Question to Americans: Tipping
 

I'm going to Los Angeles on the 16 February 2004 for a two week vacation and I've got a few questions relating to your crazy unwritten rules of tipping. (This is from an Australian perspective though... it could make perfect sense to you U.S. people. :))

How much do you tip (I've heard it's ten percent is that right?) and who expects to be tipped? :)

It's actually 15%, but you can adjust it either way depending on the quality of service. I have given $10 tips for a $10 meal before. Of course, the waitress was topless, and she gave me a lap dance, so maybe that isn't a good example... :D

Yeah, 15% is right, and as far as who expects to be tipped anyone who waits on you. People behind a counter generally aren't tipped, unless there's a tip jar out (but in those cases it's up to you and a tip isn't really necessarily expected). Just make sure you always tip waiters and waitresses unless they give you poor service.

A handy trick in California is to just double the tax on a receipt. Sales tax is CA is 8.0-8.25%, so doubling that gives you ~16% which is a pretty nice gratuity.

Cool. Thanks for the information. I'm kinda glad we don't have to worry about tipping in Australia, but I guess the employees here get a higher wage and we probably have to pay more. :)

I guess we'll be eating at McDonalds. :) I'm looking forward to comparing the Australian Big Mac with the U.S. Big Mac. They'll most likely taste exactly the same but there is bound to be some difference. :) I still have the hotel staff to worry about though...

Thanks again for the info. It's definately appreciated. :)

ROFL!

Hm! I doubt that some how. The German Big Mac tastes EXACTLY the same as the British Big Mac. Isn't that the whole point of U.S. interests abroad? :P

Anyway, be sure to let us know.

Will do. :)

I am so glad I live in Holland and I don't have to worry about tipping. Honestly, these people are doing their jobs and are paid decent wages. But then I heard stories of tippable people being underpaid *because* they can get tipped, which really neccesitates the tipping again... :crazy:

Ergo, it's the same as with the crazy imperial measuring system: I'm glad Holland is more sensible :D

What's tipping ? :confused:

It's just like prostitution, but not as age-old a concept :P

They don't call me Mr.Pink for nothing, you know. Wait a second, they don't call me Mr.Pink. Hmm...

It is also expected to tip bartenders, despite their being "behind a counter."

In every state except California and Nevada, servers (waiters or waitresses) and bartenders make less than the national minimum wage. The government expects that they will get tipped, and therefore allows employers to pay them less than the minimum wage. This group of service personnel must pay income taxes on 10% of their total sales. That is, the federal and state governments have decided that even the world's cheapest bastard is going to tip at least 10% of their bill to the server/bartender. Undertipping actually loses money for your server.

I want to thank SerialFreak for bothering to ask about this. I have spent my life in the food/beverage service industry (I currently manage a bar.) I have dealt with many foreigners from all around the world, and it is more than a little frustrating how many of them don't bother to learn or grasp the American system of tipping servers. Most frustrating of all, however, are certain nationalities who do know about it and still refuse to tip. In the USA, Germans are notorious for their lousy tipping. And no offense intended to our Fearless Leader, but I used to manage a hotel bar where we got a busload of Dutch tourists every six weeks. This was a regularly scheduled tour of the US that started in Florida and ended in San Francisco, making my hotel about the halfway point. By the time the tourists got to my hotel, they had been lectured by their tour guide a half-dozen times about tipping in America. Yet they still would tip a quarter on a $10 check and somehow make it look like they were doing you a great favor. :rolleyes:

Then there's the Quebecois, who will cheerfully tip... exactly 10% and not a penny more, no matter what. I could have a Quebecois customer choking to death at one of my tables, run over to him, perform the Heimlich Maneuver, pull an oxygen tank out of my pocket to ease his breathing, and the whole time be entertaining his kids with finger puppets on my toes... and still get a 10% tip. :frown:

Ahhhh the Dutch. < insert story about being a trade nation and therefore a bunch of cheap bastards > ;)

And mycroft, the deal with Mr. Pink's little diatribe about tipping is that Quentin Tarantino does happen to live in one of only two states where that waitress would make minimum wage. It was completely irresponsible of him to foist that idea out onto a public when he had no idea that nowhere else in America was that the case. However, she is still taxed on 10% of her sales, whether she gets tipped or not.

For the record, the minimum wage in the United States has gone from $3.35/hour in 1978 to a current $5.15. This is an increase of 54%, which has still failed to keep up with the rate of inflation over that 25 years. Over that same 25 years, the minimum wage for servers (except in the two aforementioned states) has increased from $2.01/hour to $2.13, an increase of 6%. Yes, all those hours servers put in that you never know about... cleaning, filling catsup bottles and salt shakers, pre-making your salads and dressings so they can get them to you quickly, scrubbing toilets after you leave... they are making a mighty $2.13/hour.

Think about that, fellow Yankees. Are you tipping enough?

BJ, don't blame the Germans, Dutch or anybody else for the position of your severs. Blame the ludicrous minimum wage system that's in place in the RICHEST COUNTRY IN THE WORLD. :rolleyes:

In the UK the normal tip to a waiter would be around 10%. When I first came to Germany I was a bit shocked to find out that tipping here is not such a big thing. Normal would probably be about 5% here in Munich. But then the servers are paid a more decent wage - as it should be. It's a cop-out to say that they should be paid less because they earn all their money from tippers. They're not performers, they're employees of a multi-billion dollar industry. This system also leaves the employees vulnerable to employer exploitation (taking the tips and only paying back to the employees a small percentage, pocketing the rest themselves) as it can not be controlled as wages can.

I've never been to the US but from what I've heard from friends who have, eating out is extremely cheap compared to Europe. No wonder, if the wages are such a pittance. To me it sounds like you guys have it all wrong, not the Europeans or others who visit.

The question is: are you going to be part of the system? And I think BJ's point is that the answer is yes, because if you're not going to be a part of it, the employees will suffer from that.

Tipping is absolutely voluntary here.

I agree... but then again, as long as the system works as it does now, I don't see why foreigners couldn't tip like every american. (those who are warned, that is, I really had no idea that it worked that way... not that I've ever bought something on my own in the US, but I could have, and would have been consider a cheap bastard because I wouldn't have tipped :sad: )

If anyone would give someone tip here that person would be looked inside a sanitarium for life.

I understand that. I just think it's wrong to blame the tourists, who by the way are already helping the economy by choosing the US (or whatever country) as their holiday destination. BJ's abhorrence should be aimed at a system that leaves employees in such a vulnerable position in the first place in my opinion. Don't they have unions?

Personally, I still tend to tip too much in Germany according to Megs, but that's because of the system I've grown up in. In reality, any tip should be appreciated, no matter how small.

The onus is on the employers and unfortunately, from what BJ is telling us, the US system has a major loop hole that leaves employees vulnerable to exploitation - that, frankly, in this day and age is a disgrace.