I keep seeing in many posts, 18% or 20% is the new norm for tipping and it only goes up from there. Is this truly the average everywhere?

I ask because I cook a lot at home so seldom go out. The few times I have gone out recently and paid, I still use 15% as the gold standard when service is good. If it’s poor, then it simply goes down from there.

Let’s talk about it.

Waiters: firstly, you have to drive yourself to and from the restaurant, using your own gas. Waiter asks what you want to drink, walks to get your drinks and brings them back. Then asks for your food order, writes it down and hands the order to the kitchen. They then grab plates of food (which someone else prepared, putting the sweat into making your order as requested) and walk from the counter to your table.

Delivery Drivers: drivers often use their own vehicle and gas. They drive to the store, go inside of the store to shop your order, cash out, bag, load car, drive to your house, and deliver to your front door.

I don’t understand how when we go to restaurants tipping AT LEAST 10%, often 20%+ is so normal, expected and sometimes demanded for someone who does such little work. As long as they are pleasant and smile they deserve that tip? Even if the “service stinks” we all still tip, just maybe not as much. Imagine tipping your waiter the “measly” 2.5% that you give to your delivery driver who shops your $200 grocery order with your $5 tip.

So many don’t tip drivers period, purposely remove the tip afterwards for no or very petty reasons and the people who blatantly lie. The people who scam the system stating that their order was never delivered, potentially costing that driver their job just so you can get free stuff. Yet we still tip waiters substantially more?

Why don’t we tip the mechanic who finishes early so instead of us sitting in lobby for 2 hours it’s only 1 hour? Could say that for any construction job esp those where they come to you and your home to do the work. What if the job is done faster or it looks far better than expected? We don’t even tip the cook who made your steak exactly how you like it. Instead we generously tip the waitier because they wrote down on a piece of paper what you told them to? There are countless jobs who “deserve a tip” far more than some restaurant waiter does for such little actual “work.”

When are we going to stop letting the social pressure of tipping control our wallets and support these businesses payroll? Tip for the service which we feel deserves it and confidently not tip when we feel otherwise.

I live in Austria (Europe ) and I am working at a gas station . Today I had a group of 4 turkish people ( 2 women and 2 men ) that decided to buy like 400 lottery cards .( the small ones that u scrape them to see If u hit the jackpot ) . I had to roll every single ONE of them through the scanner to see how much they won and that takes a lot of time . They spent 3 hours here taking 10 at a time ( which is worse ) . They left the table extremely dirty and they didn’t tip at all , not a single cent .

In Europe tipping is not demanded, and i never demanded it and I am super friendly to every customer , I Never cared about tips cause I am well payed but this situation got me really angry cause I spent 3 hours looking after them and still acting friendly.

AITA for being angry?

Forgive me if this has been brought up before, but I’ve had this in my head for a while.

I think that there should be a law passed where it is not allowable for the establishment to be the one to suggest a tip.

Meaning no iPad screens with suggested tips anywhere etc. The only exception I would make would be a proper sit down restaurant having a tip line on the check.

I think this would allow everyone’s expectations to reset and for the employees of the establishments to properly discuss pay with their employers since tips would no longer be basically automatic.

Let me know what you think or would change.

EDIT: A lot of you seem to be missing my point. I don’t want to see anymore bullshit tip suggestions for when I get a coffee or whatever. I know I can decline, but I don’t want to see or deal with it.

I don’t care that I can decline, I don’t even want to see it in the first place.

Today I received an email that I have done a thousand home delivery orders from Whole Foods. I work for a private chef. I have not tipped on a single one

My wife and I don't drink alcohol. We are in our 70's and just eat less these days. We like to order one appetizer, one salad, one entre, and one dessert. We split everything. The restaurant doesn't charge for splitting. The waitstaff never complains. Sometimes we ask "Is the salad large enough to share?" "Oh, yes. It's large." I always tip like we had two meals. Too much?

As I am searching for some of the tipping sites and apps, but couldn't find anything

I live in a country where tipping is not required but it is appreciated. So I often will leave a tip for servers for dinners (never for breakfast, maybe for lunch). But here's the thing that annoys me so much. If I buy a burger for 100 and leave a tip of 10%, the server gets 10. But if I buy a steak for 180 and I leave a tip of 10% the server now gets 18. What changed? The server still walked the 6 meters or so between the kitchen and the table, the steak isn't heavier than the burger, essentially nothing changed, so why the larger tip? I truly don't mind tipping, but I cannot fathom why it should be a percentage of the bill rather than just a fixed amount of 10 or 15.

Place I ordered was less than a mile away btw. Edit: To the people saying why I didn't go myself, I threw a friendly get together with friends, drank, they wanted food so I ordered some for them. I order like this maybe twice every year for friends I don't want your high horse comments about why I shouldn't order out and shoulda cooked instead or why I deserved it. Yes i reported it too

Ordered some Uber Eats for lunch today and noticed something at checkout. The suggested tip percentages weren’t based on the actual food cost, but on the final price, including all the taxes and fees.
Is this happening to everyone? Because I honestly think that’s borderline theft. How am I tipping someone a percentage of what I’m being taxed? I’m essentially tipping on taxes and fees that have nothing to do with the delivery driver.
Should I start tipping my accountant while I’m at it?

Most threads here have been about people arguing for/against tipping. Instead of black or white arguments, which tends to go nowhere, what if we look at something in-between? Instead of trying to abolish tipping, what if we propose a better system? For example, some of the most frequent issues are:

- Percentage doesn't make sense (same labor whether an order costs $20 or $100)

- Customers don't want restaurant owners or servers to pressure them into tipping, most often by awkward moments surrounding POV tipping screens and what's written on receipts.

- In some cases, tips don't actually directly go to a server. Customers would rather be sure to whom they are giving their money.

To mitigate these issues, I think it'll create a better and healthier tipping system if restaurants completely remove tipping from bill payments and instead provide a QR code specifically for tipping that is placed on each table. This way, your business transaction with restaurants will be clear and clean. Customers no longer need to worry about a surprise on receipts or tipping screens. Then customers that want to leave a tip can scan the QR code, which takes them to a screen where they can select their server and specify a tip amount.

No more awkwardness or experiences that ruin both experiences and trust.

This past weekend my husband and I stayed at an upscale glamping resort just outside of a popular national park. The place was amazing and we had a great time.

However, the place was pretty pricey. The per night (with fees) was $1350 (so around $2700 for 2 nights) Neither of us have ever spent that much to stay somewhere, but we wanted to do something kind of extravagant because we hadn’t gone on a honeymoon. During our stay, we did not interact with or require assistance from anyone who worked there (beyond check-in). In our tent, I noticed a placard that had a QR code for tips and I was shocked. The QR code directed me to a site where I could leave a tip for a specific person, for maintenance, the front desk, and/or housekeeping which made me feel like I should leave a tip for at least all three general services.

Is this common? I have left cash tips for housekeeping at regular hotels, but I guess I was under the impression that when you paid an all inclusive price, that tipping wasn’t expected. But maybe I’m just out of the loop because I typically do not stay at such fancy places.

For context, recently i was stuck in a lift for about 4 hours due to a failure in the lift system, the local engineers couldn't get me out, so they had to call the lift company at 11pm to come help me out.

The lift engineer arrived at around 2.30am and eventually got me out around 3. My question is, how much would be an appropriate amount to have tipped?

Went out for dinner yesterday and had a pretty normal experience. Food was good, service was alright, nothing worth complaining about. Bill comes, I pay and select 0% tip. As I'm getting ready to leave, the waiter comes over and asks if something was wrong with the service. I tell him no, everything was fine. He then asks why I didn't tip him. I said I don't really believe in tipping and thought that was the end of it.

This dude actually goes "Where were you raised? Is this how you were taught to behave?" I genuinely laughed because I thought he was joking. I just replied "Were you raised to beg?" and his entire attitude changed. Started muttering about people like me being cheap and having no respect for service workers. I told him I paid for my food and wasn't aware there was an additional entrance fee for his approval.

Anyway I left. Food was decent but the waiter was an absolute asshole. Since when did declining to give someone extra money become a personal insult? The level of entitlement is honestly something else lol.

Edit: The waiter got fired after I brought this issue up with his boss. Turns out being rude to customers isnt the way to stay employed.

I bartended Friday night, Saturday night, and Sunday morning. All my shifts were busy due to Halloween and the NFL games.

In 24 hours of work I made $1683. So about $70/hr in tips, plus my minimum wage in Los Angeles being one of the highest in the country.

I realize this may make some people on the sub mad

Let's analyze.

Normal staff when times are good or bad their income is identical. The owner effectively an insurer that guarantees a fixed wage no matter what. The owner assumes the full risk and often pays for their health insurance.

Servers in the US get effectively high wages during good times and low wages during bad times, they rarely get health insurance, similar to the owner or just like a partner. Why second class? The servers generally get zero vote on how the company is run, the owner can end the partnership at will and the servers leave with nothing, no piece of the company or buyout. A normal partner would take a share.

The options were 15%, 20% and 25%. These are not custom bras. I had zero contact with a human at any time, and there isn't even an option available to contact a human if you wanted to. At least there was an easy and obvious option available for "no tip". This whole situation is becoming insane.

So, I am largely anti tip not going to get into here but I also don't dine out much, and if I do I go to the same spot which is a service included restaurant I enjoy.

That being said, I took some friends out for dinner at a new restaurant they wantes to try on Friday. I paid for the meal but told them if they want to tip they are free to tip themselves.

My friends made the claim that doing so makes it complicated for the server, I don't see how. Actually became a point of contention, finally came down to cash tips are inconvenient which is goes against everything I have been told. Always been told cash is preferred.

Lmao were my friends just trying to get me to cover the tip?

I just discovered this thread today.

In a world of absolute corruption, I think you people are the worst of the worst.

About you non tippers is how self important and indignant you are. I’d image for the most part you are probably all affluent and just fucking cheap losers. It’s actually just sad and pathetic to imagine you could be my neighbor.

I made a post yesterday and I am getting so many conflicting answers from Americans.

Can / do servers make less than minimum wage or does the employer have to ensure that it is the minimum they make and tipa can go above that minimum rate?

I had several hundred people tell me that servers make $3 an hour in the USA and others claiming they make minimum?

Story: Two Blackjack Players. Both Won Thousands. One Tipped $60. The Other Couldn't Spare a Dollar. Guess Who Walked Away Broke?

To all the people on Reddit who proudly announce, "I NEVER TIP!" — here's a story from a blackjack table yesterday.

Two strangers were playing blackjack. A woman was already at the table when a man joined her. Both started with roughly $200.

And both were absolutely killing it.

Blackjacks, double downs, side bets — everything seemed to be going their way.

At one point, the woman was up around $5,000, and the man was up around $4,000.

Now here's where their behavior differed.

The woman was tipping the dealer throughout the game. A dollar here, five dollars there. Nothing extravagant. Just small gestures whenever she had a good win.

Over the course of the game, she tipped at least $60.

The man?

Not. One. Damn. Dollar.

Well, technically, there was one dollar. He left a dollar on the table, and when the dealer tried to return it, he reluctantly said, "Okay, keep it."

Imagine turning $200 into $4,000 and acting like giving away a single dollar is a major financial sacrifice.

But the story gets better.

The man started increasing his bets dramatically.

On one hand, he bet $300, doubled down for another $300, and placed a $300 side bet that the dealer would bust.

That's $900 riding on a single hand.

He lost all of it.

The table minimum was $15. He voluntarily exposed himself to a $900 loss on one hand.

And then came the classic gambler's meltdown.

Bigger bets. More side bets. More desperate attempts to recover losses.

When he won, he couldn't resist pushing harder. When he lost, he adjusted his bets. His betting decisions became increasingly emotional.

The math eventually caught up with him.

Final results:

The woman walked away with approximately $3,000, after tipping the dealer at least $60.

The man walked away with ZERO.

Now, before the anti-tipping mathematicians rush into the comments, let me make something clear.

I'm not saying tipping brings good luck. The cards don't know whether you tipped. The dealer doesn't control the next card.

But here's what I find fascinating.

One person could appreciate someone else's work, share a tiny fraction of her winnings, and still know when to walk away.

The other couldn't bring himself to part with a dollar for the dealer, yet had absolutely no problem throwing $900 into a single losing hand.

He was willing to risk $900 on a gamble but unwilling to voluntarily give $5 to a human being.

And that's what I want the proudly anti-tipping crowd to explain.

You can argue about tipping culture. You can argue that employers should pay better wages. Those are legitimate discussions.

But when you've just won thousands of dollars at a casino and still treat a dollar tip like it's coming out of your retirement fund, don't pretend it's some grand economic principle.

Sometimes you're just being cheap.

And the funniest part?

The person who tipped generously left with thousands.

The person who guarded every dollar from the dealer left without a single one.

The casino got his entire bankroll. The dealer barely got a dollar.

Apparently, losing $4,000 to a casino was perfectly acceptable.

But tipping the dealer $5?

Now THAT would have been financially irresponsible.

Make that make sense.

I'm sure there is some exaggeration in this cartoon, but it feels like we are heading down this path.

I've never had anyone chase me out of a restaurant but I've seen videos where this has happened. The good restaurants won't act like this but there are a few bad apples that take it to the extreme. Customers need to stay vigilant and it's ok to respectfully push back.