Post: #151

Quote:Believe me, back when I lived in Boston I tried tipping well at a few bars near my house so I could bring girls to for that stellar service. I probably tipped around $300 trying to ingratiate myself with the bar staff between two different venues and nothing came of it. No free drinks, no Cheers level greetings when I walked in, nothing.

Maybe i'm an asshole or just ugly? I have no idea. Either way, both bars never had the same bar staff working consistently each time I went in the middle of the week and these were just divy neighborhood bars. I'm expected to drop wads of cash each day for ungrateful staff? F*ck that.

I have no idea how you were dropping cash, but there's a right and a wrong way. The wrong way is to merely tip large without any context or established rapport. Don't get me wrong, they're going to be grateful, but it's probably not going to lead to anything. Even worse is if you simultaneously give off the impression that you're doing it for the sole purpose of getting something. No one likes to feel like a whore. It's like spending on a girl; if all you bring is money, you're just beta bucks.

The right way is to go regularly, build rapport (part of this is identifying who is not likely to appreciate your largesse and avoid), and let the great tips become a part of who you are. You're the great patron, and tipping large is part of who you are. It's being fun first, large tips second. And the tips are a way of showing your appreciation, not because you want something in return. Those are the basic ideas. Like anything else related to social interaction, there's a ton more nuance (and don't forget that "large tip" is relative). Someone else more knowledgeable than me can fill in the blanks.

If you're just looking to buy a door for the night, you can do that too, but it'll cost you. One gentleman gave me $500 over the course of a night in exchange for getting his people in and out of a venue that was at capacity.

Quote:That's pretty excessive for someone to stand behind a counter and whip up beverages that I could whip up myself faster if I went behind the damn counter myself and did it for them.

You might ask, why the fuck do I have to gain his favor? I'm better than him. And maybe you are. But you have to understand something. In North American binge drinking culture, the bar is the altar and the man who tends it is the priest. He might be a total bum off the clock, but for the few hours each night that he whips up elixirs of salvation, he is exalted.

Don't like it? Don't go.

Post: #152

(02-27-2012 09:57 PM)tomtud Wrote:  We don't even know his side of the story. Once I had bottle service and wanted to pay the bill up front. Included was a mandatory tip. Im like wtf, tips are earned not a right. Anyhow, the total came to a sum total of $322 and change. Something like that. I left $320 which would short change her on her mandatory tip by $2.00. Guess what, she comes back hands that rectangular booklet that we all are too familiar with and says you are short on the bill. What a cunt. I didn't want to make a fuss with the manager as that would be a negative on my mind that night. But, some of these bimbos,,,, I'm sorry waitresses, do deserve a tip and that is to try to go -----themselves.

Possibly, but that's not the comment you leave someone if they've been a cunt. That's the comment you leave when you're a cunt and you find it amusing to convey your superiority to the plebs.

As more and more mithering bastards constantly pester me for my spare change on the streets these days, I take more and more pleasure in tipping waiting staff, because they earned it.

Post: #153

I bartended for years at all types of places in a couple different states. You don't have to be a Baller but I'll tell you straight up if you don't want to pay big bucks to lock a place down just two things; number one always pay in cash so that the bartender has a honest shot at just not ringing it up and pocketing the cash in which case he will subconsciously and or consciously hook you up because in the back of his mind you've already made him $10 or whatever it is pure profit. However I was a bigger skimmer than most other bartenders and thus made more than other bartenders but that being said theft is absolutely rampant at all restaurants, bars and nightclubs, and anybody in the business will tell you that... bartenders steal, and a lot a lot of liquor goes unreported. But anyways so, first tip is always pay cash. Tip number two is tip two dollars for every drink two dollars in cash. No bartender worth a damn will be upset about two dollars per drink cash tip. If they are , fuck them. I was always happy with anything over a dollar tip because I knew that the good tippers balance out the bad tippers, ain't no use in worrying about tips, it's mostly about volume of sales. Also it doesn't look like you're trying too hard, because let's be honest you're not. It's more than one dollar, but it's also not going to break the bank for the younger guys or guys with less money. I was not one of those bartenders that looked at a check book and complained if the tip wasn't big enough I always thought and still think that complaining about your tips is a totally tacky thing to do but every bartender I worked with seem to love doing that, complaining about a tip, sometimes when the guy was within earshot. That is absolutely tacky and I was honestly embarrassed for those douche bag bartenders I've worked with in my past. So two tips, number one always pay in cash that so that the bartender has a chance to steal, and tip two is tip two dollars per drink. Those two things will enable you to get in the bartenders good graces without spending too much money. Alternately you could just tell him to keep the change on a 20 when you buy a drink or something. A five or six or seven dollar tip cash is great and he will treat you solid no doubt. On the end of the scale is the guys that can just afford to tip out the ass like the guy i was describing in my earlier post. Those guys are golden no matter where they go, because they know money talks, simple as that.

Post: #154

Always smart to take advice from an admitted thief.

Post: #155

When I visited the US, I most of the time didn't tip. Except from a pizzaman, I think I gave him $1 because he really looked ridiculous with his delivery outfit, I took pity on him.

Post: #156

(09-27-2017 11:00 AM)Lunar Torch Wrote:  When I visited the US, I most of the time didn't tip. Except from a pizzaman, I think I gave him $1 because he really looked ridiculous with his delivery outfit, I took pity on him.

I'm glad you "had to go back."

Post: #157

Formalized tipping is dumb. Restaurants and bars are far more efficient if they raise prices a little, pay their staff appropriately, and say no to tipping.

Look at Uber. You used to "have to" tip your taxi driver. Uber told their drivers, make sure the drivers know they don't have to tip. If someone insists, then obviously take it to not be rude. But they don't have to. I drove for Uber briefly. I got some tips, some really good tips. I mostly didn't get any. It worked out great.

More often now, I don't tip my Uber/Lyft driver. But when they stand out, I tip them.

That's how it should be.

Post: #158

(09-27-2017 01:36 PM)heavy Wrote:  Formalized tipping is dumb. Restaurants and bars are far more efficient if they raise prices a little, pay their staff appropriately, and say no to tipping.

Look at Uber. You used to "have to" tip your taxi driver. Uber told their drivers, make sure the drivers know they don't have to tip. If someone insists, then obviously take it to not be rude. But they don't have to. I drove for Uber briefly. I got some tips, some really good tips. I mostly didn't get any. It worked out great.

More often now, I don't tip my Uber/Lyft driver. But when they stand out, I tip them.

That's how it should be.

I agree with you. Tip should be a reward for an exceptional service. Not something every service-person is entitled to.

Post: #159

(09-27-2017 01:30 PM)Number one bummer Wrote:  

(09-27-2017 11:00 AM)Lunar Torch Wrote:  When I visited the US, I most of the time didn't tip. Except from a pizzaman, I think I gave him $1 because he really looked ridiculous with his delivery outfit, I took pity on him.

I'm glad you "had to go back."

The advantage of being a foreigner is that you don't have to follow the retarded customs that locals are socially obligated to.

A foreigner in Japan doesn't have to work themselves to death for a company that treats them like a dog.

In the UK, they don't have to join the back of a really long queue to be polite.

And in the US, they don't have to top up someone's wage because employers have managed to convince everyone to compensate for their cheapness.

"I'd hate myself if I had that kind of attitude, if I were that weak." - Arnold

Post: #160

(02-28-2012 01:52 AM)kerouac Wrote:  Why do servers deserve so much tip?

In California servers make at least minimum wage, while in states like New York (and others) people in the service industry make below minimum wage with the expectation that they will recoup that amount through tips.

So, my question is in regards to California... Why do California servers, who already make that minimum wage, deserve more? A $133 check is expected a tip of at least 15% so (133 * .15 =) $19.95 to 20% $26.6.

So does a server who worked about 40min to 60 min on a table deserve $20 + Minimum Wage, or approximately $30 an hour? And bear in mind that if the tip is in cash, that income is tax free.

Jobs That Pay $30 An Hour

I don't think any server deserves to make as much money as an architect, chemist, or a teacher.

So, should she have gotten $1.33? No. But should she have gotten $20? No to that too.

We have 3 restaurants inside of my dad's hotel in Rome. In Italy, a typical waitress would be happy to get a tip around %5.

What they require in United States is beyond absurdness. Just because restaurants don't pay them any salary, they want customers to pay minimum %15 tip to them.

Tip shouldn't be required at all.

Post: #161

(09-23-2017 12:14 AM)Peregrine Wrote:  You might ask, why the fuck do I have to gain his favor? I'm better than him. And maybe you are. But you have to understand something. In North American binge drinking culture, the bar is the altar and the man who tends it is the priest. He might be a total bum off the clock, but for the few hours each night that he whips up elixirs of salvation, he is exalted.

Egad, no wonder the nightlife scene is in terminal decline when you have people who think like this.

Bars and clubs: the few businesses where you can treat your patrons like absolute shit by low lives with a god complex. We already have one former bartender who admitted to being an outright thief. What more evidence do we need?

(09-23-2017 12:14 AM)Peregrine Wrote:  Don't like it? Don't go.

Already a step ahead of you brother and it looks like there are many more folks who feel the same way.

Post: #162

(09-28-2017 04:21 PM)The Beast1 Wrote:  

(09-23-2017 12:14 AM)Peregrine Wrote:  You might ask, why the fuck do I have to gain his favor? I'm better than him. And maybe you are. But you have to understand something. In North American binge drinking culture, the bar is the altar and the man who tends it is the priest. He might be a total bum off the clock, but for the few hours each night that he whips up elixirs of salvation, he is exalted.

Egad, no wonder the nightlife scene is in terminal decline when you have people who think like this.

Bars and clubs: the few businesses where you can treat your patrons like absolute shit by low lives with a god complex. We already have one former bartender who admitted to being an outright thief. What more evidence do we need?

(09-23-2017 12:14 AM)Peregrine Wrote:  Don't like it? Don't go.

Already a step ahead of you brother and it looks like there are many more folks who feel the same way.

A guy with a huge chip on his shoulder through his own admitted doomed-to-fail strategy at tipping (tipping well never to the same staff member) ripping on bars/clubs, now that's entertainment!

Bars/clubs are purveyor's of a very sought-after good. Attractive women. As long as they keep bringing in the attractive women, the men will follow. Men are their customers, but women are the product. Alcohol is there to make men feel better about themselves and for women to have a good time and men pay for the experience of being around those women.

I always laugh when people say "oh man, why is it dead here?" because the answer is always, "because there's no women!" There are shit-head losers at all kinds of service/low-skill based businesses, bars/clubs are not much of an exception, they are just selling a product that's always in demand so they can afford to shut some people out.

Post: #163

(09-28-2017 03:50 PM)Benoit Wrote:  The advantage of being a foreigner is that you don't have to follow the retarded customs that locals are socially obligated to.

A foreigner in Japan doesn't have to work themselves to death for a company that treats them like a dog.

In the UK, they don't have to join the back of a really long queue to be polite.

And in the US, they don't have to top up someone's wage because employers have managed to convince everyone to compensate for their cheapness.

US waiters are like beggars to me. They are bottom of the barrel people with no ambition, and are useful for only one thing : doing the monkey bringing my food, for free

Post: #164

(09-22-2017 04:54 PM)Nonpareil Wrote:  I can't be the only one who's noticed in the last 5 years or so that now 20% is expected as opposed to the traditional 15? I spent most of that time in China where there is no tipping and even if there was, service is so shit like I would even tip (the China crew can back me up on this).

For some reason I find the issue of tipping fascinating. It combines subtle transactionality, sociology, finance, and in every sense is an arms race between several parties.

Tipping started as a bit of an extra for great service, and in many places is still the case. I (the guy with lots of money) will give you(the guy with power in said establishment who presumably wants money) some if you look after me, slide me extras, bypass lines, use some of what I don't have, namely your power as an employee, to make my life better. Win-win.

From this point tipping spread, studies have been done and the biggest reason people tip, isn't to get a place on lock down, rather it's to not look cheap, social pressure. So guys out with others now feel compelled to also tip, and almost becomes normal.

Now in order to stand out, you need to tip even more. Tip inflation. Great for workers to have a bunch of guys fighting to be the least cheap.

This continues for so long, and owners see how much workers are getting tipped, so they lobby the gov't to let them pay them $2 an hour, and they go for it.

Now the zero point of both pay and service has effectively been shifted, such that many people feel entitled to a tip, which although anachronistically was for extra service, has literally become these guys de facto pay. Now you need to tip just so they get paid, let alone getting extras and locking down a place.

While I do tip, I think the whole thing is ridiculous. Good service should be part and parcel to paying 500% markup. "If you get bad service you can just not tip" gets parroted, but will a low tip give a shitty server a much needed kick in the ass, or will they have the cognitive dissonance to say "I'm a kick ass server, this guy's a stingy fuck, and next time he comes here I'm gonna jizz in his food" and then post the receipt on facebook for sympathy likes. Waiters should be paid a fair wage regardless, and if it's shitty service, I just wont go back, lesson learned. I've bought shoes before that fell apart after a couple months. Some times you get burned in life. Take the lesson and move on.

Post: #165

Quote:A lot of bartenders have a, "fuck you, tip me" attitude

This is true in some cases, and I am not excusing it, but you must understand the inordinate amount of bullshit we deal with on a daily basis. It's not an excuse, but there is a reason for it. That being said I won't return to a place where the bartender is a prick.