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You Want 20% for Handing Me a Muffin? The Awkward Etiquette of iPad Tipping

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Re: You Want 20% for Handing Me a Muffin? The Awkward Etiquette of iPad Tipping

#481

Post by enoch_r »

jjuhl wrote: post #194
happytoexplain wrote: post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree with the principle behind your choice, and even consider it laudable. However, in my opinion, your behavior is badly misguided - in fact, I'd characterise it as a naive and childish attack on innocent people. Sorry, I know that's pretty insulting, but it's my best attempt at a full and honest, but measured description of my opinion. Part of why it's so harsh is because, reading your posts, I don't think you s…

Thank you for the straight forward and honest opinion. You are right, I don't suffer from any misunderstanding. I simply don't want to pay more than advertised and I think tipping is just the wrong way to pay for services - that should just be included in the price. And then I guess I'm simply not a very empathetic person and I have no problem with other people considering me a jerk - I simply don't care. And as long…

You say you feel no guilt because you "have no problem with other people considering me a jerk." To me, guilt has little to do with the sense that other people consider me a jerk--guilt is about the knowledge that I've hurt someone.

I think it's respectable, even admirable, to not care about what other people think of you. But if you hurt people when it benefits you and you can get away with it, it's not quite sufficient to explain it by saying "I don't care if other people think I'm a jerk." It would be more complete to simply say "I don't care if I act like a jerk."

Re: You Want 20% for Handing Me a Muffin? The Awkward Etiquette of iPad Tipping

#482

Post by notacoward »

tptacek wrote: post #258
jasode wrote: post #240

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> US tipping is not complicated. [...] just always tip. Anywhere there's a tip line. Well, it's been too complicated for me because the comments in this thread show I've been doing it wrong. For example, I sometimes picked up "to go" orders from Chili's restaurant[1]. In my mind, if I sat down to eat, I tipped the server. On the other hand, if I phoned in an order and picked it up, I didn't tip . Yes, I noticed that…

You want to feel real great? Here's a question: do you always tip your hotel housekeeping? It's gotten harder over the last 10 years since we're carrying so much less cash, and there's no tip line on the hotel bill. But you are hella expected to tip housekeeping: that is a rough job, and a very poorly treated workforce.

Tips for housekeeping are often most of my physical-cash outlay when I travel, because I pay for practically everything else by card. The percentage is even greater considering how often I make a small purchase using cash precisely so I can use the bills I get back for tips. If hotels provided a way to use my card for tips I might use it, though that would deny me the enjoyment I get from the exchange of notes that often occurs over the course of a week's stay.

Re: You Want 20% for Handing Me a Muffin? The Awkward Etiquette of iPad Tipping

#483

Post by [deleted] »

tptacek wrote: post #209

Hacker News threads about tipping are always rough. US tipping is not complicated. You are being asked to share with a service worker's employer some of the burden of compensating them. The notion that you're rewarding exceptional service is a polite fiction. Depending on where you are, the tip is either expected or it isn't. Unfortunately for the mindset of a typical software developer, there won't be much clarity o…

[deleted]

Re: You Want 20% for Handing Me a Muffin? The Awkward Etiquette of iPad Tipping

#484

Post by forgottenpass »

tptacek wrote: post #389
skh wrote: post #383

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your response is condescending. Especially the “the cue was a....” part.

I sincerely didn't intend for it to be, and really thought you might have been someone who missed the tip jar.

Your posts are often condescending, and I take it on faith that you do it unintentionally because friends tell me you're very nice in person.

Re: You Want 20% for Handing Me a Muffin? The Awkward Etiquette of iPad Tipping

#485

Post by kevinmchugh »

asdff wrote: post #452
kevin_thibedeau wrote: post #299

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tips shouldn't be expected if you're on regular minimum wage rather than the tipped wage.

Even in the U.S. if your tips + tipped worker minimum wage fail to reach untipped worker minimum wage, your employer pays the difference (1). 1. https://webapps.dol.gov/elaws/faq/esa/flsa/002.htm

I encourage you to talk to service workers to see how often this happens

Re: You Want 20% for Handing Me a Muffin? The Awkward Etiquette of iPad Tipping

#486

Post by wetpaws »

X6S1x6Okd1st wrote: post #448
wetpaws wrote: post #439

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When you buy products on Amazon, do you look for more expensive or less expensive listings?

That's a false equivalency.

How is it different? They are both a group of people providing you with added value for a specific price.

Re: You Want 20% for Handing Me a Muffin? The Awkward Etiquette of iPad Tipping

#487

Post by ryandrake »

tptacek wrote: post #209

Hacker News threads about tipping are always rough. US tipping is not complicated. You are being asked to share with a service worker's employer some of the burden of compensating them. The notion that you're rewarding exceptional service is a polite fiction. Depending on where you are, the tip is either expected or it isn't. Unfortunately for the mindset of a typical software developer, there won't be much clarity o…

> US tipping is not complicated.

I think this thread (and similar threads every time the topic comes up) kid of puts that claim to sleep.

Re: You Want 20% for Handing Me a Muffin? The Awkward Etiquette of iPad Tipping

#488

Post by hn_throwaway_99 »

dragonwriter wrote: post #441
noncoml wrote: post #440

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> US tipping is not complicated Ehmm, yeah it is. Other than the very well established rules for dinning in a restaurant, where one is expected to leave a tip of around 20%, all other situations are fuzzy. Look at the replies in this thread. Everybody has their own rules about when, where and how much to tip. I get your point, and agree, that it not really about rewarding exceptional service, but this doesn't make it…

> Other than the very well established rules for dinning in a restaurant, where one is expected to leave a tip of around 20%, And not many years ago that was 15%, and very recently it had settled around 18%, but, yeah, people are starting to throw around 20% as the baseline now. So, to call the rules even there “well-established” is...less than accurate.

Yeah, completely agree. When I was a kid I remember 15% being so standard that there was even a little mnemonic on how to calculate it (10% is easy to calculate, then add half that).

Now it seems like 15% is what you give for truly bad service.

Re: You Want 20% for Handing Me a Muffin? The Awkward Etiquette of iPad Tipping

#489

Post by objektif »

So where does it stop? Should software developers expect a tip if someone uses their service? Does it matter how mich money they make? I bet some restauranteurs make so much that they can pass some down to their employees.

I am completely against tipping unless the service is exceptional. If restaurants in Europe can afford to pay their employees living wages, it should be possible here as well.

Re: You Want 20% for Handing Me a Muffin? The Awkward Etiquette of iPad Tipping

#490

Post by TheAceOfHearts »

kevinmchugh wrote: post #485
asdff wrote: post #452

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even in the U.S. if your tips + tipped worker minimum wage fail to reach untipped worker minimum wage, your employer pays the difference (1). 1. https://webapps.dol.gov/elaws/faq/esa/flsa/002.htm

I encourage you to talk to service workers to see how often this happens

It's illegal. They can sue the restaurant.

As far as I can tell most servers like tips because it lets them earn much more money than minimum wage.

Also, nowadays it's quite easy to get a message out to a huge audience. I'd certainly boycott any place that were so horribly mistreating its employees.

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