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Comment by Eridrus | Hacker News Reader

So, a question from a foreigner, if you buy something at a counter, should you tip? I would think the answer is no, but in states where minimum wage laws are different for tipped workers, I would expect the answer to be yes, but are there other guidelines? Does it matter if you eat in vs take out? What are the damn expectations?

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I'm sure you'll get as many answers as people you ask, but I personally do not.

I tip waiters who come around to refill my water and ask how the meal is.

I tip delivery-people (like, delivery to an off-restaurant location. Not someone who brings my plate out and that's it).

I don't tip other employees at eateries.

Delivery used to be free from most pizza places and the occasional other restaurant that delivered. Now, almost everyone charges a delivery fee. The idea of tipping on top of that just irks me to no end, although I do it so they won't spit on my food next time. I don't tip my Fedex or UPS deliveryman, why should I tip for food delivery when I've already been charged extra for that exact service?

There are people who tip the fedex or ups courier? I didn’t even consider this was a possibility.

Some people tip their garbage collector: http://www.mymoneyblog.com/how-do-i-tip-the-trash-collector....

From a foreign perspective, where I don't think I've ever tipped anyone in my life, it's absolutely bizarre.

Tipping a garbage collector is bizarre from an American perspective too.

My garbage collector has to park his truck, open my gate, get back in his truck, empty my dumpster, park his truck again, lock my gate, and then finally go on to the next customer.

His extra effort and reliability warrants a Christmas card and monetary gift every year.

Back when I lived with my parents in a single-family home people would give the garbage collectors a little something once per year, usually around christmas.

No, there aren't people that do that, basically. The parent comment was pointing out that that would be an absurdity if it were occurring.

No, of course there aren't. That was the point that was being made about food delivery.

If you buy something at a counter, there is no social expectation that you tip (bartenders are the sole exception, but just give them a dollar not a percentage.) Nor for takeout, but you should definitely tip for delivery (those guys get a raw deal anyway, their pay sucks and they're almost always putting miles on their personal vehicle. Tip them with cash when possible, to make sure they get to keep it...)

> If you buy something at a counter, there is no social expectation that you tip

In the USA, plenty of counter-service restaurants/shops have tip jars. Further, many counter-service food outlets have added a tipping option to their credit card process, usually with 15% as the minimum.

Those tip jars are basically a "if you don't want to deal with coinage or $1 dollar bills, we'll take it off your hand" option. You won't be thought poorly of for not tipping at a cafe or counter-service restaurant the same way you would be for not tipping a regular waiter.

Thanks Starbucks, for taking those dollar bills off my hands so I don't have to deal with them! How convenient of you! The homeless guy outside will also perform the same service, by the way, but I wouldn't be "supporting a living wage" if I gave him the money instead of your baristas.

Starbucks isn't taking anything; they are receiving from people who give willingly. If you choose to give them your money, you've got nobody but yourself to blame. In the case of tip jars at counters you can't even blame social pressure, participating in such a scheme is completely voluntary and most people do not.

Your argument is reductive. ALL tips are given willingly.

Starbucks could, at any moment, bar individual stores from placing a tip jar at their registers. Just like McDonald's. No tips, no issue, no should I or shouldn't I?

Tips to wait staff are voluntary but have significant social pressure behind them. Tip jars at counters have no social pressure behind them. That's not reductive, that's just the practical reality of tipping culture in America. If you refuse to tip a waitress a very significant portion of the American population will consider you tantamount to a thief, a morally bankrupt person. Refusing to put your change in the tip jar doesn't even cause people to bat an eye. The social dynamics between these two scenarios are worlds apart. Ignoring these disparate social dynamics is reductive.

If you're going to be outraged that Starbucks offers you the opportunity to tip people at the counter, perhaps I should feign outrage that you spend your money on starbucks instead of making your own coffee and giving the difference to the homeless. Starbucks has a significant profit margin after all; that is money you could be donating!

Your outrage would be misdirected, as I have not patronized Starbucks in many years. But among friends who do, they absolutely feel pressure to tip, especially when they see the same barista every single day. I'll trust them over you, thanks.

> "But among friends who do, they absolutely feel pressure to tip,"

I'm pretty damn skeptical of that, since in America the vast majority of customers do not put anything in counter tip jars. Maybe you've got some sort of strange selection bias going on...

They have tip jars, but there is no social expectation that you should use them. Sometimes I drop my change in them if I don't want it in my pocket.

> many counter-service food outlets have added a tipping option to their credit card process

I see this as just a little bit underhanded... creating the expectation of a tip in situations where one is not needed.

Also, the presence of a tip jar does not create the need for a tip.

Giving bartenders a dollar no matter the order amount is not cool, really. That’s how you turn invisible to them the next time you want to order a drink ;)

I disagree. I tip a dollar per drink no matter what it is. It's no more than 30 seconds of work to pour/ open a beer, maybe 60 seconds for a mixed drink? Then I walk away. Transaction/ service complete. Unlike a server who attends to you for the duration of a meal, while you are also sitting there occupying table space of other paying customers.

Most people run tabs on plastic nowadays, so how's the bartender supposed to even know what they are earning per drink? I prefer to pay in cash & tip dollars as I go, & i find most bartenders are more than happy to get them & continue good service when they see paper coming their way on every transaction.

Sure, that’s reasonable. I just see people who order a round of 6 drinks and then throw a single dollar in, at some places.

Hopefully GP meant a dollar per drink. That seems to be the norm.

If you're headed to a craft establishment, $2 is the norm now. (aka a drink that has 4-10 ingredients, not a vodka/soda)

I suppose that's where the disconnect is. I only order beers or shots of whisky. One dollar per drink keeps the bartenders attentive in my experience.

Personally if the drink is sub-10$, I tip $1.

Then you're not going to 'craft' establishments.

Maybe I'm not. Could you link an example of one? Would you tip more than 1$ on, say, a $6 drink there?

You wouldn't be paying $6 for a 'craft' style cocktail anywhere in the US. A 'craft' cocktail usually has 4-10 ingredients and a garnish that compliments the flavor - usually through your orthonasal senses. It's not a vodka soda or a gin and tonic. It's a Fish House Punch or a Jungle Bird or a Champs Elysees or any number of amazing cocktails that exist in the world.

> Tip them with cash when possible, to make sure they get to keep it...)

Nothing like trying to help income inequality than to promote progressive income tax evasion.

Facilitating tax evasion is one consideration (although trust me, delivery people fall into a very low tax bracket anyway...) But another consideration is the number of employers who try to keep tips for themselves. It's hard to know which businesses do this, so it's safer to just tip with cash.

I wouldn't. There is no service that's being provided, but you will still see plenty of tip jars and a line item for tips if you pay by card. As a business you'd be foolish to not have that, as you see by other commenters they happily part with their money.

I tip when I take out from somewhere that also has seated, tipping customers. In that case I tip 10-15%.

I don't tip more than a buck or two at other places (coffee, burrito, pizza, etc) and if I don't tip at all I don't feel bad.

When you tip for takeout, who do anticipate is receiving that money? You didn't interact with a waiter, a maitre'd, a sommelier, and the owner didn't come by to ensure everything was good. The cook/chef (who is, realistically, the employee most worthy of receiving a tip) only gets a small slice of pooled tips. It's a bit absurd to tip for "service" when you received no service, and there's no employee to whom you're directing the tip. It's just like, hey, here's some extra money for whoever wants it...

I tip 10% for counter pickup, 20% for table service and 15-20% for delivery.

At Souvla, the food is really good and I tip the 15% default IIRC.

Keep in mind: Tipping is the means by which to acknowledge good service.

If you did NOT receive good service, that should be reflected in the amount of your tip (or your lack of tip).

If you receive exceptional service, that should also be reflected.

The general rule is to tip in proportion to the service, and the quality of service being delivered.

Is the implication that if you didn't tip, then the service was bad? I'm sorry, but it should be a given that the service adequately good in the normal course of business --otherwise, why is it a restaurant? I am fine if tipping is something you do when you experience exceptional service that is above and beyond satisfactory, instead of something you are compelled to do every time. The argument that waiters might not be paid enough is a valid point, but it is separate.

> Is the implication that if you didn't tip, then the service was bad?

Yes. That is the implication.

> it should be a given that the service adequately good in the normal course of business

Yes, as you say, it usually is adequately good. What about when it isn't?

Not all service is good. Not all service deserves tipping and not all service is going generate repeat customers.

As for myself, I'm all about the food. If the food is good and it gets out to me in a timely manner, I'm a happy camper, and I'll tip 20% (at a tipping-type location).

What about the times when the service is egregiously poor? You could choose to contact management. Surely they would want to know why you won't be eating there anymore... You could tip 2 pennies to communicate to the server that their service was poor... I've heard both of those suggestions.

I choose to communicate this by lowering the tip I leave, and in the absolute worst cases, leave no tip at all. Perhaps there is a better option. I don't consider leaving a 20% tip to be that better option.

My tipping strategy in this situation: If they simply take your order at the counter and bring your food out, no tip.

I also don't tip in places where you are expected to bus (clear) your own table, unless other service has been provided.

I still tip 5% - 10% depending on if they are going to run the food out to me, clean up the table after me, or have to spend a lot of time packaging up the item after they make it (to go orders or complicated stay in orders).

Look and see if there is a tip jar?

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