Tipping

[Aydia]

Always tip the people who bring you your food if nothing else! If you don't tip these people they WILL fuck with your food. It is known.

[WrathOfTinyKittens]

20% is standard. I usually find myself tipping more in the neighborhood of 25% though, not sure why. Then again, just the other night I had a rude and inattentive waitress who made me wait 20 minutes to pay my tab, put one of the orders in wrong (not terribly, but missing a critical side)(it was guacamole), and in general quite clearly didn't give a shit. Well, I understand that servers are underpaid and overworked, but if I'm paying you, then do your job. I think I tipped like 10% or less, which is something I almost never do.

Question: I bought some groupons for a couple hours of moving services, just moving my furniture from one apartment to another, basically. I own one bedroom set, three bookshelves, and a desk - so it's not like they'll be moving tons and tons of stuff. I'll probably move most of my clothes and boxes on my own since I won't have all that many. Should I tip the movers in this case?

I also hate when get service being rude, but I finally returned to my self, that what I've misspoken

The hell?

[Bronn Stone]

Always tip the people who bring you your food if nothing else! If you don't tip these people they WILL fuck with your food. It is known.

This is overstated. They may dawdle. They may skimp. But actually adulterating your food is rare. Exceptions occur in the lowest-quality chain establishments, but in most places, professionalism prevents that.

[Aydia]

You keep thinking that if thats what helps you sleep at night. I've known entirely to many people who work in the food industry to believe that.

[Vrana]

You keep thinking that if thats what helps you sleep at night. I've known entirely to many people who work in the food industry to believe that.

This might be a north america thing, but never in years of working in hospitality industries all over europe, including several family members owning and operating different hospitality businesses have I seen this. If any cook I have ever worked with had ever caught me tampering with food I would have had to answer to a furious individual with a disconcerting skill with knives.

[buy one get one free]

Tips are also expected in cab rides. At hotels, you should tip the housekeeping staff each day that you stay. If you get help from a concierge, a tip is expected.

For a taxi, tip 20%.

I ended my very good New Orleans visit with a bad taste in my mouth because of the taxi driver.

I'm one of those people that rarely have cash (cue ztemhead), but because a lot of New Orleans, I discovered, only take case, I got a cash advance to use for emergency cases.

As we were leaving the hotel for the airport, the hotel valet waved me to a taxi driver waiting in front of the hotel. After he he had put our bags in but before we moved an inch, I ask "Do you take credit cards?"

His response was, "Yes, but you make me much happier if you pay in cash."

wtf? "All I have is a credit card. I can get another taxi if you don't take credit cards."

"Oh, I take credit cards, but they take 10%, so cash is better."

"Well, I understand, but, sorry, all I have is a credit card."

On our way we went and I decided that I would only tip that 10% instead of the 15-20% I do for taxis.

Now, I realize I should have asked before the bags were in the car, but dammit, it totally pissed me off that he would put his customer in that position. Either you take credit cards or not. Don't bitch or whine about credit cards to your customer if you are willing to accept them.

Now, my complete faux pas. I didn't tip the concierges! I don't normally use their services, but asked their quick advice quite a bit on this 3 night stay. I didn't really know how much or even how to tip them. So, enlighten me. How much and how??

Lastly, I am in Kentucky, and I think the NYC norm of 20% has reached here (I've been paying that for years), so the standard 15% is probably kinda outdated everywhere in the US.

[buy one get one free]

ps: I'm pretty sure the 10% charge from credit card to businesses is BS. Isn't it more like 1-2%?

[AverageGuy]

You keep thinking that if thats what helps you sleep at night. I've known entirely to many people who work in the food industry to believe that.

I'm sure there are places this is true, but in the restaurants I've worked in, nobody messed with the food.

[Bronn Stone]

ps: I'm pretty sure the 10% charge from credit card to businesses is BS. Isn't it more like 1-2%?

I don't know how it is in New Orleans, but in San Francisco the cabbies are all independent contractors, not actually employees of the cab companies. And they get robbed blind by those companies, both for the costs of the car, the referral charge when someone calls for a cab and for everything else. He might be exaggerating, but I doubt it is the standard 1-2%. There is probably a 'processing fee' tacked on by the cab company, which might bring it up to 10% for a smaller transaction.

[Bronn Stone]

You keep thinking that if thats what helps you sleep at night. I've known entirely to many people who work in the food industry to believe that.

At the low-end, perhaps. If your food is being prepared by someone seventeen years old, you get what you pay for. But in a dining establishment with professional cooks and professional staff, such things are not tolerated.

[S John]

Now, my complete faux pas. I didn't tip the concierges! I don't normally use their services, but asked their quick advice quite a bit on this 3 night stay. I didn't really know how much or even how to tip them. So, enlighten me. How much and how??

Dunno if there's a rule on this but I'd like to know it if there is. That and the dudes that grab your bags at the hotel or airport. I think a few bucks is probably good but I avoid this situation like the plague. First there's the awkwardness of not knowing how much to give the guy followed by the awkward hand off of cash. Second, I do not like to be separated from my bags. I stayed at one hotel where they took my bags immediately and brought them up to my room while I was checking in. I mean, I appreciate the service I guess, but I did not like that at all. I'm talking to the check in lady and all the sudden my bags are gone. Not cool guys, not cool. Now I've gotta give this guy 5 bucks or something for nearly giving me a heart attack when I turned around to find my bags gone. Ummm... thanks?

I've also been to a few places where an army of porters competes for the right to carry your bags, not only with each other, but also with you. I have literally yelled at and played tug-of-war with a man who was trying to carry my bag at the airport in Kuwait City. I'M ALREADY CARRYING IT, GOD DAMNIT! I've been through there a few times, those guys were brutal. This bell rings every time a flight comes in and like 30 guys in blue jump suits come swarming out looking to 'help' you. I wasn't trying to be a dick, but I'm going to look like an even bigger dick when we get outside and this guy finds out that I don't have any cash on me. I figured it was better just to fight him off then and there. So yea, I now usually avoid letting anyone else take my shit and I'll be rude about it if they're pushy. I think some industries have a corrupted view of the whole tipping idea. If I'm doing it because you've guilted me into it.. well here's a few bucks, but also - fuck you, man.

[MercenaryChef]

You keep thinking that if thats what helps you sleep at night. I've known entirely to many people who work in the food industry to believe that.

15 years in a kitchen I have never seen tampering of food. If I did the ways in which I would fuck up the offender is simply staggering.

Only total shitheads with no class or respect would even dare. It does not happen in professional kitchens with professional cooks and chefs.

Shameful.

[BarrileteCosmico]

In Buenos Aires we do not tip cabs. I always add a few pesos, though, and the taxi drivers almost without exception are surprised and say 'thank you' like they mean it. That makes tipping worth it.

When I go to America, which is fairly often since I study there, whenever I tip I never feel like they feel the slightest amount of gratitude for it.

[Tyrellius]

Part of the server's job is identifying miscooked items before they reach my plate. The server did not do his or her job here. This is not a case of 'medium' instead of 'medium-well', which the server cannot see or smell. Burnt ravioli should look wrong.

A mere plate-carrier questioning a chefs creation? WTF you been smokin?

[kairparavel]

A mere plate-carrier questioning a chefs creation? WTF you been smokin?

Depending on the caliber of the establishment, they are far more than mere plate-carriers. The less flair, the more their responsibilities grow.

[MercenaryChef]

many places I have worked have employed servers as the final inspection of a plate. I have often had this person call my attention to something that a cook may be trying to pass off while I am occupied at another station in the kitchen.

quality assurance is not questioning the integrity of my vision as a chef. It is just working together to insure proper execution.

[MercenaryChef]

many places I have worked have employed servers as the final inspection of a plate. I have often had this person call my attention to something that a cook may be trying to pass off while I am occupied at another station in the kitchen.

quality assurance is not questioning the integrity of my vision as a chef. It is just working together to insure proper execution.

[Inigima]

I dig the new title, Chef.

[Bronn Stone]

many places I have worked have employed servers as the final inspection of a plate. I have often had this person call my attention to something that a cook may be trying to pass off while I am occupied at another station in the kitchen.

quality assurance is not questioning the integrity of my vision as a chef. It is just working together to insure proper execution.

Even in the best kitchens, errors eventually happen. Preventing them (when possible) is the job of every person working in the establishment. The server is probably the best equipped person to know if a variation from the normal preparation is either an error or a customer request.