Tips ~ Gratuities & Graft.......

[Stoner4Life]

Certainly not just an American tradition but practiced worldwide.

I'm interested in hearing any stories our members carry in their minds as unusual from one perspective (you tipping or you being tipped etc...) or the other.

ANY tip can be defined as a gratuity of course, they're interchangeable words. I just think of them as explained by me below

Tipping: cash or plastic if applicable given at point of sale or immediate service. At a bar or dining establishment, coffee shops, taxi/limo rides, your barber or hairdresser, coat check rooms, the bag boy/girl from the market walking your groceries out to your car, a tow truck driver or mechanic that gets your stranded vehicle back into service pronto, parking lot attendants, seat ushers @ ball parks or other venues.

Gratuity: cash given for services w/out a point of sale and usually for work done over a period of time, <--- that's just my view guys. Most often it's given at holiday time and surely called or considered to be a Christmas tip, even I use that term regularly. I consider gratuities are given to your postal letter carrier, your garbage man (tip him & he'll make sure you never lose the lids btw), a gardener @ seasons end, your dry cleaner, the doorman @ your building if you're so lucky. I'm sure I missed a couple of obvious ones in there.

Tips & maybe some gratuities can often be left on charge or debit cards at the point of sale in lieu of cash, Graft can rarely be made by way of plastic unless there is a real comfort level between those parties.

Graft: cash that's either given by, or coerced from you for services rendered. Bribes etc.


There are too many options for all of the above to make a lucid poll but what the heck let's have one pertaining to something that might be common to us all, dining out.

The poll:

Nothing fancy at all, let's say service for two (2) @ an independent restaurant and the pre tax food/bev total is $40.00; the food was great and the service very good, friendly, water refilled, good timing on salads/entrees etc, several quick stops by the table, the offering coffee & desserts. Basically faultless service.


please enjoy & partake in the poll but also try to include some noteworthy tip/gratuity/graft stories in your life as well.

oh yeah, the poll is anonymous, nobody will see that you're possibly a cheapskate

 

[Wiggs Dannyboy]

I tend to be a big tipper, within reason of course. I've worked jobs where you are tending to the public's needs (waiter, bartender), and it is hard work. So I respect what the server has to do, and feel they should be well compensated for it. Also, the difference in the entire dining experience when you have a server who is a real pro elevates the evening from an OK night out to one that is memorable and will remain in your memory banks for some time. I voted for 25%, and I will even tip higher than that for very exceptional service.

With bartenders, I tip well for the same reasons, but also because it dramatically reduces the time you have to wait for service. If I'm carrying enough cash and going out to have a bunch, I'll tip the the bartender $20 right off the bat to let them know I'm going to treat 'em right. It really makes a difference in the enjoyability factor for the evening and is well worth the extra money.

Here's a recent tipping story for me...I felt the need for a Denny's grand slam breakfast (don't know why, they aren't so great, but hadn't had one in ages), so I visited the local establishment. It wasn't busy, and the hostess put me in this waitress' station who only had one other table to wait on. Well, after 10 minutes nobody was waiting on me (at this point I didn't know who was supposed to be waiting on me), so I got the attention of this guy who was in my line of sight. I told him nobody had waited on me, he said it wasn't his station, but that he would be right with me. He came over, took my order, and everything was great. At the end of my meal, I asked him who was supposed to be waiting on me, and he told me that blonde bimbo. She obviously thought that the tip coming from only one person was going to be too small for her liking, so she just decided to ignore me.

So, I get done, get my bill (it was about $8.50), and go up to check out. The guy who ended up waiting on me was at the register, and I told him to make sure he told the idiot waitress how much I tipped him ($10). I don't normally tip that good, not sure if I ever tipped more than 100%, but I did it to spite the bitch who ignored me, and to also help out the guy who helped me.

 

[Stoner4Life]

I'm with you Dannyboy, an advance tip certainly keeps you well watered @ the bar, done so in the past myself.

I love Brazilian rodizio restaurants where the waiters (passadores) continually come by the table serving cuts of meats and I prefer most meats slightly well done. I'll ask for the best english speaking waiter and give him a $20 with my request, I'm never disappointed and still leave 25%+ later.

If you're gonna spend big on a meal like that then $20 or so to start the night is just a drop in the bucket to assure better service. When I dated a Muslim gal back in NY I'd ask that no pork be brought to the table by the passadores, this was a huge benefit to Shelina's dining experience.

 

[Max Headroom]

i remember watching an early bogart movie from the '30s (probably petrified forest) where a character says "but tipping is un-american! we don't allow it!".


i've heard that in scandinavia or australia tipping is frowned upon.

 

[Tudo]

If the service is good they get a good tip. If the service is exceptional, they get an exceptional tip. I love to tip.

 

[Dope time]

20%

Top Notch then
20%

 

[ponocrookedbrah]

folks don't tip in Japan either. I love tipping for good service at the places I frequent.

 

[unclefishstick]

with out giving away any details i worked at a restaurant in an isolated spot and there was a commissioner of one of the major sports leagues staying on the island....there was a wildfire going on at the time,and this guy was there every day on the bucket line or helping to haul hose up and down where needed,spent a week of his vacation helping to put down the fire,would come to the restaurant every night black with soot...we just comped all their meals the whole time he was there with the wife,seemed like the very least we could do for the guy...and talk about class act,he ended up leaving a tip in the thousands of dollar range...

 

[HidingInTheHaze]

16-20% at a sit down restaurant.

I usually just get take out from where ever so I don't have to tip more than a dollar or two.

 

[unclefishstick]

on the other side of the equation i spent my 40th b-day in amsterdam and had dinner in a nice little spot who's name i have never been able to recall since i have no idea how i even got back to the hotel....anyway,a little french place that had a "chefs table" in the kitchen...i had the i guess you would call the blue plate special,all the house specialties plus wines for each course,and there were a lot of them...at some point the place was actually closed and the staff sat down to eat,many bottles of wine were purchased...the tab ended up just under 1500 dollars us,left an extra 500 tip on top...absolutely one of the finest meals i can barely recall...

 

[Harry Gypsna]

To my mind, a tip is voluntary thing, that you give, or do not give, depending on the service you receive.
Unfortunately, in the states, it is used as an excuse for pathetic wage levels(something business attempted to get away with over here). Another scam is making individuals put their tips in a kitty to be shared out, meaning the slackass who works half as hard, gets an equal cut and the customer who thinks he is tipping the good staff is being deceived.

At least here, businesses were told they couldn't count tips as part of the employees wage like they were doing, cheeky bastards, adding up the tips, then making up the difference to minimum wage.
If you own a food serving establishment, it is for you to pay your employees wages, not your customers (other than indirectly though their paying for food) Stingy ****s, driving around in a new car every 3 years, while the people who actually do all the work get the bus.

 

[darkshadow]

I don't eat outside often so i usually give 25-30% unless the service is awful.

In that case, i give them nothing and never come back.

 

[BadTicket]

Gratuity? I didn't order gratuity!

Seriously tho, i don't like tipping or figuring out the local tipping scheme or calculating the right amount of tips, just so i don't feel like a dickhole after i'm done eating. Harry Gyps has some good words on this.
Coming from a non-tipping country where the staff gets paid by their bosses, i'm gonna go ahead and say our system is better and if you work for tips, think about your life and how to better it. I'd hate to depend on the kindness of strangers while having a steady job. Tipping = Not a good system.

 

[Stoner4Life]

New Years eve '97/'98 & I'm driving taxi in the NY suburbs, we were being paid 75% for working the holiday as opposed to the usual 55% we got, it's always a great and busy night for us.

I get a fare going from a country club party in Scarsdale to New Rochell & back, it was obviously going to be a coke run for these 2 guys and they're in a hurry. I decide to take Pine Brook Blvd a lesser known street that dumps us in the neighborhood they wanted to visit.

At first these guys were annoyed because they had NO idea where they were nor how close it was putting us to the destination, "trust me!" I kept telling them, it was a long dark unfamiliar road to them but when we literally popped out off that dark boulevard and right onto Potter Ave they started cheering & showering me with $5 & $10 bills.

The ride home was just as fast, maybe even faster for them w/all that sniffin' going on. I did the trip in 45 minutes total & got a $20 tip @ the end.


All told I had $95 from them, $36 for the fare (my boss got $9) & $59 in their mad tip money, $86 net for me on a 45 minute ride. Not my biggest tip in the cab but it was the most per minute of ride.

 

[SooperSmurph]

People need to be paid proper wages, but people with class need to maintain the tradition of spreading their good fortune.

"I remember, this guy came in and the room went wild, the doorman got a hundred bucks just for opening the door, the bartender got a hundred for keepin' the ice cubes cold, he was like a movie star." - Henry Hill played by Ray Liotta in Goodfellas

 

[Harry Gypsna]

New Years eve '97/'98 & I'm driving taxi in the NY suburbs, we were being paid 75% for working the holiday as opposed to the usual 55% we got, it's always a great and busy night for us.

I get a fare going from a country club party in Scarsdale to New Rochell & back, it was obviously going to be a coke run for these 2 guys and they're in a hurry. I decide to take Pine Brook Blvd a lesser known street that dumps us in the neighborhood they wanted to visit.

At first these guys were annoyed because they had NO idea where they were nor how close it was putting us to the destination, "trust me!" I kept telling them, it was a long dark unfamiliar road to them but when we literally popped out off that dark boulevard and right onto Potter Ave they started cheering & showering me with $5 & $10 bills.

The ride home was just as fast, maybe even faster for them w/all that sniffin' going on. I did the trip in 45 minutes total & got a $20 tip @ the end.


All told I had $95 from them, $36 for the fare (my boss got $9) & $59 in their mad tip money, $86 net for me on a 45 minute ride. Not my biggest tip in the cab but it was the most per minute of ride.

Christmas was always my favourite time(well, mid summer too with all the half naked ladies walking around) when I was homeless selling the Big Issue. Xmas eve 98, about 10am, I'd been out for under 30 minutes and I had 50 quid, 2 packs of ciggies, and an eighth of morroccan, having only sold 2 of my 50 mags. I never had to buy dog food when I was selling the big ish, fuck I was given more than I needed every day and would take it to the issue office to be doled out to someone else. I was always giving away my free samples of crack n smack to people who actually wanted them too. That was always funny when a young lad from one of the inner city estates walks up to you and presses a business card and a wrap into your hand when he buys a mag. The best thing about being homeless in Nottingham back then was Thursdays and the Jamaican ladies who went to market square with shopping bags full of takeaway trays, contain their homecooked fried chicken, 3 veg and gravy. That meal was almost worth kipping in a doorway for. I remember the August saturday when me and my mate sold 400 mags between us in 5 hours. Happy days, walking into Body shop with pockets full of pound coins, swapping them for notes from the till (saved the BS ladies walking to the bank for more change) or helping them with deliveries and having a coffee with them in the shop basement, or when my mate got battered and the ladies dragged him in the shop and tended his wounds, applying various lotions and potions. The best time of my life, seriously.

 

[Citizens Aux PD]

If the service is good or even great, I tip 10%.

I resent tipping restaurant or bar staff for their service. It's their fucken job! Service---good & great---should be a matter of personal pride and professional expectation. If their employer doesn't pay them a respectable wage, then they should find another fucken job somewhere else.

Do we tip library staff for helping us obtain books?
Do we tip grocery clerks who serve us fast with lovely vibes and sincere smiles?
Do we tip the ambulance or fire crew who arrive in 3 minutes flat?


I don't mind tipping cab drivers who are friendly and keep their mouths shut--usually a fiver, sometimes a tenner.
I don't mind tossing a few quid to those who bring me a pizza or kebab to my front door...

If I hire someone to cut down a tree or do some other house-related service and they do it fast AND good AND are friendly, then I give them something like a £20 tip.

20% (or more) for restaurant or bar staff? You're having a bloody laugh.

But for me it is relative. If I was a millionaire I would easily give a £100 tip...but still would not and could not be bothered to give 20% (unless there was a blowjob included from some pretty 20-something lady).

 

[Wiggs Dannyboy]

I delivered pizzas for a few years when I was going to school. Bad tippers were well known, and we all knew which addresses would result in a shitty tip. I never did this, but a bunch of the delivery drivers got even with the cheap skates and would spit on top of the pie before delivering. I watched somebody do this once...it blends in with the shiny cheese topping perfectly, you'd never know it was there. Anyways, I wonder how many of these shitty tippers would decide to leave a fair tip if they knew that karma was biting them in their cheap skate asses?

 

[SooperSmurph]

But for me it is relative. If I was a millionaire I would easily give a £100 tip...but still would not and could not be bothered to give 20% (unless there was a blowjob included from some pretty 20-something lady).

The tip on a blowjob is a minimum $50, regardless of the total on the tab

 

[im me]

i give 15 bucks regardless of what the bill is. if the waiter/waitress is great maybe more if their a really shitty server their tip will be me advising them to seek a new profession.