Should I still tip 15%?

[JayJay]

Originally Posted by Arrogant Bastard

No ****, I don't like it and usually refuse the service as well. I've been at some hotels where you have no choice in the matter, though. The bell ninjas swipe your **** the second you enter the premises. Tipping higher for a high-end hotel usually doesn't get you anything, but it does spare you the indignity of being labeled/gossiped as a cheap-ass amongst the hotel staff. Those folks talk, and if they don't like you, they're going to make your life a living hell through a thousand minor inconveniences.
I usually refuse service, too. When I'm traveling with the family and the dog I accept the service gladly and tip accordingly. I never tip more than $5 for this regardless of the type of hotel.

 

[itsstillmatt]

$5 unless I have a lot of **** with me.

 

[Cary Grant]

Originally Posted by iammatt

Exactly. I am usually the last one to say "Americans are so ******* clueless," but when it comes to service in restaurants, Americans are really ******* clueless. It is, at a high level, a very skilled job. They aren't just slapping down your plate.

---

You need to be careful with this, though. If bad service = slow service, it probably has nothing to do with the waiter and everything to do with the kitchen.



Both execellent points. There was a waiter (Pierre) at the original La Belle Vie who was absolutley brilliant. He could take the order for a table of 6, 5 courses, all by memory, then orchestrate making plates disappear and the next course always arriving at just the right time over the course of two hours. It was like appreciating the finest conductor. Brilliant.

 

[Don Carlos]

Originally Posted by gdl203

No offense but I think you're mistaken in thinking that $20 is the standard tip. Whoever told you that was yanking your chain. A $20 tip to a bellman is at the very tail of the curve - you're seen as an oil prince when you do that, not a normal customer.

I'm aware it's at the extreme end. I had second thoughts about even including it in my first post, because I knew it would come up. Let's just give me a mulligan on this and pretend I never mentioned it. Really not worth dissecting any further.

 

[MetroStyles]

What do you guys tip for HJs at massage joints?

 

[itsstillmatt]

Originally Posted by MetroStyles

What do you guys tip for HJs at massage joints?
Three tablespoons on a good day.

 

[Sic Semper]

When you're spending more per head there are presumably more people working in the background that the tips are shared with. Polished brass fixtures, always gleaming bathrooms, shined flatware, pressed linens. You're paying for these hands.

In the Marine Corps it is said there are 10 men for everyone carrying a rifle. Extend the analogy to Aziz's Kabobs or Per Se.

 

[Sic Semper]

Originally Posted by kevinbrownshakedown

It's pretty standard practice to not tip for alcohol at a restaurant. So if your $150 meal was including a $60 bottle of wine, tip for $90.

No it's not standard practice. Do you stiff your bartender when you eat at the bar too? That sounds like weak justification to be cheap.

Tipping is part of the cost of doing business. If you can't do it graciously...

 

[GQgeek]

Originally Posted by iammatt

Three tablespoons on a good day.

God damn you. I was just about to eat breakfast when I read this. =/

 

[kwilkinson]

Originally Posted by iammatt

In SF? That is generally the surcharge for the "Healthy SF" plan currently destroying restaurants around the city.
People in kitchens don't need health insurance. Look at me, I'm a bastion of healthy living!

Originally Posted by gdl203

No offense but I think you're mistaken in thinking that $20 is the standard tip. Whoever told you that was yanking your chain. A $20 tip to a bellman is at the very tail of the curve - you're seen as an oil prince when you do that, not a normal customer.
+1. I though $1-2 per bag was standard

Originally Posted by iammatt

Three tablespoons on a good day.

 

[Piobaire]

Some interesting takes on tipping.

Bellman for me = $5 or $1 per piece of luggage if it's over five pieces. Don't know how I came up with that formula.

20%, rounded up for good service on the entire bill. Yeah, the poor kid inside me cringes when that tip goes over the c-note level, but if you want to make return trips to that place and be welcomed as a customer you had better pony up. Also, as has been said above, being a very good wait person in a very good establishment is not a brain dead no skill position. You are expecting a far different experience than the one you'll get at a Waffle House (no h8) and not everyone can deliver on that.

 

[runner-guy]

I tip 20% at pretty much any restaurant, including wine. For bellmen, I think $1-2 per bag is fine.

 

[milosz]

I've only had service bad enough to warrant not tipping once. A waitress knew she was serving off-duty waiters (still in our dress shirt unis) and simply did not give a ****, lied to us about what was going wrong, etc.

'Bad' service still gets 20% from me if it's apparent he or she is trying. Screw up my order and own up to it? Okay, **** happens. Triple-sat and in the weeds? I feel you. I'll only tip less if my entire experience is ruined by a rude waiter, and that's rare enough I don't remember the last time it happened.

 

[username79]

Some of you are really cheap. I love the not tipping on alcohol or tax bullshit. Invented by cheap people to justify their cheap ways. Tip is 20% on the bill not 15% or less regardless of quality of service. If service was bad, speak to the manager. If you had a nasty waiter, and you refuse tip or tip less percentage, you're probably punishing several other innocent individuals who are working off the same pot. The way to recognize a rude waiter is to discreetly report his or her behavior so it can be handled by whoever is managing/training the staff. Of thousands of restaurant meals I've had maybe three or four where poor service could actually be attributed to a completely disinterested/pissed off/asshole server. This is on a $20 meal or a $200 meal. If you can't afford $240, you shouldn't have consumed $200 worth of food/alcohol. Like buying a car then complaining that you can't afford gas.

 

[MrDaniels]

I am much more likely to reduce the tip for a rude waiter versus an incompetent one.