BellaOnline Forums Money Frugal Living Tipping When You Are Poor

Hello all,

I think that if you are out and about and spending money on anything that provides a service and that service was what you went out to get and you enjoy or benefit from the service, then you have 10% that can be factored into the spend.

The person serving you may not be earning a set salary and may be working for tips only (a lot of that goes on here in SA).

One thought that has always bugged me though is this:

If I go out for a cup of coffee say with a friend, then the waitress brings two cups - the tip being 10% of the bill may be say R2,50 (for a R25,00 bill).

Now if we add a toasted sandwich (or something) to that for each of us, then the waitress still only goes to the kitchen once, serves us once, but because the bill is now say around R70,00 including the coffees, then by default the tip is R7,00 for essentially the same effort. The cook or the person washing up gets nowt!

This is not logical for me though I wish it were. But, I come back to my initial point - if I can afford to go out and have a whatever, then I can afford to tip accordingly. I do not think that defining yourself as a 'poor' person lets you off tipping for the right service. If you are or a person is too poor to spend, then they are too poor to tip and of course they won't need to.

As a student I put myself through two years worth of university books by working for tips only. That is probably why I think what I do!

Cheers now

I agree that service people, especially in restaurants and bars, may be working for tips only because they are earning minimum wage (sometimes less), but I did not hire them, the establishment did. And the manager of the establishment, at close of shift, could calculate tips (bonus) for each person by looking at the checks to see the amount each server brought in.

The cooks, bus persons, dish washers, should get a percentage of each servers bonus.

I do not recall when, where, and why this 10% rule/demand began, but I think it is not right that a customer should be responsible for tipping. I pay for a product -- I do not pay wages.

I know what you mean, Phyllis. When my aunt moved into assisted living and we had her house refurbished, did you know that we were expected to tip the movers, the house painters, the flooring guys and the yard workers (who worked for the landscaper) plus provide lunch? Yes, I heard them talking about it. We did not tip them daily, as they apparently expected, but at the end of the job. And it got quite pricey.

Here where we live in CA, the "standard" tips were reported in the paper (and online) to be 20-25% *and more* for good service.

Tipping has gotten out of hand. Business owners pay minimum wage and no benefits so servers rely on tips to make it. I say that we need to lobby for living wages, but the added expenses put the pinch on business owners who go out of business or charge higher menu prices. Customers end up ponying up the dough in one way or another.

If customers stop frequenting dining establishments because they can't tip appropriately, servers will lose their jobs in the end anyway when the restaurant loses business.

Have you noticed that when you get your car repaired (if you have one) the bill itemizes the cost of the materials and adds in the cost of the service. If you don't have enough money, can you just pay for the materials and simply thank the grunts that did the work? Its not exactly the same I know, but I do feel that by walking into a sit-down restaurant I have implicitly agreed to add the cost of service on to the cost of the meal.
And yes, I make far below minimum wage myself, and hardly ever go to a restaurant or a bar and always cut my own hair so I don't find myself having to tip often, but when I do it seems only fair to add it in.

That is true, Claybird. Yet a mechanic shop does not expect tips due to their exorbitant costs and their type of service.

Lori, I have never in my life heard of painters, movers, yard maintenance people getting, much less expecting, tips. I think that is outrageous. Lunch maybe is ok -- my brother and I once bought lunch for some guys we hired as movers.

It seems there are all kinds of thoughts on this subject and it is very interesting to read them all.

What about tithing (used to be 10%) -- is that the same as tipping?

At restaurants I look at the bill and see the tax.
I multiply the tax times 2 and leave that amount as a tip. My niece is a server and she turned me on to that method. Works here in Prescott, AZ!

Hello All,

I cannot confirm this at all but 'we heard' that tipping started in France in general and was an acronym for To Insure Prompt Service.

I do remember quite graphically that on an after schooling overseas holiday I was given by my parents, when the tour went to Paris, the French restaurant staff and movie house ushers and dustbin guys aggressively 'screamed' teep ... teep...' and just refused to do anything unless you paid up front. Of course it wasn't a set 10% of anything (10% used as a standard here in SA) as generally there was no bill attached to the action. BUT unles a person paid up a person got nowhere!

I think it was just the idea and not specifically the amount. The idea meaning "You see, you cannot do it unless I do it..." I am not sure of that either in many instances, but you know what I mean as I hope I have articulated the thought well enough.

I do not know though about tipping starting in France, but I/we were caught in this situation, spending our precious 'student' foreign exchnge if we wanted nearly anything. And then there were all the govt. taxes charged for various things in the hotels we stayed in like bed tax and tourist tax and other...on top of tipping the restaurant staff.

There too I remember that the bill came 'pre-tipped' by management. I remember too that one of our party refused this and really caused a nonsense in the dining room when she told them to amend the bill accordingly. In instance she just did not think the service had been good at all.

Here in SA too, rather than or even not the same as tipping at all is the labour charge levied by trades people (plumbers, electricians) and motor repair mechanics etc etc and so on. Here labour charges are (or can be) anything from R380 to R795 per hour. An account for a car service would therefore include materials, labour charges and VAT (value added tax - govt charged currently at 14%)

You are right, reading all the thoughts on this subject is very interesting,

Cheers now

Pre-tipping is really annoying. I've been to places that I didn't realize i'd tipped - and left another tip. When I got home I looked at the receipt and realized that meant I double tipped. The few times that has happened, I was infuriated. They don't tell you when you leave that second tip that you've already tipped.

Peeved!

I actually tried to overtip the other night at my local pub bc i felt bad for my chronic undertipping. they know I am hard up and would not let me. That's actually really nice of them.

Lestie, when my mom was a server, she took a percentage of her tips to give to her bus boy, her toast girl, the maitre'd, and the kitchen staff. That was the way that it was in the world of high class restaurants.