Tipping etiquette

SteveDallas • Apr 6, 2006 10:52 am
The idea of the 15-20% tip at a restaurant seems pretty standard.

What about other services/situations?

In particular, how much would you tip the driver from a car service who takes you to the airport (about a 25-30 min drive)? I'm not actually going to be paying anything.. the bill's going straight to my employer.
Kitsune • Apr 6, 2006 10:55 am
Why, this sounds like a job for Tipping.org!

Did you know you should tip your car mechanic?

$10 - $20 for jobs up to $500
$50 for jobs above $500
glatt • Apr 6, 2006 10:58 am
I'd tip 15%. But can't you charge the employer for the tip as well?
glatt • Apr 6, 2006 11:00 am
And if you don't know what the value of the drive to the airport is (like if you never sign a voucher or anything) I'd tip $5.
marichiko • Apr 6, 2006 11:08 am
I tip cabbies in proportion to the amount of work they do. If I have a bunch of heavy suitcases that they help me with, I sweeten the tip. If its just a straight drive, I give 15%.
Elspode • Apr 6, 2006 12:40 pm
I note that tipping.org doesn't mention the appropriate amount to tip a cabbie or bellman who fix you up with a hooker. Does that fall under the concierge's "special services" item?
TiddyBaby • Apr 6, 2006 1:44 pm
No, Spodie, the hooker tips the concierge or cabbie. Read the referral contracts.
TiddyBaby • Apr 6, 2006 2:28 pm
(oops my apologies, i tend to nickname and play with peeps nomenclatures, and its in no way meant disrespectful.... perhaps in days or months or whenever, I could refer to you a SpodieOdie, and you might not be offended,

but then again, I might get busy and might not post jack shit for half a year ... AND if this were to happen tomorrow, I would not want you to think my calling you "Spodie" is irreverant to not getting to bs more later and calling you "Spodie Odie"


OK? ... I don't do the private message thingy or request email addys,.... but the main thing,
If ya get the hooker,... see if she got a friend that works like lawyers... on contingency
Flint • Apr 13, 2006 9:38 am
The burning question: Are you supposed to tip the girls at Sonic?
SteveDallas • Apr 13, 2006 1:30 pm
We don't have sonic around here.

But damn, if a waitress on roller skates brought me my burger, I believe I would give her a little extra.

And yes, glatt, I am going to expense the tip (which was $5) but I still had to figure out how much to give in the first place. :angel:
Clodfobble • Apr 13, 2006 8:43 pm
Flint wrote:
The burning question: Are you supposed to tip the girls at Sonic?


All the guys I know say yes. All the girls I know say no. Go figure.

I used to just round up to the next dollar, mostly because I was impatient and didn't want to wait for them to count out my change, but now that they've installed credit card readers at the order speakers, I don't have to anymore.

SteveDallas wrote:
...if a waitress on roller skates brought me my burger...


They don't do the rollerskates anymore, at least around here. That's just begging for a lawsuit.
Flint • Apr 13, 2006 8:48 pm
I round up and add a dollar. More if it's raining or cold outside.
SteveDallas • Apr 13, 2006 10:05 pm
Clodfobble wrote:
They don't do the rollerskates anymore

Oh well, so much for the tip.
rkzenrage • Apr 14, 2006 2:43 pm
My wife definitely tips the Sonic girls. We tip them a few bucks.
richlevy • Apr 14, 2006 5:23 pm
Well, it appears your current/future job can depend on how you treat a waiter/waitress. It's too bad GWB didn't take Rumsfeld out to Sizzler to talk about the new job.


When she left the restaurant, she also left the future Fortune 500 CEO with a life lesson: You can tell a lot about a person by the way he or she treats the waiter. Odland isn't the only CEO to have made this discovery. Rather, it seems to be one of those rare laws of the land that every CEO learns on the way up. It's hard to get a dozen CEOs to agree about anything, but all interviewed agree with the Waiter Rule.

They acknowledge that CEOs live in a Lake Wobegon world where every dinner or lunch partner is above average in their deference. How others treat the CEO says nothing, they say. But how others treat the waiter is like a magical window into the soul.

And beware of anyone who pulls out the power card to say something like, "I could buy this place and fire you," or "I know the owner and I could have you fired." Those who say such things have revealed more about their character than about their wealth and power.

Whoever came up with the waiter observation "is bang spot on," says BMW North America President Tom Purves, a native of Scotland, a citizen of the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland, who lives in New York City with his Norwegian wife, Hilde, and works for a German company. That makes him qualified to speak on different cultures, and he says the waiter theory is true everywhere.
wolf • Apr 19, 2006 1:53 am
Are you supposed to tip Applebees Carside to Go? It doesn't seem to be expected, but I'm never sure.
seakdivers • Apr 19, 2006 3:54 am
Does Sonic still have Cherry Limeade?? I had it back in the early 90's and I loved it!