Do you tip? Do you tip in any and all situations where you might be expected to? Do you tip in advance or upon completion of the service. etc.
I always tip, except when they do an extremely bad job.
I find the whole expectation of tipping every time you are served when seated quite laughable. The man who stands behind the Subway counter making sandwiches all day is not included in this culture?
I only tip when the service rendered upon me exceeds my expectations.
I tip when the service is good.
If it is terrible, I don’t tip.
I tip at places that depend on tips. For instance, waitresses get less than minimum wage at some places because the place of business includes tips into the final paycheck. So the waitresses/waiters depend on tips to even get enough money above minimum wage. It’s a legal instituted law that doesn’t have to follow minimum wage laws. (and this post isn’t about the good and bad of minimum wage it more about getting 2.00 an hour versus 10.00 or more in this society. Nobody can live on 2.00 an hour in this society.)
In Spain, restaurant owners prefer their customers not to tip as they want to avoid competition between waiters. I find this ironic. But, it’s not much different in the U.S., where many restaurants spread tips evenly amongst all waiters.
I always tip. In college I would tip bartendresses between 100-200%. Yes it would be very expensive at the start, but would eventually end up saving a lot of money in the long run.
I tip when I am expected to tip. I’m a Swede, and I lived in the USA for a year. In the USA people even tip their haircutters, like, wtf. I didn’t know that though, so I didn’t tip my haircutter… Anyway, I tipped everywhere I was expected to. In Sweden you only tip waiters/waitresses, and you only have to give them 10% of the order in tips, in the USA, you were expected to tip ATLEAST 15%. Madness!
Anyway, I dislike tips, it feels too much like charity to me. I think it’s a bad business model. The manager can easily keep track of what the staff is doing, and the customer can always complain when there’s horrible service. Any raises in salary/bonuses could be handled by the manager. Some libertarians in Sweden insist that tips are very capitalistic since they get the staff to compete amongst each other. I would say that it’s just a business model, a form of paying staff, and as long as it is voluntary, it is capitalistic.
I always tip. In college I would tip bartendresses between 100-200%. Yes it would be very expensive at the start, but would eventually end up saving a lot of money in the long run.
Are you barking mad? Tell me more about this seemingly insane behaviour of yours.
I always give my barber 2 or 3 dollars and at restaurants I usually give 20%.
if you are known as a very generous tipper, at least at the bars I would frequent, you would get charged for less and less of what you actually drank. By the time I was a senior, I was probably ordering 40-50 dollars worth of alcohol (sometimes more), being charged for 5 and tipping 20-25.
Eh depends. Usually I do, sometimes I don’t. Depends on how I’m feeling and what the service was like, etc.
There is no situation in which it might be expected (I’m not American; everywhere else, people are paid by their employers…)
wilderness has it right. It’s wise to tip people who depend on tips. If you don’t tip well when you get good service, you might get an unexpected surprise.
In Europe, I’ve heard tipping is frowned upon in many instances, because restaurant workers organized and demanded to be paid in regular wages instead of tips. The thinking seems to be that if other professions receive regular pay regardless of whether every customer leaves satisfied, they are entitled to the same treatment. Not tipping at a place that expects tips as part of wages is a bit like not paying full price for your groceries in the market because you didn’t like the cashier, isn’t it? This attitude seemed to be even more so when I visited Korea, I got the impression that tips were regarded as borderline ‘pity money’ or slightly insulting, but you might want to confirm that with a native.
Supposedly in France, for example, the treatment of wait staff used to be poor; you may have heard the stereotype of a French waiter (usually grown men) being called “garcon,” which translates as boy. Imagine coming to that everyday at work.
I’ve never had any really bad service in Europe, but felt the wait staff had less of a servile attitude than I’'m used to stateside (I assume because they earn wages instead of tips).
At the same time, I’ve worked as a bartender and waiter in the U.S., and some individuals, out of generosity or to show their wealth, like to tip generously when they can - I think I would have earned less if I had regular wages. There’s certainly worse work than food service, but it’s often demanding.
When I was bar tending, the minimum expected tip was $1 per drink, F.Y.I. Not sure if that’s still par…
Also, I think there’s a saying along the lines of “be nice to the people who handle your food.” Makes sense!
I hate the concept of tipping. Especially since I do not know how tips are allocated. I wouldn’t mind my tip being split with my waiter and the cook for my meal. But just the concept of my tip going to another waiter I have no contact with is appalling. That’s why I have started tipping not using $$. At this one bar and grill. I had a zoo ticket I did not plan on using. So I left that. Had a B&N card with a good balance on it that I left.
In circumstance when I don’t have items like those, I tip between 10%-15% usually. 20% on rare occasions. about 50% I give to my hair stylist.
All in all, I look at it this way. People who tip bad still contribute to the success of the business. So I do not see the mindset of people who say to not eat out if you can’t afford to tip well.
I tip musicians and even artists sometimes. People always harp about how they “support the arts” but when it’s time to cough up the dough to support these people, they go back to saying the government should do it. Pfft.
As for tipping at bars and restaurants… almost never. $18 for a plate and $6 for a drink? Shouldn’t I be thanked for buying these things at such insane markups? I hardly go to those places anyways.
I’ve been the buyer in those situations, and the person giving the service. I didn’t blame people for not tipping me. The prices were really high to begin with, and how were they supposed to know how little I got paid? I was a dumb kid at the time with a jerk of a boss. …But now I’m on to greener pastures. 
Back here people always tip at bars and restaurants (10-15%). But than again, prices here are much , much lower that the gold you pay for the sh*t they serve in the new world, so a small tip is actually a pleasure.
Because I once had a job where I depended on tips, I can appreciate the difference between being tipped just 2 or 3 dollars, and not receiving anything.
To be honest, people who dont tip, especially when the employee depends on tips, strike me as extraordinarily cheap.
You can afford to order $60 worth of pizza, but cant afford to tip $3? Come on.
I always leave a 6 dollar tip. It’s my set standard.
Couple weeks ago I had a coupon for a free ice cream at Cold Stone, and I put 2 dollars in the tip jar and confused the girl who was making it.