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Question about tipping at restaurants.....


The Poojer

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Normally, If I am drinking during a meal, I will tip 20-25% on total food bill, and then $1 per alcoholic beverage I have. If I am just at a bar drinking, it usually depends on the cost, but never less than $1 per drink.

 

As far as picking up food goes, I usually always tip them. My wife works at Carrabba's, and the people working the pickup window still get paid 2.83 per hour, with no tip-share from anyone, and they rely on tips. Most of them barely make enough to warrant being there. So, I always tip those people.

 

I try not to short-change wait staff too much, since my wife is a waitress, I know what they go through. Unless the service is REALLY bad, they usually get at least 20% from me. I never short a waiter/waitress on the quality of food, because that really has nothing to do with them if our order was taken correctly, and she does an otherwise good job.

 

I hate hearing the stories from my wife about people that come in and have 70-100 dollar bills at the end of their meal, and leave 5.00 for a tip. The place my wife works at makes you tip out to the Bartenders - Hostesses - Busboys, 1% for each, which is based on the amount of the bill, not the tip. So, on a 100.00 bill, she is tipping out 3 dollars to the staff, and if she is left a 5.00 tip, that means she gets 2.00 on 100. Pretty crappy.

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Well in the US most bartenders (even the ones I have met from LA and NY don't come close to that 600 to 800 range. Hell, only the high class strippers average that (Memphis used to have a nation wide renowned strip club and I knew quite a few of the dancers). Not all the strippers, just the high class one. My point being you are grossly distorting what the average person makes, when the discussion is about what an average tip should be.

 

Well the average for a city with a booming nightlife is a lot higher. I guess these would be considered outliers as the bartenders/strippers/waiters I know drive Land Rovers while I drive a Civic. I have a bachelors degree in finance, they have a masters degree in silicone.

 

Also, regarding the minimum wage, it is approximately 7-8 CAD which at a full time level equals about 10K less than the average salary so they're not starving to death.

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For installers. I've personally done tv/pc home work. And usually, I got tipped and tipped well. I think that is more of because people are so happy for finally getting their stuff working. Imagine your computer being down for a week and someone shows up and magically fixes it. I think that's why the wallet opens up. It happened so much, that I was surprised when I didn't atleast get a 50 spot. But, usually those guys get paid well, so it's really not necessary.

 

This woman called and told me her email was all gone and she needed my help bringing it back. She tried explaining the situation on the phone, but wasn't making a lot of sense. I drove to her house (about 10 minutes away), and she showed me the computer and email client. After a couple of minutes I realized that she had simply dragged one of the dividers to the side, so her email was all "hidden." I dragged it back so she could see it and explained what to look for next time.

 

She was so excited, and then asked me how much she owed. Since I didn't really *do* much of anything, I told her $10. She got pissed off at me, stormed into the living room where her husband was, and said, "He saved all of our email and is only asking for $10! That's far too low!!! Write him a check for $50!" <_<

 

(that's why I'm a crappy business person - I undervalue the work/benefit I provide... I still feel guilty about taking $50 from them for that job!).

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This woman called and told me her email was all gone and she needed my help bringing it back. She tried explaining the situation on the phone, but wasn't making a lot of sense. I drove to her house (about 10 minutes away), and she showed me the computer and email client. After a couple of minutes I realized that she had simply dragged one of the dividers to the side, so her email was all "hidden." I dragged it back so she could see it and explained what to look for next time.

 

She was so excited, and then asked me how much she owed. Since I didn't really *do* much of anything, I told her $10. She got pissed off at me, stormed into the living room where her husband was, and said, "He saved all of our email and is only asking for $10! That's far too low!!! Write him a check for $50!" :unsure:

 

(that's why I'm a crappy business person - I undervalue the work/benefit I provide... I still feel guilty about taking $50 from them for that job!).

 

Consider that God did this for you, in compensation for your dealings with Dell and your SSD debacle... <_<

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Well the average for a city with a booming nightlife is a lot higher. I guess these would be considered outliers as the bartenders/strippers/waiters I know drive Land Rovers while I drive a Civic. I have a bachelors degree in finance, they have a masters degree in silicone.

 

Strippers make big bucks, but they have short careers. They're kinda like running backs.

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Strippers make big bucks, but they have short careers. They're kinda like running backs.

 

True but just like NFL players braching out (i.e. getting a job in broadcasting), strippers are branching out too, (either becoming hookers or marrying a really wealthy actor, celeb or insert occupation).

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Delivery Drivers. Does anyone know if they get the "Delivery Fee" money the company charges. I know that most of the pizza places charge around $2 now. If the driver gets that, then I would incorporate that into the tip. But again, I don't know.

 

I worked in a pizza place for a good amount of time and at our place we had $2, $4, and $6 delivery charges depending on the distance that the driver was traveling but we would usually alert the customer on the phone if the charge was $4 or $6. The driver would make either $1.50, $3, or $4.50 on the respective delivery charges. For a regular delivery, I think a $3-$5 is usually what they made.

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If you go into a breakfast place and you spend $5.50 on a bowl of oatmeal and 6 cups of free coffee do you only leave a 15% (.83 cents) tip?

 

I would just leave a 10. If you had 6 cups of coffee you were there a while taking up a spot, so the extra is justified.

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No, if my bill is under $10, that's an automatic $2 tip from me.

Yep. 20% after that.

Around here a lot of restaurants are BYOB - which makes dining out more economical. I always gross up the tip when I BMOB.

Haircuts are $16 where I go. I always give 'em a $20. My barbers are two brothers that run a small shop they took over from their dad.

Wifey gives a $20 or so to her hair dresser on top of the $35 or whatever the doo costs.

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Look what showed up on Yahoo today...

 

When to Tip? And How Much?

 

Since I prefer my bags arrive at my destination the same time I arrive, I usually tip a skycap far more than $1 per bag.

 

A couple of the others seemed a little chintzy, too. This seems like a bare minimum guide for Cincy.

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