Tipping suggestion on receipt

[Kae]

DH & I went out tonight to a new place in town and on receipt the suggestion was 22%. 24% and 28%. I thought that was a bit high. I am about a 20% minimum tipper. We were a group of 8 and tip was not added.

 

[kyton]

As an Australian, tipping suggestions can be helpful however it does sounds quite high. We travel to Oahu yearly and we normally start at 18% and go up from there but when I went to NYC a few years back I was told quite bluntly on Trip Advisor that that wasn’t good enough and to start at 20%. Needless to say, I expected that the service would have been much better to encourage that amount compared to the wonderful service we always receive in Hawaii - sadly it wasn’t.

 

[KMarston]

We typically tip a little more than the recommended %20 but I like to think that that’s a nice bonus. A recommendation of up to 30% would completely turn me off. We order expensive bottles of wine, apps and a dessert. Over 25% would be ridiculous.

 

[L&Lfan]

18 to 20 % is fair unless you think the service is EXCEPTIONAL.... it rarely is.

 

[morgan98]

In my opinion, those suggestions basically serve two purposes. The first one is to make the math easier for everyone, because, you know, math is hard. The second is to try to guilt people into thinking 18-20% isn't acceptable anymore, when it is.

 

[ronandannette]

Ha! This belonged on the "Controversy" thread.

I've noticed those new levels for the tipping options - I wonder if they are a default of the payment processing system or if each restaurant has to program them in? Servers here are paid $15/hr minimum wage, just like all other workers. Hell will freeze over before I tip 28%.

 

[L&Lfan]

Just tipped our server at an Indian restaurant 18% last night...and the service was nothing to write home about.... and my boyfriend and I are NOT demanding guys... we just expect you to get the bloody order right.

 

[RedAngie]

Does anybody notice if the suggested amounts are based on pre- or post-tax totals? I never really paid attention, because Delaware has no sales tax.

 

[ronandannette]

Does anybody notice if the suggested amounts are based on pre- or post-tax totals? I never really paid attention, because Delaware has no sales tax.

You know, I don't think you can tell unless you actually accept one of the options and then quickly do the calculations when you see the total charge. Whenever I see the options on the machine, it's just a percentage, not an amount. I never, ever take one of the default options so I'm not sure what it works out to. Good question though!

 

[tvguy]

Where I am is the first factor I consider tip amount. I'm going to be more generous on a percentage basis in a state where people in tipped positions only earn $2.13 an hour than say in San Francisco where the minimum wage is $15.59 an hour for a tipped worker.
The price of the meal is the other factor. I'm going to be more generous on a percentage basis at say Dennys than at Ruth Chris Steakhouse when the service provided required the same effort.
The actual service is third on my list.
But OP, those percentages seem high by any standard to me. And I have worked with more than one person who kept their side Gig tipped job at a good restaurant because they could make more in tips on a Friday and Saturday night than they did working their "real"job.

Of course my first exposure to tipping the made an impression on me was over 50 years ago when was about 11 years old and it was at Sambos. An older gentleman who had the same waitress we had was leaving, and handed the waitress a nickel tip and said "this is for you". Googling old Sambos menus from 1970, a typical dinner was $1.25 to $1.45, so this was less than a 5% tip. The man walked away and the waitress looked a my mom and I and said "he's a regular, all his family are gone, we are like his family, he truly appreciates how we take care of him and to him a nickel is still a lot of money. The feeling he gives me may be worth more than any tip"
And when I got old enough to work, I worked several minimum wage jobs in untipped positions and never understood what made my labor worth less than someone else in a minimum wage job that was tipped.

 

[KMarston]

Does anybody notice if the suggested amounts are based on pre- or post-tax totals? I never really paid attention, because Delaware has no sales tax.

I typically look and it’s different in different restaurants. One thing that gets me is meal delivery in our area. You pay for the food, there’s a service fee that indicates it’s not a tip for the driver, then tax on the food and service fee then the tip is suggested on the total of those three. I typically do $10 unless for some reason that is less than 20% of our order. I’m a good tipper but it eats me to no end when companies do this. It’s certainly not the drivers doing.

 

[barkley]

Does anybody notice if the suggested amounts are based on pre- or post-tax totals? I never really paid attention, because Delaware has no sales tax.

i'm in a state with sales tax. the automated tipping systems (electronic or printed on the bill) vary from place to place so i tend to think the restaurant has some say in how the system is set up (and we've seen the identical system in use at one national chain as used at another in the same parking lot-one's default is for the entire bill w/tax while the others is the pre-tax total).

i personally tip on the pre taxed amount and the amount of the tip is dependent on the service provided. ours is not a state where tipped positions can be paid a lower minimum wage so i don't buy into the whole 'servers only earnings are tips' argument when there are a wealth of other minimum wage earners who don't have tips to supplement their income.

 

[amcnj]

Does anybody notice if the suggested amounts are based on pre- or post-tax totals? I never really paid attention, because Delaware has no sales tax.

I have definitely seen the tip figured at some places before tax, and others including the tax.

It is interesting to hear not all places pay below minimum wage to servers. In my area they are, and I have just always assumed this was done everywhere. The argument in favor of larger tip percentages is often made based upon receiving low wages. Is this also the rationale used in places where servers are not paid below minimum wage?

 

[_19disnA]

The bill for dine-in/sit down type of restaurants seem to typically show some tipping percentages. I think part of the reason for this is to assist those who might not be good at math. I don't have any problem with that but you are still free to tip as you see fit. How much you decide to tip is always a source of controversy on here and I never get into those debates about % or dollar amounts. Mostly it depends on your ability to pay as well as the level of service.

 

[disykat]

Though I give 20 at times, I think listing a 20% minimum is ridiculous IMO. When did 18% go away?

I remember when the norm was 10%, then it was 15% for many years. Now I thought 18% was the norm.

I like it when the tips are precalculated and I can just pick one and not have to do the math, but I've never seen it start that high. The ones I've seen are something like 10, 15, 20 or 12, 15, 18 or 15, 18, 20. Although I've seen some go higher, I've never seen 20% as the lowest.

In my state there is no lower wage for tipped positions, so now we're tipping 20% on top of their generally above minimum wage jobs. (Minimum wage jobs are more likely NOT tipped positions like fast food.)

Don't get me wrong, I loved it when I waitressed because I made bank, (and that was back in the 10% days) but as a customer it's ridiculous.

 

[barkley]

I have definitely seen the tip figured at some places before tax, and others including the tax.

It is interesting to hear not all places pay below minimum wage to servers. In my area they are, and I have just always assumed this was done everywhere. The argument in favor of larger tip percentages is often made based upon receiving low wages. Is this also the rationale used in places where servers are not paid below minimum wage?

there is no rational here. it's just that everyone seems to go along with what is the tipping norm elsewhere so while say a stocker at the local grocery store is arguably doing as if not more a physically demanding job as a waiter at say an applebees, the waiter earns the same minimum wage (currently 12.00 an hour/increases to 13.50 1/1/20) PLUS tips.

maybe i'm jaded about this b/c years ago i worked as a bookkeeper for a restaurant and we had to report tips to the irs for our staff. the only ones we could truly track were those on credit or debit cards but the amount of money a server made on average (even if they had to tip out to busing staff or others) was insane. heck i had co-workers in well paid civil service jobs who had never entirely left their pre-employment wait jobs b/c if they just worked a couple of nights a week or on weekends they made as much as our salaries in largely untraceable tips

 

[NYCgrrl]

I live in NYC and somehow got suckered into paying 20% as an average tip when the cabs started allowing you to use plastic for a ride. 20, 25 and something else % are the choices offered; also you could fill in a different amt but really, you are in a cab for a reason (in a hurry) so who wants to think? The 20% has now translated into all my tipping situations except for the building staff in December when they are all exceptionally friendly.

Before that I just doubled the sales tax amt which is currently about 8.25%.

 

[NYCgrrl]

Does anybody notice if the suggested amounts are based on pre- or post-tax totals? I never really paid attention, because Delaware has no sales tax.

The tip amt is generated by the sub total which is before the tax is added. At least in NYC it's illegal to do it any other way in writing.

I like the different tip amts being written on the bill; saves me from having to wonder what the sales tax is in various states.

 

[disneychrista]

I refuse to even look at the "suggested" %. I don't tip on a % basis. How much my entree/food costs has NOTHING to do with how much work it is for the server.

 

[NYCgrrl]

I refuse to even look at the "suggested" %. I don't tip on a % basis. How much my entree/food costs has NOTHING to do with how much work it is for the server.

OK, I'll bite.
What is your formulation for tipping and what do you base it on?