Why?

I "only" tip if I've created an unreasonable mess like what was described in a post above.. otherwise, heck no, they are paid to clean my room. If they don't, then I call the manager.. if they do their job even to the minimum specs I'm happy. As for towels etc, I get my own off the cart 99% of the time if I need them.

I see very little reason to ever tip housekeeping

I'm just wondering where do you draw the line on what constitutes a service and what constitutes a person just doing his job. Would you tip the F/A? How about the subway driver? Would you tip the TSA for giving you a pat-down or the police for responding to a call? How about the cashier at Walmart?

There is just this aura of inconsistency amongst this entire tipping business and it would all end if employers paid their employees adequate wages like employers do.

You don't push for a system to change by participating in that system. Avoiding eating out also defeats the effort to change the system. I eat out all the time.

first time I've ever read that... thank you! Not cheating on taxes seems to be a rare trait!

Thanks for the info.

I probably cannot see myself doing it, maybe only in exceptional circumstances.

The tipping thing is becoming less alien to me the longer I live in North America, but it still annoys me sometimes! For example, in Ontario, Canada, waiters etc. get $8.90 minimum wage (as opposed to the $10.25 someone e.g. working in a grocery store gets). In the UK, where I lived and worked as a bar tender, the normal salary will be around $9.14 Canadian aka pretty much the same. In Ontario, I am pretty much expected to leave 13-15% minimum for the waiter. In the UK, there is nothing additional, and yet they provide the same service. I struggle to get my head around it.

However, I do 'as in Rome' and do tip my waiter, provided the service was good. If it was bad I will a) seek out the manager, if I have the time and if they do (e.g. busy Sat night I am not going to sit around for half an hour waiting to speak to a manager) or b) leave no tip. A 'tip' is an acknowledgement of good service still in my mind. The fact it is more formalized here doesn't change that IMO - what I cannot get my head around is, after a meal with terrible service, someone leaving 'only' 10% - a typical dinner for 4 people with drinks easily runs $250 - like hell am I going to give someone $25 for doing a rubbish job! Especially when that server probably has another 9 tables, and a couple of seatings, meaning they are getting $500 a night (assuming everyone 'low balls for bad service' at 10%, let alone those who tip 15-20% just because that is what you do) for being TERRIBLE at their job! Heck, I'd like to get paid that sort of money for doing a terrible job - assuming 5 nights a week, they are making a six figure salary, which is probably a considerable amount more than some of the customer to whom they are giving the bad service! The one caveat, if it was the food that was bad, and the waiter did a good job, I wouldn't withold a tip (but if the food was bad I would demand a manager immediately, and any decent server would bring the manager over immediately, or deal with the issue themselves if they were able).

I appreciate the link.

What other industries can one's income be guessed upon by the IRS simply by using an arbitrary percentage? In this case, the federal gov't is losing money. If they one day wake up to that fact and then increase the percentage to one in which people are then being overtaxed by that same assumption of a percentage, then trial lawyers will get involved saying that people cannot be taxed on an assumption of income when in fact their real income is LESS than the assumption.

Your first sentence says that you don't push for change in a system by participating in that system. Ok. Since you DO want change, why are you then not following your own advice? Why are you participating in that system? Is your joy of eating out more important than upholding your ideal as you stated in your first sentence? Say one thing but do the other?

I am an independent contractor. I pay my taxes in full, on time and have never, not in my life, cheated even so much as a penny.

I also get a good night's sleep every night. No worries about a tax audit, not with full documentation to back up my entire return.

Good question. By experience, living and working in the US, I know where tipping is customary and where it is not. If you are not a US resident and truly do not know where tipping is customary, you are well advised to ask someone when you first come to the US for a visit.

Also, for those FTers visiting the US for the first time (Canada too I would think) might want to read the sticky thread SkiAdcock wrote 3 years ago about tipping guidelines that is located on top of Travelbuzz's threads.

But even within the US, where you tip, and how much you tip varies hugely - I would doubt a US citizen would be 100% 'right' (and by right I mean doing what the vast majority do, i.e. what is customary for that place) all the time.

Now that someone has pointed out that the IRS assume 8%, it does make me wonder why people tip double that, as that is clearly what the IRS assumes to be reasonable.

No, it's because the IRS expects people to be honest, and for those who aren't, they doesn't want to over-estimate your real tip income. Their assumption is that any waiter who makes less than 8% of sales in tips stinks and won't be a waiter for long.

The main reason it sticks around is because any business that tries to avoid it will be at a disadvantage, apart from the handful of adamant non-tippers. They'd have to charge more to make up for paying the waiters directly, and most of their patrons will perceive them as being more expensive, even if the total bill isn't. Same reason a hotel that charges $110 loses to a hotel that charges $100 + $20 "resort fee".

I agree that the tipping culture doesn't make sense, but stiffing the waiter isn't going to change it either.

True, but with 56 years of experience living and working in the US I am right on tipping practices much more often than I am wrong.

No, the IRS sees it as a minimum tip, not a reasonable tip. 15% is the normal tip for decent service in a restaurant, 20% for excellent service.

Also, remember, that in some establishments the tips are pooled and shared by the entire service staff. That is all "behind the scenes"; the customer has no need to know what happens to the tip after leaving. It could be the server actually gets 8%, and the other 7% are shared with the cooks, bus people, food runners, etc.

I agree fully with everyone who finds the system to be confusing. I would LOVE to see things change to a non-tipping culture. However, I live and work in a culture where tips are customary and expected in certain establishments. I tip accordingly, as I respect the dignity of honest work. Stiffing the tip, in situations where is it customary and expected, is not respecting the dignity of honest work. It's asking someone to work for you for free. That's just my opinion, and I'm sticking with it.

If others want to change the system by not tipping service workers, that's their business. Be prepared for lousy service when you return, though, and be prepared for lousy service if word gets out that a certain subset of people (nationality? eg) are known for stiffing the tip. I have known restaurants that actually refuse service to notorious lousy tippers.

And how do you think clean towels got on the cart, conveniently located just outside your room, in the first place? A housekeeper loaded her cart with towels and other supplies to serve "her" rooms, then pushed the fully loaded cart to "her" floor. By taking towels off the cart, you saved her only the last few steps. And then you stiff the tip. Wow, what a mensch. (not)