I want to hear what people do since what I read and hear is all over the mat.
First, tipping. What do you tip for:
Restaurants, diners, etc.? Dinner vs. breakfast, lunch or a snack?
Hotel housekeeping?
Cabs?
Deliveries?
Mailman (or others) at the holidays?
Barbers/hair stylists? For kids?
Others?
Gifts (Money):
Weddings? Close relative? Not so close or friend?
Birthdays - invited to party?
Graduation? HS? College? Reform school?
Anything I missed??
What do you tip for:
Restaurants, diners, etc.? Dinner vs. breakfast, lunch or a snack? 20% unless service is lousy then I adjust accordingly(have given 1¢)
Hotel housekeeping? not usually
Cabs? don't use them
Deliveries? nope
Mailman (or others) at the holidays? not anymore(mailman are not allowed to take $ tips)
Barbers/hair stylists? For kids? usually $5 for the kids $10 for me
Others? We gave bakery baskets or liquor out to all our contract customers
Gifts (Money): With my nephews growing up it was the $ amount = to their age, now that they are older they just get a card
Weddings? Close relative? Not so close or friend? Not so close I will usually buy a gift, $100 or $200 close friend/relative
Birthdays - invited to party? Depends on who it is, I usually give a gift not $
Graduation? HS? College? Reform school? usually $100
15-20% for servers/restaurant -- but I don't include the bottled wine in the figuring. By the glass - I do. Depends on service. Sometimes service isn't so hot but I think I can tell if it is the servers issue as opposed to the kitchen or no staff etc.
Delivery men - (like washer/dryer/ heavy stuff) 5 bucks. Folks that do jobs around the house - ex: tipped the guys that laid the floor. The owner of the business was also a worker and I gave him a bottle of wine - especially good job and very neat and careful. If here for a few days (yard stuff, house painting - I fix lunch and provide cold stuff if working outside.)
Mailman - no
Paper guy - no
Hotel Housekeeping - no --unless something special done
Hairdresser - yes (20 percent) (He juggles a lot of stuff to meet my schedule)
Taxi - yes but a rare rare trip
Valet Car 0 -3 bucks
Tons of suitcases / had to wait for me for something - 5 bucks
Money gifts - family only
Store bought stuff - even a gift card - everyone else
for holidays, birthdays, grads, whatever
If in hospital for the nurses and cleaning staff - cookies, fruit or candy. For mom's helpers in the nursing home - cookies, fruit, a lot of thank you's and a monetary gift holiday time for mom's helpers.
If my kids do something over and above to help out - come over to clean the gutters or help wash windows or wax the car etc., I buy them a restaurant dinner (me not included.)
Why do you ask?
I usually do between 15% and 20% for restaurants. Less for breakfast. Always bothered me that the cooks don't get it! They do more of the real work. Waitstaff just carries it. Exception for customers who are always asking for stuff.
I always tip the hotel housekeepers. A few bucks per day.
Cabs about 10%. Higher if they're nice.
- I double the tax in restaurants, they get 16-18% which is about right.
- Always tip the barber 3 bucks for an $11 cut
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- I tip the hotel room cleaner $1/day, for a seven day stay I'll give them $10.
- Mail & garbage $20 each for Christmas, (the garbage men split the $20), usually include a card and a good cigar for the mailman, (he likes them & he's a nice guy.)
- When I was single I used to go to nightclubs and choose a bartender, he'd take care of my 'sweet tooth' for the night and I'd give him a $20 at the end, some knew me as a regular and this made getting my drinks easy and fast in a crowded, noisy bar. ( I don't frequent those places anymore since I don't drink anywhere near what I used to and I have no need for them now, lol).
- Delivery guys $10 -20 depending on the load & how many men.
- Taxis $1 - 3 depending on distance.
- Valet - I go out of my way to avoid anyone parking my car, otherwise $3, but I rarely use a valet.
- Weddings I RSVP 'no', saves me overhead & marriages nowadays get ruined faster than a cheescake left out overnight anyway...
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- Money gifts - Never. I go out and buy a gift, the people who I give gifts to appreciate the effort. Children & teens as well. Nothing expensive, just a little something they can use or like which they would never buy for themselves.
Hee hee on the weddings!
I tip the mailman, FedEx and UPS guys. They are all great. Mailman gets the most - about $35 or $40. $20 for the UPS. $10 for Fedex. That's the order of frequency of service.
Same as WC for big deliveries. Less for small ones.
The Standards of Ethical Conduct for Employees of the Executive Branch ("Standards"), specifies that Postal Service employees may not accept gifts from outside sources (including Postal Service customers) or gifts given to them because of their official positions. Postal Service employees may not accept cash - in any amount or form (bills, checks, money orders) - from an outside source.
Postal Service employees may accept the following items:
Snacks and beverages that are not offered as part of a meal.
Items with little intrinsic value (i.e., greeting cards, plaques, pens, coffee mugs, etc.).
Perishable items (i.e., flowers, chocolates, cookies, etc.); if the items are clearly worth more than $20, employees should share them with others in the Postal Service workplace.
Items with a market (retail) value of $20 or less.
FedEx - Not allowed to accept cash gifts, but a gift up to $25 in value is permissible.
Hospitals have that policy too.
Geeze - what a stickler, Jen! I don't care what the rules say. In my view, they have earned it. In fact, they do lots more to earn it than many or most waitstaff.
I knew that, I was just testing the mailman to see if he would take it.
I'm just saying they can get fired for taking tips.
Not with their union. All the bosses know they get tips.
My brother's been a carrier for over 25 years. He never once mentioned anyone getting in trouble for gifts.
not a big tipper here. at a rest. 15% including wine/drinks although they have to earn it.
use to tip the paper boy until the cost of delivery doubled the paper cost - i drive to get it now.
not really anyone else
Emily Post's suggestions:
http://www.emilypost.com/out-and-about/tipping/89-general-tipping-guidelines
Bill is cheap!! ^_^
He needs to save $ for his rocks
not cheap - waiting staff think they deserve a tip regardless of the service and i think 20% is too high although i go over 15% when i include that over priced wine i'm tacking on another 15%. those UPS/FedXe folks get paid well. and i would not want to see someone get fired.
Excuse me...Waitstaff get taxed 10% of YOUR bill by Uncle Sam because HE ASSUMES you tipped 15%. I know...I did it for 6 years so I could be home when the kids got off the bus.
Food serving is a low paid job, generally speaking, and these hard-workers really need our tips. I go with 20%.
I grew up in NJ, 30 miles from NYC, and was taught that cabbies in the city should get 20%. I usually do the same in other cities, since I don't know what the rules are.
Maybe I should explain......
At the end of my shift I must tally all the slips of food I sold. If it comes to $1000. , then on my time card for that shift I must claim $100 in tips....Rather I made it or not!!
My wage per hour was $2.35 tips are their livelihoods.
This message was edited Aug 10, 2010 7:40 PM
My son worked at a fairly high end restaurant when in college. He told me that the tip on the wine (bottled) oftentimes is not observed in the calculation.
I'd be willing to pay more for the food if the restaurant owners would pay their staff a regular wage instead of leaving it to me. I know it is 6 of this and 1/2 dozen of the other, but at least that way no math for me!
I realize making the income dependent on tips is a way for the owner to at least try to get good customer service out of their staff -- an incentive of sorts, but it has reached a point that the wages are low coming out of the business (good news for the owners).... the customer tips really pay the salary (good news for the owners) ....and the food costs keep going up and seem to me can more than underwrite a decent salary for the servers. I've never owned a restaurant --so maybe I've got it backwards.
Yes - that is what my son said. So if no tips --still the 10 percent got calculated. And, he would also share his tips with the guys/gals that cleared his tables.
Maybe I should explain......
At the end of my shift I must tally all the slips of food I sold. If it comes to $1000. , then on my time card for that shift I must claim $100 in tips....Rather I made it or not!!
My wage per hour was $2.35 tips are their livelihoods.
This message was edited Aug 10, 2010 7:40 PM
Thats why you pray you gave good enough service to get 20%, some people can not be pleased no matter how good you are.
My mailman gets $50 at Christmas. He's a great guy who has gone out of his way for us and he keeps my dogs well supplied with doggie cookies.
I did waitress work many, many years ago. I can say without hesitation that we ran our butts off, worked much harder than the cooks, took the abuse from the customer when the cooks screwed up a dinner, did not get steak for dinner every night like the cooks did(we didn't have time to eat anyway), we also ran back and forth to the bar to get the cooks their drinks. Cooks are paid more. I generally tip 20%, less for lousy service, more for exceptional service. I also tip more if I tie up the table for a lengthy dinner.
Hotel....a week vacation, yes, about $20. Overnighter, no.
Deliveries, generally yes, but Jack takes care of that, I'm never home when they deliver.
My hairdresser gets 10 on 25.
Weddings I always give money unless they're rolling in dough to begin with, then they get a gift.
I have a friend who often shorts the waitstaff on the tip--she doesn't think it is a big deal. trouble, often we are both paying on same bill, I'll put in 20% on my portion, and she will put in maybe 5-10% on hers. She has the $$--she eats out pretty much daily. She's gotten a little better about it since I started confronting her, but I have to watch her like a hawk! Hasn't been a problem lately as I rarely eat out these days. BTW--nurses run their butts off too, often feels like waitressing, don't get tips, but the pay is waaaay better! LOL!
Ahh...but on those nights you have to claim 150.00 but you actually have 300 in your apron...those are the nights you go home with a smile and a certain gesture for Uncle Sam and his taxes. ^_^
Though I almost always give 15%-20%, I just don't believe in paying based on the food price, as opposed to the work done. Carrying a dish with filet mignon is not more difficult than carrying the same plate filled with pasta. Same with shipping charges on things. Should be based on weight (which is how they pay for it), not total price.
Hey I have the same friend. I didn't realize she got around so much.
On a good night my son's tips were 300-350 and on a bad night no so much less. Of course he only worked three nights/week - but at less hours than the nursing and if he pulled the 5 days at that salary - his pay wouldn't be so shabby. He is now out of college and probably wishes he still had that job!
Flower - my nephew just moved back home (NY) to open a few Anthony's Coal Fired Pizzas....or is it chicken wings?? I forget. That is some good eating. He is in NY now (nassau/suffolk county) waiting for the restaurants to open, but I am pretty sure there must be some your way because he travels from NJ to PA to Del regionally.
I sure wish those restaurants would come to NC. I don't know what they do to the chickens and the pizzas but - wow-
I tip more for good service. But I have a hard time tipping less than 15 percent for bad service. I feel like that is the salary. Also, while some bad server-service sticks out -- sometimes the bad service isn't originating with your waiter / waitress but the kitchen or the owners rules or reluctance to fully staff.
I have had only one or two times ever where the waiter/waitress was really bad.
I would say the same. I do remember one time I was so angry, I left a penny tip. The ultimate insult, but should be a lesson learned for the server.
20% for good service in a resturant and I never go back to the places where the "gratuity" is included in the bill.
When the waitstaff know they are getting a good tip regardless of service they don't care as much. I also make sure never to punish the waitstaff for a lousy meal from the kitchen..
What was the name of the fiction movie - a woman would get on a table and into a red leather suit and get hooked up with wires. The boy on the other table would get wired up and she would get into his dreams/mind.
The boy was out to lunch as his father abused him/ mean to him.
I cant remember the actress name - black hair and pretty.
What tip did she get???
