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This artical in The Savannah Morning News, taken from the Wall Street Journal caught my eye for some obvious reasons.
You get decent service, you leave a tip right?
Its not always that easy. One consequence of the ballooning service economy is the new tipping economy is that new tipping opportunities are sprigging up everywhere. how much to give the guy at Starbucks, the concierge, the bathroom attendant? what to do if a restaurant quietly tack on a "service charge as more upscale places are doing?
Other eateries , along with a new waiters' group called fairtip.oprg, are encouraging higher tipping rates" Is 20 Percent the new 15 percent? The confusing is spawning Web site4s such as tipping.org, where people offer advice to each other. Emilypost.com among other things now offers advice on dealing with the proliferation on tip jars.
First, its good to know what other people are doing: According to Zagat Survey the average U.S. restaurant diner now leaves an 18.8 percent after-tax gratuity, up from 16.5 five years ago. Generally, when dining out, EXEPTIONAL SERVICE SHOULD GET 20 PERCENT OR MORE. If other staff, say the sommelier, is helpful, consider a separate 10 percent of the bottle's value. For bad service, feel free to give say. only 10 percent - BUT ONLY IF YOU'RE SURE IT WAS THE WAITER'S FAULT, AS OPPOSED TO SOMETHING OUT OF HIS OR HER CONTROL(LIKE A BLUNDER IN THE KITCHEN) EVEN IF YOU FEEL JUSTIFIED, TAKE A DEEP BREATH AND REIN IN YOUR ANGER. OFTEN WAITERS DIVVY UP TIPS WITH BUSBOYS AND HOSTS, WHO DON'T DESERVE THE PUNISHMENT.
With the exception if restaurants where staffers can depend heavily on tips because they're paid below minimum wage, most other tipping is optional. That's not to say that being miserly is an appropriate default setting for your internal gratuity-dispensing mechanism. "Do it out of a sense of self-confidence and feeling good" says Tim Zagat, founder of Zagat Survey.
We sought out people with informed opinions to walk us though a few potentially awkward but common scenarios, One recurring theme, A buck is often a good answer.
For bartenders, a dollar a drink is good when you ask them to whip you up a cocktail. Think 20 percent on bigger tabs, says David Craver of the National Bartenders Association. Unlike waiters barkeepers often earn minimum wage, but still "rely on tips to make a decent living," he says. In hotels, make it a buck a bag for bellhops, more if your luggage is out of the ordinarily, For room service, restaurant guidelines apply. (But check it see if your getting hit with an automatic gratuity) (Flank Note - Hey, I'm all for good tipping, but you don’t want to give people TOO much.) Leave between $1 and 5$ a day for the chambermaid. It's a low-paid job, and many people never think to tip for good service here.
Tipping airport shuttle-bus derivers is optional, unless they help with bags, in which case a buck or two is fine. Taxi drivers? Make it an even dollar on short tips, and 10 percent to 20 percent on longer trips. Unless, of course, you're being taken for a ride.
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I thought that was some really good advice. The article was balanced, well organized and well written as a whole. A lot of people don't know what to leave and I think this clears up some things. Personally, I believe while in college, as part of people's core curriculum people should have to be a waiter for a month, to see what it is exactly like.
Flank Out
let it linger