« S&P Average Total Returns by Month Going Back to 1926 | Main | Resources for ETF Investors »
“The Rude New Tip-Jar Economy”
By JLP | October 5, 2009
Liz Pulliam Weston is mad at how crazy tipping has become:
“I pride myself on knowing how to tip and on being a generous tipper. But a recent encounter left me reeling.
“I got a massage from a chain that offered a $35 special rate. It was a good massage, so I’d planned to tip 20% of the usual $49 cost. That is, until I hit the checkout counter and saw a sign informing me that the minimum tip was $10 and a really good tip was $20.
“My brain froze. I wanted the masseuse to know I had appreciated her work. I put a second $10 in the tip envelope. But as soon as I hit the street, I was ticked.
“Because I knew I’d been had. The massage was good, but the provider did not deserve a 41% tip.”
I’m with Liz.
I have written lots about tipping. I operate under the principle that tipping should be voluntary and should be generous if the service warrants it. I HATE having a “tip” added automatically to my bill because upon doing so, it ceases to be a tip.
This wouldn’t be a problem though if everyone would tip appropriately.
Anyway, interesting article.
Topics: Miscellaneous | 21 Comments »
October 5th, 2009 at 11:43 am
I wouldn’t return to that business. I believe tips are earned and should not be required or automatically added.
October 5th, 2009 at 11:52 am
Wow, makes me never want to get a massage. What the heck is the price listed on a service if you’re required to pay more than that?
As a side note though, I work as a secretary in an educational institution and I help so many different faculty with so many different things that I’ve joked about putting a tip jar out on my desk.
October 5th, 2009 at 11:58 am
I don’t see a problem with informing customers what a “good tip” is in the massage business (people just may not know), but stating that there is a “minimum tip” amount is shady: I’d only tip that minimum amount they had posted.
I don’t know what the normal tip is for taxicabs, so having a placard stating the average tip is xx% would be helpful.
Eurpoean countries are vastly different when it comes to tipping: a normal tip is usually just the change when rounding up to the next euro, but never tip more than 2 euro (at least what I’ve been told).
#1) I agree somewhat, but you should _always_ tip something. If I got bad service at a restaurant, I’d still tip 10% (minimally).
October 5th, 2009 at 12:55 pm
#3, I always do leave a tip. I just wanted to make the point that they should never be required or demanded.
October 5th, 2009 at 1:01 pm
I hate how common it has become. I refuse to believe that there was even a tip jar at Dunkin Donuts prior to 1999!
October 5th, 2009 at 1:49 pm
Why should you ALWAYS tip? Isn’t a tip basically a “bonus”? Now, I understand that waiters/waitresses work for tips, but shouldn’t that mean they should WORK for their tips? If they KNOW they’re getting x amount no matter what, then why should they try harder?
Just my opinion.
October 5th, 2009 at 2:07 pm
#6) no, a tip is not just a bonus: waiters & waitresses are normally paid below federal minimum wage from their employers. The system in the US assumes you are tipping something (5-10% ?) to justify the lower wage.
Also, if the food is bad, don’t take it out on your waiter because they didn’t cook it.
October 5th, 2009 at 5:49 pm
You should watch your state and country. The bit about “waiters & waitresses are normally paid below federal minimum wage from their employers” is only true in very few states. In most states you can’t get away with that sort of thing.
To me a tip is payment for going above and beyond just doing your job. Your employer pays you to do your job, I do not.
Of course I’m used to the UK, where tipping is treated as an insult.
October 5th, 2009 at 5:55 pm
I would have to say that the standard 15% is still a good rate, it goes up as your meal is more expensive. I hate it when they automatically charge you!
October 5th, 2009 at 8:00 pm
Here in Texas, a waiter’s minimum wage is $2.13 an hour.
October 5th, 2009 at 9:23 pm
This continually irks me. According to Webster’s dictionary, gratuity means “something given voluntarily or beyond obligation usually for some service”.
I give a tip everytime, however, there have been plenty of times I’ve considered not tipping because service is so lousy. We live in an age of entitlement…
And as for the argument that waiters/waitresses don’t make much and they rely on tips…well I have to say sorry. You’re barking up the wrong tree. Go complain to your employer. Why in the world is it the customer’s job to pay for the salary of the establishments employees. Let me get this straight, the restaurants make good profit on the food/drinks and they pay their employees crap? And I (the customer) am the bad guy if I tip 15%. Please….
I don’t go to Walmart and tip the cashier to ring up my order. The restaurant is providing a service that we are paying for (the food).
October 5th, 2009 at 10:22 pm
No one’s living off of $2.13 an hour as a waiter or waitress. Please!
“A tip is wage according to the Fair Labor Standard Act (FLSA). You are a tipped employee – that’s for example a waitress or bellboy – if you receive regularly and customarily more than $30 a month in tip. If so, your employer is only required to pay $2.13 an hour in direct wages if that amount plus the tips received equals at least the federal minimum wage of $6.55 per hour. Your employer can only do that if you are informed about the tip credit allowance, if your employer is able to show that you earn at least the minimum wage when direct wage and tip are combined and allows you to retain all tips.”
October 6th, 2009 at 12:40 am
We went to the same place Friday night and tonight for dinner. On Friday the wait was MUCH longer than we were told it would be. I told my wife the server better be excellent to get any tip. Sure enough, the server was excellent and got an appropriate top. For tonights meal the wait was slightly longer than we were told, but the service was not good at all. LONG delays to be greeted, to bring out a luke-warm appetizer, and again to bring out luke-warm food. We let the manager know we weren’t happy with the service. We also tipped appropriately, ZERO.
It’s my understanding the server usually doesn’t keep the whole tip. They share with the busboy and the kitchen staff. I don’t know whose fault it was for poor service, but I didn’t feel anyone had earned one tonight.
October 6th, 2009 at 6:08 am
To Tyler,
I believe you are wrong. I believe in all 50 states, waiters/waitressses are paid below the normal minimum wage. However, maybe I’m wrong?
To Dan,
You absolutely had a “legal right” to not tip. However, I do not think what you did was fair to the hard working waiter/waitress. In my opinion what you did is not even ethical. Did they cause the delay in you being seated? Did they cause the food to be luke-warm? Just my opinion which I’m know you don’t agree with or even care about
October 6th, 2009 at 2:39 pm
I had no idea there was a massage chain!
October 6th, 2009 at 2:44 pm
I thought Dan was clear that he tipped appropriate to the level of service, regardless of how long it took to be seated.
Factors that impacted the tip:
* Took a long time to be greeted: This is the length of time after you sit at the table until the server greats you. When the server chooses to or “gets around to” greeting you is typically completely within their control. In the cases where it is not, it’s usually due to them having too many tables. In that case, my assumption is that they will receive a smaller tip from each table, but will receive the same overall hourly amount.
* Appetizer and food were luke-warm: My assumption would be that the food was hot immediately after being cooked but must have cooled due to the server’s delay in bringing it out. What’s worse is when the server tells you something like, “The kitchen was waiting on some fresh fries” and you can easily tell the fries have been sitting in the bin for 10 minutes or more.
Personally, I’d have probably gone with something like 5%, but in the case of the server outright lying to me about waiting on the food, I didn’t tip at all and let the manager know the reason why.
October 6th, 2009 at 3:03 pm
I read that article, too. I wouldn’t visit that shop again either. They should have the sense (and courtesy) to put a percentage instead of an amount as a suggestion. To me that’s just common decency and manners. A dollar amount is crass.
October 6th, 2009 at 3:03 pm
I don’t like a ‘minimum tip’ at all. If its required then its not really a tip. There should be no entitlement feeling about tips. Franky I don’t like the 10-20% tip system much. Why does bringing me coffee & plate of food worth $20 at a fancy restaurant and only $4 at a cheaper restaurant? I’d much prefer flat rate tip system : e.g. average job = $4, Good job = $8, Bad job = $0, no matter what the meal costs. Yet since we have the system we do, I still tip 15-20% just cuase thats how it works.
Minimum wage laws vary from state to state. Many states have higher minimum wage for wait persons who get tips. If state minimum wage is higher than federal minimum then you get paid the state minimum.
Half a dozen sates require FULL minimum wage for tipped workers including : MT, NV, AK, OR, MN, & CA.
Here’s a breakdown by state:
http://www.paywizard.org/main/Minimumwageandovertime/MinimumWageTIPRecevers
Most states have combined minimum wage including tips so that if you get $0 in tips you still make a $7-8 /hr minimum. But if you get tips then in MOST states you can get as low as $2-3 an hour for the actual wages.
October 6th, 2009 at 8:08 pm
Any place that basically says “you’re cheap unless you give a 40% tip” is going to have trouble keeping customers.
No wonder they’re trying to get people with the $35 specials!
October 7th, 2009 at 1:23 am
To David M: We obviously don’t agree, but I do respect your opinion. That was the first time I had actually not tipped at all, although I’ve been tempted previously. If I’m correct in my understanding that tips are generally shared w/ kitchen staff, hostesses, and busboys, my dining experience is a team effort on their part. I like to think of the server as one cog and my main advocate to make sure I have a good experience.
They likely won’t miss the few dollars from my specific lack of tipping compared to their entire shift, but if they give consistently poor service perhaps they will get consistently low tips. On the other hand, if they usually give good service the opposite will be true.
October 7th, 2009 at 9:53 am
#19) You are describing “tip-pools” where all the waiters share in the tips. In practically every state (California is the exception) staff who do not directly interact with customers are _not_ allowed to share in the “tip-pools” (kitchen staff, managers, dishwashers, etc).
Waiters, waitresses, hostess, bartenders, etc who directly interact with the customers can share in the tip-pool.