Tipping Bar Staff

[Latel]

Can anyone advise me on how much they usually tip bar staff?

Last time I was in Orlando I had a bit of a nasty experience with a bar girl literally throwing her tip back at us saying it wasn't enough.

I just want to be prepared for my next trip in December.

Thanks for any advise

 

[lizzysmith]

Depends what sort of service they give. If we go into a bar and just have one drink we usually tip a dollar a drink but if we go into a bar for a longer period we open a tab and then tip on the whole bill a figure that more acurately reflects the service given.

Lizzy

 

[Scrap_Vamp]

I'd agree with the above

Except at California Grill I forgot to pick up the majority of my change from a 20 so that barman did well (I also managed to double tip the server later - must be something with me and the CG lol!!)

 

[JohnnySharp2]

Generally you will find the bar staff friendly and helpful, I agree a minimum of a $ per drink is usually the average.
It does depend on how long you are there and the size of your bill, if my bill was $12 for example I would probably round up to $15.

 

[malibuconlee]

I'm very sorry that happened to you. It's not the first time I've heard a similiar story, although not from a bar from a restaruant at WDW.

I agree with Lizzy. It depends on the service. If I go to the bar myself and get drinks I'll tip a dollar or so a drink. If I'm being waited on I'll tip the same or a little better.

 

[Boo Boo Too]

We don't tend to drink in bars much in the USA (if we buy drinks, it is normally with a meal - in which case we tip 15%-20% of the whole bill). The only other place we generally drink in bars in the USA is on cruise ships: in which case a 15% "service charge"/tip is added to the drinks bill automatically anyway...

Have a look at http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A5200011

"Common tips for bar staff - bartenders and cocktail waiting staff - are 50c for a single beer and $1 for a mixed drink. If a tab is run, a minimum of 10% of the tab should be paid as a gratuity."

Personally, I think that regardless of what you tipped, your bartender was VERY rude! Hope that you took your drinks, the money she threw back at you and left. Even if you "under tipped" (may I ask what you tipped?), her behaviour was incredibly rude. Yes Brits are probably infamous for under-tipping, but not everyone is a great tipper (even Americans can tip badly) and that bartender should come to terms with that...

Boo

 

[Latel]

Thanks everyone, I will keep your advise in mind for my next visit.

It actually happened in CityWalk in Nascar. I can't even remember how much we tipped, but the service wasn't very good as it was hard to drag her away from her friend. There were 2 of us and 3 more joined us for the 2nd drink. It would have been a few dollars at least. And yes, we took the tip back and gave her a bit of advise about being grateful for ALL tips.

 

[mike230652]

Latel

I'd have done a "Rivaldo"....i.e. held my head and dropped to the ground like a stone moaning and groaning in pain..........irrespective of where the change landed...LOL!

That would have altered her attitude...imagining some Brit suing the bar!!

Question...what was the bill and how much did you tip her?

Our friend had a brother who left a miserly 50cent tip at Shoneys ...the server followed him , tapped him on the shoulder and gave him $2 .......saying " You obviously need the money more than me, sir".

As Judith ( our friend ) put it...her brother was totally mortified, returned and gave him $10 and proceeded to tip all and sundry way over what he should have done for the duration of the holiday.....


Personally we're not great ones for bars...young kids and all that....but I'd have thought 12-15% with a minimum of $1 a drink would be about right.

 

[mandymouse]

We usually tip $1 a drink, whatever we are being served

 

[Minniespal]

If the bar bill is only for a couple of drinks then we tip $ a drink. If it runs into more then we tip 10% of the entire bill.

 

[Boo Boo Too]

And yes, we took the tip back and gave her a bit of advise about being grateful for ALL tips.

Good.

I think that people in the service industries (ESPECIALLY in tourist areas) need to be a little understanding/tolerant sometimes - tourists can sometimes be ignorant of the culture (for instance tips) and "get it wrong" occassionally.

I take a different line with mean s*ds who know the culture, but positively avoid paying tips.... but I think that people in the service industries should give tourists the benefit of the doubt and thank them for whatever tip with grace and a smile...

Boo

 

[UKDEB]

There were 2 of us and 3 more joined us for the 2nd drink. It would have been a few dollars at least

If you're saying you had 7 drinks, then I would say a few dollars is not enough. Bartenders should be tipped roughly the same as servers at restaurants - a minimum of 15%. Superior service warrants 20% and upwards. The tipping guidelines in the BBC article bear this out - 50c for a bottle of beer and $1 for a cocktail must be somewhere between 15 and 20%. 10%, in the US, is tantamount to saying you received poor service (again borne out in the BBC article). If that wasn't the case, then your bartender probably felt insulted.

The common language can cause us to be disrespectful of cultural differences between the UK and the US. We're far more likely to observe the traditions of countries which seem more alien to us. I've read enough similar threads on these boards over the years to know that many of us simply refuse to understand the tipping culture in the US.

 

[PChef]

Thanks for the original question and to Boo for posting that article. I certainly didn't realise that staff could be paid such a low hourly rate! We will make sure we tip to the 'right' level, given good service of course!

Michelle

 

[gavvy]

As a general rule, if you tip a buck a drink you wont go wrong, With soda I normally tip for the first drink and the barmen are normally more than happy to give you free refills.

 

[Boo Boo Too]

10%, in the US, is tantamount to saying you received poor service (again borne out in the BBC article). If that wasn't the case, then your bartender probably felt insulted.

Although the OP did say that they had had bad service...

I agree, we normally tip 15% or so for standard service. Upwards of that (17.5%/20%) for great service. To be honest, don't think we have ever had bad service in a US restaurant (Florida, Colorado, California, New York etc...) - they are normally very good.

The common language can cause us to be disrespectful of cultural differences between the UK and the US. We're far more likely to observe the traditions of countries which seem more alien to us. I've read enough similar threads on these boards over the years to know that many of us simply refuse to understand the tipping culture in the US.

Yes, agreed, that is awful - have seen some Brits refuse to tip at all and/or try to wriggle ou of the tip. Some Brits think that they have paid for the price on the menu and "that is that". Personally, when you look at the "affordability" of a restaurant in the US, you should always bear in mind:
- the cost on the menu.
- the 15/17.5/20% tip
- the additional taxes (normally about 3% -5%, I think).

I think, on the part of the OP, that the tipping mistake was genuine AND it should be up to the discretion of the tipper to tip less if they consider the service bad. If I had TRULY bad service, I would consider not tipping (although it would have to be TRULY bad for that to happen and I would probably speak to the Manager to explain why I wasn't happy and wasn't prepared to tip). But it has not happened yet and hopefully never will!

Boo

 

[jna]

The Brits Guide says that workers in the service industry in the USA are taxed on the assumption of receiving 15% in tips whether or not they actually receive them.

No excuse for rudeness whatsoever, but one can understand it a little from their point of view.

 

[#1MMFan]

The original poster's server required to be disciplined. What she (and others mentioned) have done is the height of rudeness. I would not have missed and hit the wall, and would have made her superior aware of her ignorance. I bet having the minimum wage plus meagre tips is a heck of a lot better than not having an income at all (if you catch my drift).
I agree that people from the UK can sometimes under-tip, but often (as has been said) unintentionally because of the difference in culture - in fact, it goes beyond "difference in cultures" - it is more a difference in the way the service industry workers are salaried. To say it is a difference in cultures, in retrospect, suggests that we are more miserly over here. I think not.
I was in Nashville at Fan Fair (the Country Music Association's Festival) - which was awesome by the way - and when we got drinks in the Sports Bar at the Hilton, we firstly were NEVER charged for any soft drink, and secondly we left maybe $5 for the three of us, maybe a fraction more because the servers were exceedingly nice, and did not ask us for I.D. either (on multiple separate occasions).

 

[Boo Boo Too]

The Brits Guide says that workers in the service industry in the USA are taxed on the assumption of receiving 15% in tips whether or not they actually receive them.

Yes, that is true about the taxing - it is a really SILLY system over there... led by a greedy (rather than realistic) government

It probably stems from many people in the service industry NOT declaring their tips for tax purposes (under a similar system to ours) and the government getting fed up of missing out on a BIG bit of tax income.

Let's hope that they NEVER adopt that system over here!

No excuse for rudeness whatsoever, but one can understand it a little from their point of view.

Yes, can understand their point of view (which is why we always tip at least 15%, although I always er on the side on generousity and am often even more generous than that), but - more importantly - think that people in the service industries in tourist areas need tolerance and understanding. You win some (with very generous tippers) and you loose some (with people who don't understand or who are just bad tippers) - hopefully it balances up in the end and they should retain their "cool" throughout.

The OP, in particularly, is going to lengths to check things out for their next trip - which shows that they want to do the right thing

Boo

 

[dee slack]

I'll probably get shot down for this, but this is my opinion on the subject, so here goes....
While we do usually tip the standard 15-20%, I really must say that I don't particularly agree with the way that's it's expected - it should be a discretional payment to reward those that have earned it. In fact I'll go on to say how I really feel - while the US often seems to get invloved in other country's business, perhaps it should sort out it's own system of letting employer's get away with paying employee's a pitance and let their customer's foot the bill!

The tip system is supposed to encourage good service, but I must admit that on several occasions throughout the States we have encountered staff that frankly couldn't care less about giving us good service and even treat us as an inconvenience, and so on those occasions, we leave a penny tip - to show that we're not ignorant Brits that don't know to tip, but that we're not happy with the service that we received (learnt this from an American couple who's dad had taught them!). All this said, when we do receive excellent service we are more than happy to leave a tip in excess of 20%.
Rant over!

 

[yo-ho-yo-ho]

Depends on the bar bill, couple of beers a dollar or so.