What is with the Tip Jar

[LilCujo]

:scratch:

Ok so, I don’t know if you all see this where you are...but I am noticing these tip jars everywhere now. Like starbucks..they have like a little cup or jar that after they serve you your coffee your supposed to tip them..whats up with that?? they are starting to do it at the juice places and everywhere. The one thing is they are starting to put them next to the needy children’s jar...

Next thing you know all your local fast food places will that that darn thing everywhere..I think I should put one on my desk. Every time I perform one of my job duties I was HIRED to do someone can give me money..woot...

 

[voodoocat]

Well I'm going to have to disagree with you on your rant (for the most part)

Well I don't think Starbucks makes anything worthy of getting a tip... but that's a different story.

Making coffee is an art. Working in a coffee shop pays jackshit. Introduce the tip jar. I've worked in a few coffee shops and having a tip jar is standard. It's not like fast food where you press a button or throw a burger in the microwave... It takes skill to make good coffee. And most customers of mine did not disagree with rewarding good service and quality. I used to work at a cart for a performing arts center (musicals, ballet, symphony, etc) Opening night of the rock opra Tommy, I made $40 in tips for 1 hr 20 minutes worth of making drinks.

 

[Luminosity]

When I was in the U.S last year the comparisons between your wages and australian wages came up a fair bit ...eg. a waitress , upon learning I'm an aussie asked me what waitresses here get ( on average , a waitress on casual rates gets about $13-$20 an hour.It depends on age , weekday/weekend work etc).She looked goggle eyed at me and told me american wages for waitresses can be anything from $ 2 - $ 6 an hour !

Yowzer ! They SHOULD get tips on that wage !

Here in Aus , tipping isnt really a standard practice.If we are impressed and really pleased with the service whilst dining etc then we'll tip.
The one thing I dont agree with is those establishments that combine everyones tips and divide them up equally ,at the end of the shift.What if one waitress gave fantastic service and was the one tipped the most while the rest gave poor/mediocore service ? I think each worker tipped should get to keep their own tips.

 

[markc]

Here in Aus , tipping isnt really a standard practice.If we are impressed and really pleased with the service whilst dining etc then we'll tip.

That's the way it should work, otherswise it's not a tip. This 15% thing is bull. Servers and everyone else should be paid a fair wage. Tips should only come into play when a person feels they received extraodinary service. Ah well. There's no going back now, I'm sure.

 

[Luminosity]

I'm with ya on that opinion Mark. The tipping system should be based on excellent service.The amount of tip , of course , should be decided by the paying customer.
Employers in the States need to be made , by law , to pay a decent wage and stop putting heavy reliance on the public to 'tip' low wage earners.
Ya all need more weeks per year holidays (vacation time ) too , while I'm at it (my rant ) ! Lol

 

[Karalee]

Here in Aus , tipping isnt really a standard practice.If we are impressed and really pleased with the service whilst dining etc then we'll tip.
The one thing I dont agree with is those establishments that combine everyones tips and divide them up equally ,at the end of the shift.What if one waitress gave fantastic service and was the one tipped the most while the rest gave poor/mediocore service ? I think each worker tipped should get to keep their own tips.

When I moved to the US from New Zealand, tipping was something I had only seen in tv. The first time I went to an American Diner I remember friends telling me how much a waitress makes here and I was shocked. In the casino land of Las Vegas I was suprised to find that slot machine attendants and what not have to put their tips into a pot where they recieve a cut of it offset from their pay week. I didnt think that this was really fair, because some of those slot attendants stand there with their fingers up their you know what doing nothing and still get the same amount as the ones who are working hard.

Tips.... such a strange thing.

 

[oriecat]

I too would love to see tips go the wayside in exchange for better wages for the service workers. But of course, if that happened then prices would have to be raised to make up for it, so we'd end up paying the same amount anyway, I think. But as a payroll professional, tips are just a pain in the butt (even tho I don't deal with them myself, of which I am very glad!) You also have a very large issue with people not declaring all of their tips, thinking it's ok to peel a little off the top, so that they don't have to pay taxes on it. Well screw that, I have to pay taxes on all of my income and so should they.

 

[manda]

everyones tips and divide them up equally ,at the end of the shift.What if one waitress gave fantastic service and was the one tipped the most while the rest gave poor/mediocore service ? I think each worker tipped should get to keep their own tips.

Hear! Hear!
I've been a waitress and this happened at the cafe I was at. It was rather stinky when you are handed a $5 tip(just for giving someone a smile while doing my job- that was the reason given) to then have to ask the customer to put it in our tip jar, so it was then divided up for 8 people...
:roll: :roll:

I never saw any of those tips. I didnt make $13- $20 an hour either.
I tip waiters that deserve tips. If the service is crap, Im not going to give them my hard earned money, if they aren't working hard themselves. Having been a waitress myself, I know what that is.

I was astounded at the tipping thing in the States when I was in Hawaii. Doormen in hotels, stand and wait for a tip! Cab drivers wait for a tip. Its crazy.

My cousin works at one of the Sheraton Hotels here in Sydney as an in house dining waiter. He has met some pretty fancy shmancy people, including Keith Richards and Shaggy. It is a common occurrance for people to slip a $50 note in his top pocket, just for serving them ice cream and burgers. lol

 

[Walt]

Back in my bus driving days (long, long ago) the joke was;what;s the difference between a Canadian and a canoe?
One tips!
Also in my younger days I used to work in a bar. The whole problem with using tips to compensate for low wages is that men only get a fraction of the tips that women do. It was fun just the same!

 

[Luminosity]

When I was working bar ...biggest tip I got was
$ 450 ! That was from ONE guy alone.
He never made a fuss , just ordered drinks off me , passed his credit card over , asked to withdraw x amount of cash , paid for his drinks and told me to keep the remaining $450 and walked off ....lol, it was weird.

He came back two weeks later and gave me the same amount again !

That earned him the nickname *Santa Claus* amongst the staff :LOL:

 

[Big Mike]

Back when I was in school, we had a discussion about tipping and how it differs from country to country. Specifically between Canada & the US.

Bus driver was one example that came up. Our instructor had been on a trip to the US and was on a tour bus or similar. After the trip, the American passengers all tipped the driver and the same was expected from him. (which he did).

This brought up the discussion about why we give tips. All the driver did was drive the bus, so the standard was basically if he doesn't crash the bus...he deserves (gets) extra money. The driver gets paid from the price of the tickets as well. It seems that this is much more common in the US than in the rest of the world.

I worked at a car wash during school and I was the one who brought out the clean cars to the customers. If there was any tipping going on...(very rare) it was me who got it.

Here in Canada, tipping is not very common. Food service is the exception of course. I think the thought process is that people are paid to do a job and unless they go above and beyond with their service...they don't get any extra compensation.

We wouldn't tip a mechanic for fixing our car. We pay $70/hour labor cost for him to fix it.

Food service is one industry where the public knows that the waiters/waitresses don't get paid very much and rely on tips to make a living.

With me & most people I know, there is a basic tip amount (about 14%) and good service will warrant a higher tip.

I don't like the idea of a tip kitty. I don't see why the dishwasher or bus boy should get more money because the waitress did a very good job.

 

[Big Mike]

I know a girl who was working in Italy giving tours. She gave a tour to a rich, prominent businessman and a his large group of people.

He tipped her $5000 US :shock:

Now that's a tip.

 

[terri]

I know a girl who was working in Italy giving tours. She gave a tour to a rich, prominent businessman and a his large group of people.

He tipped her $5000 US :shock:

Now that's a tip.

No doubt about it. I'm in the wrong business. :roll:

 

[ormia]

The only time I tip is when I'm having a sit down meal, I let a delivery guy keep the change, or I have a cab driver who is not insane. Maybe I'm cheep, or maybe it's becuse I've never had job that included tipping.
They have tip cups at the Tim Hortons (coffee shop), but its seems really silly to be tipping at fast food joint. I wouldn't tip the guy at the McDonalds, so why would I tip the guy at the Tim Hortons. I had a friend who worked there who said that it wasn't fast food, it was resturant. I'm sorry, maybe I'm picky, but if it has a drive thru, it's a fast food place.

 

[voodoocat]

I let a delivery guy keep the change

I hope he doesn't spend it all in one place ;P

Unless you say pay with a $20 and the food was $17. I once delivered a pizza and the total was $14.75 and she gave me $15 and said "oh you keep the change" I said "now I can pay for my whole family to come to America"


well... not really... I just said "ummm thanks" :roll: