Something I've always wanted to know
 

... about tipping.

Having not yet travelled to the States, but having seen a lot of American tv and films, I was wondering what the background behind it is?

Is it expected? Is there a set percentage? Are you considered rude if you don't? Is it done everywhere and for all services?

What is the reasoning behind it? i.e. if a waitress doesn't get tips can she not live on her pay comfortably?

I understand its a part of American culture, is it the same in Canada too ( or parts of)?

Down here, tipping only really happens in restaurants when the service is exceptional, or more commonly the vendor/ etc is told to 'keep the change'.

tia :)

15% will get you by with no hard feelings, but a 'good' tipper would pay at least 20%.

Most people that work for tips make virtually nothing for the shift from an hourly/salary standpoint, and these folks absolutely rely on tips to make a living. Just like Mr. White explains so thoughtfully in the movie Reservoir dogs.

That film is also useful if you have an interest in the meaning of the song "Like a Virgin" by Madonna. ;)

Check out this website. It might help a bit.

Dave SmileWavy

heh, its a good movie. havent seen it in years though. I had it on dvd but it got stolen. Will have to rent it again as I cant remember anything but the scene where the dude dances around and drenchs the cop in petrol.

In my area of the country - Farminton Valley, Connecticut - if waitstaff at a decent restaurant doesn't get at least 18%, they are disappointed. This might seem overkill, but keep in mind that most waitstaff earn under minimum wage per hour, so most of their income comes from tips.

m21sniper got it. I usually go 20%. 15% if I was not impressed.

I was just in Australia, and had to get used to the concept of either not tipping, or just rounding up.

Folks working as wait staff in the this country make next to nothing, and totally rely on tips. Its not a luxury of some kind.

that was an excellant read! I like the history of the '$', '2 bits', etc. Awesome :)

Aussie and New Zealand are pretty much the same culturally so I can relate to what people are saying.

its definitely a treat to be tipped down here. Im guessing if you did tip the reaction would have been mixed modesty- sincere gratitude. Ive seen people refuse both tips or keeping change out of modesty.

whoa! just did a currency conversion on some of the wages quoted in that link. i will definitely remember to tip if i go to the US!

I thought it was a more or less universal habit. Sure is in Europe anyway.

I don't know about in the US, but it is a little bit different around here....
Normally I'll tip 10-15%, of course you only tip at full service resteraunts (i.e. not at subway), if I have received mediocre service I will tip 5-10%, and bad service usually gets 2 cents.
Looking around at what other people tip, I am on the generous side.
A general rule I follow is to round up to the next round number above 10%, normally this results in 12-15%, another easy rule is to double the GST.
Waiters/waitresses are paid at least minimum wage plus tips, so you aren't going to put them below the poverty line by not tipping, tipping is a bonus.
Lots of my friends work at local resteraunts and bars, and they make more money in 3-4 hours of work a night then I make at my 8-10 hour per day job.

if you play golf be sure to tip the caddy 50-100% of the flat rate...anything less than that and I walk away really dissatisfied, because I know i did a good job

I was wondering what the background behind it is?

Supposedly TIPS = To Insure Proper Service.
But who knows if that acronym is really at the root.
If it were, then one would TIP prior to the Service,
in order to insure it...
but that is not normally the case.

Is it expected?

Pretty Much, except in certain areas of the South, such as Tennessee or Alabama where people save money for beer and cigarettes.

Is there a set percentage?

10% for haircuts and cabs. 15% for meals, bellmen or anyone else. I typically tip 20-25% on everything.

Are you considered rude if you don't? Is it done everywhere and for all services?

Yeah its pretty rude to not TIP, if the service was proper.
One would only "stiff" someone if they are cheap, or if the
service was really, really, exceptionally poor.

What is the reasoning behind it? i.e. if a waitress doesn't get tips can she not live on her pay comfortably?

Yes, very true... the wage for food servers is typically about 1/3rd the National Minimum wage...Restaurants legally get away with this because Servers are considered "Tipped Employees".... by the IRS...therefore, its not only polite, its unfortunately pretty much standard and necessary for people to earn a living in the food service industry.

I understand its a part of American culture, is it the same in Canada too ( or parts of)?

I think so, except for the tendency to say "Thanks Eh" when handing out the tip.

I was a bartender for about 7 years in my late teens and early 20s. Without TIPS, I would have never have been able to pay for school and support myself. Coming from a relatively poor family, it was needed to survive and to educate myself... so Im grateful for all of the TIPS that I received back then, and in turn...I typically TIP very well...especially if she is hot. jk.

Money stagnates when you don't circulate it... and what you give out usually comes back to you in return in some form or another.

10% for haircuts...Oh no. I've been overtipping for years!!!

A couple of years ago when business was really good, once a month, I would take the entire company out to the local ale house for Beers, Wings, and other food on a Friday afternoon to start the weekend.

The first thing I would do is pull out waitress aside and hand her $40 and tell her to make sure the crew has fun, don't let the beer putchers go empty.

It works like a charm and we get A+ service, Beer is always there and food comes out fast.

I usually tip her another 20 at the end this will end up being a 30%-40% tip.

Si, yeah, I have used tipping to insure good service by throwing the tip ahead of the service.

TIP = To Insure Promptness

My little sister waits tables at a Greek Restaurant in Chicago. She is paid less than minimum wage as her base. She makes $50-$70k a year.

Here in Ontario, if I'm not mistaken, there's a separate minimum wage for waiters/waitresses, knowing they make extra on tips. Tipping here would be the same as in the states: expected, esp. at restaurants, taxis, haircuts, but not at fast food, take out, etc. Most people here usually calculate 15% and leave that. I usually tip based on service, anywhere up to 30%, and I have no problem leaving nothing for crappy food or service, even though I've had people call me cheap for that. I don't care - crappy service, crappy tip.

Markus, I thought Europeans tipped based on service quality, too? When we were in France last year, our friends who lived there said we should do it that way, 0-15%, more for exceptional food/service.

I'm a cheap SOB, so i look at it this way. if I get good service as in I was served as well as i expected without any problems, I tip 15%.
if the service was less than satisfatory, they get less. If they piss me off or i have to wait a long time, they get a penny.
if they go out of their way and give exceptional service which makes my dining experience special, I'll tip up to 25%.

what drives me crazy is this tipping thing is getting out of hand.
At a local donut shop i go to every morning for a cup of coffee, they have a tip jar on the counter. WTF? A tip for selling me a cup of coffee across a counter? NFW.

I typically do the 18-20%, UNLESS it is a really cheap place to eat. Example - local country resturant, great breakfast, but 4 adults and 2 kids can eat for like $15. So I typically put down a 40-50% tip, since a 20% average would still keep the servers under minimum wage.

To me, how much the server earns is meaningless.
I am paying for a service, the better that service is the more I pay.
A restaurant is not a charitable organization.

If the wages a server earns are not enough, maybe they should be doing something else for a living.

I worked at denny's as a busboy when i was 15, making $2.65 an hour. The stingy-a$$ed waiteresses were supposed to split their tips with the busboy, but in 5 days I got a whopping $3 from them. no sympathy for waitresses from me. I did that job for 5 days before I realized that it totally sucked and I needed to find a different job.
I quit denny's got a job at a gas station, pumping gas, fixing tires etc for almost $4 an hour. that was righteous bux back then.
I never worked for anything close to minimum wage again.

Some states are "tip credit" states and some are not. That is, some allow workers' wages to fall below minimum wage on the theory that tips make up the difference.

Legion's little sister, at $50 to $70k per year, is one of the highest earning waitresses I have ever heard of. Minimum wage, before these reductions, is $5.25 per hour I believe. So for an eight hour shift (brutal for a waitress) the pay would be $42 before these wage reductions.

Basically, it just shifts the burden. Restauranteurs basically just let the customers pay their staffs' earnings directly.

Also, wait staff is often required to share their tips with cooks, cashiers and bus staff.