Counter tipsFollow

My morning routine costs me $3.53. Make it $4.00 after leaving the change.

Never. I don't tip the guy at McDonalds or the person ringing up my groceries or the guy selling me gas & a newspaper so why would I tip the girl handing me a frozen yogurt?

Edited, Jan 3rd 2008 10:21am by Jophiel

I'm starting to see these every damn place, even in fast food joints and to be honest it annoys me. If you have a problem with the amount you are paid then you seriously need to start looking for a better job.

I only tip if i feel that the expected level of service i would expect to recieve is exceeded.

I have also asked on rare occasions that sevice charges be removed from my bill due to the shocking level of staff performace, one owner argued with me once and i upped and walked out of the restraunt without paying anything which should have landed me in the world of pooh but didn't, guess the police must have eaten there themselves.

I am a 7 day a week customer at my local coffee shop. If it's just my coffee, I leave them the change ($0.56 I believe, every day), if I get coffee for my wife, I toss a buck in. They know my name, I know them all by name, we talk about our weekends and our families and ordinarily they start making my coffee the moment they see me walk through the door (I get the same large espresso every day of the week). They open up on Christmas Day and Thanksgiving and if I go there on those days, I toss a $10 in the jar (yeah, that one is guilt).

Of course, I also give a gift to my son's day care provider on her birthday and at Christmas. These people are a part of my life, they treat me and my family well, and I don't have a problem with a little thank you every day.

Maybe that's it. I don't stop at coffee shops with enough frequency to feel a rapport.

I used to stop at a gas station nightly and buy a newspaper. The girl there would tease me about buying my paper at 11:00pm each night and we'd make small talk for a minute or two but I never felt the need to tip her (nor did she keep a jar out). Arguably, she was doing just as much work as she would in selling me a donut.

Edited, Jan 3rd 2008 10:43am by Jophiel

Well it sounds like familiarity is what makes the difference. It was about the time the guy started calling me by name that I felt like I needed to tip him.

I feel funny leaving $0.28 cents for my $3.72 purchase, so have been going with 5.00. But then I don't necessarily tip every time I'm there. I think I'll modify my accounting. I should just give the guy $20.00 on Monday and anything that's leftover on Friday is his. That should work out, as I'm not likely to stop there ALL 5 mornings in any given week. Lol, he can keep a lil envelope with my money in it next to the cash register.

Anyway, it does seem like there are more and more tip jars lying around, but maybe that's because there are more and more counters providing us with our daily needs.

I am extremely lazy. Stopping for coffee on my way to work is one more time I have to stop my car (even counting drive-thru). So I brew my own at home and take it with me. Also, for the most part, coffee shop coffee isn't all that great. I don't do lattes and crap.

/Leary
I just want coffee flavored coffee
/Leary

i do not tip unless there is service. if i have to pore my own cup of joe then forget it. if they are making me one that is special and beyond normal job discription of a typical coffee shop helper then yes i will tip.

Occasionally I'll let them keep my 3 cents change and throw it in their damn bucket. Usually because I have already stuffed my wallet in my bag, whilst trying to hold my 25lb baby on one arm and steer my hyper 3 year old away from the counter.

Edited, Jan 3rd 2008 5:34pm by Tare

I don't tip counter help. That's not to say I wont tell them to keep the change if it's an annoyingly small amount, but thats more about me not wanting to carry around the extra change in my pocket then anything else. IMO, the person at the counter of a coffee shop did no more work then the kid working the fry-o-lator at the fast food place. I didn't tip him either. Their wages are calculated to be compensation for their labor sans-tip. I'm already paying for their efforts and that should be enough.

At a restaurant I tip. Usually generously unless the service particularly sucks. But that's because their wages are calculated based on an average 15% tip. So if they do an average job, that's what they get. Seems simple enough. I'm not too picky about service, so if the food tasted good and they didn't drop anything on me, they're probably going to get more then that "average" amount. But then I feel like they actually "served" me in that situation. Putting drinks on a counter isn't service.


Oh. One exception of course is a bartender. I always tip them. Usually before they pour my drink. Helps improve the quality of the drinks a ton. I usually drop $5 in the jar as I'm ordering, and drop more in as the night goes on depending on the quality of the drink. A good bartender will get about as much from me in tips as the cost of the drinks over the course of an evening if the drinks are good.


Also, on the change thing. I'm also much much more inclined to drop my excess change in one of those charity jars at the supermarket then in a tip jar. But that's because I figure that the person behind the counter has a job and isn't likely suffering some terminal illness or living in a poverty stricken African village or something. Yeah. Priorities. Go figure!

Nice Guy Eddie: C'mon, throw in a buck!
Mr. Pink: Uh-uh, I don't tip.
Nice Guy Eddie: You don't tip?
Mr. Pink: Nah, I don't believe in it.
Nice Guy Eddie: You don't believe in tipping?
Mr. Blue: You know what these chicks make? They make shit.
Mr. Pink: Don't give me that. She don't make enough money that she can quit.
Nice Guy Eddie: I don't even know a fucking Jew who'd have the balls to say that. Let me get this straight: you don't ever tip?
Mr. Pink: I don't tip because society says I have to. All right, if someone deserves a tip, if they really put forth an effort, I'll give them something a little something extra. But this tipping automatically, it's for the birds. As far as I'm concerned, they're just doing their job.
Mr. Blue: Hey, our girl was nice.
Mr. Pink: She was okay. She wasn't anything special.
Mr. Blue: What's special? Take you in the back and suck your dick?
Nice Guy Eddie: I'd go over twelve percent for that.