Safeway employees are not allowed to accept tips. Thats why there is no jar.

At my Safeway *bucks, there is usually some sort of charity jar for those who really don't want their change.

There's a lot of bones of contention here about tipping in the dining and restaurant industry (and also including bars, etc.)

When I next go to the US, I would find it hard not to tip mechanically, because there always seems to be a "convention" and the rules shift from demographic to demographic, from area to area and year to year. For example, how much should you offer as a tip for an average (read: everything was in order but nothing spectacular) service meal? Are there cases for no tip? What's a good amount to give for exceptional service? What happens (or what would the restaurant and/or its staff be "entitled" to do to you) if you undertip, whether you left 0% or 35% of the total bill? Do you tip every time you get served or do you only tip at the end? Even in this thread and so many other tipping threads (yes, we all know how many there are!), no one can come to an agreement.

My main problems (problems = I don't know how to deal with it, not that I have an issue with it...or at least yet) is for other service people in other industries (and seeing this is in DiningBuzz! I might just be going a bit O/T here). For example, hotel porters, valet, skycaps, check-in agents (e.g. airport counter, hotel counter), housekeeping, concierge, taxi/limo drivers, etc.. A good example would be if I arrived at a hotel and a porter took my bag when I really wanted to carry it by myself. OK first impression is that I am a cheapskate (so shoot me) - trying to carry my own bag to save on paying the porter - but it would seem you would just have to tip the porter even though the service was not wanted? Do you need to leave a per diem or something in your room everyday for housekeeping, and if so how much (e.g. as a % of how much you paid for the room? What about award stays - tips can't be given in points!).

What do people who "expect" a tip do when they are supposed to get a tip but the customer forgets or doesn't proffer one? That awkward silence between the two parties and perhaps only when the worker rubs their fingertips together that perhaps something gets done. Is it wrong to ask a worker how much they should (or they normally receive) as a tip and give that amount to them? If you really want to reward a particular person, what should you do if you don't know (or if you do know) if the place collects all tips and divides them equally amongst all the service staff? Here's one: how do you leave a tip if the food is exquisite but the service is very, very ordinary - so you would like to tip the chef (if you could) but not overly tip the waiter?

I love some of the stories I hear sometimes of celebrities dining at places and apparently leaving an "insufficient" tip. Like the staff were expecting at least double of what the common person being served would tip. Seems rather crass (but a good excuse for a news article for a budding journalist!)

In Australia, there is no tipping culture. Unless you so desire it, you may leave a tip, and I like to do it myself when the service is much better than average. Prices in Australia have a blanket 10% goods and services tax which must be included in printed prices by law. So I am used to reading the price of items on a menu and understanding that they include what I pay for the venue, the time I spend in it, the service and the quality of the food. And if there is a disconnect with that, I would see to it that the manager is informed and perhaps there be some resolution.

A great example of this (although not in Australia but similar culture) is when I dined at Harvey Nichols fifth floor restaurant in London. The prices of the food - even the market menu - were by no means cheap, but I was very impressed by the attentiveness of the service and the quality of the food was immaculate. Well worth every penny and quid I spent that afternoon.


Does someone have a printable guide like the "one stop shop" guide to tipping in the US? Does this section from Wikitravel seem accurate enough?

Yet another thread on tipping. Sigh. :rolleyes:
I hate threads on tipping. How can we end it? :)

I disagree with ending threads on tipping in general, as that apparently is a topic about which FlyerTalk members have questions and comments, but if there are indeed numerous threads with similar topics pertaining to tipping, their numbers can most certainly be reduced by having them merged together upon request by the moderators of the particular forum in which they reside.

My post was a tongue-in-cheek play on the OP's original comment. Notice the smiley at the end of the post. It was not intended as a comment on moderation, just intended as a resource for anyone who wanted to review some of the older threads on the same subject. I can understand the interest in revisiting topics and/or updating them. It was also a gentle hint to use the search feature which is how I found the 20+ threads on tipping that had been started over the years. :)

I knew that and actually agree with you on that.

What you posted actually prevented me from starting two additional threads regarding tipping.

However, in all seriousness, it is amazing how contentious an issue tipping is amongst FlyerTalk members, especially when it comes to dining around the world...

Indeed! I never even knew it was an issue until I started following DiningBuzz!. And some coworkers I was talking about it with didn't, either. They didn't even know many other countries don't have a tipping culture!

Of course, the same coworkers thought it was ridiculous when I told them what tipping is expected to be in New York...

If I see another thread on tipping I'll seriously consider ending it all.....

I don't mind tipping having worked half my life in the service industry.

However spending the past year in Australia and France... I can't say that I miss tipping... although the service is visibly different, much lower enthusiasm as people have no expectation of reward for better peformance.

One of our Christmas Eve traditions is to eat out with the family after an early church service and overtip (unless the service is horrible). Fortunately, the server last night was exceptional and truly earned the 30% I left.

If you want to stop tipping... head to the source of their headaches. The INCOME TAX man who refuse to properly monitor, invoice, and collect tax revenue deserved.

Just as Swiss tax evaders were brought down recently... the credit card companies could be interpreted to be assisting tax evasion, and forced to report tip income. Employers could be forced to withold charged tips, dispursing them on paychecks that withold tax.

Nothing changes things more than public outcry. You need a valid position to stand behind. In Canada, everyone hates tax evaders, but let the waiters slip by with their unreportted income, where they silently become millionaires.

I ended 20 years as a waiter a few years back. During that time, the amount of money I made was sickening. My employer paid me $14/hour (plus, medical, dental, life insurance, etc). I made appx $40,000/year CASH... no fewer than 100 days per year $300 and up; no fewer than $60/day for the rest of the year.

You don't need to tip. You don't need to stop tipping. But the misconception that it's just a few dollars here and there has to stop. I have no problem with a good waiter making $80,000-200,000 per year... but call a spade a spade... and level the playing feild.

WOW.

So much that is not true.

WOW.

The French government had to start programs to try to teach the service industry basic things like not being rude to people. Those that grumble about tipping should choose to not go to restaurants. The Subways and Wendy's of the world will gladly take their money. That will leave the rest of us to the good service that we get in the United States and other tipping countries. You do pay this in non-tipping countries. Compare the average wage of wait staff in somewhere like America to Australia. In Australia, it's basically included in what you pay, but you have no option to reduce that if they do a good job.

I'll take the same cost with an option to reduce it if I'm not happy, thanks. Perhaps others are too short sighted to see this, but happily they represent a very small, cheap, portion of society.

It's not so much the tipping I have a problem with it is the not earning the tip. I enjoy tipping great service that went beyond what the individual is forced to do, but when they expect it for doing their job then that is not cool and something has to be done about that. The best depiction of tipping is in the show 3rd Rock From the Sun, when john Lithgow puts a stack of money on the table and say this is your tip if you do something I don't like I will take money off and if you do something I do like I might add money. People should start doing that.

My point is that serving food is a simple task that it is really difficult to "screw" up. And most of the time when it is screwed up, it is not the fault of the waiter but of cook or other people. Sure there are a few times when orders are messed up, in those cases, just talk to the manager.

A simple event like eating out should not be made into rocket science.