The Point of Tipping
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Friday's Wall Street Journal (Feb 29, 2008) featured an interesting editorial on p. W11 by Eric Felten called "The Point of Tipping". He uses the recent Starbucks media stunt to close all shops and reboot themselves as an opportunity to delve into our culture's development of the "burden of gratuitous gratuities". While Starbucks was supposedly doing everything it could to serious put the consumer's interests back into Starbucks (meaning great coffee), they glanced over small details like that ubiquitous tip jar on the counter...
I agree that there's undue pressure in today's world to potentially tip anything that moves.
Felten says of current tipping norms:
I personally grew up tipping 15% reserving 20% or more for notable service. These days, some credit card receipts do the math for you with 15%, 18% and 20%, which tells me that 20% is NOT the average, but rather 18%...
How much do you tip when the bill comes after the meal?
What's the "norm" these days at buffets? Do you tip 5%? 10%? 15%? Even at "gourmet" buffets like Minado Sushi?
And what about the rest of "life"? Do you tip contractors that do work on your house? Do you tip the workers directly or the owner? What about during hotel stays? Do you leave a tip for the housekeeping staff that cleans your room? Or the car rental shuttle bus driver? Or what about when you do Chinese take-out? My local take-out joint has the blank gratuity line on the signature slip -- just as this article points out. Is it expected just for putting you food in a bag?
I agree that there's undue pressure in today's world to potentially tip anything that moves.
Felten says of current tipping norms:
"Not long ago, an 18% restuarant tip was a tad better than the 15% that was
expected. Now I don't know anyone who tips less than 20%. Soon we'll
feel the need to show our generosity by leaving 25% of the tab."
I personally grew up tipping 15% reserving 20% or more for notable service. These days, some credit card receipts do the math for you with 15%, 18% and 20%, which tells me that 20% is NOT the average, but rather 18%...
How much do you tip when the bill comes after the meal?
What's the "norm" these days at buffets? Do you tip 5%? 10%? 15%? Even at "gourmet" buffets like Minado Sushi?
And what about the rest of "life"? Do you tip contractors that do work on your house? Do you tip the workers directly or the owner? What about during hotel stays? Do you leave a tip for the housekeeping staff that cleans your room? Or the car rental shuttle bus driver? Or what about when you do Chinese take-out? My local take-out joint has the blank gratuity line on the signature slip -- just as this article points out. Is it expected just for putting you food in a bag?
Labels: eric felton, the point of tipping, tip, wall street journal
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