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Tipping - U.S. style

Travel Talk

Plakian started this discussion 15 years 11 months ago

"Paying something extra to the person who has provided you with a service is common in the US, but working out who gets a tip and how much can be confusing, as Kevin Connolly reveals.
And it is widely recognised that most people working in the service industries in America are underpaid by their employer on the assumption that you will be taking up the slack when it comes to tip time.
Whenever I object that this system means that almost every transaction you undertake in America is booby-trapped with social awkwardness, I am shouted down.
Everyone knows, I am assured, the scale of charges.
A dollar for a doorman, $2 (£1.40) for a shoe-shine or a taxi-driver, double the sales tax for a server in a cafe, $1 for a drink in a bar, 20% in a full-service restaurant and so on.
But there is of course very little logic to the whole business of who we tip and who we do not.
Obviously, no-one slips their heart surgeon or airline pilot something a little extra at the end of an operation or a flight, because they earn too much for that to make sense. But why tip a waiter and not a shop assistant?
Or the driver of a taxi, but not the driver of a bus?"

From http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/7927983.stm

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Fountainrunner

15 years

But why tip a waiter and not a shop assistant?
Or the driver of a taxi, but not the driver of a bus?"

Why would you tip a shop assistant? They make minimum wage unlike most US wait staff and if they're full time they get full benefits. The system is fairly simple. We tip those who make under minimum wage or barely that. The tip should make up for the clear income disparity. I give 15% tips to waiters but my sister, who is a waitress, says I should tip 20% and without tips she'd never made any money.
Again, why would you tip a bus driver? They work for the city in which they operate and are typically well paid - benefits and all. For example, New York City bus drivers make good pay and their benefits includes paid life and health insurance, sick leave, vacation leave, and free bus transportation on the system’s regular routes.
So here in the US we tip those at the bottom of the service industry. While a shop assistant and a bus driver are not a doctor by any means, they're also not at the bottom either. The system is clear to us, but yes I've heard from foreigners that they do find it confusing. Hope this makes it more understandable. :)

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Josh Hostels

15 years

Interesting article.

The reason waiters have to be tipped in the US is because many of them only get $2.15 per hour -- which comes out to $12.90 in wages for a 6 hour shift (before taxes). Terrible system, but that's the way it is...

Again, why would you tip a bus driver? They work for the city in which they operate and are typically well paid - benefits and all.

When I was living In Honolulu a few years ago the bus drivers were starting at $15 per hour and making $21 per hour after a few years. Taxi drivers often have to rent the taxi each day and it's a tough system for them to make money. Very dangerous job too...

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Fountainrunner

15 years

Some restaurants are even worst and make the wait staff split their tips with the host staff and busboys, so at the end of the day they're lucky if they walk out with a dollar.

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Scotch Argus

15 years

I think the confusion amongst international visitors comes from 2 areas -

1 - What is optional (or non existant) in their home country is effectively compulsory in the USA. This doesn't mean it's wrong, just that it's something to get used to.

2 - The rate of tipping varies according to job/ service - i.e. it's not a flat 10 or 15% So you have to work ou what exactly to tip.

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Tim

15 years

Whenever I object that this system means that almost every transaction you undertake in America is booby-trapped with social awkwardness, I am shouted down.

I think it is the social awkwardness that is the issue, rather than paying the extra money.

I've been bought up in a society where bribery is considered unethical. Someone who asks for a bribe is considered a crook and someone who gives one even more so.

When I travel I adopt to local customs but it is awkward to do something that just feels wrong on so many levels. Of course I will tip if I am visiting Canada or the USA because that is the custom there but it is an unpleasant exercise that I would rather avoid. I'm not being cheap and would happily pay 20% more but I shouldn't have to bribe for decent service or risk abuse from the staff.

However as a backpacker I usually don't need to tip. I stay in hostels (where most of the other guests are also from countries where tipping isn't such an entrenched custom). There are no doormen at hostels and if there is a bar it is usually staffed by the owner or the person behind the front desk (who earns a normal reception wage). I either drive or travel by public transport (I haven't been in a taxi for over 10 years), I travel independently (I don't take tours), I usually don't drink in bars and instead buy my beer from a supermarket and most of my food comes from supermarkets, street vendors and fast food places (nothing fancy enough for table service) and I will get my hair cut by another traveller or just wait until I am in a normal country for a haircut.

But the thing is that whenever you object to this custom you are shouted down by people (usually North Americans) who think this practice is the most natural thing in the world.

Tell an American that you think tipping is an awful custom and you will be called a cheap bastard and then lectured on what low wages the staff get. They don't seem to comprehend that if people didn't tip those wages would be higher and customers wouldn't have to bribe them to do their job.

In most normal countries it's called a minimum wage for a reason. So someone working in a restaurant earns the same as someone in a supermarket (actually some people I know who work in restaurants - in Australia - get a higher hourly wage when they work nights and weekends) so why should one get a tip and the other not?

Of course things are different in the US, and that is why it makes international travellers to the US feel so uncomfortable.

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uktrail

15 years

I agree with everything Tim said.

I admire Australia in this respect and certainly feel more comfortable knowing that I won't be expected to assess what tip I have to give at the end. It's the one country I've been where I would have confidence that I will not be fleeced by taxi drivers. (In Britain I won't be fleeced, but we do have to tip taxi drivers).

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Fountainrunner

15 years

Tell an American that you think tipping is an awful custom and you will be called a cheap bastard and then lectured on what low wages the staff get. They don't seem to comprehend that if people didn't tip those wages would be higher and customers wouldn't have to bribe them to do their job.

I disagree. Yes, I'll be the first to say to anyone who complains about having to tip here that they are a cheap bastard because it's the truth. What do you expect to get something for nothing? Someone should just serve you out of the kindness of their heart? And I don't see how if we all decided to stop tipping how their wages would magically increase overnight. Do you think their employers care that no one is tipping them and increase their pay to compensate - NO. Everyday wait staff, taxi drivers etc. are getting stiffed out of a tip and they continue to try to make a living. Also the tip is not a bribe to get people to do their job - that's ridiculous. If they didn't work those jobs someone else would be doing it for little to no pay. Maybe the tip needs to be included into the price of all services so we don't have to hear people whine about our system. Truth be told I hate tipping but I understand the importance of it.

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uktrail

15 years

I'll be the first to say to anyone who complains about having to tip here that they are a cheap bastard

No surely -- anyone who refuses to tip, yes.

What do you expect to get something for nothing? Someone should just serve you out of the kindness of their heart?

No. They should serve you because that is their job. And their job should be paid at an acceptable rate, just like most other jobs.

Why dont we tip the staff at Macdonalds when they hand us our fast food? I presume they must be paid a lot more than the staff who wait at tables in service restaurants. If so, why?

Maybe the tip needs to be included into the price of all services

Exactly. then we would know where we stand.

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Scotch Argus

15 years

I'd always assumed tipping came about as a reward for good sevice - if you felt that the service personell had done a good job you tipped them. If they went well beyond the call of duty you tipped them more. Perhaps if they ignored you for half an hour while they talked to their friend on the phone you didn't tip them. I guess it's now just a percentage expected no matter what the level of service.

Whilst the hourly rate at restaurants for wait staff is low in the US, from when I was there jobs at good places were in demand, as they can make excellent money. The one thing that always suprised me was when you'd find people who were not even employees - eg at a bus station carrying bags and expecting a tip - even though you had no desire for them to grab your bag in the first place

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nyrie

15 years

i agree with tim. here in australia we get paid penalty rates on weekends and at night, and the normal wages are fairly good. its our incentive to work hard hours, and not get weekends, not relying on our patrons to pay our wages. occasionally we do get big tips, but i always feel akward taking them. it is nice to know that you did a great job though.
why in america is minimum wage not the legal minimum wage, like it is here. you can go to jail here for underpaying staff. and why dont people fight the fact that they are getting such poor wages, instead of just copping it? surely there is a way to reform their laws? what exactly does the local govornment do for the people they serve?

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