As a blanket rule, you don't need to tip anyone who earns a salary or performs a trade. That means you don't have to tip doctors, lawyers, teachers, plumbers or cable technicians. "Not only would it not be expected, it would be highly unorthodox and very awkward," says Farley.
Then we a have rainbow full of places that tipping is frowned upon: China, French-Polynesia, Singapore, Myanmar, Taipei, Nepal, Korea and Switzerland. In these countries a tip is not expected but rounding up the bill is, it's pretty much customary: Italy, Russia, Belgium, Australia, and I probably missing a dozen more.
Servers might comp your meal (give it to you for free), send your table dessert, or, at the very least, offer you a sincere apology. If you get confronted for not leaving an adequate tip, understand that this is normal. Avoid this in the future and express problems with your server before you pay the bill.
Yes, it's considered rude not to tip a waiter or waitress in the US. If you don't want to tip, go to fast food places, delis, and coffee shops where you order and receive food from a counter.
To be clear, the etiquette experts aren't saying to avoid tipping at the counter — merely that it's at your discretion. A gratuity can reasonably be reserved for workers who provide a great experience. "It's a nice gesture to offer a tip to a worker who goes above and beyond the service," Swann says.
While tipping isn't expected at fast food and counter service establishments, you should generally always tip for takeout from dine-in restaurants and delivery services like Uber Eats and DoorDash. For standard takeout orders, you should typically tip 10-15%.
Industry insider: common consensus says 15-20% is considered a normal tip, but honestly any amount less than 20% is considered a bad tip. If I (or the other servers I worked with) got less, we wondered what we did wrong. We weren't money-hungry monsters, though. There is a reason we expected 20% if we did a great job.
Tipping in the US is popular with servers because they can earn over minimum wage for doing a fairly basic job. If you have a place where the average cost of a meal if $20, a waiter serves 10 people an hour, and they tip 10% on their meals, then they are making $20 an hour.
Do you tip at Starbucks? No, not typically. I think a good rule of thumb is that if you order your food standing up and it's have to you over the counter (Starbucks, any kind of fast food or convenience store, and even most bars) tipping should not be expected. Of course if you feel like tipping then that's fine.
Tipping transcends cultural customs and encroaches into moral and ethical territory. In situations where tips are expected and make up a significant portion of service workers' pay, not giving them could be considered unethical.
Countries Where Tipping Is Uncommon: Sweden, Norway, Iceland, South Korea, and Finland have tipping customs that generally do not require gratuities. Unique Tipping Norms: Countries like Japan and China may not expect tipping, as excellent service is standard.
FAQ about tipping your hairdresser
According to Consumer Reports, you should tip at least 15% of the service fee, even if the service wasn't the best. If you're debating whether to tip a smaller amount because you're not happy with your service, you can also consider speaking to the manager or owner first.
Tips are optional and 100% go to the driver.
An employer may not require an employee to give their tips to the employer, a supervisor, or a manager, even where a tipped employee receives at least the federal minimum wage (currently $7.25) per hour in wages directly from the employer and the employer takes no tip credit.
“It's up to the discretion of the customer," and it's not strictly necessary to tip in a fast food or quick service restaurant. That's very different from service at a sit-down restaurant, she notes, where the expectation is still that patrons should leave a tip of between 15% and 20% of their bill.
If it's fast food or you're grabbing a pre-packaged item from a shelf, Farley says you don't need to tip. But in other cases, especially if the order is for more than one person, you should leave at least a 10-15% gratuity.
Business owners believe that the prompt for a tip can boost staff pay and increase gratuities — but customers are questioning where and to whom the extra cash is going, considering self-checkout is done, well, by yourself. “They're cutting labor costs by doing self-checkout. So what's the point of asking for a tip?
You're never obligated to tip someone when they've provided you poor service or if you've had a rude interaction with them. In the case of a one-on-one service, such as a haircut, this is pretty cut and dried.
Key Takeaways. A standard tip for most services and dining situations is 15–20%. Even if you receive terrible service, it's still nice to be generous and leave something for your waiter or other service provider.
It's up to you to decide whether or not to tip and how much. But Shubhranshu Singh, a marketing professor at Johns Hopkins University, likes to leave a 10% tip. If an establishment is asking for a tip, it's often an indication that the workers there are not getting paid a minimum wage.
You should tip at least 18% of the pretax bill at a fine dining restaurant. A 20% tip is a good way to acknowledge exceptional service.
In general, it's recommended to tip grocery delivery workers 15 to 20 percent—or more if it's a large or complicated order.
If you're grabbing a coffee to go, you should feel no obligation to tip, she explains. However, she does recommend leaving something if you sit down in a café with excellent service. “I would tip. A little coffee can change your entire mood for the day.
Similarly, bartenders should be tipped $1 to $2 per drink or 15% to 20% of your total tab. While there's no obligation to leave money in a tip jar, the Emily Post Institute recommends tipping occasionally if your server or barista provides something extra or if you're a regular customer.