New rules for end of the year tipping

[rubato]

Oh, but it does. To Insure Prompt Service. TIPS. Get it. That's what it started as.
I didn't read the article, but if they wrote ensure than they are idiots.

 

[pearlieq]

Oh, but it does. To Insure Prompt Service. TIPS. Get it. That's what it started as.
I didn't read the article, but if they wrote ensure than they are idiots.

I know it looks like it should, but that's not what tip means and that's not how it started. The word "tip" is way older than acronyms.

It's a pretty common misconception, so I don't really judge an average person who believes it to be so, but I do expect more from a journalist (who, again, should be overseen by an editor who also should know better!)

http://www.snopes.com/language/acronyms/tip.asp

It's not even the right form of "ensure".

Insure, with an i, means to guaranty against calamity or loss, like car insurance or life insurance.

Ensure, with an e, means to assure something will be so, like that gross stuff they make Grandma drink to ensure she gets enough vitamins.

If the acronym story were true, we would "tep" people instead of "tip" them.

 

[4HppyCamprs]

Not that I exactly was before, but I stopped taking that article seriously when their "expert" said that the literal translation of "tip" was "to ensure promptness", which is not only untrue, but would make the word "TEP".

What a dumb "expert". Doesn't Yahoo employ an editorial staff?

LOL i laughed and read that outloud as we talk about that frequently..It is actually To Insure Proper Service. Hence Tips LOL Tep

Tips (the above definition) actually is based on the assumption that you will see the person at some time in the future for addtional services since you usually pay after receiving the current service...

 

[kaytieeldr]

But honestly I really don't think customers should have to investigate anything further. Add up your costs and figure out a reasonable profit and charge me a fair price. It really to me isn't so much that I mind paying a fair price, it just gets to the point this time of year where you feel like everybody around you has their hand out for cash because they "work hard." Really? Its a religious holiday, not a salary stimulus incentive scheme.

So don't give a Christmas tip. It's a CHOICE. The guidelines in that article were just that - guidelines. They're for people who WANT to give one, some, or all the workers listed a Christmas gift but don't know what's appropriate, or if anything is. But don't try to justify not giving a service person a Christmas gift with the assumption that you "know" how much that person must earn, based solely on how much you pay for the service.

 

[kaytieeldr]

I'm not suggesting for a moment, though, that Ms. Palmer is not entitled to her opinion. But then so are we all, so here are my guidelines:

Rule #1: Anyone who asks for or suggests what is an appropriate tip DOESN'T GET ONE.

Um, have you considered expanding your thoughts and selling the article to a publication? Maybe in time for next year's holiday season? This all makes a lot of sense - and it seems the first person to not get tipped would be Ms Palmer

 

[Yoshi]

Restaurants: For sit-down, table service - 15-18% of the PRE-TAX amount for reasonable service; 20-25% for outstanding or special service. I may round up if the bill is small (like a single breakfast), or I may leave nothing if the service is poor or the server is ill-mannered. Counter service - $0.00. Starbucks started this business of putting a tip jar out, and now it seems that every counter has copied it. You don't get a tip in my book for carrying my order from three feet from the hot rack to the counter.

Agreed 100%, so many people I know insist you are supposed to tip on the total amount after tax when I always tip on the pre-tax ammount. I hear 15% is considered low today, but that's also what I tip for good service, up to 20% for exceptional service. I also agree about the counter service tipping, now even when going to pick up an order at a pizza place or sandwich shop on the receipt they have a line area for a tip amount.

 

[C.Ann]

Who makes up these wacky rules? Do they have any idea how much money that would add on to already strained Christmas budgets?

I think there are plenty of people who are struggling harder than the garbage man who has a job..

 

[dreamin_disney]

Here's a good one for ya...my niece is 25 years old and a sweet girl. She tells me about her hair stylist. SHe works in a salon but told my niece she would do her hair a lot cheaper if she did it at her home. My niece tells me she gets her hair done at the stylist house. SHe charges $45 for cut and color and my niece gives her a $20 tip-lol! I told my niece if she does it at her house then she doesnt have to tip because she doesnt have to pay rent and etc. The stlist does a good job its a layerd cut a lil below shoulder and one color. I just thought it was funny

newspaper guy puts a x-mas card in the newspaper with his name and a return envelope with his address. Along with feel free to send cash or check

 

[SoonerSarah]

We don't ever see our UPS/FED EX deliverers unless something needs to be signed for. More than 50% of the time they don't even ring the door bell.

Our mail (and more than half of the mail in this town) is delivered to a central box. Mailman gets out of his truck, fills up everyones slots, put their package in a larger box and a key in their regular box, and delivers to the door only if it is a huge package. We generally have 1 day of snow per year, I don't think there has ever been more than 6 inches.

I stopped getting a paper delivered because not only would they not deliver to my door, they wouldn't deliver the paper to the side of the house that I wanted it delivered on (live on a corner), the papers were continually wet because it would be in the street and they wouldn't even deliver it to the door when I called specifically requesting it for just a few week period after my c-section. Even if I was currently getting a paper, there is no way I would tip someone that did all that.

 

[tleeiii]

as they say, different strokes for different folks. some poeple care more about their hair, caure more about getting better service and care more about getting the extra mile. i'm a hairstylist, believe me we remember who gives the extra tips for the holidays. i will go the extra mile to fit them in when they want , or even give them a free treatmeant after, or a little extra something. you know, what goes around comes around. i know a tip is a choice, i give good service no matter what, but if someone gives me a big tip or and extra holiday tip, believe me they will be getting more then good service.
and im sorry for people who think that we hair stylists are only worth out salary, where i work we gt paid min. wage plus commission ... aboout 100-150 every two weeks...
no health benifits, no retirement , no benifits. i work hard to please people and i can only hope they appreciate it.

 

[Joy1619]

I agree with a PP that was talking about regional differences (and international ones); I think Canada tipping is quite different than in the U.S., and there seems to be a large range in the U.S. as well. Tipping of waitstaff seems to be very similar though. I tip my hairdresser at my appointment time (same with mani and pedi) - I do not go and hunt them down at Christmas.

One thing I always wondered...WHY don't we tip full-service gas station attendants? I have to tell you, I DO. Most of the year here the weather is miserable, cold, or even freezing, and those people are OUTSIDE freezing their bums off to pump my gas so I don't have to get out of my nice warm car. A waitress serves food in a nice warm restaurant and automatically expects 20%?? I don't tip that much to the gas guys, just a dollar or two when I get a fill in yucky weather - I think that is a tipping tradition that should get started! BTW, full-service and self-service gas prices are exactly the same here, so I would rather go to a full-service and support someone having a job, than pump my own for the same price.

 

[llwtaylor]

I have been a waitress in the past and I still believe that tips should be given dependent on the quality of service received. With that being said, I am a Labor & Delivery nurse now....in essence a "delivery" person durig the most important life moments.....so How much am I owed for my excellent service?

 

[chicagodisneyfan]

I always wonder - do people in New York (and other cities) always keep wads of cash in their pockets for these type of things? The delivery people and the doormen and the guy who grabs your bags as you're trying to get out of your cab and then opens a door for you...... DH is always complaining about having to run to the bank for tip money before he leaves for business trips.

If I had to tip a flower delivery person out here I'd be scrounging in the kids piggy banks for quarters. I hardly ever have cash on me.

Yes - I always carry cash and make sure to have plenty of 5s and 1s for tipping. I cannot imagine not carrying cash and usually have about $200 in my wallet at any given time.

Tips for cabs, deliveries, doormen, etc.

I have been tipping garbage men my whole life. Sometimes with cases of beer, most of the time with cash.

 

[ssawka]

Restaurants: For sit-down, table service - 15-18% of the PRE-TAX amount for reasonable service; 20-25% for outstanding or special service. I may round up if the bill is small (like a single breakfast), or I may leave nothing if the service is poor or the server is ill-mannered. Counter service - $0.00. Starbucks started this business of putting a tip jar out, and now it seems that every counter has copied it. You don't get a tip in my book for carrying my order from three feet from the hot rack to the counter.

In reference to leaving a waiter or waitress nothing for poor service, it is actually more of an insult to leave a very small tip. If you leave nothing, many will assume you just forgot, but leave some pocket change and they know that their service was the reason. Just a thought.

 

[mjkacmom]

One thing I always wondered...WHY don't we tip full-service gas station attendants? I have to tell you, I DO. Most of the year here the weather is miserable, cold, or even freezing, and those people are OUTSIDE freezing their bums off to pump my gas so I don't have to get out of my nice warm car. A waitress serves food in a nice warm restaurant and automatically expects 20%??.

Well, here is some regional information here - the minimum wage where I live is $7.25 an hour, and we only have full service gas attendants. However, the minimum wage for servers is $2.01 an hour. Therefore, I tip them well.

 

[kaytieeldr]

LOL i laughed and read that outloud as we talk about that frequently..It is actually To Insure Proper Service. Hence Tips LOL Tep

Respectfully, it appears while getting the humor in pearlieq's response, you missed the content.. "Tip" is not an acronym of anything. How can it be? How can anything given AFTER service was provided/completed possibly.be designated or presumed 'to ensure prompt/proper service'?

 

[kaytieeldr]

Who makes up these wacky rules? Do they have any idea how much money that would add on to already strained Christmas budgets?

I think there are plenty of people who are struggling harder than the garbage man who has a job..

They're not new by any means. I've been reading similar guidelines - what to give your hairdresser, mail carriers, trash collectors, etc., guidelines in various sources for at least forty years.

The UPS guy doesn't stick around long enough for you to get to the door, or you only get two packages a yearly, or you don't think he should be tipped? Great. Don't give him anything for Christmas.

He goes out of his way to hand you deliveries, makes pickups at your home weekly, knows when is convenient for you? Surely that's someone to whom you'd want to give a gift.

 

[Robinrs]

I always wonder - do people in New York (and other cities) always keep wads of cash in their pockets for these type of things? The delivery people and the doormen and the guy who grabs your bags as you're trying to get out of your cab and then opens a door for you...... DH is always complaining about having to run to the bank for tip money before he leaves for business trips.

If I had to tip a flower delivery person out here I'd be scrounging in the kids piggy banks for quarters. I hardly ever have cash on me.

My Mom worked for the Post Office in Spanish Harlem for years. She'd come home every night during Christmas dropping rolled up cash out of her undergarments!!

 

[C.Ann]

They're not new by any means. I've been reading similar guidelines - what to give your hairdresser, mail carriers, trash collectors, etc., guidelines in various sources for at least forty years.

The UPS guy doesn't stick around long enough for you to get to the door, or you only get two packages a yearly, or you don't think he should be tipped? Great. Don't give him anything for Christmas.

He goes out of his way to hand you deliveries, makes pickups at your home weekly, knows when is convenient for you? Surely that's someone to whom you'd want to give a gift.

I agree - and was not speaking in terms of who I tip - or don't tip..

But the tipping concept fails when the garbage man has a job - and the person who has put their garbage out on the curb doesn't.. "Rules" should not exist - if the goal is to make people feel bad because they can't afford to follow them.. KWIM?

 

[ssawka]

Respectfully, it appears while getting the humor in pearlieq's response, you missed the content.. "Tip" is not an acronym of anything. How can it be? How can anything given AFTER service was provided/completed possibly.be designated or presumed 'to ensure prompt/proper service'?

However, if you read the snopes article, the theory is that bartenders would put out a TIPS box and the customers that added money to the TIPS box would get better service.

Not to change topics, but I just realized how much that idea resembles the post I made a couple weeks ago about concierge doctors. No, I don't wish to rehash that argument, but I'm just saying that if this legend where true, it would be much like paying a retainer to your bar tender.