What on earth is with all this tipping?!?! (rental car, coupon)
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Actually I did give my agent a gift at the closing when I sold my house earlier this year.
But honestly, how many people give tips to salespersons (meaning anyone who works on commission)? The assumption is that a tip is meant to augment the income of someone on a fixed (relatively low) compensation for whatever they do. The waitress gets her $10/hr or whatever the minimum wage is, no matter how hard she works or how much money each table spends. She has no way of earning more than that at her job, other than tips.
Whereas the perception of a salesperson is that the more you hustle, the more you make (via commission) and thus the salesperson has the opportunity to increase their income in direct propertion to everything they sell. If they sell a $1000 item they're going to get a bigger commission than for a $50 item. Whereas the waitress gets $10/hr regardless of whether a table spends $15 or $300 ..... unless she gets a tip.
Unfortunately when it comes to realtors the common perception is that they are "overpaid for what they do" .... you know that as well as I do, Tom. So the odds of anyone giving additional money to someone who they've just watched receive a check for tens of thousands of dollars at the closing .... or who they know is going to get that much at a closing, especially if the commission is coming directly out of their proceeds of sale... is highly unlikely.
I think its really important to tip everyone who performs any type of service for you, people remember who tips and who doesn't and they'll communicate that info to their co-workers. Trust me. Tipper receive better service and non-tippers get shafted. During the holidays I tip everybody and over-tip bartenders and servers. The guy who ties the tree on the car, the oil burner guy, garbage, recycling, UPS, fedex, mail carrier, paperboy, everybody gets something. Not much, but something. My dad was a NYC cabbie when he was my age and hes taught me the benefits of taking care of the people who serve you. I've been on the receiving end of it as well and when you work off tips and get shafted, it really hurts. On the flip side, if you have on of those jobs that people don't always think to tip, like windshields, i was a pool guy when i was younger, it REALLY makes you feel good when someone goes out of their way to tip you and you try to return the favor by doing a really thorough job every time you're at that person house. Its just the right thing to do and it shows appreciation. If you don't show that you appreciate the job the person is doing, what is their motivation to go the extra mile over the bare minimum?
I think its really important to tip everyone who performs any type of service for you, people remember who tips and who doesn't and they'll communicate that info to their co-workers. Trust me. Tipper receive better service and non-tippers get shafted.
In an ideal world, that might be true/workable, but....
First, and bluntly, I simply can't afford to tip everyone who performs any type of service for me. And as far as "not much, but something" .... there are lots of people who expect a certain level of tip and if they get less than that, they're insulted. Trust ME. I've seen it happen often. They don't stop to think that maybe the person who just gave them a small amount, or less than 15% or 20% or whatever the so-called 'expected' tip is, might be having to count every dollar. These people just think "Cheapskate!" as a reflex.
Especially in today's economy. I'm retired and on a limited income which has taken a brutal beating this year and isn't going to get better anytime soon, but I don't go around wearing my financial situation on my sleeve. In fact there are only two people other than my SO who have any clue what my financial situation really is. Others have no idea that I'm now struggling. But when a person has to scrounge around the house to see what they can probably sell on eBay, you can bet YOUR bottom dollar that person is not going to use that money for tipping "everyone who performs any type of service".
It's particularly awkward when you have tipped in the past but can no longer afford to do so. Those people now EXPECT to be tipped and if that ceases, IMO it causes more resentment than if the person never tipped them in the first place. If not resentment, then definitely confusion. Sorry but I don't think I owe the person who I either pay directly for a service (lawn maintenance, oil burner guy, plumber, etc) or via my taxes (garbage pickup) an explanation of why I can't tip them anymore. It's none of their business.
As far as non-tippers getting poor service and "good" customers getting better work, all I can say is that when I had my last house completely renovated in 2002/03 (a 6-month job, 5 days a week) I treated the contractor's crew like gold. Coffee and donuts EVERY morning, paid for their lunch once a week, and bought every guy on the crew an Xmas gift. You would think I'd end up with the Taj Mahal, right? WRONG. I ended up barely on speaking terms with the contractor by the end of the job because he got up in arms every time I noticed something was not done to specs. For TWO YEARS after the job was completed I was still spending thousands of dollars to have his crew's shoddy workmanship (looked good on the surface but was done completely wrong) fixed. I'm still fighting this guy in court even though the house is now sold. So much for "customers who tip/gift get treated well in return". Bah humbug.
Sorry, i was just trying to give my opinion on the subject. I wasn't directing my post at you or any one person. But, just so you know, servers do not make minimum wage which is 7 something, i think. They make more like $3.50 an hour now. When i was waiting tables, my actual bi-weekly paycheck was frequently less than $20 because you have to claim some of your tips to avoid getting into trouble. You basically ONLY get paid in tips when you're waiting tables. Giving below minimum IS an insult and it means you did not appreciate the job they did. I think this year my family is giving the garbage men, ups guy, etc.. $5 in a cheap card, thats what i meant by 'not much but something'. Also, my family isn't made of cash by any means. We're struggling right now as well, everyone is, people know that and it shows a lot to still give the people who don't normally receive tips something.
Sorry here too, I didn't mean to sound as if I was taking offense personally; I wasn't. Expenses/spending is unfortunately a real sore point for me this holiday season so I apologize if I went off on a bit of a rant when I probably shouldn't have. I've spent a lot of hours lately poring over where the money went in 2008 and have had to take a machete (rather than a scalpel) to everything that isn't an absolute essential and/or fixed expense.
Getting huffy responses this week from a few family members on both my SO's side and my own to my email requesting that gifts not be exchanged this year, hasn't helped my mood much either. Sorry if I took my aggravation out in my previous post! Whoops.
I do want to say, though, that (as I mentioned earlier) unless the service is awful, we do always tip in restaurants. Granted, we don't dine out all that often but when we do (even if it's just the neighborhood pizza/Italian place, nothing fancy at all), we always tip the standard (about 17%, sometimes 20%).
My mom used to be a waitress back in the 1940s and even then it was only the tips that made it any sort of living.
She also taught me that back then, there were three ways in which a customer could send a message that they were less than pleased with the service they got from a waiter or waitress. One of course was to simply not leave a tip. Another method was to leave a small tip plus one penny. The penny indicated "You would have gotten a bigger tip if we'd gotten better service". The worst was to leave ONLY a penny as a tip. That was even worse than leaving no tip at all (because there was always the chance that the person who left no tip, really could only afford to pay for the food he or she had ordered). A one-cent tip was the 1940s/50s equivalent of "Your service absolutely sucked beyond belief".
I doubt that waiters/waitresses today have ever heard of the Language of the Penny though.
She also taught me that back then, there were three ways in which a customer could send a message that they were less than pleased with the service they got from a waiter or waitress. One of course was to simply not leave a tip. Another method was to leave a small tip plus one penny. The penny indicated "You would have gotten a bigger tip if we'd gotten better service". The worst was to leave ONLY a penny as a tip. That was even worse than leaving no tip at all (because there was always the chance that the person who left no tip, really could only afford to pay for the food he or she had ordered). A one-cent tip was the 1940s/50s equivalent of "Your service absolutely sucked beyond belief".
I doubt that waiters/waitresses today have ever heard of the Language of the Penny though.
thats good. i'm going to have to keep that in mind, as i do eat out fairly often and there have been times where the waiter/waitress really did suck. although i have cut back eating at restaraunts ALOT recently, since im getting ready to close on my first home.. used to take the girl to fridays, applebees, ihop, etc, (nothin fancy) at least once a week, many times more, and now i dont think we've been to a restaraunt in a couple weeks. good tip on tips though lol
I could never bring myself to leave a waiter or waitress a bad tip, no matter how awful the service was. I always figure maybe they're just having a bad day or are stressed out over something a lot more serious than whether or not I ordered penne or fettuccine with my veal marsala. It also really bugs me when I hear people loudly complaining in restaurants....if I think a place sucks, I just don't go there anymore. IMHO, totally tacky and low class to carry on about nonsense like that, especially people who try to milk it for a discount or free meal.
Actually I did give my agent a gift at the closing when I sold my house earlier this year.
But honestly, how many people give tips to salespersons (meaning anyone who works on commission)? The assumption is that a tip is meant to augment the income of someone on a fixed (relatively low) compensation for whatever they do. The waitress gets her $10/hr or whatever the minimum wage is, no matter how hard she works or how much money each table spends. She has no way of earning more than that at her job, other than tips.
Whereas the perception of a salesperson is that the more you hustle, the more you make (via commission) and thus the salesperson has the opportunity to increase their income in direct propertion to everything they sell. If they sell a $1000 item they're going to get a bigger commission than for a $50 item. Whereas the waitress gets $10/hr regardless of whether a table spends $15 or $300 ..... unless she gets a tip.
Unfortunately when it comes to realtors the common perception is that they are "overpaid for what they do" .... you know that as well as I do, Tom. So the odds of anyone giving additional money to someone who they've just watched receive a check for tens of thousands of dollars at the closing .... or who they know is going to get that much at a closing, especially if the commission is coming directly out of their proceeds of sale... is highly unlikely.
The problem with tipping, for me, is not that I don't like to spread holiday cheer... I DO! It's more the logistics of how much to give and to whom. I never know what's right and it's such a headache! I always feel bad when I'm afraid I'm not tipping enough, but tipping too much really hurts right now, especially in this economy.
So, for those of you who do tip -- how much money or what kind of gift do you give to your:
child's preschool teachers, child's bus drivers, child's principle, weekly cleaning person, and occasional babysitter? What about the mailman, garbage man, and the hair stylist?
I could never bring myself to leave a waiter or waitress a bad tip, no matter how awful the service was. I always figure maybe they're just having a bad day or are stressed out over something a lot more serious than whether or not I ordered penne or fettuccine with my veal marsala. It also really bugs me when I hear people loudly complaining in restaurants....if I think a place sucks, I just don't go there anymore. IMHO, totally tacky and low class to carry on about nonsense like that, especially people who try to milk it for a discount or free meal.
good point, but theres a difference between someone who just isnt very cheery, and someone who just doesnt provide any service... even if ur having a bad day, when my drink is empty you should still be asking me if i'd like another, smile or not
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How much to tip?!
