Originally Posted by thegeneral (Post 14274597)

No, it's really not that complex. Seriously, you don't have to tip everyone you walk by on the street. I've spent this week at home and I've tipped all of 1 person. That was for lunch today. Restaurants, hotels and taxis. That's the only rules you need to know.

The tipping really isn't expensive. In other countries, it is just reflected in the price of the item. Think of it this way. You have an immediate way to show someone your displeasure and can hold someone immediately accountable for their job performance.

Originally Posted by thegeneral (Post 14274597)

No, it's really not that complex. Seriously, you don't have to tip everyone you walk by on the street. I've spent this week at home and I've tipped all of 1 person. That was for lunch today. Restaurants, hotels and taxis. That's the only rules you need to know.

The tipping really isn't expensive. In other countries, it is just reflected in the price of the item. Think of it this way. You have an immediate way to show someone your displeasure and can hold someone immediately accountable for their job performance.

By the way, you're not English by any chance are you?

Originally Posted by MariaSF (Post 14275133)

How about take-out? How much to tip?
I never thought it deserved the usual 15%, since I haven't been "served" at all.
No tip or a lower % ?

Originally Posted by nkedel (Post 14277188)

I've already covered my theory about that above, but to restate:
- mainly take-out place, no tip or small change in the jar at the counter
- primarily sit-down place that I'd normally tip at, 10%-15% (barring any screwups or special requests)

Originally Posted by ClimbGuy (Post 14277310)

10% is really low for a full service place

Originally Posted by nkedel (Post 14277922)

This was talking specifically about takeout. I don't think it's unreasonable to bump your tipping percentage down by a notch for that - I normally tip 17-20% (often using the "twice the tax" shortcut) for sitdown, and have no compunction about 12-15% (often "half again the sales tax") on takeaway. For folks who normally stick to 15%, I'd say bumping down to 10% is fine.

Tou should tip something on since the person responsible for packaging your foods is either doing that today rather than doing tables, or is taking time away from tables/bar/host stand to do it. But it also represents a lot less time than a typical table (no multiple courses, no drink refills, etc, and you've got a lot less recourse if they get something wrong and you forget to check before leaving.)

Originally Posted by NotDuncan (Post 14274441)

Of course, there is no requirement to tip anyone, anywhere, but let me add one caveat here. I was the 19 year old valet parking your car, back in college. Some of the guys I worked with could be very vindictive toward guests who became known as bad tippers, ie., squealing tires/jamming gears once in the garage, stealing loose change, etc. If you happened to have a dime bag in the console, you could forget about getting high that night, it would be stolen. Who's gonna go to the manager and complain that their pot is missing from their car?

You're handing over a probably pretty valuable asset to a kid busting his butt to get by. Chances are, too, it will be a different person who brings your car back as the one who parks it. A couple bucks at least, in both directions, is pretty cheap insurance to keep your car from getting trashed. I'm not excusing this behavior, just saying it's reality.

Originally Posted by nkedel (Post 14277188)

I've already covered my theory about that above, but to restate:
- mainly take-out place, no tip or small change in the jar at the counter
- primarily sit-down place that I'd normally tip at, 10%-15% (barring any screwups or special requests)

Originally Posted by meester69 (Post 14279477)

Why are you tipping for take-out? You haven't had the table, they haven't had to wash any dishes, spend an hour or more serving you, nothing.

Originally Posted by nkedel (Post 14281484)

At a non-full-service restaurant or one very heavily oriented to takeout (ie a pizzeria, even if they have a full-service dining area), you needn't.

At a full-service restaurant not oriented to takeout, I've already said why (IMO) you should tip something - because the person who takes your order and packs up your food is being taken away from their regular (often tipped) duties to do so, or is given that assignment in part in expectation of the tips (as in the case of the proliferation of "curbside take-out" at chain places.) The fact that it's quicker, and in some cases, a higher colume transaction, is a good reason to tip less, but not a good reason to not tip at all.

Originally Posted by meester69 (Post 14281693)

Here in the Uk they'd look at you like you were insane if you tipped for take-out.

The deal in the UK is generally:

eat-in - tip or service charge is usually expected
take-out - no tip, sometimes a 10% discount is given from usual prices to make up for the lack of service
delivery - tip to the delivery boy is optional, I believe less than half of people tip, and this varies by area

From what I've seen, take-out in a full-service restaurant involves the server only to the extent that he has to bring the food from the kitchen (where it has been put in containers) to the customer and take payment. Not an arduous task, and maybe they are being paid $1.50/hour plus tips, but really what is the appropriate charge for bring something from the kitchen to the waiting patron? Certainly not a percentage of the bill, a couple of dollars maybe.

Originally Posted by PTravel (Post 14281739)

Once again, the issue isn't what is the norm in the UK, but what is the norm in the U.S. As nkdel explained, under specific circumstances it's around 10%.

Originally Posted by meester69 (Post 14281693)

delivery - tip to the delivery boy is optional, I believe less than half of people tip, and this varies by area

Originally Posted by PTravel (Post 14281739)

Once again, the issue isn't what is the norm in the UK, but what is the norm in the U.S. As nkdel explained, under specific circumstances it's around 10%.

Originally Posted by meester69 (Post 14282170)

I was discussing the US situation as I made plain by use of the $ symbol, rather than the £.

Anyway, some quick googling suggests that this is by no means the rule for most people.

Originally Posted by nkedel (Post 14282226)

Here in the US it's conventional to tip food delivery - except when there's a delivery charge, at which point it becomes somewhat controversial whether to tip, not tip, or only to tip to the amount where it would exceed the delivery charge (I tend to fall into the last category.)