What's up with all those tip jars?

[Fountain79]

Am I alone in taking pointed notice of all the tip jars that have blossomed on business countertops? From delis to pizzerias, Chinese takeout joints to barbershops, the word has spread like wildfire: If you put out a tip jar, people will fill it. Well, maybe they will, but I have yet to be shamed (if this is the right word) into casting my coin into the tip jar fountain. Perhaps it is the scientist in me, but I try to reason the situation out like this: I call in my order to the Chinese restaurant. I drive there to pick it up. I pay the menu price. Why on earth would I pay more than they are asking for their product? Doing so strikes me as positively un-American.

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/SavingandDebt/ConsumerActionGuide/WhatsUpWithAllThoseTipJars.aspx

I have noticed this myself. There are numerous fast food/take out places that I can think of that seem to revert to this practice. It seems odd to me.

[mitchum]

1. The owners expect the customer to compensate for the low wages they pay

[Phrogman]

10. Wife and I had a waiter in DC tell us, "if I can't fold it, than you just keep it"....

as we were leaving after drinks and a small snack. I did a about face, picked up the pile of quarters I had left the dude and walked out of the dump.

Maybe the tip jar is to save the customer the embarrassment of not having a load of cash to throw at their waiters there.

[mountainvue]

You left a guy making $2.13 an hour a pile of

quarters? What a sport. Did you pay for it with your AMEX?

[Alexander]

27. How do you know what his wages were?

Were you his employer?

[mountainvue]

75. Long time former hospitality industry

employee.

[Horse with no Name]

28. At any given time I have $30-40 worth of change in my purse

But I generally pay for my meal with my debit card so it is likely my tip might be in quarters.
I always tip 20%--well over the expected--who cares what kind of currency it is in?

[JANdad]

41. Who are you?

the tip police?

[mountainvue]

76. No. But in the service industry it is considered

rude to tip in coin.

[WritersBlock]

78. When did this start? I've worked a few shifts as a waitress in my time...

I didn't care what currency a tip was in, as long as it wasn't a penny sitting under an up-ended glass of water.

So leaving 4 quarters is rude, but leaving a dollar bill is okay?

[Phrogman]

59. No, AMEX, just Jefferson quarter dollars.

US currency.

[Alexander]

61. You mean Washington?

;-)

[Phrogman]

77. LOL, could be, they all had the same hairstyle back than.

And I've had nothing but peso's in my pockets for years.

[mitchum]

21. With that type of charm, he must rake in the $$$$$

[Phrogman]

55. That was in 98, but to this day Mama and I get a kick out of saying to each other...

"Heyyy, If I can't fold it...."

[mainegreen]

2. Tipping is for service. Just giving me the product you sell is not service.

If you, say, go out of your way to maybe learn my name (if I'm a regular) or be entertaining/funny or find a way to make the business transaction special, then sure I'll tip. Just ringing me up however will earn you nada extra from me.

[uppityperson]

3. I made the mistake of thinking 1 was a "penny" jar

it was unmarked and I fished a penny out to pay the extra penny on my bill. oops.

[Rosemary2205]

5. LOL

:)

[snappyturtle]

4. I put money in those jars when I'm met with a nice attitude and

prompt service.....which isn't a given in the price. You can pay the price asked and get crappy service. But, while we're on this topic here's one for you: At the Well-Fargo bank here are marble jars at the tellers' windows.....if a customer is pleased with the teller they put any number of marbles in their teller's jar! So it's a service thing....like gold stars in grade school!

[some guy]

6. "...to barbershops..."

I tip the person who cuts my hair. I don't generally patronize the other places mentioned, but I also have always tipped my server at restaurants.

:shrug:

[Horse with no Name]

7. I think it is obscene

I don't put cash in those. I pay fair prices for what I buy--and it is up to the owner to compensate his employees with the profits he makes.
I find them vile.
While we are at it, I also find it disgusting for those that pin money on themselves for their birthday and expect others to do so.

[mainegreen]

11. People pin money on themselves?

Somehow I think that is not something we do here in New England.
How exactly does that work?

[mitchum]

22. I also find that intriguing...sounds almost...voodoo-like

[Horse with no Name]

25. It is totally bizarre

It is very popular down here...basically the person has someone (or does it themselves) take a safety pin and pin money on their shirt and they go to work or school. It is "expected" for people to contribute to their "birthday fund" by pinning money on them too.

[BushOut06]

14. Do you tip at restaurants?

Or do you simply think that it's the owner's responsibility to pay his employees, therefore you will not?

[Horse with no Name]

23. I tip very well for SERVICE

because it is a well-known fact that waitresses make a different wage than someone running a cash register.
I tip at the appropriate venues but find it offensive when tip jars show up in places where they don't belong.
Would you object to a tip jar at Walmart because the cashier simply rung up your purchases?

[BushOut06]

47. I always thought those jars were for the cooks

I don't really see them very often, but the ones I have seen have been for the cooks. I don't mind tossing in some change for their efforts.

[Horse with no Name]

57. Okay maybe we are talking about different things

In my area...the tips jars are popping up at places like the EZ mart to tip the cashiers to ring up your purchases and other such places that have never required tips.
I'm not rich. I work for a living. We struggle too. I cannot afford to pay what is now almost $2 for a soda and throw in a tip for it. Not when everywhere you go everyone wants a little extra yet my paycheck doesn't increase to make up for the fact that other employers aren't paying their employees fair market value.
I tip well in restaurants...and will put money in the tip jars there. There is still a full service station here and I tip the kid that fills up my car, I tip my hairdresser, I tip the kids at Sonic...but other than the service station, I only go to the other places when I have the extra cash to be able to eat out. Even when doing so, I figure the tip in what it is going to cost me so I can budget my entertainment.

[snappyturtle]

20. Please.....people like the recognition of some change thrown in

a jar. By the time it's divided up no one gets rich and it's not required. Most of these jobs with the tip jars are low paying.

[Horse with no Name]

24. And many times the owner takes it

Sorry I still find them offensive.

[snappyturtle]

46. Sorry you find them offensive. When my kids worked in an ice

cream shop while they were in high school the tip jar was a team effort and the KIDS got the money! Trust me they were'nt overly paid.

[Occulus]

63. (S)he's talking about places it shouldn't exist

Like convenience store cashiers.

[MrSlayer]

8. I find it to be ridiculous.

I'm a firm believer in tipping. Hell, I believe in overtipping but only for tip worthy service.

[BushOut06]

9. It's part of the "booming economy"

Haven't you heard? The economy is booming. Employment is on the rise! A BMW in everyone's driveway, and a yacht in everyone's dock! Just don't pay any attention to those pesky little details like low wages, no benefits, etc.

[Sal Minella]

49. And the fact the dollar is at a 26-year low compared to the Pound.

[Alexander]

12. I had to put an end to most tipping after I saw them everywhere...

here in the Phoenix area.

People just aren't paid well here.

[Name removed]

16. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Alexander]

19. Do you work for minimum wage in the service industry?

Didn't think so.

Most of the places I'm talking about are restaurants, bars or other such places - hence, I'm dealing with low-paid service industry workers. Is that your job?

If AZ was such hot shit when it came to pay rates, how come it took until THIS YEAR to raise the minimum wage above a paltry 7 dollars?

The clue phone is ringing. It's for you.

[sandnsea]

13. Competence used to be required

No fan of any of this stuff for adults. Not a real fan of forced tips, even for waitresses. People can be guilted into any myriad of things, except the things that they really ought to do. People are strange.

[tammywammy]

15. Yeah, it's gotten crazy

I'll tip the neighborhood coffee shop, because they're extra friendly and know me by sight. But the Sonic drive in wants to be tipped for just carrying the food to the car instead of driving in...no, I don't tip there.

But I always tip at least 20% in a restaurant. And I give my hair dresser a little extra too.

[Horse with no Name]

40. My daughter works at Sonic

and the carhops are basically waitresses.
They are paid lower wages than the cooks and drink people because management knows that they are given tips.
It is to be noted that the kids that carry your food out do it in the rain and the cold and the heat and I have seen many of the kids get sick from the extreme temperatures. Also note if they take off when they are sick, they are usually fired unless they spend money going to the doctor.
I always tipped at Sonic before my daughter worked there and actually I tip a little more now because they put up with some REALLY nasty folks and work under not so great conditions.
(Note here...my daughter isn't a carhop anymore...but I know she worked her tail off when she was)

[tammywammy]

54. Thanks for the heads up

I always thought that they were paid at least minimum (which I know isn't much, but they're mostly high schoolers). I'll be sure to start tipping if they're paid lower though.

[Telly Savalas]

17. Tip jars are disgusting

People with shitty minimum wage jobs should be thankful for what wages they have.

At least that's the sense I get reading this thread.

[Alexander]

31. Instead of attacking other DUers for not tipping...

Why not do something about the shitty wages people are paid?

I worked like hell to get the recent minimum wage proposition passed here in Arizona.

It's not much, but I feel better about that passing than I do about throwing my spare change in a plastic cup.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

33. "Why not do something about the shitty wages people are paid?"

You mean like tipping?

[Alexander]

38. I meant like working to get a minimum wage proposition passed.

You know, like I did.

Your generous tips are a drop in the bucket.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

39. How about both?

[Alexander]

43. Do you actually DO both, or just do one and complain about the other?

Most people - including a lot of DUers - would fall into the latter category.

Believe it or not, some people can't afford to be generous to every Tom, Dick and Harry with a tip jar. When I tip, it's either because I didn't need the money and/or the service was good.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

44. I do one.

But I don't complain about the other, nor am I self-congratulatory about only doing one and wash my hands of it.

[Alexander]

48. Who is self-congratulatory?

[BushOut06]

52. Why not do BOTH

Your efforts, while well intentioned and hopefully fruitful, don't really do very much for the poor folks who are doing the hard work for minimum (or below minimum) wage.

[Alexander]

58. I do both, if you bother to read my posts.

But I don't put money in every single tip jar I see, particularly if the service is poor. Apparently this isn't enough for some DUers? :shrug:

"Your efforts, while well intentioned and hopefully fruitful, don't really do very much for the poor folks who are doing the hard work for minimum (or below minimum) wage."

So the people who worked for $5.15/hr but who now make $7.15/hr aren't helped by this? What dimension doesn't adhere to simple math?

I'll concede that undocumented workers won't make minimum wage, but that's another issue.

[HeeBGBz]

56. I lost my server job a few months ago

The dining room was eliminated from the service. I'm working at my other job making $8.50 an hour. I am barely making it. I miss my waitress job. I used to bring home about 4 times what I am making now.

I need to find another serving job but I can't stop long enough from my other job to risk taking a job that may or may not produce a survivable wage right up front. I have no leeway for down time. Every penny goes for rent and bills. Any upset in the routine could get me evicted.

While being a tipped employee, I did not expect a tip if my service was not good. But if I'm a kickass server, I would hope the customer would appreciate me.

[Alexander]

60. I noticed that you said this...

"While being a tipped employee, I did not expect a tip if my service was not good. But if I'm a kickass server, I would hope the customer would appreciate me."

I tip very well if the service is really good. Most of the time it isn't, and I still tip.

But if I need cash to pay bills, or the service is lousy, I won't tip if it's a fast service location (fast food, bar, etc). I always tip at sit-down restaurants, unless the service is atrocious. I don't understand why some DUers have a problem with this.

[HeeBGBz]

68. I don't like the tip jars either

Not for no extra service. It shouldn't be an expectation. If a person wants to tip a counter type service, that's great, hand them the money. Tipping is for extra effort, not a prefixed supposition.

[dysfunctional press]

66. i agree with you 100%- tip jars ARE disgusting.

and just plain tacky.

[Fleshdancer]

18. what an odd thing to fuss about

I personally haven't noticed an increase in tip jars but if I did, I wouldn't be annoyed like the person who wrote the article. Then again, I don't feel pressured to put money into them and I won't if little or no service is provided to me. Unlike other things I'm forced to spend money on, with tip jars I at least get the choice.

:shrug:

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

26. I can understand not tipping them..

I don't tip them.

But getting upset about the presence of a tip jar? That's just stupid.

[LisaM]

29. I used to BE one of the people who needed those tips

Years ago I worked at a small coffee shop, the only employee. I wrapped muffins, toasted bagels and spread cream cheese on them, washed all the dishes, mopped the floor and cleaned the windows when I left, and also wiped the tables and put out the garbage. Plus making coffee.

And the tips people left really helped me out. I only worked a few hours a day, and even if it only added up to $5 or $6, it made a huge difference to me. Maybe I could afford to go out to lunch, or get a little treat that day.

I think a lot of times people have no idea of how much work the person they are tipping does. At the Mexican place I like to go to for lunch, they work their asses off, 3 women, running the whole place alone. I always leave a dollar.

[jpgray]

30. If you have a problem with it or receive bad service, don't tip

What's so hard about this?

[Alexander]

36. Agreed - a tip should be earned, not expected.

On the other hand, people should be making at least $10.00/hr.

I think getting to the root of the problem - shitty wages - is a lot more productive than any bickering about the symptom.

[ret5hd]

32. Remind you of anybody???

"Sorry, I don't tip."

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

35. pic's not showing.

But I can guess. Mr. Pink?

[ret5hd]

37. Yes!

[Madspirit]

34. I hope someday YOU have to live on their wage...n/t

[Fountain79]

42. That's nice of you to wish ill will on me....

I do work as a teacher however and have a master's degree. A long time ago I resigned myself to the notion that I was going to earn far less than I could make doing something in the private sector. BTW I did work as a teenager in service jobs where I made minimum wage. I didn't get tipped, I survived.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

45. Hmm.

Frankly, I don't see why a person who's a teacher, a former grad student, and a former service worker would complain about somebody else putting out a tip jar, but that's just me.

[Alexander]

50. Saying "it's odd" is complaining?

It is odd.

And it wouldn't be happening if we didn't have the Bush economy.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

53. Um, no.

They've had tip jars in fast food joints longer than Bush.

[Alexander]

64. You didn't answer my question. Saying "It's odd" is complaining?

And I, too, have noticed a recent significant upswing in the number of tip jars at service-related businesses. Which is what the OP is about.

[Fountain79]

51. It's the expectation that because you are doing your job...

which in the cases that are being discussed, is not dependent on tips, you are expecting/hoping extra money.

[blondeatlast]

62. IMHO, one has to be seriously, almost dementedly tightwad

not to be willing to cough up a buck or two for someone working a service job--I don't care if it's McDs or the Plaza Hotel.

Geeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeezzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz... :mad:

[Canuckistanian]

65. TIP - "To Insure Promptness"

Is this acronym incorrect?

Promptness is not dependent on the AMOUNT of service but rather the existence of service.

Am I right?

[DetroitProle]

67. I always thought being a liberal

meant having compassion.
Some of us were raised on the tips of waitresses. Some of us are living on tips. Bad tips can mean going without grocery staples. Some of us don't have a dollar in their wallet until Friday. Some of us depend on tips to eek out an existence, where better jobs aren't available. Some of us try to go that extra mile even after a nine hour shift with bad feet, a bad back.
Are you picking up what I'm putting down?
I notice a lot of the sentiments on this board often vary from indifferent to downright hostile to working people.
Seems all it takes to be a liberal nowadays is starting threads about hating Bush.

[Fountain79]

73. I'm a democrat....

but who said anything about me being liberal?

[Horse with no Name]

74. Bullshit analogy but you knew it when you spewed it

It is not up to the "liberals" to compensate wages for business owners so they can hang on to more of their money instead of giving their employees well-deserved raises.
We are compassionate. Vote for us and you won't have to DEPEND on the public being generous so that you can make a living.
WE are the ones who have tried to get the minimum wage raised. We are the ones that support unions. We are the ones that support higher education. We are the ones who support childcare while you get that higher education.
We are compassionate. The entire country is struggling because of higher fuel prices, higher taxes, higher prices at the grocery store.
I work 12-13 hours a day and I was out of work for over 3 years with a back injury that Workmans Comp cheated me out of so I understand what it like to go a week with a dollar in your pocket and wonder where you are going to get the next meal from or how you are going to pay the electric bill.
I personally just don't feel that putting tip jars in unorthodox places because you have a business owner who won't give raises is the answer.
Not when every single fucking thing is going up except my wages.
When I visit a restaurant or other traditional tipping place, I figure the tip into my budget. However, I don't figure tipping in when I go to the local grocery store or other such venue and I shouldn't have to.
I support tax increases for healthcare, food stamps, and other social programs but trying to say someone isn't a liberal because they don't support tipping every service worker out there is batshit insane when you consider that almost every job in this country will end up as a service job in the future and indeed has the highest rate of new employment.
You would do well to understand what is being said instead of making it up as you go along.
I'd love for you to post links to where this board (outside of a TROLL or two) is hostile to working people?
Are YOU picking up what I'm putting down?

[Berry Cool]

69. My basic rule for tips as it relates to food establishments:

Servers always get tipped. In cash. I never put tips on a card even if I pay with a card, because then the server might not get the tip until much later, and may have beeen counting on putting it in the bank to pay a bill, or taking it to a store to buy a desperately needed something that day (and I know what it is to have to play it that close to the edge on cash flow). Also, sometimes managers take that money, and the server never sees it. Once I learned that, I stopped going to restaurants to be served unless I had the full anticipated tip ready in cash.

If it's a place like a coffee shop with a tip jar and the people who work there not only sell me but also bring me my food, or they also have to clean up after the customers and I eat there on that occasion, I will tip. If I simply buy there and take it away, I don't. They're not cleaning up after me or providing me with a place to sit on that occasion, so I don't feel I owe them a tip.

The basic rule is that I don't think anyone deserves a tip JUST for working a cash register and selling me something. If they bus tables, or clean tables, yes. Otherwise, no. And putting a rude sign on the cup or jar that makes it clear that tips are expected, and that I will be considered a rude inconsiderate boor if I don't tip (like "Tipping is NOT a City in China!") is SURE not to make me tip.

I think that's fair.

[Nikia]

70. I am unsure if I am and how much I supposed to tip

We had a drive thru coffee shop near my house with a tip jar. The worker basically filled a cup, gave me the drink, and took my money. I was unsure about whether I should tip and if so, how much? I also don't know how much tipping is appropriate for take out that has tip jars either.
In both cases, the person does less work than a wait person so 15-20% seems excessive.

[aikoaiko]

71. Tip jars at the cash register get my loose change after the transaction

[NuttyFluffers]

72. i say end tipping, raise wages 2x at the least...

when i was in europe and japan tipping, for the most part, is unheard of. you *can* give, but only a small token is necessary and that is an extra compliment for amazing service. recently going through a trip in the east coast of the usa tipping was de facto for just about every function of the trip. it got to be very annoying. there was something gloriously comfortable about wandering throughout my vacations and not having to do percentage math atop conversion rates. and now there's tip jars for everything; kinkos, 7-11, barnes & noble, fast food places. and this is nothing to speak of those donation boxes for the infinite charities that are popping up everywhere. between the penny jar, the tip jar, and "save the thingamajigger" box i'm just fed up and more at peace to just chuck my change out the window where i think it'll do more good; if you really wanted or needed it, you'll bend over and pick it up.

yeah, just get rid of the system and pay the workers more, a lot more.

[WindRavenX]

79. I work at Starbucks and the tips are desperately needed.

I get paid 6.75/hr. That does not pay my bills even though I work 40 hours a week, sometimes with a few overtime hours.

I usually get 60-70 dollars a week in tips--they are what keep me going.

I bend over backwards for customers, take extra care...and people tip me well. I feel if I take extra care of a customer--especially if they have a complex drink order-- then I earn extra pay.