Do you feel tipping is mandatory?

Question

I remember the funny dialogue on the movie "Reservoir Dogs" about tipping. The guy basically said "screw it" to automatic tipping and that if the service people didn't like it then to get an education and a new job. I'm not that crass however, but there are times when I feel that tips aren't warranted due to poor service. Also I notice that many restaurants in the service industry do try to take
adavntage people at business functions, etc by imposing mandatory tips. How do you feel about tipping? Should it be a minimum of say 15% no matter what and climb from there? What about the "idea" that people are making a living solely off tips ????

Answer 1

I LOVED that part of the movie. I felt like he was "strumming my pain," lol. Tipping should be reserved for people who do an exceptional job. If you give crappy service, your tip (or lack thereof) should reflect that. My husband's theory is that if you tip someone really well (assuming they weren't jerks and did their job), they'll get an extra boost of happiness and perform better for the rest of the day. We always try to tip well when we've been given great service. ALWAYS tip the person who cuts your hair if you plan on going back to them. ;)
I don't think there should be a minimum put in place. Etiquette calls for 15%, but that doesn't mean someone is owed that much simply for doing their job. If that were the case, I've got some parents who owe me about $4,000 for a year's worth of teaching their kids. :D

Answer 2

I think that a "tip" should be given according to service performance. Usually when my family eats at a restaurant, we are there for approximately one hour. Therefore, I figure the "tip" according to how much our meals were and how the service was. If our waitress did not do much besides take our order and bring our meal... why should I be obligated to leave an eight or nine dollar "tip" for that service. I also evaluate other conditions... like how many table she is serving, how crowded the restaurant is, and is she busy or chatting with other waitresses. Therefore, I do not feel that mandatory "tipping" is required. In addition, I am totally with you on the "mandatory" tipping for certain functions or large groups. Sadly, I have often received some of the worst service at functions such as those... and really wondered why I should have had to leave a thirty or forty dollar tip for the waitress to bring our meals when she never returned to refill our drinks, etc.

Answer 3

If service is exceptionally horrible, leave a tip of a few cents. If you do not leave a tip they may merely believe you forgot to. If you leave a few coins they know you remembered, but get the message that their service was not worth more than a few cents. Only do this if the service is truly bad, however, otherwise the gracious thing to do is to tip a minimum of 15%. Rewarding exceptional behavior with a higher tip will encourage such behavior in the future, while consistently leaving poor tips due to minor service problems will send a message that you are not worth the effort to serve well.

Answer 4

I have never understood how restaurant owners get by without paying their staff minimum wage. I think they get paid less anyway. It seems like that would be illegal and I don't get it. Anyway, I do not feel it is mandatory, but the service providers think that it is and that sucks b/c it makes me feel obligated to tip them for a service that I have already paid for. It is so lame. Until people stop tipping, this problem of feeling obligated to tip will never change. I highly disagree that it will ever change though. So I guess we will have to live with it and choose to tip based on the service and what we believe is courtesy or an unspoken rule.

Answer 5

Tip means To Insure Promptness. The traditional tip for horrid service is four pennies. It is a loud and clear message to the server that the service was not good. 10% is for below average service, 15% for adequate service. 20% for excellent service. What I do is estimate 15%, if the service is good I will round UP to the next whole dollar. Bad service I will round DOWN. So if 15% of the bill is 2.54 and the service is good, I will leave $3, bad $2.

Hope this helps.

Answer 6

Some tip is always required. How generous you are is up to you, but you should not be too stingy and it should be based upon the quality of service, making sure to not stiff your server for things that are out of her control. However, if the service is exceptionally poor (like the time the waitress called my mom redhead and was horrifically rude the whole time), one should leave a penny, as leaving no tip either shows you don't know what you're doing or the tip was stolen, whereas a penny shows that you thought about it and that was all she earned.

Answer 7

I think that a tip is a good idea when you receive a very good waitress/waiter or host. I dont agree with night clubs though who have someone sitting in the restroom handing out paper towels for tips though. I think for services like airport shuttles, taxi cabs, restaurants, and hotels for long stays that tips are part of your stay - but if its cruddy service, then I decrease the amount or dont leave one at all depending on the circumstances.

Answer 8

Here in WA State they make $7.53 minimum wage and will go up in January, I don't think they live off of tips since this is a pretty good wage to begin with. Now if they have kids and this is their only source of income then they may rely on the tips, but not live off of because they wouldn't be able to without being on welfare.
I do however think that certain places should get tips and others not. And depending on the service you get then its up to you if you want to be generous or not

Answer 9

I've never had service so bad that I didn't leave at LEAST a 10% tip. If everything was so horrible, I would have left the place before I ate the food and got the bill.

Some waiters "seem" a little rude at times, but maybe they don't mean to be. People think differently and what's rude to one person isn't to another. I also think people just have bad days once in a while. Maybe your waiter's mother just died or something. Sure, it's not your problem, but we're all human and can't always seperate work from our personal lives. I give my waiters the benifet of the doubt.

Imagine if your pay was based of each person's opinion of you as you encountered them througout your day and give the waiters a break now and then.

Answer 10

If the service is lousey for no good reason, I leave only what is comfortable.

My friend and I used to sit at a coffee shop back in the days when refills were free and coffee was 25 cents and we'd have coffee and pie and be there for hours. Our bill was $2.70 and we'd leave the waitress a $5 tip because our cups were always full.