do you tip..?

anonymous

hi. quick question.
i usually do my landry but i took it to have it done.
i am about to pick it up but do you tip them?
it's like 30 dollars and it is a lot so i am wondering..

isa

I tip 2-5 dollars. I didn't used to, I think that tipping your launderer is a fairly new custom.

anonymous

thank you, ISA.
and sorry about misspelling..it's laundry..

steve austin

I do not tip. Am I cheap? I only tip deliverymen, waiters and cab drivers (but not gypsy cab drivers as I assume that it is already included in the price).

captain m

I just started tipping when I drop off after reading here that people do, seems fair. I used to deliver stuff in college so I always tip those guys, I know what happens when you stiff them and order again.

sje

I believe in spreading the love. I tip frequently for good service in all sectors.

dailyheights

I don't think anybody should feel compelled to tip at the laundromat, unless one particular person has gone above and beyond the call of duty. Even then, it seems like a cab-level tip is in order (i.e. 10%+ rather than 15%+).

armchair_warrior

if its in the service industry and they dont make alot. i tip.

alafairnadia

armchair_warrior wrote: if its in the service industry and they dont make alot. i tip.

Im clearly retarded. I tip around 20% for everything, including the case of champagne I ordered a bit earlier (cause he had to bring it up the stairs, though my guests informed me the fucker was confused about the whole delivery, aka yes, up 4 flifghts of stairs, thingy).

devincf

I don't make a lot either. Can I get tipped?

vanilla

i will almost start breaking even next month but i tip for everything. usually 20% like alafairnadia.

i don't like tipping for the islands -- even though i do -- b/c the only reason they have to deliver that one block is b/c the food is like, 2 hours late when i try to pick it up or just order!!

vanilla

alafairnadia wrote: the fucker was confused about the whole delivery, aka yes, up 4 flifghts of stairs, thingy).

oh, yeah... all these "clues"... now if i only knew right//left... front back.. floor through.. and what you looked like... well, i guess i can stalk you by waiting outside and seeing who goes in the building with the most champagne bottles!! :twisted:

axel foley

I think the tipping culture in America is kind of out of control. If you're getting your laundry delivered, that's one thing, but if you're picking it up (which I do), there's not much justification given the already high cost of the service.

alafairnadia

vanilla wrote: [quote=alafairnadia] the fucker was confused about the whole delivery, aka yes, up 4 flifghts of stairs, thingy).

oh, yeah... all these "clues"... now if i only knew right//left... front back.. floor through.. and what you looked like... well, i guess i can stalk you by waiting outside and seeing who goes in the building with the most champagne bottles!! :twisted:

just check the recycling bin outside. the person who just dumped 2 magnums and 6 empty normal sized champagne bottles is me. (er, y'all, we drink a lot)

vanilla

alafairnadia wrote:
just check the recycling bin outside. the person who just dumped 2 magnums and 6 empty normal sized champagne bottles is me. (er, y'all, we drink a lot)

our trash is more mysterious, i think they stack the trash for the entire block in outside of my front door... 311?

alafairnadia

vanilla wrote: [quote=alafairnadia]
just check the recycling bin outside. the person who just dumped 2 magnums and 6 empty normal sized champagne bottles is me. (er, y'all, we drink a lot)

our trash is more mysterious, i think they stack the trash for the entire block in outside of my front door... 311?

call it. and I'm right by the barber shop/party store. so ...

sarahb

Subject: laundry tipping

I drop off my laundry and don't tip them when I pick it up -- but I do give them a New Year's card with $60 in it every year.

flute

I've seen people in my building leave holiday tips for the mail, UPS, and Fedex people ... I think that's going a little too far ... am I missing something ?

emily

I dunno. As a non-New Yorker, I'd never thought about tipping superintendants, doormen, laundry people, etc. because we didn't really use that kind of service in the suburbs. But we always tipped the newpaper delivery people and the mailman at Xmas. I don't think it's a new, over-the-top trend, is what I mean.

There is a limit to how much USPS employees can accept, by law. Like $15 or something--which doesn't sound like much until you multiply it over the whole route.

ETA: I think if people find themselves distributing more tips year by year, it's mostly because working people use more and more services to accomplish tasks they used to do at home, themselves.

stacey

I tip my mailman ($25), my garbage men (2 @ $20 each) and my El Gran Castillo deliveryman ($20).

smokin joe

i'm with axel (above). i tip for service, e.g. a delivery, and taxis and waitrons because that's how they get paid (i disagree with this system but i'm not going to take it out on the drivers/servers).

taking your laundry somewhere and paying them (quite well) to do it does not merit a tip.

i tip the newspaper delivery guy, who falls somewhere in between--i've already paid for the delivery service, but i know they make squat and i feel sorry for anyone who has to get up at that hour.

the letter carrier? hah! i used to, elsewhere, for reasons similar to those for the newspaper guy, but the 11238 branch of the postal service is so absolutely disfunctional, unapologetically incompetent, and user unfriendly, if i left a tip--which i won't, on principle (if a tip means anything, it's to reward good service)-- they'd still give it to the wrong person.

oh, almost forgot, i confess to tipping my haircutter too, out of a fairly base motivation--it's partly that it's customary, etc, but it's also kind of a bribe to make sure she does a decent job next time.

come to think of it, my taxi tips are part bribery, part extortion too--i've always overtipped a bit because i've often struggled to get a taxi to take me to brooklyn (hint: get in first, close the door, then say where you're going) so i want them to know that at least they'll get a decent tip for it, which makes no sense because i'll never get the same driver again, but if everyone did. . .

bottom line: businesses should pay their employees a decent wage, whether they're delivering food on a bicycle or cutting your hair. the idea of advertising one price and then expecting customers to pay more for the service, and making the employee's salary dependent on the customer's whim, is sleazy exploitation, no more, no less.

and before anyone says tipping encourages good service, look at french waiters, etc., that's a load of hooey. good service, in restaurants anyway, is usually based more on the efficiency of the kitchen than the server. i don't need a waiter introducing himself or reciting the specials, and i expect him/her to bring the food when it's ready regardless. finally, the service comes before the tip, so unless you went to the same place last week and had the same waiter, there can be no correlation between the two.

and what kind of special service do i need from a cab driver anyway?

whew! sorry about the rant. feeling better though.

escap

One thing about tipping in restaurants is that you may think you're rewarding or punishing individual servers for good or bad service, but in fact they pool their tips, so the message is completely lost. In fact, a bad tip punishes the whole group for the acts of one, and vice versa. It really makes no sense.

I'm not aware of any country other than the US (maybe Canada?) where we have this tipping custom. And I have to say, I used to live in Japan and it was pretty shocking for me to return here and feel obligated to pay extra for service that was 20 times worse. I realize that there are huge cultural differences so the comparison is unfair, but the service over there is unbelievable, and you don't have to give them a penny. As a result, I'm no longer a big fan of the whole tipping custom.

apollonia666

So how much do you guys think one should tip the hairdresser? I've been doing 20 percent because that's how much you're supposed to tip a good waiter or waitress, but I don't know whether that's average.

tk was me!

I tip 20%. My hair cut costs 50 so I give them 60 but then, there is another person who shampoos my hair..so I am not sure. Do they split the tip or am I supposed to tip both of them?

bewitched

I tip the shampooer separately. I do this out of guilt and peer pressure because I too hate the tipping culture.

flute

apollonia666 wrote: So how much do you guys think one should tip the hairdresser? I've been doing 20 percent because that's how much you're supposed to tip a good waiter or waitress, but I don't know whether that's average.

I've always tipped 20% for haircuts, highlights, etc. And I leave a couple of dollars for the person who shampoos my hair. Where I get a little confused is when the OWNER of the shop cuts my hair. I think it's standard practice NOT to tip the owner, but I feel so guilty when I don't. So I end up being pretty erratic. Sometimes I leave a good tip, sometimes a token tip, sometimes nothing ... probably it all evens out in the end. But I remain in a quandry on that one.

:?

flute

escap wrote: ... but in fact they pool their tips, so the message is completely lost. In fact, a bad tip punishes the whole group for the acts of one, and vice versa.

Actually, it depends on the policy of the individual restaurant. Some restaurants pool their tips, but in others, the individual waiters and waitresses tip the buspeople, and others, out of what they made during their shift.

apollonia666

FLUTE wrote: Where I get a little confused is when the OWNER of the shop cuts my hair. I think it's standard practice NOT to tip the owner, but I feel so guilty when I don't. So I end up being pretty erratic. Sometimes I leave a good tip, sometimes a token tip, sometimes nothing ... probably it all evens out in the end. But I remain in a quandry on that one.

Ooh, I'd love to find out what the standard is for owners! A few months ago I was in desparate need of a haircut and (as usual) broke as all hell. One of my friends told me that she goes to this guy she really likes named Toby near NYU who only charges 30 bucks, so I jumped at the cheap price, called the salon, and made an appointment with Toby.

As Toby was cutting my hair he asked where I'd heard about him, and I told him my friend had recommended him. He was totally puzzled. He couldn't recall who she was at all, and it clearly bugged him because he kept saying he prides himself on knowing all his regular clients well.

So I got a nice enough haircut from Toby, and then he told me the cost would be $65! I was flabbergasted and barely able to pay him. I didn't even have enough in the bank to tip. Later on I talked to my friend about it and we sussed out that because she had a cold, I'd been misunderstood her when she was telling me about her guy TONY. Toby is the owner and, of course, charges a helluva lot more.

I haven't gone back to either of them because I've been all neurotic about showing up at their salon after not tipping Toby at all. But if it's common to not tip the owner, I might show my face again to check out Tony sometime.