.13/hr since 1991 (thanks to Herman Cain ). Second, even when I (or others) give excellent service I have been left 5-10% on numerous occasions. Servers also maintain the restaurant, are there before and after the rush, and wait on people who camp in their section during rush. 15-20% should be the norm. I’ll be honest with you. I have been on both sides of the isle and I have had a much higher percentage of bad tippers compared to receiving poor or aweful service deserving of a low tip. Basically I am saying that Americans tend to spend a lot of time being petty and scrutinizing their server, and If they spent that much time scrutinizing their legislatures instead for maintaining unfair living wages then this blog wouldn’t exist. If the service is really bad you should just speak to a manager. Since there are jerks who leave $2 on a $75 tab for good service (as I have received), leaving a bad tip might not get the message across (bad service). If you want to make real change you can’t be so passive aggresive about it. If you got your food you should tip for that. When you get bad service at a hospital, or your mechanic, you still pay the fee. You just complain or don’t go back. Same should go for food service.
This really depends on where you live. In California, servers get minimum wage.
I honestly hate all forms of tipping. I just wish the prices were inflated to include paying the employee a decent hourly wage. I understand the argument that tipping makes for better service but all other jobs require that you do your job well or you will get fired. The same should apply here. I do normally tip 20% currently for average service. I do not normally tip my hairdresser though because she works out of her home and sets her own prices (I’ve tipped before when I was running 10 minutes late as sort of a “sorry”). I wonder if that’s considered rude in this case. I sure hope not because my ex’s step-mother told me you don’t have to tip in that situation since they are not renting a booth or working for tips for someone else and that they set their own prices.
I’ve got a bit different take on tips.
I owned and ran auto parts stores for years. Customers would come in not just for parts,but for advice as well. This was before countermen had computers to look up parts….a customer would come in and not really know what engine is in their car and want parts. GM had chevy engines in pontiacs,olds engines in chevies and so on.
My countermen needed to be knowledgeable as the wrong part could potentially cause an accident or injury. A customer could often take a half hours time of the counterman wanting to know how to do a job. There was never a charge for this extra help and more often than not,not even a thank you was given.
Sooooo, why should the counterman not get tipped? He not only provided a service, he had the customers well being and health at stake as well. He worked on an hourly wage, not high and did not receive commissions on sales.
If I stop at the local watering hole and have just one beer that comes from the cooler in front of my stool costing $2.25 the bartender expects me to leave the change for him. That’s just around 35% for giving a gruff “what’ll you have” and twisting a cap of a bottle. Seems a bit extreme to me.
Boy did that hit home! I owned an electrical and mechanical contracting business that also sold material. I can’t count the times my employees spent an hour teaching someone how and what they needed to do their project. Many times the customer would buy a few parts from us and then head to the big box store to buy the rest of what they needed. And no tip for the guy that waited on them.
I’m sorry but I’m with your dad in this one. 10% minimum regardless of service, 15% for normal service, 20% for excellent service.
I understand that servers don’t get paid that well, but maybe they should march and demand higher wages. I mean, $3-$4 an hour is crazy. I don’t understand how come the minimum wage doesn’t apply to restaurants, but that’s a different discussion I guess.
I usually tip between 15 and 20%. However, I often take the overall price of the meal into consideration to determine where in that range the tip will fall. Sometimes we have breakfast at a rather inexpensive diner. The meal may cost $15, but the service is usually great, so I will tip $5, which greatly exceeds the 20%, but isn’t really impressive in dollar terms. On the other end of the spectrum, at an expensive restaurant where our meal runs closer to $100, I’m more likely to tip just 15%. It’s hard for me to imagine that the server in the fancy restaurant is working three or four times harder than the one in the diner who keeps my coffee cup full for the entire meal.
Me too, Chris — especially when it comes to breakfast, which tends to be much cheaper than dinner.
15% for poor service? Worried about people “disliking” them? Hell, they must *hate* me because I just leave. Yep, if I can’t get a waiter’s attention at the start of a meal, if he’s rude, or if we find ourselves waiting an hour for food, I just get up and walk out the door. Not just restaurants–anything. Wal-Mart too crazy with a line as long as the Great Wall of China? Leave cart, exit building. Can’t find help at Futureshop? Put down basket, exit building. Girl at A&W acting like a goofball behind the counter and not serving customers? Goodbye. Taxi taking me the wrong way or driving like a madman? “Pull over, buddy–I’m getting out.”
The poor, low-wage, yet rude waiter can bite me arse.
I usually tip generously. 15% is my lowest amount in most cases.
But why should the person who serves you a $50 meal get more than the one who serves you a $15 meal? In my experience the same effort is expended. The only difference is the price of the food they are serving.
I know, not on topic but I always wonder who came up with this system.
I’d be curious to see if the average wage of service workers has risen at all as tip inflation has occurred. Perhaps that’s the real problem. I support getting rid of tip entirely and including it in the price of the meal.
I tip 20% standard, unless service is poor.
I worked as a waitress through my college years, so I tend to give waitstaff the benefit of the doubt. Normal tip is 20% for *good* service. Less, sometimes much less, for bad. If the waitstaff is kind and patient with my son (he has autism and has been learning how to read the menu, order for himself, request refills/items, thank his server – this can sometimes take some extra time) I’ve tipped 100% if it was just me & my son & a small bill.
I was a bellman and worked for tips though college. It’s a pretty good gig. I still don’t like the whole tipping thing though.
To me 15% is fine for good service. I rarely eat out unless someone else is treating. Why pay for expensive food when you can eat at home at a much lower cost. And the food is usually better (if you are a good cook) and probably healthier too.
I have a few BIG beefs about tipping.
I’m in the 0, 10, 15 and 20% camp for levels of service. I definitely give the 15% for decent service and 20% plus verbal commendation to the server & their manager for outstanding service. If it’s a service with no tipping involved, I offer the verbal as above. Everyone needs to know when their effort to go above and beyond is appreciated.
Here are additional points to consider to add to the post and comments so far: since when is the tip to be applied on the ENTIRE bill, taxes included?! I see this regularly and ignore it/correct it as needed. It’s like a 10+% tax on your tip!
And what about new tipping expectations? Your dry cleaner, your barista, your takeout food joint, your bakery? It’s getting ridiculous. We are tipping people for just doing their basic 60-second job requirements now? It’s just getting ridiculous.
Free, I hear you. Seems your suppose to tip everyone these days. And then at Christmas your suppose to give an ever larger tip? I avoid services where I have to tip.
When I don’t get the service I deserve I tip less than 10%. When I’m really happy with the service given to me I give 20-25% tip. A little smile wouldn’t hurt together with some lively tone.
I tip 15-20%. I don’t tip just because there is a tip jar out (that offends me) or tip more because I am in fear of the server not liking me.
I used to hang out with a guy who would tip a sever based on how attractive he found her, thinking a higher tip would make her interested in him. That’s a great way to start off a relationship!
Indeed. Inflation is really common today. Some people blame others about it and I don’t think they are right.
I double the tax to figure the tip, and where I live that is over 17%. If the server is pleasant but inept, I still leave about 15%. But if the server is rude or nasty, then the tip nosedives to 10% or less (rounding down, not up).
I don’t expect perfect or excellent service, but I do expect to be treated courteously. If the server goes above and beyond, I’ll bump the tip up to 20%.
Forgot to say, I hate tip jars! I’ve seen them at drive-through grocery/milk markets, soda fountains, coffee shops. If all I’m getting is a cup of coffee to go, I’m not tipping.
Thank you, Len! I don’t think I’ve heard of people tipping 20-25% except for my one chemist friend, but he’s stinkin’ rich and can afford doing that. But I also follow the 10-15-20% tipping scale because I am ALL ABOUT customer service.
So if they do a really good job putting new shock absorbers on my car I should give them an extra 20%? And when my tax preparer is really attentive I should be paying them more than they bill me? What is so special about people who work in restaurants that the customer should pay them instead of their employers? All other employers pay their employees according to their level of performance. What makes this one industry so special that the customer has to do an employee performance review, decide how much the employee should be paid, and then pay them rather than their employer paying them? Service should always be excellent or the employer needs to fix it for the customer. A customer goes into a business to be taken care of, not to supervise and pay the employees who work there.
Thank you
👍👍 I would rather the servers pay be included in the price of the meal. If I don’t like the service or price I go somewhere else.
Ugh, ugh, UGH.
Ever heard of karma? Short of your server being a complete giant asshole, there is NO reason not to tip less than 20%. My husband and I make over $600k/year — don’t have debt, smart with money, etc. We believe that having a generous spirit makes the world go ’round and ultimately makes the world a better place. Service industry workers don’t make much, and enduring icky cheapskates like you day in and day out every day takes a toll. Yes, you ARE a cheapskate, no matter how many entries you write contesting this fact. We are educated, healthy, blessed, high-earning folks, and your attitude is disgusting.
Karma? Cheapskate? Because YOU say there is no reason to tip less than 20%? Heh. Okay.
Your arrogance is breathtaking.
Ugh, indeed.
Sixty years ago (are you still alive? I don’t believe it!) we college students used to drop a penny in the water glass for a tip, if we didn’t like the service …
Another thing to remember is that, in many states, restaurants are allowed to pay waitstaff less than minimum wage, provided they make enough in tips to reach minimum wage. Employers can pay waitstaff as little as $2.13 an hour in 19 states. So you aren’t tipping just to reward good service. You are tipping to pay the waiters minimum wage.
Absolutely correct! The employers can pay their staff a criminally low wage and raise the menu prices no problem…because they know regardless of price increases customers will still come in, and have less money left…for tipping. But hey as long as they pay their bill, the employer is happy…Employers are making money hand over fist, and should be required to pay their employees accordingly! This is exactly why I have left the industry for good, after 30 years.
Been a long time reader of this blog. This subject hits home for me so I’m chiming in for the first time. I’m in my 50s now and have been in the restaurant business pretty much my whole life. I waited tables in college, got into bar tending and even after grad school and a corporate job I actually still tend bar on the weekends. I’m surprised tipping is such a hot button issue for most but please be assured there are those that do this and really do care. I’m almost like a therapist and can provide a good experience. My income depends on it and trust meet is well worth it. Supplements the 401 quite nicely. I just want to say not everyone who does this kind of work hates it and it sucks the bad ones give us an overall bad reputation.
What about this new tipping of the cashier, after she /he takes your order at the cash register? You walk down the counter and pick up your own food take it to your table and clear your dishes when you’re done. Does anybody else think this is ridiculous? I’m sorry but if I’m doing all the work I don’t understand why I’m supposed to be tipping somebody that’s just taking my money.
We need to stop calling it a ‘tip’ and start calling it what it is… ‘missing wage compensation.’ A tip is something extra for someone who went above and beyond. Now its manditory or your the subject of ridicule no matter how good or bad 5he service was.
Well said, Rob.
Texas- tipped min wage 2.13
Must Tip-out on SALES not Tips…
Servers TipOut, bussers 2% , host 1%, bartender 2%, food runner 1% , expo 1%… of my Sales.
$100 Tab at you local restaurant means you tipped 15% or 15 dollars the server will only see 8 dollars. 15 years ago you only tipped out the bussers and rarely a service bartender. So the tip out went up 5% so the owner could keep more of the profit. That is where your CREEP UP comes from…we are not taking home any more money the owner is.
Thank you for this, Chuck.
I want to thank Charles too. He must be a Republican. A Democrat could never explain this rationally and without emotional ad hominems.
Heres a TIP for you Sally, Pull your head out of your ass before commenting.
I do not agree with people who think this is cheap.
I don’t mind leaving a standard tip or mediocre or bad service. one thing I can’t not agree with is growing ‘percentage’
Many of us are having the same salary or little raise while inflation ate us up. When a meal cost $10 twenty some years ago, the tip would’ve been $1 or two. The same meal costs around $25 and servers tip is $3 – $6.
A server’s tip got increased with the cost of living. What is there to complain? Why do we need raise their percentage? Are they doing any thing more than servers back then? Hmm I don’t think so.
Yes, I do tip about 25% when certain dinner takes extra trips delivering and exchanging many dishes. I think tipping percentage should vary depending on the amount of work servers have to take care, not as over time..
In Japan there is NO tipping and the service is excellent – a point of pride, or service. It’s like the server is saying, “If I take no money from you, then you know my service was sincere. A tip is an insult.”
This is very excellently written. I agree with you 100%. The only thing I think you may have failed to mention is that servers get an automatic raise with inflation as the price of the food goes up even if the tip percentage doesn’t. No other line of work gets an automatic raise when the prices of their company goes up. Does the Stocker get a raise at your local supermarket every time they raise the price of eggs and milk? No. I think we should get rid of the tip culture and have servers get paid based on commission just like other areas of sales.
Great article. Thank you for writing it.
Thank you, Michael. (And your comments regarding tipping are spot on.)
Thank you, wonderful author, for this article. Thanks to you, I was able to prove to my husband and best friend that tipping in the 90s was 15% when they both swore up and down it was 20% our entire lifetime. They tried to cheap shame me and I wasnt having it, but thankfully this article corroborated my whole argument. Thanks again, you amazing writer.
Glad I could help. Katy!
Lol because they didn’t put your food in a box for you come on grow the hell up, now I guess you want them to stand at your table to be at your beck and call, for what a little 20 percent tip, people get bad service because they except way to much, understand you’re not the only one they are serving
“People get bad service because they expect way too much.”
What? 🤪 🤪 🤪
So servers purposely deliver poor service only after they get into the heads of their customers and divine that they are “expecting way too much”?
Talk about childish logic. Clearly I’m not the one who has to “grow the hell up” here. 🤡
We live in a country where people have to work until they die and when they are sick. Our approach to education, training and employment has deep issues that need to be addressed by our government over time. Quibbling over a few dollars when people cannot afford to keep a roof over their head and feed their families is sad. Employers should determine and manage performance not tippers.
Higher tip rates are self defeating. The higher the restaurant bill, the less often people go out to dinner and/or they choose restaurants where there is no tipping. So go ahead, raise tipping rates to 20, 25, 30% and see your customer base dwindle. I’ll buy the steak and cook it at home for the cost of the tip alone and not have to put up with the “you’re a cheapskate” stare from the server when I cross out the “suggested” 18%+ tip line and pay 15%.
Did you hear about the fight that broke out at the local seafood restaurant?
Two fish got battered.
That’s too bad, Bill. That wouldn’t have happened if they had spent more time in the gym and worked on getting bigger mussels. 😉
(Clam down, everybody! I don’t condone fighting – I’m actually a pasifisht.) 😉 😉
My tipping barometer is the tax on the bill. It’s almost 10% in my state, so if service is good we double the tax. If it’s bad then 5%, if exceptional then we leave what we feel was commensurate with the service.
What I despise is the “service charge” for large parties, which is subject and can go as low as 6 people. The restaurant will help themselves to an automatic 20% of the bill and still expects us to tip for what usually amounts to mediocre service. I’m not ashamed to say when that occurs, we don’t normally tip extra.
Servers are not paid a living wage – so without tips, we can’t pay our bills. I work in a Hotel bar and people assume I make at least minimum wage or more per hour..and NO, employers are supposed to make up for slow days but they don’t bother. We are the face of the company, and are the reason, for the most part, for guest loyalty in the first place. But not compensated for it. Instead the customer is the one who is really paying my wages. But since tips aren’t mandatory…I give consistent good service to all, but that doesn’t mean every table tips me…. People still have the nerve to leave little to even nothing!! Unbelievable. If you can’t tip, STAY HOME. And, for all of you saying “oh, for poor service…a penny!” or “15% is adequate…” etc etc, you should be happy there is ANYONE still willing to work in the service industry to serve you at all. PERIOD.
I have something to say to every one of you. I always provide excellent service and so do most of my other colleagues at our restaurant. The norm for great service is 20% or more period. Do you realize we work extremely hard for our money and the norm for 10% was in 1950? And we also have families to support? You all seem to dismiss the fact this is our livelihood and we work very hard to provide you good service. The 20% standard went up actually in 2018. How would you feel if your income was based on how your employers thought of you in a particular moment? Please ponder that the next time you go out to eat and decide what your tip should be.
I am old. (78).
I remember back when, the normal tip was 10%.
Restaurant prices are not far behind keeping up with inflation, so the income of a good server has risen faster than mine did.
Most of the times I go out to eat, living in a rural area, the meal prices do not compare to the big cities.
For coffee and a doughnut at a table, for good service I leave at least $3 regardless of how small the bill is. The server deserves a good hourly reward for good service. On rare occasions that I go to an upscale place, I look at how many tables the server has, and how well he/she is performing compared to what I expect.
I do not think the server in the high price place is worth over $500 an hour, or that the server in the diner is worth less than $30 for their income in tips.
That said, I seldom go below 15% unless the service is #%&$.
Restaurant charges have increased dramatically; the server automatically is earning more from me based on that. Therefore I tip them 15% . Should I tip the McDonalds cashier 15% too?? Hmm
Great article. Its a shame this very rational logic doesnt reach the masses. But even beyond restsurants, tipping has become pressured and suggested and implied in many food establishments, particularly where they already receive a fair wage. At my local bagel shop, the girl hands me my change over hectic had, so Ill notice and just drop it right in. In my hyper-progressive town, restaurants are adding a 20% fair wage charge, even when there is no service. The entitlement is just beyond belief.