Who tips at starbucks?

[Andrew V.]

I've never put any money in a tip jar at a coffeeshop.

Of course as someone who rarely orders anything more complicated than plain black coffee, my cynical side views tip jars as yet another way for Starbucks to complicate the process of ordering coffee (along with their bizarre size designations and their condescending "don't let our overwhelming selection intimidate your pretty little head" attitude and such).

 

[banksmiranda]

The thing I like about Europe is that basically all prices are inclusive of taxes, so what we see is what we pay. Some places (esp. in France) have different prices based on whether we take the food to go or dine in. Gratuities are not commonly expected. I think that the US is the country in which servers expect most. I think that I tip decently. I usually tip somewhere between 15 and 17 percent. When my whole family goes out we may tip closer to 20 percent provided that the service was very good. I believe in tipping based on pre-tax totals. I used to work at the student center cafeteria on my campus, where I did literally everything. My pay was based on being a cashier, which is what I was hired as. Half the time, though, my manager would ask me to fill in for someone in the kitchen. The kitchen workers are paid quite a bit more, and I could have declined to do their work without being fired, but I did the work anyway - with no additional pay. Was I tipped for this? No. True, servers make less than minimum wage. But they have the opportunity to make up the difference in tips. Tips can make servers, valets, and doormen quite well-off, provided that they work at the right places. Someone at my college took a term off and worked as a doorman at a luxury condo, and the pay was so good that he still hasn't returned to college several years later. The people who work curbside check-in at airports can make a lot of money. I generally hate buffets, but anyway, what are we expected to tip at buffets, where the server generally has to do very little? The thing I don't understand about valet parking is that the people take our cars, sometimes to public lots, sometimes to their own lots, and "mark up" the parking. The valet people often expect substantial tips. One time we were at a restaurant in Chicago for not even two hours and had taken valet parking. My father tipped the valet $3, and as I was just about to close the door, the valet said to his buddy, another valet, "He only gave us $3." I really wanted to get out and punch him. How much did he expect? They want tip over tip on an already inflated parking cost. Another time a couple friends and I ordered a pizza for $6.99 and requested delivery. We were charged a bit for delivery and gave the guy $1 on top of the total of the pizza and tax when he delivered the pizza. As he walked away he muttered, "What the f.@k? A dollar?" This really ticked me off. I prefer to go to "down to earth" restaurants because I feel that at a decent number of upscale "gourmet" restaurants what we pay more for is a song and a dance, not really the food. I like places somewhere in between, for example the Palace Hotel restaurant in NYC, the Ritz-Carlton Garden Cafe in Chicago, and (for breakfast) the W Hotel in NYC. http://www.stainedapron.com/rev.htm has some pretty disturbing stories of servers' revenge.

 

[DennyB]

IMO, tip jars are tacky, period. The tip at a cash register would be for... taking my money? or ... handing me what I paid for in the first place? No thanks. The jar is there because they know that no one would tip them otherwise - it's not a service for which a tip is really appropriate. Hell, it's a real stretch to call it a service. The whole thing operates on guilt or fear of social inappropriateness/offense toward those who put the jar there in the first place.

 

[banksmiranda]

DennyB, I tend to agree with you. One of my professors(whose daughter used to work at Starbucks) said that the tip jars are probably meant to make the people who drive 7-series BMWs(and similar vehicles) feel guilty and then tip.

 

[banksmiranda]

I just don't go to Starbucks. I don't go to other coffee places, either, as I don't drink the stuff.
BTW how much do servers generally get as base pay?

 

[banksmiranda]

The most ridiculous thing I ever saw was a pizza delivery guy delivering pizza in his Hummer H2 - and trust me, this guy wasn't the owner.

 

[drizzt3117]

Banks:

It's funny you actually said that, I actually was involved in an altercation with a pizza delivery person who took exception to a tip I gave him (which wasn't especially small either, like 12% or something) which was generous considering he wasn't on time.

I would disagree that tipping is not expected in Europe. In my time living in various places throughout the continent, I've seen that it appears most servers expect tips of 5-8% which is much lower than we give in the US, but still substantially more than nothing. In Asia, gratutities are not expected.

 

[johnapril]

I worked at a cafe after college and made $2000 in a year and a half saving my tips from the tip jar.  I used it to travel to Myanmar, Thailand and Laos for five months.

 

[petescolari]

I usually follow a basic rule when I am getting coffee. If I order a cup of coffee, I don't tip them every time they pouring me a cup of coffee. Usually I throw the quarter change in the tip jar every couple of times I go there. On the other hand, when I order a coffee drink which requires them to prepare and individually make to my order (which is rare), then I will tip them accordingly.

One morning I ordered a large coffee at my usual spot on the way to work. When I went to pay, I realized I didn't have any money. Willie who usually works the morning said the coffee was on him that day.

Was it the good karma from tipping in the past or did he give me the free coffee b/c I was a regular customer?

 

[nightowl6261a]

Question, would you tip the McDonalds cashier? It's about the same thing is it not, and for that matter, why tip the Domino guy, he makes plenty on the pizza, and now they got rid of the 30 minute thing, he does not care how long it takes, and don't get me wrong I believe in tipping for good service, but please, not a cup of coffee, next thing you know the girl making the sandwinch at the Wild Bean Cafe' at BP will want a tip too.

 

[Andrew V.]

I usually follow a basic rule when I am getting coffee. If I order a cup of coffee, I don't tip them every time they pouring me a cup of coffee. Usually I throw the quarter change in the tip jar every couple of times I go there. On the other hand, when I order a coffee drink which requires them to prepare and individually make to my order (which is rare), then I will tip them accordingly...

That sort of makes sense, considering that bartenders are considered entitled to tips for mixing cocktails.

 

[Leo Jay]

BTW how much do servers generally get as base pay?

In NY State, food service employees who are eligible for tips (I don't know whether 'Buckers technically fall into this category or not) have a minimum wage of $3.30, vs. the regular State minimum of $5.15.

 

[Style guy]

What I hate is when the rest of the staff split the tips equally, I think this is wrong, I mean one waiter/waitress serves me, so why should everyone else get some of my money? They didn't serve me at all or have any contact with me and yet I am supposed to give them money that they didn't earn? This is why I don't believe in tipping.