Pressured To Tip

[steveincowtown]

At the car wash I only tip if the services warrant it. I have a large truck with a lot of nooks and crannies that need to be dried. If I see the attendant has done an excellent job I always make sure to tip well.


The automatic 15% gratuity burns me up.

If the service was good, I let the waitress know I would have tipped 20%, but I am am just going to follow the management policy of 15%.

If the service is bad I write a negative amount on the tip line, and put the reduced total on the bottom line. Most the time they only charge what I have agreed to, but I won't say this method has been used with an occasional confrontation.


At the end of the day, God only ask for 10%....why should anybody else ask for more than that!

[MasterOfNone]

My favorite was a bar/club in Florida where the girl taking the cover charge at the door had a tip jar, and I saw people tipping her.

[sunny beach]

One day after being give the wrong order in a drive thru and getting eye's rolled at us when we politely requested they correct their mistake, as we pulled away she says: I have two things I say to high school drop outs: 1. You did your best and 2. I don't want pickles on my burger.

A college degree is a noble and worthwhile goal, but

What does that have to do with high school dropouts?

[Vol Texan]

My wife and I are always encouraging our daughter (13) to work hard, study hard because education and hard work are her best options to have a rewarding career. Anytime we receive bad service or a poor attitude from a minimum wage employee at any establishment, I usually turn to her and tell her, that is why you need to graduate college.

One day after being give the wrong order in a drive thru and getting eye's rolled at us when we politely requested they correct their mistake, as we pulled away she says: I have two things I say to high school drop outs: 1. You did your best and 2. I don't want pickles on my burger.

A college degree is a noble and worthwhile goal, but if everyone was a graduate with a degree, you'd have a lot of folks living in mom and dad's basement without work, and no one to build our houses, roads, build/repair our vehicles, plumbing, A/C, build our "Made in America" goods, paint our house, replace our roofs, and the myriad of other things we all require in life. There used to be a time in this country when pride in one's trade meant that actual experts and craftsmen in their field were available, but nowadays finding a true "craftsman" in darn near impossible. I guess I come from a time in this country where having a degree or not having one was not used to judge folks' worth to society.

Just a question. How do you know the poor service you received from a "minimum wage employee," was not a person enrolled in college paying their way through or earning living expenses? Are you psychic?

Fair point.

Agreed, it is a fair point but I will assume the last question was a rhetorical one and since I feel it is boarding on a personal attack, I am not going to answer it.
I will however, quantify my statements by providing a little bit about me:
1. I am not nor will I ever be a college graduate.
2. I spent the majority of my teen and 20's doing exactly these types of jobs and often time multiple minimum wage jobs at the same time.
3. Like my father and his father before him, I enlisted in the military because I had no future in what I was doing.
4, I served honorable until I became injured and no longer met the physical requirements to serve. I was discharged and after 14 months of attempting to attending community college under the VA vocational rehabilitation program (Chapter 31) i left school to work full time for "minimum wage"

I encourage my daughter to complete collage so she has opportunity and options not open to those with out a degree. Since age 3 she has insisted on wanting to be a veterinarian. She can not and will not ever become a licensed veterinarian is she does not complete a college degree. I can appreciate all the "skilled" jobs you pointed out in your post but I can also appreciate that not a single one of us would ever seek the services of a physician, attorney, or the many other careers that require one to achieve a advanced degree.
My comment to regarding "that is why you need to graduate college" is not one directed at the person but the situation. I encourage her to achieve a higher education not for financial benefit, but the benefit of opportunity and to achieve the goals that she has set for herself.

If my post in anyway offend anyone or conveyed that I am looking down on or encouraging my daughter to look down upon people in service or "minimum wage" jobs, I apologize and assure you, this is not the case. It's not my place to judge my fell man but alas, I am human and privy to fault. So when I do judge people, it is based upon their actions not their job, income or education.

Several folks are giving Frankie a hard time here, but it's not deserved. His only reference to college degree is when he is giving motivation and advice to his daughter (what's wrong with that?!?). Frankie's only dismissive comment was about high school dropouts, not about those with no college degree.

I think we should cut a little slack here...

[The Annoyed Man]

I have waited tables in restaurants in El Paso, College Station, and New York City. It was some of the hardest work I did over the years. I usually did OK with tips. Most people are decent tippers (15%-20% without begrudging it). But, sometimes I got a bad tip because I gave bad service. But I never gave bad service because I wanted to. I gave bad service to a table deserving better because another table of boorish and loud customers demanded so much of my time that I was unable to give the other table the good service they deserved. In such cases, I was poorly tipped by both tables. I understood why the good table would not leave a good tip. They deserved better than I was able to give them; but I bitterly resented the tables that cost me good tips on both tables and screwed everything up for everybody. Before anyone suggests that I should have just given the obnoxious table less service to better serve the nice customers, that doesn't mean much if the obnoxious ones are friends of the owner. Some people are just jerks, and you can't do anything about it as long as they don't go so far overboard that you can have them thrown out.

I never worry about why I got poor service......unless the waiter in question was just a deliberate snot.....and that is pretty rare. If the person was passingly pleasant, and at least trying, I always tip 20%+. And sometimes, things are not their fault. For instance, if the kitchen is poorly run, my waiter has no control over how long it takes to get my food brought out. If there is a gratuity figured into the bill, I make up the difference. Over the years, I have found that this policy pays for itself if I return to that restaurant.

[jmra]

What gets me is places that have counter service for order and pickup of food that have a tip jar and/or have a place on the receipt for a tip. I guess I should be thankfull there's not a tip jar at the Whataburger drive thru.
The other thing that gets me is when the receipt comes with the tip line filled in (large party policy or whatever) and there is another line for "additional tip". You either trust me to give the tip you earned or you don't.

I read somewhere that the "tip" was originally a bribe given prior to being served. It was to ensure good service and that only what you ordered ended up in your food.

[03Lightningrocks]

What gets me is places that have counter service for order and pickup of food that have a tip jar and/or have a place on the receipt for a tip. I guess I should be thankfull there's not a tip jar at the Whataburger drive thru.
The other thing that gets me is when the receipt comes with the tip line filled in (large party policy or whatever) and there is another line for "additional tip". You either trust me to give the tip you earned or you don't.

I read somewhere that the "tip" was originally a bribe given prior to being served. It was to ensure good service and that only what you ordered ended up in your food.

There is a place in Plano that does this. it is called burger break. They have good burgers. You go to the counter to order but to their credit, they do bring the burger to the table. I usually feel guilty if I don't throw something in the tip jar. I usually toss in the change from my purchase... maybe a couple dollars. It is a little awkward though.

The other situation I am having issues with is the pizza places charging a 2 or 2.50 delivery fee. I am not sure if that goes to the driver or not. The folks delivering the pizza work hard and I don't want to short them so again, I usually take a hit and tip anyway.

Oh... one more comment. You mentioned that the tip was originally meant to be done prior to being served. I could have sworn I remember being told by a relative that this was customary in parts of Europe. Maybe one day I can afford to find out for myself...LOL.

[mgood]

The other situation I am having issues with is the pizza places charging a 2 or 2.50 delivery fee. I am not sure if that goes to the driver or not. The folks delivering the pizza work hard and I don't want to short them so again, I usually take a hit and tip anyway.

May days of delivering pizza are long in the past, like 1989-90.
We were paid minimum wage plus $0.50/per delivery, as best I can recall. The fifty cents per delivery pretty much paid for your gas, but not your oil change, unless you drove an econo-box, which most of us did not.
I do remember the average tip was about $1.50 but approximately 50% of customers did not tip the pizza delivery guy at all, so overall average tip was 75 cents per delivery.

Going off on a tangent . . .
I was at a party and we decided to order pizza. I called the place where I worked and asked for the manager. They knew I was a fellow employee looking for a good discount so I was on hold for a long time while they dealt with other customers. During this time, two girls are busy finding the best coupons as I keep trying to tell them "don't worry about coupons." They won't listen. And everyone starts pulling money out and throwing it in a pile in the middle of the floor. I keep saying to just wait to see what kind of deal I can get. When I finally got to talk to a manager and got a price, there was already WAY more money in the pile than what the pizzas were going to cost. I had no way of figuring out who chipped in what. Not a penny of it was my money. The driver got about a $50 tip for four pizzas.
After that he told me regularly that the next time we had a party I should ask for him. LOL.

[OldGrumpy]

I tip for service not extortion plotted.

[Pawpaw]

Has anyone else ever tipped a penny for really bad service? I have.

[Wes]

Absolutely! That way they know you didn't forget!

I too am beyond annoyed at the tips for walk up service thing. Several places around me do it. My girlfriend used to tip at Starbucks and I couldn't believe it when she said it.

I have worked where tips were given for those who gave great service so I am a pretty good tipper, but not if service is not worth it. Like others, if there is a tip already on it, that's all you will get. I'm not going to be forced in to anything.

[Purplehood]

I would have taken my business elsewhere, assuming that it is feasible to do so.

Thats fine if you know before services are rendered. However, in my case we has aready eaten the meal before the check was brought.

I apologize for not being clear.

I would have taken my business elsewhere from that point on, assuming that it would be feasible to do so.

[probation_officer]

It has been my experience that some people blame the wait staff for a slow kitchen. Had lunch the other day with 6 coworkers and it was taking a while for our food to come out. After about 25 minutes the grumbling started about our waitress not getting a tip. I don't penalize the waiter or waitress for something beyond their control.

I remember one time in college going on a weekend trip to Dallas and eating at Planet Hollywood. Being poor college kids this was really beyond our means. Everyone ordered the cheapest item on the menu and we were barely able to cover the cost of the meal. There were five of us and our bill was probably $75.00 to $80.00. I think the tip may have amounted to $5.00. I guess the waiter was not used to this and once we exited the restaurant the waiter followed us to our car and wanted to know what was wrong with the service to get such a measly tip. I imagine he knew there was nothing wrong with the service just trying to let us know we were being cheapskates nicely enough that he wouldn't get in trouble if we complained.

I live in a small town and fequent about the same 3-4 restaurants on a regular basis. I am too paranoid of stories of what could go in the kitchen to stiff someone or leave a penny tip. Would be awkward to do that one week and have the same waiter or waitress the next week. Especially one wearing a mischivious grin the second go around.

I have never worked at a restaurant to witness "payback". But I know it does happen. There was an incident in Lufkin where a guy working at Sonic spit in a Police Officer's drink. If I remember I think he was tipped off when he looked up and the entire SONIC crew was glued to the window waiting for the officer to take his first drink. The guy was charged with a felony offense.

I did work at a grocery store in high school as a sacker and it was common practice to smush bread or smash cookies if it was obvious that the person was not going to tip, as some people would open the trunk and then get in their car and crank it up.

[TLE2]

Tipping is a welcome thing to a low payed employee. By not tipping you won't punish the business, just the guys that washed your car or brought you your food.

If a tip is included, I do not add to it either. But I usually tip 30% for good to better service.

[RPBrown]

I do not fault the waitstaff for food that is slow to come out or bad food, UNLESS the food is cold. If the food is cold then it is the waitstaff's fault as they were not attentive to the orders up. Other than that I assume that it is the cooks fault for slow or bad food.

By the way, we went back to the same restaraunt last night, had a different waitress, with 9 of us and we all asked for seperate checks. There was no gratuity added to the checks. I asked her about this and she said it was up to individual waitresses if they wanted to add it to the check and she prefered not to. She said she usually gets more in tips that way. She got a 25% tip from each of our tickets.