Originally Posted by
indianwells
It depends how much the meal is for me. If the bill comes to $100 then they will never get more than $15-$20, which is a pretty good tip. If the bill comes to $40, if i've had good service then I may leave $10 which is more than 20% but the waitstaff probably need it more.
If your bill is $100, but it's just for you or one other person, then $15-$20 isn't bad. If the bill is $100 because there are several other people as well, then the $15-$20 is really not that great. Large tables usually require more work than a few smaller tables, and likewise, when servers are given large tables, they'll usually not be given as many other tables at the same time, because the large table will occupy more of their time, thus diminishing their total tips if everyone feels like you do.
Originally Posted by
nkedel
By no means.
I used to; it makes sense as a carryover from paying cash most of the time rather than cards, since you'll almost always leave the small chance (if the waiter even brings it back - and indeed, it's fairly normal not to take it in some of the "non tipping cultures" I've visited where a large tip WOULD elicit surprise) and out of habit I used to do it regularly with cards as well.
I still do occasionally, when I hit someplace where the bill is small enough tip amount is going to be much different if I don't use a whole dollar amount.
I always round up to the next dollar.