How to Tip Properly

By eHow Culture & Society Editor

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Tipping rewards those who provide useful services that make your life easier and more enjoyable. Be discreet when you tip, and be generous--you'll be remembered long after your departure and welcomed back enthusiastically. See also How to Tip Properly in North America and How to Tip in a Foreign Country.

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Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Things You’ll Need:

Cash

Step1

Factor in your own financial circumstances. There are high ends and low ends to the range of acceptable tips. But you can't go breaking the bank just to pay for good service, so knowing your capability is primary.

Step2

Figure out what kind of service it is you're receiving. Some services should receive percentage-based tips, while others are more of a flat cost (most of the time). A car washer, coat checker or furniture movers should require a flat rate. From $2-$5 for a car washer to $10-$50 per mover. Other people like hairstylists and waiters should receive 15 percent to 20 percent, sometimes more. Pizza delivery service is usually about 10 percent, but no less than $2.

Step3

Use your best judgment. What's the real different between, say, 15 percent and 20 percent, when it means a matter of a dollar? Well, it says a lot to the person who you're tipping. The additional dollar (or one fewer) tells them how they're doing. You're essentially helping others' future experiences with that person. For things like babysitters, nannies or house cleaners, tip them at the end of each month at an amount you see fit. No more than one week's pay for a month of work, but the work they do is constant and not easy, so they do deserve a heftier tip. So, keep things like that in mind.

Step4

Be discreet. Don't flaunt how much you're tipping someone at a restaurant by living the bill in plain view. If you're paying for a household service, placing the tip in an envelope is a good idea. Basically, you want to keep the tip transaction -- good or bad -- between you and the person receiving the tip.

Comments

Anonymous said

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on 6/30/2006 I work at a golf resort, taking golfers' carts and cleaning them up when the golfers are done with them. I get minimum wage for this strenuous job, walking about three miles a day, but my employer told me that the tips would make up for it. Problem is, the golfers never do! They must either forget or don't think they need to. I know others with the same kind of job that have the same problem. So, you golfers out there, when a golf cart maintenance person helps you with your bags and takes your cart for you at the end of the day, make sure you show them that you appreciate their help!

Anonymous said

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on 3/15/2006 Delivering pizza got me through college and I made about $16/hour gross. This was 10 years ago.

The drivers with ambition, and who aren't stoned, actually do very well. It is win-win. If I get the pizza there quickly, everyone is happy -- the customer, the shop and me, because I would get back first and be ready for the next delivery.

It really depends on where the shop is. If it's a small town, then the drivers probably don't make much. I worked in a university city of 200,000 (with a student population of 43,000). Our prices, however, were on the higher end, knocking out the cheap students and the poor.

As a customer, I always hoped on a minimum of $1 + change for any order under $18 and $2 tip for any order of $18 or more. I made my money, not by speeding and driving recklessly (that brings about traffic tickets), but by being a cartography major, so reading maps was a natural interest! I knew every back road in that city.

The dirty little secret of pizza driving: especially in this era of technology, drivers know if you are a tipper or not. I knew every stiff who was a regular. Because of that, the stiff was always the last stop on my route -- the $2 and up tipper was always the first stop. It wasn't a matter of keeping the food hot, as we all had portable Sterno warmers in our backseats, but it was a matter of timeliness.

Often, during busy football Sundays, I took take five separate deliveries out and return within 30-35 minutes. Unless we had major staffing or weather problems, 98% of my deliveries arrived within 45 minutes of the order (our promise time was 30-45 minutes or 45-60 minutes for a deep-dish pizza).

Being 6'5", 220 pounds, I never feared for my safety as a pizza driver but I was also in a fairly safe city. We also gerrymandered out the six bad blocks of the area because a precedent has been set with pizza drivers before in that area (robberies).

Anonymous said

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on 11/22/2005 Most people leave 10% but the expected is 15%, so I always leave 20% just to make up for those less educated that may be next. :)

Anonymous said

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on 11/22/2005 Many websites that provide guidelines for pizza delivery are way out of date, nor can you say that there is one set rule as the way drivers are paid can vary between shops. Unless you are ordering from one of the national or regional chains, tips should be a minimum of 15-20% of the bill. but no less than $6 to $7 less the delivery charge if one is charged (providing the employer pays the full amount of such charge to the driver - many don't). More if you are more than 3 miles from the store or there is inclement weather. Most drivers are not paid an hourly rate nor reimbursed for fuel and maintenance costs. As such with each gas hike, drivers take a pay cut.

According to U.S. Dept. of Labor, pizza drivers are the third most likely to be murdered on the job, just behind police officers and taxi drivers.

Unless a vehicle is provided by the employer, drivers pay their own insurance and in some cases may not even be aware that they may not even have proper coverage as the vehicle is now being used for commercial purposes rather than transportation. How do you know? Look at the car - does it have the name of the pizza shop painted on the side? If it is, the tip may be reduced.

Most shops send the driver out with a single order so as to assure the customer receives a freshly baked product. Good for you, and the store, but bad for the driver. This means most drivers only make 2-3 deliveries in an hour. If you tip only $2-$3 drivers are working for $4-$6 an hour after they pay the cost of fuel. Most shops will overstaff to make sure they have a pool of drivers ready as the orders come out of the oven. The shops don't care because they don't pay the drivers anyways.

If a driver slides a pizza, they are charged back the cost of that pizza and as well they will have to re-deliver the new one without any additional compensation. I don't have an objection to this practice when the driver is driving recklessly. But think about this, how many times has someone cut you off in traffic causing you to have to stop suddenly. For a delivery guy that just cost him most of his night's earnings.

Drivers do not work because they are bored. They do so because their financial condition mandates it. And remember, delivery is a convenience provided by the shop and requested by you! It is not included in the cost of the pizza. If you don't like paying for this service, please come and pick the order up yourself.

Anonymous said

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on 11/22/2005 You only tip dealers when you win, at which point you tip a percentage of your winnings. It makes no sense to tip during your time at the table -- you might need that money to stage a comeback after a round of bad luck!

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