I can only speak for myself. In a buffet, we leave a small tip for the people who clear the table after you leave and often ask you for beverage refills and other misc. needs.

Like it or not, tipping is customary in our culture. To some degree it is is a bribe. It is a carrot on a stick. I have heard that the term "tip" originally meant To Insure Promptness.

I'm curious to see as to who considers tipping at Starbucks as "cool". I imagine people tipping who like their stuff really custom "No blah blah, add this and that, add half of that etc" This way I see that tip is deserved since you wanted your stuff made almost to "perfection".

But even then I wouldn't tip all the time for service like that.

Who gets tipped vs. who deserves a tip is perplexing. Its expected at bars, starbucks, sit down restaurants, etc., but someone that is working like crazy at McD's somehow doesn't deserve a tip. Watch the opening scene in Reservoir Dogs.

Tip cups do seem annoying but I usually put a little something in.

I dislike the employees that stuff a $10 or $20 bill in their tip jars in order to create a false impression that someone was that generous.

I will leave pennies in these tip jars/boxes/whatever, that's as much tipping as I'll do at a Starbucks.

Starbucks sells its products based on the idea that they can be made your way at no extra charge. In fact, they even had a special website a while back showing something like 32,000 possible different ways you could order beverages.

I am not tipping one penny to someone for doing what he or she is supposedly trained to do.

Tipping at a bakery
 

This past weekend at the local Farmers Market in Bellingham two other older guys and myself were in line to buy a pretzel a $3 item. Each guy put a dollar or more (change) into one of the tip jars at the small counter they were tipping a lady for reaching in to a counter grabbing a pretzel sticking into a bag and handing it to them then ringing up the sale.I was bewildered

People come up with excuses for being cheap all of the time. Here in the USA we tip, it's expected and it's built into the salary structure. Elsewhere, service is either included or added on automatically.

Plain and simple, it's expected, the employee is being paid as though he's being tipped and, if you can afford a cup of coffee, you can afford an extra 50 cents for the barista.

But that comes back to the question someone posed earlier - if you tip at Starbucks, why don't you tip at Burger King? They are both doing the same job, serving you food / drink while you stand and wait for it, and then take it away, or drink/eat at the table in store. I don't see how it can be either included or added on automatically when the Burger King staff make minimum wage.

I tip at Starbucks only if the person who takes my order is unusually friendly or attentive. However, I do tip at my local doughnut store (SC Doughnuts in San Clemente, CA -- the BEST doughnuts!). It's family run, the whole family knows me by name and makes a point of welcoming me when I come in (I'm not the only customer for whom they do this). They know my order and prepare my latte and cinnamon roll without my having to ask, and we'll even do so while they help another customer (not a regular) who came in before me.

Funny you should mention that...(okay, it's from a year ago, but still...)

I don't consider it "cool" or "not cool" to tip. But Starbucks is one of the few exceptions I have made for fast food. I used to go to the same Starbucks across from my former office at least once per day. They always had my order ready, were friendly and generally started off my morning on the right note. At Christmas, I dropped a roll of dollar coins in the tip jar. I never let them see me do it, since I wanted them to think that it could be any of their appreciative customers.

Likewise, while I was unemployed for a year, I used to go to the same Starbucks every day. I ordered one drink but sat for a couple of hours job hunting, reading, etc. It was a peaceful escape and got me out of the house. They also got a roll of coins.

Mike

It's all about culture. We tip at Starbucks because it's expected and we don't tip at BK because it's not.

The thing I don't entirely get about tipping at Starbucks - I give my order to the person at the till, pay. It is only after I leave the till that they start prepping my drink, and I know whether it is made correctly or not (given their 'anyway you want it' ethos, you'd think they would be able to get it right all the time, I am batting about .500 - extra hot / ratio of syrup pumps and no whip seems to flummox some of them nearly all the time) and I am not going to tip someone when they will potentially screw up my order.

So how does a non-American know when to tip?

Starbucks - yes
Burger King - no
Dunkin Donuts?
Peets?
Ben and Jerry's?
Tim Hortons?

It may be 'culture' but if even a native can't tell foreigners what the rule of thumb is, how can they be expected to know?

Here is my deal with tipping .. I tip when someone does something beyond the scope of their job or what is expected of them. The exception would be sit down restaurants where it is mandatory. If someone from Best Buy helps load something in my car and is pleasant/engaging, he might get a five spot. I have tipped the cable guy, electricians, etc.