Do you give good tips?
By Jess
@JJ4Ever (4693)
United States
April 12, 2010 8:33pm CST
When you order pizza or go out to eat, do you give the person who gave you service a tip? Do you tip well or do you feel that whatever you ordered cost enough that you don't need to tip the person?
I heard on the radio a few months ago where the host was talking about celebrities and how they tip. I was shocked to hear that many celebrities don't tip well at all! You would think celebrities of all people would tip well since they make the big bucks - LOL!
To be honest with you, though, I don't think tipping well involves having a lot of money. I think it is a kind gesture to communicate to the person that you are grateful for the service they provided and appreciate what they do. If you don't think you received good service, I can understand not tipping quite as well, but I think a tip is a nice gesture.
I suppose I'm a little biased on this subject because one of my husband's jobs is delivering pizza. He works so hard too! I love that he has this job because his income is always different due to his tips. We consider tips above and beyond our normal income, so it's really nice when he has good days. However, he has many horrible days too. Some days I just don't like living off the generosity of people, if you know what I mean! People can be stingy, and it directly affects us. My poor husband has taken huge deliveries...I mean, sometimes he has an order where he has to drop off 50 pizzas. That would take him at least five trips, so it's a lot more work than you would think! He said sometimes he'll do all this work and either won't get a tip at all or he'll get $2 or something like that. That, in my opinion, is not communicating to him that he did a very good job!
To put it in perspective for you, my husband drives all day five days a week delivering. Our gas bill is our biggest bill next to our mortgage. My husband doesn't get reimbursed for his gas or wear and tear on our vehicle by his company. We front all this money for gas and can't even compensate for it because people don't tip! It's the least they can do to give him a couple bucks when he delivers, but a lot of times he'll deliver and walk away from the house with nothing. I guess people just don't understand what it takes to do what he does. It's not the most glamorous job, but it's a living, and he puts his heart into it. He loves what he does and gives people the best service. That's what gets me...here he is making himself available to give people good service. He's doing it to take care of his family, but yet people think a couple bucks extra for a tip is too much. If they can afford to have a pizza delivered, they can be so kind as to give a small tip. At least it's something.
I apologize for my venting about tips, but I wanted to put it in perspective for you since I'm on the other end of the spectrum. How do you tip? Ever since my husband started delivering for a living, I now know what it means to tip well and how it feels to get no tip, so we're more than generous when we go out to eat or order food because we know how it feels to get a nice tip!
4 people like this
7 responses
@kittenclaus (1393)
• United States
14 Apr 10
My tips I give are based strictly on the service! If they treat me as a valued customer then I tip well. I've even given 10.00 tips for an 8.00 meal before but they went above and beyond. On the other side of the scale I once had service that was so bad I left an upside down penny. As for pizza delivery some are included in the price if not then yes I thrown a couple extra bucks in if they are friendly.
2 people like this
@JJ4Ever (4693)
• United States
20 Apr 10
I agree with you. If there is good service, then the worker should receive a good tip. I think it's great when a person tips more than the actual bill for the food. I know my husband is always thrilled when he gets more money in tips than what the food was worth! We're always so thankful when people are generous because I know my hubby is a hard worker and always tries to give the best service. Thanks for your response!
@sarahruthbeth22 (43143)
• United States
28 Sep 11
I tip very well when the service is great. I do it this way. From the moment I am seated the tip is the base 10%. If my wait staff is pleasant and informative and attentive , their tip rises like the sun in the east! But if the service is lousy , the tip disappears quicker than a ice cream cone in Arizona. But when it comes to delivery I always tip.
1 person likes this
@sarahruthbeth22 (43143)
• United States
4 Oct 11
Back in the day when I would see figure skating i would rate each performance the same way. In fact this is where I got the idea. They skate onto the ice with a 10 and then if they do well , they keep it. If not points get taken off.
1 person likes this
@JJ4Ever (4693)
• United States
5 Oct 11
I think it's a far scale for just about anything! Otherwise, how would you do it really...I mean, you could give the skater a random number, like 8 out of 10 for a decent performance, but if you don't have anything base it on, then your judging isn't consistent. I like the way you think!
1 person likes this
@JJ4Ever (4693)
• United States
4 Oct 11
I know teachers who have had a grading scale similar to your tipping scale that you've described. They said all their students start out at average (a "C" or between 70 and 79 grade points). It was very motivational for me to do a good job because if I did less than average, I knew I'd go down to a "D" or failing. I like your method of tipping, and I think it's very fair. Wait staff should be motivated to always do their best at satisfying the needs of their customers.
1 person likes this
@Polly1 (12644)
• United States
13 Apr 10
Waiters, waitresses and delivery people mostly always give better tips then others. They know how it is. I always leave a tip, I figure that in the cost of the food. The only place that I didn't regularly leave a tip is at the casino, when they come around with the drink cart. I figured I was giving them plenty of money, they weren't going and getting me something to drink, they had the pop and water on the cart already. Now they have drink stations, you can help yourself, I like that much better.
1 person likes this
@JJ4Ever (4693)
• United States
31 Aug 11
You're probably right about those who've worked in food service giving better tips. I don't know that tipping even depends on income. My husband and I don't make a lot, but we always try to tip well, especially for good service because we've been there and done that when it comes to depending on tips for a lot of our income. This summer, my husband got a new job that is much, much better. Instead of delivering pizzas, he details cars for a living. He loves it because he works on higher end vehicles like BMW, Mercedes, and the like. That also means the customers will pay more for the services, and they tip handsomely. I think he's only done two or three cars since May 2011 when he started the job where to customer didn't tip at all. When these people tip, we're talking $20 increments lol. I'm very pleased with his new job, and he loves it. It's not just because of the money...anything that has to do with cars, and he's happy! I'm glad you tip well, and I definitely see your point about not tipping at the casino because it's not like that had to prepare anything for you. They just walk around to see if anyone wants anything that they already have on the cart. Take care!
@GardenGerty (169448)
• United States
13 Apr 10
Both of us have worked in food service. I think we give decent tips. We have given good tips even when the evening was not spectacular, because it is usually not the wait person, but the kitchen that goofs things up. We do not have pizza delivered, as there is usually a $5.00 surcharge on the order. Our town is so small it is just better to go get it ourselves.
1 person likes this
@JJ4Ever (4693)
• United States
31 Aug 11
Although my husband worked in pizza delivery for several years, we never ordered pizza for delivery. We always go to pick it up as well. Even now that he no longer works in food service, we will never pay the delivery fee plus tip for the driver to have the pizza delivered. Even when it's a blizzard outside, we'll just stay put and not have food delivered. I know how the drivers feel going out in that kind of weather. My husband had to drive around and deliver in ice and blizzards, and it was so dangerous because of the other people out on the roads. He was the only driver would could work when the weather was bad because he has a four-wheel drive truck. I'm so glad he started a new job this past May because I'm not going to dread our winters as much, and he can drive me to work in his truck when the weather is bad! I'm glad you and your husband tip well for good service. Being in food service where some of your income depends on tips really puts it in a different light. I didn't really think much about it before, but after my husband had his delivery job, I was thankful for every tip he got since he was still making minimum wage.
@lovinangelsinstead21 (36847)
• Pamplona, Spain
29 Apr 10
Hiya JJ,
I tip most times specially since we know the lads who come over to bring Pizzas or Chinese takeaway and they are good fun to talk too. I will give them a tip though not because of who they are but because of the really low wages they are paid and they come out in the most terrible weather over here as we live a little way out and they have to motorbike it over. So yes I do give a good tip as much as I can afford and to the people who deliver us packets as well and the ones who take them from us to be delivered.
We have worked in Hotels and we know what that is like unless you have a good set of tables to wait on and the clients know you it´s really quite hard to get a decent tip now specially now.
1 person likes this
@JJ4Ever (4693)
• United States
30 Apr 10
Hi there! I'm really glad to learn that you tip well because you're exactly right - delivery drivers don't make that much money. It is wonderful that you are so understanding when it comes to the weather and things like that, which delivery drivers have to deal with each day. My husband always says that he makes the best tips on the worst days, when the weather is bad. When it was snowy out this past winter, although it took him awhile to get everywhere due to the bad roads, he had lots of deliveries and made really good tips. I just don't understand why there aren't more people like you in the world, who tip well no matter what kind of weather. It's nice how understanding you are, but more people need to be like you! Thanks for your wonderful response, my friend. Keep up the good work! 
1 person likes this
@JJ4Ever (4693)
• United States
31 Aug 11
Hi there, thanks for your comment. I apologize it took me this long to respond. I'm really glad you try to tip well no matter what. I do the same, trying to put myself in their shoes when I decide how much to tip them. I can't say I've ever tipped more than what the meal cost because my husband and I don't make a lot of money, but if we go out to eat, we figure the cost of tip into the meal as well. Receiving service with someone waiting on you, in my opinion, means there's the extra expense of giving them a nice tip. In America, people normally tip 10% or 15%. So for instance, if the meal cost $20, then the tip would be somewhere in the ballpark of $2 or $3. That's average. However, if we were going out to eat and received good service, we'd probably tip $5. I don't know how that compares to how it's done in your country, but you'll have to let me know. 
My husband now works a different job where he still gets paid minimum wage, but he also gets commission on top of that, plus whatever he receives in tips. One of his customers usually has $150 to $300 in services completed by my husband in a day, and the customer always tips my husband $100 cash, which is wonderful! He's a really well off person, and my husband always does a good job. For the $300 job, he pays about 33% tip, which is excellent. For the $150 job, that is almost a 70% tip. Either way, this particular customer of my husband's always tips well, so my hubby keeps that in mind when he schedules jobs. This customer will always receive top-notch service and priority because he's such a good, loyal customer. So I've been on both sides of the table - the one giving the tip as well as the one receiving the tip, so I always try to be fair no matter what.
My husband now works a different job where he still gets paid minimum wage, but he also gets commission on top of that, plus whatever he receives in tips. One of his customers usually has $150 to $300 in services completed by my husband in a day, and the customer always tips my husband $100 cash, which is wonderful! He's a really well off person, and my husband always does a good job. For the $300 job, he pays about 33% tip, which is excellent. For the $150 job, that is almost a 70% tip. Either way, this particular customer of my husband's always tips well, so my hubby keeps that in mind when he schedules jobs. This customer will always receive top-notch service and priority because he's such a good, loyal customer. So I've been on both sides of the table - the one giving the tip as well as the one receiving the tip, so I always try to be fair no matter what.1 person likes this
@lovinangelsinstead21 (36847)
• Pamplona, Spain
30 Apr 10
Hiya JJ,
Even when I am stoney broke I still give a good tip of what I have got. I really don´t think about it I just think that if I were in their place I would be in the same boat. They really are underpaid and so a tip like that here and there is not a bad thing. I gave someone the change back the other Day and he was gobsmacked to say the least it was very little but all I had I suppose it´s more the gesture than anything else. I can tell you that I have had sometimes in my purse less than a pauper to make it through the week not knowing where the next lot was going to come from so I have been there many many times.
Obviously I don´t give ten dollars a time but I give what I have got and I think for anyone that works in Delivery of this kind of thing it all adds up at the end of the day. I gave one the change back the other week and he was really sour faced impatient the lot but I felt so sorry for him that I said look keep the change about 30 cents it was and his whole face lit up he was someone totally different for a moment.
Now I know 30 cents is not very much to some but sometimes these people have no change and I have not got the time to go looking for the exact change either so give or take 50 or 60 cents this is what I usually give. Also if it´s to do with all of us paying I try to make it a Euro. It´s really all I can give and I think the intention is what counts. I hate to feel miserly because being miserly is doing yourself a bad service too. Hey I am not the Fairy Godmother though although I wish I could be (grin).
Hope your Husband gets a lot of friendly people on his rounds they really count. Do they tip more in America?
1 person likes this
@lifeafterdeath09 (2043)
• United States
13 Apr 10
when i pay for food in a restaurant or whatever i would only pay about 10% to 15% on tips from the amount that is owed. unless of course the service was really bad. if they were a bad service then i wouldnt tip them at all.
1 person likes this
@JJ4Ever (4693)
• United States
31 Aug 11
I think poor service deserves little or no tip. If a restaurant requires customers to tip their employees, what incentive is there for the employees to do a good job? That's why I think what you do is good. You tip normal for average service, better for exceptional service, and nothing for bad service. That's how tipping should be!
@valentinesdiner (1214)
• United States
13 Apr 10
I was a real skinflint for years until I worked as a waiter for a summer. Now I give tips based on the quality of service I get, starting at 15% and working my way down to 8% for ugly customer service.
People work hard in the service industry and they should be compensated - - even by skinflints.
1 person likes this
@JJ4Ever (4693)
• United States
20 Apr 10
I definitely agree with you that tipping should be done according to service. I think it's great that you start out at the 15% because that's extremely acceptable. It gives the employee a great incentive to give you the best service so they can get maximum tips! Thanks for sharing.
