I'm so lost on how to tip anymore. I remember back when 12% pre-tax was considered a really good tip, but now the kiosks recommend 20-25% (which is usually ON TOP of tax).
I already don't tip anywhere I'm not sitting down with service, but 20-25% is crazy when I'm just trying to get fed.
If I tip, I only tip where I get to consume my food and or beverage before paying. 15% is standard for reasonable service. Maybe 18% if my kids are with me and make a mess while eating that someone will need to help clean up (I do try to help keep things clean, but sometimes making a quick exit is better for all involved).
When I eat in at a restaurant (excluding places with no waiters or service), 15% is my standard tip. I choose the percentage on the payment machine, so I assume it's on top of the tax. When I order take-out, I don't tip at all.
I'm curious how much you guys tip (if at all) for things outside the restaurant industry. For example, taxis.
Tipping should be a 0%+ thing: really good service is rewarded. I say this as a starving waiter from the college days. I made decent tips, but school was/is crazy-expensive.
Many regions are abolishing the lower minimum wage for servers. Your region could have already gone that route. Learn what the regs are and report or correct anyone saying otherwise: servers' wages start at the same minimum as the cook in the back.
Absolutely agree, I've been studying in Europe for the past few months and one of the best parts about going out to eat is having the price on the menu be exactly what you pay. No one expects you to tip. We should be including taxes in prices as well.
Traditionally, tipping is unrelated to low wages. It has to do with the transactional structure related to serving alcohol. There is good reason why the practice emerged in bars and why many of the laws established around tipping refer specifically to alcohol.
Unlike other liabilities which are shouldered entirely by the business, the liability related to alcohol falls on the server. Likewise, the server has free rein to reject your request for alcohol, even against the wishes of the business. This is so because there is, legally speaking, a direct business relationship between the server and the customer when alcohol is involved. Tipping exists because of that business dealing that exists outside of the establishment's business dealings with you.
In the trades, when you do work directly for a customer – done so under your name with you bearing the responsibility and liability, you too will collect payment directly from the customer. This isn't unusual or exclusive to serving.
So, yes, paying 0% makes sense. Without alcohol being purchased, there is no business relationship with the server. The transaction is clearly with the establishment and the establishment alone. With alcohol, things are less clear cut, but I have never met a server yet that outlines their fee structure. It is generally understood that they are going to do the work for free.
I don't think that's true. My understanding is that typing first started in the US because black workers were not getting paid, or paid less, and it was a way for them to subsidize their income.
Also, the general etiquette back in the day, when tipping at restaurants was 10%, was to not tip on the alcohol portion of your bill, only the food, and don't tip the owner.
For sit-down or coffee, generally 20%, as I've done for years. Not going to go up to 25%, and it'll take bad service for me to dip below 18%.
Slightly different for delivery - I'll usually do a flat $5 if they're nearby and I'm just ordering a meal for me and my partner. If we're getting a lot of food, I'll add to that.
If I order takeout food (not coffee), I don't tip at all.
I'm lucky and make a decent living. Not "buy a house in Vancouver" money but I'm basically not struggling. So, I figure anyone working minimum wage is doing something I probably wouldn't like doing and I want to help out.
I also love restaurants and bars. My favourite spots, those servers are doing hard work that I couldn't do and they put up with all sorts of horrible nonsense. And if they don't make enough, they leave and the place suffers. So I generally tip 20 at a place I like, 15 if it's meh or whatever.
It’s ridiculous. Servers in Canada get the same minimum wage as anyone else. It’s not like the states where they only get $2/hour.
So I’m supposed to tip $2 every time a bartender pours a pint? Like come on. Multiply that by 8 people in the bar and suddenly my bartender is making $40/hour to open and hand me beer while I make $20/hour to be responsible for the lives of children (I’m a school bus driver).
I do believe bartenders deserve more than minimum wage, but when you look at it that way it seems our priorities as a society are super skewed and that’s why I don’t go to the bar.
And before you tell me to get a better job, I already have two better jobs but I’m low on the list and don’t get enough work through them to quit the bus yet.
It's a standard I grew up with - if anything I wonder if I should be raising it for inflation.
Much like servers, delivery drivers aren't paid properly if they aren't tipped. But, in my mind, the quantity of food matters a lot less to the delivery driver's work, unless it's a large enough order to require multiple trips from the vehicle.
For the amount of time a driver has to work to drive to me and park and bring my order to the front door, yeah I think $5 is more than reasonable. They probably spend more time on me than a server in a restaurant does, in a lot of cases.
I'll tip if I'm given any kind of service above and beyond "handing me stuff at the counter". So if I walk up to a counter, order, pay, then receive order: no tip. Otherwise, 10-20% depending on service level.
If they ask for more than 20% they're capped at 15% and I'm going to judge them silently.
I'm pretty much this too. But I feel like I'm tipping 15% because I'm being guilted into feeling this is the lowest I should. 15% used to be a decent tip now it feels like I'm being judged for it.
If you’re being judged for it, that’s because the employees are being massively underpaid. I tend to not return to places with that atmosphere.
If the wait staff is awesome and you have a great time, tip high to show your appreciation. Tipping because you feel pressured to or because you feel sorry for the employees is self-perpetuating. Everyone loses except the business owners.
If there is no value added, no tip. If i buy beer, you are just checking me out, there is no value added. If i buy a coffee, and you just hand it to me at the counter, little to no tip.
If there is a small value add, 10%: If you bring my coffee to my seat, or throw my pizza in the oven to reheat it.
Service: 15% this is classic waitor territory. checking on me, refilling my water, carrying my food to my table, and cleaning up after i leave.
Outstanding service: 20% - rare, but this includes when a waiter brought my table half a dozen loaves of bread and butter (when they usually serve 1 or 2), mentioned that we could request icecream refills, and checked on us frequently.
I do well enough to tip well enough. If I want to be a regular/priority i tip up to 25%, if i don't care, they get the standard 15%. If I didnt have good service, 0%