BlogHer - Have Gratuities Reached A Tipping Point? - Comments

Food service is hard.

lauriewrites — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 18:59:09 -0600

Good topic...Maggie Mason at Mighty Girl wrote a piece last week about "coffee shop etiquette". Many people were quite adamant that they weren't tipping people who just hand them a cup of coffee. I do it unless the service is bad because it's service work I'd never want to do (people put those cafe folks through hell.)

I have heard lots of rationalizations from low tippers and none of them fly with me. I was a (terrible) waitress for seven years and it is difficult work with only about enough base pay to write off in taxes. I didn't need exorbitant tips from everyone but it was nice to get a solid 15 percent. (20 was not the norm then but that would have been even better.)

I tip my hairdresser because she doesn't own the shop and doesn't work for herself. I tip her well because she's awesome. I only go in once every couple of months and I value her work and our relationship. Plus I want her to tell me where she's going when she leaves! She threw in a root touch-up when I (reluctantly) questioned an increase in my last bill that I wasn't expecting last time. I don't tip as a bribe AT ALL (I really value her work - when my hair's happy, I'm happy. My only extravagance, really.) but she mentioned that I had always been more than generous and I have to think that was why she didn't just placate me verbally and threw in an extra service instead.

I was expecting the place to be packed last Saturday when I went and it wasn't - she said it was shocking even though everyone knows about the economy. I'd love to cut back here but there's no way I'm going back to the mess that was my color when I was responsible for it. ;)

Oh, and that 20 one-dollar bills guy? HORROR SHOW. Closest I came was the five elderly siblings who came in every day for lunch, shouted their orders, demanded their Manhattans and martinis be returned and "filled to the rim" and then stacked nickels and dimes by their plates at the end. I would never have spit in their food, though. Payback always comes from somewhere and I can't think of many things I'd less want done to me.

Laurie

Tips Do Influence

Elana Centor — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 11:38:22 -0600

While I do not get tips in my business, I do tend to jump through hoops for the clients who pay the fastest, sometimes walk invoices through and generally appreciate cash flow.

And, it sounds like the folks who do tip your husband do it to ensure that premium service. I would just prefer that I could opt for premium or normal services rather than via tipping so if I were a customer of your husband, if I knew what the rules were by payng more than maybe I'd opt to pay more.

elana
Blogher Contributing Editor,Business&CareersFunnyBusiness

Small potatoes

erinealberty — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 11:35:32 -0600

I'm a journalist, so I don't make much money, but I make more than most people in service jobs.

If I can afford to go out to eat, I can afford to tip decently. If I can afford to stay in a hotel that has a bellboy, I can afford to tip decently. If I can afford a guided fishing trip, I can afford to tip decently.

There are a lot of expenses I could cut out of my life (iTunes, unnecessary clothes, vending machine pop and candy) before I reduce my tips. If I start thinking the recession makes their work less valuable to me, I have no room complain about the path of my own industry.

-Erin

See today's discovery at http://www.findingslc.com

My husband is self-employed and in the service industry

LucindaA — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 10:49:41 -0600

Your comments about self-employed folks getting tips is interesting. I read once tip meant "to ensure promptness" or something like that. With my husband, tips are not expected. But he is a fishing guide and if you tip well, you are the client who will be called first when he is booking his calendar, given the best dates, and offered the most leniency in holding dates until you confirm. The guy who only fishes maybe once a year with us, complains the whole time, and leaves little to no tip will not be called back until there is no other client left to call (which by then the calendar will probably be full). So tips are not required but they do make a difference in the service you receive.

As for hairdressers, my hairdresser does not set the rates of the shop. So if she gives me great service, I'm going to tip.

The only time I get annoyed is when a restaurant automatically adds a gratutity to my receipt (I'm talking to you DisneyWorld) without commenting on it. I think that's sneaky and presumptive. I prefer to be the one who chooses the tip thank-you-very-much.

Tipping Baristas

shoalswriter — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 08:10:17 -0600

My daughter has worked at three coffee shops, and what I learned from her is: Always tip your baristas well. Most do a great job and most are paid less than what they deserve. Brighten their day and add a dollar to the jar. She also said to make sure they see you leave the tip -- it makes a difference!

Cathy

cathylwood.wordpress.com

Have Gratuities Reached A Tipping Point?

Elana Centor — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 13:35:22 -0600

For the two plus years my daughter worked at the coffee shop, I would greet her after a shift saying,"How was work today?"

She could have chosen to tell me about a funny/crabby/unreasonable/nice customer.She could have chosen to talk about her co-workers. She could have said she made a perfect three shot dry cap with hazelnut flavoring.

There was a lot she could have said. What my daughter did share was how much money she got in tips.

A good day at work meant she got great tips. When she did, the funny/crabby/unreasonable/nice customers didn't matter so much.

When she got great tips she could deal with the co-workers who she deemed lazy/rude/stupid/unreasonable.

When the tips were not so great she would rail against her manager.She would rail against her base salary. She would just rail.

A lot of gratuity-dependent employees were railing last Wednesday as NPR's Talk of the Nation discussed whether it was okay to cut back on tips during the recession.
Talk of the Nation discussed whether it was okay to cut back on tips during the recession.

Kimberly Palmer who writes Alpha Consumer was a guest on the program where the majority of callers said their tips/income are down substantially this year.

At one point on the show she said, " I tend to think that if you can't afford to tip, then you shouldn't go out to the restaurant."

Needless to say those particular words of wisdom created quite a response. Palmer found herself doing the backstroke on her blog,

I did not mean to imply that anyone who can't afford a 20 percent tip should stay home. While 20 percent tip on the pre-tax amount of a restaurant meal has become standard, it is also generous, and not in any way obligatory. Tipping 15 percent is still acceptable. While I believe consumers should consider tips part of the cost of going out -- after all, those waiters and bussers are working hard -- I don't think you need to stay home if you can only swing a 15 percent tip. I'm sure the restaurant owners will still appreciate your business.

If wait staff simply saw a 5% decline in their earnings, you probably wouldn't be hearing very much from them. But their drop in income isn't just based on a smaller percentage of gratuity.Their income is dropping because the food bills are shrinking.

People may still be going to restaurants but they are spending less - skipping the appetizer, choosing the more modestly priced bottle of wine, sharing a meal, and saying no to dessert. Add a smaller bill with less of a tip and people in the restaurant industry are seeing a huge decline in income.

New York Magazine just did a poll of people who rely on gratuities for the livelihood. They compared earnings pre- financial crisis with tip earnings today.

Waiters
Nightly tips on a weekend, precrisis: $250
Now: $180

Bellhop
Daily tips, precrisis: $70
Now: $45 to $50

Shoeshine Guy( the magazine's description not mine)
Daily tips, precrisis: $80 to $100
Now: $55 to $60

It did strike me that this list is very testosterone driven. What about the housekeeping staff in the hotel,or the manicurist, or hair stylist? Surely their incomes are also affected.It's curious that none of those workers was included in this survey.

Earlier this month PayScale,which bills itself as the world's largest ongoing salary survey, released its third annual Year-End Tipping Study.

Waiters and waitresses, for example, receive $9.90, or 68 percent of their total hourly income, in tips; restaurant managers get $7.90, or 51 percent of their total hourly income, as a result of gratuities; and bell captains obtain $4.50, or 32 percent of their total hourly income, from tips.

Co nsumer Reports conducted its own survey on tipping with a slightly different twist -- they looked at what people said their intentions were regarding holiday tipping.

According to that survey, Americans say they still plan to tip their housecleaners, daycare providers and hair stylists the same amount they did last year. Just a hunch here but I think it's easier to say you are going to tip the same then actually tipping the same.

I would be interested in a followup survey with those housecleaners, daycare workers and hairstylists to see how 2008 compares to past year.

I don't have to worry about a daycare provider-- when I did-- I did give gifts, not cash. My house cleaner and hairstylist will not be getting cash tips from me either.Thinking of giving them a tip brings out the rawest ambivalence that I have around the custom of giving gratuities for services.

Both my house cleaner and hairstylist are in business for themselves.
I pay my house cleaner around $85 for a 2 hour visit. I am embarrassed to say how much I pay my hair stylist. Let's just say he definitely earns in the six figure category.

It seems antiquated and inappropriate for me to be tipping them. I'd rather use that money to give tips to people who are earning below the minimum wage.That no-tip policy has less to do with the recession than just a personal philosophy.

On the issue of restaurants,I am still leaving a 20% tip but I am trending with the rest of the country: I'm cutting back on appetizers, going to more modestly priced restaurants and taking advantage of 2 for 1 coupons to cut the overall price of the meal.

Even when the economy is strong, it is not easy to work for tips. People in the service industry have to take a daily dose of arrogance/rudeness/cruelty/indifference -- as described by Kristy, who blogs at Master Your Card.

I have a friend who I won’t eat out with anymore because I don’t approve of his method. I think it’s patronizing. He’ll set out a stack of 20 $1 bills, and upon being introduced to the wait person he will inform them that the stack of money is their tip. They’ll get all of it if they’re good, but if they’re not, he’ll keep subtracting the bills as the meal progresses. It usually goes one of two ways. Either we get really good service - though I’ve yet to experience anyone get all $20 - or we’ll get really bad service. I think this tactic promotes the ‘F You’ attitude, and I can’t say as I blame them. I also fear that my food has been spit in.

May this man never have my daughter or son wait on him. I am told by both that the spit rumor --definitely true.

Elana blogs about business culture at FunnyBusiness.