Who Gets A Tip? In General.

[ercarta]

I shop for groceries at this one place sometimes & there is a lady that bags my stuff? She's got a coin box beside her always. Do I always have to tip her? Do I tip one skip one? What do I do?

There is a BP that I get gas from late at night in Hoboken. The gentleman that I get more often than not always asks for me to pop my hood so he can look. He looks briefly makes a face like things are cool then squeegees my glass. Does he get a tip? Always?

I mean if I keep tipping these types of people that are doing things I could do for myself then I'll end up spending more on everything.

I figured I'd bounce this off of the bulletin board and see what we come up with. Does anyone share my grief? Do you ever find yourself tipping and wondering why you tipped and how you got s*cked in? :confused:

[Nic]

It drove me crazy when I first arrived here figuring who you've got to tip. It's quite straight-forward really. If it's the sort of job usually done by a huspanic or afro-carribean you don't tip. If it's a job usually done by preppy white kids or blue collar Italians you do.

No, only kidding. I tend to stick to tipping restaurants, taxis and services with a high personal service element. I will put loose change in a box or give somebody a couple of dollars if the service has been particularly friendly or helpful. Nobody in the US gets offended about getting tipped so I tend to err on the side of tipping. I even got tipped myself for giving somebody change for the PATH!

What I really hate is when you go to some swanky resaurant or hotel that adds a 20% service charge and then has a box on the check for an additional gratuity. Now that really is taking the mickey.

[wishiwas]

Speaking of tipping,

Let's say you dine at a fine establishment such as Bertucci's where parking is free. How much do you tip the guy who retrieves your car from the garage? I usually tip $1-2.

[ercarta]

Any parking attendant anywhere I generally hand them $2. So you don't sound far off. The parking attendant at Bertucci's is like the parking attendant at a pay lot, to me he is a parking attendant. :)


Speaking of tipping,

Let's say you dine at a fine establishment such as Bertucci's where parking is free. How much do you tip the guy who retrieves your car from the garage? I usually tip $1-2.

[Juli B.]

Ercarta--

Yes, I do sometimes feel snookered regarding tipping. What gauls me the most is tip boxes at places like Starbucks, where the coffee costs $4.
At those prices, management should be able to pay a proper wage and the customer should not be expected to shell out even more money. (I hope no one's said this already; I haven't read the full thread. :o )

[ercarta]

I think that the tip box is more for effect than anything. It may have something to do with the fact the "barista's" produce your drink from a bar so it gives a bar like feel to the place when a tip is involved. That theory was concocted as I typed this reply so don't take that and run too far with it. I only hope that the employees really don't rely on these tips to subsidize their income. :)


Ercarta--

Yes, I do sometimes feel snookered regarding tipping. What gauls me the most is tip boxes at places like Starbucks, where the coffee costs $4.
At those prices, management should be able to pay a proper wage and the customer should not be expected to shell out even more money. (I hope no one's said this already; I haven't read the full thread. :o )