tipping etiquette

[MadJack]

welp......i moved to our temporary homestead while our new home is being built. a 4 month pain in the ass.

anyway, the movers came on Friday and put in an 11 hour day with only 15 minutes drive time.

the total bill was $818.

i bought them lunch at McDonalds. 60 bucks. those boyz can eat. LOL

then i tipped them $100.

i know they expect a tip and these guys deserved one but i wasn't sure if i tipped them too much or too little.

does anybody know the standard?

thanks

 

[Palmetto Pimp]

At first look I thought it was too much.....
but $160 tip from $818 is 19.5% so I guess not bad. I wouldntve tipped that much but I am cheap
In 4 months when you move if you have same guys you know they will do good job

 

[Tito]

20% is never too much when the alternative was that you could have done it yourself. My Daughter is in the service industry and has preached the 20% rule to me for years. Whne i take her out to dinner I better leave 20% or she will tell me about it before we leave our seats.

Besides $818 for an 11 hour day with a 20% tip sound like a good deal. Not sure I would want to move someone's entire home for $8 an hour.

 

[Palmetto Pimp]

You mean $80 an hour????
Actually you have to know how many movers there were

 

[MadJack]

yes, the moving company (north american) charged $80 per hour and sent 3 men. they deducted the time off for lunch.

i feel for those guys too because they told me they make $6.50 per hour. no way in hell i do all that work for that chit pay. no benefits either. they leave the warehouse at 6am 6 days a week and don't usually get back until 6-8pm. then they go home exausted and go to bed.

 

[BobbyBlueChip]

Jack,

I would think that you're right in the ballpark with the tip and towards the high side. 20% is only for the people that make less than minimum wage and the tips are their source of income. You could have asked the person in charge and he would have probably told you what they usually get or expect. People who put in long days for low wages usually aren't scam artists.

I hate tipping in general, not because I'm cheap, but because I have no idea how much. The 20% at a restaurant is a no brainer but you pay $4.50 for a coffee at Starbucks and then they have the box for tips? The same as deli's? I have no idea what is right most of the time.

 

[fatdaddycool]

Having worked in that business for a short while a long time ago that was a generous tip. Generally we would get lunch and about twenty each depending on size of the move

 

[Neemer]

depends on how much heavy chit you had. if it was like most, then I'd say you gave a very fair tip consideration. as a rule, I tend to agree that b/t 15-20% is fair.

 

[Neemer]

I was in a similiar situation a few months back and got two thick necked monsters to move all my chit from one place to another. I gave them each $700 bones, and it took them 18 hours. they also rented the moving truck on their own.

 

[Tito]

Guess I wasn't clear enough. I apologize. The $8.00 and hour I was refering to was what the guy's who do the moving make. At least that's their rate in Northern Ohio. The only point I was trying to make is that you couldn't pay me enough to move the contents of a house. Did when I was 25. Will never do it again. That's why you pay people to do it for you.

 

[Phil Turcotte]

Jack,

I think you are right on with the movers tip. Tipped about the same when I moved a few years back.

I personally though CANNOT STAND that these tip cups are making there way into every little facet of my life. Christ yesterday I saw one at the freaking Subway. Guys making subs do not get tips, that is not a tip industry. Sorry, neither is Starbucks. If you serve me a nice meal in a restaurant, you are going to get a tip, if you succesfully navigate my $5 cup of coffee from one counter to the next, get a life.

I am typically an overtipper in restaurants, however this bullshit about now everyone has their hand out really gets on my nerves.

 

[Chopsticks]

Jack,


You did the right thing. Most people like that have jobs like that because they can't do anything else. You were very generous in buying them lunch to begin with. You actually didn't have to give them anything. But I think your act of generousity will benefit you in the near future in one way or the other. Good luck.

 

[selkirk]

I think the tip was fair, it sounds like they did a good job. At a restaurant it depends on the service, good service good tip, bad service small or no tip.

thannks
selkirk

 

[dawgball]

My alter-ego at night is as a server at a fine dining restaurant. I think tipping has gotten out of control. Every server that waits on you now expects 20% or they are calling you cheap. Hey, I know about half of our staff has probably never given a table service good enough to deserve 20%. I disagree with selkirk, though. You should never leave a table with no tip. One thing it is not good for the Karma , two--there are too many variables in life as to what could cause you to have bad service.

Now if you want my 10,000 star lock pick of the week: ALWAYS tip cash. At the restaurant that I work in, we have to pay taxes on every credit card tip plus the Credit Card charge for the amount of the tip (I think it is around .02%) So a 20% tip turns into approximately 14%!

So put the meal on your card, but always slip the tip in cash. Just a word of advice from your local server.

 

[Phil Turcotte]

dawgball, I forgot to pass along that advice. Always good to keep in mind.

 

[ryson]

If the service is poor I will leave a penny on the table with the head side up. On the other hand, if service is great I will gladly pay 20%, it seems most servers expect to get paid on the tax on the bill too (I could be wrong).

 

[fatdaddycool]

Depending on what you consider to be poor service...if your drinks and such are kept full yet you wait forever for your food that certainly isn't the waitress' fault. If he\she is rude or the food is cold etc..then I would consider leaving only 10%. But usually always go 20% unless like delivery or something. Food service industry, granted this is off the job suggested, is an awfully laborious one and would not wish it on anybody. It is an extremely hard way to make a living, consider that when you leave your tip. Also consider that they generally have to give up 30% of their tips everynight to the bus help.

 

[ryson]

Depending on what you consider to be poor service...if your drinks and such are kept full yet you wait forever for your food that certainly isn't the waitress' fault. If he\she is rude or the food is cold etc..then I would consider leaving only 10%.

Poor service to me lack of attention to detail and just not giving a damn (customers can always tell), here is the way that I look @ things. I work in the service industry, granted it's software but it's still service and professionalism, I don't care if it's a 50K deal or 500K deal, I always give the same level of service...strict attention to detail and the customer pays the bills.

 

[fatdaddycool]

Ryson,
I heard you worked in the service industry

I work in the service industry, granted it's software but it's still service and professionalism,

software.....I have heard that about you Maybe your tips would be bigger if......ah nevermind....hehe.

:com:The Link

 

[ryson]

LOL