Seriously.
Have you ever noticed that people using Discover Cards are generally 15% tippers? Sometimes even less?
Not sure what the connection is, but one of my coworkers pointed this out to me a while ago, and I have been paying attention ever since. She was right. As soon as I see the card on the table, I cringe. Especially if the check is a large one.
Tonight's proof:
$6 on $42
$8 on $54
$4 on $28
Hmmmmmm - and these were the only tips tonight that were less than 20%.
In fact - one American Express user left me $20 on $82!!
And cash tips tend to be rounded to the nearest $10.
Maybe tonight was just a good night, I don't know - but I am pretty convinced that Discover Card is running some sort of special for cheap tippers.
27 comments:
When did tip percentage go up past 15%? Still normal isn't it? I love my state, but they're not getting more than the 7% they ask for.
The last 15 years or so it has been 20% for GOOD service. (For civilized people, anyway.) So what, do you live in the mountains? Hope you never come in to eat where I work.
Dear Anonymous-
I pity the people who serve you. You realize that your server lives off tips, right? When I waited tables the state required us to pay income taxes on 18% of our recorded sales- meaning they assumed that every table tipped 18%, and that if some jackass didn't tip we still had to pay income tax as if they did.
This is why I always tip at least 20%- if the service is exceptional I tip MORE than 20%, and almost always in cash.
My father and mother, a restaurant owner and 1 time waitress now CPA respectively taught me to tip 16% for acceptable/addiquite service. I do tip 20% if the service was exceptional. Exceptional service is so rare that I think I've only tipped 1 person that much ever. My standards are low, I simply expect to recieve service when I want it. Granted, most wait-staff lose tips to failures in the kitchen and managment, but thats just tough luck.
In, truth I've recently started tipping less (as well as frequenting restaurant) after hearing a waitress comment how spit in some guys food. After that my opinion of wait staff has diminished.
If you restaurant sucks and your fellow waitstaff have no pride, don't expect 1% in tips.
P.S. I don't tip at all when I do take out. People should be paid by the person profiting off their labor.
Well, I dont know, the only reason I even have a discover card is because its a student card and I grabbed it not knowing its reputation. Im a great tipper, but that may be because I have worked in restaurants before and I know all the work put into keeping those people happy. The best tip I have ever given was 25 on a 60. The seemed to be having a rough day and I knew that would give her a little pep to her step. hahaha I always give 20% or more.
that guy james is an idiot. Anyone who orders to go food should leave a dollar or two. who do you think bagged it up? the magic bag fairy, get a life. and 20% is the norm if you consider yourself a civilized human being, if that is too much for you then go to burger king and get your $1 hamburger because you dont belong with the rest of society
The real issue with tipping is that we can't agree as a society as to what constitutes a decent tip. The percent tip in most situations is only very loosely linked with actual service. As a result, it offers little incentive to improve.
It is sad that so many waiters overvalue their usefulness and feel they offer some irreplaceable and unique service.
If you don't like it, get a different job. Easier said than done of course, but well within your power. Trip advisor is a generally trusted site for cultural tipping advice and lists customary US tipping rates to be 15%, higher for good service.
I really got a laugh out of the comment about tipping a few bucks for putting food in a bag. Think that over for a minute...a few bucks...to put food in a bag! Love it!
to anonymous, I work in a restaurant where "to go" is popular. Those girls put more work into each and order then any server or bartender will do, and yet you tip them $1 or $2 when you will tip us $10 or $20 for comparable service? I do not understand
So what you are really saying is that we should stop tipping our waiters so much since they do less work than the person who stuffs my food in a bag? I'm certainly not going to tip the person who stuffs my food in a bag. Please...I worked in a bakery at slightly above minimum wage and was fully expected to put stuff in a bag without tips (there were customer complaints when a tip jar got put out...and quite frankly I agreed)
What is with all of this entitlement? Nobody mentions what they did to deserve more than a 15% tip.
Discover card is awesome. My mom uses it and still tips 15%. I work all day at home depot, I cut wood, load cars, walk across the store for customers. Basically there isn't anything I don't do for people. Nobody offers me anything. Ever. I dot want to hear about how bad you have it, you know how I make money? I work for myself on my days off. Now there's an idea.
I used to think 20%, but after all the state taxes...in our state you'll get up to 30% after the tip... So I am back to "drop a zero, add half" for 15% Though ironically I just got my Discover card in the mail TODAY.
How do rich people get rich? BY SAVING MONEY.
How do they stay rich? BY SAVING MONEY.
If you want more money, go back to school. Quit expecting altruistic patrons to dole out ridiculous percentages for a nobody.
Hey Anonymous, (Sept 24, 2010)your a fucking cunt, and don't deserve a lick of service at any level, especially a fine dining establishment, you might consider walking a mile in the shoes of the lad who's serving you that steak, or at least consider the plain fact that he controls your food!
Anonymous September 2010) How do most rich people get rich? By getting an inheritance from mommy and daddy. It's very difficult to save enough to become rich anymore.
As for tipping, if you can't afford to give your server 20%, stay home or get take-out. They don't get minimum wage, and when you skimp on the tip, you're cutting into their wages. Eating out is a privilege, not a right.
Ok... that just proves the fact that waitresses need to learn more, and talk less. 20% is one fifth of a meal cooked by somebody else, and put on a table cleaned by somebody else. It looks like I am paying 1/5 of the price on the meal to a person who makes 5 steps forward and 5 steps back, and not only that, but this person is unhappy with 15%? I usually tip 20%, but if this is the way the waitresses are thinking, I would leave only 5% from now on. Maybe they will learn that tips are NOT mandatory, and they are representation of gratitude of exceptional service. I used to be a waiter, and I was happy for ANY tip. People were giving me big tips, because they were happy with the service, not because they had to. If you don't like 15%, please go back to school, finish 5th grade and get a job in McDonalds (no offense there, please).
P.S. If you tell me your place, I would make sure never to put a foot there.
Joe Shmoe....
Love your comment!! so true and nicely said. Although I do tip 20% or more... regardless of service b/c I feel sorry for those people. Some of them have a big family to support financially and that's on tip..
Also, some servers have to tip out a lot, so you thinking that the waitress is making all the money but she isn't. And when you have to tip out on your sales, if you stiff us on a tip we are paying other people out of our pocket because you have no decency or understanding of how restaurant businesses are really run. And since i have to pay tax on my sales too, is it really fair i have to pay so much for you to go out to eat? Would you think its fair to do that to other people who work in customer service?
@Joe Schmoe
If you were a good server, you would know damn well there is more to being a server than bringing food in and out. At my restaurant, they are also expected to help customers with directions, entertain the guests, do sidework, roll silverware, help me bus table, help me restock the creamers and lemons and other essentials, etc. They do a helluva lot more than just walk the food to where you sit. You are correct in that tips aren't mandatory, but I would equate it more to not giving your five-year old a birthday present. You can skip it if you want, but you're an absolute cunt if you do.
I tip 20%, mostly because the math is easier. I also use Discover card, because of the cash back. Why WOULDN'T I?! If some corporation want's to give me money, I'm going to take it. I never cary a balance on it either, so if anything, I'm screwing Discover, not wait staff. It does bother me that places don't take it sometimes, when they do take AMEX. I'm sure AMEX charges higher fees, or you need a better service provider deal.
It's just a credit card. If I could wave my phone or microchip implanted finger over some magical device, I would. My bank charges me like a million dollars to take cash out of non network ATMs, so screw that. There are always more sides to this story than it seems.
Hahaha! Love all the comments! To those of you who seemed to miss the SARCASTIC HUMOR in this post and the rest of the blog... Thank you for proving my point.
When you look down on others because they have chosen a line of work that puts them in a position to HELP YOU, you are only pointing out that you are indeed a jerk.
Enjoy the food at the next place you eat... May the wait staff treat you with the respect and courtesy that you seem to know nothing about.
I tip according the Service, Not "whats the Civilized world" Expects, If you do an outstanding job and by this I mean, I get the food I ordered as I ordered it, If I am at breakfast and I ask for my eggs to be over easy and you bring them to me Over hard, YOUR bad, I send it back and you lose tip Money, Because now I have to wait longer for our food, you should have caught it and told the chef to redo the order because its NOT what the CUSTOMER wanted.If you do an outstanding Job you get a tip worthy of the Service, I have literally been served and never have seen my server again thru out the rest of the meal, there are lots of reasons you dont get a big tip, In my case it means YOU have failed in your job to serve me the CUSTOMER as I should be.
15% is a fair tip. The problem is that service people are part of the entitlement society that thinks they can dictate their own terms.
As a professional restaurant critic, one thing that's clear is that most 'help" have a delusional view of how good they are. Most servers are bad servers. Maybe if you're getting low tips it's because you're not as good as you think you are?
Haha waiters bitching about their Shitty jobs, so pathetic. Go to college if you want more money, if not, then accept your dead end job. Its that simple.
If there's one thing the internet has taught me, it's that retaliating against hateful comments is like trying to put out a fire with a flamethrower. Instead, let me introduce some positivity:
This blog has opened my eyes a bit to the stresses of working in food service. If I hadn't read this, I would scoff at someone calling me out for tipping less than 20%. Now, I'll consider 20% as the new normal, and gladly tip that amount knowing that you have to deal with...people...like the two that posted above me. I see that you've moved on from waitressing and I can't say that I blame you. Hope everything works out for the best!
Eat shit
Why should i pay your wage when the restaurant owner should be paying. Meal plus tax plus tip. I stopped eating outside. I dont tip more than 10%. If you dont make enough money complain to your employer not to the customer.
Post a Comment