Michelle

Im really tired of all this tipping business. I mean,yes, I will tip appropriately a waitor. But come on! The taxi driver, hairdresser. You name it! At Starbucks they have the can out for tips. PLEASE!!! My boyfriend and I stayed at a lovely B&B in Vermont last weekend and we payed plenty for it. There was an envelope left on the dresser for tips. Im sorry but we payed $175. for the room . It was run by a nice enough couple but I really thought it was tacky to ask for a tip like that. Actually, I did leave a couple of bucks but isn't there an unwritten rule that you don't need to tip the owners? I thought it was so refreshing when I went to Europe and the service was included in the bill. It made it soooo easy.

x

Maybe the tip envelope was for the maid/cleaning lady. Not all owners of B&Bs clean their properties, they do hire help.

Regarding your hairstylist, find a new one that owns the shop, that way you don't have to tip. By the way, most hairstylists are independent contractors, meaning they pay the owner a percentage of their sales for the rental of the chair, or else pay a flat fee. My hairstylist is the owner, but I do tip the girl who shampoos my hair if the owner doesn't do it himself.

xxx

Remembered a similar thread about aggressively pursuing gratuities and topped it for you.

Michaela

In general European hotels are older, more run down and not as clean as in the States, so I'll gladly tip in the US!
And restaurants in Europe? heck, they don't even have ice and ketchup available. Why would they deserve a tip?
As for Starbux and such, that's up to you dearie. No one says you have to tip at places like that.

skinflint

Agree that Americans are "tip" happy. Money seems to be an obsession for a nation such as ours that has one of the highest standards of living. We have who wants to be a millionaire quiz shows, million dollar state lotteries, and we litigate for millions if someone steps on our toes. What pisses me the most is that most recipients of tips don't even have the courtesy to acknowledge your generosity. I've just returned from a trip into southern China and north Vietnam where tipping was not really expected of me. On the rare occasions that I tipped either a waitress or cab driver for exceptional kindness and service, they were genuinely surprised and grateful...

Pam

Restaurants that don't have ketchup available on the table? How gauche.
Foreigners.......who need them with their strange food perversions. No ketchup on the table always shows a lack of class. They certainly don't deserve a tip for what is life if one can't drown all food products under mounds of yummy ketchup?

linda

i agree with the previous poster about ketchup,if you want ketchup in europe go to mc donalds!i supect you didn't get ice because you were rude about the ketchup.i live in the uk and have travelled europe extensivly and i have never come across a place that didnot have ice.
If you get good service tip if you don't leave no tip never feel obliged

Sophie

I am a waitress in Montreal and by far, my best customers are American. In Quebec and in Canada people rarely tip more than 15%. Americans usually tip 20%. At the restaurant where I work, there is a guy from Australia who told me they dont tip in his country. I guess that when there is an American at a restaurant in Australia, all the waitors fight to serve that customer. They are really surprised if the American does not tip even if its not the tradition in Australia. Ironically, our worst tipppers are the French from France. We love them dearly because they are our cousins. However, in France, the service is included and when they come to Quebec, they think its like back home. Its not. Its North America. In Quebec and in other provinces we have a high tax on bills of 15% and maybe they think that it is part of the tip. So when we see an American, especially gay customers, we are happy. The gay customers seem to tip even better. So come to Montreal!!!

Holloywood

Sophie- I don't mean to start an argument but it is kind of amusing to hear someone from Montreal complaining about people from France being the worst tippers- in parts of South Florida wewe have lots of French-Canadian visitors (i.e. Hollywood Beach)- and their cheapness is legendary!

Bad

Re: The tipping of hairdressers. Just had to chime in here.
Had my hair "done" on Saturday. Gave the hairdresser a $100.00 bill. It's $75.00 dollars for me to get my hair done. She had to "go get change" (from her car). When she returned, she had fifteen ones and a five dollar bill. She looked at me and asked "Is that o.k.?"
Perhaps if I were a bit bolder and didn't care if she was doing my hair next month, I would have responded differently. I was indeed flabberghasted! I tip my hairdresser at holiday time and that's it! $75.00 every 5 weeks is a lot of money without including a tip!! I will remember this behavior. (Women out there will agree that when you find someone that does your hair the way you want, it's hard & risky to just change salons.)
So, yes Michelle, I agree with you that some Americans have even grown to expect a tip. (how rude!)
Footnote: I always tip my server 15-20 %, depending on service, and I leave a tip for the maid, tip the cab or limo driver, and I give the guy standing in the snow a dollar for filling my gas tank.
But tipping hairdressers?? Come on!
Soon we will be tipping our school teachers, health care workers, garbage disposal personnel...

gail

I tip my hairdresser because she is the only one on your list (school teachers, ...) who has a very sharp potential weapon at my neck.

Ruth

In the UK the "dustbin men" (garbage disposal) have started leaving us a Christmas card in December. A nice gesture - and of course a request for a tip. Fair enough - quite a lot of people leave them an envelope at Christmas. Same for the milk delivery man (which are a rare luxury these days - worth keeping!).

I know this is the US board - but I hope you don't mind a foreign viewpoint.

bad

Yeah, but, you don't pay him/her until they have put the scissors down!!
FYI: A needle is a sharp instrument made from steel used by health care professionals.
I believe you are missing my point.
People have come to expect tips!! It's just greedy! Tipping anyone but waiters/waitresses should be optional!

Greed is WHAT??

I just don't call trying to earn a living greedy. Most people who get tips NEED them, and they aren't buying a Lexus with them, I assure you.

In my experience, the most greedy people are those with considerably more money than anyone on your list of people who expect tips. And those greedy people are also the most stingy, nasty, selfish, and hypocritically self-righteous.

Michelle, I sentence you and all the other tight-fisted grinches to two months on the front lines in a service industry.

Bad

Greed is WHAT:
I totally agree with your second paragraph.
But, for the record, my hairdresser travels far more than I do!! Has been to Jamaica (sandals, no less) several xs, and is able to refer ME to good places to dine, stay, etc. while on holiday!
Also, she invited me to her hot tub after my appointment on Saturday. Out on her beautiful deck... she is not married and supports herself!!!
Get the picture? I'm just a middle class joe blow going to work everyday, just like you.
Ruth: just need to add that I put an envelope out for my garbage collector and both my newspaper people, and my mail carrier every Christmas. Cheers.

gail

I find that a tip to people/places you frequent is well worth it. For example, I tip my 2 newspaper carriers (who deliver in a car)generously each Christmas - and, yes, they do leave an envelope. Their service is normally great, and this tip gets my paper delivered to the house instead of the roadside box when it is a blizzard or monsoon (and I didn't ask). I don't tip the mail carrier because I get the wrong mail often (maybe that is why I get neighbor's mail!). If a buy a coffee for $1.79 and the counter person is pleasant, I do throw the change in the cup - she is making minimum wage and some days her job seems a lot harder than mine. The "tip economy" is something I am ambivalent about, but it is the way we do business in the US and I do not believe I should make a philosophical or moral statement about its efficacy at the expense of those who serve me - often doing jobs I am fortunate enough not to have to do myself.

El Cheapo

hairday,

Just because your hairdresser has been to sandals and has a hot tub, doesn't mean she's pulling in 6 figures. Maybe a lot of her dining and other recommendations come from chatting with clients who have raved about suck places, or perhaps she ahs been there herself, big deal. Sounds to me like you are just cheap or maybe just jealous!!! Why do you give to your mail carrier but not hairdresser? Your hairdresser can make you look good every day with a good hairstyle but how critical is it the way the mail carrier places in the mail in the box/slot?!?! I just don't get the logic.

tippy

Nobody likes to be aggressivelt pursued for tips, but I have to tell you that I like the custom of tipping.

The way I see it, tipping is about the only way we have of saying directly, "You did a great job." On the other hand, if I leave a small tip, it says, "You did a lousy job."

Interesting comments from the waitress in Montreal. I've heard similar stuff from service people in other countries: They like waiting on Americans because they know good service will result in a good tip. Long live tipping!

FrugalFred

I won't tip at a walk up counter!

Nope, won't do. Used to tip at Dunkin Donuts counter when you SAT at the counter, and the waitress poured you coffee. Now, one walks up to counter, gets their grub, and walks back to seat. Want a refill? Walk back.

Do these counter people at Starbucks, etc. tip those who wait on them at McDonalds???? No!

How about courtesy bus drivers? We don't tip city bus drivers, but we're expected to tip for a short ride from the airport to the rental car lot? No, I don't think I will, thank you.

everyone needs

Let me add my 2 cents on this one. Has anyone ever sat back and thought that some of these public servents are only getting paid minimum wage or maybe a few cents over? IE: Watress', bartenders, paperboys etc. Some people rely on their tips to live.

Call me a big time spender,but I do tip my nail tech, hairdresser,massuese etc. This is a small token to say - Hey, you did a great job and a guarantee that the next time I use their service they will give me extra special attention.

Remember-Money talks.