From the Tip20! Forum by ~anonymous~
Tip20! Forum Contributor

Please take a minute to read.
Tipping your server at a restaurant has been a long-standing American tradition. While tipping 15% of the total bill has been the standard for a long time, that tip can vary depending on the service you receive. Here are a few ways to determine how much you should tip.

1.) The friendliness and attitude of the server has got to be a top priority in determining a tip. The food could be wrong because of a chef’s mistake, the room temperature could be cold because the manager set it that way…but a server’s attitude is nobody’s responsibility but the server’s. Most people that go into restaurants are happy and looking forward to eating a nice meal and not having to do the dishes afterwards. If you get a server with a poor attitude who seems “put out” by having to serve you, a very small tip, if any, would definitely send him or her a message. You should never have to put up with that. By the same token, a server who is happy, smiles a lot, and seems to thoroughly enjoy waiting on you, should definitely get 20% or 25% for making your evening even more pleasant.

2.) The food is certainly a factor. If your order comes out wrong, it may have been a chef’s mistake, but it’s something the server should have noticed before it was set in front of you. The quickness in fixing your order is important. If they fix it in five minutes, I wouldn’t hold it against the server. If the server seems to be bothered by the fact that you’re complaining about the order being wrong (again, there’s the attitude factor) or takes another 20 minutes to get you the correct order, a deduction from that 15% standard is certainly justifiable.

3.) Is your glass filled in a timely manner? A good meal is often not a good meal if you don’t have anything to wash it down with. If you go more than a few minutes without a refill, a slight deduction of the tip would be in order. On the other hand, if your glass is constantly filled to the rim, a slight increase should be given.

4.) The overall pace of your meal is important. You shouldn’t be getting your main meal one minute after your appetizer arrives. You shouldn’t have to wait five minutes to get the Parmesan cheese or ketchup that you asked for. And after your plates are cleared and you’ve had dessert, you shouldn’t have to wait 15 minutes for the check. Your meal should flow smoothly, from the time you sit down to the time you leave. While tipping 15% is easy enough to do, the tip should mean more to you as a patron. Servers make very little salary ($2.13 / hour) , living mostly on the tips they make. If they’re do a standard job, 15% is fine. But tipping more for an exemplary job can be extremely rewarding. And tipping less for an inadequate job could send them a message that they need to work harder or change their attitude.

A little quiz for those of you who have never waited tables:
1. What is the average hourly wage of a server?
2. How much should you tip your server?
3. Is it OK to verbally abuse, throw your food, your drink, even your cigarettes, at your server?

• If your answer to the first question was minimum wage, or more, you’re not even close.
• If you said “as much as I think he deserves” for No. 2, again, not even close.
• And if you laughed at the third question, fine, but don’t think it doesn’t happen.

LESSON TIME
Here’s your first lesson in diners’ etiquette: Remember that your waiter is a person. She doesn’t live just to serve you. More than likely she waits on you so she can pay the bills while she puts herself through school.

DON’T GET CHEAP
Here’s your second lesson: Your server’s livelihood depends on your tip. Restaurant owners (in many states) are not required to pay their employees more than $2.13 an hour because tips can be considered part of wages.
Just ask server Kim Harris, who works at Awful Arthur’s at Towers Shopping Center in Roanoke. Harris recently received a $49 tip, which sounds pretty good until you find out the check totaled $520. In the land of 20 percent tips, this one should’ve been $104.
“They still stiffed me even though they told me the service was great,” Harris said. In restaurant lingo, that’s known as the “oral tip.” And you wonder why your server isn’t always as friendly as you expect.
When you have a bad day at work it most likely doesn’t affect your salary, but in the service industry, one off remark and you’re not getting a tip, or at least not a decent one. All because someone didn’t give you the benefit of the doubt.
While on the subject of tipping, here’s a rant on the forum site bitterwaitress.com written by an anonymous server in Roanoke: “They come in once a week, every week and only leave 50 cents per person. They get extra refills, extra dressings, to-go drinks and are always complaining about SOMETHING! Stop coming in if you don’t like the food OR service! I’ve gone out of my way to actually be RUDE to these b—–s and they keep coming back! Even if you’re polite … no difference in tip! If all you can afford is 50 cent tips, then go to McDonalds and buy an extra side of fries! I don’t need your pity change!”
If this is you, there’s your wake-up call.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T
Another good rule of thumb? The Golden one. Respect your server. Just to reiterate, he’s there to serve you, but he’s not your servant.
“I had a guy cuss me out about his tab because he thought he was paying more than he should,” said Awful Arthur’s bar manager Chad Skeens. “When I walked by him, he flicked a lit cigarette at me so I had to bar him from the restaurant.”
A lit cigarette? Come on. Talk about being a jerk.

MORE TIPS
• Once you’ve been seated, don’t take it upon yourself to switch tables. Restaurants have a seating chart and certain sections belong to certain servers. You just might move to a section that just got “sat” and you’ll mess up the flow. Oh, and along those lines, don’t move another table next to yours if more friends show up. That other table is a potential tip for your server. Ask what can be done to accommodate your party.
• Try to let your server know everything you might need ahead of time. If you want a side of ranch dressing and your drink refilled, tell him both at the same time so he doesn’t have to make extra trips.
• Sometimes it’s tough to decide what you want to order, but if you tell the server you’re ready, be ready. If it’s busy, she doesn’t have time to wait for you to decide when she could be helping other customers or helping her fellow servers. And if you have a small child, order for her if she can’t make a decision. Time is money.
• If you’re seated at a table, don’t go to the bar to order a drink. Then you must pay the bartender instead of your server. Your server will gladly get you a drink.
• Don’t name drop in an attempt to get something free if you’ve only met the owner once or twice.

Now pass this around to all your friends and family to read. I’m sure that this is something that we have all thought about at one time or another. I am a server myself. I found this on a web site. I have talked to a lot of people that don’t realize a lot of this information, or are unaware. Remember you should want us to be just as happy as you want us to make you during your visit. You will definitely find that a server who is in a good mood, will give you better service and be much happier to serve you. Saying I have done a good job, and tipping awful (oral tip) is worse than no tip. Table turns are very important for your server. When the restaurant is busy think before you hang out for a long time, or tip for your stay and not just the bill. When people come in and sit for 2-3 hours having conversation remember that the server could have had several tables for the one you are holding. And last but not least, I have never worked in a restaurant where a server only had one table. Please try to be considerate when your server has many customers and you see that person is very busy, and just take into consideration that you are not the only person in the restaurant. Thank you and don’t forget to pass this on.
~anonymous~

From the “Best of Craigslist” Date: 2004-01-13, 2:13PM PST

Welcome to your neighborhood nudie bar! Come in, have a seat, check out all the pretty girls. Oh, look! Here comes one now. But why is she fully clothed? I’ll tell you: because she’s me, your nudie bar waitress–here to tell you about our two drink minimum’

‘Two drinks!’ you scream, ‘they didn’t tell us at the door!’

Let me explain, idiot:
They don’t tell you that at the door because they don’t want to scare you cheap bastards off. See, you come in, you see a naked dancing lady, chances are, even the cheap mofo’s want to stay. You’ll probably be too distracted by the live pussy to notice the signs on all the tables that say, ‘two drink minimum.’ So I’ve been hired at minimum wage to inform you.

I don’t tell you this. Instead, I smile, and in the sweetest, bubbliest voice minimum wage can buy, I say,
‘It’s not the doorman’s job to tell you about the two drink minimum, it’s MY job!’
I hold a little sign with all the drinks and prices on it in front of you and ask kindly, ‘What would you like?’

You ignore the sign and say, ‘I’ll have a Budweiser.’

This is where I change my tone to sad and empathetic.
‘We don’t serve alcohol,’ I explain, ‘It’s illegal in San Diego to have full nudity and alcohol.’
I feel you. I understand. You make me want to drink.
Other times, I think, good try, little under-21 punk. You only got in because it’s an 18 and up club.

You finally look at the sign I’ve patiently held in front of your face. This is where you exclaim loudly, ‘$4.25 for a COKE?!!’

Inwardly, I sigh. Outwardly, I correct,
‘$8.50. You have to buy two.’
I sense your confusion, (not too good at math, eh?) so I explain again,
‘It’s a TWO drink minimum.’

You’re speechless.

Let me explain: In America, when you have a business, you want it to make money. Say you have a nudie bar in a city/state where it’s illegal to have full nudity and booze under the same roof. Where the heck are you going to make your money? You gotta sell something. So you sell cokes and juices for $4.25. And you make it a two-drink minimum.

Now you’re really upset.
’8.50 for two cokes? I’m not paying $8.50 for two cokes!’

Here’s a reality check, idiot: First of all, I’m talking to you. I doubt women talk to you much, unless, like me, they’re in the service industry. That’s gotta be worth something. Secondly, have you been to the movies lately? They’re like $9, and you don’t even get cokes. What’s more, you have to leave after an hour and 50 minutes. In a strip club, the entertainment is live. Nudity, right in front of you, and you can stay longer than an hour and fifty minutes. Plus you get two nonalcoholic drinks. For a mere $8.50. It’s really a super bargain. So get off my ass. I didn’t set the prices.

The more I think about this, the more it bugs me. You aren’t paying $8.50 for cokes; you are paying $8.50 for the privilege of having many women take their clothes off and dance before you. Ask some random non-crack head woman outside to take her clothes off and dance for you for $8.50. See what happens. You might get slapped, you might get the police called on you. Now, with that same $8.50, you go try to get 15 women to do it. It ain’t gonna happen, buddy. So buy the drinks and realize it’s a bargain.

But I don’t balk at your resistance to the $8.50. Instead, I make a cute little flirty face and purr, ‘It’s really worth it” (I’m a real fucking bargain at minimum wage, I tell you.)

Now what gets me is the sheer percentage of you who will—after all this—say,
‘Nah, I’m good. I don’t want anything.’

You look past me, at the naked dancing lady, verbally and non verbally telling me, ‘go away ”

I try to put it in even simpler terms. I say,
‘It’s a two drink MINIMUM. You HAVE to buy two drinks to be in here.’
Then pause, dumb it down more:
‘You HAVE TO BUY TWO DRINKS.’

You don’t want to tear your eyes away from the bent over ass a few yards in front of you. I know, it’s a joy to watch a pretty naked girl bent over slapping her own ass. But somewhere in your pea brain, it registers that you cannot fully enjoy the ass until you get the persistent waitress to leave.
‘Okay, okay,’ you grumble.
‘What would you like?’ I ask, slightly relieved. My smile is warmer.
You look back at the sign. On it, an assortment of non-alcoholic beverages. Coke, diet coke, Sprite. Orange juice. Cranberry juice. Etcetera.

You start reading it. Slowly.
Yessssssss, your waitress has allllllllllllllllll dayyyyyyyyyy…

After an eternity, you decide.

‘I’ll have coke.’
I turn to your friend, whose been standing next to you the entire time.
‘What would you like?’
‘Uh, nothing. I’m not thirsty.’

Part Two: I Bring the Drinks

‘Are you guys paying separately or together?’
‘Separate.’
‘That’ll be eight fifty,’ I say.
You see two cokes in front of you. You complain,
‘Ahh, you bring ‘em two at a time?’
‘Yes, you idiot. Like I would trust you to buy one now and one later?’
Actually I only say, ‘Yes. ‘

You hand me a twenty.
I make change, giving you eleven one-dollar bills and two quarters.
Why so many ones?
A. Because it’s a strip club! I’m hoping that once you see a big pile of ones, you’ll realize what they’re for, and give me one.
B. I know if I don’t give you a bunch of dollar bills now, you will be asking for them later when the stripper whose ass you’ve been staring at hits you up for money”’ And lastly,
C. Since you’re probably not going to tip me well on the drinks, you for sure aren’t going to tip me for a second trip if I have to bring you change later. I unload all my ones on you now to save myself the trouble.

But I do make it slightly inconvenient. I have learned not to hand you your change, which you will pocket. If I put your change on my tray, you have to pick it up. I’m counting on you being too lazy to pick up the quarters. That way, I’ll get at least fifty cents, (yeah, it’s pathetic what I gotta do for fifty cents). Fifty cents is more of an insult than a tip, but because I make so little, I figure it’s better than nothing.

So you pick up the bills. You look at the two quarters on my tray, decide it’s not worth it, and leave them. You didn’t tip me; you were just too lazy to pick up the quarters. You don’t say thank you. Neither do I.

I turn to your friend.
‘$8.50,’ I say.
He’s rifling thru his pockets. He’s scrounged up a five-dollar bill and three wadded ones. He drops them on my tray.
‘It’s $8.50,’ I say. ‘You’re short fifty cents.’
He looks at you.
‘You got fifty cent?’
You remember that fifty cents and nod at my tray. It’s already there. For a $17 order, I get nothing. And because I value/need my job, I don’t say anything.

Here’s a little rule: When you buy a drink, never tip less than a dollar. I live so far under the poverty level that I have to go to bars with $2 drink nights. I still tip a buck a drink.

If you ask your strip club waitress to go get someone because you want a lap dance, give me a dollar for my trouble. If you didn’t tip me for drinks, and don’t intend to tip me to go get her, get off your ass and get her yourself.

Lastly, don’t come in with a bunch of guys, have a big order, not tip me, then ask me to change $40 into ones to tip the dancers with.

I’m not making a living wage. My paychecks do not even cover my share of rent. And guess what? In the tipping/service industry, the government assumes we are getting tipped, and taxes us accordingly. I lose money when you don’t tip. It costs me money out of my paycheck!

My favorite: I wish you were out there reading this, but I’m assuming you’re retarded and illiterate. You came in. You bought two drinks. You asked for all ones for change. You gave me nothing, explaining, ‘I need these for tips.’

Let me explain something: You’re telling me that the naked ladies are more important for you to tip than your server. Well guess what? Some of those naked ladies (deservedly) make over $500 per night. Your dollar, little man, doesn’t mean shit to her. You will only mean something to her if you get her in a private booth and let her do a string of lap dances for you at $15 a pop. Ten dances, she’ll remember you and smile at you next time you come in.

I’ve seen strippers pick up dollars time and time again and not say ‘Thank you.’ I will always say thank you for a dollar. That dollar will mean a lot more to your waitress.
I can’t believe you, saying, ‘I need these for tips.’ Then not tipping me, your server.

I hope all that jacking off gives you carpal tunnel.

From About.com Greece Travel By deTraci Regula, About.com

Tipping in Greece is confusing for most visitors. Here’s a simple guide that will let you return to any restaurant with confidence.

1. Tipping for Tourist-type restaurants: Ask for the bill – usually, it will not be brought until you request it.
2. Check over the bill for obvious errors, and bring any substantial errors to the attention of your waiter. Minor error? Decide if it’s worth trying to sort it out.
3. Confirm that a ‘service charge’ has been included. If it has, follow suggestion below.
4. Pay the bill.
5. To reward warm service from your waiter, leave a few Euro, preferably in bills, on the tray. If service has been poor, skip this step, as the waiter generally shares in the revenues from the meal and from the service charge.
6. Regardless of the general service, unless it has been memorably abysmal, ease the burden of the busboy, who often receives virtually nothing for his work, by leaving coins totaling up to about a Euro on the table.
7. If appropriate, thank the owner or person in charge for the great meal.
8. Tipping for Traditional Eating Places: Ask for the bill. Check for obvious errors, and bring any to the attention of your waiter. If it’s minor, forget it.
9. Note if a ‘service charge’ has been included – it probably won’t be.
10. Tip your waiter between 10 and 20 percent of the total. Leave this on the tray, or give it to him directly.
11. Leave some small change totaling about a Euro on the table for the busboy.
12. Thank the owner or person in charge for the great meal.
13. Tipping Taxi Drivers: Generally don’t expect tips (but won’t turn them down).
14. There is a minor charge by the taxi driver for handling each piece of luggage – this is not a tip, but an official charge.
15. Tipping Public Toilet Attendants: Tip small change and bless them, since without them, there would be no toilet paper or soap there.

Tips:

1. The’cover charge’ on the bill is literally the cost to cover the table when you sit down, and includes your bread and non-bottled water.
2. The cover charge is cannot be removed, even if you don’t drink the water or eat the bread. Don’t argue it.
3. Had a horrible experience and feel ripped off? Contact the local ‘Tourist Police’ office. They exist to handle complaints and assist tourists – not to arrest them!
4. Don’t stress over tipping – get it close to the guidelines above, but don’t break out your calculators.
5. Greeks aren’t expected to tip as often as tourists are. And the more remote the location, the less likely it is that a tip is expected.

Found on CBS4.com

More and more families are finding it increasingly difficult to afford a night out at a restaurant let alone pay the 15 to 20 percent suggested tip. Service workers say since the economy took a turn for the worse gratuities have done the same thing.

So just what the rules for tipping in tight times?

There are rules for just about everything so why not tipping.

“Fifteen to twenty percent is the usual,” said Pamela Eyring with the Washington School of Protocol.

Eyring says when economic times are tough consumers spend less and that often means cutting back on gratuities.

“The ‘dine and dash’ is back and although they’re paying the bill, they’re not leaving any tips,” said Eyring.

Coast to coast, servers say they are feeling the squeeze too with fewer customers, smaller orders and lower tips.

“People who would tip you a little bit more, like 15 to 20 percent, are going for the 10 to 15 percent tip,” said server Jonathan Mancipe who works at the Bodega restaurant.

Excusable behavior in a bad economy? Eyring says ‘absolutely not’.

“It’s just like stealing. I mean it’s just like not paying the bill; part of that gratuity is part of the meal,” said Eyring.

Less tip money also affects more than just the person who took your order at the table. Usually a waiter or waitress’s minimum wage salary goes to taxes. Many of them share their tips with food runners and bartenders.

Experts say if tight times find you tipping less why not order less or take advantage of specials.

“If you’re going to dine out and go to nice restaurants, then you pay the tip,” said Eyring.

The experts say the only time you should consider giving less in a tip, maybe 15 percent instead of 20 percent, is when you’ve received poor service.

Found on the web…

Original Source movingtipcalculator.com

Tipping the movers is customary in the United States. As with any gratuity it is a show of appreciation for a job well done. It is not mandatory. “Gratuity” has its origins in the Latin word for voluntary.

For a local move, how much to tip should reflect the length of time the move took and the degree of difficulty. Were there flights of stairs involved? A piano? A heavy armoire? Did the mover need to hoist a piece of furniture? Did they navigate a tight narrow staircase successfully?

A waiter / waitress will spend maybe fifteen minutes throughout a meal with you and it is customary to tip 18%. (They did not even cook the food. – For a debate about tipping wait staff see the opening scene of the movie “Reservoir Dogs.”) A mover will move all your worldly possessions and spend anywhere from a few hours to three to four days with you. It is an extremely physical job. That being said, the average tip is $5 to $7 per hour per mover. Depending on the level of quality mover you have chosen, this will be between 5 % and 15% of the move cost.

Once the move is complete the driver will have you sign paperwork and collect payment. You may give the gratuity to the driver. The driver will split the tip evenly themselves and the crew.