Tips are definitely getting out of hand. We used a shuttle bus at a county fair a couple of weeks ago. The drivers had decorated coffee can tip jars attached to the dashboard with the message, "Tips are never required but always appreciated!" This was for a 5 minute ride on a school bus.

I always felt uncomfortable about taking anything from the "leave a penny, take a penny" tray in many stores. After all, I never leave any!

Well, one day at a Subway Restaurant, I was one or two cents short, so, instead of breaking a $20 bill, I helped myself from the "leave a penny, take a penny tray."

Boy, was I mistaken. "That's our tip jar!" the cashier said. Needless to say, I stay away from such 'trays' now.

You mean, you take their tip money on purpose? I swear I did it by accident!

Exactly. It hasn't happened to me very often, but I find it really annoying. I usually complain and state that it's MY decision how much to tip and not the waiter's or the establishment's.
BTW I've noticed that this tends to happen more often in places which are frequented by a lot of tourists. Seems that quite a lot of non-US tourists don't know how to tip appropriately.


If a restaurant regularly adds a tip, it should be mentioned on the menu, just like many places do for bigger parties (e.g. for 8 or more).
However I strongly prefer the US-style voluntary tipping to the all-included approach which is common in Europe. I'm not a penny-pincher when it comes to tipping, IF I receive good or excellent service; but if I get crappy service I like to have the option to reduce the tip accordingly. Voluntary tipping is an incentive for the waiter/waitress to provide better service IMHO.


Same here, but once in a while they come in handy when my wallet is overflowing with pennies.

andy

My feeling is that the non-US tourists understand exactly how to tip appropriately. It's the US-tourists who have lost their bearings.

Tipping is for extraordinary service. No tipping is required for standard service. The rest of the world understands this perfectly.

The strange US exception for waiters and bartenders (where, owing to a sub-minimum wage exception, they receive commonly a 15% "tip") has morphed in the minds of some US tourists into a de facto rule for other services. Only with truly extraordinary, above-and-beyond service should the traveler consider a gratuity.

However, when the rest of the world visits the United States, US establishments do not understand this. When I visited the US for the first time and failed to add the 15% "mandatory tip" to bills for satisfactory service, I was on the receiving end of some surprising comments.

My favorite is the so-called "tipping guide" that some places have taken to printing at the bottom of your tab. You know the ones....at the bottom of your bill or credit card receipt is a little note letting you know what 15% of your bill is, and 20% and so on....

While this seems to go hand-in-hand with the restaurants that have a little card on the table (real classy joints!) regarding tipping for our foreign tourist friends (who are, as mentioned earlier in this thread, not used to our tipping culture), the things that REALLY bother me about these tipping guides are:

a) Most people are not idiots and can do the math themselves (I know...there are exceptions)

b) The calculations seem to start at 15% and go up only. I guess if you got crappy service you have to figure out your substandard tip yourself!

and my absolute favorite (drumrole please...)

c) They always seem to figure the amount based on the total tab AFTER taxes, which they know is NOT the custom. In places like NYC this can make a big difference.

My coffee at Starbucks is in the $5.00 range. I think that is real expensive for a cup of Joe, albeit a Fru Fru loaded cup of Joe. I agree with the posters that state that tips are generally for people making less than minimum wage. I think tip jars are a level higher than the people begging for work or food (but really want cash) on street corners.

That's why they are often called Fivebucks

The basic McDonald's order also seems to be about 5-bucks, but I don't see any tip jars there.

Earlier in this thread someone posted a link to a website with minimum wages for tipped employees by state. In California it is $6.75 per hour whether you are tipped or not. In some states it was as low as $2.35 and hour if you receive tips and about $5.25 in non-tipped jobs. Good grief!

What gives with that two-tiered thing? Apparently one should take your location into consideration before tipping? Yes, there is a cost-of-living differential, but does this make any sense? I see an real profit in the 50-States Tipping Guide (tm)which I might print and sell on the web for our European visitors who are already confused and appalled by our "system"

Stay tuned.

The employers need to pay their help. Only in the US has the public been duped into allowing sub-minimum wages and passing the burden of paying the employess to the general public. I don't understand why is is allowed to continue.

Couldn't agree more! ^ ^

From Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary:
Main Entry: tip, Function: noun: a gift or a sum of money tendered for a service performed or anticipated: see GRATUITY

Main Entry: gra�tu�ity, Function: noun: something given voluntarily or beyond obligation usually for some service

Otherwise it's called wages/salary/rip-off!

As a confused foreigner myself, may I ask a question? I understand that tipping in not in your culture a way to reward great service, but a way to provide a decent wage for the waiters.

However, what's the rationale linking the pay of the waiter with the bill the client have to pay? I mean, the amount of time spent by a waiter to serve a three course meal composed of cheap courses and a three course meal featuring caviar, lobsters and truffle is exactly the same. The time spent to poor a crappy wine in my glass, or a Petrus 1947 is exactly the same. Why ordering expensive food and wines should result in giving a better pay to the waiter? I am in no way limiting his ability to wait at other tables by ordering an extravagant meal, so it's really a bonus.

Well, as a response: the customer is supposed to receive a higher caliber of service in a fine (read, expensive) restaurant, hence the justification for 15% on the higher tab.

In terms of wine, you are not expected to tip 15% on expensive (>$100) wine. You should instead substitute a flat surcharge on bottles of wine. (I use $5 as a guide).

Actually the alternate definition that applies in this case:

Government mimimun wage laws and government tax reporting regulations all confirm that tipping a waiter is the basis of most of his compensation. Failing to tip a waiter (or other tipped position) is literally expecting the worker to serve you for free. IRS regulation impute tipped income to the waiter. The waiter may be literally paying (through taxes) to serve you.

We can certainly debate if the present system is fair or is the best way to handle it. There is no debating that the tip IS the wages/salary for the waiter.

I travel a lot for the last few years (last year 220+ nights in hotel) and tend to tip:
* waiters
* bellboy if they carry my bags (but I do not use bellboy for only carry-on)
* maid (on average about $1 a night but sometimes $5 on a 4 night stay)
* hairdressers
* taxi - I tend to round it up but usually get reimbursed for it
For hotel conceirge and front desk staff, I tend to do Belgium chocolates at Xmas or when I leave if they had been good to me.

I am now in a place where tipping is not expected normally but still tips occassionally when the service has been very good even though it is not the norm.

But I resent being required to tip and those people who still expect a 15+% tip even when the service has been lousy. I had a friend in the UK that actually called the manager at a restaurant in London to the table and got him to remove the service charge from the bill since the service has been terrible.

Just my 2 cents