I’m in the US at the moment for a business trip, I’ve been before a few years back but didn’t notice how ingrained the tipping culture is.
Tip the free airport shuttle driver, tip the guy who makes the omeletes at breakfast, tip the room cleaner, tip room service despite 18% service charge and $1.50 room delivery charge….

OK the tips are only $1 each but it all adds up, it’s a rubbish rant I know but I’m too tired to try harder.

Yes it’s completely ingrained. Fortunately us Brits have a reputation for being poor tippers 🙂

I tried to apply a bit of logic when I was last in the US… only to get lambasted by my colleagues.

Apparently you need to leave a tip at breakfast in the hotel – even if it’s a buffet. And apparently the “service charge” applied to you room service, isn’t the same as a tip!

Does my head in…..

Las Vegas is the worst place I’ve been for it. Every building you go in has a doorman with his hand out. I was out of work at the time and there on a very tight budget for a friend’s wedding; after a couple of days of going “dollar… dollar… dollar…” I figured, to hell with appearing polite to complete strangers I’ll never see again, I’ll open my own damn doors.

You are Mr Pink and I claim my five pounds (or you can make it a one dollar tip)

It is a right pain in the arse although I sympathise with alot of the workers too – in some states tips are included in their minimum wage, so if they dont get the tips the subsequent loss of income can be be quite significant.

Last time i was there i gave a taxi driver a $3 tip on a $10 fare. I realise this isnt much but i thought it was pretty generous but he started moaning about it because the tip was in quarters and he was wanting dollar bills. Turned into a proper old sweary argument 😳

Everything’s loads cheaper out there though. Even with a generous tip it’s still cheaper than the UK but with the optional benefit of not paying it if you’re not happy, and that’s why the service is so good in the US. Once you’re used to it it’s a much better system

Don’t get it wrong!

Edit – actually just google for lousy tippers database, but not if you are asily offended.

Last time i was there i gave a taxi driver a $3 tip on a $10 fare. I realise this isnt much but i thought it was pretty generous but he started moaning about it because the tip was in quarters and he was wanting dollar bills.

“Here’s some free money.”

“That’s not enough.”

“I’ll have it back, then.”

—

Tipping is really supposed to be for a ‘service charge’, and I don’t see that as a bad thing given the subsequent quality of the service industry in the US. But I don’t really agree with it bleeding into other areas.

Eg, you tip a taxi driver, why, because he managed to drive you somewhere without hitting anyone? Fair enough if he went above and beyond, helping with bags or whatever. But if it’s ‘expected’ otherwise they’re being short-changed, then really what they need to do there is raise their fares to be more representative.

Tipping is really supposed to be for a ‘service charge’, and I don’t see that as a bad thing given the subsequent quality of the service industry in the US. But I don’t really agree with it bleeding into other areas.

Eg, you tip a taxi driver, why, because he managed to drive you somewhere without hitting anyone? Fair enough if he went above and beyond, helping with bags or whatever. But if it’s ‘expected’ otherwise they’re being short-changed, then really what they need to do there is raise their fares to be more representative.

But then there’d be nothing you could do if the cab was dirty, he didn’t know the way, he played music you didn’t like, had a loud conversation on his cell phone, didn’t give cyclists enough room when overtaking etc. If there’s no tipping you’d have to pay the full fare regardless. With the current US system though you can choose not to tip. Having an optional part of the price for so many services is great from a customer point of view

I tip at meals.

I tip at the bar ( if you dont you dont get served the next night as a colleague found out )

I will round up a taxi

I will not tip the misrable sods in the hotel i normally use. I did the first time i was there as i thought it was expected how ever its staff are the most misrable folk ive ever met and the service is consistantly shite.

I just assume I will be paying a certain level of tip then adjust it up or down depending on the service I get. Good system I think.

geoffj – Member

Don’t get it wrong!

Edit – actually just google for lousy tippers database, but not if you are asily offended.

Or just not a racist

If you’ve ever had the pleasure of working behind a bar, when you get Americans in, they always leave noticeably great tips

I’ve had a good few cab drivers from the airport that seem to want to explain the tipping procedure to me just before they drop me off 😆

But then there’d be nothing you could do if the cab was dirty,

So, you’re rewarding “not being unacceptable”?

I tip at the bar

Critical at a bar you’re going to revisit in a country that doesn’t measure their drink servings.

10% minimum tip for no service
15% for OK
20% for actual good service

On a business trip, there of use got up early one day for an early meeting and had to serve ourselves breakfast as the staff had yet to appear. Just before we left someone did appear and we filled in receipt and she chastised us for not tipping, even though she hadn’t even been present!

About to head to the US for the first time in a couple of days. I’ve been told tipping is mandatory even if the service is poor. Doesn’t sit well with me, but if it is a dollar to avoid grief I’ll get over it.

but if it is a dollar to avoid grief I’ll get over it.

It’s a dollar for people that don’t actually do much other than be there with their hand out

Restaurants would be something like double the sales tax

The hotel dodge that gets me is the bag pick up. So a guy comes to the room and gets your bags and takes them all the way to the pavement, sorry sidewalk. Ok, so you tip him. He then disappears and another bloke puts your bags in the car and expects a tip. Taking division of labour a “little too far” IMO.

I was tipping in a bar in Greenwich village a couple of weeks ago and the barman brought us a free round. It happened twice. I thought that was OK but doormen etc, forget it!

I give tips – sometimes more than 20% (most hotel/bar/resturant workers / cab drivers are on terrible wages with no job security in US) but I’ve seem some mega arguments between colleagues and us workers. The only
one that got me in recent years is a taxi driver at NJ airport that got us completely lost and did some crazy driving. I had to use the phone mapping to find our hotel. I wouldn’t tip him so he wouldn’t give me a receipt. No problem for me really but ridiculous really

Never travelled for ‘business’ abroad: with all those tips what do you do about claiming your expenses?

I would imagine that all those tips you wouldn’t be paying if your employer hadn’t sent you away must get a bit spendy after a few days…

Left 10% tip for a crap waitress in a bar in Santa Monica (was going to leave nothing but got an ear bending from cousin who lives there) – she was still shouting insults as we walked down the street.

10% minimum tip for no service

Once in NY I left a $1 tip (the meal was crap and so was the service), my US colleague was gobsmacked and insisted on leaving 10%. So I paid the bill (as the senior person) and he left 10% in cash. As we walked to the door I said I’d left my phone on the table. Went back and pocketed the cash (which he’d be claiming on expenses anyway) – then used it to pay for beers at the next place. 😆

Never travelled for ‘business’ abroad: with all those tips what do you do about claiming your expenses?

I just add 20% tips to my claim, the boss always signs it off

So, you’re rewarding “not being unacceptable”?

Yes, which is much better than rewarding unacceptable which is what generally happens outside the US. It’s much easier to not tip than demand a discount off an agreed price if you’re not happy

Thing is, and I’m not sure how our OP is getting around this, but if you’re on a business trip, how the hell are you supposed to claim the tips on expenses? It’s not like they give you a receipt!

Steve77 – Member
Everything’s loads cheaper out there though. Even with a generous tip it’s still cheaper than the UK but with the optional benefit of not paying it if you’re not happy, and that’s why the service is so good in the US. Once you’re used to it it’s a much better system

I get that it does generally mean better service (although you are still expected to pay it when it’s not so good) but if you are away on business it puts you out of pocket as julian just hinted at.
Anyway I’m going to go a kill the 6 hours before I need to be at the airport in the largest mall in America, I may just want to kill myself instead after 6 hrs in a mall.

Yes, which is much better than rewarding unacceptable which is what generally happens outside the US. It’s much easier to not tip than demand a discount off an agreed price if you’re not happy

I guess it depends on how often you come across bad service. For me it’s pretty rare, meaning a system than means you’ve got to work out what the correct tip is for every service you engage sounds fantastically more complicated than one where you don’t.

If the cab comes to $25 ask for a receipt for $30. Pay by card instead of cash in all the restaurants and bars

how the hell are you supposed to claim the tips on expenses? It’s not like they give you a receipt!

as I said above, claim it without a receipt just as long as you give a valid explanation, your company should pay it.
Mine does and I know a mate who does the same with his company

I pay by card for everything out here and claim the tips back as well. Our CEO is fine with this on the basis that it is an incurred cost that we didn’t volunteer for so claim it!

Helios – Member

geoffj – Member

Don’t get it wrong!

Edit – actually just google for lousy tippers database, but not if you are asily offended.

Or just not a racist

Indeed – very unsavoury

You’ll find that pretty much all the bar and restaurant staff are on a pliss poor wage and tips are the only way to make a ‘living’.

Where we go in New Hampshire, wages of 5$ per hour were I believe, quite goods. So yes ‘everything’ is cheap out there, including the staff.

If you really want to wind the Yanks up, tell them to stop moaning about how expensive their petrol is. – I guarantee you’ll get a jaw drop when you tell them we pay about $6 a US Gallon

You’ll find that pretty much all the bar and restaurant staff are on a pliss poor wage and tips are the only way to make a ‘living’.

and if this was the case, based upon what I’ve seen tipped they’d do the job for free – does the barman actually get 20% of all drinks/cost he serves?

When you look at the base price and then add state/local taxes plus the tips suddenly its not cheap anymore.

I guess it depends on how often you come across bad service. For me it’s pretty rare, meaning a system than means you’ve got to work out what the correct tip is for every service you engage sounds fantastically more complicated than one where you don’t.

+1 pretty much never tip on the Continent and get very good service, from professional staff.

if you get bad service leave them a cent !!

if you leave nothing they might think you forgot, leave a cent and it shows you remembered, but thought they were crap

As above pay by card

Write on the reciept what was tipped

As long as we dont get excessive and ita documented as a tip work reimburse us no questions as its accepted that you tip in us.

I try and not pay for anything wih cash makes things easier for claiming back. – plus cc statements dont show a break down of the bill.

– no offence to the reasonable people above but if you don’t want to pay tips, don’t go to the US. It’s just a different system and if you don’t leave decent tips, you’re not sticking it to the man, you’re sticking it to some of the most vulnerable workers in society.

– a tipped waitstaff in Michigan (like my cousin!) currently gets…$2.65 per hour with no benefits (e.g. healthcare coverage) + tips. If you don’t tip properly, they’re basically working for free. The lack of healthcare is a big problem – my other uninsured tip-reliant cousin (hairdresser) has a medical bill of $25,000 that she’ll never be able to pay off because she needed surgery to avoid the inconvenience of death (some sort of serious gastric tangling). Yes, it’s a crap system. No, it’s not your fault. No, you don’t make it better by not tipping or tipping badly.

if this was the case, based upon what I’ve seen tipped they’d do the job for free – does the barman actually get 20% of all drinks/cost he serves?

Barmen (two of my mates have done it for years) do pretty much work for tips and ignore the nominal base. They also don’t get to keep all their tips (usually) – they need to pay out other servers, the barbacks, the kitchen staff (if any) etc. (The tronc system, as it used to be called in England).

For the same reason, it’s not great to pay tips on credit cards – because some bent owners etc will simply not turn over the money to the wait staff etc in a month’s time when the bar/rest gets paid electronically, with the result that staff will end up with nothing. If you’re going to pay by credit card, it’s at least worth asking the server “if I put a tip on here, will you actually get it?” – they’ll tell you.

(That same problem goes double in the UK…I wanted to leave a tip at one on of the airport hotels in Manchester and the staff told me that anything that gets put on a card just gets kept by the hotel – feckers)

The worst I have heard is managers harrasing people for not tipping correctly (even if it was a genuine mistake) a good opportunity to ask why they are ripping their staff off.

I agree with the point above of tipping 1cent for bad service – your rating their service as p*ss poor.