Why do Americans tip for service?

The whole idea of the tips industry... is that the hotel, bar et club management car hire employes for the minimum wage. Those people are prepared to take the job because they know that the tips will actually double their wages... and furthermore... they don't have to pay taxes on the tips. Another thing is that they are motivated in providing the best service possible in order to get the biggest tip possible. They would not do that if they were on wages. Just look at the lazy service we get in Australia. But the Americans go overboard with this. If you are on a budget while going on holiday... perhaps you don't want to pay someone to open the door for you and carry your bags. But they don't give you a choice about it. I have not been in America... so I don't know what the prices are like. You would have to see if the costs are lower than in Australia. For instance... if taking a taxi is 10% cheaper than in Australia... you can actually afford to give him a 10% tip.

What I wonder is why generations of Americans didn't seem to have trouble keeping track of who to tip and why... but now we can't seem to handle it.

Most people simply tip as an act of gratitude for services rendered. I say "most" because I have known of people who tip and then complain about the service received and/or tip given! I tip as an act of gratitude. And if for some reason I was not satisfied with service received, I simply do not tip! And, I do not patronize businesses that required mandatory tipping! I believe tipping should be out of my own free will, not impose upon me!

I live in a rural area so the only time I tip is when I go out to eat. Other than that, I don't really see any other reason to tip. And I only tip for good service. To me, it's something earned, not guaranteed.

Hello Dear Violetica!Not only Americans ,here we do the same thing!!I cant imagine to take coffee in the coffee bar without leave a tip!!If I pay $2 for cup of coffee i will put $1 more for service!!See you and Regards Silvana

I hate tipping. Why should I give you extra money just for doing your job? People get mad if you don't tip and it shouldn't be like that. If I leave anything extra regardless of the amount they should be glad to get extra and not moan about it not being enough.

Frankly am amazed, I never thought that kind of petty coruuption was also a disease in America-in Africa, there are countries where you wont get a service unless you pull out a tip-here my country is just one of them, i live in Uganda.

Some people really depend on those tips. A lot of waitresses/waiter jobs don't pay very much because they expect you to work for your tips. I never pay attention to those rules on tipping. I tip according to the service I recieve and the need for money of the person I'm giving a tip to. I will tip nothing if I get bad service and if it is a very busy place that they have a lot of people tipping them I won't tip as much as I would for someplace with less business and so the waitress isn't making very much. I use to be a waitress and bartender and most of my income was those tips. So I always give top service.

My hubby is an American, but we prefer to live here in PI.Still he carry on their culture on giving tips.Say for instance, if we dine in a restaurant, he made it a point he leaves 10% extra from the total cost of what we ate.I always ask him why he does that and he says, people who have this kind of a living that also includes other blue collar jobs have a minimal wages thus it is just fair enough to give them a tip especially if they provided you a good service. Although PI is a developing country, I always tell him he don't need too, but he insists anyway.I think, there are some advantages, like in the subdivision that we live, maintenance people are prompt to do plumbing and carpentry jobs in our home since they expect my hubby give them aa big TIP.On the other hand, I have this one situation, when hubby and I joined a tour to one of the Phils. historical place.That place can actually be toured by a carriage so intstead of taking a taxi, we rode in a carriage.One british couple were negotiating for the price of a day's tour but the carriage man declined saying the brits were not generous with their price.My hubby bid for a higher price and he even gave a tip for this man.See, you prevent some hassles in life this way only for a tip. I was so sorry for the Brit couple,I overheard them saying"WHY do the Americans ruin some good things in life"? " Some services here in PI are very affordable supposed to be". My hubby just shrugged his shoulders and as he is used to it, he doesn't mind tipping!

You should always tip a waiter/waitress if you recieve good service. They should definitely have to earn your tip though.I always try to tip something because they only make 2.12 an hour so if they don't get their tips then they don't have the money for christmas. If you don't have money to tip them, then don't bother going out to eat. They are providing you service and making sure you have everything you need for your dining experience so they deserve at least 15-20% of the total bill.

Hi, I dont really understand where you are coming from in this discussion. I work in a restaraunt for minimum wage. I work a 9 hour day and coming up to christmas it can reach 12 hour days. The wages are practically peanuts!!!! Tips are optional for customers. Not all do. The best day I have had in tips was last weekend and that was 6.00. Customers where I work tip the staff for a friendly service and good food. They at least appreiciate a good meal handed up to them. I too tip whenever I eat out. I know the workand preparation that goes into cooking that meal.

Well when you look at what waiters and waitresses make for minimum wage...$2.12 an hour in most cases, do you really think they can live on that income? that isn't even $100 a week if they work 40 hours. That is the main reason people tip, they know what these people are making an hour, and tipping is just a way to show that you got great service. Not everyone tips, but most here in America do. I tip my waiters, waitresses, and servers anywhere from 15-20% of the total bill, as I do not see how service could possibly be included in their $2.12 an hour wage. My mother was a waitress for years and years, and if not for her tips I don't know how we would have ever survived.

I used to date a waiter and I hated going out to eat with him. Every time we went together, I'd end up having to tip the waiter or waitress about what our bill was. So it was like I bought 4 meals instead of just two! Thankfully we broke up and my current boyfriend agrees with me :) It's all about the quality of service we receive. If it's good then we'll tip up to about $5 or $6. $6 if they were absolutely exceptional. Usually though it's around $3 and we get guilted into $4. But we only tip when we go out to eat. We don't really do too many other things regularly where tipping is...I guess, almost required. If we're going to a takeout place, we'll just dump our change in the tips jar. But not the quarters! That's valuable laundry money. :)

In our country, tipping is rarely practiced and many companies even discourage it because of their moral/ethical standards. Yet, I feel if the waiter or the bellboy has done a superb job, I give him something to smile about. In my opinion, a tip can range to any price because it must be appreciated as its the intent that matters. The obligation of giving a tip even though you were dissatisfied with a service is truly baseless and a waste of money. Tip if you feel like it... the waiter will appreciate it anyways. TRIVIA to those who doesn't know: TIP is an abbreviation of "To insure promptness".

First of the concept of tipping came about When people thought the waiter or waitress, bellhop etc. Did an exceptionally good job and were helpful. That is the way it should be. Then US government wanted to tax tips and so now a lot of larger fancier Not necessairly better class or service set an automatic 15% gratuity requirement. Which I personally feel is wrong because it is about service. If I do not have the service that goes along with tipping I should not have to tip period. It should be up to my discretion how much and if I do tip. It is offensive for establishments to expect or demand a tip when it well may not be deserved. I don't care how low of a wage someone is making if they do a good job fine but a lousy one no tip should be forthcoming. My sister and mom both worked in the resturant buisness and both agree that good service deserves a well earned tip but poor or shoddy or rude service one should not expect a tip nor should an establishment require it.

The reason that we americans tip for so many things is because for the people that we tip, the tip is the majority of their income. This is customary. Generally we tip waiters, hairdressers, cab drivers. This is given foe their good work. In my area if you are a waiter you would work for something like $2 an hour, so it is very low income but with good tips these people could make $30,000 per year, which is still below our national average of about $50,000 per year, but it is still considered a pretty good amount of money. Usually I tip about 20% of the bill.

In our country, tipping is not as prevalent...more often, it is really optional...like in restaurants, hotels...but of course there are really establishments which have hard and fast rules on tipping...but more often than not, I have observed that services from beauty parlors are not really 'tippable", but it's up to the customer whether to give tips or not...even in spas and public conveyances, we don't really do that...well, like you said, times are difficult now, and if the budget for tipping exceeds the principal expenses, then that's quite unreasonably high, and someone should put a limit to it...

I honestly think the whole "tipping" thing is getting out of control. i mean it used to be 15% and then people want to look good so they give 18 or 20% and now 20% is becoming the new minimum. i dont mind tipping a couple bucks IF the service is good but people expect to get a tip even if the service is horrible! i know plenty times when service was bad and i felt i HAD to tip becasue then how dare i not leave a tip. and i understand that many people think that the employees cannot live off of minimum wage BUT most of the tips they get are not reported i would assume, its just so easy not to AND if they cant survive off of min wage, im sorry thats not my fault... they should get a btter job. i dont mean to sound rude here but only getting min wage is not my prob. again im not totally against tipping just the expectation of it and the amount. i dont think its necessary to tip someone to doing their job unless they give me good service and still then, its still their job!