tipping

dad tipped me off on tipping bartenders when i was over there- result was instant & copious buybacks.

Priest never even threw me a free confession tho so f/that

is it customary in Australia to tip cows?

only in their individual units of steak

Well, we know this now we've all read the ILX threads, but it's not always easy for foreigners to know that kind of thing.

yusss. things are often bizarrely differently priced in different countries for no immediately apparent reason, so an Australian's first thought in America would probably be "Strewth, coffee is very cheap here, wonder what it's like with beer".

a friend's father was in the USA for some kind of work exchange reasons and he started hanging around in a bar and chatting to the friendly bartender. On the second or third time he was there, the bar tender said to him "Listen Bob, there's no easy way of saying this, but in this country people tip bar tenders".

Ordering an $11 sandwich in Australia, but not having to tip gave me the same comfortable feeling of going to a liquor store in my state and seeing that sales tax is already figured into the listed price. Everyone getting paid + me not having to do math in my head = always a good thing.

(Sales tax also already in the price in AUS. No pennies either. I could do math in my head all day long down there.)

I suspect this was discussed already upthread, but how do you deal with tipping on alcohol with a meal? Confusing because you could drop 20 bucks on a bottle or 200, and it is the same amount of work, but if you tip based on total dinner bill wtf to do here.

I mean I am always afraid of undertipping so I just do 20% on the full bill.

I think the idea is 20% on the full bill, which is why my Mormon mom would push drinks harder than anyone back when she w3aited tables.

yeah I agree, but hard to justify the tip differential on a 20 vs. a 200 dollar bottle of wine! There is one cork to open, period! I mean maybe your server brings you fancier glasses for the pricier bottle. . .

it's definitely the full bill, that's why we were always asked to offer margaritas at every table, because it benefitted "both of us"

also I think this thread is now breaking down into a "tip for specific function" discussion which is overanalyzing it a bit.

I've never tipped bartenders a dollar or more a drink just because of our national situation paying wages to food and drink service people, but because of my selfish desire that they notice me the next time I go up for another round of drinks.

Sorry, to answer:

$11 sandwich? Some cafes in inner Sydney. (As a random thought, I expected meat pies to be...$2?, like picking up a pizza slice in NY. They were double that! Soda was often $2-3!)

I've never experienced a buyback. Not once in 11 years. Maybe I don't stay at the same bar long enough? Usually only two drinks or so? I tip normally (dollar on beer, two on cocktail)... maybe bartenders just don't like the look of me? Do you have to strike up a conversation?

yeah I agree, but hard to justify the tip differential on a 20 vs. a 200 dollar bottle of wine! There is one cork to open, period! I mean maybe your server brings you fancier glasses for the pricier bottle. . .

― quincie, Saturday, April 30, 2011 5:01 AM (2 hours ago) Bookmark

yeah but again tipping has little correlation with amount of actual work done. like no matter what main dishes you order, the waiter is gonna expend the same amount of energy/effort bringing that to your table, yet the final tip will be different. so *shrug*

That's a good point, dayo. Like, you don't tip on the cheapest entree on the menu if you ordered the surf and turf under the reasoning that it's no more difficult to bring a plate of steak and lobster to your table than it is to bring you a chicken caesar salad.

Exactly. I mean, if a food runner brings your food to you and not the waiter, you don't deduct 2.5% from the tip.

as evidenced by the yelp thread, caring too much about service makes you a YELPER. just pay 20% and be done with it

That's a good point, dayo. Like, you don't tip on the cheapest entree on the menu if you ordered the surf and turf under the reasoning that it's no more difficult to bring a plate of steak and lobster to your table than it is to bring you a chicken caesar salad.

― phantoms from a world gone by speak again the immortal tale: (Jenny), Friday, April 29, 2011 7:48 PM Bookmark

Funny thing: chicken caesar is more work at my place! Servers have to chop up the romaine, toss with dressing and parmesan, plus sprinkle with croutons. I take pride in not making 'em too goopy.

in vegas last year, won $50 on a slot machine, figured I'd celebrate by buying three shots of Crown for myself and my brothers, only to find out that while alcohol was free in the casino, the bar prices were ridiculously expensive, and it wound up being $42 for the three shots, which kinda shellshocked me and I only ended up tipping the three extra bucks, to which the bartender said "not cool, man", was I justified in taking my tip off the table then?? because I'm still iffy on it.

http://www.threadbombing.com/data/media/49/dawson_crying.gif

frogbs is about to officially become an ilxor

taking the tip away: not sure if it's right, but it sure is funny!

i guess he can complain because i only tipped like 8% but really the interaction was like this - we sit down, wait a few minutes while he chats with other customers, order the shots, bartender takes like 20-30 seconds to fill the order, goes back to talking with other customers, then tells me off. in the local bars here a shot of crown is like $3-4 so tipping $3 on that is quite good, even though they do the same amount of work.

I'm wondering on what planet 42+3=50

um I don't think you get the point of celebrating a win

Considering you gave them the money right back, I'd say the only 'winner' was the casino

But hey, get that 8 bucks invested in a CD fast!

cmon, you're not talking to captain lorax

I'm more of a downloader at this point

do you think I'm "just now figuring out" how casinos make their money

I think you're right and the bartender did not deserve more than $3 for pouring 3 shots but otoh you should be more mad about wasting $42 and less mad about the bartender

CD=certificate of deposit xxpost

bartenders are horribly spoiled, overpaid people

just in general

yeah Neanderthal I got that, thanks for the heads up

So you download investment instruments?

hmmmm. lets start again

i do have another question but everyone's gonna call me a racist prick for it so first I need to ask, has anyone else here ever worked in the service industry?

is this about "canadians"?

dont ask it yet i got some popcorn somewhere

This is gonna be abt Spaniards, right.

No. There isn't one person on this board who has ever in their life worked in the service industry.

i'm talking about people reading this thread right now but thank you

all shall be answered within:

Skipping 781 messages at this point... Click here if you want to load them all.

xpost - oh. i see.

yeah i've worked service industry but over here we have a system known as 'wages' that really prevents us having any sense of duty towards the customer

I did a lifetime ago but will never again

is this about "canadians"?

Basically I'm wondering which races/demographics you guys think tip the best and the worst

I've heard this brought up several times at parties and such and it seems like there is one in particular that always seems to stiff the workers to the point that even people of that race hate being assigned to those tables

I have my own experiences but I was wondering what you guys think

i do have another question but everyone's gonna call me a racist prick for it so first I need to ask, has anyone else here ever worked in LAS VEGAS?

fixed this for you to correct for the actual variable in your story

http://www.imagepourblog.fr/wp-content/uploads/michael-jackson-popcorn.gif