4 ms·

Tips are for table service. That's it. When you go to Starbucks, ask for a product, then make payment for that product, and the little POS machine basically sa

Tips are for table service. That's it. When you go to Starbucks, ask for a product, then make payment for that product, and the little POS machine basically says "hey, can we have extra money?" it's systematized panhandling.

ortusdux 3y ago
They also ask you to tip before you've been served.
SeanAnderson 3y ago
What about delivery - GrubHub / Amazon Fresh?
- AnimalMuppet 3y ago
  That's table service (more or less).
- pavon 3y ago
  I've gotten to the point where I will flat out boycott any new service that expects tips. Tipping at restaurants is deeply ingrained into our culture and will be hard to change, but the ever expanding set of places where tipping is now requested/expected is ridiculous. New startups whose business model is to pay their employees shit and then guilt customers into tipping will never get my business.
throwway120385 3y ago
Traditionally you would tip baristas because making a really nice latte or cappuchino is an art form that requires a lot of skill. Given that Starbucks lattes are almost always mediocre and range from bland to bland with burned coffee the only thing that's really left to tip on there is how nice people are and whether or not they do extra things to go above and beyond.
hnbear 3y ago
This is where my own internal rubric for tipping starts to break down. The delineation between "sat at a table and got service", and "payed at a counter to be handed something prepared" has a middle grey area for things that are made on-demand for me, by someone behind the counter, to my specification. - In your Starbucks example if they grab a pre-bottle something is that service? - Pulling a latte from a latte machine? - Making espresso on a complicated espresso machine I can't understand, using the beans I specified? - Doing the whole foam art thing, with more complex instructions on how I like the coffee? (To be clear, I'm not a coffee person, but I'm aware there's a complexity to the production of an espresso). A good barista can put in more effort, skill, knowledge into the coffee than a poured cup of coffee from a Mr. Coffee at the diner. Similarly, I've eaten in plenty of diners where you order at the counter and food is delivered. Is that service? What if I carry my food to the table but they bring drinks? Or I forgot something and they deliver it My point here isn't that I disagree about it being systematized panhandling. I think it's awful. But, I often find it hard to identify where to draw the line.
- renlo 3y ago
  Decision tree: * Did you sit at a table and a waiter/waitress took your order, then the waiter/waitress brought the food to you, which you ate at the table, while the waiter attended to your needs? Then you leave a tip * Else: Then you don't leave a tip
  - InitialLastName 3y ago
    You don't tip food delivery people or bartenders?
- cronix 3y ago
  To touch on your example, you're not allowed to tip that individual starbucks employee who went above and beyond while everyone else is shuffling along. You can tip the whole team, which gets split among everyone working according to how many hours they worked that pay period, or not tip. To me, a tip goes to an individual, not everybody who happened to be working whether they helped me or not. This is one thing I really object to in places that have a general tip jar. I tip individuals, not companies.
chapium 3y ago
Do you not tip for a haircut?
- Ekaros 3y ago
  This especially never made any sense to me. Just set the price of service level you want to charge.
- ricardobayes 3y ago
  I remember reading a blog a hairdresser some time ago. He could tell if somebody is going to tip or not the moment they walked in. He loved old ladies because they almost always tipped - although in the UK it's usually a pound or two.
ricardobayes 3y ago
From a business perspective, that's fantastic ROI, almost infinite. It's basically a donation, handing over money voluntarily with getting nothing in return.

ortusdux 3y ago

They also ask you to tip before you've been served.

SeanAnderson 3y ago

What about delivery - GrubHub / Amazon Fresh?

AnimalMuppet 3y ago
That's table service (more or less).
pavon 3y ago
I've gotten to the point where I will flat out boycott any new service that expects tips. Tipping at restaurants is deeply ingrained into our culture and will be hard to change, but the ever expanding set of places where tipping is now requested/expected is ridiculous. New startups whose business model is to pay their employees shit and then guilt customers into tipping will never get my business.

throwway120385 3y ago

Traditionally you would tip baristas because making a really nice latte or cappuchino is an art form that requires a lot of skill. Given that Starbucks lattes are almost always mediocre and range from bland to bland with burned coffee the only thing that's really left to tip on there is how nice people are and whether or not they do extra things to go above and beyond.

hnbear 3y ago

This is where my own internal rubric for tipping starts to break down. The delineation between "sat at a table and got service", and "payed at a counter to be handed something prepared" has a middle grey area for things that are made on-demand for me, by someone behind the counter, to my specification. - In your Starbucks example if they grab a pre-bottle something is that service? - Pulling a latte from a latte machine? - Making espresso on a complicated espresso machine I can't understand, using the beans I specified? - Doing the whole foam art thing, with more complex instructions on how I like the coffee? (To be clear, I'm not a coffee person, but I'm aware there's a complexity to the production of an espresso). A good barista can put in more effort, skill, knowledge into the coffee than a poured cup of coffee from a Mr. Coffee at the diner. Similarly, I've eaten in plenty of diners where you order at the counter and food is delivered. Is that service? What if I carry my food to the table but they bring drinks? Or I forgot something and they deliver it My point here isn't that I disagree about it being systematized panhandling. I think it's awful. But, I often find it hard to identify where to draw the line.

renlo 3y ago
Decision tree: * Did you sit at a table and a waiter/waitress took your order, then the waiter/waitress brought the food to you, which you ate at the table, while the waiter attended to your needs? Then you leave a tip * Else: Then you don't leave a tip
- InitialLastName 3y ago
  You don't tip food delivery people or bartenders?
cronix 3y ago
To touch on your example, you're not allowed to tip that individual starbucks employee who went above and beyond while everyone else is shuffling along. You can tip the whole team, which gets split among everyone working according to how many hours they worked that pay period, or not tip. To me, a tip goes to an individual, not everybody who happened to be working whether they helped me or not. This is one thing I really object to in places that have a general tip jar. I tip individuals, not companies.

chapium 3y ago

Do you not tip for a haircut?

Ekaros 3y ago
This especially never made any sense to me. Just set the price of service level you want to charge.
ricardobayes 3y ago
I remember reading a blog a hairdresser some time ago. He could tell if somebody is going to tip or not the moment they walked in. He loved old ladies because they almost always tipped - although in the UK it's usually a pound or two.

ricardobayes 3y ago

From a business perspective, that's fantastic ROI, almost infinite. It's basically a donation, handing over money voluntarily with getting nothing in return.