Tipping advice needed.

THE UNIVERSAL TIP, "DON'T STAND UP IN A CANOE"

It varies greatly. I feel an ample tip is 20% of the BEFORE TAXES amount. I don't tip the gov't. I also like to keep the total bill to an even dollar amount, so it might go a bit over/under. IF the service is exceptionally good or bad adjust accordingly with a verbal or written reason why. I don't care for tip jars, nor paying for take out food, or counter service UNLESS they go WAY beyond their job description.
 
Another aspect abut tipping involves
breakfasts.

They usually are much cheaper than the
lunch or especially the evening meals.
Yet the server often works just as hard
or harder because people want faster
service, more coffee pours, etc.

For breakfasts, consider 25 percent minimum.
 
One of the many times I was almost punched in the face during a short trip to Australia was when I tried to tip a cab driver. Yipes!

I tip everybody here. Waiters, bartenders, barbers, delivery guys. I try to hit the garbage men before Christmas. Whenever we would move I would tip each mover in cash at the start of the job (on both ends).

Our little group of G-men used to eat breakfast every Friday at a restaurant that insisted law enforcement only pay half price. We would always just tip 120% of our bills - double it and tip 20% on that. It made the girls happy. We had a supervisor who was a notorious cheapskate - he would order a ten buck breakfast, pay five and tip a dollar. He thought we were stupid for leaving 12 bucks for the same meal.
 
One thing that has not been mentioned, and this might not come into play, but many restaurants will automatically charge 18% to 20% for large groups of 8 or more, or if separate checks are desired. You'll see this on the bill though.

I typically tip 20% unless the service is bad, because I've been there. I'll tip more or less, depending on total bill and how much work I cause the staff.

If I buy a 4.99 breakfast and have seven refills of coffee, I'm leaving more than a dollar for sure. If it's just me and my girl at a expensive place and the bill is really high, but the service needed is low, I'll go lower than 20%

Mostly though, I look at the bill, calculate what is 20%, then round off to the nearest cash amount that I have and tell them I don't need any change. Usually I can make it work around 20%, give or take a little.
 
Kiwi cop said:
......We plan to use cash and only use the card as "Credit Card" if absolutely needed.
Click to expand...

I don't know whether the "cash culture" in NZ is still as it is in Europe, but be aware that in the US the belief in the virtue of cash is concentrated in two demographics: older folks and tourists.

Since one of those groups is a bit over-represented here, others will likely jump all over me. But I have plenty of experience over the last fifty years, travelling with family. It's truly cringeworthy watching two or three German relatives, each waving a wad of 20- or 50-dollar bills, arguing whose turn it is to pay this time in public :D

In later years I usually convinced them to stash their cash at my place, we put everything on my cards and sorted it out at the end, and everybody paid me their share.

It's much safer, you have a paper record of everything, you can contest anything fishy for at least three months (even from NZ), and if you have a couple of cards not carried in the same pocket, easy to back up.

Then you just need a moderate amount of cash for postcards, cash tips, and other little stuff.
 
I always tip minimum 20 percent.

As UncleEd said, you're paying the salary of the server with your tip.

I suppose unless the server assaulted me, or visibly sneezed on my plate, or called me a racial epitaph ---I offer 20 percent so that the server can eat and pay rent.
 
I generally tip 20% of the amount due before taxes. 15% is considered the minimum most of the time. Used to be 10%. If I leave a cash tip, I make certain to hand it to my waiter in person. Don't want the one who cleans the table to get it! And generally, tips are not added most places I go unless there is a large group, maybe six or more at any table.

I don't do much tipping at the places I normally go except for eating places, and those places do not generally have a drink steward or waiter in place. I check my tickets when I pay with a card to see if the tip has been added before I will add a tip at the checkout. Many places allow the waiter/waitress to handle the check out process, and I usually pay that tip with cash. I also make certain that the waiter's name or number is on the ticket which determines who gets the tip. Tipping here is just part of the cost of the meal, and great service usually gets a bit more than the "standard" 20%. I don't spend any time around airports or taxi cab stands!
 
I remember when I was a kid back in 1950, and my dad and mom and I took a road trip to the SE U.S. We stopped at a greasy spoon restaurant somewhere in Tennessee, and got really lousy service - we were seated at a booth. The food brought was not what we ordered, it had to be sent back and we waited quite a while for the replacement. The server was inattentive and seemed to resent anything requested. When we finally finished up, my dad left a penny under the plate. My mom noticed that and chastised my dad for it. He replied that he WANTED that person to know that he hadn't forgotten a tip, and that was what the service warranted.

PENNY_TIP_zpsxpzszv21.jpg


Today, I try to leave 20% if the service is at all decent. If it is conspicuously less than that, I'll scale it back to as low as 10%. I've never left just a penny, although at times I've been tempted!

John
 
I usually tip 20% . But it may vary . Also , the only time I've seen a tip added to the bill , was with large parties . On another note ,I was told by a server , when you put the tip on your card , the restaurant takes out the cost of the transaction from the company that processes their payments from the tip .
 
If the service I received is acceptable I normally add about 10% to the CC receipt I sign.

If the service was exceptional without being annoying I go to 15%

IMO,tipping should never exceed 15% of the bill before any tax is added.
 
We're kinda relaxed about tips in my part of texas. Tips are usually but not always based on the quality of service, obviously if the customer is happy they'll leave a "bigger" tip. I have a "Tip calculator" that can be found (or used to be sold at) Hallmark stores. It's a plastic card about the size of a credit card that has a 10% and 15% scale and based on the cost of the check, determines the amount of the appropriate tip. But I don't use it, we just base our tips on $1 per person and we all chip in and leave it on the table. Now if you go to a restaurant and are totally unhappy with the service there is no obligation to leave a tip. If you leave just a penny on the table, that would really get under someones skin. ;)
 
Tipping, In the real world. If you never will be returning to the joint again, tip what the staff has earned, anywhere from 0% - 25%.
If you are going to be returning and want good service, throw money at everyone.
I've bought special service at one or two high-end Restaurants, reservation or not I always got a good table, when others were left waiting.
 
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